Amos 9:2

2 If they dig through into the underworld, from there my hand will take them. If they climb up to the heavens, from there I will bring them down.

Amos 9:2 Meaning and Commentary

Amos 9:2

Though they dig into hell, thence shall mine hand take them,
&c.] That is, they that endeavour to make their escape from their enemies, though they seek for places of the greatest secrecy and privacy; not hell, the place of the damned; nor the grave, the repository of the dead; neither of which they chose to he in, but rather sought to escape them; but the deepest and darkest caverns, the utmost recesses of the earth, the very centre of it; which, could they get into, would not secure them from the power and providence of God, and from their enemies in pursuit of them, by his permission: though they climb up to heaven, thence will I bring them down;
the summit of the highest mountains, and get as near to heaven, and at as great a distance from men, as can be, and yet all in vain. The Targum is,

``if they think to be hid as it were in hell, from thence their enemies shall take them by my word; and if they ascend the high mountains, to the top of heaven, thence will I bring them;''

see ( Psalms 139:8 ) .

Amos 9:2 In-Context

1 I saw the Lord standing beside the altar, and the Lord said: Strike the pillars until the foundations shake, shatter them on the heads of all the people. With the sword, I will kill the last of them; not one of them will flee, not one of them will escape.

2 If they dig through into the underworld, from there my hand will take them. If they climb up to the heavens, from there I will bring them down.

3 If they hide themselves on the top of Carmel, I will search for them there and remove them. If they hide from my sight at the bottom of the sea, I will give an order to the sea serpent, and it will bite them.

4 If they are forced from their homes before their enemies, there I will give an order to the sword, and it will kill them. I will fix my eyes on them for harm and not for good.

5 The LORD, God of heavenly forces, touches the earth and it melts, and all who live in it are sick to death. All of it rises up like the Nile and sinks again, like the Nile of Egypt.

Footnotes

• [a]. Heb Sheol