Amos 3:12 Kommentar

A stupid, senseless, heedless people, are, in this chapter, called upon to take notice, I. Of the judgments of God denounced against them and the warnings he gave them of those judgments, and to be hereby awakened out of their security (Amo 3:1-8). II. Of the sins that were found among them, by which God was provoked thus to threaten, thus to punish, that they might justify God in his controversy with them, and, unless they repented and reformed, might expect no other than that God should proceed in his controversy (Amo 3:9-15).

INTRODUCTION TO AMOS 3 In this chapter the prophet goes on with his prophecy against Israel, whom God had highly favoured, and yet sinned against him, and therefore must expect to be punished by him; and the rather, since he and they were not agreed; and therefore there could be no communion between them, Amo 3:1; and by various similes are set forth the cause of divine judgments, the certain design of them, and their continuance, till the end is answered; which should be attended to, since every thing of this kind is of God, who giving his prophets notice of it, they are under an absolute necessity of declaring it; nor should they be blamed for it, Amo 3:4; and even the Heathen nations are appealed unto as witnesses of the sins of Israel, that caused such a denunciation of wrath; their tumults, oppression, injustice, violence, and robbery, Amo 3:9; wherefore an adversary is threatened to be sent among them, that should utterly destroy them, so that few should escape, Amo 3:11; particularly their idolatry and luxury seem to have been reigning sins, which had a great hand in bringing on their rum, and for which the Lord would punish them, Amo 3:13.

Hear ye, and testify in the house of Jacob,.... The prophets and priests, whose business it was to speak to the people from the Lord, and declare his will to them, and to admonish them of their sin and danger, are here called upon to hearken to what the Lord was about to say, and to testify and publish it to the people of Israel, the posterity of Jacob, though sadly degenerated: saith the Lord God, the God of hosts; the eternal Jehovah, the Being of beings, the God of the whole earth, the God of the armies above and below; and, being so great, ought to be heard with the greatest attention and reverence in what follows.

If, then, any hope of salvation is still left to you, if any slight remembrance of God, if any desire for future rewards, if any fear of the punishments reserved for the unrepentant come back quickly to sobriety; raise your eyes to the heavens; return to your senses; cease your wickedness; shake off the drunkenness that has drenched you; stand up against him who has overthrown you. Have the strength to rise up from the earth. Remember the good Shepherd, how he will pursue and deliver you. And if there are but “two legs, or the tip of an ear,” leap back from him who has wounded you. Remember the compassion of God, how he heals with olive oil and wine. Do not despair of salvation. Recall the memory of what has been written, how he that falls rises again, and he that is turned away turns again, he that has been smitten is healed, he that is caught by wild beasts escapes, and he that confesses is not rejected. The Lord does not wish the death of the sinner, but that he return and live. Do not be contemptuous as one who has fallen into the depths of sins.

(Vers. 12, 13.) Thus says the Lord: Just as a shepherd rescues from the mouth of a lion two legs or the tip of an ear, so will the sons of Israel who dwell in Samaria be rescued, on the corner of a bed and in Damascus on the sheets. LXX: Thus says the Lord: Just as a shepherd tears away from the mouth of a lion two legs or the tip of an ear, so will the sons of Israel who dwell in Samaria be torn away, in front of the tribe and in Damascus. In the beginning of Amos, where we discussed those verses: The Lord will roar from Zion, and from Jerusalem He will give His voice; and the beautiful pastures will mourn, and the top of Carmel will wither, we said that He was using his art of speaking so that, since as a shepherd of sheep He knew nothing more terrifying than a lion, He would compare the anger of the Lord to lions. According to this meaning, he now also takes an example from what he had often seen, and thus describes that the small remaining remnants of the Assyrians must be extracted by hand: just as if a shepherd, with all the other parts devoured, were to snatch two legs or the outermost part of the ear from the jaws of a lion. And with the example of comparison set aside, he says that the sons of Israel, specifically the ten tribes who dwell in Samaria, will be extracted in the same way, from the edge of the bed and from the grab at Damascus. What seems to me to be explained in this way: we read in Isaiah that Rezin king of Aram, that is, the Syrians, who reigned in Damascus, and Pekah son of Remaliah king of Israel, with the intention of fighting against Judah, came (Isa. VII): concerning whom the Lord directs Achaz king of Judah and Jerusalem not to be afraid of the two half-burnt torches: because as a sign of complete liberation, the Virgin's conception and childbirth are shown to him. Therefore, the children of Samaria dwell in the region and district of the bed, resting in the help of the Syrians, and promising victory to themselves in the bed of Damascus: just as one who is tired is refreshed in bed: so they fortified their weakened forces with the help of the neighboring nation. And in the same Isaiah, it is said by way of a type of future events, that a child will be born who, before he knows how to call his father and mother, will receive the spoils of Samaria and the power of Damascus, which, of course, fought against Jerusalem with united forces (Ibid.). For the blow of the bed and of Damascus, the Seventy translated it against the tribe and in Damascus: so that, according to the symbolism, we may refer the tribe to Judah, and Damascus to the calling of the Gentiles: from which one flock of the Lord was made, whose wild beasts often tear apart the sheep: from whose jaws scarcely two legs or the very tip of the ear are taken away. In the calf the path of teachings is shown, in the ear the sacraments of words. Therefore, even the apostles were commanded to walk without shoes and any skin of a dead animal on their bare feet (Matth. X). And it is said to the believers: He who has ears to hear, let him hear (Luc. VIII, 8). In the Apocalypse of John, we also read: He who has ears, let him hear what the Spirit says to the Churches (Apoc. II, 7). And more explicitly through the prophet: Set your words in the ears of your heart. Both heretics and their teachers rush to hinder this journey and to weave nets so that we may fall on the way that is Christ. But if a man from the church and a man of God come, and Samson, who is interpreted as 'sun', kills the lion: descending into the lake of the underworld, which cools the waters, he suffocates the lion in the time of snow, storm, and winter: so that we may be able to follow the Lord with sure foot and safe ears, and hear his words.

