Introduction:

There are many localized variations regarding minor elements within Jewish betrothal and marriage customs, however, the primary themes are consistent throughout Jewish history and practice, and continue to find a place of prominence in the modern Jewish wedding ceremony. It’s these common primary themes that I’d like to share with you. They’re themes that are evident in both Scripture and tradition and have been perpetuated for thousands of years. They are a living allegory for the great mystery of God’s relationship to Israel (empirical, ethnic) and of the relationship between Messiah Yeshua and the body of believers (Ecclesia). As such, they transcend their temporal function and become a picture of our eternity as believers. Having received Yeshua’s proposal we have been betrothed at great cost and have entered into intimate love relationship with God.

Much of the information that follows is taken from both Biblical and Talmudic sources. The information from Talmudic sources, while not codified until a much later date, does pass on an oral tradition dating back to a time long before the Messiah’s birth. Many of the Talmudic articles on the subject of marriage affirm the spiritual allegory attributed to Messiah and His bride and are therefore a valid commentary on the events that continue to transpire regarding the second coming of Yeshua our Mashiyach and Chatan (groom).

Here are some Scriptures from the Habrit Hachadashah (NT) that use Jewish betrothal & marriage rites as a foundation for comparative teaching (derashot) regarding the Gospel.
 
The Tanakh (OT) requires that a Jewish bride be:
 

• Legally free to marry & purposed for fruit
  
  “Therefore, my Jewish brothers and sisters, you also were made to die from the Torah’s perspective (regarding marriage to sin), through the body of Messiah, so that you might be joined to another, to Him who was raised from the dead, in order that we might bear fruit for God.” –Romans 7:4
  
  We are dead to sin through the covenant blood of Messiah Yeshua and are therefore free to remarry. Yeshua is our groom and we marry for the purpose of bearing fruit.

 
The ancient Jewish practice which is based on the Tanakh (OT) requires a:
 

• Shidukin (arrangement, match making)/ an Eyrusin (betrothal)/ and a Ketubah (it is written)
  
  “For I am jealous for you with a godly jealousy; for I have betrothed you to one husband, so that to Messiah I might present you as a pure virgin.” –2 Corinthians 11:2
  
  In this text Shaul/Paul is the Shadkhan (match maker, arranger).

 
The ancient Jewish practice which is based on the Tanakh (OT) requires a:
 

•  Nisuin (to carry)/ Kiddushin (Sanctification, from kadosh, set apart)—A Marriage Ceremony
  
  “22 Wives, be subject to your own husbands, as to the LORD. 23 For the husband is the head of the wife, as Messiah also is the head of the Messianic Community, He Himself being the Saviour of the body. 24 But as the Messianic Community is subject to Messiah, so also the wives ought to be to their husbands in everything. 25 Husbands, love your wives, just as Messiah also loved the Messianic Community and gave Himself up for her (bride price), 26 so that He might sanctify (Kiddushin) her, having cleansed her by the washing of water (mikveh) with the word, 27 that He might present to Himself the Messianic Community in all her glory, having no spot or wrinkle or blemish; but that she would be holy (Set apart, kadosh) and blameless. 28 So husbands ought also to love their own wives as their own bodies. He who loves his own wife loves himself; 29 for no one ever hated his own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it, just as Messiah also does the Messianic Community, 30 because we are members of His body. 31 For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and shall be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh. (Gen. 2:24) 32 This mystery is great; but I am speaking with reference to Messiah and the Messianic Community.” –Ephesians 5:22-32
  
  In this text Shaul/Paul uses the example of the Jewish betrothal and marriage rites to touch on a much deeper understanding of our relationship with God through Yeshua. This mystery is in part available to all who understand the process of ancient Jewish marriage, from betrothal to the wedding chamber.

 
Let’s take a look at the chronology of Jewish betrothal beginning with the selection of a
bride.
 
Shidukin (Arrangement) – Selection of the Bride:

From ancient days it’s always been the father of the groom who selects his son’s bride. In cases where it is not practical for the father to go to the home of the bride to arrange things, he sends a Shadkhan (arranger/matchmaker). This is exactly what happened in the case of Abraham’s selecting of a bride for his son Isaac:

“Abraham said to his servant (Eli-eytzer/My God is my helper, comforter), the oldest of his household, who had charge of all that he owned, ‘Please place your hand under my thigh, 3 and I will make you swear by HaShem, the God of heaven and the God of earth, that you shall not take a wife for my son from the daughters of the Canaanites, among whom I live, 4 but you will go to my country and to my relatives, and take a wife for my son Yitzak.” –Genesis 24:2-4

The Scriptures remind us that we were chosen by The Father (God) from before the creation of the world:

“Just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we would be holy and blameless before Him.” –Ephesians 1:4

Yeshua reminds us that:

“You did not choose Me but I chose you, and appointed you that you would go and bear fruit.” –Yochanan/John 15:16

The Bride Must Accept the Proposal:

In Jewish culture no woman may be forced to marry. Without the prospective bride’s acceptance of the marriage proposal there can be no marriage.

In Rebekah’s case, she had not seen her husband to be (Yitzak), but accepted his proposal based on the word of the servant (Eli-eytzer, My God is a helper). This is also true of each of us who have accepted Yeshua’s proposal having had it offered to us at the hands of the Ruach Ha-Kodesh (Holy Spirit/The Helper).

“The servant said to him, ‘Suppose the woman is not willing to follow me to this land; should I take your son back to the land from where you came?’” –Genesis 24:5

“Then they called Rebekah and said to her, ‘Will you go with this man?’ And she said, ‘I will go.’” –Genesis 24:58

However, we must remember that it is Yeshua as the Jewish bridegroom (Chatan) Who initiates the love relationship. It is God Who selects us and not the other way around:

“We love Him because He first loved us.” –1 John 4:19

The Mohar (Bride Price):

From ancient times brides in Israel were purchased, a bride price (mohar) was paid as a means of showing that the groom valued the woman he was to marry. The price varied depending on the circumstances of those involved. In Yaakov’s (Jacob) case, he worked seven years as the bride price for each of his wives Leah and Rachel respectively. (Genesis 29:20)

To the modern reader this may seem to denigrate women, treating them as property rather than valued equals, however, in the context of ancient Biblical society the opposite was true. The pagan nations surrounding Israel were taking women to wife without ceremony or consideration of a woman’s value. When a wife displeased a husband in these communities she was tossed aside and replaced without consequence, often left to fend for herself and in many cases would die without provision because men were the providers of a family’s income and protection at that time in history.

The value placed upon a Jewish bride was a means of protecting her and valuing her as a person rather than an object of property for men to abuse. The fact that a husband, “owned,” his wife was not demeaning in the least, it was a sign to other men and to the bride, that she was cared for and valued. One of the Hebrew words for wife, Be’ulah, means, “owned,” and the Hebrew word for husband, Ba’al, means, “master or owner”.

“52 When Abraham’s servant heard their words, he bowed himself to the ground before HaShem. 53 The servant brought out articles of silver and articles of gold, and garments, and gave them to Rebekah; he also gave precious things to her brother and to her mother.” –Genesis 24:52-53

Yeshua has paid the highest price as a mohar for His bride by dying on the tree:

“You were bought with a price; do not become slaves of men.” –1 Corinthians 7:23

“Who is given as a pledge of our inheritance, with a view to the redemption of God’s own possession, to the praise of His glory.” –Ephesians 1:14

“18 Knowing that you were not purchased with perishable things like silver or gold from your futile way of life inherited from your forefathers, 19 but with precious blood, as of a lamb unblemished and spotless, the blood of Messiah.” –1 Peter 1:18-19

“19 Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and that you are not your own? 20 For you have been bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body.” –1 Corinthians 6:19-20

Ketubah (written)/ Eyrusin (betrothal)/ Kidushin (sanctification):

Following the shidukhin (arrangement) by the father via his shadkhan (emissary), the acceptance of the proposal by the bride and the offering of the gift by the groom; a binding covenant was entered into and a ketubah (written) document was signed. This process, known as both Eyrusin (betrothal) and kidushin (sanctification from Kadosh, meaning set apart, holy), was conducted approximately one year prior to the actual marriage ceremony and was considered binding. So much so, that a divorce or get (Hebrew) must be obtained by the husband in order to dissolve the betrothal. It’s important to note that Biblically speaking, only a husband can initiate a get (divorce) Deuteronomy 24:1-4.

Figuratively, this is an affirmation of eternal security for the believer. Our security is not dependent on us, because we’re not able to break our engagement once we’ve entered into the agreement. Only the groom can break the betrothal covenant and Yeshua has no intention of doing so:

“I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one will snatch them out of my hand. 29 My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all; no one can snatch them out of my Father’s hand. 30 I and the Father are one.” –Yochanan/John 10:28-30

“If we are faithless,
He remains faithful;
He cannot disown Himself.” –2 Timothy 2:15

Mikveh (Immersion/Baptism):

Prior to the Eyrusin rite, both the groom and the bride immerse (tevilah) themselves in a ritual bath (mayim chayim—living water) of purification called a mikveh. Yeshua was immersed by the forerunner Yochanan in preparation for Eyrusin (betrothal). Likewise as believers we enter into the mikveh of immersion (baptism) as a sign of our new beginning, identifying with Messiah’s immersion.

The mikveh is a symbol of a fresh start, a new beginning, a new family unit which is to be born of the married couple.

Following their immersion in the mikveh the Eyrusin ceremony took place under a chuppah (canopy). In ancient times the chuppah was a separate room in the groom’s father’s home, later the tradition of a canopy developed.

The chuppah is a symbol of a new household and of God’s protective covering over the couple and their future progeny. It is also a sukkah (shelter) which promises that God will one day shakan (dwell) in the midst of His people for all eternity:

“As a bridegroom coming out of his chuppah (chamber);
rejoicing as a strong man to run his course.” –Tehillim/Psalm 19:5

“Gather the people, sanctify the congregation,
Assemble the elders, gather the children and the nursing infants.
Let the bridegroom come out of his chuppah (room)
And the bride out of her bridal chuppah (chamber).” –Yo’el/Joel 2:16

The Kiddush Cup:

During the Eyrusin ceremony gifts/rings are exchanged and a cup of wine is shared. The cup used for this Kiddush cup is kept to be used again at the wedding ceremony in a years’ time. In ancient times the cup was most likely made of hardened clay: today a thin wine glass is used.

On the night He was betrayed, Yeshua offered His bride to be (Israel—empirical, ethnic, religious, and the birthing body of believers Ecclesia), a new covenant in blood, a wine cup, a kiddush (sanctifying) cup. This cup, the third cup of the Pesach/Passover Seder, taken after the main meal, is called Kos Geulah (cup of redemption):

“In the same way, after the meal He took the cup, saying, ‘This cup is the new covenant in my blood, which is poured out for you all.’” –Luke 22:20

“‘For I tell you I will not drink again from the fruit of the vine until the kingdom of God comes.’” –Luke 22:18

Following the Eyrusin ceremony the couple is considered married in every way except for cohabitation (sexual relations). Both bride and groom live apart for approximately one year. Something similar is seen in the length of time between Rebekah’s acceptance of Isaac’s proposal and their marriage in Canaan.

The betrothal year was used by the groom as a time of preparation. It was traditional in the ancient Middle East for the groom to leave the bride’s home town and return to His father’s house where he would build a room onto his father’s dwelling place that would serve as the couple’s chadar wedding chamber following their marriage ceremony. The parallels with Yeshua and His bride are obvious. Yeshua has gone to prepare a place for us:

“2 In My Father’s house are many dwelling places; if it were not so, I would have told you; for I go to prepare a place for you. 3 If I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself, that where I am, there you may be also.”
–Yochanan/John 14:2-3

Likewise, the bride spends the year in preparation for her groom’s return. She is to be ready at any hour of the day as the year draws to a close. She prepares items for her future home and a pure white dress for the wedding day.

We are reminded in the Scriptures that we should invest our time in those things which are eternal in preparation for our groom’s return:

“‘19 Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. 20 But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys, and where thieves do not break in or steal;’”
–Mattitiyahu/Matthew 6:19-20

The Return of the Groom:

Tradition dictates that only the father of the groom may decide on the time for the groom’s return, neither the groom nor the bride know at what hour the groom will return to carry the bride to the wedding feast.

“But of that day or hour no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but the Father alone.” –Mark 13:32

In many cases, as the year of waiting drew to a close, the bride’s household would wait late into the night, keeping oil lamps lit in case of the groom’s return. This tradition became common among certain groups and is still practised in some communities today. The groom would often return at night.

“But at midnight there was a shout, ‘Behold, the bridegroom! Come out to meet him.’”
–Mattitiyahu/Matthew 25:6

The implications for us as believers are clear, we are to prepare ourselves and be constantly ready for our groom’s return.

The groom would return, often late at night, with a procession of family and friends from his father’s household, shouting out, with torches burning and the shofar sounding to herald his coming.

“16For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel and with the shofar of God, and the dead in Messiah will rise first. 17 Then we who are alive and remain will be carried away (nisuin) together with them in the cloud (of the presence) to meet the Lord in the open air, and so we shall always be with the Lord.” –1 Thessalonians 4:16-17

The groom’s entourage would be carrying an aperion (a seated canopy, carried on the shoulders of men). He would pick up his bride and place her in the aperion thus carrying her away to her new home.

The bride would cover her face with a veil and intermittently along the way the groom would check under her veil to ensure he had carried away the right bride. This tradition is called bedeken and came about due to the problems experienced by Yaakov (Jacob) at the hands of Laban his father in law, when Laban deceived him on his wedding night by substituting Leah for Rachel.

Nisuin (to carry) Under the Chuppah:

The Nisuin ceremony is the last stage of the betrothal and marriage. The chuppah is a specially made embroidered canopy or a tallit (prayer shawl) held up by four poles. It was representative of the bridal chamber.

The groom enters the proceedings first, as the rabbi calls out, “Baruch haba b’shem Adonai,” blessed is he who comes in the name of the LORD. The groom stands on the left hand side, then the bride enters to the call, “B’rukhah haba’ah b’shem Adonai,” blessed is she who comes in the name of the LORD.

“O Lord, do save, we beseech You;
O Lord, we beseech You, do send prosperity!
26 Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord;
We have blessed you from the house of the Lord.
27 The Lord is God, and He has given us light;
Bind the festival sacrifice with cords to the horns of the altar.”
–Tehillim/Psalm 118:25-27

The groom then walks out to meet his bride half way to the chuppah and the Jewish bride makes either three or seven circuits around the groom. The circling itself represents Israel returning to God after her rebellion and becoming part of the “new thing” which God brings about through the redemption found in the King Messiah. This is based on the text of Jeremiah 31:22 “For YHVH has created a new thing on the land (of Israel): A woman will encompass a man.”
 
The number three relates to the threefold Biblical phrase concerning Israel’s betrothal to HaShem (God/YHVH): “I will betroth you to Me forever; Yes, I will betroth you to Me in righteousness and in justice, in favour and in compassion, and I will betroth you to Me in faithfulness and trust. Then you will intimately know the Lord.” -Hosea 2:19-20.
 
The threefold circling also reflects the threefold commitment of the groom made to the wife in the ketubah agreement. He covenants to provide, food, clothing & shelter, and conjugal relations.
 
Seven is a symbolic promise of the bridal week and the completeness found in marriage. Mirroring the completeness of the creation week and the Shabbat rest of God.

The bride then stands to the right of her groom.

Sheva Brachot (Seven blessings):

The Sheva Brachot (seven blessings) are pronounced beginning with the blessing over the Kiddush cup (the same cup used during the betrothal rite), but the cup is not drunk until the blessings are completed. These blessings are also known as Birkot Nisuin (blessings of being carried away):

ברוך אתה ה' אלהינו מלך העולם, בורא פרי הגפן.

Transliteration: Barukh ata Adonai Eloheinu melekh ha‑olam, bo'rei p'ri hagafen.

Translation: "Blessed are You, LORD, our God, sovereign of the universe, who creates the fruit of the vine."

ברוך אתה ה' אלהינו מלך העולם, שהכל ברא לכבודו.

Transliteration: Barukh ata Adonai Eloheinu melekh ha‑olam shehakol bara lichvodo.

Translation: "Blessed are You, LORD, our God, sovereign of the universe, who created everything for His Glory."

The phrase is connected to Talmudic incidents in which the Sages said this phrase after failing in attempts to replace both the bakers of the showbread and those perfumers who made the holy incense in the days of the Temple in Jerusalem. It reflects both the grace to accept what one cannot change and recognises that everyone has unique and irreplaceable talents which act as essential tools in a harmonious marriage.

ברוך אתה ה' אלהינו מלך העולם, יוצר האדם.

Transliteration: Barukh ata Adonai Eloheinu melekh ha‑olam, yotzer haa’dam.

Translation: "Blessed are You, LORD, our God, sovereign of the universe, who creates man."

ברוך אתה ה' אלהינו מלך העולם, אשר יצר את האדם בצלמו, בצלם דמות תבניתו, והתקין לו ממנו בניין עדי עד. ברוך אתה ה', יוצר האדם.

Transliteration: Barukh ata Adonai Eloheinu melekh ha‑olam, asher yatzar et ha-adam b’tzalmo, b’tzelem d’mut tavnito, v’hitkin lo mimenu binyan adei ad. Baruch atah Adonai, yotzeir ha-adam.

Translation: "Blessed are You, LORD, our God, sovereign of the universe, who creates man in your image*, fashioning perpetuated life. Blessed are You, LORD, creator of man."

שוש תשיש ותגל העקרה, בקיבוץ בניה לתוכה בשמחה. ברוך אתה ה', משמח ציון בבניה.

Transliteration: Sos tasis v’tageil ha-akara b’kibutz baneha l’tocha b’simcha. Baruch ata Adonai, m’sameach Tzion b’vaneha.

Translation: "May the barren one exult and be glad as her children are joyfully gathered to her. Blessed are You, LORD, who gladden Zion with her Children."

שמח תשמח רעים האהובים, כשמחך יצירך בגן עדן מקדם. ברוך אתה ה', משמח חתן וכלה.

Transliteration: Sameiach tesamach reiim ha-ahuvim k’sameichacha y’tzircha b’gan eden mikedem. Baruch ata Adonai, m’sameiach chatan v’chalah.

Translation: "Grant perfect joy to these loving companions, as you did your creations in the Garden of Eden. Blessed are You, LORD, who grants the joy of groom and bride."

ברוך אתה ה' אלהינו מלך העולם, אשר ברא ששון ושמחה, חתן וכלה, גילה רינה, דיצה וחדווה, אהבה ואחווה, ושלום ורעות, מהרה ה' אלקינו ישמע בערי יהודה ובחוצות ירושלים, קול ששון וקול שמחה, קול חתן וקול כלה, קול מצהלות חתנים מחופתם, ונערים ממשתה נגינתם. ברוך אתה ה', משמח חתן עם הכלה.

Transliteration: Baruch ata Adonai Eloheinu melech ha-olam, asher bara sason v’simcha chatan v’kallah, gilah rinah ditzah v’chedvah, ahavah v’achavah v’shalom v’reut. M’hera Adonai Eloheinu yishammah b’arei Yhudah uv-chutzot Y’rushalayim kol sason v’kol simcha, kol chatan v’kol kalah, kol mitzhalot chatanim meichupatam u-n'arim mimishte n’ginatam. Baruch ata Adonai, m’sameiach chatan im hakalah.

Translation: "Blessed are You, LORD, our God, sovereign of the universe, who created joy and gladness, groom and bride, mirth, song, delight and rejoicing, love and harmony and peace and companionship. Soon, LORD our God, may there ever be heard in the cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem voices of joy and gladness, voices of groom and bride, the jubilant voices of those joined in marriage under the bridal canopy, the voices of young people feasting and singing. Blessed are You, LORD, who causes the groom to rejoice with his bride."

The Kiddush Cup #2:

Following the blessings the Kiddush cup (the same cup used in the Eyrusin ceremony of betrothal) is drunk by both groom and bride and is then wrapped in a napkin and shattered beneath the groom’s foot.

“‘For I tell you I will not drink again from the fruit of the vine until the kingdom of God comes.’” –Luke 22:18

The breaking of the cup is a more recent addition to the ceremony but it holds great significance. Originally the rabbis added the shattering of the cup in order to remind those present that even in joyous times we remember the destruction of the temple and Israel’s suffering and that our joy cannot be complete until the temple is rebuilt and the Messiah comes (returns). However the symbolism is also powerfully representative of the fact that no one else can ever drink from the cup that the married couple have shared. The covenant of marriage is sacred and sealed for ever in the sight of God. This is also the case regarding our marriage to Yeshua.

The marriage is then consummated in the bridal chamber, following which the groom calls out to the shadkhan (matchmaker) or friend of the groom, letting him know that the marriage has been consummated.

“And Yeshua said unto them, ‘Can the attendants of the bride chamber mourn as long as the bridegroom is with them? But the days will come when the bridegroom shall be taken from them, and then shall they fast.” –Mattitiyahu/Matthew 6:15

The couple then celebrates an elaborate wedding feast with their guests. The feast is followed by a seven day period together in seclusion, in order to complete the marriage week.

All of these events remind us of the Messianic community’s coming marriage to Yeshua. We will be carried away, and joined with Him in spiritual marriage. He will finally drink again of the Kiddush cup with us and we will celebrate with Him at the wedding feast of the Lamb of God.

“‘Let us rejoice and be glad and give the glory to Him, for the marriage of the Lamb has come and His bride has made herself ready.’ 8 It was given to her to clothe herself in fine linen, bright and clean; for the fine linen is the righteous acts of the saints.9 Then he said to me, ‘Write, “Blessed are those who are invited to the marriage supper of the Lamb.”’ And he said to me, ‘These are true words of God.’” –Revelations 19:7-9
 
Copyright 2022 Yaakov Brown

​Amos 9 (Author’s translation)
 
1 I saw the Adonay standing upon the altar, and He said, “Strike the top of the pillars and quake the thresholds, and cause them to cut into the head of them all! And afterward with the sword I will slay them; they will not escape, to them fleeing will not deliver not even the refugee. 2 Though they dig into Sheol, the holding place of the departed, from there My hand will fetch them; and though they ascend to the heavens, from there I will bring them down. 3 And though they withdraw, hiding in the head of the Carmel, from there I will search them out and take them forth; and though they attempt to conceal themselves from My eyes on the floor of the sea, from there I will command the serpent, and it will bite them. 4 And though they go into captivity before the face of their enemies, from there I will command the sword and it will kill them, and I will set My eyes upon them for evil and not for good.” 5 The Adonay YHVH Who goes warring, the One who touches on the land so that it melts, and mourning will come on all those who live in it, and ascend like a river on all and they will sink like the flooding river of Egypt; 6 The Builder of the heavens which ascend and are bound upon earth has founded the calling to the waters of the sea and poured them out upon the face of the land, YHVH is His Name. 7 “You are not like children of Ethiopia to Me, you children of Israel?” declares YHVH. “Have I not brought up Israel from the land of Egypt, and the Philistines, from Caphtor and the Arameans, from Kir? 8  Behold, now, pay attention, the eyes of the Adonay YHVH are on the kingdom of sin (missing the mark set by God’s holiness), and I will destroy her from upon the face of the earth; ceasing nevertheless, for I will not utterly eliminate the peculiar house of Yaakov (Israel),” declares YHVH (Mercy). 9 “For behold, now, pay attention, I with a command will shake all the nations and the peculiar house of Israel as when sifting in a sieve, but not one kernel will fall to the ground. 10 In the sword, death will come to all the sinners of My people, those who say, ‘No evil will overtake or come against us.’ 11 “In that day I will raise up the specific fallen sukkah of David, and I will wall up its breaches; And its ruins I will raise up and I will rebuild it because of the days of eternity; 12 For the purpose that they may possess the remnant of Edom and all the nations who are called by My Name,” declares YHVH who fashions this. 13 “Behold, now, pay attention, days are coming,” declares YHVH, “When the ploughman will overtake the reaper, and the one who treads grapes will overtake the one who sows the seed; When the mountains will drip sweet wine, and all the hills will melt. 14 I will return the captivity of My people Yisrael and rebuild the cities left desolate and they will live in them; and plant vineyards and drink their wine, and make gardens and eat their fruit. 15 And I will plant them on their land, and they will not be uprooted perpetually again from their land which I have given them,” says YHVH your God.
 
Amos 9 (Line Upon Line)
 
1 Raiytiy I saw et the Adonay (Master, Lord) nitzav standing al upon ha-mizbeiach the altar, vayomer and He said, “Hach Strike ha-kaftor the top of the pillars ve’yir’ashu and quake hasipiym the thresholds, uvetza’am and cause them to cut berosh into the head kulam of them all! Veachariytam And afterward ba’cherev with the sword eherog I will slay them; lo they will not yanus escape, lahem to them nas fleeing v’lo will not yimaleit deliver lahem not even the paliyt refugee.
 
1 I saw the Adonay standing upon the altar, and He said, “Strike the top of the pillars and quake the thresholds, and cause them to cut into the head of them all! And afterward with the sword I will slay them; they will not escape, to them fleeing will not deliver not even the refugee.
 
I saw the Adonay standing upon the altar,
 
We note that while in the previous chapter the text spoke about “a temple” (at Bethel) and not “the Temple” (in Jerusalem), the present text uses the definite article when referring to “the altar” in Jerusalem and not to “an altar” anywhere outside of Jerusalem. Therefore, this last chapter of Amos brings to mind the first two chapters in which Judah and the surrounding nations are indicted along with the northern tribes, and thus draws together the 12 tribes under a nation-wide judgement both in the land of Israel and in exile among the nations, who are also judged in verse 9.
 
