Amos 5:16 Komentář

The scope of this chapter is to prosecute the exhortation given to Israel in the close of the foregoing chapter to prepare to meet their God; the prophet here tells them, I. What preparation they must make; they must "seek the Lord," and not seek any more to idols (Amo 5:4-8); they must seek good, and love it (Amo 5:14, Amo 5:15). II. Why they must make this preparation to meet their God, 1. Because of the present deplorable condition they were in (Amo 5:1-3). 2. Because it was by sin that they were brought into such a condition (Amo 5:7, Amo 5:10-12). 3. Because it would be their happiness to seek God, and he was ready to be found of them (Amo 5:8, Amo 5:9, Amo 5:14). 4. Because he would proceed, in his wrath, to their utter ruin, if they did not seek him (Amo 5:5, Amo 5:6, Amo 5:13, Amo 5:16, Amo 5:17). 5. Because all their confidences would fail them if they did not seek unto God, and make him their friend. (1.) Their profane contempt of God's judgments, and setting them at defiance, would not secure them (Amo 5:18-20). (2.) Their external services in religion, and the shows of devotion, would not avail to turn away the wrath of God (Amo 5:21-24). (3.) Their having been long in possession of church-privileges, and in a course of holy duties, would not be their protection, while all along they had kept up their idolatrous customs (Amo 5:25-27). They have therefore no way left them to save themselves, but by repentance and reformation.

Here is, I. A very terrible threatening of destruction approaching, Amo 5:16, Amo 5:17. Since they would not take the right course to obtain the favour of God, God would take an effectual course to make them feel the weight of his displeasure. The threatening is introduced with more than ordinary solemnity, to strike an awe upon them; it is not the word of the prophet only (if so, it might be made light of) but it is the Lord Jehovah, who has an infinite eternal being; it is the God of hosts, who has a boundless irresistible power, and it is Adonai - the Lord, who has an absolute incontestable sovereignty, and a universal dominion; it is he who says it, who can and will make his words good, and he has said, 1. That the land of Israel shall be put in mourning, true mourning, that all places shall be filled with lamentation for the calamities coming upon them. Look into the cities, and wailing shall be in all streets, in the great streets, in the by-streets. Look into the country, and they shall say in all the highways, Alas! alas! we are all undone! The lamentation shall be so great as not to be confined within doors, nor kept within the bounds of decency, but it shall be proclaimed in the streets and highways, and shall run wild. The husbandman shall be called from the plough by the calamities of his country to the natural expressions of mourning; and, because those who will come short of the merits of the cause, such as are skilful of lamentation shall be called to artificial mourning, to put accents upon the lamentations of the real mourners with their Ahone, ahone. Even in all vineyards, where there used to be nothing but mirth and pleasure, there shall be general wailing, when a foreign force invades the country, lays all waste, and there is no making any head against it, no weapons left but prayers and tears. 2. That the land of Israel shall be brought to ruin, and the advances of that ruin are the occasion of all this wailing: I will pass through thee, as the destroying angel passed through the land of Egypt to destroy the first-born, but then passed over the houses of the Israelites. God's judgments had often passed by them, but now they shall pass through them, shall run them through. II. A just and severe reproof to those who made light of these threatenings, and impudently bade defiance to the justice of God and his judgments, Amo 5:18. Woe unto you that desire the day of the Lord, that really wish for times of war and confusion, as some do who have restless spirits, and long for changes, or who choose to fish in troubled waters, hoping to raise their families, as some had done, upon the ruins of their country; but the prophet tells them that this should be so great a desolation that nobody could get by it. Or it is spoken to those who, in their wailings and lamentations for the calamities they were in, wished they might die, and be delivered out of their misery, as Job did, with passion. The prophet shows them the folly of this. Do they know what death is to those who are unprepared for it, and how much more terrible it will be than any thing that can befal them in this life? Or, rather, it is spoken to those who speak jestingly of that day of the Lord which the prophet spoke so seriously of; they desired it, that is, they challenged it; they said, Let him do his worst; let him make speed, and hasten his work, Isa 5:19. Where is the promise of his coming? Pe2 3:4. It intimates, 1. That they do not believe it. They say that they wish it would come because they do not believe it will ever come; nor will they believe it unless they see it. 2. That they do not fear it; though they may have some belief of it, yet they had so little consideration of it, and their mind is so intent upon other things, that they are under no apprehension at all of peril from it; instead of having the conscience to dread it, they have the curiosity to desire it. In answer to this, (1.) He shows the folly of those who impudently wished for any of God's judgments, and made a jest of any of the terrors of the Lord: "To what end is it for you that the day of the Lord should come? You will find it both certain and sad; not a thing to be bantered, for it is neither a thing to be questioned whether it will come or no nor a thing to be turned off with a slight when it does come. The day of the Lord is darkness, and not light, Amo 5:18. Shall it not be so? Amo 5:20. Do not your own consciences tell you that it will be so, that it will be very dark, and no brightness in it?" Note, The day of the Lord will be a dark, dismal, gloomy day to all impenitent sinners; the day of judgment will be so; and sometimes the day of their present trouble. And, when God makes a day dark, all the world cannot make it light. (2.) He shows the folly of those who impatiently wished for a change of God's judgment, in hopes that the next would be better and more tolerable. They desire the day of the Lord, in hopes to better themselves (though their hearts and lives be not amended), or, at least, to know the worst. But the prophet tells them that they know not what they ask, Amo 5:19. It is as if a man did flee from a lion and a bear met him, a beast of prey more cruel and ravenous than a lion, or as if a man, to escape all dangers abroad, went into the house for security, and leaned his hand on the wall to rest himself, and there a serpent bit him. Note, Those who are not reformed by the judgments of God will be pursued by them; and, if they escape one, another stands ready to seize them; fear and the pit and snare surround them, Isa 24:17, Isa 24:18. It is madness therefore to defy the day of the Lord.

