Amos 7:8 Komentář

In this chapter we have, I. God contending with Israel, by the judgments, but are reprieved, and the judgments turned away at the prayer of Amos (Amo 7:1-6). 2. God's patience is at length worn out by their obstinacy, and they are rejected, and sentenced to utter ruin (Amo 7:7-9). II. Israel contending with God, by the opposition given to his prophet. 1. Amaziah informs against Amos (Amo 7:10, Amo 7:11) and does what he can to rid the country of him as a public nuisance (Amo 7:12, Amo 7:13). 2. Amos justifies himself in what he did as a prophet (Amo 7:14, Amo 7:15) and denounces the judgments of God against Amaziah his prosecutor (Amo 7:16, Amo 7:17); for, when the contest is between God and man, it is easy to foresee, it is very easy to foretel, who will come off with the worst of it.

INTRODUCTION TO AMOS 7 In this and the two following chapters are the visions of Amos, in number five; three of which are contained in this chapter, and with which it begins. The first is of the grasshoppers or locusts eating up the later grass of the land, which are stopped at the intercession of the prophet, Amo 7:1; the second is of fire the Lord called for to contend by, whose devouring flames are made to cease by the same interposition, Amo 7:4; and the other is of the plumbline, signifying the utter destruction of the people of Israel, according to the righteous judgment of God, Amo 7:7; upon the delivery of which prophecies and visions, the priest of Bethel forms a charge against the prophet to the king; and advises Amos to flee into Judea, and prophesy there, and not at Bethel, being willing to be rid of him at any rate, Amo 7:10; next follows the prophet's vindication of himself showing his divine call to the prophetic office, and his mission and express order he had from the Lord to prophesy unto Israel, Amo 7:14; and concludes with a denunciation of divine judgments on the priest's family, and upon the whole land of Israel, Amo 7:16.

And the Lord said unto me, Amos, what seest thou?.... This question was put to him, the rather, since he was silent, and did not upon this vision, as the former, make any supplication to the Lord; as also, because this vision portended something of moment and importance, which he would have the prophet attend to: and I said, a plumbline; the same word as before, and is differently rendered, as already observed. The Vulgate Latin version renders it, "a plasterer's" or "mason's trowel"; with which they lay their plaster and mortar on in building: the Septuagint, an adamant: and which, by Pliny (f), is called "anachites"; a word in sound near to this here used: the Targum renders it, "judgment": but Jarchi and Aben Ezra observe, that in the Arabic tongue it signifies lead or tin, as it does (g); and so a line with lead at the end of it; then said the Lord, behold, I will set a plumbline in the midst of my people Israel; take an exact account of their actions, and see how they agree or disagree with the rule of the word; and in the most strict and righteous manner deal with them for their sins and transgressions, "lay judgment to the line, and righteousness to the plummet", Isa 28:17; I will not again pass by them any more; wink at their sins, and overlook their transgressions, by not correcting and punishing for them; or will not pardon them, but inflict punishment on them. So the Targum, "behold, I will exercise judgment in the midst of my people Israel, and I will not add any more to pardon them.'' Though some understand it of God's making such an utter end of them, that he should no more "pass through them" (h), to destroy them, having done it at once, and thoroughly. (f) Nat. Hist. l. 3. c. 4. (g) "plumbum, sive nigrum, sive album puriusque", Camusus; "plumbum et stannum", Ibn Maruph apud Golium, col. 176. Avicenna apud Castel. col. 161. Vid. Hottinger. Smegma Oriental. l. 1. c. 7. p. 122. (h) "non adjiciam ultra pertransire eum", Montanus; "non ultra per eum transibit", some in Mercerus.

Jesus would lead his detractors to the point of judging themselves, saying, “What do the vinedressers deserve?” They decided concerning themselves, saying, “Let him destroy the evil ones with evil.” Then he explained this, saying, “Have you not read that ‘the stone which the builders rejected has become the head of the corner?’ ” What stone? That which is known to be lead. For see, he has said, “I am setting a plumb line in the midst of the sons of Israel.” To show that he himself was this stone, he said concerning it, “Whoever knocks against that stone will be broken to pieces, but it will crush and destroy whomever it falls upon.” The leaders of the people were gathered together against him and wanted his downfall because his teaching did not please them. But he said, “It will crush and destroy whomever it falls upon,” because he had resisted idolatry, among other things. For “the stone that struck the image has become a great mountain, and the entire earth has been filled with it.”