Further to this, the proper Noun YHVH is not used here. Rather the Hebrew Adonay (Master Lord) is used and this with the very particular proto-definite article “et”. In short, the Adonay being referred to is the person of YHVH manifest in a particular form. It is therefore clear that the LORD Who stands al “upon” the altar, and not “beside” it (as many English translations mis-render the text) is Imanu-El (God with us) the King Messiah.
 
We are reminded that mizbeach (altar) comes from the root zabach (slaughter). Where Judah (and Israel) had failed to properly honour the altar of YHVH, God would bring slaughter. Not the slaughter of annihilation but the slaughter of discipline.
 
Interestingly the Targum reads:
 
"Amos the prophet said, I saw the glory of the Lord removing from the cherub, and it dwelt upon the altar;''
 
The inference of the Aramaic Targum paraphrase is that because Israel had not offered acceptable sacrifices on the altar the manifest presence of God had moved from between the cherubim in the Holy of Holies and was standing upon the altar. The positional representation of the Person of God standing on the altar is therefore understood as an indication that His manifest presence was about to ascend. Thus, the inference is that God’s manifest presence will depart from Israel for a time.
 
and He said, “Strike the top of the pillars and quake the thresholds, and cause them to cut into the head of them all!
 
In the context of the altar the striking of the top of the pillars is a reference to the top of the pillars of the temple which are used metaphorically to denote the religious leaders of Judah and Israel respectively. The quaking is yet another reference to the great earthquake prophesied in chapter 1, and the cutting of the heads denotes the slaughter of the heads of the tribes of Israel beginning with the kings (of both Judah & Israel), priests, and nobles, and ending with the heads of the lowliest families.
 
The Targum understands this prophecy to refer to the destruction of Solomon’s Temple in Jerusalem. Given that the nature of Hebrew prophecy is cyclical and that numerous fulfilments are possible, it is equally acceptable to say that the prophecy also points forward to the destruction of the re-established Temple later modified and restored by Herod the Great and its complete destruction at the hands of the Romans in 70 C.E.
 
"and he said, unless the people of the house of Israel return to the Torah, the menorah shall be extinguished, King Josiah shall be killed, and the house destroyed, and the courts dissipated, and the vessels of the house of the sanctuary shall go into captivity; and the rest of them I will slay with the sword,” -Targum Yonatan 2nd Century Aramaic Paraphrase
 
And afterward with the sword I will slay them; they will not escape, to them fleeing will not deliver not even the refugee.
 
Simply put, with regard to the wicked among the people of Israel, not even those who flee the initial invasion will be able to escape the discipline of God. His discipline will follow them all the way into their captivity.
 
2 Im-yachteru Though they dig (row) bi’sheol into the holding place of the departed, misham from there yadiy My hand tikacheim will fetch them; ve’im-ya’alu and though they ascend to hashamayim the heavens (skies, sky waters), misham from there oriydem I will bring them down. 3 Ve’im-yeichave’u And though they withdraw, hiding berosh in the head of hakarmel the Carmel (garden land) [on the summit of Mt Carmel], misham from there achapeis I will search them out ulekachtiym and take them out; veim-yisateru and though they conceal themselves mineged eiynay from My eyes bekarka on the floor of ha-yam the sea (body of water), misham from there atzaveh I will command ha-nachash the serpent, uneshacham and it will bite them.
 
2 Though they dig into Sheol, the holding place of the departed, from there My hand will fetch them; and though they ascend to the heavens, from there I will bring them down. 3 And though they withdraw, hiding in the head of the Carmel, from there I will search them out and take them forth; and though they attempt to conceal themselves from My eyes on the floor of the sea, from there I will command the serpent, and it will bite them.
 
The Hebrew poetic mechanism of repetition is employed here in order to emphasis the firmly established future disciplining of the people. The depths of Sheol are coupled with the depths of the sea and the heights of the heavens with the heights of the Carmel mountain range (specifically the highest peak in that range) in the north west of the land of Israel.
 
The positional language regarding Sheol and the heavens is not distinguishing between the revisionist Christian notions of heaven and hell, rather the point being made is that no matter how deep you go or how high you ascend there is no place you can go to escape God, in Whom all things exist and have their being.
 
“If I ascend to the heavens, You are there! If I make my bed in Sheol, You are there!” -Tehillim (Psalms) 139:8
 
The heavens are the metaphorical footstool of God and the representation of life  and the depths of Sheol are the positional representation of death, that is, the defeated fruit of sin, which resides (positionally speaking) far beneath His footstool. Death has been overcome by Life in God through Messiah.
 
Sheol is not hell but is divided into Gan Eden (Paradise) and Gehennom (torment)[hell]. Sheol is not the grave, the Hebrew word for grave is kever (above ground burial, piled stones, caves, tombs etc.). Sheol is the temporal holding place of both the departed righteous and the departed wicked, the former dwelling in Gan Eden and the latter in Gehenom. At the resurrection all will rise and be judged, the righteous in Messiah unto eternal life and the wicked into eternal torment.
 
there I will command the serpent, and it will bite them.
 
The serpent of the depths of the sea can be understood to refer to a number of enormous carnivorous sea creatures. As figurative imagery the text connects the serpent that seeded sin in Gan Eden (Eden) as the devourer of sinners. In other words, Satan despises his own children. We note that the serpent is not afforded the power to work of its own accord but is under God’s control.
 
4 Veim-yeilechu And though they go vasheviy into captivity lifneiy before the face of their ’yveiyhem enemies, misham from there atzaveh I will command et-hacherev the sword vaharagatam and it will kill them, vesamtiy and I will set eiyniy My eyes aleiyhem upon them lera’ah for evil velo letovah and not for good.”
 
4 And though they go into captivity before the face of their enemies, from there I will command the sword and it will kill them, and I will set My eyes upon them for evil and not for good.”
 
The captives of the ancient Levant were taken away at the head of invading armies. In this case even while being led away there will be many who are cut down on the journey to their final captive destination.
 
“Her enemies have become the head; her enemies prosper, because the LORD has afflicted her for the multitude of her transgressions; her children have gone away, captives before the enemy.” -Lamentations 1:5
 
My eyes upon them for evil and not for good.”
 
“The eyes of the Lord are in every place, watching the evil and the good.” -Proverbs 15:3 NIV
 
The forces of evil are given temporal permission, they are subject to God and His redemptive purposes. Evil is the fruit of a created being and will therefore one day cease and implode, whereas Good is an attribute of the all existing Creator and will therefore remain forever.
 
The Targum reads “my Word shall be against them.”
 
5 The Adonay YHVH Ha-tzevaot Who goes warring, hanogeia the One who touches ba’aretz on the land vatamog so that it melts, veavelu and mourning kol-yusheveiy va will come on all those who live in it, ve’altah and ascend chayor like a river kulah on all veshakeah and they will sink kiyor like the flooding river mitzrayim of Egypt (double distress);
 
5 The Adonay YHVH Who goes warring, the One who touches on the land so that it melts, and mourning will come on all those who live in it, and ascend like a river on all and they will sink like the flooding river of Egypt;
 
The Adonay YHVH Who goes warring, the One who touches on the land so that it melts,
 
It is God in His war against evil Who is depicted here as the destroyer of vile things in the land of Israel. The melting land is a euphemism for an earthquake which is the prophesied mechanism of destruction alluded to throughout the scroll of Amos.
 
and mourning will come on all those who live in it,
 
Not all will be destroyed but all will be affected. Even the righteous remnant will mourn because of the loss of friends and family members who had not repented of wicked lifestyles. All alike will mourn the exile of the nation.
 
We are fools to think that God will not bring discipline on the modern body of believers if we continue to syncretise paganism and walk in error. It is out of love born of holiness that God disciplines us as a people. The outworking of His justice begins with His children. Therefore, the days are coming when we will all mourn. However, this is not a story of doom and gloom but one of redemption. In Scripture mourning is synonymous with repentance.
 
“And I will pour upon the house of David and upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem the spirit of grace and of supplication; and they shall look upon Me Whom they have pierced, and they shall mourn for Him as one mourns for an only son, and shall weep bitterly for Him as one who weeps bitterly for his firstborn.” -Zechariah 12:10
 
and ascend like a river on all and they will sink like the flooding river of Egypt;
 
The reference to the Nile of Egypt invokes a memory of bondage and a return to that which God had delivered Israel from. Israel was responsible for her own return to captivity. Her bondage the result of corporate self-harm.
 
6 Haboneh The Builder vashamayim of the heavens (sky waters) ma’alotav which ascend va’agudato and are bound al upon eretz earth/land yesadah has founded hakorei the calling lemay-hayam to the waters of the sea vayishpecheim and poured them out al-peneiy upon the face of ha’aretz the land, YHVH (Mercy) Shemo is His Name.
 
6 The Builder of the heavens which ascend and are bound upon earth has founded the calling to the waters of the sea and poured them out upon the face of the land, YHVH is His Name.
 
"who causes to dwell in a high fortress the Shekhinah of His glory:'' -Targum
 
Once again God is being described as Creator, the One Who formed the heavens and the earth, the sky waters and the earth waters. Israel had sought to create a God like those of the nations around them, the calves of Jeroboam being a perfect example of the pathetic limitations that they had placed on their perception of God. Therefore, YHVH the God Whose Name is beyond human understanding, the Creator of all things Who chose a tribe for Himself but is not limited by concepts of tribal deity, reminds His myopic and self-deluded people Israel that before He was called El Eloheiy Yisrael (God the God of Israel) He is the all existing God in Whom all things have their being.
 
7 “Halo chivneiy You are not like children chushiyiym atem liy of Ethiopia to Me, beneiy Yisrael you children of Israel?” neum declares YHVH. “Halo et Yisrael he’eleiytiy Have I not brought up Israel mei’eretz from the land mitzrayim of Egypt (double distress), ufelishtiyiym and the Philistines, mikaftor from Caphtor va’aram and the Arameans (Syrians), mikiyr from Kir (a city of Mesopotamia)?
 
7 “You are not like children of Ethiopia to Me, you children of Israel?” declares YHVH. “Have I not brought up Israel from the land of Egypt, and the Philistines, from Caphtor and the Arameans, from Kir?
 
The Hebrew commentator Yarkhi paraphrases the text as:
 
"from the sons of Noah you came as the rest of the nations.''
 
In other words, “You are like all other human beings in respect to your origin and your  propensity for sin…”
 
However, this seems an unlikely conclusion given that the latter clause denotes Israel’s uniqueness among the nations and God’s deliverance of Israel from several of her enemies even so far as inferring her future deliverance from the approaching Assyrian and Babylonian captivities.
 
Therefore, the Targum understands it best when it renders the text:
 
"are you not reckoned as beloved children before me, O house of Israel?''
 
The best understanding of this verse is that Israel is not like the children of Ethiopia, or any other nation for that matter. To the contrary, God has chosen Israel to be His peculiar people, set apart, delivered, free for freedom.
 
8 Hineih, Behold, now, pay attention, eiyneiy the eyes of the Adonay YHVH bamamlachah are on the kingdom ha-chata’ah of sin (missing the mark set by God’s holiness), vehishmadtiy and I will destroy otah her meial from upon peneiy ha’adamah the face of the earth; efes ceasing nevertheless, kiy lo for I will not hashmeiyd utterly ashmiyd eliminate et ha beiyt the peculiar house of Yaakov (Israel),” neum declares YHVH (Mercy).
 
8  Behold, now, pay attention, the eyes of the Adonay YHVH are on the kingdom of sin (missing the mark set by God’s holiness), and I will destroy her from upon the face of the earth; ceasing nevertheless, for I will not utterly eliminate the peculiar house of Yaakov (Israel),” declares YHVH (Mercy).
 
The hineih refrain calls Israel to attention once more.
 
the eyes of the Adonay YHVH are on the kingdom of sin
 
We note that Adonay’s eyes are on the kingdom of sin and not on the kingdom of Israel. This is equivalent to reading “Adonay’s eyes are on the sins of Israel”. The all seeing, omnipresent nature of God is emphasised.
 
I will destroy her from upon the face of the earth
 
The “her” here is the “kingdom of sin”, that is those who are practicing a lifestyle of wickedness within Israel. We know that this does not denote the elimination of all Israel because of the following clause.
 
ceasing nevertheless, for I will not utterly eliminate the peculiar house of Yaakov
 
The righteous remnant of Yaakov (Israel) are called peculiar, unique, unusual and Adonay’s wrath is predetermined to cease so as not to eliminate the entire ethnic religious people of Israel whom He has chosen for His own possession.
 
“Then fear not, O Jacob my servant, declares the LORD, nor be dismayed, O Israel; for behold, I will save you from far away, and your offspring from the land of their captivity. Jacob shall return and have quiet and ease, and none shall make him afraid.” -Jeremiah 30:10
 
9 “Kiy For hineih behold, now, pay attention, Anochiy I metzaveh with a command, vahaniotiy will shake vechol-hagoyim all the nations et-beiyt Yisrael and the peculiar house of Israel ka’asher as when yinoa sifting bakevarah in a sieve, vlo-yipol tzeror aretz but not one kernel will fall to the ground.
 
9 “For behold, now, pay attention, I with a command will shake all the nations and the peculiar house of Israel as when sifting in a sieve, but not one kernel will fall to the ground.
 
We note that the indictment prophesied in chapters one and two against the surrounding nations, Judah and Israel, has come full circle. The physical, historical, regional earthquake will shake all the nations of the Levant so that no matter where Israel is exiled she too will be shaken and so all will be sifted like wheat and the wicked like chaff thrown on the fire will perish. But, not one kernel of the righteous remnant of Israel will fall to the ground.
 
10 Bacherev yamutu In the sword death will come kol chataeiy to all the sinners amiy of My people, haomriym those who say, ‘lo-tagiysh vetakdiym ba’adeiynu hara’ah No evil will overtake or come against us.’
 
10 In the sword, death will come to all the sinners of My people, those who say, ‘No evil will overtake or come against us.’
 
It is very specifically the “sinners” of God’s people who will be cut down by the sword of the invading armies. Death will come to those who have been wilfully refusing to repent and have consistently turned away from God and toward evil. Those who qualify as being the “sinners” are those who in spite of their lifestyles are certain that they are blessed, even godly, who say “No evil will overtake or come against us!”
 
11 “Bayom hahu In that day akiym I will raise up et-sukat David hanofelet the specific fallen sukkah of David (beloved), vegadartiy and I will wall up et pirtzeiyhen its breaches; vaharisotav And its ruins akiym I will raise up uvniytiyah and I will rebuild it kiymeiy because of the days olam of eternity;
 
11 “In that day I will raise up the specific fallen sukkah of David (beloved), and I will wall up its breaches; And its ruins I will raise up and I will rebuild it because of the days of eternity;
 
The day being spoken of here is far into the future. While Israel does return from exile and the walls of Jerusalem are rebuilt by Nehemiah, and Israel’s spiritual path re-established by Ezra following the Babylonian exile, the city of Jerusalem was to be again destroyed. Therefore, while this prophecy may in part refer to Israel’s return from the Babylonian exile it is nonetheless not the ultimate goal of the prophecy.
 
On the historical eve of Israel’s disciplining God speaks in His prophet Amos the yet future restoration of Israel, the re-establishment of the house and dwelling of king David through David’s greater Son the King Messiah and the repairing and eternal establishment of Jerusalem. This is of course a reference to the King Messiah Yeshua, the preparation made among the Jewish people in the latter days and the descending of the New Jerusalem, when YHVH will shakan (dwell) with His people both Jewish and Gentile, forever, perpetually.
 
We note that YHVH does all this “because of eternity”, that is, because of His redemptive love for humanity and the eternal dwelling of His majesty in relationship to the reconciled children of God among all nations, first for the Jew and also for the Gentile.
 
12 Lema’an yiyreshu For the purpose that they may possess et she’eiriyt edom the remnant of Edom vechol-hagoyim and all the nations asher who nikra are called Shemiy aleiyhem by My Name,” neum declares YHVH (Mercy) oseh zot who fashions this.
 
12 For the purpose that they may possess the remnant of Edom and all the nations who are called by My Name,” declares YHVH (Mercy) who fashions this.
 
What is the purpose of Israel’s restoration? The purpose of Israel’s restoration is the restoration of all those who are called by God’s Name beginning with Yaakov’s estranged brother Esau (Edom) and spreading throughout the world.
 
“For if Israel’s rejection brought reconciliation to the world, what will their acceptance be but life from the dead?” -Romans 11:15
 
We note that it is YHVH Who fashions this.
 
13 “Hineih Behold, now, pay attention, yamiym days baiym are coming,” neum declares YHVH (Mercy), “Venigash choresh bakotzeir When the ploughman will overtake the reaper, vedorech and the one who treads anaviym grapes will overtake bemosheich the one who sows hazara the seed; Vehitiyfu hahariym asiys When the mountains will drip sweet wine, vechol hagevaot titmogagnah and all the hills will melt.
 
13 “Behold, now, pay attention, days are coming,” declares YHVH (Mercy), “When the ploughman will overtake the reaper, and the one who treads grapes will overtake the one who sows the seed; When the mountains will drip sweet wine, and all the hills will melt.
 
The days being spoken of here correspond to the establishment of David’s tent in the King Messiah David’s greater Son and the restoration of Jerusalem. The agricultural references describe processes that will precede and follow on from the entry of the righteous into the Olam haba (world to come)
 
14 Veshavtiy I will return et-shevut the captivity amiy of My people Yisrael uvanu ariym and rebuild the cities neshamot left desolate veyashavu and they will live in them; venateu and plant cheramiym vineyards veshatu et-yiyinam and drink their wine, ve’asu and make ganot gardens veachelu and eat et-periyham their fruit.
 
14 I will return the captivity of My people Yisrael and rebuild the cities left desolate and they will live in them; and plant vineyards and drink their wine, and make gardens and eat their fruit.
 
This prophecy has been fulfilled in a significant way at least twice in history to date and will find its ultimate fulfilment in the return of the Messiah and the return of all the remnant of Israel in Him.
 
The resurgence of Israel in the establishment of the modern state in 1948 has seen the draining of swamps, the revitalising of water ways and replanting on a massive scale resulting in an increase in annual precipitation and subsequent rainfall throughout the land of Israel over the last 74 years.
 
The mention of vineyards and wine is symbolic of life, celebration and prosperity.
 
15 Uneta’tiym And I will plant them al-admatam on their land, velo yinateshu and they will not be od meial uprooted perpetually again from admatam their land asher natatiy which I have given lahem them,” amar says YHVH (Mercy) Elohaycha your God.
 
15 And I will plant them on their land, and they will not be uprooted perpetually again from their land which I have given them,” says YHVH (Mercy) your God.
 
While Israel was again uprooted following her return from Babylon, and subsequently returned some two thousand years after the exile which resulted following the Roman desecration of the land, this prophecy does not say “they will not be uprooted” but “they will not be uprooted perpetually”. In other words, there will be a final fulfilment of this prophecy that places Israel in the land eternally. The covenant for the land of Israel is made first with Abraham and then restated over Isaac and Jacob. It is a covenant which is entirely incumbent on God because Avraham was unconscious when it was ratified through blood (Gen. 15; Psalm 105:6-11). The establishment of Israel’s eternal possession of the land will of course come about at the redemption of the entire remnant of the ethnic religious Jewish people at the return of the King Messiah and convergent with the Olam Haba (world to come)[Rom. 11:].
 
“O seed of Abraham His servant,
You children of Jacob, His chosen ones!
7 He is the Lord our God;
His judgments are in all the earth.
8 He remembers His covenant forever,
The word which He commanded, for a thousand generations,
9 The covenant which He made with Abraham,
And His oath to Isaac,
10 And confirmed it to Jacob for a statute,
To Israel as an everlasting covenant,
11 Saying, “To you I will give the land of Canaan
As the allotment of your inheritance,” -Psalm 105:6-11 (NKJV)
 
“25 For I do not want you, brothers and sisters, to be ignorant of this mystery—lest you be wise in your own eyes[m]—that a partial hardening has come upon Israel until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in; [n] 26 and in this way[o] all Israel will be saved, as it is written,
“The Deliverer shall come out of Zion.
    He shall turn away ungodliness from Jacob.
27 And this is My covenant with them,[p]
    when I take away their sins.”[q]  -Romans 11:25-27 (TLV)
 
Copyright 2022 Yaakov Brown

Amos 8 (Author’s translation)
 
1 This is what Adonay YHVH (Mercy) showed me, and behold, now, pay attention, a basket of summer fruit. 2 And He said, “What do you see, Amos?” And I said, “A basket of summer fruit.” And YHVH said to me, “The goal (extremity) has come to My people Yisrael. I will not increase perpetually to pass over him. 3 And there will be wailing songs at a temple in that day,” declares Adonay YHVH. “Many will be the corpses; in every place thrown, silent!” 4 Hear, listen, receive, comprehend, understand you who inhale the needy, and put an end to the humble of the land (of Israel), 5 Saying, “When will the new moon pass over, and we’ll sell grain; and the Sabbath, and we’ll open the wheat, to make smaller the ephah (measure) and greater the shekel, and to pervert with deceitful scales, 6 In order to acquire for silver the weak, and the needy for a pair of sandals, and they sell the chaff from the wheat?” 7 Thus has sworn YHVH on the majesty of Yaakov (Israel), “Indeed, I will never forget any of their works. 8 On account of this will the land (of Israel) not tremble, and everyone who lives in it mourn? And a flood will rise up on all, and cast out and subside like the Nile of Egypt. 9 And it will come to pass in that day,” declares Adonay YHVH, “And I will make the sun go down in the noon, and I will make the darkness to the land (of Israel) in the day light. 10 And I will overthrow your festivals to mourning, and all your songs to songs of mourning; and I will ascend upon all the loins of those in sackcloth, and upon every head baldness. And I will place (appoint) it like the mourning for a solitary one, and the end of it will be like a day of bitterness. 11 “Behold, now, pay attention, days are coming,” declares Adonay YHVH, “And I will send a famine in the land, not a famine of bread or a thirst for water, because it will be from hearing, listening to, receiving the words of YHVH. 12 And they will tremble, wander from sea (body of water) to sea (body of water) and from the north and to the east; they will roam to and fro to seek the Word, Essence, Substance of YHVH, and will not find Him. 13 In that day the beautiful virgins and the young men will faint from thirst. 14 Those who swear by the offense, sin, guilt of Samaria, and say, ‘As your god lives, Dan,’ and, ‘Life in the way of Beersheba,’ they will fall and not rise perpetually (again, going round).”
 
Amos 8 (Line Upon Line)
 
1 Koh This is what hir’aniy Adonay the Lord YHVH (Mercy) showed me, ve’hineih and behold, now, pay attention, keluv a basket kayitz of summer fruit.
 
1 This is what Adonay YHVH (Mercy) showed me, and behold, now, pay attention, a basket of summer fruit.
 
As a continuation of the previous series of prophetic warnings the mechanism for revelation to Amos continues to be that of open visions. “The Master of Mercy showed me…”
 
"The last of the summer fruit;'' -Targum
 
While there are some exceptions the majority of the summer fruit collected just prior to autumn (fall) in the land of Israel is less hydrated and often not as good as the fruit harvested earlier in the season. The latter fruit was fully ripe and in some cases over ripe and therefore a metaphor denoting that Israel was ripe, even over ripe for destruction. The metaphor further infers that Israel would soon be quickly devoured by her enemies and enter a winter of exile.
 
2 Vayomer And He said, “Mah-atah What do you roeh see, Amos (burden)?” Va’omar And I said, “Keluv A basket kayitz of summer fruit.” Vayomer And YHVH said eilay to me, “Ba hakeitz The goal (extremity) has come el-amiy to My people Yisrael. Lo osiyf I will not increase od perpetually (going round) avor to pass over lo him. 
 
2 And He said, “What do you see, Amos?” And I said, “A basket of summer fruit.” And YHVH said to me, “The goal (extremity) has come to My people Yisrael. I will not increase perpetually to pass over him. 
 
The conversation continues between HaShem and His prophet Amos. The prophet is not the mouthpiece of a channelled spirit but rather a relational representative of God. The questioning, like that which has gone before, is yet another opportunity for the disciple (Amos) to better understand the visual mashal (parable). Amos answers by describing what he sees and HaShem explains the remez, hint at deeper meaning.
 
“The goal (extremity) has come to My people Yisrael.”
 
This verse does not mean that God is finished with Israel or ending her kingdom, if it did, it would make the subsequent return from exile and the lineage of the King Messiah redundant. The text is simply saying that the natural consequence of Israel’s sin is about to reach its goal. From the view of the Omniscient Creator it “Has (already) come”.  
 
“I will not increase perpetually to pass over him.” 
 
HaShem had passed over Israel in Egypt because of the sign of the blood of the Pesach (Passover) Lamb on the doors of the homes of the Israelites, a symbol denoting God’s redemptive covering over the entire household. However, Israel had been practicing its own versions of the festivals and not properly applying the blood of the sacrifices. Nor had Israel been properly keeping Pesach. Therefore, HaShem would now cease to pass over Israel’s apostate homes and instead allow the angel of death to come against them. “Without the shedding of blood there is no remission of sin” (Lev. 17:11-14 Heb. 9:22).
 
3 Veheiyliylu And there will be wailing shiyrot songs heiychal at a temple bayom hahu in that day,” neum declares Adonay YHVH. “Rav hapeger Many will be the corpses; bechol-makum in every place hishlich thrown, has silent!”
 
3 And there will be wailing songs at a temple in that day,” declares Adonay YHVH. “Many will be the corpses; in every place thrown, silent!”
 
This refers to the apostate temple at Bethel (a temple) rather than the Temple in Jerusalem. The context is a revelation of warning to the 10 tribes of the northern kingdom. The songs will be turned to wailing in response to the coming calamity.
 
The Targum understands the Hebrew “heiychal” as “palace/house” and reads “at that time they shall howl in their homes, instead of singing.”
 
