Amós 5:5

5 No adoren en los altares paganos en Betel;
no vayan a los altares en Gilgal ni en Beerseba.
Pues el pueblo de Gilgal será arrastrado al destierro
y el pueblo de Betel será reducido a nada».

Amós 5:5 Meaning and Commentary

Amos 5:5

But seek not Bethel
Do not go to Bethel, the place where one of Jeroboam's calves was set up and worshipped, to consult the oracle, idols, and priests there; or to perform religious worship, which will be your ruin, if not prevented by another course of living: nor enter into Gilgal;
another place of idolatry, where idols were set up and worshipped (See Gill on Amos 4:4); and pass not to Beersheba;
a place in the further part of the land of Israel; it formerly belonged to Judah, but was now in the hands of the ten tribes, and where idolatrous worship was practised; see ( Amos 8:14 ) ; it having been a place where Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, had dwelt, and worshipped the true God: for Gilgal shall surely go into captivity;
that is, the inhabitants of it; they will not be able with their idols and idol worship to save themselves, and therefore go not thither. There is an elegant play on words here ^F2, as there is also in the next words: and Bethel shall come to nought;
which also was called Bethaven, the house of vanity, or of an idol which is nothing in the world; and therefore, because of the idolatry in it, should come to nothing, be utterly destroyed, and the inhabitants of it. So the Targum,

``they, that are in Gilgal, and worship calves in Bethel.''

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FOOTNOTES:

F2 (hlgy hlg lglgh) .

Amós 5:5 In-Context

3 El Señor
Soberano dice:
«Cuando una ciudad mande a mil hombres a la guerra,
solo volverán cien.
Cuando un pueblo envíe a cien,
solo diez regresarán vivos».

4 Ahora bien, esto es lo que el Señor
dice a la familia de Israel:
«¡Vuelvan a buscarme y vivan!

5 No adoren en los altares paganos en Betel;
no vayan a los altares en Gilgal ni en Beerseba.
Pues el pueblo de Gilgal será arrastrado al destierro
y el pueblo de Betel será reducido a nada».

6 ¡Vuelvan a buscar al Señor
y vivan!
De lo contrario, él pasará por Israel
como un fuego
y los devorará completamente.
Sus dioses en Betel
no serán capaces de apagar las llamas.

7 Ustedes tuercen la justicia y la convierten en trago amargo para el oprimido.
Tratan al justo como basura.