Amos 5:5

5 E non cercate Betel, e non entrate in Ghilgal e non passate in Beerseba; perciocchè Ghilgal del tutto sarà menato in cattività, e Betel sarà ridotto al niente.

Amos 5:5 Meaning and Commentary

Amos 5:5

But seek not Bethel
Do not go to Bethel, the place where one of Jeroboam's calves was set up and worshipped, to consult the oracle, idols, and priests there; or to perform religious worship, which will be your ruin, if not prevented by another course of living: nor enter into Gilgal;
another place of idolatry, where idols were set up and worshipped (See Gill on Amos 4:4); and pass not to Beersheba;
a place in the further part of the land of Israel; it formerly belonged to Judah, but was now in the hands of the ten tribes, and where idolatrous worship was practised; see ( Amos 8:14 ) ; it having been a place where Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, had dwelt, and worshipped the true God: for Gilgal shall surely go into captivity;
that is, the inhabitants of it; they will not be able with their idols and idol worship to save themselves, and therefore go not thither. There is an elegant play on words here ^F2, as there is also in the next words: and Bethel shall come to nought;
which also was called Bethaven, the house of vanity, or of an idol which is nothing in the world; and therefore, because of the idolatry in it, should come to nothing, be utterly destroyed, and the inhabitants of it. So the Targum,

``they, that are in Gilgal, and worship calves in Bethel.''

---

FOOTNOTES:

F2 (hlgy hlg lglgh) .

Amos 5:5 In-Context

3 Perciocchè, così ha detto il Signore Iddio: Nella città onde ne uscivano mille, ne resteranno sol cento; e in quella onde ne uscivano cento, ne resteranno sol dieci, alla casa d’Israele.

4 Perciocchè, così ha detto il Signore alla casa d’Israele: Cercatemi, e voi viverete.

5 E non cercate Betel, e non entrate in Ghilgal e non passate in Beerseba; perciocchè Ghilgal del tutto sarà menato in cattività, e Betel sarà ridotto al niente.

6 Cercate il Signore, e voi viverete; che talora egli non si avventi sopra la casa di Giuseppe, a guisa di fuoco, e non la consumi, senza che Betel abbia chi spenga il fuoco,

7 o voi, che mutate il giudicio in assenzio, e lasciate in terra la giustizia!