Amos 7:16

16 “Now then hear the LORD's word. You say, ‘Don't prophesy against Israel, and don't preach against the house of Isaac.'

Amos 7:16 Meaning and Commentary

Amos 7:16

Now therefore hear thou the word of the Lord
Which I have from him concerning thee, and which he has pronounced upon thee and thy family: thou sayest, prophesy not against Israel;
when God has bid me prophesy: and drop not [thy word] against the house of Isaac;
say nothing against it, though in ever so soft and gentle a manner: it designs the same thing as before, only in different words; and is a prohibition of the prophet to prophesy against the ten tribes that descended from Isaac, in the line of Jacob. So the Targum paraphrases it,

``thou shalt not teach against the house of Isaac;''

or deliver out any prophecy or doctrine that is against them, or threatens them with any calamity. Jarchi says the phrase is expressive of prophecy; see ( Deuteronomy 32:2 ) ( Ezekiel 21:2 ) .

Amos 7:16 In-Context

14 Amos answered Amaziah, "I am not a prophet, nor am I a prophet's son; but I am a shepherd, and a trimmer of sycamore trees.

15 But the LORD took me from shepherding the flock, and the LORD said to me, ‘Go, prophesy to my people Israel.'

16 “Now then hear the LORD's word. You say, ‘Don't prophesy against Israel, and don't preach against the house of Isaac.'

17 “Therefore, the LORD proclaims: ‘Your wife will become a prostitute in the city, and your sons and your daughters will fall by the sword, and your land will be measured and divided up; you yourself will die in an unclean land, and Israel will surely be taken away from its land.'"