Amos 3:2

2 You especially have I known out of all the families of the earth: therefore will I take vengeance upon you for all your sins.

Amos 3:2 Meaning and Commentary

Amos 3:2

You only have I known of all the families of the earth
All the families or nations of the earth, and all the inhabitants of it, are known by the Lord, as he is the omniscient God; but none had been known by him as a family, or a nation, with that love and affection as this family had been, or distinguished by his favours and blessings as they, not only temporal, but spiritual; besides the land of Canaan, and all the good things in it, they had the law of the Lord, his word, worship, and ordinances, among them; he chose them for himself above all people, and gave peculiar marks of his affection to them, and special instances of his goodness, and of his care over them, and concern for them; see ( Deuteronomy 4:6-8 ) ( Deuteronomy 7:6 Deuteronomy 7:7 ) ( Psalms 147:19 Psalms 147:20 ) ( Romans 9:4 Romans 9:5 ) ; therefore I will punish you for all your iniquities;
or "visit upon you" F3; or "against you"; in a way of chastisement and correction; they were a family he had highly favoured, and yet departed from him; children he had brought up in a tender manner, and brought out of a most miserable condition, and yet rebelled against him; he had followed and loaded them with his benefits, and they had proved ungrateful to him; he had given them a revelation of his mind and will, and they had rejected it, and therefore knowing, and not doing it, were worthy of more stripes; their sins were more aggravated than others, being against goodness and mercy, light and knowledge; and therefore the Lord was determined to make an example of them; see ( 1 Peter 4:17 ) .


FOOTNOTES:

F3 (Mkyle dqpa) "visitabo super vos", V. L. Pagninus, Montanus; "visito", i.e. "visitare soleo", Mercerus; "super vobis", Cocceius; "contra vos", Piscator.

Amos 3:2 In-Context

1 Hear ye this word, O house of Israel, which the Lord has spoken concerning you, and against the whole family whom I brought up out of the land of Egypt, saying,
2 You especially have I known out of all the families of the earth: therefore will I take vengeance upon you for all your sins.
3 Shall two walk together at all, if they do not know one another?
4 Will a lion roar out of his thicket if he has no prey? will a whelp utter his voice at all out of his lair, if he have taken nothing?
5 Will a bird fall on the earth without a fowler? will a snare be taken up from the earth without having taken anything?

The Brenton translation of the Septuagint is in the public domain.