Amos 9:6

6 who builds his upper chambers in the heavens and lays the foundation of his vault on the earth, who calls for the waters of the sea and pours them on the surface of the earth--Yahweh is his name.

Amos 9:6 Meaning and Commentary

Amos 9:6

[It is] he that buildeth his stories in the heaven
The three elements, according to Aben Ezra, fire, air, and water; the orbs, as Kimchi, one above another; a word near akin to this is rendered "his chambers", which are the clouds, ( Psalms 104:3 Psalms 104:13 ) ; perhaps the heaven, and the heaven of heavens, which are three stories high, may be meant; we read of the third heaven, ( 2 Corinthians 12:2 ) ; and particularly the throne of God is in the highest heaven; and the "ascents" ^F25 to it, as it may be rendered. The Targum is,

``who causeth to dwell in a high fortress the Shechinah of his glory:''

and hath founded his troop in the earth;
this Kimchi interprets of the three above elements. So the words are translated in the Bishops' Bible in Queen Elizabeth's time,

``he buildeth his spheres in the heaven, and hath laid the foundation of his globe of elements in the earth.''

Aben Ezra interprets it of animals; it may take in the whole compass of created beings on earth; so Jarchi explains it of the collection of his creatures; though he takes notice of another sense given, a collection of the righteous, which are the foundation of the earth, and for whose sake all things stand. Abarbinel interprets it of the whole of the tribe of Israel; and so the Targum paraphrases it of his congregation or church on earth: he beautifies his elect, which are "his bundle" {z}, as it may be rendered; who are bound up in the bundle of life with the Lord their God, and are closely knit and united, as to God and Christ, so to one another; and perhaps is the best sense of the words {a}: he that calleth for the waters of the sea, and poureth them out upon
the face of the earth, the Lord [is] his name;
either to drown it, as at the general deluge; or to water and refresh it, as he does by exhaling water from the sea, and then letting it down in plentiful showers upon the earth; (See Gill on Amos 5:8); now all these things are observed to show the power of God, and that therefore there can be no hope of escaping out of his hands.

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FOOTNOTES:

F25 (wytwlem) "ascensiones suus", Pagninus, Montanus, Munster, Tigurine version, "gradus suo", Vatablus, Drusius, Cocceius.
F26 (wtdga) "fasciculum suum", Montanus, Munster, Mercerus, Vatablus, Drusius, Burkius.
F1 Schultens in Observ. ad Genesin, p. 197, 198, observes, that <arabic> "agad", with the Arabs, signifies primarily to "bind", and is by them transferred to a building firmly bound, and compact together; and so may intend here in Amos the Lord's building, the church, which he hath founded in the earth; and so <arabic> with Golius and Castellus is a building firmly compacted together. (tdga) is used for a bunch of hyssop, Exod. xii. 27. and in the Misnic language for a handful or bundle of anything; see Buxtorf. Lex. Talmud. rad. (dga) .

Amos 9:6 In-Context

4 And [even] if they go into captivity before their enemies, from there I will command the sword and it will kill them, and I will fix my eyes on them for harm and not for good."

5 And [thus will do] the Lord Yahweh of hosts, who touches the earth and it melts, and all of those living in it mourn, and all of it rises like the Nile and it sinks down like [the] Nile of Egypt,

6 who builds his upper chambers in the heavens and lays the foundation of his vault on the earth, who calls for the waters of the sea and pours them on the surface of the earth--Yahweh is his name.

7 "Are you not like the Cushites to me, O people of Israel?" {declares} Yahweh. "Did I not bring up Israel from the land of Egypt and [the] Philistines from Caphtor and {the Arameans} from Kir?

8 Look, the eyes of my Lord Yahweh [are] on the kingdom of sin, and I will destroy it from the surface of the earth. However, I will not utterly destroy the house of Jacob," {declares} Yahweh.