Amos 3:1

Hear this word that the Lord hath spoken against you, O children of Israel,.... The prophecy against Israel begins in the preceding chapter, where notice is taken of their sins, at least some of

Hear this word that the LORD hath spoken against you, O children of Israel, against the whole family which I brought up from the land of Egypt, saying, Hear this word ... O children of Israel,

AMOS CHAPTER 3 The necessity of God’ s judgment against Israel, . The publication of it, with the causes thereof, . Hear, with ear and mind, consider it well, for this is to hear indeed. This word, which is spoken, and the thing decreed too, of God. The Lord hath spoken; the Lord, who did show you greatest kindness, and whom you have repaid with greatest ingratitude, the everlasting God, who changeth not, hath determined and declared his determinate purpose; against you; or to, or concerning; for if menaces are words against them, yet advice, exhortations, and promises are to, and concerning, those to whom they are spoken. O children of Israel; subjects of Jeroboam the Second, now king of the ten tribes. Against the whole family: and let the two tribes consider too how far they are concerned in the prophet’ s reproving for sin, calling to repent of sin, and threatening it they do not repent. Brought up from the land of Egypt: see .

Amos 3:1 Hear this word that the LORD hath spoken against you, O children of Israel, against the whole family which I brought up from the land of Egypt, saying,Ver. 1. Hear this word that the Lord hath spoken, &c.] Here beginneth the second sermon, tending to confirm what had been affirmed in the former, and evincing the equity of the judgments there threatened for their hateful ingratitude and other horrible offences, condemned and cried out upon by the very heathens. Hear this word] Verbum hoc decretorium, this notable word. There are three articles in the original; and there is not the least tittle in the text upon which there hangeth not a mountain of sense, said the Rabbis; this next verse ( ΰϊδψαψηζδ; so Matthew 22:21; τατου Yεουτω Yεω). That the Lord hath spoken] And shall he not do it? Who ever waxed fierce against God and prospered? Job 9:4. Against you, O children of Israel] By his word Christ many times secretly smites the earth, Isaiah 11:4, that is, the consciences of carnal men, glued to the earth: He sets a continual edge upon the word, and consumes them by his rebukes, till he have wearied them with his secret buffets and terrors; and then in the end casts them into a reprobate sense, as he did the Pharisees, who were toties puncti et repuncti, minime tamen ad resipiscentiam compuncti. Against the whole family] The Dodecaphylon, all the twelve tribes, the whole house of Jacob, which are called by the name of Israel, and are come forth out of the waters of Judah, Isaiah 48:1; God stands not upon multitudes, Psalms 9:17, nor matters whether it be against a nation that he speaketh and acteth, or against a man only, Job 34:29. Which I brought up from the land of Egypt] This they often hear of by way of exprobation, as Amos 2:10. God seeming to repent him for their detestable unthankfulness, as David did of the kindness he had shown unworthy Nabal, in safe guarding his substance, 1 Samuel 25:7; and to complain, as Frederick III, Emperor of Germany did, that of those courtiers whom he had advanced he found scarcely any that proved faithful to him, but the worse for his courtesy; or as Queen Elizabeth, that in trust she had found treason.

(1) Children of Israel rather than “house of Israel” is a phrase not so usual in Amos. Hence in many MSS. the latter phrase is substituted. There is, however, significance in the former, as Amos addresses himself to both kingdoms in the phrase “the whole family.” Yet the kingdom of the Ten Tribes seems to be chiefly in the mind of the prophet.

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

1. the whole family] The expression used includes naturally Judah, though, as the context shews, Amos is practically thinking only of Israel. For family, used in the sense of a whole people, cf. Amos 3:2; Jeremiah 8:3; Micah 2:3.

Amos, like Hosea, rebukes Israel directly, Judah indirectly. He had warned each nation separately. Now, ere he concentrates himself on Israel, he sums up what he had before said to Judah and in the Person of God.

1, 2. Failure to recognize responsibilities brings judgment. If Amos 2:6-16, is called the thesis of the Book of Amos, Amos 3:1-2, may properly be called the thesis of Amos 3-6, for the four chapters