Amos 7:7

7 Thus He showed me; and, hinei, Hashem stood upon a chomah (wall) made with a plumb line, and a plumb line in His hand.

Amos 7:7 Meaning and Commentary

Amos 7:7

Thus he showed me
A third vision, which was in the following manner: and, behold, the Lord stood upon a wall [made] by a plumbline, with a
plumbline in his hand:
this "wall" was the people of Israel, who were built up as a wall, firm and strong; and so stood against their enemies, while supported by the Lord, and he stood by them. The Septuagint version is, "an adamantine wall". In their constitution, both civil and ecclesiastic, they were formed according to the good and righteous laws of God, which may be signified by the plumbline; and so the Targum renders it, "the wall of judgment". And now the Lord appears standing upon this wall, to trample it down, and not to support it; and with a plumbline in his hand, to examine and try whether this wall was as it was first erected; whether it did not bulge out, and vary from its former structure, and was not according to the line and rule of his divine word, which was a rule of righteousness.

Amos 7:7 In-Context

5 Then said I, O Adonoi Hashem, cease, I beseech thee; how shall Ya’akov survive? For he is katon.

6 Hashem relented for this: This also shall not be, saith Adonoi Hashem.

7 Thus He showed me; and, hinei, Hashem stood upon a chomah (wall) made with a plumb line, and a plumb line in His hand.

8 And Hashem said unto me, Amos, what seest thou? And I said, A plumb line. Then said Hashem, Hineni, I will set a plumb line in the midst of My people Yisroel; I will not again pass by them [and spare them] anymore;

9 And the high places of Yitzchak shall be desolate, and the mikdeshei Yisroel (i.e., heathen sanctuaries) shall be laid waste; and I will rise against the Bais Yarov‘am with the cherev.