The point being that in the primary place of apostate worship and throughout the homes of the northern tribes songs of rejoicing will be turned into songs of wailing.
 
“Many will be the corpses; in every place thrown, silent!”
​
As is the case earlier in the scroll of Amos (6:10) the number of dead will be so great that proper interment will not be possible. The silence refers to a lack of traditional funeral invocations and prayers. Alternatively, in keeping with the Jewish commentator Kimkhi’s interpretation, the silence is commanded by those shifting the bodies as an admonishment not to blaspheme God in response to the number of dead.
 
“one of them that casts them forth shall say to his companion, be silent;” -Kimkhi commentary on Amos 8:3
 
Kimkhi’s interpretation is consistent with Amos 6:10:
 
“10 And a man’s uncle will lift him up and burn him, and bring out bone substance from the house, and say to the one who is at the sides of the house, “Is anyone else with you?” And that one will say, “None.” Then he will answer, “Keep silent!” For the name of YHVH the Lord is not remembered.” -Author’s translation
 
4 Shimu Hear, listen, receive, comprehend, understand zot hashoafiym you who inhale evyon the needy, velashbiyt and put an end to aniyei-aretz the humble of the land (of Israel), 
 
4 Hear, listen, receive, comprehend, understand you who inhale the needy, and put an end to the humble of the land (of Israel),
 
Yet again the dishonourable actions of those in power are pointed out. Their treatment of the needy and weak is likened to inhaling and consuming something. The phrasing “inhale the needy” reflects the imagery of a person suffering desperate thirst after a draught who upon finding water gulps it down, even if it means fighting off other dehydrated people to do so.
 
They have caused the deaths of the humble. The Hebrew “evyon” refers to the physically poor and needy, while the Hebrew “aniyei” refers to those who practice spiritual humility. Those wicked people among the powerful members of the northern tribes are responsible for heinous injustice both practically and spiritually speaking. The fruit of their hearts (centre of being) manifests in abhorrent actions.
 
“The land” in question is not just any land. The Hebrew “Ha’aretz” is synonymous with “Israel” as the noun applies to the land. Therefore, it is right to read “you who inhale the needy, and put an end to the humble of the land of Israel,” which can also be understood as “you who inhale the needy, and put an end to the humble, thus destroying your own inheritance.”
 
5 Leimor Saying, “Matay When will ya’avor hachodesh the new moon pass over, venashbiyrah and we’ll sell shever grain; vehashabat and the Sabbath, veniftechah-bar and we’ll open the wheat, lehaktiyn to make smaller the eifah ephah (measure) ulhagdiyl and greater the shekel, ulaveit and to pervert mozneiy mirmah with deceitful scales,
 
5 Saying, “When will the new moon pass over, and we’ll sell grain; and the Sabbath, and we’ll open the wheat, to make smaller the ephah and greater the shekel, and to pervert with deceitful scales,
 
Both Rosh Chodesh (Head of the month) and the weekly Shabbat (Sabbath) are holy consecrated days of worship on which Israel is commanded to refrain from ordinary work (Num. 28:11; 2 Kings 4:23). The inference here is that the people were spending these holy days planning their next opportunity to profit rather than focusing their attention on the worship of YHVH and practicing the regular rest which He had commanded. Added to this is the fact that even when they focused on worship they were practicing apostate worship that syncretised pagan practice.
 
The Targum renders “ya’avor hachodesh” as “the month of grain”. From which it seems that the Jewish commentators Kimkhi and Ben Melekh deduce that the text is speaking of the month of harvest, a time when the poor would glean from the edges of the fields according to the command of Torah and thus receive the food that sustained them. This verse then would be inferring that the powerful landowners were at that time eager for the harvest to finish so that they could profit from the poor by selling them grain they couldn’t afford in order to bring them into bondage as slaves. In this context the slaves would be fellow Israelites. The Torah forbids Israelites from owning one another as perpetual slaves. The slavery of Torah was intended as a type of social welfare system. It was a way of helping the poor out of a cycle of poverty (Ex. 21:2, 26-27). However, in the time of Amos this was not what was happening. Israelites were enslaving other Israelites for a pittance and abusing them.
 
Based on the definite article, the Targum and Yarkhi interpret “hashabat” (the Sabbath) to refer to the Sh’mita (seventh year Sabbath) [Ex. 23:10-11; Lev. 25:4] when there was no ploughing, sowing, or reaping, and therefore no selling of grain. Instead the Torah commands Israel to live off of what the earth brings forth of itself. This of course was a year when Israelite indentured servants were released and when the rich and poor alike were equally subject to the provision of the earth. This also meant there was to be no opportunity for profiteering during the Sh’mita.
 
“we’ll open the wheat, to make smaller the ephah and greater the shekel, and to pervert with deceitful scales,”
 
The ephah was a measure of grain and the shekel a weight used to access the value of the measure. This latter part of the verse refers to actions that were in direct contradiction to the Torah, which reads:
 
“13 You shall not have in your bag two kinds of weights, a large and a small. 14 You shall not have in your house two kinds of measures, a large and a small. 15 A full and fair weight you shall have, a full and fair measure you shall have, that your days may be long in the land that the LORD your God is giving you. 16 For all who do such things, all who act dishonestly, are an abomination to the LORD your God.” -Deut. 25:13-16 ESV
 
6 Liknot In order to acquire bakesef for silver daliym the weak, ve’evyon and the needy ba’avur for na’alayim a pair of sandals, umapal bar nashbiyr and they sell the chaff of the wheat?”
 
6 In order to acquire for silver the weak, and the needy for a pair of sandals, and they sell the chaff of the wheat?”
 
Not only were their weights dishonest, they were intentionally deceiving the poor in order to buy them as slaves, not in order to help them as the Torah intended but in order to subjugate them.
 
The valuation of a needy person’s life was “a pair of sandals”. Thus the prophet’s words come in full circle:
 
“Thus says the LORD: “For three transgressions of Israel, and for four, I will not revoke the punishment, because they sell the righteous for silver, and the needy for a pair of sandals—” -Amos 2:6 ESV
 
7 Nishba Thus has sworn YHVH bigon on the majesty of Yaakov (Israel, follower), “Im-eshcach lanetzach Indeed, I will never forget kol-ma’aseiyhem any of their works.


7 Thus has sworn YHVH on the majesty of Yaakov (Israel, follower), “Indeed, I will never forget any of their works.
 
The “Majesty of Yaakov” is YHVH. Therefore, this is simply another way of saying that God has sworn by Himself. God cannot swear by anything or anyone else because there is nothing and no one greater than Him.
 
“The Majesty of Yaakov” is the counterpoint to “the pride of Yaakov” (Amos 6:8). Israel’s pride has led to her destruction, but through discipline her Majesty (YHVH) will restore her.
 
“The Lord GOD has sworn by himself, declares the LORD, the God of hosts: “I abhor the pride of Jacob and hate his strongholds, and I will deliver up the city and all that is in it.” -Amos 6:8 ESV
 
“Indeed, I will never forget any of their works.”
 
This refers specifically to evil actions. “Their works” are the works of wickedness described in verses 4 through 6. Unrepented evil deeds are not forgotten (forgiven). Where God says elsewhere “I will remember their sins no more” (Jer. 31:34; Heb. 8:12) it is a way of conveying to human beings who are subject to forgetfulness that God chooses to forgive (forget) the repentant and has provided the means (blood atonement) for the removal of guilt. It is impossible for an Omniscient God to forget in the normal sense of the word.
 
8 Ha’al On account of zot this lo-tirgaz ha’aretz will the land (of Israel) not tremble, ve’aval kol-yosheiv bah and everyone who lives in it mourn? Ve’altah cha’or kulah And a flood will rise up on all, venigreshah and cast out venishke’ah and subside kiyor mitzrayim like the Nile of Egypt.
 
8 On account of this will the land (of Israel) not tremble, and everyone who lives in it mourn? And a flood will rise up on all, and cast out and subside like the Nile of Egypt.
 
“On account of this”
 
On account of the wicked actions described in verses 4 to 6 the tides of consequence will bring back on the wicked that which they have sowed in the lives of others.
 
“will the land (of Israel) not tremble”
 
This is a reference to the earthquake prophesied in Amos 1:1. Additionally the land is affected spiritually by the actions of the wicked.
 
The shed blood of the innocent cries out from the ground (metaphorically speaking) and the Torah explains that only the blood of those who have shed the blood of the innocent can atone for it (Gen. 9:6; Num. 35:33).
 
“And a flood will rise up on all, and cast out and subside like the Nile of Egypt.”
 
The Targum understands this to refer to the invading armies of the king of Assyria.
 
“a king shall come up against it with his army, large as the waters of a river, and shall cover it wholly, and expel the inhabitants of it, and shall plunge as the river of Egypt;” -Targum
 
The prophet Yishayahu (Isaiah), who learned Torah from Amos according to one Jewish tradition, uses the same imagery:
 
“therefore, behold, the Lord is bringing up against them the waters of the River, mighty and many, the king of Assyria and all his glory. And it will rise over all its channels and go over all its banks,” -Isaiah 8:7 ESV

9 Vehayah And it will come to pass bayom hahu in that day,” neum declares Adonay YHVH, “Veheiveitiy hashemesh And I will make the sun go down ba’aharayim in the noon, veha’chashachtiy and I will make the darkness la’aretz to the land (of Israel) beyom in the day or light.
 
9 And it will come to pass in that day,” declares Adonay YHVH, “And I will make the sun go down in the noon, and I will make the darkness to the land (of Israel) in the day light.
 
This is interpreted in a number of ways. First it can refer to an eclipse, second, to a sky thick with the descending arrows of an invading force, third, it can be understood as a metaphor for the demise of the northern kingdom in the midst of her prosperity, the sun representing prosperity and the darkness at noon, sudden destruction and grief.
 
10 Vehafachtiy And I will overthrow chageiychem your festivals le’eivel to mourning, vechol-shiyreiychem and all your songs lekinah to songs of mourning; veha’aleiytiy and I will ascend al-kol-matenayim upon all the loins of those sak in sackcloth, veal-kol-rosh and upon every head karechah baldness. Vesamtiyha And I will place (appoint) it ke’eivel like the mourning yachiyd for a solitary one, ve’achariytah and the end of it will be keyom like a day mar of bitterness.
 
10 And I will overthrow your festivals to mourning, and all your songs to songs of mourning; and I will ascend upon all the loins of those in sackcloth, and upon every head baldness. And I will place (appoint) it like the mourning for a solitary one, and the end of it will be like a day of bitterness.
 
“And I will overthrow your festivals to mourning”
 
We note that HaShem is not overthrowing His festivals (moadiym: appointed times) but the syncretised apostate festivals (chagiym) of the people, hence “your festivals
 
“I will ascend upon all the loins of those in sackcloth, and upon every head baldness.”
 
All of the people from the rulers to the lowliest will be affected by the coming discipline. The reference to bald heads is not to natural or even stress related baldness but to the practice of shaving one’s head in grief. In other words everyone will have their heads shaved in grief, all will be affected, the sin of the majority at times affects even the innocent. It is often the case that our personal sin affects the community.
 
“like the mourning for a solitary one”
 
The suffering that the people will experience is likened to the suffering experienced by parents who lose an only child.
 
11 “Hineih Behold, now, pay attention, yamiym days baiym are coming,” neum declares Adonay YHVH, “Vehishlachtiy And I will send ra’av a famine ba’aretz in the land, lo-ra’av not a famine lalechem of bread velo-tzama or a thirst lamayim for water, kiy because im it will be lishmoa from hearing, listening to, receiving eit the divreiy words of YHVH.
 
11 “Behold, now, pay attention, days are coming,” declares Adonay YHVH, “And I will send a famine in the land, not a famine of bread or a thirst for water, because it will be from hearing, listening to, receiving the words of YHVH.
 
The “Hineih” refrain continues, “Pay attention, the days of discipline are fast approaching…”
 
“not a famine of bread or a thirst for water, because it will be from hearing, listening to, receiving the words of YHVH.”
 
The famine that is coming will not be a famine of bread and water but a famine of being cut off (temporarily) from the Bread of Life and Living Waters of God.
 
While the prophets of HaShem are prophesying, His word is available even to the wilfully rebellious, however, the time is fast approaching when He will withhold His Word. His warnings have been frequent and prolific but the time will come when at the point of Israel’s greatest physical suffering He will be silent.
 
12 Venau And they will tremble, wander miyam from sea (body of water) ad  to yam sea (body of water) umitzafon and from the north vead-mizrach and to the east; yeshottu they will roam to and fro levakeish to seek et-devar the word, essence, substance of YHVH, velo and will not yimtza’u find Him.


12 And they will tremble, wander from sea (body of water) to sea (body of water) and from the north and to the east; they will roam to and fro to seek the Word, Essence, Substance of YHVH, and will not find Him.
 
The Hebrew “Yam” can refer to any “body of water”, and can therefore be understood here in a number of ways. From the Mediterranean to the Galilee, or from the Galilee to the Red Sea etc. Needless to say, the general meaning is easily gleaned. The people of Israel will look for the Word of HaShem in every part of the land and in every place of their exile from the earliest days of their discipline, but, at least for a time, they will not find Him. We note that the Hebrew text uses masculine and feminine words when referring to both subjects and objects. In this case the Word of the LORD is “Him” (John 1).
 
13 Bayom hahu In that day tit’alafnah habetulot hayafot vehabachuriym the beautiful virgins and the young men will faint batzama from thirst.
 
13 In that day the beautiful virgins and the young men will faint from thirst.
 
Even those perceived to be the healthiest members of society will faint from both physical and spiritual thirst. The children will suffer the natural consequences of their parents’ sins. Once again, our individual actions affect not only ourselves but also the community, and then generationally. The current western political trend toward hyper liberalism (the purveyor of secular immorality) will only serve to further pollute the generations to come. The proliferation of sexually transmitted diseases that have resulted from the so called sexual revolution of the sixties and seventies continue to proliferate exponentially in today’s society, some 40 odd years after the “sexual revolution”.
 
14 Hanishbaiym Those who swear be’ashmat by the offense, sin, guilt shomeron of Samaria, ve’ameru and say, ‘Heiy eloheycha As your god lives, Dan (judge),’ vecheiy and, ‘Life derech Be’er-shava in the way of Beersheba (well of oath, seven, blessing),’ venafelu they will fall velo-yakumu and not rise od perpetually (again, going round).”
 
14 Those who swear by the offense, sin, guilt of Samaria, and say, ‘As your god lives, Dan,’ and, ‘Life in the way of Beersheba,’ they will fall and not rise perpetually (again, going round).”
 
“The offense of Samaria” is the calf at Bethel, which was near Samaria. Two calves were made by king Jeroboam in order to draw the attention of the northern tribes away from the God appointed place of worship in Jerusalem (1 Kings 12:26-33). Jeroboam had said of these calf idols, “Behold your elohiym (gods) oh Israel”. Jeroboam at the time the calves were set up mirrored the idolatrous actions of Aaron and Israel at Sinai (Exodus 32).
 
The connection here in the prophecy of Amos is to the inception of Israel’s rebellion and therefore likens the behaviour of the northern tribes at this time in history to the abhorrent rebellion of Israel at Sinai. Not only had Israel made an image of a calf god, they had also given it the name Elohiym and credited this inanimate idol with the miracles of God which had delivered them from Egyptian bondage.
 
The prophet Hosea also refers to this:
 
“I have spurned your calf, O Samaria. My anger burns against them. How long will they be incapable of innocence?” -Hosea 8:5 ESV
 
“and say, ‘As your god lives, Dan,”
 
This refers to the second of the two calves (1 Kings 12:29) made by Jeroboam, which was located in the territory of the tribe of Dan.
 
‘Life in the way of Beersheba,’
 
This refers to those from the tribe of Simeon who made the long journey from Beersheba to the territory of Dan at the northern border of the territory of Judah to worship the calf idol there rather than going to worship the calf idol in Bethel, and ultimately, rather than going to Jerusalem to the God appointed location of worship.
 
“they will fall and not rise perpetually”
 
Those who have practiced the aforementioned idolatry will die and not practice their idolatry again in the land of Israel. This does not mean an end to Israel, rather it means an end to those who are guilty of the aforementioned idolatry. Discipline is coming, as is redemption. There is hope for Israel.
 
Copyright 2022 Yaakov Brown

Amos 7 (Author’s translation)

1This is what Adonay YHVH showed me, and behold, now, pay attention, He was forming locusts when the crop began to sprout, and behold, now, pay attention, the spring crop is mowed by the king. 2 And it came to pass, when they had ceased to eat the vegetation of the land, that I said, “Adonay YHVH, forgive please! Who will lift up Yaakov? For he is small.” 3 YHVH placed comfort upon this. “It will not be,” said YHVH. 4  This is what Adonay YHVH showed me, and behold, now, pay attention, Adonay YHVH calls to contend with them by fire, and it devoured the great deep and ate up the apportioned territory. 5 Then I said, “Adonay YHVH, cease please! Who will lift up Yaakov? For he is small.” 6 The comfort of YHVH is upon this. “This also will not come to pass,” says Adonay YHVH. 7 So He showed me, and behold, now, pay attention, Adonay was standing upon a wall, a plumb line, and in His hand a plumb line. 8  And YHVH said to me, “What do you see, Amos?” And I said, “A plumb line.” Then Adonay said, “Behold, now, pay attention, I am placing a plumb line in the midst of My people Yisrael. I will not increase them any longer. 9 And desolate will be the high places of Isaac, and the sanctuaries of Yisrael will be laid waste. Then I will rise up upon the house of Jeroboam with the sword.” 10  Then Amaziah, a priest of Bethel, sent to Jeroboam king of Yisrael, to say, “Amos has bound you up in the midst of the house of Yisrael; the land is unable to overcome all his words. 11 For this is what Amos says: ‘Jeroboam will die by the sword, and Israel will certainly go from his land into captivity.’” 12 Then Amaziah said to Amos, “Seer, go, flee to the land of Judah; and eat bread there and there prophesy! 13 And don’t increase prophesy at Bethel perpetually, for it is a sanctuary of the king and a house of his.” 14 And Amos replied to Amaziah, “I am not a prophet, nor am I the son of a prophet; for I am a herdsman, I am a gatherer of sycamore figs. 15 And the Lord took me from following the flock, and the Lord said to me, ‘Go prophesy to My people Yisrael.’ 16 And you listen, hear, receive, understand the word, essence, substance of the Lord: you are saying, ‘Do not prophesy upon Israel and don’t preach upon the house of Isaac.’” 17 Therefore, this is what YHVH says: ‘Your wife will become a prostitute in the city, and your sons and daughters by the sword will fall, and your land will be measured and divided, and you upon unclean ground will die. And Israel will certainly go from its land into captivity.’”

Amos 7 (Line Upon Line)

1Koh hir’aniy Adonay YHVH This is what Adonay YHVH showed me, ve’hineih and behold, now, pay attention, yotzeir He was forming govay locusts bitchilat alot halakesh when the crop began to sprout. ve’hineih and behold, now, pay attention, lekesh achar gizeiy hamalekh the spring crop is mowed by the king. 

1This is what Adonay YHVH showed me, and behold, now, pay attention, He was forming locusts when the crop began to sprout, and behold, now, pay attention, the spring crop is mowed by the king. 

“1This is what Adonay YHVH showed me,”

The Word essence of God is now manifest visually. The LORD is “showing” Amos a vision of the complete destruction of the coming crops. This is established and finished outside of time and space and Adonay is revealing it to Amos within time and space.

The citing of the mechanism of vision points to the use of the ancient title “Seer” (as it applies to the prophets of Israel) by Amaziah the apostate priest of Bethel in verse 12. In modern script writing terms this is a “set up”. Amaziah will later acknowledge the legitimacy of the prophetic gift of Amos but rather than listen to Amos, Amaziah will tell tale on him to the king Jeroboam and command Amos to leave Israel and go back to Judah where he came from.

“and behold, now, pay attention,”

This repeated phrase is a grave warning. Those who fail to listen and act in repentance based on what follows will do so at their peril.

“He was forming locusts when the crop began to sprout,”

Simply put, God both enacts and sees the end from the beginning. In and through the prophet Amos, God is expressing His burden upon His precious possession the ethnic religious people of Israel.

The locusts are representative of the invading armies of the Assyrians. The invasion is a foregone conclusion.

“behold, now, pay attention, the spring crop is mowed by the king.” 

At least three readings are possible. Given that it is God’s formation of the locusts that is in question, the first and most likely interpretation is that the mowing refers to the damage caused by the locusts and therefore is referring to God as King. Second, the text could be describing the harvesting of the latter crop by the king of Israel as coming too late to prevent the damage caused by the locusts formed by God. And third, it may refer to the king of Assyria mowing down the crop of Israel. Of course all three interpretations can be held in tension because God is the Author of all things.

2 Vehayah And it came to pass, im-kilah when they had ceased le’echol to eat et-eisev the vegetation ha’aretz of the land, va’omar that I said, “Adonay YHVH, selach-na forgive please! Miy Who yakum will lift up Yaakov? Kiy katon hu For he is small.”

2 And it came to pass, when they had ceased to eat the vegetation of the land, that I said, “Adonay YHVH, forgive please! Who will lift up Yaakov? For he is small.”

Amos sees the fullness of the vision and the destruction that results and is heartbroken. He pleads with YHVH asking forgiveness for all Israel, Judah included. We understand that the Word (Davar) of God is pleading with the Father from within Amos. Amos asks, “Other than YHVH, who else can save Yaakov (Israel)?”

We note that the pleading of Amos follows his seeing the invasion of the land in a vision and therefore relates to God’s mercy upon the exiles of Israel. Discipline must come, and so too mercy and restoration.

The phrase “For he is small” is both a reference to the crop of Israel having been cut short in discipline and to God’s choosing of Israel as the least of the nations (Deut. 7:7). In short, “You chose Yaakov as the smallest and have treasured the people of Israel as Your precious possession, please forgive Israel and save him from himself!”

3 Nicham YHVH placed comfort al-zot upon this. “Lo tihyeh It will not be,” amar said YHVH.

3 YHVH placed comfort upon this. “It will not be,” said YHVH.

The Hebrew expresses the idea that it is the comfort of God that relents from completely destroying His disobedient people. There is comfort in His judgement. The boundaries He sets are walls of security. From within time and space it may appear that God relents, but this is not the literal meaning. God, Who knows the end from the beginning never needs to relent or repent. He has established all things. It is this aspect of His character that affirms the hope of eternal security for all who believe.

The phrase “It will not be” refers to the total annihilation of Israel, “It will NOT be!” We note that this is a response to the prayers of a righteous man [Amos] who has accepted the burden of God for His people (Yaakov [James] 5:16).

4 Koh hir’aniy Adonay YHVH This is what Adonay YHVH showed me, ve’hineih and behold, now, pay attention, korei lariv ba’eish Adonay the Lord YHVH calls to contend with them by fire, vatochal and it devoured et-tehom rabah the great deep ve’achelah and ate up et-hachelek the apportioned territory.

4  This is what Adonay YHVH showed me, and behold, now, pay attention, Adonay YHVH calls to contend with them by fire, and it devoured the great deep and ate up the apportioned territory. 

This second vision affirms the destructive metaphor of the locusts. This is a Hebrew poetic mechanism employed throughout Scripture. Fire, like the locust swarm, will purge the land and the people.

YHVH will contend with a contentious people (Jeroboam) [v.9].

Fire is consistently used in Hebrew Scripture to denote judgement, discipline, cleansing, purging. The fire will purge every part of the land and waters from the coast of Israel to the outlying territories of the tribes of the north.

5 Vaomar Then I said, “Adonay YHVH, chadal-na cease please! Miy Who yakum will lift up Yaakov? Kiy katon hu For he is small.”

5 Then I said, “Adonay YHVH, cease please! Who will lift up Yaakov? For he is small.”
To paraphrase, “Master, please don’t completely wipe out Israel. Who else can save Yaakov but You. You chose him as the least and in your discipline he is small, unable to save himself. In Your mercy redeem him.”

Just as the purging of discipline is firmly established in repetition so too the plea for mercy. The mercy of God precedes and follows God’s just judgement.

6 Nicham The comfort of YHVH (Mercy) al-zot is upon this. “Gam hiy This also lo tihyeh  will not come to pass,” amar says Adonay YHVH.

6 The comfort of YHVH is upon this. “This also will not come to pass,” says Adonay YHVH.

Once again YHVH listens to the petition of the prophet of burden (Amos) and the Word of His Son (Yeshua) in Amos and comforts the prophet by relenting. YHVH will not completely destroy His people but will leave a remnant and restore the people of Israel for His glory.

The total destruction of Israel “will not come to pass” and the protection of Israel’s remnant is firmly established in mercy with the second phrase “This also will not come to pass,”.

7 Koh hiraniy So He showed me, ve’hineiy and behold, now, pay attention,  Adonay netzav was standing al-chomat upon a wall anach a plumb line uvyado and in His hand anach a plumb line. 

7 So He showed me, and behold, now, pay attention, Adonay was standing upon a wall, a plumb line, and in His hand a plumb line.

The wall itself is a plumbline and on the plumbline which He has formed YHVH stands as Master, holding a plumbline in His hand. Israel is the wall formed by HaShem. Her Master stands upon her with the measure of judgement in His hand. The Torah is the plumbline by which moral behaviour is measured. As Adonay (Master), the King Messiah (HaMalakh HaShem) stands to measure out judgement and withhold blessing in order to provoke Israel to repentance in exile.

8 Vayomer YHVH (Mercy) And the Lord said eilay to me, “Mah atah What do you roeh see, Amos (Burden)?” Vaomar And I said, “Anach A plumb line.” Vayomer Then Adonay said, “Hin’niy Behold, now, pay attention, sam I am placing anach a plumb line bekerev in the midst amiy of My people Yisrael. Lo-osiyf I will not increase them od avor lo any longer.

