Amos 6:11

11 For, behold, the LORD shall command, and he will smite the great house with breaches and the little house with clefts.

Amos 6:11 Meaning and Commentary

Amos 6:11

For, behold, the Lord commandeth
Hath determined and ordered the judgment before, and what follows: Kimchi paraphrases it, hath decreed the earthquake, as in ( Amos 3:15 ) ; of which he understands the following: and he will smite the great house with breaches;
or "droppings" ^F8; so that the rain shall drop through: and the little house with clefts;
so that it shall fall to ruin; that is, he shall smite the houses both of great and small, of the princes, and of the common people, either with an earthquake, so that they shall part asunder and fall; or, being left without inhabitants, shall of course become desolate, there being none to repair their breaches. Some understand, by the "great house", the ten tribes of Israel; and, by the "little house", the two tribes of Judah and Benjamin; to which sense the Targum seems to incline,

``he will smite the great kingdom with a mighty stroke, and the little kingdom with a weak stroke.''

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FOOTNOTES:

F8 (Myoyor) "guttis, [seu] stillis", Piscator; (qekadev) , "quae est minuta et rorans pluvia", Drusius.

Amos 6:11 In-Context

9 And it shall come to pass, if there remain ten men in one house, that they shall die.

10 And their uncle shall take each one and burn them to bring out the bones out of the house and shall say unto him that is by the sides of the house, Is there yet any with thee? and he shall say, No. Then he shall say, Hold thy tongue, for we may not make mention of the name of the LORD.

11 For, behold, the LORD shall command, and he will smite the great house with breaches and the little house with clefts.

12 Shall horses run upon the rocks? will one plow there with oxen? why have ye turned judgment into hemlock, and the fruit of righteousness into wormwood?

13 Ye who rejoice in a thing of nought, who say, Have we not taken to us horns by our own strength?