Amos 3:11

11 Therefore, thus says the Lord GOD, "An ¹enemy, even one surrounding the land, Will pull down your strength from you And your ²citadels will be looted."

Amos 3:11 Meaning and Commentary

Amos 3:11

Therefore thus saith the Lord God
Because of these tumults and riots, oppression and injustice, violence and robbery: an adversary there [shall be] even round about the land:
not Tyre, as Theodoret renders the word; but the king of Assyria, who invaded the land of Israel in the days of Hoshea, took Samaria, and carried Israel captive, and placed them in foreign countries, ( 2 Kings 17:6 ) ; and he shall bring down thy strength from thee;
take away their riches, demolish their fortresses, and strip them of everything in which they put their confidence: and thy palaces shall be spoiled;
plundered of the treasures laid up in them, and pulled down to the ground; and a just retaliation this for their being the repositories of ill gotten substance and wealth.

Amos 3:11 In-Context

9 Proclaim on the citadels in Ashdod and on the citadels in the land of Egypt and say, "Assemble yourselves on the mountains of Samaria and see the great tumults within her and the oppressions in her midst.

10 "But they do not know how to do what is right," declares the LORD , "these who hoard up violence and devastation in their citadels."

11 Therefore, thus says the Lord GOD, "An enemy, even one surrounding the land, Will pull down your strength from you And your citadels will be looted."

12 Thus says the LORD , "Just as the shepherd snatches from the lion's mouth a couple of legs or a piece of an ear, So will the sons of Israel dwelling in Samaria be snatched away - With the corner of a bed and the cover of a couch!

13 "Hear and testify against the house of Jacob," Declares the Lord GOD, the God of hosts.

Cross References

• 1. Amos 6:14
• 2. Amos 2:5

Footnotes

• [a]. Or "stronghold"