8  And YHVH said to me, “What do you see, Amos?” And I said, “A plumb line.” Then Adonay said, “Behold, now, pay attention, I am placing a plumb line in the midst of My people Yisrael. I will not increase them any longer.

“And YHVH said to me, “What do you see, Amos?” And I said, “A plumb line.””

Again the emphasis is on what Amos sees. Amos has not immediately responded to this third vision, which is somewhat more cryptic than the former two. Therefore HaShem explains the mashal (visual parable) to His disciple Amos, just as Messiah Yeshua did with His disciples when they were unsure of His meaning.

Having seen the vision Amos now perceives the measure by which God will discipline those whom He loves. Prosperity through increase will be met by captivity through decrease. A word play is apparent. Where “Yosef” means “Yah adds (increases)”, “lo-osiyf” means “No addition (increase)”.

YHVH reveals His discipline to the prophet in numerous ways, sight being one of them. God’s conversation with His servants is unlimited. He speaks in many ways. The servant of God who is willing and intentional with regard to prayer will hear, see, feel, touch, the Word (Davar: Yeshua) daily in conversation. All prayer is a response to a conversation God began before the creation of the worlds.

The prayers of human beings do not serve God, He knows what we will ask before we ask it, rather God has gifted us prayer for our benefit so that we might understand the perfect will of our Creator. We were not created in order to worship God, rather we were created for relationship, worship is the reciprocal function of relationship. In worship we return to God the love which He has bestowed upon us. The Groom offers eternal security at great cost to Himself, the bride is left to decide whether or not she will accept that offer.

9 Venashamo And desolate will be bamot the high places of Yischak (He laughs: Isaac), umik’desheiy and the sanctuaries of Yisrael yecheravu will be laid waste. Vekamtiy Then I will rise up al-beiyt upon the house of Yarav’am (Jeroboam: contentious people) becharev with the sword.”

9 And desolate will be the high places of Isaac, and the sanctuaries of Yisrael will be laid waste. Then I will rise up upon the house of Jeroboam with the sword.”

“And desolate will be the high places of Isaac,”

The apostate places of worship that syncretise pagan practices will be decimated. The naming of Isaac, from whom Yaakov and Israel descend, is an allusion to the sacrificial ransom of Isaac on Mt Moriah (Mt Zion). It is a rebuke against the northern tribes who have turned their backs on the one God appointed high place of Mt Zion in Jerusalem. They have instead defiled the memory of the Patriarch Isaac and the redemptive provision of God by making offerings to deities that cannot save on mountains that have not been appointed for the worship of YHVH the God of Israel. Additionally, in Beersheba where Isaac acted righteously in worship of the One true God, the tribes of Israel have acted in apostacy.

The reference to Isaac is also an indictment against Judah, thus the “sanctuaries of (all) Israel” are subsequently alluded to. Therefore, all 12 tribes are rebuked for their idolatrous worship on the many high places throughout the land of Israel.

“Then I will rise up upon the house of Jeroboam with the sword.”

God will contend with Jeroboam king of the 10 tribes, whose name means “People of contention”. The sword, like fire, is a mechanism of judgement. The cutting of the sword is the just counterpoint to the “cutting” of covenant. The measure of the plumb line notwithstanding, the sword is the third metaphor of destruction. The discipline established is immutable.

10 Vayishlach Amatzyah (YHVH is mighty) kohen beiyt-el (a house of a god, judge) Then Amaziah, a priest of Bethel, sent el-Yaraviam to Jeroboam meileikh-Yisrael king of Yisrael, leimor to say, “kashar aleykha Amos has bound you up be’kerev in the midst beiyt of the house of Yisrael; lo-tuchal ha’aretz lehachiyl eit-kol-divarayv the land is unable to overcome all his words. 

10  Then Amaziah, a priest of Bethel, sent to Jeroboam king of Yisrael, to say, “Amos has bound you up in the midst of the house of Yisrael; the land is unable to overcome all his words.

“Then Amaziah, a priest of Bethel, sent to Jeroboam king of Yisrael,”

Amaziah is an apostate priest of “a house of god”. The Jewish commentator Iben Ezra calls Amaziah the “priest of Ba’al”. Ba’al meaning “husband, master, lord” and referring to the chief Canaanite deity. Amaziah was one of the apostate priests that succeeded the priests which Jeroboam the son of Nebat had placed in Bethel to offer sacrifices to the calf which he had set up in that place, repeating the rebellion of Israel at the foot of Sinai (Choreb) [1 Kings 12:32].

Amaziah was an apostate priest, and Bethel an unacceptable location of worship. The involvement of the priest in matters of governance infers a convergence of religion and secular rule. In other words the leaders of Israel both religious and secular are united in apostacy.

The juxtaposition of the names Jeroboam and Israel express the wrestling of Jacob. Jeroboam (a contentious people) is king of Israel (overcome in God). Even in the midst of Israel’s rebellion God has seeded redemption.

“Amos has bound you up in the midst of the house of Yisrael;”

The use of binding denotes the binding of the commandments of God. The same commandments that when bound to the hearts and minds of Israel protect her from harm also bind upon her discipline when she fails to bind them to herself. The words of the prophet are binding for good or bad depending on how they’re received.

“the land is unable to overcome all his words.”

The words of Amos are the expression of the Word (Yeshua) and neither the people nor the land are able to resist the fullness of these prophetic words. We remember that Israel’s discipline which is already complete from God’s perspective outside of time and space, is being spoken into time and space through the prophet Amos.

11 Kiy-Koh amar For this is what Amos says: ‘Bacherev yamot Yaravam Jeroboam will die by the sword, veyisrael and Israel galoh yigleh meial admato will certainly go from his land into captivity.’”

11 For this is what Amos says: ‘Jeroboam will die by the sword, and Israel will certainly go from his land into captivity.’”

Amaziah is here relaying to Jeroboam what Amos has prophesied.

12 Vayomer Amatzyah Then Amaziah said to Amos, “Chozeh leikh barach-lecha Seer, go, flee el-eretz Yehudah to the land of Judah; ve’echal-sham lechem and eat bread there vesham tinavei and there prophesy!

 12 Then Amaziah said to Amos, “Seer, go, flee to the land of Judah; and eat bread there and there prophesy!

In a colloquial sense Amaziah is telling Amos to go back to his own tribe and trouble them instead. “If you don’t like it here go back to Judah”.

13 Uveiyt-el lo-tosiyf od lhinavei And don’t increase prophesy at Bethel perpetually, kiy for it is mikdash-meileikh a sanctuary of the king hu uveiyt mamlachah hu and a house of his.”

13 And don’t increase prophesy at Bethel perpetually, for it is a sanctuary of the king and a house of his.”

Amaziah asks Amos to stop “increasing” prophecy at Bethel, which was apparently also king Jeroboam’s capital at that time. The Hebrew meaning “increase” reflects the meaning of the name Yoseph (YHVH adds, increases). Though he doesn’t realise it in his fallen delusion, Amaziah is essentially asking Amos not to increase God’s goodness to Israel. After all, the increase of warning is a blessing, whereas the failure to increase warning means the destruction of an unprepared people.

14 Vaya’an vayomer And Amos replied el-amatzyah to Amaziah, “Lo-naviy I am not a prophet, velo vein-naviy nor am I the son of a prophet; anochiy kiy-vokeir for I am a herdsman, anochiy I am a uvoleis shikmiym gatherer of sycamore figs. 

14 And Amos replied to Amaziah, “I am not a prophet, nor am I the son of a prophet; for I am a herdsman, I am a gatherer of sycamore figs. 

It’s interesting to note that Amos continues to see himself as a herdsman and a fruit picker. His self-assessment is in the present tense. Even here in the midst of his prophetic ministry Amos considers himself a common shepherd and fruit tree tender.

With very few exceptions the prophets of the TaNaKh (OT) do not name themselves prophets. The many self-proclaimed prophets of the modern body of believers would do well to take note and repent.

15 Vayikacheiniy YHVH And the Lord took me meiachareiy from following hatzon the flock, vayomer eilay YHVH and the Lord said to me, ‘Leikh hinavei Go prophesy eil-amiy to My people Yisrael.’

15 And the Lord took me from following the flock, and the Lord said to me, ‘Go prophesy to My people Yisrael.’ 

The LORD took Amos from “following” and made him a voice of leadership, he was called out from shepherding sheep into a ministry where he was shepherding the sheep of Israel. Good shepherds who reflect the nature of the Good Shepherd Yeshua, are a gift from God.

Amaziah, a honoured religious leader of the northern tribes says to the humble herdsman and fruit picker Amos, “Don’t prophecy”, on the other hand YHVH the Creator of all things says “Prophecy”. When those who seem godly contradict God’s Word we know them to be apostate. We are challenged not to give in to the fear of ungodly human authority, but instead to fear God.

16 Veatah And you shema listen, hear, receive, understand Divar-YHVH the word, essence, substance of the Lord: Atah omeir you are saying, ‘Lo tinavei Do not prophesy al-Yisrael upon Israel velo tatiyf and don’t preach al-beiyt upon the house of Yischak (Isaac).’”

16 And you listen, hear, receive, understand the word, essence, substance of the Lord: you are saying, ‘Do not prophesy upon Israel and don’t preach upon the house of Isaac.’” 

Amos, a shepherd of God speaks to Amaziah, an apostate shepherd and says “You say ‘Do not prophecy’”. In other words, “Don’t say anything against our bad behaviour, don’t warn us, tell us only good things…”

Many in the modern body of believers judge the efficacy of the prophetic gifting using the presumptive measure that it must be uplifting and affirming in order for it to have come from God. What utter nonsense, this ludicrous basis for accessing prophecy discounts all the prophets of God. Those who look only for the good are blind to evil and inevitably call good that which is evil. Why would a godly person ever affirm sinful behaviour? We are instead called to name it, repent of it and allow God to remove it. Not an uplifting experience, but a godly one. We would do well to soberly re-access the measure we use for determining godly prophecy within the modern body of believers.

Amaziah commands Amos to neither prophecy or preach. “Keep it to yourself”, or, “Go tell it to your own tribe Judah”.

17 Lachein Therefore, koh-amar YHVH this is what the Lord says: ‘Ishtekha Your wife baiyr tizneh will become a prostitute in the city, uv’noteycha and your sons and daughters bacherev yiflu by the sword will fall, veadmatecha and your land bachevel techulak will be measured and divided, veatah and you al-adamah temeiah upon unclean ground tamut will die. VeYisrael And Israel galoh yigleh meial admato will certainly go from its land into captivity.’”

17 Therefore, this is what YHVH says: ‘Your wife will become a prostitute in the city, and your sons and daughters by the sword will fall, and your land will be measured and divided, and you upon unclean ground will die. And Israel will certainly go from its land into captivity.’”

Amos in direct contradiction to Amaziah’s instruction and knowing that he is putting his life at risk (given that the king has been informed), now makes plain what will happen to the disobedient northern tribes.

“Your wife will become a prostitute in the city”

Due to famine, your family will have no other options for earning income.

 “your sons and daughters by the sword will fall”

Shallum smote Zachariah the son of Jeroboam with the sword, Menachem, slew Shallum, and ripped unborn children from the wombs of their mothers; and the foreign invaders of the Assyrian and Babylonian empires, Pul, Tiglathpileser, and Shalmaneser likewise killed the sons and daughters of Israel (2 Kings 15:10).

“your land will be measured and divided,”

Your tribal lands will be taken from you, measured and divided as spoils for the invaders.

“you upon unclean ground will die.”

On the same ground you worshipped false deities you will die. On ground already defiled by blood, you will die. Not only will you die an unclean death, you will die that death on unclean land. Worse still it is the land of Israel which you yourself defiled in preparation for your death. The ultimate manifestation of self-harm. Alternatively, “You will die in the unclean land of the Assyrian and Babylonian Empires.” Although the latter seems unlikely given that the death on unclean land precedes the next clause which speaks of Israel going into captivity.

“And Israel will certainly go from its land into captivity.”

In spite of the fact that some of the sons and daughters of Israel will die by the sword, there will also be a remnant that goes into captivity. This affirms the previously alluded to fact that Israel will not be entirely destroyed. Israel’s exile unto repentance and restoration is firmly established. It will happen, she will leave her land for a time, but she will also be restored to it in the future expression of God’s mercy through His redemptive ransom. Thus Isaac will once again be delivered through the substitutionary sacrifice of the Ram of God (Yeshua).
​
Copyright 2022 Yaakov Brown

Chuppah (Canopy)
 
The Chuppah (Wedding canopy) is representative of the marriage chamber and the ancient custom of the chatan (groom) building a room onto the house of his father in preparation for receiving his Ishah (wife) to be. This once took place during the year of erusin/kiddushin (betrothal, sanctification) prior to the groom returning for his kalah (bride) and carrying her away following the nissuin (Wedding ceremony, marriage, to be carried [nasa]) John 14:1-4.
 
The Tallit (prayer shawl) tied to the four corners of the chuppah, covers the bride and groom symbolizing the Shekhinah (Dwelling, settling)/Kavod (Glory) HaShem (YHVH) [Divine Presence/ Manifest Spirit of G-d]. With this in mind the chuppah also mirrors the Mishkan (Tent of meeting) of the heavenlies which will descend and house the people of God in the New Jerusalem at the end of the age Rev. 21:1-6, 22-23. Thus, God will dwell (shakan) with His people (His bride), and YHVH and the Lamb (Yeshua) will be the Covering and the Light to the people of God both Jewish and Gentile for all eternity.
 
KippahH/YarmulkeY (Covering/Atonement)
 
The head covering warn by Jewish men is called a kippah (covering, from kaparah- atonement) [Yarmulke: Yiddish] and reminds us of the fact that no one can stand before the Holy God of Israel without atonement Lev. 17:11; Heb. 9:22. It is therefore a reminder to those who have become followers of Yeshua Melekh HaMashiach the King Messiah Yeshua that without the shedding of His atoning blood (everlasting) no one can stand before God eternally in the Olam Haba (World to Come) John 3:13-21.
 
Veiling the Bride
 
This signifies that the groom’s love for her is for both her outward and her inner beauty, and also that the two are distinct individuals even after marriage. This custom also connects the modern wedding to the historical Biblical account of Jacob, who was tricked into marrying the sister of the woman he loved (Jewish tradition suggests that Leah was veiled). If the groom does the veiling himself, deceit of this sort can be avoided Gen. 29:16-28.
 
Circling the Groom
 
A Jewish bride makes either three or seven circuits around the groom. The circling itself represents Israel returning to God after her rebellion and becoming part of the “new thing” which God brings about through the redemption found in the King Messiah. This is based on the text of Jeremiah 31:22 “For YHVH has created a new thing on the land (of Israel):
A woman will encompass a man.”
 
The number three relates to the threefold Biblical phrase concerning Israel’s betrothal to HaShem (God/YHVH): “I will betroth you to Me forever; Yes, I will betroth you to Me in righteousness and in justice, in favour and in compassion, and I will betroth you to Me in faithfulness and trust. Then you will intimately know the Lord.” -Hosea 2:19-20.
 
The threefold circling also reflects the threefold commitment of the groom made to the wife in the ketubah agreement. He covenants to provide, food, clothing & shelter, and conjugal relations.
 
The number seven reflects the creation week and the sheva brachot (the seven marriage blessings).
 
Kiddush Cup (Sanctification cup)
 
Kiddush means sanctification. The Kos kiddush (Kiddush cup) is blessed twice and drunk once in order to convey the two very distinct but connected occasions of betrothal and marriage as practiced in ancient times. The fruit of the vine (grape juice/wine) is a symbol of both blood covering and prosperity. Therefore, the kiddush cup denotes atonement (the means of reconciliation), sanctification (a process), and prosperity (the result).
 
Rings
 
Traditionally the groom gives a ring and the bride receives it (in modern observance it’s become common for both groom and bride to offer rings). No women may be married unless she consents to receiving the groom’s proposal. Likewise, no human being can enter eternity with God unless that person willingly receives His sacrificial substitutionary offer of redemption and life everlasting. The ring symbolizes an everlasting covenant. The joining of a man and a woman makes them echad (a complex unity). Marriage between a man and a woman is till death, and in Messiah those aspects of marriage that are transcendent remain Gen 2:24.
 
It’s customary to place the ring on the index finger of the left hand. This is based on the ancient belief that this finger is connected to the blood vessel that connects directly to the lev (heart) which in Hebrew denotes the center of a person’s being rather than the seat of emotion. In other words, love is eternal and transcends temporal emotion.
 
Ketubah (To write)
 
Like the traditional ring giving, the ketubah is given by the groom to the bride. In it the groom covenants to provide for the bride in every aspect of their lives together. Like the salvation and sanctification offered by God through the Groom Yeshua (Jesus) to humanity, the ketubah and its promises are the obligation of the groom, the bride need only receive the covenant offered. This teaches us that salvation is the work of God and not of ourselves. In and of ourselves we are unable to atone for the sins of the past (we are not time travelers, nor are we devoid of evil intentions), nor can we effect salvation by any means. Knowing this God our Creator provided His own eternal blood through Yeshua Melekh HaMashiach the King Messiah Yeshua before the creation of the world 1 Peter 1:19-21; Rev. 13:8, so that all who receive Him (Yeshua) might be reconciled to God for eternity in the same way that an honorable bride is joined to her groom by receiving the ketubah covenant which he offers her.
 
Stomping Glass
 
While there are many interpretations of this custom, there are at least two primary orthodox explanations. The first is that with few exceptions all the covenants of Torah are made by “cutting”. The Hebrew B’rit (covenant) is formed from the word bara meaning to cut. The second is that the breaking of the glass reminds us that the temple in Jerusalem was destroyed by the Romans and that the joy of Israel cannot be fully realized until the temple is rebuilt at the (second) coming of the King Messiah.
 
Our Messianic view adds the understanding that the cup of the covenant entered into by the groom and bride is symbolic of their intimacy with one another and the life (progeny) that comes forth from that union. Therefore, because they alone have drunk from it and they have committed to loving each other and forsaking all others with regard to sexual intimacy, the breaking of the cup seals that commitment and acts as a warning to any who might seek to drink from it, thus lacerating their lips. This is symbolic of a death curse upon any who would practice adultery (one of the things alluded to in Birkat Erusin [Betrothal blessing] of the Jewish wedding covenant).
 
Alphabetic Transliterated Hebrew Word List:
 
B’rit – covenant
Bara - to cut
Birkat Erusin - Betrothal blessing
Chuppah - Wedding canopy
Chatan – groom
Erusin/Kiddushin – betrothal (sanctification)
HaShem - God/YHVH
Kalah – bride
Kaparah – atonement
Kavod - Glory
Ketubah – The Groom’s Covenant Agreement with his Bride
Kippah - covering
Lev – Center of being/heart
HaMashiach – The Messiah (Christ)
Melekh – King
Mishkan – Tent of meeting
Nissuin - Wedding ceremony (marriage, carried)
Olam Haba - World to Come
Shekhinah - Dwelling, settling
Sheva brachot - Seven marriage blessings
Tallit – Prayer Shawl
Torah – Five books of Moses
Yeshua – Jesus
 
Copyright 2022 Yaakov Brown

​Art Copyright 2022 Azariah Brown

Amos 6 (Author’s translation)
 
1 Oiy, woe, alas to those who are at ease feeling secure in Zion, and to those who trust in the mountain of Samaria, and the appointed heads of the nations, to whom the house of Israel comes. 2 Pass over to Chalneh from there to Chamat then go down to the great Gath of the Philistines. Are they better than these kingdoms, with greater territory than your territory? 3 Do you put away the day of evil, and draw near a seat of cruelty? 4 Those who lie on beds of ivory, and stretch out on their couches, and eat lambs from the flock, and calves from the midst of the fattened cattle, 5 Who make up nonsensical chants upon the face of the pitcher (jug), for David they esteem, and they invent of themselves songs, 6  Who drink in bowls of wine and anoint their heads with oils—yet they have not grieved over the shattering of Joseph. 7 Therefore, they will now go into captivity at the head of the exiles, and the feasting cry of those who stretch out (lounge) will depart. 8 The Lord YHVH has sworn by His soul, YHVH the God/Judge Who goes warring has declared: “I abhor the majesty of Yaakov, and his palaces I hate; and I will deliver up a city and all that is in it.” 9 And it will come to pass, if ten men are left in one house, they will die. 10 And a man’s uncle will lift him up and burn him, and bring out bone substance from the house, and say to the one who is at the sides of the house, “Is anyone else with you?” And that one will say, “None.” Then he will answer, “Hold your tongue!” For the name of YHVH the Lord is not remembered. 11 For behold, now, pay attention YHVH the Lord has commanded and will smite the great house into fragments and the little house to rubble. 12 Do horses run on rocks? Or does one yoke them with oxen for ploughing? Yet you have turned judgement into poison, and the fruit of righteousness into wormwood (bitterness), 13 You who rejoice in Lodebar (nothing), and say, “By our strength have we not taken Karnayim?” 14 “For behold, now, pay attention, I am going to raise up upon you, house of Israel,” declares YHVH (Mercy) the Lord God/Judge the One Who goes warring, “A nation, and they will oppress you from the entrance of Chamat to the wadi (river bed) of the wilderness.”
 
Amos 6 (Line Upon Line)
 
1 Ho Oiy, woe, alas hasha’ananiym to those who are at ease feeling secure betziyon in Zion (parched place), vehabotechiym and to those who trust behar in the mountain of Shomeron Samaria (guardians), and nekuveiy the appointed (to pierce) reishiyt heads of hagoyim the nations, uvau lahem beiyt Yisrael to whom the house of Israel comes.
 
1 Oiy, woe, alas to those who are at ease feeling secure in Zion, and to those who trust in the mountain of Samaria, and the appointed heads of the nations, to whom the house of Israel comes.
 
Both Judah (Zion being the seat of king David’s power) and Israel (the northern tribes whose kings held court in Samaria) are being warned concerning their idolatrous faith in their own strength.
 
Zion is used in Scripture to describe both the mountain located in Jerusalem and the entire land and or, people of Israel. Therefore, it is possible that Zion is used here as being synonymous with Israel, however, given that Amos is of Judah and that while the focus of his prophecy has been on the northern kingdoms there has nonetheless been earlier rebuke of Judah, it is most likely that both kingdoms and therefore all twelve tribes are being called out for their idolatrous behaviour, and the sin of trusting in their own strength rather than trusting in God.
 
Regardless, the latter clause “those who trust in the mountain of Samaria, and the appointed heads of the nations, to whom the house of Israel comes.” Is specifically addressed to the northern tribes who gather at the mountain city of Samaria under the northern king and in order to practice apostate worship in an intentional act of defiance against the appointed place of worship, Mt Zion in Jerusalem.
 
The phrase “appointed heads of the nations” is a reference to the fact that the northern tribes had made agreements with the nations they perceived to be strong and thus trusted not only in their own strength but also in the added strength of alliances with godless nations.
 
The Targum understands the phrase “appointed heads of the nations” somewhat differently, paraphrasing the text to read:
 
"put the name of their children, as the name of the children of the nations;''
 
While this seems an unlikely interpretation, it does nonetheless point to the coming exile by inferring that Israelis will give their children foreign names during the future captivity in order to make their lives easier as strangers in a land not their own.
 
2 Ivru Pass over to Chalneh (fortress of Anu: Assyrian/Babylonian) misham from there to Chamat (fortress, upper Syria) rabah uredu then go down to the great Gat-Pelishtiym (wine vat of immigrants) Gath of the Philistines. Hatoviym min-hamamlachot haeileh Are they better than these kingdoms, im-rav with greater gevulam territory migevulchem than your territory?
 
2 Pass over to Chalneh from there to Chamat then go down to the great Gath of the Philistines. Are they better than these kingdoms, with greater territory than your territory?
 
In short, “Go and take a tour around the region, as far east as Chalneh in Babylon, north to the great city of Chamat located between Damascus and the Mediterranean sea, and finally south to Gath, the pride of the Philistines. Do Chalneh, Chamat, and Gath, exceed the grandeur, wealth and strength that the kingdoms of Israel and Judah have been given?”
 
The answer is of course “No”. God had given Israel a land rich with produce and grandeur and yet she had looked elsewhere, not satisfied with the gift of YHVH.

3 Hamnadiym Do you put away leyom the day of ra evil, vatagiyshun and draw near shevet a seat of chamas cruelty?
 
3 Do you put away the day of evil, and draw near a seat of cruelty?
 
“Do you put away the day of evil” means, “Based on your belief that you are strong of yourselves and the delusional view that the day of the LORD will be one of light for you, you have put the day of the LORD out of your thoughts, a day that for you will be a day of evil in the sense of darkness, torment and destruction.”
 
“and draw near a seat of cruelty” means, having rejected the warning of the prophets and having chosen to turn their backs on God, they have instead entered into an intimate relationship with vile acts of cruelty, the oppression of the poor, the rape of women, the murder of those who threaten their worldly ambitions and so on.
 
The translation “seat of violence” is not accurate, given that in and of itself violence is neither good nor evil but is informed by good or evil. Therefore, “cruelty” better conveys the Hebrew “chamas”. A prophetic and poignant translation given the modern terrorist organisation Hamas, whose modus operandi is cruelty even in the treatment of those they claim to be freeing from the so called tyranny of the modern state of Israel.
 
