Amós 9:3

3 Aunque se escondan en la cumbre del monte Carmelo,
allí los buscaré y los capturaré.
Aunque se oculten en el fondo del océano,
enviaré tras ellos a la serpiente marina para que los muerda.

Amós 9:3 Meaning and Commentary

Amos 9:3

And though they hide themselves in the top of Carmel
One of the highest mountains in the land of Israel; in the woods upon it, and caves in it: I will search and take them out from thence:
by directing their enemies where to find them: so the Targum,

``if they think to be hid in the tops of the towers of castles, thither will I command the searchers, and they shall search them:''

and though they be hid from my sight in the bottom of the sea;
get into ships, going by sea to distant parts; or make their escape to isles upon the sea afar off, where they may think themselves safe: thence will I command the serpent, and he shall bite them;
the dragon that is in the sea, ( Isaiah 27:1 ) ; the great whale in the sea, or the leviathan, so Aben Ezra, Kimchi, and Ben Melech; and is that kind of whale which is called the "Zygaena", as Bochart ^F23 thinks; and which he, from various writers, describes as very monstrous, horrible, and terrible, having five rows of teeth, and very numerous; and which not only devours other large fishes, but men swimming it meets with; and, having such teeth, with great propriety may be said to bite. It appears from hence that there are sea serpents, as well as land ones, to which the allusion is. Erich Pantoppidan, the present bishop of Bergen ^F24, speaks of a "see ormen", or sea snake, in the northern seas, which he describes as very monstrous and very terrible to seafaring men, being of seven or eight folds, each fold a fathom distant; nay, of the length of a cable, a hundred fathom, or six hundred English feet; yea, of one as thick as a pipe of wine, with twenty five folds. Some such terrible creature is here respected, though figuratively understood, and designs some crafty, powerful, and cruel enemy. The Targum paraphrases it, though hid

``in the isles of the sea, thither will I command the people strong like serpents, and they shall kill them;''

see ( Psalms 139:9 ) .

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FOOTNOTES:

F23 Hierozoic. par. 2. l. 5. c. 13. p. 747.
F24 Natural History of Norway, par. 2. p. 198, 199, 207.

Amós 9:3 In-Context

1 La visión de Dios junto al altar
Entonces vi una visión del Señor, quien estaba de pie junto al altar y dijo:
«Golpea la parte superior de las columnas del templo
para que los cimientos se sacudan.
Derriba el techo
sobre las cabezas de la gente.
Mataré a espada a los que sobrevivan.
¡Nadie escapará!

2 »Aunque caven hasta el lugar de los muertos,
allí descenderé y los sacaré.
Aunque suban hasta los cielos,
de allí los derribaré.

3 Aunque se escondan en la cumbre del monte Carmelo,
allí los buscaré y los capturaré.
Aunque se oculten en el fondo del océano,
enviaré tras ellos a la serpiente marina para que los muerda.

4 Aunque sus enemigos los lleven al destierro,
ordenaré a la espada que allí los mate.
Estoy decidido a traerles desastre
y no a ayudarlos».

5 El Señor, el Señor
de los Ejércitos Celestiales,
toca la tierra y esta se derrite,
y todos sus habitantes lloran.
La tierra sube como el río Nilo en tiempo de inundaciones,
y luego vuelve a hundirse.