Amos 9:8

8 Behold, ¹the eyes of the Lord God are upon the sinful kingdom, and I will destroy it from the surface of the ground, ²except that I will not utterly destroy the house of Jacob, ”declares the Lord.

Amos 9:8 Meaning and Commentary

Amos 9:8

Behold, the eyes of the Lord God [are] upon the sinful kingdom,
&c.] God is omniscient, and his eyes are everywhere, and upon all persons, good and bad, and upon all kingdoms, especially upon a sinful nation: "the sinning kingdom" ^F14, or "the kingdom of sin" ^F15, as it may be rendered; that is addicted to sin, where it prevails and reigns; every such kingdom, particularly the kingdom of Israel, Ephraim, or the ten tribes, given to idolatry, and other sins complained of in this prophecy; and that not for good, but for evil, as in ( Amos 9:4 ) ; in order to cut them off from being a people: and I will destroy it from off the face of the earth:
so that it shall be no more, at least as a kingdom; as the ten tribes have never been since their captivity by Shalmaneser; though Japhet interprets this of all the kingdoms of the earth, being sinful, the eyes of God are upon them to destroy them, excepting the kingdom of Israel; so Abarbinel: saving that I will not utterly destroy the house of Jacob, saith the
Lord;
and so it is, that though they have been destroyed as a kingdom, yet not utterly as a people; there were some of the ten tribes that mixed with the Jews, and others that were scattered about in the world; and a remnant among them, according to the election of grace, that were met with in the ministry of the apostles, and in the latter day all Israel shall be saved; see ( Jeremiah 30:10 Jeremiah 30:11 ) .

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FOOTNOTES:

F14 (hajxh hklmm) "hoc regnum peccans", V. L. Junius & Tremellius, Drusius, Mercerus; "peccatrix", Piscator.
F15 "Regnum peccati", Pagninus, Montanus.

Amos 9:8 In-Context

6 who builds his upper chambers in the heavens and founds his vault upon the earth; who calls for the waters of the sea and pours them out upon the surface of the earth— the Lord is his name.

7 “Are you not like the Cushites to me, O people of Israel? ” declares the Lord. “Did I not bring up Israel from the land of Egypt, and the Philistines from Caphtor and the Syrians from Kir?

8 Behold, the eyes of the Lord God are upon the sinful kingdom, and I will destroy it from the surface of the ground, except that I will not utterly destroy the house of Jacob, ”declares the Lord.

9 “For behold, I will command, and shake the house of Israel among all the nations as one shakes with a sieve, but no pebble shall fall to the earth.

10 All the sinners of my people shall die by the sword, who say, ‘Disaster shall not overtake or meet us. ’

Cross References

• 1. 9:8 [ver. 4]
• 2. 9:8 Jer. 30:11; [Obad. 17]