INTRODUCTION TO AMOS 5 In this chapter the prophet exhorts Israel to hear his lamentation over them for their impending ruin, Amo 5:1; nevertheless to seek the Lord, and all that is good; to forsake their idols, and repent of their sins, in hopes of finding mercy, and living comfortably; or otherwise they must expect the wrath of God for their iniquities, especially their oppression of the poor, Amo 5:4; otherwise it would be a time of weeping and wailing, of darkness and distress, however they might harden or flatter themselves, or make a jest of it, Amo 5:16; for all their sacrifices and ceremonial worship would signify nothing, so long as they continued their idolatry with them Amo 5:21; and therefore should surely go into captivity, Amo 5:27.

Therefore the Lord, the God of hosts, the Lord, saith thus,.... The connection of these words is not with those that immediately precede, but with the whole context; seeing neither promises nor threats, exhortations, good advice, and intimations of grace and mercy, had no effect, at least upon the generality of the people, therefore the Lord declared as follows: wailing shall be in all streets; in all the streets of the towns and cities of Israel, because of the slain and wounded in them: and they shall say in all the highways, alas! alas! in the several roads throughout the country, as travellers pass on, and persons flee from the enemy; they shall lament the state of the kingdom, and cry Woe, woe, unto it; in what a miserable condition and circumstances it is in: and they shall call the husbandmen to mourning: who used to be better employed in tilling their land, ploughing, sowing, reaping, and gathering in the fruits of the earth; but now should have no work to do, all being destroyed, either by the hand of God, by blasting, and mildew, and vermin, or by the trampling and forage of the enemy; and so there would be just occasion for mourning: and such as are skilful of lamentation to wailing; that have got the art of mourning, and were expert in making moans, and using plaintive tones, and who assisted at funerals, and other doleful occasions; and who are made use of to this day in some countries, particularly in Ireland; and were the old Romans, by whom they were called "siticines", "praefici", and "praeficae" and these mourning men and women were also employed among the Jews at such times; see Mat 9:23; in Jer 9:17, the mourning women are called "cunning women"; and so Lucian (h) calls: them , "sophists at lamentations", artists: at them, well skilled therein, such as those are here directed to be called for. Mr. Lively, our countryman, puts both clauses together, and renders them thus, "the husbandmen shall call to mourning and wailing such as are skilful of lamentation"; to assist them therein, because of the loss of the fruits of the earth; and such a version is confirmed by Jarchi, though he paraphrases it to a different sense; "companies of husbandmen shall meet those that plough in the fields with the voice of mourners that cry in the streets.'' (h) Dialog. .

