Amos 9:11

In that day will I raise up the tabernacle of David that is fallen,.... Not in the day of Israel's ruin, but in the famous Gospel day, so often spoken of by the prophets; and this prophecy is

In that day will I raise up the tabernacle of David that is fallen, and close up the breaches thereof; and I will raise up his ruins, and I will build it as in the days of old: In that day - quoted

This promise I nothing doubt hath a double aspect, both to the return out of captivity, and to the Messiah’ s kingdom, and each part is to be considered by us: if we would duly explain this and the following verse, let us look first to the letter and historical reference, and next to the mystical and spiritual sense of the words. In that day; a very usual phrase in Scripture, whereby a time fixed and certain, yet unknown to us, is intended in the set time which God hath prefixed. I will raise up; lay the foundation and build up. reduce out of captivity and re-establish in their own land. The tabernacle of David; the house of David, and those that did adhere to David’ s family, which are here called a tabernacle, partly for that it never did after the captivity rise to a free and independent kingdom, and partly because he would distinguish the Jews from the apostate Israelites, who did wholly forsake David’ s house. That is fallen; by a revolt of ten tribes in twelve, whereby their state is low, and as fallen to the ground. And close up the breaches, which are in it by that long division, since Jeroboam the First’ s time, which breaches shall, upon the return out of captivity, be made up by the voluntary union of the remnant of the ten tribes which shall return with the two tribes out of the Babylonish captivity. I will raise up his ruins; disposing the minds of the kings of Persia to advance David’ s line to the government of the restored captives, and continuing it in the Supreme power till Messiah’ s coming; and by rebuilding Jerusalem, and the temple, and settling true religion amongst them. And I will build it as in the days of old; much what it was before the sack of the city and temple, and the carrying the people captive. All which, as far as they are temporal concerns, do suppose and did require a sound turning to God; as did the like promises made by other prophets. And how far soever they fell short of these promises, it was through unbelief and other sins, as Haggai, Zechariah, and Malachi complain in their prophecies. Now as it refers to Messiah’ s kingdom, it is a prophecy of the conversion of the Gentiles, as appears ,17; of which no more here, because our work is to give the literal sense of the text: who would see more may consult larger commentators on this place, and on ,17.

Amos 9:11 In that day will I raise up the tabernacle of David that is fallen, and close up the breaches thereof; and I will raise up his ruins, and I will build it as in the days of old:Ver. 11. In that day will I raise up the tabernacle of David] A most sweet conclusion of the prophecy by sundry evangelical promises, after so many very severe and sharp menaces: the Sun of righteousness liketh not to set in a cloud. In that day, that happy day, whensoever it shall dawn, that Christ shall come; for the prophets knew not the certain time when, but made diligent inquiry as far as they might with sobriety, 1 Peter 1:11, and well knew that the law, which they preached and explained, was an introduction to a better hope, Hebrews 7:19, which they saw afar off and saluted, Hebrews 11:13. Will I raise up the tabernacle of David] That is, the kingdom of the house of David, saith the Chaldee paraphrast; meaning, of the Messiah, whom the sounder sort of Rabbis from this text call Ben Niphlei, the repairer of the breach, the restorer of paths to dwell in. Now the Church is here called the tabernacle of David, because that once stately palace of David was by many desolations reduced to a tent, as it were, and that ready to drop too. The Branch grew out of the root of Jesse, when that goodly family was sunk so low as from David the king to Joseph the carpenter. Besides, all was out of order both in Church and State when Christ came. And close up the breaches thereof] Heb. wall up; by unwalling (as the Hebrew hath it, Numbers 24:17) all the children of Seth; by subduing the sons of men, the godly seed, to the obedience of faith; by bringing into captivity every haughty thought, 2 Corinthians 10:4-5 (that at the name of Jesus every knee may bow, Philippians 2:10), and getting a full conquest by the preaching of the gospel, which shall quickly close up all ruptures, and raise up all ruins, by chasing away terrors and false worships, doctrines of devils, and traditions of men, whereby the scribes and Pharisees had made the commandment of God of none effect. And I will build it as in the days of old] In those purer times of David and the other holy patriarchs, who made up but one and the same Church with us, and were saved by the same faith in Christ Jesus, that Lamb of God slain from the foundation of the world, Revelation 13:8. Mine antiquity is Jesus Christ, said Ignatius, the martyr. As we prefer the newest philosophy, so the most ancient divinity, saith another.

