Amos 3:11

11 Therefore, the Lord God says: An enemy will surround the land; he will destroy your strongholds and plunder your citadels.^[a]

Amos 3:11 Meaning and Commentary

Amos 3:11

Therefore thus saith the Lord God
Because of these tumults and riots, oppression and injustice, violence and robbery: an adversary there [shall be] even round about the land:
not Tyre, as Theodoret renders the word; but the king of Assyria, who invaded the land of Israel in the days of Hoshea, took Samaria, and carried Israel captive, and placed them in foreign countries, ( 2 Kings 17:6 ) ; and he shall bring down thy strength from thee;
take away their riches, demolish their fortresses, and strip them of everything in which they put their confidence: and thy palaces shall be spoiled;
plundered of the treasures laid up in them, and pulled down to the ground; and a just retaliation this for their being the repositories of ill gotten substance and wealth.

Amos 3:11 In-Context

9 Proclaim on the citadels in Ashdod and on the citadels in the land of Egypt: Assemble on the mountains of Samaria and see the great turmoil in the city and the acts of oppression within it.

10 The people are incapable of doing right- the Lord's declaration- those who store up violence and destruction in their citadels.

11 Therefore, the Lord God says: An enemy will surround the land; he will destroy your strongholds and plunder your citadels.

12 The Lord says: As the shepherd snatches two legs or a piece of an ear from the lion's mouth, so the Israelites who live in Samaria will be rescued with [only] the corner of a bed or the cushion of a couch.

13 Listen and testify against the house of Jacob- [this is]*The bracketed text has been added for clarity. the declaration of the Lord God , the God of Hosts.

Footnotes

• [a] 2 Kg 17:5-6; 18:9-12