(Verse 16, 17.) Therefore, thus says the Lord God of hosts, the ruler: In all the streets there will be lamentation, and in all the public squares people will say, ‘Alas! Alas!’ They will summon the farmer to mourning and those skilled in lamentation to lament. And in all the vineyards there will be lamentation, for I will pass through your midst, says the Lord. LXX: Therefore, thus says the Lord God Almighty: In all the streets there will be lamentation, and in all the roads people will say, ‘Alas! Alas!’ The farmer will be called to mourning, and those who know lamentation to lament, and in all the streets there will be lamentation: for I will pass through the midst of you, says the Lord. I have commanded you to seek good, and not evil, so that you may live, and the Lord God of hosts will be with you. And again I say (lest you say you were only warned once): Hate evil, and love good, and restore justice in the gates; those who hated the one who rebuked in the gate, let the Lord have mercy on the rest of Joseph; and because you refused to do so, trampling on my commandments and turning against me, a turning away shoulder: therefore the Lord God Almighty, who is the Lord of hosts, says this: everywhere there is lamentation, everywhere there is mourning. The farmers will be called to mourn, and those who know the customs of the province will be called to incite tears, so that there will be mourning and lamentation not in all the streets, as was said above, but in the vineyards; where once there was material for joy, let it be the origin of tears. And all these things will happen, because I will pass through, says the Lord. The Hebrew word, 'I will pass through', which in their language is called Evor (), whenever it is used in the Holy Scriptures in the person of God, is to be understood as punishment, so that it may not remain among them; but let it pass through and leave. And in other places according to the interpretation of Aquila, when God is angry, He calls His fury and wrath 'ἀνυπερθεσία', which can all be applied to heretics, because they have refused to do both what is right and what is just, so there will be mourning in all their streets. For the wide and spacious road leads to destruction (Matthew 7); and each heretic and gentile has their own streets in their sand and fantasies, to which it is subsequently added: 'Woe, woe' will be said about everything that is outside. For those who are in the Church do not listen, which is the ultimate punishment; but if perhaps they have sinned, lamentation will be taken upon them. Therefore, however, it will be said outside or in all ways, woe, woe: because they do not have one way that leads to life, and which is the royal way, but crooked and perverse, and deviating to the right and to the left, while they do not hear the Lord saying: Do not be too righteous. And: The ways that are on the left are perverse. And they encounter a twofold woe, of the flesh and of the spirit, of the present age and of the future. When, on the other hand, ecclesiastics hear: Rejoice, I say again, rejoice (Philip. IV, 4). But even the farmer is called to mourning (for heretics indeed have their farmers, in whose fields thistles and thorns grow), and those who know how to lament are called to mourn, either for their own sins or for the sins of others; although we can take these things in a good sense, so that the man of the Church, powerful to provoke penance, may imitate his Lord saying: We have lamented, and you have not mourned (Luc. VII, 32), and let him mourn for the heretics, as King Saul of Israel once mourned for Samuel (I Reg. XV). And the Apostle says that he mourns over those who have not repented (II Cor. XII). And in all vineyards there will be lamentation, because the vineyards of Sodom are their vineyards. And for the wine of joy, which gladdens the heart of man, they have brought the wine of dragons and the incurable rage of asps. And all these things they will suffer; for the Lord will pass through their midst, so that he does not dwell among them, nor say: I will dwell in them, and walk among them. And behold, I am with you all days even to the consummation of the age. (Matthew 28:20)

This chapter opens with a tender and pathetic lamentation, in the style of a funeral song, over the house of Israel, Amo 5:1, Amo 5:2. The prophet then glances at the awful threatening denounced against them, Amo 5:3; earnestly exhorting them to renounce their idols, and seek Jehovah, of whom he gives a very magnificent description, Amo 5:4-9. He then reproves their injustice and oppression with great warmth and indignation; exhorts them again to repentance; and enforces his exhortation with the most awful threatenings, delivered with great majesty and authority, and in images full of beauty and grandeur, Amo 5:10-24. The chapter concludes with observing that their idolatry was of long standing, that they increased the national guilt, by adding to the sins of their fathers; and that their punishment, therefore, should be great in proportion, Amo 5:25-27. Formerly numbers of them were brought captive to Damascus, Kg2 10:32, Kg2 10:33; but now they must go beyond it to Assyria, Kg2 15:29; Kg2 17:6.

They shall call the husbandman to mourning - Because the crops have failed, and the ground has been tilled in vain. Such as are skillful of lamentation - See the note on Jer 9:17.

ELEGY OVER THE PROSTRATE KINGDOM: RENEWED EXHORTATIONS TO REPENTANCE: GOD DECLARES THAT THE COMING DAY OF JUDGMENT SHALL BE TERRIBLE TO THE SCORNERS WHO DESPISE IT: CEREMONIAL SERVICES ARE NOT ACCEPTABLE TO HIM WHERE TRUE PIETY EXISTS NOT: ISRAEL SHALL THEREFORE BE REMOVED FAR EASTWARD. (Amos 5:1-27) lamentation--an elegy for the destruction coming on you. Compare Eze 32:2, "take up," namely, as a mournful burden (Eze 19:1; Eze 27:2).