(11, 12) These verses present some difficulties, as the quotation of the passage in Acts 15:15-17 is a free reproduction by St. James of the rendering of the LXX. The apostle uses it to show that there was a prophetic promise that after the dispersion of Israel the power and throne of David should be so re-established that it might be a rallying-place of the rest of the nations, “that the residue of men should seek after the Lord” (LXX. “me”). The clause which is quoted shows that the LXX. made their translation from a different Hebrew text from ours, and probably an inferior one. The word for “men” (âdâm) was read in place of Edom in the Masoretic text. The rendering “seek” can also be accounted for by a slight modification of the Hebrew characters. The remarks of Dr. Stanley Leathes (Old Testament Prophecy, p. 70) upon this passage are worthy of attention:—“The Greek text, which the apostle did not make, but found, lent itself even more forcibly than the Hebrew to the peculiar circumstances of the time . . . That he was not speaking critically we are willing to admit, but are we sure that he was bound to do so? At all events, our criticism will best display itself in judging his words according to his standard, and not according to one which, it is plain, he did not follow.”

Verse 11. Will I raise up the tabernacle of David] It is well known that the kingdom of Israel, the most profane and idolatrous, fell first, and that the kingdom of Judah continued long after, and enjoyed considerable prosperity under Hezekiah and Josiah. The remnant of the Israelites that were left by the Assyrians became united to the kingdom of Judah; and of the others, many afterwards joined them: but this comparatively short prosperity and respite, previously to the Babylonish captivity, could not be that, as Calmet justly observes, which is mentioned here. This could not be called closing up the breaches, raising up the ruins, and building it as in the days of old; nor has any state of this kind taken place since; and, consequently, the prophecy remains to be fulfilled. It must therefore refer to their restoration under the Gospel, when they shall receive the Lord Jesus as their Messiah, and be by him restored to their own land. See these words quoted by James, Acts 15:16-17. Then indeed it is likely that they shall possess the remnant of Edom, and have the whole length and breadth of Immanuel's land, Amos 9:12. Nor can it be supposed that the victories gained by the Asmoneans could be that intended by the prophet and which he describes in such lofty terms. These victories procured only a short respite, and a very imperfect re-establishment of the tabernacle of David; and could not warrant the terms of the prediction in these verses.

11–15. The Epilogue Amos closes, as the prophets are wont to close their discourses, with the promise of a brighter future. The dynasty of David, though for the time humbled, will be reinstated in its former splendour and power (Amos 9:11-12); and the blessings of peace will be shared in perpetuity by the entire nation (Amos 9:13-15).—On the question of the authenticity of the epilogue, see above, p. 119 ff. In that day] The day which the prophet has in his mind: here, the day of restoration, which is to succeed the catastrophe of Amo 9:8-10. The expression is a common one in the prophets, especially Isaiah, who use it for the purpose of introducing fresh traits in their pictures of the future (see e.g. Isaiah 2:20; Isaiah 3:18; Isaiah 7:18; Isaiah 7:20-21; Isaiah 7:23). will I raise up the fallen booth (or hut) of David, and fence up the breaches &c.] The succâh, or “booth,” was a rude hut—properly one made of intertwined branches; and the word is used of a cattle-shed (Genesis 33:17), of the rough tents used by soldiers in war (2 Samuel 11:11), or by watchmen in a vineyard (Isaiah 1:8; Job 27:18), of the “booth” made by Jonah (Amos 4:5), and of the rude temporary huts, constructed of branches of trees, in which the Israelites dwelt during the Feast of Ingathering, or, as it is also called from this circumstance, the ‘Feast of Booths’ (Leviticus 23:40; Leviticus 23:42; Deuteronomy 16:13). The term itself denotes consequently a very humble structure, which here, in addition, is represented as fallen. In the following words the figure of the booth is neglected; the ‘breaches’ being those of a wall or fortress (cf. Amos 4:3; