Amos 2:3

3 And I will cut off the shofet (judge) from the midst thereof, and will slay all the sarim (princes) thereof with him, saith Hashem.

Amos 2:3 Meaning and Commentary

Amos 2:3

And I will cut off the judge from the midst thereof
Either from the midst of Moab, the country in general; or from Kerioth in particular, so Kimchi; meaning their principal governor, their king, as Aben Ezra; for kings sometimes have acted as judges, took the bench, and sat and administered justice to their subjects: and I will stay all the princes thereof with him, saith the Lord;
the king, and the princes of the blood, and his nobles; so that there should be none to succeed him, or to protect and defend the people; the destruction should be an entire one, and inevitable, for the mouth of the Lord had spoken it. This was fulfilled at the same time as the prophecy against the children of Ammon by Nebuchadnezzar, five years after the destruction of Jerusalem ^F15, which is next threatened.

---

FOOTNOTES:

F15 Joseph. Antiqu. l. 10. c. 9. sect. 7. Vid. Judith i. 12.

Amos 2:3 In-Context

1 Thus saith Hashem: For shloshah peysha’im of Moav, even for arba’ah, I will not turn away the punishment thereof; because he burned the bones of Melech Edom into lime;

2 But I will send an eish upon Moav, and it shall devour the fortresses of Keriyot; and Moav shall die with tumult, with war cries, and with the blast of the shofar;

3 And I will cut off the shofet (judge) from the midst thereof, and will slay all the sarim (princes) thereof with him, saith Hashem.

4 Thus saith Hashem: For shloshah peysha’im of Yehudah, even for arba’ah, I will not turn away the punishment thereof; because they have despised the torat Hashem, and have not been shomer over His chukkim, and their lies caused them to err, after the halakhah of their avot;

5 But I will send an eish upon Yehudah, and it shall devour the fortresses of Yerushalayim.