(Verse 7 and following) This is what was shown to me: And behold, the Lord stood (in the Latin Vulgate, 'standing') on a wall made of stones, and in his hand was a trowel of a mason. And the Lord said to me, 'What do you see, Amos?' And I said, 'A trowel of a mason.' And the Lord said, 'Behold, I will set a trowel in the midst of my people Israel. I will not add to pass over him anymore, and the high places of idols will be demolished, and the sanctuaries of Israel will be deserted, and I will rise up against the house of Jeroboam with the sword.' LXX: Thus the Lord showed me: And behold, a man standing on a adamantine wall, and in his hand a diamond. And the Lord said to me: What do you see, Amos? And I said: A diamond. And the Lord said to me: Behold, I will cast a diamond in the midst of my people Israel. I will no longer pass by him, and the altars of laughter will be scattered, and the sacrifices of Israel will be desolate, and I will rise up against the house of Jeroboam with the sword. Before we discuss adamante, which Symmachus and the Septuagint translated as Enach in Hebrew, it should be briefly stated that this word was translated by Aquila as γάνωσιν and by Theodotion as τηκόμενον: the former meaning tinning, the latter meaning rotting; like that frying pan (which we read about in Ezekiel 4) where the siege of the people is symbolized, is also referred to as frixura (or signetur), both in the ten tribes and in the kingdom of Jeroboam (who was the grandson of Jehu, under whom this prophecy is seen) in 2 Kings 1, by the term stannaturae. Therefore the Lord is seen standing on the top of a wall made of tin or lead, and in his hand is a trowel or a mason's tray, with which walls are usually covered, and not only to receive beauty, but also strength against the damage of rain and frequent storms. We read in Ezekiel (Chapter XIII) that the Lord threatens that when a storm and hail arise, it will by no means harm or cover the wall of Israel, but will let it be scattered by the rain. And now the one of whom it is written says: He will be called the Builder of the wall, the cornerstone, the builder of the house, who will place a measuring line in the midst of his people Israel, and will make them cease and be dormant, so that he will no longer bring upon them the burden and will clothe and protect them with his help. And when the Lord withdraws his protection, and, so to speak, removes the covering of the wall, then the high places of the idols, which are called Bamoth in Hebrew, will be demolished, and the holy places of the ten tribes will be desolated, so that Dan and Bethel will be destroyed, where the golden calves were worshiped. We have said that as much as we were able, we shall tell what has been handed down to us from the Hebrews according to history. Let us move on to the anagoge, from Xenocrates, who writes a few words about the nature of stones and precious gems: 'The diamond is a stone of its own name, which we can call indomitable in Latin: because it yields to no material, not even to iron. For if it is placed on an anvil and struck with a strong blow of a hammer, the anvil and hammer receive a wound before the diamond is crushed.' And when fire consumes everything and consumes all metals, it makes adamant harder, so that not even the excessive force can dull a small corner of it. I have seen a diamond in gold the size of a thousand millia: and while gold nearby is consumed by long use and excessive age, the diamond alone is not worn down, and no file can diminish it: on the contrary, it wears down the file, and whatever it touches, it leaves a mark. This stone is the hardest and most untameable, yet it is dissolved by the blood of goats alone, and when placed in warm blood, it loses its strength. But he is small and unseemly, having a rusty color and the brilliance of crystal. Four kinds of diamonds are described. The first is Indian; the second is Arabic; the third is Macedonian; the fourth is Cyprian, possessing varying degrees of hardness depending on the quality of the regions. It is also said to detect poisons and resist the evil arts, similar to amber. Such is our Lord and Savior: who, being in the form of God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, but emptied himself, taking the form of a servant, being made in human likeness, and being found in human form: he humbled himself, becoming obedient to death, even death on a cross (Philippians 2). Of whom Isaiah writes: He has no beauty or majesty to attract us to him, nothing in his appearance that we should desire him. He was despised and rejected by mankind, a man of suffering, and familiar with pain. Like one from whom people hide their faces he was despised, and we held him in low esteem. (Isaiah 53:2). This refers to Christ standing on the adamant wall, that is, on his holy apostles, whom he enabled to be called adamant and to say that they were not overcome by anyone, asking, 'Who shall separate us from the love of Christ?' tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? And again: I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord (Rom. VIII, 35 seqq.). And even Peter, who was the strongest diamond, the gates of hell did not prevail against him (Matt. XVI). Here is a man and Lord, who stands upon an adamant wall, holding in his hand an adamant, which unless held by the hand of God and aided by his help, loses all strength, as the Lord says in the Gospel: No one can snatch them out of my Father's hand (John 10:29). And he is so strong that it can be said to him: If you pass through fire, the flame will not burn you (Isaiah 43:2). And the more he is beaten by temptations, the stronger he becomes, and he delights in the name of the Savior amidst the lashes. And since it cannot be overcome by anyone, it is dissolved by the heat of deadly lust alone. For this is said to be the nature of the blood of goats and of the goat itself, that it is very hot for lust, and what fire cannot tame, only its blood dissolves. Therefore, the Lord places such a diamond in the midst of his people Israel, and it does not pass beyond it, nor does he allow the altars, which are worthy of ridicule and mockery, to be destroyed, and he may strike down with the sword all the mysteries of the heretics and the household of Jeroboam, who first separated the people of God, and overthrow them.