4 Hashocheviym Those who lie al-mitot on beds shein of ivory, useruchiym and stretch out al-arsotam on their couches, ve’ocheliym and eat kariym lambs mitzon from the flock, va’agaliym and calves mitoch from the midst marbek of the fattened cattle,
 
4 Those who lie on beds of ivory, and stretch out on their couches, and eat lambs from the flock, and calves from the midst of the fattened cattle,
 
Once again the imagery depicts the rulers, uber rich and uncaring aristocracy of the northern tribes. Ivory was a valuable commodity and the act of lounging on beds made from it accentuates the palpable disregard for matters of justice and right action. This is coupled with gluttony, the consumption of the best of Israel’s cattle, some of which should have been offered in Jerusalem according to Torah, but was nonetheless being eaten by the upper class, who had decided that they themselves were the deities who deserved these offerings.
 
The phrase “eat the lambs from the flock” contains a remez (hint) at deeper meaning. Israel is the flock of HaShem and the wicked among the rich upper class were devouring the innocent lambs of Israel, both physically and metaphorically as the analogy applies to apostasy and the leading astray of the vulnerable young.

5 Haporetiym Who make up nonsensical chants al-piy upon the face hanavel of the pitcher (jug), kedaviyd for David chashevu they esteem, invent lehem of themselves shiyr songs,
 
5 Who make up nonsensical chants upon the face of the pitcher (jug), for David they esteem, and they invent of themselves songs,
 
This is essentially saying that those in question invented their own nonsensical chants and psalms and attributed them to or gave them equal status to the Psalms of king David. This is utterly abhorrent because it not only misappropriates David’s name but more importantly makes the false inference that their words are inspired by the Holy Spirit.
 
Once again this is a chilling indictment on modern Christian worship music which so often claims to be inspired by the Holy Spirit and yet is worded in such a way as to express the nonsensical emotion of the fallen nature.
 
6 Hashotiym Who drink bemizrekei in bowls yayin of wine vereishiyt shemaniym yimshachu and anoint their heads with oils— velo yet they have not nechlu grieved al-sheiver over the shattering Yosef (Yah adds) of Joseph.
 
6  Who drink in bowls of wine and anoint their heads with oils—yet they have not grieved over the shattering of Joseph (Yah adds).
 
The wine drunk in sacred bowls is an allusion to the worship of deities accredited with the grape harvest, and the oils, in part made from the life sustaining olive oil of the land, are perfumed and hoarded at the expense of the poor. Thus, oil that might have feed the poor is used to adorn the rich for no other reason than to make them smell nice.
 
We do the same today when we use perfume made in the sweatshops of foreign countries where the poor are kept under a cycle of oppression in order to sustain western demand for perfumed commodities.
 
“yet they have not grieved over the shattering of Joseph (Yah adds).” The plain meaning regards the sin of the brothers of Joseph in selling him into slavery, this ancient sin being committed in another form against the destitute of the northern kingdom during the time of Amos.
 
The rulers and wealthy elite have shown a lack of care for the well-being of all Israel, indulgence having given birth to complacency, and a hardening of heart. Joseph (Yah adds) is used here as a synonym for Israel and hints (remez) at the disregard shown for the fact that YHVH has added blessing to Israel.

7 Lachein Therefore, atah they will now yiglu go into captivity berosh at the head goliym of the exiles, vesar mirzach seruchiym and the feasting cry of those who stretch out (lounge) will depart.
 
7 Therefore, they will now go into captivity at the head of the exiles, and the feasting cry of those who stretch out (lounge) will depart.
 
Those who have been guilty of the aforementioned oppression of the weak and vulnerable will be the first to go into exile. Just as they share in the guilt of selling Joseph into slavery so too they will be punished by being made slaves.
 
The text is a type of Hebrew word play which places the roshiym (heads) of Israel at the rosh (head) of the line leading into captivity. This is an ironic twist on the “first shall be last”. Here the “first shall be last by being first”.
 
8 Nishba Adonay The Lord (Master) YHVH (Mercy) has sworn benafsho by His soul, neum YHVH (Mercy) Eloheiy the God/Judge tzevaot Who goes warring has declared: “Metaeiv anochiy I abhor et-ge’on the majesty of Yaakov (follower), ve’armenotayv and his palaces saneitiy I hate; vehisgartiy and I will deliver up iyr a city umeloh and all that is in it.”
 
8 The Lord YHVH has sworn by His soul, YHVH the God/Judge Who goes warring has declared: “I abhor the majesty of Yaakov, and his palaces I hate; and I will deliver up a city and all that is in it.”
 
HaShem swears by Himself, His soul, character, essence, being, because there is none greater than He. He swears these things in mercy, which proceeds from His holiness. He swears as God and Judge, and as He Who goes warring to save His people from a fate worse than death, that is the second death (eternal punishment).
 
To YHVH belongs all majesty, therefore, the majesty which Yaakov (Israel) has manufactured for herself He despises.
 
The Hebrew text does not say “the city” as many wrongly translate but “a city”. Thus, for the purpose of disciplining His beloved children in order to return them to life everlasting, He will deliver up each and every city of Israel into the hands of the Assyrians, and subsequently into the hands of the Babylonians.
 
9 Vehayah And it will come to pass, im-yivateru asarah anashiym if ten men are left bevayit echad in one house, vametu they will die.
 
9 And it will come to pass, if ten men are left in one house, they will die. 
 
Those who are left of the northern kingdom, who are not taken into captivity, will die.
 
10 Unesa’o dodo umesarefo And a man’s uncle, will lift him up and burn him, lehotziy and bring out atzamiym bone substance min-habayit from the house, veamar and say la’asher beyarketeiy habayit to the one who is at the sides of the house, “ha’od imach Is anyone else with you?” veamar And that one will say, “Afes Zero, none.” Veamar Then he will answer, “Has Hold your tongue!” Kiy lo lehazkiyr besheim YHVH For the name of the Lord is not remembered.
 
10 And a man’s uncle, will lift him up and burn him, and bring out bone substance from the house, and say to the one who is at the sides of the house, “Is anyone else with you?” And that one will say, “None.” Then he will answer, “Hold your tongue!” For the name of YHVH the Lord is not remembered.
 
The bodies of Israel’s dead are to be interred in order to await the physical resurrection and Yom haDin (the Day of Judgement: Day of the LORD). The burning of an Israeli body is an abhorrent violation, but it will be the only option for those who remain, because the dead and rotting corpses of Israel will be so prolific and the remnant so few that they will not be able to bury them, thus leaving burning as the only means of preventing the spread of diseases associated with corpses. This is why the “uncle” asks “is anyone else with you?” The answer is “No one”. There is no one to help. The Targum says “they have all perished”.
 
“Then he will answer, “Hold your tongue!” For the name of YHVH the Lord is not remembered.” This is interpreted in a number of ways. Here are three possibilities:
 
a.“Be silent, because while the one we are burying was alive he never called on the Name of YHVH.”
b.“Why bother calling on the Name YHVH, He has brought this upon us, He has firmly established this.”
c.“They say ‘Don’t bother crying out to the gods we thought would save us, they can’t save’. They say this because they have long since neglected to remember the One True God YHVH Who is able and willing to save those who repent and call on Him.”
 
The Targum reads:
 
"he shall say, remove (the dead), since while they lived they did not pray in the name of the Lord.''
 
11 Kiy For hineih behold, now, pay attention YHVH (Mercy) the Lord metzaveh has commanded vehikah and will smite habayit hagadol the great house, resiysiym into fragments vehabayit hakaton and the little house beki’iym to rubble.
 
11 For behold, now, pay attention YHVH the Lord has commanded and will smite the great house into fragments and the little house to rubble.
 
The judgement of God that will enact justice has been firmly established against the perpetual sin of the northern tribes.
 
The great house can be understood to refer to the king of the northern tribes and the little house to the common people. It may also be a reference to two distinct houses of apostate worship in the north.
 
Alternatively, if the Targum’s rendering is correct, it refers to the northern kingdom as the great house (having the majority of tribes) and the southern kingdom of Judah as being the little house (Judah & Benjamin).
 
“he will smite the great kingdom with a mighty stroke, and the little kingdom with a weak stroke.” – Targum Yonatan (2nd Century C.E. Aramaic)
 
12 Hayrutzun basela susiym Do horses run on rocks? Im yacharush babekariym Or does one yoke them with oxen for ploughing? Kiy hafachtem lerosh mishpat Yet you have turned judgement into poison, uferiy and the fruit tzedakah of righteousness lela’anah into wormwood (bitterness),
 
12 Do horses run on rocks? Or does one yoke them with oxen for ploughing? Yet you have turned judgement into poison, and the fruit of righteousness into wormwood (bitterness),
 
These are of course rhetorical questions. These examples expose the immoral practice of swapping good for evil and vice versa. Israel had made poison of her judicial practices and had polluted the fruit of the righteous with vile acts of debauchery.

13 Hasemeichiym lelo davar You who rejoice in Lodebar (no word, thing), haomeriym and say, “Halo vechazekeinu By our strength have we not lakachnu lanu taken Karnayim (horn, a town of the region of Bashan)?”
 
13 You who rejoice in Lodebar (nothing), and say, “By our strength have we not taken Karnayim?”
 
Lo debar was a city southeast of the Kinneret (Galilee) in Gilead not far from Mahanaim, north of the Jabbok river (2 Samuel 9:4–5). Karnayim, also in the territory of Gilead, was directly east of the Kinneret (Galilee). It had been taken by Manasseh and was at the time a badge of honour reflecting their perceived strength.
 
The meanings of the names of these two locations speaks of how God will turn Israel’s strength into weakness, just as they have sought to turn morality on its head.
 
Lo Debar literally translates as “No thing (word)” and Karnayim “Horns (strength)”, the message being “There will be no strength in your words”, and “You will reap nothing from your strength!”
 
14 “Kiy For hin’niy behold, now, pay attention, I am going to meikiym raise up aleiychem upon you, beiyt Yisrael house of Israel,” neum declares YHVH (Mercy) the Lord Eloheiy God/Judge Hatzevaot the One Who goes warring, “Goy A nation velachatzu And they will oppress etchem you milevo from the entrance of Chamat (fortress, upper Syria) ad-nachal to the wadi (river bed) ha’aravah of the wilderness.”
 
14 “For behold, now, pay attention, I am going to raise up upon you, house of Israel,” declares YHVH the Lord God/Judge the One Who goes warring, “A nation, and they will oppress you from the entrance of Chamat to the wadi (river bed) of the wilderness.”
 
This is prophetic of the Assyrians and subsequently the Babylonians. Yet again Mercy the Judge goes warring to save His children. He will do so through discipline, sending the invading armies through the entire land of Israel from Chamat (part of the northern border of the land (Numbers 34.1–9), all the way down to the desert stream bed in the south that borders the wilderness of Sinai. This links the coming exile to the ancient captivity of Egypt. It will be a return to bondage which reflects Israel’s turning away from God and His life giving instruction (Torah), and toward the bondage of idolatry, sin and death. However, there is hope of redemption ahead.
 
Copyright 2022 Yaakov Brown

Amos 5:16-27 (Author’s translation)
 
16 Therefore thus says YHVH (Mercy) the Lord God/Judge Who goes warring, the Master (Lord): “In all inner city streets there is wailing and in all highways they say, ‘Oiy va voiy! Oh no, alas!’ And they call a ploughman to mourning and those who know (are skilled in) lamentation to wail. 17 And in all vineyards mourning, because I will pass through the inner part of you,” says YHVH (Mercy) the Lord. 18 Woe to you who are longing for the day of the Lord, for what is it to you? The day of the Lord it will be darkness and not light; 19 Like when a man flees from the face of the lion and is met by the bear, and goes to the house and leans his hand on the wall and is bitten by the snake. 20 Will it not be darkness, the day of the Lord instead of light, and gloom with no brightness? 21 “I hate, I reject your festivals, and I won’t smell your sacred assemblies. 22 Because though you offer up to Me burnt offerings and your freewill grain offerings, I will not accept; and peace offerings of your fat beasts I will not look at. 23 Turn aside from Me on to the ground the noise of your songs; and the melody of musical instruments I will not listen. 24  But let judgement run down as waters, and righteousness like a torrent of water in the wadi (stream bed) that is never ending. 25 “Did you present Me with sacrifices and freewill grain offerings in the wilderness for forty years, house of Israel? 26 But you have carried the tent of your king Molech and an idol of the god Saturn, your images (idols) of your star gods which you made for yourselves. 27 Therefore I will make you go into captivity beyond Damascus,” says YHVH (Mercy) the Lord, God/Judge Who goes warring is His Name.
 
Amos 5:16-27 (Line Upon Line)
 
16 Lachein Therefore koh-amar thus says YHVH (Mercy) the Lord Eloheiy God/Judge tzevaot Who goes warring, Adonay the Master (Lord): “Bekhol In all rechovot inner city streets mispeid there is wailing uvekhol-chutzot and in all highways yomeru they say, ‘Ho-ho Oiy va voiy! Oh no, alas!’ Vekareu And they call ikar a ploughman el-eivel to mourning umispeid el-yodeiy nehiy and those who know (are skilled in) lamentation to wail.
 
16 Therefore thus says YHVH (Mercy) the Lord God/Judge Who goes warring, the Master (Lord): “In all inner city streets there is wailing and in all highways they say, ‘Oiy va voiy! Oh no, alas!’ And they call a ploughman to mourning and those who know (are skilled in) lamentation to wail.
 
Therefore thus says YHVH (Mercy) the Lord God/Judge Who goes warring, the Master (Lord):
 
Mercy, the God and Judge of all, Who goes warring to save His people.
 
“In all inner city streets there is wailing and in all highways they say, ‘Oiy va voiy! Oh no, alas!’
 
In every part of the northern kingdom the people will be terrified and cry out “alas, woe is me”! This as a result of their un-abating evil practices. The Assyrians will leave people dead on the streets of the towns and cities and on the highways throughout the territories of the northern tribes.
 
This firmly establishes what was said previously concerning the diminishing numbers of Israel’s cities and towns.
 
And they call a ploughman to mourning and those who know (are skilled in) lamentation to wail.
 
This Chapter began with a song of lament. Therefore, it makes sense that the weight of the Word of God which is carried upon the people of Israel within His prophet, will move the people to call on every member of the community, from the simple ploughman to the professional mourner (Jer. 9:17; Matt. 9:23), to wail in the face of the death and destruction that is about to come against Israel as a just consequence of her perpetual sin.
 
The calling of the ploughman to mourning by necessity means he will not be ploughing in order to plant crops and as a result famine will ensue.

17 Uvekhol And in all keramiym vineyards mispeid mourning, kiy-e’evor because I will pass bekirbekha through the inner part of you,” Amar says YHVH (Mercy) the Lord.
 
17 And in all vineyards mourning, because I will pass through the inner part of you,” says YHVH (Mercy) the Lord.
 
Vineyards produce sweet grapes and wine, wine being a symbol of sweet abundance, and celebration of God’s goodness and provision. It is drunk in rejoicing at Israel’s festivals, and yet here it will be turned to mourning because God will “pass through the inner part” of all the people. This appears to be an allusion to the passing through of the messenger of death in Egypt (Ex. 12:12). This means that only the righteous remnant living in the northern kingdom will escape unscathed (albeit, taken into captivity as the result of the judgement against the entire northern kingdom).
 
18 Hoy Woe to you hamitaviym who are longing for et-yom YHVH the day of the Lord, lama-zeh for what is it lechem to you? Yom YHVH the day of the Lord hu choshekh it will be darkness velo-or and not light;
 
18 Woe to you who are longing for the day of the Lord, for what is it to you? The day of the Lord it will be darkness and not light;
 
Isaiah the prophet, whose ministry converged with the latter part of the ministry of Amos wrote:
 
18“Woe unto them that draw iniquity with cords of vanity, and sin as it were with a cart rope:19 That say, Let him make speed, and hasten his work, that we may see it: and let the counsel of the Holy One of Israel draw nigh and come, that we may know it! 20 Woe unto them that call evil good, and good evil; that put darkness for light, and light for darkness; that put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter! 21 Woe unto them that are wise in their own eyes, and prudent in their own sight! 22 Woe unto them that are mighty to drink wine, and men of strength to mingle strong drink: 23 Which justify the wicked for reward, and take away the righteousness of the righteous from him!” -Yishayahu (Isaiah) 5:18-23 KJV
 
Woe to you who are longing for the day of the Lord, for what is it to you?
 
This is an indictment against those who claim to follow YHVH the God of Israel and yet syncretise (combine) pagan practices with their worship of Him. For all intents and purposes they believed they were godly and walking rightly before God in spite of the fact that they were contradicting His Word.
 
So confident were they that they were right with God that they would proclaim their excitement about the coming day of the LORD, promoting it as a day of prosperity and celebration when their lifestyle would be approved of by the presence of God’s light. How chillingly familiar this is. It could easily be read today to the modern body of believers, as a description of the words and practices of popular Christianity and its love affair with predictive eschatology (study of the end times). God’s answer to this hypocrisy is:
 
The day of the Lord it will be darkness and not light;
 
In the context of the writings of Amos, the day of the LORD is first fulfilled in the attack of the Assyrians, then in the invasion of the Babylonians, however, the phrase “Day of the LORD” has far-reaching and yet to be fully filled manifestations.
 
There will eventually be a final “Day of the LORD” called Yom Ha-Din “The Day of Judgement”. And whether this day is 24 hours or a thousand years the result will be the same. To the wicked, the hypocrite, the willfully unrepentant, the one who claims to know the LORD but does not, it will be a day of darkness and not light (John 3:19).
 
Eschatological knowledge (knowledge of the end times) will not save the hypocrite from what is coming.

19 ka’asher Like when yanus iysh a man flees mipeneiy from the face of ha’ariy the lion ufegao and is met hadov by the bear, uva habayit and goes to the house vesamach and leans yado his hand al-hakiyr on the wall uneshacho and is bitten by hanachash the snake.
 
19 Like when a man flees from the face of the lion and is met by the bear, and goes to the house and leans his hand on the wall and is bitten by the snake.
 
These three examples are examples of the terror experienced by the ancient Israelite when faced with circumstances that will result in certain death. There were no hospitals or anti-venom treatments in ancient Israel. Each of these examples of animal attacks were fatal and an unexpected surprise for their victims.
 
Therefore:
​
“1Now, brothers and sisters, about times and dates we do not need to write to you, 2 for you know very well that the day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night. 3 While people are saying, “Peace and safety,” destruction will come on them suddenly, as labor pains on a pregnant woman, and they will not escape.” -1 Thessalonians 5:1-3 NIV
 
“42 “Therefore keep watch, because you do not know on what day your Lord will come. 43 But understand this: If the owner of the house had known at what time of night the thief was coming, he would have kept watch and would not have let his house be broken into. 44 So you also must be ready, because the Son of Man will come at an hour when you do not expect him.” -Yeshua: Matthew 24:42-44 NIV
 
The message here is that death will come suddenly and that each person should be prepared beforehand to face death and what comes after death. Believers are not instructed by Scripture to predict Messiah’s coming but are admonished not to bother with such nonsense, knowing that they cannot know when Messiah is coming, in the same way they cannot know if a thief will break into their homes on any given night, or whether they will be bitten by a snake, or to put it in a modern context, whether one might be hit by a car or in a car accident caused by another driver etc.
 
I recall the foolish predictions of so called godly leaders only a few years ago, who based on blood moons and the Hebrew calendar predicted catastrophic events, the end of this world and the coming of the Messiah. On the back of blood moons books were sold, videos made and profits soured. However, the events predicted did not occur, the world did not end and the Messiah did not return, and yet the majority of those leaders remain unchallenged to this day, and many continue to make eschatology their god.
 
God does not instruct us to focus on predicting the Day of the LORD, but on being prepared for His coming so that we might be found faithful.
 
20 Halo-choshech yom YHVH velo-or Will it not be darkness, the day of the Lord instead of light, ve’afeil and gloom velo-nogah with no brightness?
 
20 Will it not be darkness, the day of the Lord instead of light, and gloom with no brightness?
 
In true Hebrew poetic repetition the darkness that will come to the wicked on the Day of the LORD is firmly established against the wilfully unrepentant.
 
21 “Saneitiy I hate, ma’astiy I reject chageichem your festivals, velo and I won’t ariyach smell be’atzeroteiychem your sacred assemblies.
 
21 “I hate, I reject your festivals, and I won’t smell your sacred assemblies.
 
We note that it is not the festivals God has established for Israel that He hates, but the festivals Israel has created by syncretising pagan ritual and modifying the festivals of God to be practiced outside of the centre He appointed in Jerusalem (Deut. 12:11-21; 16:2-11; Deut. 26:2 etc.). He says, “I reject Your festivals”.
 
The phrase “I won’t smell your sacred assemblies” is a counterpoint to the well-known phrase “A pleasing aroma to the LORD”, which is found throughout the Torah in reference to the aroma of the sacrifices which are offered to God according to His instructions (Ex. 29:18, 25, 41; Lev. 1:9, 13, 17 etc.).
 
22 Kiy Because im-ta’alu-liy though you offer up to Me olot burnt offerings uminchoteiychem and your freewill grain offerings, lo ertzeh I will not accept; veshelem and peace offerings meriyeiychem of your fat beasts lo abiyt I will not look at.
 
22 Because though you offer up to Me burnt offerings and your freewill grain offerings, I will not accept; and peace offerings of your fat beasts I will not look at.
 
Because the offerings in question, which are three of the primary offerings prescribed by Torah, are offered according to apostate rituals and in syncretism with pagan worship, God will not so much as look at them (an idiom denoting God’s rejection of the offerings).
 
Israel was offering God gifts with someone else’s name on them. A modern example might be gifting a present to someone who then opens it to find that someone else’s name is engraved on it.

23 Haser Turn aside mei’alay from Me on to the ground hamon the noise shireycha of your songs; vezimrat and the melody of nevaleycha musical instruments lo eshma I will not listen.
 
23 Turn aside from Me on to the ground the noise of your songs; and the melody of musical instruments I will not listen.
 
There is nothing wrong with godly worship songs, however, there is something wrong with godly worship songs being sung by ungodly people. There is also something wrong with worship songs that combine the lies of pagan or secular beliefs with the truth of God’s word.
 
How sickening it is to realise that a large number of modern Christian worship songs fit this description. God is not listening to them.
 
When our motivation for writing songs of celebration, praise and worship to God is to ensure that they’re worded in such a way as to reach as wide an audience as possible; when we intentionally craft the lyrics to lessen the offense of the Gospel, or make our worship songs sound like ambiguous love songs, we are guilty of the same syncretism that the ancient northern kingdom was guilty of. We must Repent!
 
24 Veyigal kamayim mishpat But let judgement run down as waters, utzedakah and righteousness kenachal eiytan like a torrent of water in the wadi stream bed that is never ending.
 
24  But let judgement run down as waters, and righteousness like a torrent of water in the wadi stream bed that is never ending.
 
The common translation “Let justice run down like a river” is acceptable but does not necessarily relay the full meaning here. It is justice in the form of Mishpat “judgement” that is being alluded to. Justice results from God’s judgement.
 
The resulting justice will have an unending affect like the transforming affect that the torrential rainfall in the desert wadis has on the valleys of Israel.
 
The water of that floods the wadis, represents life, however it is devastating to those caught in it. Today, when these torrential rains occur in Israel out of season, it is often the case that hikers and IDF companies out on patrol are caught in the landslides created by the rain which causes flooding in the wadis, resulting in unforeseen deaths and severe injuries. Even in the spring months when torrential rain is not expected a seasoned guide taking hikers through the desert lands of Israel will avoid wadis and dangerous zones surrounding them, because he is aware of the potential disaster.
 
The imagery here is that of an unseasonal torrential rain fall that causes the water of life to become the agent of death for those caught unaware. Once again the emphasis is on preparedness.
 
In an ironic and poignant twist, it is the tradition of certain Moroccan Jews* living in Israel to gather the waters of unseasonal rains like that described and to drink them in order to be healed from sicknesses. While this is a superstition, it is nonetheless a living mashal (parable) which teaches that the same waters which bring death to the wicked will also bring life to the righteous.
 
*(I know this because we were having Shabbat with the Moroccan family of one of our Israeli sons following Pesach and during unseasonal rain).
 
25 “Hazevachiym uminchah higashtem-liy Did you present Me with sacrifices and freewill grain offerings vamidbar in the wilderness arbaiym shanah for forty years, beiyt Yisrael house of Israel?
 
25 “Did you present Me with sacrifices and freewill grain offerings in the wilderness for forty years, house of Israel? 
 
This does not mean that Israel offered no sacrifices during her forty year sojourn. After all, the Torah records the sacrifices offered (Ex. 24:5; Lev.8:1; Num. 7:12). While the regular offering of sacrifices was not as prolific during the period of wandering, neither was it none existent.
 
What this verse means is that there were a number among the people of Israel who during that forty year period offered sacrifices to false gods outside the camp and practiced superstitions contrary to God’s instruction. In other words, “Did you offer sacrifices to Me? No, you offered them to demons, or worse, you offered them to Me and to demons at the same time.” This is affirmed by the following verse.
 
26 Unesatem But you have carried et sikut the tent malkekhem of your king Molech ve’eit kiyun and an idol of the god Saturn, tzalmeiychem your images (idols) kochav eloheiychem of your star gods asher asiytem lachem which you made for yourselves.
 
26 But you have carried the tent of your king Molech and an idol of the god Saturn, your images (idols) of your star gods which you made for yourselves.
 
This description of heinous syncretism is heart breaking. Malkekhem “your king (other than God)”, is a reference to Molech and a word play incorporating the kings of the northern tribes. Molech was a Canaanite deity to which children were sacrificed.
 
The Hebrew sikut translated “tent” also reflects the name of a Mesopotamian astral deity and is used as an aural pun which likens his name to Shikutz a Hebrew word meaning “detestable things”. The allusion to carrying the “tent” of their “king (Molech)” is a sad indictment against their rejection of the One true King YHVH and His mishkan “Tent of Meeting”.
 
The Targum Yonatan reads:
 
“You (pl.) have borne the tabernacle of your priests, Khiyun (Mesopotamian astral deity) your image, the star your god, which you have made to yourselves.”
 
