Amos 9:4

4 And if they should go into captivity before the face of their enemies, there will I command the sword, and it shall slay them: and I will set mine eyes against them for evil, and not for good.

Amos 9:4 Meaning and Commentary

Amos 9:4

And though they go into captivity before their enemies
Alluding to the manner in which captives are led, being put before their enemies, and so carried in triumph; see ( Lamentations 1:5 ) ; though some think this refers to their going voluntarily into a foreign country, in order to escape danger, as Johanan the son of Kareah with the Jews went into Egypt, ( Jeremiah 43:5-7 ) ; in whom Kimchi instances: thence will I command the sword, and it shall slay them;
or them that kill with the sword, as the Targum; so that though they thought by going into another country, or into an enemy's country of their own accord, to escape the sword of the enemy, or to curry favour with them, yet should not escape: and I will set mine eyes upon them for evil, and not for good:
this is the true reason, why, let them be where they will, they cannot be safe, because the eyes of the omniscient God, which are everywhere, in heaven, earth, hell, and the sea, are set upon them, for their ruin and destruction; and there is no fleeing from his presence, or getting out of his sight, or escaping his hand. The Targum is,

``my Word shall be against them.''

Amos 9:4 In-Context

2 Though they hid themselves in hell, thence shall my hand drag them forth; and though they go up to heaven, thence will I bring them down.

3 If they hide themselves in the top of Carmel, thence will I search out and take them; and if they should go down from my presence into the depths of the sea, there will I command the serpent, and he shall bite them.

4 And if they should go into captivity before the face of their enemies, there will I command the sword, and it shall slay them: and I will set mine eyes against them for evil, and not for good.

5 And the Lord, the Lord God Almighty, that takes hold of the land, and causes it to shake, and all that inhabit it shall mourn; and its destruction shall go up as a river, and shall descend as the river of Egypt.

6 that builds his ascent up to the sky, and establishes his promise on the earth; who calls the water of the sea, and pours it out on the face of the earth; the Lord Almighty is his name.