In this chapter God represents to Amos, by three several visions, the judgments he is about to bring on Israel. The first is a plague of locusts, threatening to cut of the hopes of the harvest by attacking it in the time of the second growth; the first luxuriances of the crop being probably mowed for the king's horses, Amo 7:1-3. The next vision threatens a judgment by fire, which would consume a great part, Amo 7:4-6; and the third a total overthrow of Israel, levelling it as it were by a line, Amo 7:7-9. The rest of the chapter is a denunciation of heavy judgments against Amaziah, priest of Beth-el, who had brought an accusation to the king against the prophet, Amo 7:10-17.

I will set a plumbline - I will visit them by justice without any mixture of mercy.

showed . . . me; and, behold--The same formula prefaces the three visions in this chapter, and the fourth in Amo 8:1. grasshoppers--rather, "locusts" in the caterpillar state, from a Hebrew root, "to creep forth." In the autumn the eggs are deposited in the earth; in the spring the young come forth [MAURER]. the latter growth--namely, of grass, which comes up after the mowing. They do not in the East mow their grass and make hay of it, but cut it off the ground as they require it. the king's mowings--the first-fruits of the mown grass, tyrannically exacted by the king from the people. The literal locusts, as in Joel, are probably symbols of human foes: thus the "growth" of grass "after the king's mowings" will mean the political revival of Israel under Jeroboam II (Kg2 14:25), after it had been mown down, as it were, by Hazael and Ben-hadad of Syria (Kg2 13:3), [GROTIUS].

plumb-line in . . . midst of . . . Israel--No longer are the symbols, as in the former two, stated generally; this one is expressly applied to Israel. God's long-suffering is worn out by Israel's perversity: so Amos ceases to intercede (compare Gen 18:33). The plummet line was used not only in building, but in destroying houses (Kg2 21:13; Isa 28:17; Isa 34:11; Lam 2:8). It denotes that God's judgments are measured out by the most exact rules of justice. Here it is placed "in the midst" of Israel, that is, the judgment is not to be confined to an outer part of Israel, as by Tiglath-pileser; it is to reach the very center. This was fulfilled when Shalmaneser, after a three years' siege of Samaria, took it and carried away Israel captive finally to Assyria (Kg2 17:3, Kg2 17:5-6, Kg2 17:23). not . . . pass by . . . any more--not forgive them any more (Amo 8:2; Pro 19:11; Mic 7:18).

III. Sights or Visions The last part of the writings of Amos contains five visions, which confirm the contents of the prophetic addresses in the preceding part. The first four visions, however (ch. 7 and Amo 8:1-14), are distinguished from the fifth and last (Amo 9:1-15) by the fact, that whereas the former all commence with the same formula, "Thus hath the Lord showed me," the latter commences with the words, "I saw the Lord," etc. They also differ in their contents, inasmuch as the former symbolize the judgments which have already fallen in part upon Israel, and in part have still to fall; whilst the latter, on the contrary, proclaims the overthrow of the old theocracy, and after this the restoration of the fallen kingdom of God, and its ultimate glory. And again, of these four, the first and second (Amo 7:1-6) are distinguished from the third and fourth (Amo 7:7-9, and Amo 8:1-3) by the fact, that whereas the former contain a promise in reply to the prophet's intercession, that Jacob shall be spared, in the latter any further sparing is expressly refused; so that they are thus formed into two pairs, which differ from one another both in their contents and purpose. This difference is of importance, in relation both to the meaning and also to the historical bearing of the visions. It points to the conclusion, that the first two visions indicate universal judgments, whilst the third and fourth simply threaten the overthrow of the kingdom of Israel in the immediate future, the commencement of which is represented in the fifth and last vision, and which is then still further depicted in its results in connection with the realization of the divine plan of salvation. Visions of the Locusts, the Fire, and the Plumb-Line. The Prophet's Experience at Bethel - Amos 7