Amos 3:12

Thus saith the Lord, as the shepherd taketh out of the mouth of the lion,.... Or what the lion has left, to show to his master that it had been seized and torn by a beast of prey; for otherwise it is

Thus saith the LORD; As the shepherd taketh out of the mouth of the lion two legs, or a piece of an ear; so shall the children of Israel be taken out that dwell in Samaria in the corner of a bed, and in Damascus in a couch.

In brief, this verse foretells how few and with what difficulty they shall escape who are not swallowed up of the approaching judgments, and it is elegantly expressed in the following similitude. As the shepherd taketh out of the mouth; as the shepherd doth hardly rescue a small part of a sheep or lamb, when the lion hath seized and torn it. The lion; the fiercest, strongest, and boldest creature, not a bear or wolf. Two legs; which are parts the ravening lion less regardeth and last eateth; or a piece of an ear, less considerable than the legs. So shall the children of Israel, some of the children of Israel, or some of the ten tribes, but the poorer, meaner, and more worthless of them, be taken out that dwell in Samaria; shall escape when Samaria is taken. In the corner of a bed; lying in some dark corner, and on a piece of a bed, as the poor do in most places. In Damascus; the chiefest city of Syria, taken by Tiglath-pileser much about the time when he wasted Israel in aid of Ahaz against Rezin and Pekah. In a couch; some few of the poorer among them also shall escape, pitied by the enemy when he findeth them weakly and sick upon their couch.

Amos 3:12 Thus saith the LORD; As the shepherd taketh out of the mouth of the lion two legs, or a piece of an ear; so shall the children of Israel be taken out that dwell in Samaria in the corner of a bed, and in Damascus [in] a couch.Ver. 12. As the shepherd taketh out of the mouth of the lion] By a country comparison (as before often) the prophet sets forth the fewness of such as shall escape the enemy’ s hands. It is but a little that a shepherd dare pull out of the jaws of a lion. 1 Samuel 17:35. Few Davids or Lysimachuses, that dare look such fierce creatures in the face. Something a shepherd in this case may adventure to do, that he may not be made to stand to the loss, Exodus 22:13 Genesis 31:39. But it is not much; neither are they many that shall make escape, and those few shall be of the poorer sort too, that have scarcely a corner of a bed to lie on ( quibus non est lectus integer, Tarnov.): or such as are sick in bed and not cared for by the enemy, not counted worth the killing. Or such as are in good health, but glad to hide themselves for fear of the enemy under any bed or bench hole, as is usual in the sack of a city. And in Damascus in a couch] Or in the corner of a couch. Now Samaria and Damascus are joined together, because they were both desolated about the same time, by the same enemy, and for the same cause, viz. their invading Judaea in a hostile manner, 2 Kings 16:7; 2 Kings 16:9 Isaiah 7:4; Isaiah 8:4; Isaiah 17:3.

(12) Taketh out . . . taken out.—Should be (as in margin) delivereth . . . be delivered. The agricultural image, used by Amos, is very impressive. The shanks and pieces of the ear, worthless portions, saved from the lion’s jaws, represent the remnants of Samaria’s population that shall escape. In Damascus in a couch.—Some would render “in Damascus on that of (i.e., corner of) a couch,” Damascus corresponding to Samaria in the parallel clause. But this construction is very questionable, and it would be much simpler and safer to adopt the reading of most Hebrew texts, and render on a couch’s damask (so Gesenius and Ewald), referring to the silken (?) or white woollen fabric for which Damascus, even in that early age, was famous. The relations between Syria and Israel at this moment were intimate. The meaning is that even the noblest and wealthiest will be regarded, if saved, as worthless salvage.

Verse 12. As the shepherd taketh out of the mouth of the lion] Scarcely any of you shall escape; and those that do shall do so with extreme difficulty, just as a shepherd, of a whole sheep carried away by a lion, can recover no more than two of its legs, or a piece of its ear, just enough to prove by the marks on those parts, that they belonged to a sheep which was his own. So shall the children of Israel be taken out] Those of them that escape these judgments shall escape with as great difficulty, and be of as little worth, as the two legs and piece of an ear that shall be snatched out of the lion's mouth. We know that when the Babylonians carried away the people into Chaldea they left behind only a few, and those the refuse of the land. In the corner of a bed] As the corner is the most honourable place in the East, and a couch in the corner of a room is the place of the greatest distinction; so the words in the text may mean, that even the metropolitan cities, which are in the corner - in the most honourable place - of the land, whether Samaria in Israel, or Damascus in Syria, shall not escape these judgments; and if any of the distinguished persons who dwell in them escape, it must be with as great difficulty as the fragments above-mentioned have been recovered from a lion. The passage is obscure. Mr. Harmer has taken great pains to illustrate it; but I fear with but little success. A general sense is all we can arrive at.

12. So sudden will be the surprise, so overwhelming the numbers of the foe, that of the luxurious nobles of Samaria only an insignificant remnant will escape with their bare lives: all the rest will be swept away by the foe. As the shepherd taketh &c.] better, rescueth (R.V.). A shepherd would bring such remains of a missing animal to his master, as evidence that it had really been torn by beasts (Exodus 22:13; cf. Genesis 31:39). The comparison, which is suggested no doubt by the experiences of Amos’ shepherd life, illustrates forcibly both the scant numbers and the shattered condition of the survivors, besides hinting at the formidable powers of the assailant. be taken out] be rescued.that sit in Samaria in the corner of a divan] The grandees of Samaria are represented as sitting luxuriously in the cushioned corners of their divans. In Assyria the king reclined, or sat up, on a couch beside the table, leaning his weight upon his left elbow, and having his right hand free and disposable (see the representation in Rawlinson’s Anc. Monarchies, ed. 4, i. 493). In the modern oriental houses of the wealthy (Van Lennep, Bible Customs in Bible Lands, p. 460, referred to by Mitchell), ‘a divan,’ or cushioned seat, about a yard in width, extends along three sides of the principal room, while a row of richly woven stuffed cushions lines the wall behind, and forms a support for the back: the seat of honour is the inmost corner of the divan, opposite the door. In some such luxurious state the magnates of Samaria sat in Amos’s day. The framework of the seat was often inlaid with ivory (Amos 6:4). and in Damascus in a couch] The Hebrew text can hardly be right; nor, as pointed, is the Heb. word here found (d’mιsheḳ ?) identical with that for Damascus (dammιseḳ ?). Most moderns render and on the damask (whence R.V. silken cushions) of a couch. This rendering yields an excellent sense; but it cannot be regarded as certain: for (1) it is doubtful whether, in the time of Amos, Damascus was yet celebrated for the manufacture which in modern European languages is called after it: (2) in Arabic also, the name of the material (dimaḳ ?s), which has been appealed to in support of this explanation, differs from that of the city (Dimaḳ ?sh); hence it is very questionable whether it really derives its name from it. It is considered by Frδnkel, Aram. Fremdwφrter im Arabischen, p. 40, to be varied by metathesis from midaḳ ?s, a form which also occurs, and which in its turn is derived from the Syr. mξtaḳ ?s, which is the Greek μέταξα. Whatever uncertainty there may be about the word, it must, however, either be, or be the corrupt representative of, a term either synonymous or parallel with corner, in the preceding clause.

As the shepherd taketh - (Rather, rescueth) out of the mouth of the lion two legs (Properly, the shank, the lower part of the leg below the knee, which in animals is dry, and bone only and worthless)

11-15. The sentence. Jehovah will speedily send an enemy to avenge the wrongdoing; he will lay waste the corrupt city; even the altars of Beth-el will be overthrown.