Therefore--resumed from Amo 5:13. God foresees they will not obey the exhortation (Amo 5:14-15), but will persevere in the unrighteousness stigmatized (Amo 5:7, Amo 5:10, Amo 5:12). the Lord--JEHOVAH. the God of hosts, the Lord--an accumulation of titles, of which His lordship over all things is the climax, to mark that from His judgment there is no appeal. streets . . . highways--the broad open spaces and the narrow streets common in the East. call the husbandman to mourning--The citizens shall call the inexperienced husbandmen to act the part usually performed by professional mourners, as there will not be enough of the latter for the universal mourning which prevails. such as are skilful of lamentation--professional mourners hired to lead off the lamentations for the deceased; alluded to in Ecc 12:5; generally women (Jer 9:17-19).

The Overthrow of the Kingdom of the Ten Tribes - Amos 5 and Amo 6:1-14 The elegy, which the prophet commences in Amo 5:2, upon the fall of the daughter of Israel, forms the theme of the admonitory addresses in these two chapters. These addresses, which are divided into four parts by the admonitions, "Seek Jehovah, and live," in Amo 5:4 and Amo 5:6, "Seek good" in Amo 5:14, and the two woes (hōi) in Amo 5:18 and Amo 6:1, have no other purpose than this, to impress upon the people of God the impossibility of averting the threatened destruction, and to take away from the self-secure sinners the false foundations of their trust, by setting the demands of God before them once more. In every one of these sections, therefore, the proclamation of the judgment returns again, and that in a form of greater and greater intensity, till it reaches to the banishment of the whole nation, and the overthrow of Samaria and the kingdom (Amo 5:27; Amo 6:8.).

This judgment is announced in Amo 5:16, Amo 5:17. Amo 5:16. "Therefore thus saith Jehovah the God of hosts, the Lord: In all roads lamentation! and in all streets will men say, Alas! alas! and they call the husbandman to mourning, and lamentation to those skilled in lamenting. Amo 5:17. And in all vineyards lamentation, because I go through the midst of thee, saith Jehovah." Lâkhēn (therefore) is not connected with the admonitions in Amo 5:14, Amo 5:15, nor can it point back to the reproaches in Amo 5:7, Amo 5:10-12, since they are too far off: it rather links on to the substance of Amo 5:13, which involves the thought that all admonition to return is fruitless, and the ungodly still persist in their unrighteousness, - a thought which also forms the background of Amo 5:14, Amo 5:15. The meaning of Amo 5:16, Amo 5:17 is, that mourning and lamentation for the dead will fill both city and land. On every hand will there be dead to weep for, because Jehovah will go judging through the land. The roads and streets are not merely those of the capital, although these are primarily to be thought of, but those of all the towns in the kingdom. Mispēd is the death-wail. This is evident from the parallel 'âmar hō hō, saying, Alas, alas! i.e., striking up the death-wail (cf. Jer 22:18). And this death-wail will not be heard in all the streets of the towns only, but the husbandman will also be called from the field to mourn, i.e., to seep for one who has died in his house. The verb קראוּ, they call, belongs to מספּד אל י, they call lamentation to those skilled in mourning: for they call out the word mispēd to the professional mourners; in other words, they send for them to strike up their wailing for the dead. ידעי נהי (those skilled in mourning) are the public wailing women, who were hired when a death occurred to sing mourning songs (compare Jer 9:16; Mat 9:23, and my Bibl. Archologie, ii. p. 105). Even in all the vineyards, the places where rejoicing is generally looked for (Amo 5:11; Isa 16:10), the death-wail will be heard. Amo 5:17 mentions the event which occasions the lamentation everywhere. כּי, for (not "if") I go through the midst of thee. These words are easily explained from Exo 12:12, from which Amos has taken them. Jehovah there says to Moses, "I pass through the land of Egypt, and smite all the first-born." And just as the Lord once passed through Egypt, so will He now pass judicially through Israel, and slay the ungodly. For Israel is no longer the nation of the covenant, which He passes over and spares (Amo 7:8; Amo 8:2), but has become an Egypt, which He will pass through as a judge to punish it. This threat is carried out still further in the next two sections, commencing with hōi.