Amos 6:11

11 For, hinei, Hashem commandeth, and He will strike the bais hagadol into ruins, and the bais hakaton into pieces.

Amos 6:11 Meaning and Commentary

Amos 6:11

For, behold, the Lord commandeth
Hath determined and ordered the judgment before, and what follows: Kimchi paraphrases it, hath decreed the earthquake, as in ( Amos 3:15 ) ; of which he understands the following: and he will smite the great house with breaches;
or "droppings" ^F8; so that the rain shall drop through: and the little house with clefts;
so that it shall fall to ruin; that is, he shall smite the houses both of great and small, of the princes, and of the common people, either with an earthquake, so that they shall part asunder and fall; or, being left without inhabitants, shall of course become desolate, there being none to repair their breaches. Some understand, by the "great house", the ten tribes of Israel; and, by the "little house", the two tribes of Judah and Benjamin; to which sense the Targum seems to incline,

``he will smite the great kingdom with a mighty stroke, and the little kingdom with a weak stroke.''

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FOOTNOTES:

F8 (Myoyor) "guttis, [seu] stillis", Piscator; (qekadev) , "quae est minuta et rorans pluvia", Drusius.

Amos 6:11 In-Context

9 And it shall come to pass, if there remain asarah anashim in one bais, they shall die.

10 And a man’s relative shall take him up, and he that burieth him, to carry out the bones out of the bais, and shall say unto him still hiding inside, Is there yet any with thee? And he shall say, Not one. Then shall he say, Hold thy tongue; for the Shem Hashem is not to be invoked.

11 For, hinei, Hashem commandeth, and He will strike the bais hagadol into ruins, and the bais hakaton into pieces.

12 Do susim run upon the rock? Do men plow there with oxen? For ye have turned mishpat into poison, and the p’ri of tzedakah into wormwood;

13 Ye which rejoice over what is worthless, which say, Have we not taken to us horns [i.e., symbols of military resources] by chazekeinu (our own strength)?