Amos 6:1

Woe to them [that are] at ease in Zion,.... Or "secure" (c) there; which was a strong hold, the city of David, the seat of the kings of Judah; where their court was kept, and the princes and chief

Woe to them that are at ease in Zion, and trust in the mountain of Samaria, which are named chief of the nations, to whom the house of Israel came! Woe to them that are at ease in Zion.

AMOS CHAPTER 6 The voluptuousness of Israel, , shall be punished with desolation, . Their perversion of justice and vain confidence shall end in affliction, . Woe! this compriseth many and great sorrows, all that God intends against these sinners. To them that are at ease; who live in abundance, eat, drink, sleep, and are secure, that think to-morrow shall be as this day, and neither fear nor believe the threatened judgments of God. Zion, by a synecdoche put for the kingdom of the two tribes, and principally the inhabitants of Jerusalem and Zion; the ten tribes were hitherto threatened, now the prophet warns the two tribes. And trust in the mountain of Samaria; woe to them also who rely upon the strength, wealth, and policy of the king, princes, cities, and kingdom of Samaria or Israel! Which, which two cities, Zion and Samaria, are named chief of the nations; accounted chief cities among the known cities of that part of the world. Others refer this passage to the nobles, wise men, and great men of each place, men that were heads among their own people. To whom the house of Israel came; to which places all Israel had recourse; so the two tribes went up to Zion, the ten tribes went to Samaria: or, to whom, i.e. to which nobles and rulers, the people of each kingdom did go on all occasions for judgment, counsel, or refuge.

Amos 6:1 Woe to them [that are] at ease in Zion, and trust in the mountain of Samaria, [which are] named chief of the nations, to whom the house of Israel came!Ver. 1. Woe to them that are at ease in Zion] That lie sleeping on both sides ( In utramvis aurora dormiunt), and slighting the former menaces, as Leviathan doth the iron weapons, Job 41:27, that live as if ye were out of the reach of God’ s rod; and as for all your enemies, ye puff at them, saying, We shall not be moved, we shall never be in adversity, Psalms 10:5-6. To these sleepers in Zion God here sends forth his summons (the word Hoi signifieth as well Heus as Vae, ho as wo, Isaiah 55:1 Zechariah 2:6. Ho, ho, come forth), that were quiet and still, Zechariah 1:11, lulled asleep by Satan, or rather. cast into a dead lethargy: Samson-like their enemies are upon them, and they fast asleep the while; Ishbosheth-like they stretch themselves upon their beds of ivory, till they lose, not their precious lives only, but their immortal souls. Security ushereth in destruction; those that are at ease in Zion shall be raised by a dreadful woe rung in their ears, that shall make their hearts fall down, and their hairs stand upright. In the froth of carnal security and sensual delights is bred that worm of conscience that never dieth, Mark 9:44, and here begins to grub and gnaw; like as while the crocodile sleepeth with open mouth, the Ichneumon, or Indian rat, shoots himself into his bowels; after which he never is at ease, as having his entrails daily devoured; so that one while he will be in the water, and anon after on the land, till life fails him. And trust in the mountain of Samaria] Are carnally confident and secure (πεποιθοσιν. Septuag.), as when good David also gotten upon his strong mountain, Psalms 30:6-7, but was soon confuted: "Thou didst hide thy face, and I was troubled." The best are apt by rest to contract rust; and being fully fed, to wax wanton, Deuteronomy 32:15. To affect more mundi delicias quam Christi divitias, as one saith, the world’ s dainties than Christ’ s comforts: to trust in uncertain riches than to rely upon the living God, who giveth them all things richly to enjoy, 1 Timothy 6:17. This must be looked to; for it hath a woe hanging at the heels of it, Jeremiah 17:5-6 Psalms 52:7; Psalms 52:9. Which are named chief of the nations] Heb. expressly named, declared, notified, celebrated, chief] the head, or first-fruits, the head and height, principium, id est, praecipuum gentium. So Amalek is called the first of the nations, Numbers 24:20; haply they held themselves so: as the Egyptians afterwards boasted much of their antiquity, and the Chinese at this day do of their excellence and perspicuity above other nations.