Israel’s rejection of the appointed place of worship symbolised by the “tent” and her syncretism with Molech is only a small part of her apostacy. Numerous false gods were added to the pantheon of the apostate, including but not limited to the god Saturn (kiyun) and various other star deities each purported to aid in certain areas of life (ref. Jer. 7:18).
 
“Which you made yourselves” is a reminder that they were worshipping things they created rather than worshipping the God who created them.
 
We are no different. Many modern believers syncretise pagan practices with their worship of God. Some mix fortune telling with prophecy and call it godly. Some mix cultural superstition with their faith in Messiah. Some use unproven herbal remedies which have been passed on from the ancient and superstitious worship of earth deities found within animistic cultures, some practice forms of exercise that involve positions named for the worship of false gods, and in doing all these things we claim that they are gifts of God for health, healing and enlightenment.
 
Anything or anyone we allow pride of place in our lives is a false god. We were created worshipping, everything we think, do and say is an act of worship, we are either worshipping God or we are worshipping something or someone else.
 
The first Messianic Jewish martyr Stephen, a Grecian Jew,  quoted Sefer Amos when he called his Jewish brothers and sisters to repentance:
 
“42 Then Elohim turned, and gave them up to worship the host (stars and planets) of the heavens; as it is written in the book of the prophets, ‘You house of Israel, did you offer to me slain beasts and sacrifices forty years in the wilderness? 43 Behold, you took up the tabernacle of Moloch, and the star of your god Remphan, figures which you made to worship them: and I will carry you away beyond Babylon.’” -Acts of the Sent Ones 7:42-43 (Author’s translation)
 
27 Vehigleiytiy etchem Therefore I will make you go into captivity meihalah beyond ledamasek Damascus,” amar says YHVH (Mercy) the Lord, Eloheiy God/Judge tzevaot Who goes warring shemo is His Name.
 
27 Therefore I will make you go into captivity beyond Damascus,” says YHVH (Mercy) the Lord, God/Judge Who goes warring is His Name.
 
This speaks of the coming Assyrian, and by extension, Babylonian captivity. Once again God is named “Mercy, the God and Judge, Who goes warring to save His people”!
 
Copyright 2022 Yaakov Brown

Amos 5:1-15 (Author’s translation)
 
1 Listen, hear, comprehend, obey this particular Word, essence, substance this which I carry upon you all, a lament, funeral dirge house of Israel (Overcomes in God). 2 She has fallen, she will rise no more—the bride (virgin) Israel. She is pounded, cast down upon her land (soil). Nothing will raise her from it. 3 For here says the Lord (Master) YHVH (Mercy): “The city which goes forth a thousand will be left with a hundred, and the one which goes forth a hundred will be left with ten to the house of Yisrael Israel.” 4 For here says YHVH (Mercy) the LORD to the house of Israel: “Seek (enquire of) Me and you will live. 5 And don’t seek (enquire of) Beiyt-El Bethel (House of God, Judge) and the Gilgal (the wheel), nor enter Beersheba (well of sevens, blessing, oath); for the Gilgal will certainly go into captivity and Beiyt-El Bethel will have succumbed to trouble, sorrow, idolatry, wickedness, iniquity. 6 Seek (enquire of) YHVH (Mercy) the Lord and live, beware lest He break out like fire, house of Joseph ([YAH adds] Ephraim & Manasseh), and it will eat up and nothing quench it to Bethel, 7 those who turn to wormwood (bitterness) justice, and righteousness is put to rest on the land.” 8 The One who fashioned the seven stars (Pleiades) and the simpleton (alt. constellation [Orion]), and turns to morning the shadow of death, and day He turns to night, with darkness, Who calls to the waters of the sea and pours them out upon the face of the land, YHVH (Mercy) The Lord is His name. 9 He who makes destruction gleam upon the strong, and havoc upon the fortified city. 10 They hate him who corrects in the gate, and the one who speaks with integrity they despise. 11 Therefore, because you put heavy weights upon the poor and from his burden of grain take tribute (taxes), you have built houses of finished stone, and you will not dwell in them; your beautiful vineyards you planted, and you will not drink their wine. 12 For I know your many rebellions and your numerous sins (missing the mark set by God’s holiness), you bind the righteous and take bribes, and the poor in the gate you push aside. 13 Therefore, the prudent person in a time such as this is silent, because it’s a time of evil. 14 Seek good and not evil, so that you live; YHVH (Mercy) and so that the Lord God Who goes warring will be with you all, for that’s what you all say! 15 Hate evil, and love good, and establish in the gate, justice! Maybe YHVH the Lord God Who goes warring will be gracious to the remnant of Yosef Joseph (Ephraim & Manasseh).
 
Amos 5:1-15 (Line Upon Line)
 
1 Shimu Listen, hear, comprehend, obey et-hadavar this particular Word, essence, substance hazeh this asher which Anochiy I nose carry aleiychem upon you all, kiynah a lament, funeral dirge beiyt Yisrael house of Israel (Overcomes in God).
 
1 Listen, hear, comprehend, obey this particular Word, essence, substance this which I carry upon you all, a lament, funeral dirge house of Israel (Overcomes in God).
 
“Shimu Listen, hear, comprehend, obey et-hadavar this particular Word, essence, substance”
 
As is the case in chapter 3 verse 1, the opening word of this chapter “Shimu” (Shema) is well known among the people of Israel. The central prayer of the faith of the Jewish people, which is found in D’varim (Words) Deut. 6:4 begins “Shema Yisrael”, (Listen, hear, comprehend, obey Israel…). The word “shema (shimu)” is both a request and a challenge. Listen, but don’t just listen, hear. Hear, but don’t just hear, obey. Obey, but don’t just obey, walk in obedience. This is a call not only to repentance but to discipleship. It is the very essence of the Good News of our King Messiah.
 
What follows is the phrase “et-ha’davar”, meaning, “this particular Word, Substance, Essence”. The “et” and “ha” are both determiners, the “ha” being the definite article in Hebrew and the “et” emphasising the “ha”. Thus, in one sense the Hebrew translates as, “Very definitely, The Word”. Put concisely, this is not just any word but the Word (logos: Yeshua [John 1]).
 
The prophet Amos upon whose tongue God has placed these words is aware that the Word Who places the words, is present. Amos is asking Israel to receive not only the words but also the One Who both births and inhabits them. Imanu-El, With Us God, the King Messiah is manifest in the words of Amos.
 
This particular word which I carry upon you all
 
This phrase differs from chapter 3:1 in that it reveals the weight of the Word of indictment upon the prophet, upon Israel and upon the Word Himself (Yeshua).
 
We shouldn’t misread “this word that I take up against you” as some English versions do. To misread the text this way is to miss the fact that the grief, the weight of the indictment carried by the living Word essence of God within the prophet of God (Amos) is a manifestation of the resurrected and transcendent King Messiah Who took upon Himself our burdens. We note further that the testimony of Yeshua (the Word) is the Spirit of all prophecy, past present and future (Rev. 19:10).
 
God, in Messiah the Word carries the weight that is upon His people.
 
A lament, funeral dirge beiyt Yisrael house of Israel (Overcomes in God).
 
It is a dirge of mourning, a funeral song for Israel, a funeral song for the King Messiah. Israel as Amos knew her would soon pass away, but not completely.
 
In a similar lament God would later reveal a two-sided scroll of mourning to the prophet Ezekiel (Ezekiel 2:10).
 
2 Nafelah She has fallen, lo-tosiyf kum she will rise no more--betulat the bride (virgin) Yisrael Israel. Niteshah She is pounded, cast down al ad’matah upon her land (soil). Eiyn mekiymah nothing will raise her from it.
 
2 She has fallen, she will rise no more—the bride (virgin) Israel. She is pounded, cast down upon her land (soil). Nothing will raise her from it.
 
The language identifies Israel as a young bride who has yet to be conquered. Therefore, falling, she will rise no more as an innocent young bride. This also speaks of her loss of purity in seeking false gods and her physical punishment at the hands of the Assyrians. We know both from prophecy and from the subsequent history that Israel does not fall never to rise again, but “never to rise again as a young bride”. The qualifying Hebrew “betulat” (young bride, virgin) informs the phrase “never to rise again”. Israel will survive through remnant and continue to be the wife of HaShem. When the northern tribes return from exile to be reunited with the remnant of Judah they will henceforth become known as Y’hudiym (Jews). History itself is evidence of this, and the prophet Hosea whose ministry preceded and converged with that of Amos prophecies it:
 
“Yet the number of the children of Israel shall be as the sand of the sea, which cannot be measured or numbered; and it shall come to pass, that in the place where it was said to them, You are not my people, there it shall be said to them, You are the children of the living God.” -Hosea 1:10
 
The phrase “She has fallen” written in the past tense, establishes the future observed by God, which is in turn spoken into time and space in the mouth of the prophet Amos. From God’s perspective all is eternally present.
 
She is pounded, cast down al ad’matah upon her land (soil). Eiyn mekiymah nothing will raise her from it.
 
This is a reference to rape and carries a metaphorical meaning applicable to the entirety of the northern tribes. As I have already noted, Israel, the northern tribes will not recover in the land but will return to it. Nothing will resurrect her from the temporal destruction being prophesied, but God will redeem her and return her from the subsequent exile she suffers.
 
3 Kiy For koh here amar says Adonay the Lord (Master) YHVH (Mercy): “Haiyr The city hayotzeit which goes forth elef a thousand tashiyr will be left with meiah a hundred, vehayotzeit and the one which goes forth meiah a hundred tashiyr will be left with a’asrah ten leveiyt to the house of Yisrael Israel.”
 
3 For here says the Lord (Master) YHVH (Mercy): “The city which goes forth a thousand will be left with a hundred, and the one which goes forth a hundred will be left with ten to the house of Yisrael Israel.”
 
The meaning here is clear. Large cities will be reduced to the size of small towns and small towns to the size of a minyan (10). This connects the punishment of the northern tribes to the sin of the 10 spies who warned Israel against entering the land. It also reflects the fullness of God’s redemptive plan for Israel, ten being a number of fullness, wholeness, completion.
 
4 Kiy For koh here amar says YHVH (Mercy) the LORD leveiyt Yisrael to the house of Israel: “Dirshuniy Seek (enquire of) Me v’chyu and you will live.
 
4 For here says YHVH (Mercy) the LORD to the house of Israel: “Seek (enquire of) Me and you will live.
 
We note that the Hebrew text does not say “Seek Me and you may live” as is the case in a number of English versions, but “Seek, enquire of Me and you will live”. Repentance does not come with the possibility of life but with the certainty of it.
 
5 Ve’al-tidreshu And don’t seek (enquire of) Beiyt-El Bethel (House of God, Judge) vehagilgal and the Gilgal (the wheel), lo nor tavo’u enter uve’eir-sheva Beersheba (well of sevens, blessing, oath); kiy for the Gilgal galoh yigleh will certainly go into captivity uveiyt-Eil and Bethel yihyeh will have succumbed le’aven to trouble, sorrow, idolatry, wickedness, iniquity.
 
5 And don’t seek (enquire of) Beiyt-El Bethel (House of God, Judge) and the Gilgal (the wheel), nor enter Beersheba (well of sevens, blessing, oath); for the Gilgal will certainly go into captivity and Beiyt-El Bethel will have succumbed to trouble, sorrow, idolatry, wickedness, iniquity.
 
The counterpoint to the admonishment to “seek, enquire” of God is the warning not to “seek, enquire” of false gods (including enquiries that syncretise false gods with the God). This remains a warning to the modern believer. It has become common practice within the body of believers to syncretise our faith in the one true God of Israel with *godless popular philosophy, God denying humanist science, falsely premised Ted talks, moralism, devotional self-help (self-deification) gurus, pagan esoteric mindfulness guides and revisionist theologies. All these things join false beliefs to our Messiah essential true belief, and pollute our worship. Many of the aforementioned false guides utilize part truths which share some commonality with Biblical ideas, but pervert those ideas in much the same way Satan misuses Scripture in an attempt to tempt the King Messiah (Matt. 4:1-11).
 
*By far the majority of self-help gurus, mindfulness guides, and moralist philosophers of the modern age, pollute the truth by stealing pieces from it and disseminating a perversion of part truths. Part truth itself being a form of lying by omission.
 
The three locations named in this verse were once locations of blessing and sacred connection to the Patriarchs but have now been defiled, having become centres of idolatry.
 
These places connect the upper northern kingdom to the southern land that had been taken from Judah and at that point in history was controlled by the tribe of Simeon. This indictment is aimed specifically at the northern kingdom. The allusion to Beersheba relates to what the prophet will say later concerning the idolatrous practices there (8:14).
 
Where Israel goes up to these places of idolatrous worship they will be found and taken into captivity.
 
In the last clause God is making an observation of the outcome of Israel’s disobedience. If Israel doesn’t seek God, but instead seeks idolatry at Bethel, she will be overcome by her own depravity. The natural consequences of sin in the fallen world are themselves a form of punishment. “Aven” meaning “trouble” is used here as a word play against the Hebrew “avon” meaning depravity, perversity.

6 Dirshu Seek (enquire of) et YHVH (Mercy) the Lord v’chyu and live, pen-yitzlach beware lest He break out kaeish like fire, beiyt yoseif (YAH adds) house of Joseph (Ephraim & Manasseh), ve’achelah and it will eat up ve’eiyn-mechabeh and nothing quench it le’veiyt-El to Bethel,
 
6 Seek (enquire of) YHVH (Mercy) the Lord and live, beware lest He break out like fire, house of Joseph ([YAH adds] Ephraim & Manasseh), and it will eat up and nothing quench it to Bethel,
 
The region of the Bashan mentioned in the previous chapter connects Manasseh and Ephraim. This is the area to the east of the Jordan that the forebears of Manasseh, Gad and Reuven had requested (Num. 32; Josh. 13:15-23). The house of Joseph (Manasseh & Ephraim) in particular are singled out and admonished to seek the LORD. However, both Joseph and Ephraim are used as synonyms terms for Israel, as the ethnic noun relates to the northern tribes in general.
 
We note that the text reads as a warning. “Seek the LORD and live, beware lest He break out like fire…” This reference uses language usually associated to the LORD breaking out against Israel’s enemies (2 Sam. 5:20; 1 Chron. 14:11). Its use here is intended to sober up its hearers with the reality that they, being God’s chosen, have made themselves enemies not only of God but also of one another.
 
7 Hahofechiym those who turn lela’anah to wormwood (bitterness) mishpat justice, utzedakah la’aretz hin’yichu and righteousness is put to rest on the land.”
 
7 those who turn to wormwood (bitterness) justice, and righteousness is put to rest on the land.”
 
The embitterment of justice and the putting to rest or casting down to the ground of righteousness is an idiom that conveys desecration. It is used in a similar way in Daniel 8:12.
 
Ephraim and Manasseh were acting unjustly, intentionally withholding justice and turning the practice of justice into something ungodly. Therefore, not only had they brought bitterness on those being oppressed but would also reap bitterness as a result of the demise of society through injustice.
 
We see something similar today in western democracies where heinous crimes receive inconsequential punishments and victims are further harmed by both the process of law and its outcomes. In our modern societies, through democratic legislation, we have not simply neglected the poor, we have also become intentional oppressors of the victims of crime, often under the guise of grace and forgiveness. Our mistake has been to enact forgiveness toward the unrepentant, something the Scripture does not teach. To the contrary, the Scripture teaches that forgiveness is offered to all but that only the repentant receive it.
 
It is not secularism but a false gospel that has informed much of our modern law reform (so called). The reformation of something does not necessarily mean the improvement of something.
 
8 The One who oseih fashioned chiymah the seven stars (Pleiades) uchesiyl and the simpleton (alt. constellation [Orion]), vehofeikh and turns laboker to morning tzalmavet the shadow of death veyom and day He turns laylah to night, hechshiykh with darkness, hakorei Who calls lemeiy-hayam to the waters of the sea vayishpecheim and pours them out al peneiy on the face ha’aretz of the land, YHVH (Mercy) The Lord shemu is His name.
 
8 The One who fashioned the seven stars (Pleiades) and the simpleton (alt. constellation [Orion]), and turns to morning the shadow of death and day He turns to night, with darkness, Who calls to the waters of the sea and pours them out upon the face of the land, YHVH (Mercy) The Lord is His name.
 
The standard English translation of this text is usually rendered “The One who fashioned the Pleiades and Orion.” This is acceptable, but the Hebrew literally says “The One who fashioned the seven stars and a constellation,”. Additionally, the Hebrew “kesiyl” (uchesiyl) is a word that means both “constellation” and “simpleton”. Therefore, an equally valid reading is “The One who fashioned the seven stars and the simpleton,” which would convey the idea that God is the Creator of the majestic stars and of the simplest human being, bringing the universe into perspective as that which exists in its entirety within God.
 
The former reading would simply be understood as a Hebraic poetic coupling of like things “seven stars… and constellations”.
 
Regardless of how we read the first clause, the verse as a whole conveys the creation and adds to what God has already begun to say in the previous chapter in reference to the creation narrative of Genesis 1. These words are intended to return Israel to repentant awe and away from idolatry. Their tiny false gods are no match for the Creator of all things.

9 Hamavliyg shod He who makes destruction gleam al-az upon the strong, veshod and havoc al-mivtzar upon the fortified city.
 
9 He who makes destruction gleam upon the strong, and havoc upon the fortified city.
 
God forms destruction from the actions of the wicked making it to shine in place of the gleam of strength. In an ironic turn of phrase the Hebrew is equivalent to saying “destruction will spoil the gleam of strength”. This is to say that God will show Israel just how weak her own strength is. By trusting in her own strength she has weakened herself because her own strength is born of her fallen actions.
 
10 Sane’u They hate him vasha’ar mochiyakh who corrects in the gate, vedoveir tamiym and the one who speaks with integrity yeta’evu they despise.
 
10 They hate him who corrects in the gate, and the one who speaks with integrity they despise.
 
Amos was one of those who corrected the people at the gate. The gate was the ancient location of counsel, city governance, spiritual direction etc. The elders of the community met at the gate of the city to decide maters, hold court, allocate funds, and listen to the counsel of both secular and religious leaders. Had the majority of the elders of Israel’s cities been wise they would have heeded the warning of the prophets and shown respect for the wise counsel of the men of integrity. Sadly they did the opposite.
 
When we despise the words of men and women of integrity because we are offended based on the conviction of the Holy Spirit, we too become like the wicked of the generation of Amos. God has gifted us teachers and shepherds of integrity for our good. Are we listening to them or are we despising them?

11 Lachein Therefore, ya’an because you boshaschem put heavy weights al-dal upon the poor umasat-bar and from his burden of grain tikchu mimenu take tribute (taxes), bateiy gaziyt beniytem you have built houses of finished stone, velo-teishevu and you will not dwell in them; vam karmeiy-chemed your beautiful vineyards neta’tem you planted, velo and you will not tishtu drink et-yiyinam their wine.
 
11 Therefore, because you put heavy weights upon the poor and from his burden of grain take tribute (taxes), you have built houses of finished stone, and you will not dwell in them; your beautiful vineyards you planted, and you will not drink their wine.
 
The strong among the northern tribes have stolen from what little grain the poor person carries home on his shoulder. The houses of the wicked are built using funds gained from the oppression of the poor. However, they will not get to enjoy their opulent stone homes or the wine from their carefully tended vineyards. The God of Israel will bring justice to the poor, weak and oppressed.

12 Kiy For yadatiy I know rabiym pisheiychem your many rebellions va’atzumiym chatoteiychem and your numerous sins (missing the mark set by God’s holiness), tzorereiy tzadiyk you bind the righteous lokecheiy khofer and take bribes, ve’evyoniym and the poor basha’ar in the gate hitu you push aside. 13 Lachein Therefore, hamaskiyl the prudent person ba’eit in a time hahiy such as this yidom is silent, kiy eit ra’ah hiy because it’s a time of evil.
 
12 For I know your many rebellions and your numerous sins (missing the mark set by God’s holiness), you bind the righteous and take bribes, and the poor in the gate you push aside. 13 Therefore, the prudent person in a time such as this is silent, because it’s a time of evil.
 
This is a further indictment against wicked governance which is predicated on rebellion and multiplied by the sins that come from rebellion.
 
The prudent remnant among the people do not participate in the unjust rule of Israel’s cities and towns. They remain silent at this point because the majority have refused to listen to wise counsel. Thus, the wise recognise that the people are unteachable and withhold their pearls (metaphorical). The prophet of course has no such option, he is called by God to proclaim warning and pronounce the coming judgement.
 
We should not therefore make false judgements between the witness of individual believers related to their unique callings in God. Some are tasked with proclamation, others with silence. The one who does as God instructs him is righteous regardless of the opinions of other believers.
 
14 Dirshu-tov Seek good ve’al-ra and not evil, lema’an so that tichyu you live; vihiy-chein  YHVH (Mercy) Eloheiy-tzevaot and so that the Lord God Who goes warring itechem will be with you all, ka’asher amartem for that’s what you all say!
 
14 Seek good and not evil, so that you live; YHVH (Mercy) and so that the Lord God Who goes warring will be with you all, for that’s what you all say!
 
In spite of all the wilful rebellion of Israel God continues to admonish her to seek good. We note that God defines good, and that to seek good is essentially synonymous with seeking God. This is an invitation to right relationship with God. To seek good is to seek the nature of God, whereas to seek evil is to seek the product of the created being who enacted (rebellion) the first idolatry (Satan).
 
“So that you will live” is an expression of consequence. Those who seek good reap life.
 
“and so that the Lord God Who goes warring itechem will be with you all, ka’asher amartem for that’s what you all say!”
 
God is always with Israel. What is meant here is that God will be with the righteous as the Merciful Judge Who goes warring on their behalf.
 
The tragedy in the text is the observation “for that’s what you say”. This indicates Israel’s lip service to YHVH, Whom they claim is with them and approving of their apostate behaviour. God is saying “Rather than claim that you have my favour while acting wickedly, why not act righteously and actually benefit from My manifest favour?”
 
15 Sinu-ra Hate evil, ve’ehevu tov and love good, vehatziygu and establish vasha’ar mishpat in the gate, justice! Ulay Maybe yechenan YHVH Eloheiy-tzevaot the Lord God Who goes warring will be gracious to she’eriyt the remnant of Yosef Joseph (Ephraim & Manasseh).
 
15 Hate evil, and love good, and establish in the gate, justice! Maybe YHVH the Lord God Who goes warring will be gracious to the remnant of Yosef Joseph (Ephraim & Manasseh).
 
Hate evil, ve’ehevu tov and love good, vehatziygu and establish vasha’ar mishpat in the gate, justice!
 
Here Israel’s king, her judges and governors, her religious leaders and secular authorities are offered a solution to the injustice at their gates: “Hate evil, and love good, be intentional about establishing justice according to My Torah (Instruction)”!
 
In his letter to the Roman body of believers Rav Shaul (Paul the Apostle) makes a drash (comparative application) concerning dedication to the service of God in accordance with the just practice of love. As part of the drash Shaul quotes the prophet Amos, saying:
 
“Let love be without hypocrisy. Hate that which is evil; cling to that which is good.” -Rav Shaul’s Letter to the Roman Ecclesia 12:9
 
“Maybe YHVH the Lord God Who goes warring will be gracious to the remnant of Yosef Joseph (Ephraim & Manasseh).”
 
These words read as a hopeful petition by the prophet Amos on behalf of Israel (synonymous with Ephraim and Joseph). The prophet knows that Israel’s disciplining is firmly established and yet carrying the heart of Messiah Yeshua as Moses and Rav Shaul (Paul the Apostle) did [Ex. 32:32; Rom. 9:3], Amos nonetheless pleads grace. Of course God is continually offering grace, the outcome for the northern tribes has been made certain not by a lack of grace on God’s part but by the perpetual rebellion of the people. However, redemption lies ahead.
 
Copyright 2022 Yaakov Brown

Amos 4 (Author’s translation)
 
1 Listen, hear, comprehend, obey this particular Word, essence, substance, you cows of the Bashan (a fruitful place) who are on the mountain of Samaria (Guardians), you are the oppressors of the poor, weak, vulnerable, the crushers of the needy; the speech to their lords (masters) is, “Enter, and drink!” 2 This swears Adonay the Lord (Master) YHVH (Mercy) in His holiness, “For behold, now, pay attention, days are coming upon you all, and you will be lifted up on spears (piercing things), and your posterity (issue, children) in fish pots. 3 And bursting forth you will go out, a woman conspicuous, and you will be thrown out to the Harmon (alt. the flat topped mountain),” declares YHVH (Mercy ) the Lord. 4 “Enter Bethel (House of God, Judge) and rebel; at the Gilgal (the wheel) make great your rebellion! And bring to the morning, your blood sacrifices, after three days from tithes (pl. tenth part). 5 And offer a sacrifice of smoke from yeast, a thanksgiving, and proclaim freewill offerings, making them heard. For this you all love, children of Israel,” declares Adonay the Lord (Master) YHVH (Mercy). 6 “And also I gifted to you clean teeth in all your cities, and lack of bread in all your places; yet you have not continually returned to Me,” declares YHVH (Mercy) the Lord. 7 “And also, I withheld from you the particular rain continually for the three months before harvest. And I caused it to rain upon one city, but on another city I did not cause it to rain; a portion of one was rained on, and another portion not rained on would wither. 8 And staggering, two or three cities go to another city to drink water, and are not sated; yet you have not continually returned to Me,” declares YHVH (Mercy) the Lord. 9 “I struck you all with blight and mildew which increases in your orchards, and vineyards and your fig trees and your olive trees, which have been devoured by worms/locusts; yet you have not continually returned to Me,” declares YHVH (Mercy) the Lord. 10 “I sent among you a plague in the way of Egypt; I killed your young men with the sword, along with your captured horses, and the stench of your camps rose up in your nostrils; yet you have not continually returned to Me,” declares YHVH (Mercy) the Lord. 11 “I overturned you all, like when as Elohim as God/Judge I overthrew Sodom (burning) and Gomorrah (submersion), and you were like a log snatched from burning; yet you have not continually returned to Me,” declares YHVH (Mercy) the Lord.12 “Therefore this I will do to you, Yisrael; as a consequence for it, I will do this to you, prepare to meet your God, Yisrael.” 13 For behold, now, pay attention, He who forms mountains and creates breath, spirit, wind, and tells to a person what he is thinking, He who fashions dawn, hovering/covering, and treads upon the high places of earth, YHVH (Mercy) the Lord Elohay God/Judge tzevaot Who goes warring is His name.
 
