Amos 9:6

6 He that buildeth his going up in heaven, shall do these things, and founded his burden on earth; which calleth waters of the sea, and poureth out them on the face of (the) earth; the Lord is (the) name of him. (He who buildeth his stairway in the heavens, and putteth his dome over the earth, shall do these things; who calleth for the waters of the sea, and poureth them out upon the face of the earth; the Lord is his name.)

Amos 9:6 Meaning and Commentary

Amos 9:6

[It is] he that buildeth his stories in the heaven
The three elements, according to Aben Ezra, fire, air, and water; the orbs, as Kimchi, one above another; a word near akin to this is rendered "his chambers", which are the clouds, ( Psalms 104:3 Psalms 104:13 ) ; perhaps the heaven, and the heaven of heavens, which are three stories high, may be meant; we read of the third heaven, ( 2 Corinthians 12:2 ) ; and particularly the throne of God is in the highest heaven; and the "ascents" F25 to it, as it may be rendered. The Targum is,

``who causeth to dwell in a high fortress the Shechinah of his glory:''
and hath founded his troop in the earth;
this Kimchi interprets of the three above elements. So the words are translated in the Bishops' Bible in Queen Elizabeth's time,
``he buildeth his spheres in the heaven, and hath laid the foundation of his globe of elements in the earth.''
Aben Ezra interprets it of animals; it may take in the whole compass of created beings on earth; so Jarchi explains it of the collection of his creatures; though he takes notice of another sense given, a collection of the righteous, which are the foundation of the earth, and for whose sake all things stand. Abarbinel interprets it of the whole of the tribe of Israel; and so the Targum paraphrases it of his congregation or church on earth: he beautifies his elect, which are "his bundle" {z}, as it may be rendered; who are bound up in the bundle of life with the Lord their God, and are closely knit and united, as to God and Christ, so to one another; and perhaps is the best sense of the words {a}: he that calleth for the waters of the sea, and poureth them out upon
the face of the earth, the Lord [is] his name;
either to drown it, as at the general deluge; or to water and refresh it, as he does by exhaling water from the sea, and then letting it down in plentiful showers upon the earth; (See Gill on Amos 5:8); now all these things are observed to show the power of God, and that therefore there can be no hope of escaping out of his hands.
FOOTNOTES:

F25 (wytwlem) "ascensiones suus", Pagninus, Montanus, Munster, Tigurine version, "gradus suo", Vatablus, Drusius, Cocceius.
F26 (wtdga) "fasciculum suum", Montanus, Munster, Mercerus, Vatablus, Drusius, Burkius.
F1 Schultens in Observ. ad Genesin, p. 197, 198, observes, that <arabic> "agad", with the Arabs, signifies primarily to "bind", and is by them transferred to a building firmly bound, and compact together; and so may intend here in Amos the Lord's building, the church, which he hath founded in the earth; and so <arabic> with Golius and Castellus is a building firmly compacted together. (tdga) is used for a bunch of hyssop, Exod. xii. 27. and in the Misnic language for a handful or bundle of anything; see Buxtorf. Lex. Talmud. rad. (dga) .

Amos 9:6 In-Context

4 And if they shall go away into captivity before their enemies, there I shall command to sword, and it shall slay them. And I shall put mine eyes on them into evil, and not into good. (And if they be taken away into captivity by their enemies, I shall command to the sword there, and it shall kill them. I shall look upon them for evil, and not for good/I shall look at them to do evil, and not to do good.)
5 And the Lord God of hosts shall do these things, (he) that toucheth earth, and it shall fail, and all men dwelling therein shall mourn; and it shall go up as each strand, and it shall float away as the flood of Egypt. (And the Lord God of hosts shall do these things, yea, he who toucheth the earth, and it faileth, and all the people living there shall mourn; and it shall go up like a stream, and it shall flow away like the River of Egypt.)
6 He that buildeth his going up in heaven, shall do these things, and founded his burden on earth; which calleth waters of the sea, and poureth out them on the face of (the) earth; the Lord is (the) name of him. (He who buildeth his stairway in the heavens, and putteth his dome over the earth, shall do these things; who calleth for the waters of the sea, and poureth them out upon the face of the earth; the Lord is his name.)
7 Whether not as the sons of Ethiopians ye be to me, the sons of Israel? saith the Lord God. Whether I made not Israel for to go up from the land of Egypt, and Palestines from Cappadocia, and Syrians from Kir? (Be ye not like the Ethiopians to me, ye Israelites? saith the Lord God. Did I not make Israel to go up from the land of Egypt, like the Philistines from Caphtor, and the Syrians, or the Aramaeans, from Kir?)
8 Lo! the eyes of the Lord God be on the realm sinning (Lo! the eyes of the Lord God be upon the sinning realm, or upon this sinful kingdom), and I shall all-break it from (off) the face of [the] earth; nevertheless I all-breaking shall not all-break the house of Jacob, saith the Lord.
Copyright © 2001 by Terence P. Noble. For personal use only.