This chapter begins with reproving the twelve tribes in general, Amo 3:1, Amo 3:2; and then particularly the kingdom of Israel, whose capital was Samaria. Thee prophet assures them that, while they were at variance with God, it would be unreasonable in them to expect his presence or favor, Amo 3:3-8. Other neighboring nations are then called upon to take warning from the judgments about to be inflicted upon the house of Israel, which would be so general that only a small remnant should escape them, Amo 3:9-15. The image used by the prophet on this occasion, (see Amo 3:12), and borrowed from his former calling, is very natural and significant, and not a little dignified by the inspired writer's lofty air and manner.

As the shepherd taketh out of the mouth of the lion - Scarcely any of you shall escape; and those that do shall do so with extreme difficulty, just as a shepherd, of a whole sheep carried away by a lion, can recover no more than two of its legs, or a piece of its ear, just enough to prove by the marks on those parts, that they belonged to a sheep which was his own. So shall the children of Israel be taken out - Those of them that escape these judgments shall escape with as great difficulty, and be of as little worth, as the two legs and piece of an ear that shall be snatched out of the lion's mouth. We know that when the Babylonians carried away the people into Chaldea they left behind only a few, and those the refuse of the land. In the corner of a bed - As the corner is the most honorable place in the East, and a couch in the corner of a room is the place of the greatest distinction; so the words in the text may mean, that even the metropolitan cities, which are in the corner - in the most honorable place - of the land, whether Samaria in Israel, or Damascus in Syria, shall not escape these judgments; and if any of the distinguished persons who dwell in them escape, it must be with as great difficulty as the fragments above-mentioned have been recovered from a lion. The passage is obscure. Mr. Harmer has taken great pains to illustrate it; but I fear with but little success. A general sense is all we can arrive at.

GOD'S EXTRAORDINARY LOVE, BEING REPAID BY ISRAEL WITH INGRATITUDE, OF NECESSITY CALLS FOR JUDGMENTS, WHICH THE PROPHETS ANNOUNCE, NOT AT RANDOM, BUT BY GOD'S COMMISSION, WHICH THEY CANNOT BUT FULFIL. THE OPPRESSION PREVALENT IN ISRAEL WILL BRING DOWN RUIN ON ALL SAVE A SMALL REMNANT. (Amo 3:1-15) children of Israel--not merely the ten tribes, but "the whole family brought up from Egypt"; all the descendants of Jacob, including Judah and Benjamin. Compare Jer 8:3, and Mic 2:3, on "family" for the nation However, as the prophecy following refers to the ten tribes, they must be chiefly, if not solely, meant: they were the majority of the nation; and so Amos concedes what they so often boasted, that they were the elect people of God [CALVIN], but implies that this only heightens their sins.

shepherd--a pastoral image, appropriately used by Amos, a shepherd himself. piece of . . . ear--brought by the shepherd to the owner of the sheep, so as not to have to pay for the loss (Gen 31:39; Exo 22:13). So if aught of Israel escapes, it shall be a miracle of God's goodness. It shall be but a scanty remnant. There is a kind of goat in the East the ears of which are a foot long, and proportionally broad. Perhaps the reference is to this. Compare on the image Sa1 17:34-35; Ti2 4:17. that dwell in Samaria in the corner of a bed--that is, that live luxuriously in Samaria (compare Amo 6:1, Amo 6:4). "A bed" means here the Oriental divan, a raised part of the room covered with cushions. in Damascus in a couch--Jeroboam II had lately restored Damascus to Israel (Kg2 14:25, Kg2 14:28). So the Israelites are represented as not merely in "the corner of a bed," as in Samaria, but "in a (whole) couch," at Damascus, living in luxurious ease. Of these, now so luxurious, soon but a remnant shall be left by the foe. The destruction of Damascus and that of Samaria shall be conjoined; as here their luxurious lives, and subsequently under Pekah and Rezin their inroads on Judah, were combined (Isa 7:1-8; Isa 8:4, Isa 8:9; Isa 17:3). The parallelism of "Samaria" to "Damascus," and the Septuagint favor English Version rather than GESENIUS: "on a damask couch." The Hebrew pointing, though generally expressing damask, may express the city "Damascus"; and many manuscripts point it so. Compare for Israel's overthrow, Kg2 17:5-6; Kg2 18:9-12.

II. Prophecies Concerning Israel - Amos 3-6 Although the expression "Hear this word," which is repeated at the commencement of Amo 3:1-15, Amo 4:1-13 and 5, suggests the idea of three addresses, the contents of these chapters show that they do not contain three separate addresses delivered to the people by Amos at different times, but that they group together the leading thoughts of appeals delivered by word of mouth, so as to form one long admonition to repentance. Commencing with the proofs of his right to predict judgment to the nation on account of its sins (Amo 3:1-8), the prophet exposes the wickedness of Israel in general (ch. 3:9-4:3), and then shows the worthlessness of the nation's trust in idolatry (Amo 4:4-13), and lastly announces the destruction of the kingdom as the inevitable consequence of the prevailing injustice and ungodliness (ch. 5 and Amo 6:1-14). Announcement of the Judgment - Hos 3:1-5 Because the Lord has chosen Israel to be His people, He must visit all its sins (Amo 3:2), and has commissioned the prophet to announce this punishment (Amo 3:3-8). As Israel has heaped up oppression, violence, and wickedness, an enemy will come upon the land and plunder Samaria, and cause its inhabitants to perish, and demolish the altars of Bethel, and destroy the capital (Amo 3:9-15).