Amos 4 (Line Upon Line)
 
1 Shimu Listen, hear, comprehend, obey hadavar hazeh this particular Word, essence, substance, you parot cows habashan of the Bashan (fruitful) asher who behar are on the mountain Shomeron of Samaria (Guardians), you are ha’oshekot the oppressors daliym of the poor, weak, vulnerable, harotzetzot the crushers evyoniym of the needy; ha’omerot the speech la’adoneiyhem to their lords (masters) is, “Haviyah Enter, venishtah and drink!”

1 Listen, hear, comprehend, obey this particular Word, essence, substance, you cows of the Bashan (a fruitful place) who are on the mountain of Samaria (Guardians), you are the oppressors of the poor, weak, vulnerable, the crushers of the needy; the speech to their lords (masters) is, “Enter, and drink!”
 
Shimu Listen, hear, comprehend, obey hadavar hazeh this particular Word, essence, substance…
 
Once again the word “shema (shimu)” is both a request and a challenge. Listen, but don’t just listen, hear. Hear, but don’t just hear, obey. Obey, but don’t just obey, walk in obedience. This is a call not only to repentance but to discipleship. It is the very essence of the Good News of our King Messiah.
 
What follows is the phrase “hadavar hazeh”, meaning, “the word, this specific thing”. Where the former chapter speaks of “et hadavar” the specific Word of God (Yeshua) in terms of His person, the words that follow here are a specific warning emanating from the specific Word [Person] (logos: Yeshua [John 1]). The Creator of the universe speaks through the essence of creation to the created, and in particular to the unique and chosen people of Israel.
 
You cows habashan of the Bashan (fruitful) asher who behar are on the mountain Shomeron of Samaria (Guardians)…
 
Bashan is an area in the north of Israel located east of the Jordan river, and spans the tribal allotments of Gad, Reuven, and the half tribe of Manasheh. Bashan was known for its fertile soil and fruitful pasture land.
 
The cows (easily enticed wayward people of Gad, Reuven, and the half tribe of Manasheh) had been herded southward to the idolatrous centre in Samaria. The city of Samaria was the capital of Ephraim’s territory (Isa. 7:9), and a centre where all the northern tribes gathered at times. The northern kings held court in Samaria. Ahab is called “King of Samaria” (1 Kings 21:1).
 
This metaphor speaks to the docile behaviour of the people in allowing themselves to be so easily led into idolatry and the resulting injustice. More specifically the feminine noun “Parot” (cows, not bulls) denotes well feed women, in this case the elite women of the half tribe of Gad, Reuven, and the half tribe of Manasheh, and of the northern tribes in general.
 
The Targum paraphrases this metaphor to read:
 
“You rich of substance”
 
In one of his Messianic Psalms, king David uses a similar metaphor in reference to those rich and powerful men (bulls) who have come against him. He calls them “the strong of Bashan” (Psalm 22:12). Therefore, Bashan is synonymous with fat cattle, who, lacking no good thing, are easily led into making poor decisions.
 
You are the oppressors daliym of the poor, weak, vulnerable, harotzetzot the crushers evyoniym of the needy…
 
The upper class women in particular and the people of the north in general, are being indicted for their intentional oppressing of the poor and their cruelty toward the vulnerable. This sin is inflated by the fact that they are harming fellow Israelis. They are not being accused of simply neglecting the poor, rather they are being called out on their intentional abuse of the poor and vulnerable. This kind of social injustice destroys the perpetrator as well as the victim. Failure to strengthen the weakest portion of the community results in weakening the whole community, making it vulnerable to destruction. Therefore, the punishment that is coming upon Israel at this point in her history is the natural outworking of her sin. By her actions she has essentially punished herself. We would do well to consider this in light of our own conduct. God offers to deliver us from self-harm.
 
“A merciful person does himself good,
But the cruel person does himself harm.” -Mishlei (Proverbs) 11:17 NASB
 
the speech la’adoneiyhem to their lords (masters) is, “Haviyah Enter, venishtah and drink!”


This is an intentionally ambiguous reference that likens the speech of the elite women to their husbands (adoneiyhem [lords]) to the speech of Israel to her false gods (adoneiyhem [lords]).
 
The Targum further illuminates the meaning by rendering the speech as:
 
“give us power, that we may spoil it.”
 
2 Nishba This swears Adonay the Lord (Master) YHVH (Mercy) bekadesho in His holiness, “Kiy For hineih behold, now, pay attention, yamiym days baiym are coming aleiychem upon you all, venisa etchem and you will be lifted up betzinot on spears (piercing things), ve’acharitechen and your posterity (issue, children) besirot dugah in fish pots.
 
2 This swears Adonay the Lord (Master) YHVH (Mercy) in His holiness, “For behold, now, pay attention, days are coming upon you all, and you will be lifted up on spears (piercing things), and your posterity (issue, children) in fish pots.
 
This swears Adonay the Lord (Master) YHVH (Mercy) bekadesho in His holiness,
 
God is Named Adonay “Lord” over adoneiyhem “their lords”, referred to in the previous verse, and in spite of the fact that He has every right as a jilted Husband to judge without mercy, He is nonetheless Named YHVH, the unpronounceable Name which denotes mercy.
 
There is no greater expression of a vow than this. When God swears He swears by Himself and His holiness from which His character is expressed. Like the word “hineih” that follows, this is an awesome call to attention.
 
“Kiy For hineih behold, now, pay attention, yamiym days baiym are coming aleiychem upon you all…
 
The use of “hineih” following the vow of God emphasises the immediacy of the warning and the certainty of the coming punishment.
 
The text does not say that the days of discipline might come, but that they are coming.
 
you will be lifted up betzinot on spears (piercing things), ve’acharitechen and your posterity (issue, children) besirot dugah in fish pots.
 
There are numerous variations in the English translation of these phrases, however the Hebrew is fairly simple and is using an idiomatic turn of phrase that indicates the impaling of the adults of Israel and the consumption of their progeny and achievements.
 
It is an allusion to the king of Assyria and his invading force, who by the hand of God will enact the just punishment of God against the people of Israel.
 
The impaling of captives on tall spears reflects a form of torturous death employed by the ancient Egyptians and thus points back to past oppression and suffering.
 
There is also a connection to this imagery in the prophecy of Jeremiah recorded later in Israel’s history (Jer. 16:16).
 
The Targum reads:
 
“That people shall take you away on their shields, and your daughters in fishermen's boats;”
 
3 Uferatziym And bursting forth teitzenah you will go out ishah a woman negdah conspicuous, vehishlachtenah and you will be thrown out to haharmonah the Harmon (alt. the flat topped mountain),” neum declares YHVH (Mercy ) the Lord.
 
3 And bursting forth you will go out, a woman conspicuous, and you will be thrown out to the Harmon (alt. the flat topped mountain),” declares YHVH (Mercy ) the Lord.
 
This continues the metaphorical language describing the coming exile. Like a woman conspicuously escaping through a breech in a city wall Israel will be exposed while trying to escape the invading Assyrians and will be easily captured and exiled.
 
We note that it is YHVH, Mercy Who speaks these words of judgement, and are reminded yet again that His Mercy both precedes and is the result of His judgement.
 
4 “Bo’u Enter Bayt-El Bethel (House of God, Judge) ufishu and rebel; hagilgal at the Gilgal (the wheel) harbu make great lifshoa your rebellion! Vehaviyu And bring laboker to the morning, zivcheiychem your blood sacrifices, lishloshet after three yamiym days ma’seroteiycham from tithes (pl. tenth part).
 
4 “Enter Bethel (House of God, Judge) and rebel; at the Gilgal (the wheel) make great your rebellion! And bring to the morning, your blood sacrifices, after three days from tithes (pl. tenth part).
 
Enter Bayt-El Bethel (House of God, Judge) ufishu and rebel; hagilgal at the Gilgal (the wheel) harbu make great lifshoa your rebellion!
 
Bayt-El (Bethel) had become a centre of idolatrous worship in the north and is named here with palpable irony. The tribes of the north enter a place once honoured by God in connection to the patriarch Jacob and now, at this point in Israel’s history, dishonoured by syncretistic worship and unbiblical sacrifices. Israel enters the “House of God/Judge” with the intention of rebelling. Thus, the northern tribes are judged and found wanting by their own actions. Their apostacy is no accident.
 
“Ufishu” from “pasha” the Hebrew root meaning rebellion is used again to show the intrinsic connection between idolatry (the root of all sin) and its fruit rebellion. Rebellion being the father of the many subsequent manifestations of sin.
 
Gilgal was an Israelite camp west of the Jordan river and east of Jericho. It was a location where Samuel the prophet judged Israel and where Saul the first king of Israel was ordained, and It was yet another main centre of idolatrous worship for the northern tribes (5:5, 27; 6:7; 7:11, 17 cf. Hos. 4:15). Israel’s former request for a king like the other nations was itself an act of idolatry and a root for the national sin manifest during the days of the prophecy of Amos.
 
The doubling up of the word “pasha” rebellion, and the references to multiple locations of idolatrous worship firmly establish the indictment concerning the sin of the people.
 
And bring laboker to the morning, zivcheiychem your blood sacrifices, lishloshet after three yamiym days ma’seroteiycham from tithes (pl. tenth part).
 
This is to say:
 
“Bring your apostate blood sacrifices to your counterfeit altar on high places not approved by God, go about your superstitious three day rituals and bring your tithes, which should have instead been brought to Jerusalem. By all means pretend to follow some small aspect of what’s commanded in the Torah by syncretising it with the practices of idol worship. Go ahead, practice your sin, see what happens…”
 
“After three days from tithes” can be understood to mean that the tithes that should have been brought to Jerusalem are instead being used in sacrificial rites at an apostate location in the north (Samaria, Bethel etc.).

5 Ve’kateir And offer a sacrifice of smoke mechameitz from yeast todah a thanksgiving, vekiru and proclaim nedavot freewill offerings, hashmiyu making them heard, known. Kiy For kein this ahavtem you all love, beneiy children Yisrael of Israel (Overcome in God, Judge),” neum declares Adonay the Lord (Master) YHVH (Mercy).
 
5 And offer a sacrifice of smoke from yeast, a thanksgiving, and proclaim freewill offerings, making them heard. For this you all love, children of Israel,” declares Adonay the Lord (Master) YHVH (Mercy).
 
And offer a sacrifice of smoke mechameitz from yeast todah a thanksgiving…
 
The sarcasm continues regarding Israel’s apostate practices. God commands in the Torah that yeast not be offered with a burnt offering:
 
“‘No grain offering, which you bring to YHVH, shall be made with yeast, for you shall not offer up in smoke any yeast or any honey as an offering by fire to YHVH.’” -Vayikra (Leviticus) 2:11 (Author’s translation)
 
Yeast represents sin. To offer a symbol of sin to God as a gift is abhorrent. Ironically, the actions of the northern tribes in syncretising heathen worship are well represented in an offering of a symbol of sin. They have at this point in history, been repaying God’s love with sin filled rebellion.
 
Modern Christians are in no position to pass judgement. It has been taught among Christians for millennia that Yeshua’s parable of the yeast permeating the dough likens the Gospel’s spread in relationship to the kingdom of God, to yeast that spreads through the world (Matt. 13:33; Luke 13:20-21). Thus, the message of the Gospel is compared to an established (throughout the TaNaKh [OT]) symbol for sin. Like the offering of yeast by the northern tribes, the comparing of the Gospel to yeast is abhorrent.
 
and proclaim nedavot freewill offerings, hashmiyu making them heard, known.
 
Not only are the sacrifices and offerings apostate they are also being practiced as nothing more than a show of piety, an act of spiritual pride performed for others to see.
 
Yeshua the King Messiah later addresses the hypocrisy of performance based religion:
 
“5 And they do all their deeds to be noticed by other people; for they broaden their [a]phylacteries and lengthen the tassels of their garments. 6 And they love the place of honor at banquets, and the seats of honor in the synagogues, 7 and personal greetings in the marketplaces, and being called [b]Rabbi by the people.” -Matthew 23:5-7 NASB
 
Are we guilty of performance based religion? How might we seek the strength of Messiah in order to change our behaviour to meet God’s standard of holiness?
 
For kein this ahavtem you all love, beneiy children Yisrael of Israel (Overcome in God, Judge),” neum declares Adonay the Lord (Master) YHVH (Mercy).
 
At this time in our history our modus operandi was to seek glory for ourselves at the expense of the vulnerable and in direct opposition to the commandments of God. Ironically the things we loved to do were acts of hatred not only against the poor but also toward ourselves. The same is true today. Only the true love of God can deliver us from our self-destructive behaviours.
 
6 “Vegam And also Aniy I nataiy lachem gifted to you nikyon clean shinayim teeth behkol in all areiychem your cities, vechoser and lack of lechem bread behkol in all mekomoteiychem your places; velo-shavtem yet you have not continually returned aday to Me,” neum declares YHVH (Mercy) the Lord.
 
6 “And also I gifted to you clean teeth in all your cities, and lack of bread in all your places; yet you have not continually returned to Me,” declares YHVH (Mercy) the Lord.
 
And also Aniy I nataiy lachem gifted to you My nikyon clean shinayim teeth behkol in all areiychem your cities…
 
The “cleanness of teeth” may be a euphemism for famine as some suggest, or it may refer to God bearing His teeth at Israel in an act of anger. The later seems most likely given the prophesied invasion of the cities. We note that the discipline of famine and physical harm is considered a gift.
 
and lack of lechem bread behkol in all mekomoteiychem your places…
 
This is clearly a metaphor for famine (2 kings 8:1). The phrase “in all your places” indicates nationwide famine. Israel is being given these physical warnings of famine and invasion as a call to repentance. Again, famine is “gifted” to Israel. Suffering that leads to repentance is a redemptive gift of God.
 
velo-shavtem yet you have not continually returned aday to Me,” neum declares YHVH (Mercy) the Lord.
 
This phrase appears five times in this chapter. It is a heart breaking observation that indicates Israel’s constant turning away from God in spite of the many warnings and the physical discipline God has given in order to provide an opportunity for repentance.
 
The Hebrew does not simply say “you have not returned to me” but “you continually choose not to return to me”. This is a description of a way of life rather than the addressing of a singular act of rebellion. At this point in our history we were wilfully and continually turning our backs on God.

7 “Vegam And also, Anochiy I manatiy withheld mikem from you et-hageshem the particular rain be’od continually for the sheloshah three chadashiym months lakatyir before harvest. Ve’himtartiy And I caused it to rain al-iyr echat upon one city, ve’al-iyr achat lo amtiyr but on another city I did not cause it to rain; chelkah a portion achat of one timateir was rained on, ve’chelkah asher-lo timateir and another portion not rained aleyah on tiyvash would wither.
 
7 “And also, I withheld from you the particular rain continually for the three months before harvest. And I caused it to rain upon one city, but on another city I did not cause it to rain; a portion of one was rained on, and another portion not rained on would wither.
 
The withholding of the timely rains that precede the harvest is a kind of shock and awe campaign. Without these rains the harvest would be meagre and famine perpetuated due to poor seed return. We note that as a counterpoint to Israel’s perpetual turning away the rains are perpetually withheld. When one rejects the supplier of water, water is withheld. Therefore, our sinful actions are self-harm.
 
In addition to this God had brought about erratic rainfall within smaller locations so that on one side of a city rain fell and on the other the land dried up. As a result there would have been in fighting among the inhabitants of the city and a tendency for those who benefited from rainfall to hoard supplies. All of this accentuates the rebellious modus operandi of the people at that time.
 
8 Ve’nau And staggering shtayim two or shalosh three ariym cities el-iyr achat go to another city lishtot to drink mayim water, ve’lo and are not yisbau sated; ve’lo shavtem yet you have not continually returned aday to Me,” neum declares YHVH (Mercy) the Lord.
 
8 And staggering, two or three cities go to another city to drink water, and are not sated; yet you have not continually returned to Me,” declares YHVH (Mercy) the Lord.
 
A lack of food from grain and fruiting trees was one thing, but a lack of drinking water is another thing altogether. Water is primary to human survival, without it we die.
 
In spite of Israel experiencing these hardships she had not turned toward God. This repetition of the phrasing “yet you have not continually returned to Me,” declares YHVH (Mercy) the Lord” becomes weightier when we realise that Israel had sought help during the famine and drought that resulted from God’s discipline, but they had not sought it from God. This means that false deities were being sought and or syncretised worship practices employed in order to invoke demonic spiritual support for Israel’s practical problems.

9 “Hikeiytiy I struck etchem you all bashidafon with blight uvayeirakon and mildew harbot ganoteiychem which increases in your orchards, vecharmeiychem and vineyards ute’eineiychem and your fig trees vezeiyteiychem and your olive trees, yochal which have been devoured hagazam by worms/locusts; ve’lo shavtem yet you have not continually returned aday to Me,” neum declares YHVH (Mercy) the Lord.
 
9 “I struck you all with blight and mildew which increases in your orchards, and vineyards and your fig trees and your olive trees, which have been devoured by worms/locusts; yet you have not continually returned to Me,” declares YHVH (Mercy) the Lord.
 
Every time a discipling action is alluded to the phrase “yet you have not continually returned to Me,” declares YHVH (Mercy) the Lord” follows. And each time the heart condition of the people is exposed.
 
The fruiting trees described represent prosperity and celebration (wine, figs), healing and spiritual strength (olives). The metaphor exposes the spiritual and physical decay of the souls of the people.
 
10 “Shilachtiy I sent vachem among you dever a plague bederekh in the way Mitzrayim of Egypt; haragtiy vacherev bachureiychem I killed your young men with the sword, im sheviy suseiychem along with your captured horses, va’a’aleh be’osh machaneiychem and the stench of your camps rose up uveapechem in your nostrils; ve’lo shavtem yet you have not continually returned aday to Me,” neum declares YHVH (Mercy) the Lord.
 
10 “I sent among you a plague in the way of Egypt; I killed your young men with the sword, along with your captured horses, and the stench of your camps rose up in your nostrils; yet you have not continually returned to Me,” declares YHVH (Mercy) the Lord.
 
I sent vachem among you dever a plague bederekh in the way Mitzrayim of Egypt…
 
This can be understood to be likening the punishment of God against Israel during the time of Amos to the plagues of Egypt (Ex. 7-12), or to the plague Israel experienced on her way out of Egypt on her journey in the desert (Num. 16:46). The later seems more likely given that the Hebrew reads bederekh “in the way”, rather than “in Egypt”.

11 “Hafachtiy I overturned vachem you all, kemahpeichat like when as Elohim as God/Judge I overthrew et-sidom ve’et-amorah Sodom (burning) and Gomorrah (submersion), vatihyu keod and you were like a log mutzal snatched misereifah from burning; ve’lo shavtem yet you have not continually returned aday to Me,” neum declares YHVH (Mercy) the Lord.
 
11 “I overturned you all, like when as Elohim as God/Judge I overthrew Sodom (burning) and Gomorrah (submersion), and you were like a log snatched from burning; yet you have not continually returned to Me,” declares YHVH (Mercy) the Lord.
 
The list of literal and metaphorical calamities reaches its crescendo with this reference to Sodom and Gomorrah. This allusion is multifaceted in that it infers that Israel’s sins have caused her to descend to depths of depravity equal to those of Sodom and Gomorrah. The destruction therefore will be similar, however God in His mercy reached in and grabbed Israel from the burning fire (a reference to the fiery sulphur that rained on Sodom and Gomorrah) like a log pulled out before it can be consumed, charred but in one piece. We note that the metaphor puts the hand of the one who delivers the log at risk of harm. God has given of Himself in order to deliver Israel.
 
“Yet you have not continually returned to Me,” declares YHVH (Mercy) the Lord.”
 
12 “Lachein Therefore koh this e’eseh-lekha I will do to you, Yisrael; ekev as a consequence kiy for zot it, a’eseh-lakh I will do this to you, hikon likrat-Eloheiykha Yisrael prepare to meet your God, Israel.”
 
12 “Therefore this I will do to you, Yisrael; as a consequence for it, I will do this to you, prepare to meet your God, Yisrael.”
 
This draws together all the imagery of the previous verses and denotes both terrifying punishment and reconciliatory promise.
 
Therefore koh this e’eseh-lekha I will do to you, Yisrael; ekev as a consequence kiy for zot it, a’eseh-lakh I will do this to you…
 
I will punish you in a terrible way as a consequence of your sinful actions.
 
prepare to meet your God, Israel.
 
The way the reader receives this phrasing determines the outcome. A refusal to prepare will result in meeting God the Judge of Israel, while choosing to prepare through returning to YHVH (Mercy) in repentance will mean suffering the consequence of sinful actions in the physical world, but also being given an opportunity to meet YHVH in the desert of exile on a journey that returns Israel to the land of promise.
 
The principle can be applied by all believers. Are we ignoring God’s admonishment of preparation and thus reaping self-destruction, or are we walking in repentance and receiving God in an intimate meeting between Creator and creation.
 
The repentant prepare and receive mercy from the Judge, while the unprepared are condemned. Being unprepared when we have been warned is sin. Neither culture nor personality are an excuse for laziness, inaction.

13 Kiy For hineih behold, now, pay attention, yotzeir He who forms hariym mountains uvorei and creates ruach breath, spirit, wind, umagiyd and tells leadam to a person mah-sheicho what he is thinking, oseh He who fashions shachar dawn eiyfah, hovering/covering vedorekh and treads al upon bamoteiy aretz the high places of earth, YHVH (Mercy) the Lord Elohay God/Judge tzevaot Who goes warring Shemo is His name.
 
13 For behold, now, pay attention, He who forms mountains and creates breath, spirit, wind, and tells to a person what he is thinking, He who fashions dawn, hovering/covering and treads upon the high places of earth, YHVH (Mercy) the Lord Elohay God/Judge tzevaot Who goes warring is His name.
 
For hineih behold, now, pay attention, yotzeir He who forms hariym mountains uvorei and creates ruach breath, spirit, wind…
 
The Lord reminds Israel that He is the Creator. That He both forms that which is created and creates life, the human spirit (ruach) from nothing.
 
The ruach (wind), created from nothing, moves the dust of the earth. The ruach (breath) of God gives neshama (eternal convergent existence) to the dust, forming humanity. The ruach (spirit) of human beings is created by HaRuach (The Spirit) Elohiym of God.
 
and tells leadam to a person mah-sheicho what he is thinking…
 
The ambiguity seems intentional. God is the nearest subject but the person is the nearest object. Therefore, God both knows every thought of a human being before it is thought and speaks His divine thoughts to human beings according to their ability to receive His Word.
 
He who fashions shachar dawn eiyfah, hovering/covering vedorekh and treads al upon bamoteiy aretz the high places of earth,
 
This is an allusion to the creation account of Genesis 1. The Spirit of God hovers over the deep and forms the earth. He is Creator and Ruler over all things.
 
Additionally and with regard to the apostate worship which was being performed at the time of the prophecy of Amos, God treads on the highest places used by the wicked as shrines to false gods. He grinds all idols to dust beneath His feet. By necessity all that is made has a beginning. The God of Israel has no beginning or end, He is all existing and therefore has no maker.
 
Throughout Scripture the names of persons are used as a summation of their character attributes. When Israel is lost in rebellion what is the Name of her God?
 
YHVH (Mercy) the Lord Elohay God/Judge tzevaot Who goes warring Shemo is His name.
 
His Name is “Mercy the Righteous Judge Who goes warring to save His people”.
 
Copyright Yaakov Brown 2022

​Amos 3 (Author’s translation)
 
1 Listen, hear, comprehend, obey this particular Word, essence, substance this which YHVH (Mercy) the Lord has spoken upon you, children of Israel, upon the entire family which I brought up  from the land of Egypt: 2 “Only you I know from all families of the earth; therefore I will punish you for all your depravity.” 3 How can two people walk in unity except if  they are in agreement? 4 Will a lion roar in the forest when he has no prey? Will a young lion employ his voice from his den except if he has caught something? 5 Will a bird fall into a snare on the ground if there is no bait in it? Will a trap rise up from the earth, and seize nothing at all? 6 If a rams horn is blown in a city, will the people not quake with terror? If an evil, distressful disaster occurs in a city, has YHVH (Mercy) the Lord not fashioned it? 7 Adonay YHVH (Mercy) the Lord God does not speak a word unless He reveals His secret to His servants the prophets. 8 A lion has roared! Who will not fear? Adonay YHVH (Mercy) The Lord God has spoken! Who can stop himself from prophesying? 9 Proclaim on the palaces in Ashdod and on the citadels in the land of Egypt and say, “Gather on the mountains of Samaria and see the great turmoil within her and the oppressions in her midst. 10 And they don’t know how to fashion what is straight,” utters YHVH (Mercy) the Lord, “these storers of violence and havoc in their palaces.” 11 Therefore, this is what Adonay YHVH the Lord God says: “An adversary, will circle the land, and take down your might from you, and plunder your citadels.” 12 This is what YHVH (Mercy) the Lord says: “Like when the shepherd snatches from the mouth of the lion two legs or a piece of an ear, so will the children of Israel be snatched away who dwell in Samaria — in a corner of a bed, and in Damascus from a couch! 13 Listen, hear, comprehend, obey and bear witness in the house of Jacob,” utters Adonay YHVH (Mercy) the Lord God, Eloheiy the God Who goes warring.14 “For in the day that I number Israel’s rebellions, I will also number upon the altars of  Bethel; and cut off the horns of the altar, and they will fall to the ground. 15 And I will slay the harvest house upon the summer house; the houses of ivory will also perish, and the great houses will come to an end,” utters YHVH (Mercy) the Lord.
 