(1) Trust.—The word for “trust” is a participle, and we should translate as the parallelism indicates: the confident (or complacent) dwellers in the mountain of Samaria; i.e., the upper luxurious classes, “the chief of the first of nations,” meaning the rulers, to whom Israel, the supreme and highly-favoured nation, comes up for judgment and for guidance in all civil affairs. These are now summoned to listen to the rebuke of the Divine Judge.

CHAPTER VI The prophet reproves his people for indulging themselves in luxurious ease, and forming alliances with their powerful idolatrous neighbours, 1. He asks if their lands or their lot be better than their own, 2, that they should choose to worship the gods of the heathen, and forsake Jehovah. Then follows an amplification of the sin which the prophet reproves, 3-6; to which he annexes very awful threatenings, confirmed by the oath of Jehovah, 7, 8. He next particularly specifies the punishment of their sins by pestilence, 9-11; by famine, or a drought that should harden the earth so that it could not be tilled, 12; and by the sword of the Assyrians, 14. NOTES ON CHAP. VI Verse 1. Wo to them that are at ease in Zion] For השאננים hashshaanannim, "who dwell at ease," it has been proposed to read השעננים hashshaanannim, "who confidently lean," the two words differing only in one letter, an ע ain for an א aleph. They leaned confidently on Zion; supposing that, notwithstanding their iniquities they should be saved for Zion's sake. Thus the former clause will agree better with the latter, "leaning upon Zion," and "trusting in the mountain of Samaria." Those that are at ease may mean those who have no concern about the threatened judgments, and who have no deep concern for the salvation of their own souls. Houbigant would read, "Wo to them who despise Zion, and trust in Samaria." So the Septuagint, reading שנאים soneim, hating, instead of שאננים shaanannim, being at rest, tranquil. Calmet first proposed this conjecture; Houbigant follows him. Are named chief] Newcome renders, "That are named after the chief of the nations;" and observes, that the Hebrew word נקבי nekubey is an allusion to marking a name or character by punctures. See on Isaiah 44:5. They call themselves not after their ancestors, but after the chief of the idolatrous nations with whom they intermarry contrary to the law. Perhaps the words here rather refer to the mountains and their temples, than to the people. The mountain of Zion, and the mountain of Samaria, were considered the chief or most celebrated among the nations, as the two kingdoms to which they belonged were the most distinguished on the earth.

1. Woe to them that, &c.] Ah! they that.… and that, &c., as Amos 5:18. are at ease] Cf. Isaiah 32:9 (“rise up, ye women that are at ease”), Isaiah 32:11. The word (though it may be used in a good sense, ib. Isaiah 32:18; Isaiah 32:20) denotes, in such a context as die present, those who are recklessly at ease, and live on in tranquillity and contentment, insensible to real danger. in Zion] For the allusion to Judah, cf. Amos 2:4-5. trust] are secure (R.V.), viz. without sufficient ground: in parallelism with ‘at ease,’ just as in Isaiah 32:9; Isaiah 32:11 (A.V., R.V., careless). the men of mark of the first of the nations] i.e. the nobles of Samaria, who are described as the cream of a nation, which was itself (partly by its prosperity, partly by its theocratic privileges: cf. Jeremiah 3:19; Ezekiel 20:6; Ezekiel 20:15) the first of the nations. But the expression first of the nations may be used in irony, to reflect Israel’s own opinion of itself: so Wellh. and G. A. Smith. Men of mark (R.V. notable men) is lit. marked, marked out: elsewhere the same verb is rendered expressed (sc. by name, opposed to the unnamed crowd); cf. Numbers 1:17, 1 Chronicles 12:31; 1 Chronicles 16:41, 2 Chronicles 28:15 (in all “expressed by name”). to whom the house of Israel come] viz. for judgement (Exodus 18:16; 2 Samuel 15:4). They hold a position of responsibility, they are raised above their fellow-citizens, and have to administer justice to them, and yet they are heedless of the interests entrusted to them and live only for themselves (Amos 6:3 ff.).

Woe to them that are at ease - The word always means such as are recklessly at their ease, “the careless ones,” such as those whom Isaiah bids Isaiah 32:9-11, “rise up, tremble, be troubled, for many

Condemnation of the nobles, Amos 6:1-7.1. Woe — See on Amos 5:18. That are at ease — Margin, “secure.” In a bad sense, those who are recklessly at ease, who are insensible to the dangers lurking on every side (Isaiah 32:9).