Amos 9:1-6

1 I saw Adonoi standing by the mizbe’ach; and He said, Strike the pillar capitals [of the heathen shrine], that the thresholds may shake; and smash them upon the heads of all; and I will slay the last of them with the cherev; he that fleeth of them shall not get away, and he that escapeth of them shall not be delivered.

2 Though they dig down to Sheol, thence shall Mine hand take them; though they climb up to Shomayim, thence will I bring them down;

3 And though they hide themselves in the summit of Carmel, I will search and take them out thence; and though they be hid from My sight in the bottom of the yam, thence will I command the nachash, and he shall bite them;

4 And though they go into golus (exile) before their enemies, thence will I command the cherev, and it shall slay them; and I will set Mine eyes upon them for rah, and not for tov.

5 And Adonoi Hashem HaTzva’os is He that toucheth the land, and it shall melt, and all that dwell therein shall mourn; and it shall rise up wholly like the Nile; and sink like the Nile of Mitzrayim.

6 It is He that buildeth his ma’alot (stairs) in Shomayim, and hath founded His aguddah (fitted together vault) over Eretz; He that calleth for the waters of the yam, and poureth them out upon the face of ha’aretz; Hashem Shmo.

Amos 9:1-6 Meaning and Commentary

INTRODUCTION TO AMOS 9

This chapter contains the fifth and last vision the prophet saw; which represents the certain desolation of the land, city, and temple, and the slaughter of all sorts of persons, high and low, none should escape it, Am 9:1; be they where they would, they should be found out, whether in hell or heaven, on the tops of the highest mountains, or in the bottom of the sea, or in a foreign land, since the eyes of the Lord were upon them for evil, Am 9:2-4; nor could they hope to escape, when they considered his greatness and his power, and what he could do, and had done; and how they had behaved towards him, even though they were the people he had brought out of Egypt, Am 9:5-7; but though the sinful kingdom should be destroyed, yet not utterly, a remnant should be saved, Am 9:8-10; and the chapter is concluded with gracious promises of raising up the tabernacle of David fallen down, and of the return of the people of Israel to their own land; and of their settlement and continuance in it, never more to depart from it, Am 9:11-15.