Amos 7:16

16 ¹Now therefore hear the word of the Lord. “You say, ²‘Do not prophesy against Israel, and ³do not preach against the house of ⁴Isaac. ’

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 Then Amos answered and said to Amaziah, “I was no prophet, nor a prophet’s son, but I was a herdsman and a dresser of sycamore figs.

15 But the Lord took me from following the flock, and the Lord said to me, ‘Go, prophesy to my people Israel. ’

16 Now therefore hear the word of the Lord. “You say, ‘Do not prophesy against Israel, and do not preach against the house of Isaac. ’

17 Therefore thus says the Lord: “‘Your wife shall be a prostitute in the city, and your sons and your daughters shall fall by the sword, and your land shall be divided up with a measuring line; you yourself shall die in an unclean land, and Israel shall surely go into exile away from its land. ’”

Cross References

• 1. 7:16 ch. 3:1
• 2. 7:16 [See ver. 12 above]
• 3. 7:16 Ezek. 20:46; 21:2; Mic. 2:6
• 4. 7:16 [ver. 9]