Amos 3 (Line Upon Line)
 
1 Shimu Listen, hear, comprehend, obey et-hadavar this particular Word, essence, substance hazeh this asher which diber YHVH (Mercy) the Lord has spoken aleiychem upon you, b’neiy Yisrael children of Israel, al kol-hamishpachah upon the entire family asher which he’eleiytiy I brought up mei’eretz from the land of Mitzrayim (double distress) Egypt:
 
1 Listen, hear, comprehend, obey et-ha’davar this particular Word, essence, substance this which YHVH (Mercy) the Lord has spoken upon you, children of Yisrael (overcome in God), upon the entire family which I brought up from the land of Egypt (Mitzrayim: double distress):
 
“Shimu Listen, hear, comprehend, obey et-hadavar this particular Word, essence, substance”
 
The opening word “Shimu” (Shema) is well known among the people of Israel. The central prayer of the faith of the Jewish people, which is found in D’varim (Words) Deut. 6:4 begins “Shema Yisrael”, (Listen, hear, comprehend, obey Israel…). The word “shema (shimu)” is both a request and a challenge. Listen, but don’t just listen, hear. Hear, but don’t just hear, obey. Obey, but don’t just obey, walk in obedience. This is a call not only to repentance but to discipleship. It is the very essence of the Good News of our King Messiah.
 
What follows is the phrase “et-ha’davar”, meaning, “this particular Word, Substance, Essence”. The “et” and “ha” are both determiners, the “ha” being the definite article in Hebrew and the “et” emphasising the “ha”. Thus, in one sense the Hebrew translates as, “Very definitely, The Word”. Put concisely, this is not just any word but the Word (logos: Yeshua [John 1]).
 
The prophet Amos upon whose tongue God has placed these words is aware that the Word Who places the words, is present. Amos is asking Israel to receive not only the words but also the One Who both births and inhabits them. Imanu-El, With Us God, the King Messiah is manifest in the words of Amos.
 
“this which YHVH (Mercy) the Lord has spoken upon you, b’neiy Yisrael”
 
It’s a mistake to translate “aleiychem” as “against you [pl.]”. A translation employed by a number of English versions of the text.
 
Anyone with a rudimentary understanding of Hebrew knows that this common contraction of “al” (upon) and “l’chem” (to you [pl.]) means “upon you”. This is why we respond to the colloquial phrase “Shalom aleiychem” with the words “Aleiychem shalom”. “Peace be upon you”, and the response “Upon you be peace”.
 
The common English translation “against” misunderstands the Biblical Hebrew worldview. In the same way that Amos carries the burden of God’s Word upon himself, the people of Israel carry the weight of the Word of God’s rebuke upon themselves. God’s Word is not “against” Israel but “upon” her. It is not punitive but instructional. The weight of God’s rebuke is heavy only so long as Israel remains unrepentant. Through repentance that which was heavy becomes light. This is one of the reasons Yeshua says:
 
 “Come to me, all you that labour and are heavy with burden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am gentle and lowly (close to the earth) in heart (core being): and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.” -Mattitiyahu (Matthew) 11:28-30 (Author’s translation)
 
Given that like the prophet’s name Amos (burden), the word he carries is made a burden upon the children of Israel. We should remember that Amos himself is an Israelite of the tribe of Judah. Thus the prophet identifies with the people. He doesn’t see himself as separated from the people in relationship to his ethnic and religious identity, rather he is distinct from those who are walking in disobedience to God’s instructions.
 
“upon the entire family which  I brought up from the land of Mitzrayim (double distress) Egypt:”
 
This word is clearly indicated as being for all the tribes of Israel including Judah and Benjamin. In the context of Amos when Israel is used of the northern tribes alone a distinction is made by the lack of qualifying terms. Here, Israel is qualified as “the entire family which I brought from the land of Egypt”.
 
2 “Rak Only etchem you yada’tiy I know mikol from all mishpechot families ha’adamah of the earth, soil, dirt; al-kein therefore efkod I will punish aleichem you eit kol-avonoteiycham for all your depravity.”
 
2 “Only you I know from all families of ha-adamah the earth (the substance from which humanity is created in union with the breathe of God [neshamah]); therefore I will punish you for all your depravity (avon).”
 
These are the words of a devoted husband who has eyes only for the wife of his youth. They’re spoken to a wife who has nonetheless slept around on him and welcomed his affection only so far as it serves her lust filled goals.
 
We note that the Hebrew specifies that God’s choosing of Israel distinguishes her among all human beings. The phrase “ha-adamah” reflects the creation of humanity from the “adamah” dirt of the earth.
 
This is an intimate reminder of the fact that God’s relationship with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob is a familial relationship between Father and sons. When Jacob went down to Egypt he was 70 in total (Gen. 46:27; Ex. 1:5; Deut. 10:22), a family numbered according to the symbolism of the fullness of the nations (Gen. 10). God is reminding Israel that even before her trial of slavery and bondage He had set her apart to belong to Him. Like a bride preparing for her wedding in this sin affected world, Israel was proved through her trial and matured in her suffering.

3 Hyeikechu shenayim How can two people walk yachdav in unity biktiy except im if  noadu they are in agreement?
 
This question begins a series of rhetorical questions denoting cause and effect. Ultimately the rhetorical question that sums up the series would be, “How is it possible that you have been clearly warned by God of coming destruction (the just response to your sin,) and have been directed as to how you might escape it, and yet have chosen to ignore Him?”
 
This first rhetorical metaphor alludes to God and His chosen people, two men who are not walking in unity because they do not agree on the foundational doctrines of morality.
 
This does not teach that believers must agree on everything, rather it teaches that unless two agree on the foundational premise for the way they walk, they cannot walk together. The context does not address agreement between Israelites (though that too is important), but agreement between God and Israel.
 
Put simply, if two men arrange to meet at a given point in order to begin a journey (walk), but one of the men later decides of his own fruition that he thinks he should meet his friend at another time and place entirely, and doesn’t inform his friend of the changed plans, the two will neither meet nor begin their journey together.
 
With regard to God and Israel, the two had agreed together at Sinai on the holy standard set by God in order for their right relationship to continue. However, while they began the journey together, at some point Israel decided that she knew better and left the path. By doing so, Israel had put herself in a position equal to that of those who refuse to agree to God’s moral standard in the first place. Thus, at the time of the prophecy of Amos, Israel was not in agreement with the foundational principle of her relationship with God. Therefore, “How can two people walk in unity except if they are in agreement?”
 
To walk in unity with God is to agree with Him, that we have fallen short of His moral standard and accept His grace enacted in mercy, so that we can once again walk unashamed with our Creator.
 
4 Hayishag aryeih Will a lion roar baya’ar in the forest veteref eiyn when he has no prey? Hayitein Kefiyr kolo Will a young lion employ his voice mimeonato from his den biltiy except im if lachad he has caught something?
 
4 Will a lion roar in the forest when he has no prey? Will a young lion employ his voice from his den except if he has caught something?
 
In this metaphor the Lion is HaShem and the prey is Israel. Israel is living in idolatrous comfort believing that the forest is quiet, but the lion is roaring and roaring means He is on the prowl for prey. The right response would be for the prey to cower and seek refuge (refuge is something that according to His nature, God offers perpetually to Israel). However, Israel has numbed herself to the danger (Jer. 5:6; Nahum 2:11), and at this point in her history is perpetually turning away from God (with the exception of the righteous remnant, inclusive of the prophets).
 
5 Hatipol tzipor Will a bird al pach fall into a snare on ha’aretz the ground umokeish eiyn lah if there is no bait in it? Haya’aleh-pach Will a trap rise up min ha’adamah from the earth, dirt, ground velachod and seize lo yilkod nothing at all?
 
5 Will a bird fall into a snare on the ground if there is no bait in it? Will a trap rise up from the earth, and seize nothing at all?
 
While this is another rhetorical question intended to convey the idea that all the coming destruction is inevitable, it is nonetheless also an allusion to the self-destructive behaviour of Israel. Israel has fallen for the bait of sin and death: the false gods, the sexual depravity and the injustice of the neighbouring nations. The snare indeed has been thrown skyward to catch the bird Israel, who has willingly sought out the lure and has become entangled in the fruit of her own sinful choices.
 
We note that two different words for earth are used: ha-aretz (the land) and ha-adamah (soil). The metaphor speaks of the bait of sin being present in the violated creation, thus “the land”, while also being particularly associated with “Ha-aretz” the Land of Israel. Alongside this are the very building blocks of humanity, “ha-adamah” (the soil) and the “Neshamah” (life breath of God convergent with the soil). These two hold the sin affected human being to account by way of a just snare.
 
The trap springs up from the beginning of creation and captures the violator of creation, that person who has refused life and invited sin and death. The redemptive solution is always on offer. The offer of salvation being present before the creation of the worlds (1 Peter 1:19-20; Rev. 13:8).

6 Im yitaka shofar If a rams horn is blown beiyr in a city, ve’am will the people lo yecheradu not quake with terror? Im tihyeh ra’ah If an evil, distress, disaster occurs beiyr in a city, has YHVH (Mercy) the Lord lo asah not fashioned it?
 
6 If a rams horn is blown in a city, will the people not quake with terror? If an evil, distressful disaster occurs in a city, has YHVH (Mercy) the Lord not fashioned it?
 
Once again it is not a “trumpet” but the shofar (rams horn) which combines the symbolic meanings of warning and substitutionary sacrifice.
 
The plain meaning (p’shat) being that people in a war torn area who hear the sound of the rams horn become terrified knowing that their city of residence is on the brink of destruction.
 
“If an evil, distress, disaster occurs in a city, has YHVH (Mercy) the Lord not fashioned it?”
 
The rhetorical question has an obvious plain meaning. However, some misinterpret it to their detriment.
 
The foolish notion that God is not in control of evil is silenced here. God is not guilty of evil, nor is He complicit, rather He created the possibility of evil in order that love might be manifest through freewill. Knowing the end from the beginning God also sacrificed Himself in Messiah before the creation of the worlds, thus providing the solution to the problem of evil before the problem of evil existed (1 Peter 1:19-20; Rev. 13:8).
 
“But he said unto her, ‘You speak in the same way the foolish women speak. What are you saying? Should we receive good at the hand of God, and not receive evil?’ In all this Job did not sin with his lips.” -Job 2:10 (Author’s translation)
 
The satanic forces are subject to God. He puts in order all things both good and evil for His divine purposes of holiness and redemption. In God all things exist and have their being, nothing exists outside of God, therefore the forces of evil are reliant on God for their continued existence. If evil comes, God has not only allowed it, He has set it in order for the purpose of good. Because evil relies on God, who is good, for its existence, evil is subject to good. Thus, evil cannot overcome good. “The light shines in the darkness and the darkness cannot overcome it.” (John 1:5)
 
Put simply, the rhetorical question is, “Do you seriously believe God is not in control of the evil that happens?”
 
Consider the alternative, if evil is not under God’s control, who controls it? If Satan controls evil and that control is not subject to God, is Satan outside of God’s control? A curse on that lie! The false idea that there is balance between good and evil is a lie seeded by Satan.
 
The reality is this: God is all existing, Satan is created, the created thing is subject to the Creator. Therefore, the battle of good and evil is the battle between a Papermaker and a piece of paper. The Papermaker finds that the paper has been defiled with vile words, so He lights a match and the paper is incinerated. The battle between Good and Evil is like a battle between an ocean of universes and a speck of dust beneath a toenail.
 
7 Kiy lo ya’aseh For Adonay YHVH (Mercy) the Lord God does not davar kiy im galah speak a word unless He reveals sodo His secret el-avadayv to His servants haneviyiym the prophets.
 
7 Adonay YHVH (Mercy) the Lord God does not speak a word unless He reveals His secret to His servants the prophets.
 
This verse qualifies the former verse by explaining that God has both ordered and given warning regarding the destruction (evil) that is to come. He has not quietly arranged the destruction of the people in response to their sin. He has instead given them every opportunity to repent. This has always been his modus operandi with regard to Israel and humanity as a whole. The prophets are like emergency workers sent to give news of the approaching disaster and direct people to shelter (repentance, reconciliation). Fools who disregard the warning of the emergency workers will always reap what they have sown.
 
“The secret of the LORD is with those who fear Him; and He will show them his covenant.” -Psalms 25:14 (Author’s translation)
 
8 Aryeih sha’ag A lion has roared! Miy lo era Who will not fear? Adonay YHVH (Mercy) The Lord God diber has spoken! Miy lo yinava Who could stop himself from prophesying?
 
8 A lion has roared! Who will not fear? Adonay YHVH (Mercy) The Lord God has spoken! Who can stop himself from prophesying?
 
The Lion, God Himself has roared fair warning. The prophet Amos is incredulous, the rhetorical question sour on his tongue. By the Ruach HaKodesh (Holy Spirit) it’s as if Amos were saying:
 
“I can’t help but prophecy this warning to you because of my devotion to God and the realisation that I need to repent and rely on God’s grace and the manifestation of His mercy. How is it that you [pl.] are not terrified of God? How is it that you are not repenting and prophesying warning to others?”
 
9 Hashmiyu Proclaim al on armenot the palaces be’ashdod in Ashdod (Violent despoiler) veal-armenot and on the citadels be’eretz in the land of Mitzrayim Egypt (double distress) veimru and say, “Heiasfu Gather al on hareiy the mountains shom’ron of Samaria (Guardians) ureu and see the mehumot rabot great turmoil betochah within her va’ashukiym and the oppressions bekirbah in her midst. 
 
9 Proclaim on the palaces in Ashdod and on the citadels in the land of Egypt and say, “Gather on the mountains of Samaria and see the great turmoil within her and the oppressions in her midst.
 
Amos, by the Spirit declares that the coming punishment upon Israel is to be made known to Israel’s neighbours. The nations must learn that God shows no partiality. All must know that God is just and that He rewards those who diligently seek Him.
 
Within the historical context of this message, how were Israel and Judah (v.13), and the surrounding nations to hear the prophetic warning?
 
To make a modern comparison we would say that the ancient prophets of Israel were the equivalent of self-published writers with a very small immediate audience. They travelled, certainly, but in and of themselves they did not have the reach required to ensure that all for whom the message was intended would receive it. Even when the ministries of three or four prophets overlapped their collective resources could not have spread the message nationally or internationally. Therefore, there was an element of great trust in the obedience of the prophets. A trust placed in God for the spread of the message, and the fullness of its redemptive outcome.
 
So how did the message of the prophets spread and become popular knowledge (as indicated by the prophetic word itself)? It spread by word of mouth from one righteous person to the next and was proclaimed not only by fellow prophets but also by common people of righteous faith, people the Scripture refers to as a righteous remnant.
 
No prophet could hope to be effective based on his own personal reach, rather the spread of the prophetic word relied on the obedience of the faithful remnant community. Some would travel through dangerous lands to convey the message they had received from the Lord via the prophet, others would share the message with their children who in turn would pass it on to their friends and so on. A farmer, a house wife, a stone mason, a builder, a vine tender, a harvester, from the highest echelons of society to the impoverished street person, those who were of the faithful remnant spread the message of warning throughout Israel and Judah and into the neighbouring nations.
 
How can I be so certain of this? After all, I don’t live in ancient Israel. My certainty, like the trust of the prophets, is born of and reliant on God, Who is just. Justice demands an accurate indictment, the opportunity for the guilty to face their accuser, and a fair trial. This has always been the modus operandi of the King of Justice, YHVH (Mercy).
 
“and say, ‘Gather on the mountains shom’ron of Samaria (Guardians) and see the great turmoil within her and the oppressions in her midst.’”
 
The plain meaning points to the neighbouring nations standing on the high places of Samaria in the territory of the ten northern tribes of Israel in order to witness Israel’s punishment. This of course denotes Israel’s future exile and the desecration of the shrines of idolatrous worship constructed on the high places.
 
The neighbouring nations are called to bear witness to Israel’s punishment. They are called to gather on the mountains of Shom’ron (Guardians). The remez (hint at deeper meaning) here is that of guardianship. The nations are to gather in the midst of the guardians of Israel and look upon the discipline that the guardians of Israel meet out upon her according to God’s instruction. The malakhiym (angelic guardians) who surround Israel, surround her for her protection. Both her protection from outside threats and protection from the threats within. The greatest of the threats within being idolatry.
 
10 Velo-yadeu And they don’t know asot-nechochah how to fashion what is straight,” neum utters YHVH (Mercy) the Lord, “ha’otzriym these storers chamas of violence vashod and havoc be’armenoteiyham in their palaces.”
 
10 And they don’t know how to fashion what is straight,” utters YHVH (Mercy) the Lord, “these storers of violence and havoc in their palaces.”
 
The Targum reads, “And they know not how to practice the Torah”.
 
At this point in our history, we Israelites have so neglected God’s written word that we no longer know how to obey it due to our being devoid of it. Instead we store up sinful violence and practice injustice within our cities and palaces.
 
11 Lachein Therefore, ko this is what amar Adonay YHVH the Lord God says: “Tzar An adversary, useviyv will circle ha’aretz the land, vehorid and take down mimeich uzeich your might from you, venavozu and plunder armenotayich your citadels.”
 
11 Therefore, this is what Adonay YHVH the Lord God says: “An adversary, will circle the land, and take down your might from you, and plunder your citadels.”
 
This refers to the king of Assyria, who invaded the land of Israel in the days of king Hoshea, and conquered Samaria, carrying Israel captive (2 Kings 17:6).
 
12 Ko This is amar what YHVH (Mercy) the Lord says: “Ka’asher Like when yatziyl haroeh the shepherd snatches mipiy from the mouth ha’ariy of the lion sheteiy two chera’ayim legs or a vedal-ozen piece of an ear, kein so will yinatzelu b’neiy Yisrael the children of Israel be snatched away hayosheviym who dwell beshomeron in Samaria — bif’at mitah in a corner of a bed uvidmeshek and Damascus ares on a couch!
 
12 This is what YHVH (Mercy) the Lord says: “Like when the shepherd snatches from the mouth of the lion two legs or a piece of an ear, so will the children of Israel be snatched away who dwell in Samaria — in a corner of a bed, and in Damascus from a couch!
 
The plain meaning is that only a small remnant of the northern tribes will survive the Assyrian and Babylonian invasions.
 
“Israel are scattered sheep; the lions have driven away: first the king of Assyria has devoured him; and last this Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon has broken his bones.” -Yermiyahu (Jeremiah) 50:17 (Author’s translation)
 
The phrase “in Samaria in a corner of a bed” can be understood multiple ways. First, it speaks of the very corner of the tribal land and therefore means that all will be affected from the Greatest to the least. Second, it may be a metaphor for cowardice, hiding in the corner of the bed. Third, a metaphor for poverty, having only a corner to lie in.
 
The phrase “Damascus on a couch” refers to the residents of Damascus, the then capital of the kingdom of Aram, being comfortable, sitting on luxurious couches thinking themselves secure. However, Damascus was taken around the same time Samaria was.
 
The Targum reads “that dwell in Samaria, in the strength of power, trusting in Damascus.” Inferring that the northern tribes had begun to place their trust in the foreign power Aram. Some Israelites even living in Damascus. Regardless, both Aram and Israel would be conquered.

13 Shimu Listen, hear, comprehend, obey vehaiydu and bear witness beveit Ya’akov in the house of Jacob (follower),” neum utters Adonay YHVH (Mercy) the Lord God, Eloheiy the God hatzeva’ot Who goes warring.
 
13 Listen, hear, comprehend, obey and bear witness in the house of Jacob,” utters Adonay YHVH (Mercy) the Lord God, Eloheiy the God Who goes warring.
 
Once again the Hebrew “Shimu (Shema)” is employed. Listen, but don’t just listen, hear. Hear, but don’t just hear, obey. Obey, but don’t just obey, walk in obedience.
 
“Bear witness in the house of Jacob” is a declaration to the prophets, and the righteous remnant who live within all Israel (inclusive of the tribes of Judah and Benjamin).
 
As is the case elsewhere in the TaNaKh (OT), two witnesses of a matter are established by the third witness, God Himself (Deut. 19:15). The first witness being the neighbouring nations (v.9), and the second being the prophets and righteous ones within Israel’s borders (present verse).
 
“Adonay YHVH (Mercy) the Lord God, Eloheiy the God hatzeva’ot Who goes warring.”
 
Three titles for God are expressed here. “Adonay”, meaning Lord, Master, “YHVH”, the unpronounceable proper noun which denotes mercy*, and “Eloheiy Hatzevaot” meaning, “God Who goes warring”. The Hebrew “tzevaot” is an intense plural form of “tzava”, to go forth in war. Thus, “God Who goes warring.” These three names teach us that God is the Merciful Lord Who goes warring against sin and death. We are not to diminish His character in our own eyes by saying that He is a pacifist, nor that He is devoid of mercy when He disciplines. We accept and hold the mysterious tension of His holiness with awe.
 
*In Jewish tradition it is written:

"The Holy One, Blessed be He, said to those, You want to know my name? I am called according to my actions. When I judge the creatures I am Elohim, and when I have mercy with My world, I am named YHWH" (Exodus Rabbah 3:6).

In Scripture Elohim is the Name given for God as the Creator of the universe (Gen 1:1-2:4a) and implies strength, power, and justice, whereas YHVH, expresses the idea of God's closeness to humans. For example, YHVH "breathed into his (Adam's) nostrils the breath of life" (Genesis 2:7). Closeness to humanity only continues in the sin affected world and beyond through YHVH's mercy.
 
14 “Kiy For beyom in the day pakediy that I number fisheiy Yisrael Israel’s rebellions, alayv ufakadtiy I will also number al-mizbechot upon the altars of Beiyt El Bethel (House of God); venigdeu and cut off karnot the horns hamizbeach of the altar, venafelu and they will fall la’aretz to the ground.
 
14 “For in the day that I number Israel’s rebellions, I will also number upon the altars of  Bethel; and cut off the horns of the altar, and they will fall to the ground.
 
“For beyom in the day pakediy that I number fisheiy Yisrael Israel’s rebellions”
 
We note that the coming day of numbering is not a possibility but a certainty. “When”, not “if”.
 
The language of “numbering” is a measure of accountability and a sort of listing, in this case a listing of sins recorded in the indictment against Israel. Specifically, the root “pasha” (rebellion) is addressed. The idolatrous act of rebellion forms the foundation for all other types of sin.
 
“I will also number al-mizbechot upon the altars of Beiyt El Bethel (House of God)”
 
Not only does God bring to account the general sins of Israel, He also very specifically numbers the many infractions of idolatrous syncretism performed at the apostate centre of worship in Bethel.
 
Bethel was the location of one of the calves Jeroboam fashioned in a vile re-enactment of Israel’s idolatry at the foot of Sinai (Choreb)[Ex. 32; 1 Kings 12:28].
 
God, through the prophet, brings His indictment upon “altars”, meaning multiple altars set up in worship of multiple deities and in connection with the misuse of God’s Name (Hosea 8:11).
 
“and cut off karnot the horns hamizbeach of the altar, venafelu and they will fall la’aretz to the ground.”
 
Having mentioned multiple heathen altars He now speaks of the primary apostate altar of Bethel, that being the rosh (head) over all other altars. It had been constructed in direct opposition to the singular altar of Mt Tziyon in Jerusalem. It is likely that the primary altar at Bethel was a replica of the altar in Jerusalem. No matter how detailed a counterfeit is, the maker of the genuine article can always tell the difference.
 
The phrase “cut off the horns” refers both to the literal cutting off of the horns of the altar where blood was sprinkled in provocation of efficacy, and to the removal of the fourfold strength* of the heathen altar (a horn at each corner).
 
*Throughout the TaNaKh (OT) horns are seen to represent strength.

15 Vehikeiytiy And I will slay beiyt-hachoref the harvest house al-beiyt hakayitz upon the summer house; veavedu bateiy the houses hashen of ivory will also perish, vesafu batiym rabiym and the great houses will come to an end,” neum utters YHVH (Mercy) the Lord.
 
15 And I will slay the harvest house upon the summer house; the houses of ivory will also perish, and the great houses will come to an end,” utters YHVH (Mercy) the Lord.
 
The idiom denotes full destruction from seed time to harvest. Destruction that continues over a period of at least a year.
 
Additionally, it seems that the king of the northern tribes may have had both a winter and a summer house, each residence serving him according to the seasonal changes. A modern example would be that of a financially stable resident of Canada’s northern regions wintering in Colorado.
 
In Jewish tradition it is noted that the king of Moab had a chariot (described in the ancient text as a “house”) made from ivory, and 1 Kings 22:39 says that king Ahab built a house of ivory.
 
The Jewish commentator Radak explains:
 
“This was the custom of the kings to make themselves a house for the winter and a house for the summer, and it is also said of Jehoiakim ‘the king sits in the winter house in the ninth month’, and concerning the chariot of the king of Moab it is written ‘and the house of the tooth which he built’, the tooth is the tooth of the elephant from which we make certain crafts:” -Radak on Amos 3:15
 
“the great houses will come to an end,” neum utters YHVH (Mercy) the Lord.
 
This is a reference to the houses of the wealthy and in particular to the many houses of the king of Israel.
 
Copyright Yaakov Brown 2022