10 And I took you up out of the land of Egypt, guiding you for forty years in the waste land, so that you might take for your heritage the land of the Amorite.
To him who put to death the first-fruits of Egypt: for his mercy is unchanging for ever: And took out Israel from among them: for his mercy is unchanging for ever:
You have done signs and wonders in the land of Egypt, and even to this day, in Israel and among other men; and have made a name for yourself as at this day; And have taken your people Israel out of the land of Egypt with signs and with wonders and with a strong hand and an outstretched arm, causing great fear;
You saw that his heart was true to you, and made an agreement with him to give the land of the Canaanite, the Hittite, the Amorite and the Perizzite and the Jebusite and the Girgashite, even to give it to his seed, and you have done what you said; for righteousness is yours: And you saw the trouble of our fathers in Egypt, and their cry came to your ears by the Red Sea; And you did signs and wonders on Pharaoh and all his servants and all the people of his land; for you saw how cruel they were to them. So you got yourself a name as it is today. By you the sea was parted before them, so that they went through the sea on dry land; and those who went after them went down into the deep, like a stone into great waters. And you went before them by day in a pillar of cloud, and in a pillar of fire by night, to give them light on the way they were to go.
And keep in mind the way by which the Lord your God has taken you through the waste land these forty years, so that he might make low your pride and put you to the test, to see what was in your heart and if you would keep his orders or not. And he made low your pride and let you be without food and gave you manna for your food, a thing new to you, which your fathers never saw; so that he might make it clear to you that bread is not man's only need, but his life is in every word which comes out of the mouth of the Lord. Through all these forty years your clothing did not get old or your feet become tired.
And I said to you, You have come to the hill-country of the Amorites, which the Lord our God is giving us. See now, the Lord your God has put the land into your hands: go up and take it, as the Lord, the God of your fathers, has said to you; have no fear and do not be troubled.
And your little ones, whom you said would come into strange hands, I will take in, and they will see the land which you would not have. But as for you, your dead bodies will be stretched in this waste land. And your children will be wanderers in the waste land for forty years, undergoing punishment for your false ways, till your bodies become dust in the waste land. And as you went through the land viewing it for forty days, so for forty years, a year for every day, you will undergo punishment for your wrongdoing, and you will see that I am against you. I the Lord have said it, and this I will certainly do to all this evil people who have come together against me: in this waste land destruction will come on them, and death will be their fate.
Worthy.Bible » Commentaries » Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible » Commentary on Amos 2
Commentary on Amos 2 Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
CHAPTER 2
Am 2:1-16. Charges against Moab, Judah, and Lastly Israel, the Chief Subject of Amos' Prophecies.
1. burned … bones of … king of Edom into lime—When Jehoram of Israel, Jehoshaphat of Judah, and the king of Edom, combined against Mesha king of Moab, the latter failing in battle to break through to the king of Edom, took the oldest son of the latter and offered him as a burnt offering on the wall (2Ki 3:27) [Michaelis]. Thus, "king of Edom" is taken as the heir to the throne of Edom. But "his son" is rather the king of Moab's own son, whom the father offered to Molech [Josephus, Antiquities, 9.3]. Thus the reference here in Amos is not to that fact, but to the revenge which probably the king of Moab took on the king of Edom, when the forces of Israel and Judah had retired after their successful campaign against Moab, leaving Edom without allies. The Hebrew tradition is that Moab in revenge tore from their grave and burned the bones of the king of Edom, the ally of Jehoram and Jehoshaphat, who was already buried. Probably the "burning of the bones" means, "he burned the king of Edom alive, reducing his very bones to lime" [Maurer].
2. Kirioth—the chief city of Moab, called also Kir-Moab (Isa 15:1). The form is plural here, as including both the acropolis and town itself (see Jer 48:24, 41, Margin).
die with tumult—that is, amid the tumult of battle (Ho 10:14).
3. the judge—the chief magistrate, the supreme source of justice. "King" not being used, it seems likely a change of government had before this time substituted for kings, supreme judges.
4. From foreign kingdoms he passes to Judah and Israel, lest it should be said, he was strenuous in denouncing sins abroad, but connived at those of his own nation. Judah's guilt differs from that of all the others, in that it was directly against God, not merely against man. Also because Judah's sin was wilful and wittingly against light and knowledge.
law—the Mosaic code in general.
commandments—or statutes, the ceremonies and civil laws.
their lies—their lying idols (Ps 40:4; Jer 16:19), from which they drew false hopes. The order is to be observed. The Jews first cast off the divine law, then fall into lying errors; God thus visiting them with a righteous retribution (Ro 1:25, 26, 28; 2Th 2:11, 12). The pretext of a good intention is hereby refuted: the "lies" that mislead them are "their (own) lies" [Calvin].
after … which their fathers … walked—We are not to follow the fathers in error, but must follow the word of God alone. It was an aggravation of the Jews' sin that it was not confined to preceding generations; the sins of the sons rivalled those of their fathers (Mt 23:32; Ac 7:51) [Calvin].
