Amos 7:8-17

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.

10 Then Amatzyah the kohen of Beit-El sent to Yarov‘am Melech Yisroel, saying, Amos hath conspired against thee in the midst of Bais Yisroel; the land is not able to bear all his words.

11 For thus Amos saith, Yarov‘am shall die by the cherev, and Yisroel shall surely be led away into the golus out of their own land.

12 Also Amatzyah said unto Amos, O thou seer, go, flee thee away into Eretz Yehudah, and there eat lechem, and prophesy there:

13 But prophesy not again any more at Beit-El; for it is the Mikdash Melech, and it is the Bais Mamlachah.

14 Then answered Amos, and said to Amatzyah, I was no navi, neither was I a ben navi; but I was a herder, and a dresser of sycamore-fig trees;

15 And Hashem took me as I followed the tzon, and Hashem said unto me, Go, prophesy unto My people Yisroel.

16 Now therefore hear thou the Devar Hashem: Thou sayest, Prophesy not against Yisroel, and drop not thy word against the Bais Yitzchak.

17 Therefore thus saith Hashem: Thy isha shall be a zonah in the city, and thy banim and thy banot shall fall by the cherev, and thy land shall be divided by line; and thou shalt die in an adamah temei’ah (unclean land); and Yisroel shall surely go forth of his land into golus (exile).

Amos 7:8-17 Meaning and Commentary

INTRODUCTION TO AMOS 7

In this and the two following chapters are the visions of Amos, in number five; three of which are contained in this chapter, and with which it begins. The first is of the grasshoppers or locusts eating up the later grass of the land, which are stopped at the intercession of the prophet, Am 7:1-3; the second is of fire the Lord called for to contend by, whose devouring flames are made to cease by the same interposition, Am 7:4-6; and the other is of the plumbline, signifying the utter destruction of the people of Israel, according to the righteous judgment of God, Am 7:7-9; upon the delivery of which prophecies and visions, the priest of Bethel forms a charge against the prophet to the king; and advises Amos to flee into Judea, and prophesy there, and not at Bethel, being willing to be rid of him at any rate, Am 7:10-13; next follows the prophet's vindication of himself showing his divine call to the prophetic office, and his mission and express order he had from the Lord to prophesy unto Israel, Am 7:14,15; and concludes with a denunciation of divine judgments on the priest's family, and upon the whole land of Israel, Am 7:16,17.