Amos 5:7

7 You that turn judgment into wormwood, and forsake justice in the land,

Amos 5:7 Meaning and Commentary

Amos 5:7

Ye who turn judgment to wormwood
This seems to be spoken to kings and judges, as Aben Ezra and Kimchi observe; in whose hands is the administration of justice, and who often pervert it, as these did here addressed and complained of; that which was the most useful and salubrious, and so the most desirable to the commonwealth, namely, just judgment, was changed into the reverse, what was as bitter and as disagreeable as wormwood; or "hemlock", as it might be rendered, and as it is in ( Amos 6:12 ) ; even injustice: and leave off righteousness in the earth;
leave off doing it among men: or rather, "leave [it] on the earth" ^F3; who cast it down to the ground, trampled upon it, and there left it; which is expressive not only of their neglect, but of their contempt of it; see ( Daniel 8:12 ) .

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FOOTNOTES:

F3 (wxynh) "in terram prosterunt", Piscator; "justitiam in terram reliquerunt, i.e. humi prosternitis et deseritis", Mercerus; "collocantes humi", Junius & Tremellius.

Amos 5:7 In-Context

5 But seek not Bethel, and go not into Galgal, neither shall you pass over to Bersabee: for Galgal shall go into captivity, and Bethel shall be unprofitable.

6 Seek ye the Lord, and live: lest the house of Joseph be burnt with fire, and it shall devour, and there shall be none to quench Bethel.

7 You that turn judgment into wormwood, and forsake justice in the land,

8 Seek him that maketh Arcturus, and Orion, and that turneth darkness into morning, and that changeth day into night: that calleth the waters of the sea, and poureth them out upon the face of the earth: The Lord is his name.

9 He that with a smile bringeth destruction upon the strong, and waste upon the mighty.