Amos 5:9

9 With a blinding flash he destroys the stronghold and brings the fortified city to ruin.

Amos 5:9 in Other Translations

9 That strengtheneth the spoiled against the strong, so that the spoiled shall come against the fortress.

9 who makes destruction flash forth against the strong, so that destruction comes upon the fortress.

9 With blinding speed and power he destroys the strong, crushing all their defenses.

9 And he can destroy it as easily as make it. He can turn this vast wonder into total waste.

9 He brings destruction on the strong, and it falls on the stronghold.

Amos 5:9 Meaning and Commentary

Amos 5:9

That strengtheneth the spoiled against the strong
Such as have been taken by an enemy, who have been stripped of their armour, and spoiled of all their goods and substance, and have no friends nor allies, nor anything to help themselves with; the Lord can supply them with strength, furnish them with weapons, and send them helpers, so that they shall rise up against their conquerors and spoilers, and in their turn subdue them. The Targum is,

``that strengthens the weak against the strong;''

or causes the weak to prevail over the strong. A learned man, from the use of the word in the Arabic language, chooses to render it, "who intends", or "designs, destruction to the strong" ^F4; that is, in his secret purposes, and which he brings about in providence; though he is doubtful whether it may not have the signification of recreation and refreshment, and whether the construction and circumstances will admit of it; and some do so translate it, "who refreshes himself with destruction against the strong" ^F5; takes delight and pleasure in it; it is a recreation to him: so that the spoiled shall come against the fortress:
lay siege to it and take it, in which the spoiler thought himself secure with the spoil and substance he had taken from the spoiled; such sudden changes and vicissitudes can God bring upon men when he pleases. Some apply this to the Romans strengthened against the Jews, and besieging their fortified city Jerusalem; but not very aptly.

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FOOTNOTES:

F4 (ze le dv gylbmh) "qui intendit destinat destructionem forti", Hottinger, Smegma Orientale, l. 1. c. 7. p. 129.
F5 "Qui recreat se vastatione contra fortem [sive] robustum", Junius & Tremellius, Piscator, Tarnovius. So Stockius, p. 136.

Amos 5:9 In-Context

7 There are those who turn justice into bitterness and cast righteousness to the ground.

8 He who made the Pleiades and Orion, who turns midnight into dawn and darkens day into night, who calls for the waters of the sea and pours them out over the face of the land— the LORD is his name.

9 With a blinding flash he destroys the stronghold and brings the fortified city to ruin.

10 There are those who hate the one who upholds justice in court and detest the one who tells the truth.

11 You levy a straw tax on the poor and impose a tax on their grain. Therefore, though you have built stone mansions, you will not live in them; though you have planted lush vineyards, you will not drink their wine.

Cross References

• 1. Micah 5:11