5. a fire—Nebuchadnezzar.
6. Israel—the ten tribes, the main subject of Amos' prophecies.
sold the righteous—Israel's judges for a bribe are induced to condemn in judgment him who has a righteous cause; in violation of De 16:19.
the poor for a pair of shoes—literally, "sandals" of wood, secured on the foot by leather straps; less valuable than shoes. Compare the same phrase, for "the most paltry bribe," Am 8:6; Eze 13:19; Joe 3:3. They were not driven by poverty to such a sin; beginning with suffering themselves to be tempted by a large bribe, they at last are so reckless of all shame as to prostitute justice for the merest trifle. Amos convicts them of injustice, incestuous unchastity, and oppression first, as these were so notorious that they could not deny them, before he proceeds to reprove their contempt of God, which they would have denied on the ground that they worshipped God in the form of the calves.
7. pant after … dust of … earth on … head of … poor—that is, eagerly thirst for this object, by their oppression to prostrate the poor so as to cast the dust on their heads in mourning on the earth (compare 2Sa 1:2; Job 2:12; Eze 27:30).
turn aside … way of … meek—pervert their cause (Am 5:12; Job 24:4 [Grotius]; Isa 10:2).
a man and his father—a crime "not so much as named among the Gentiles" (1Co 5:1). When God's people sin in the face of light, they often fall lower than even those who know not God.
go in unto the same maid—from Am 2:8 it seems likely "the damsel" meant is one of the prostitutes attached to the idol Astarte's temple: prostitution being part of her filthy worship.
to profane my … name—Israel in such abominations, as it were, designedly seeks to insult God.
8. lay themselves … upon clothes laid to pledge—the outer garment, which Ex 22:25-27 ordered to be restored to the poor man before sunset, as being his only covering. It aggravated the crime that they lay on these clothes in an idol temple.
by every altar—They partook in a recumbent posture of their idolatrous feasts; the ancients being in the habit of reclining at full length in eating, the upper part of the body resting on the left elbow, not sitting as we do.
drink … wine of the condemned—that is, wine bought with the money of those whom they unjustly fined.
9. Yet—My former benefits to you heighten your ingratitude.
the Amorite—the most powerful of all the Canaanite nations, and therefore put for them all (Ge 15:16; 48:22; De 1:20; Jos 7:7).
height … like … cedars—(Nu 13:32, 33).
destroyed his fruit … above … roots … beneath—that is, destroyed him utterly (Job 18:16; Eze 17:9; Mal 4:1).
10. brought you up from … Egypt—"brought up" is the phrase, as Egypt was low and flat, and Canaan hilly.
to possess the land of the Amorite—The Amorites strictly occupied both sides of the Jordan and the mountains afterward possessed by Judah; but they here, as in Am 2:9, stand for all the Canaanites. God kept Israel forty years in the wilderness, which tended to discipline them in His statutes, so as to be the better fitted for entering on the possession of Canaan.
11. Additional obligations under which Israel lay to God; the prophets and Nazarites, appointed by Him, to furnish religious instruction and examples of holy self-restraint.
of your young men—It was a specimen of Israel's highly favored state, that, of the class most addicted to pleasures, God chose those who by a solemn vow bound themselves to abstinence from all produce of the vine, and from all ceremonial and moral defilement. The Nazarite was not to shave (Nu 6:2, &c.). God left nothing undone to secure the purity of their worship and their faithfulness to it (La 4:7). The same comes from a Hebrew root, nazar, "to set apart." Samson, Samuel, and John the Baptist were Nazarites.
Is it not even thus—Will any of you dare to deny it is so?
12. Ye so despised these My favors, as to tempt the Nazarite to break his vow; and forbade the prophets prophesying (Isa 30:10). So Amaziah forbade Amos (Am 7:12, 13, 14).
13. I am pressed under you—so Calvin (Compare Isa 1:14). The Margin translates actively, "I will depress your place," that is, "I will make it narrow," a metaphor for afflicting a people; the opposite of enlarging, that is, relieving (Ps 4:1; Pr 4:12). Maurer translates, "I will press you down" (not as Margin, "your place"; so the Hebrew, Job 40:12; or Am 2:7 in Hebrew text). Amos, as a shepherd, appropriately draws his similes from rustic scenes.
14. flight shall perish from … swift—Even the swift shall not be able to escape.
strong shall not strengthen his force—that is, shall not be able to use his strength.
himself—literally, "his life."
16. flee … naked—If any escape, it must be with the loss of accoutrements, and all that would impede rapid flight. They must be content with saving their life alone.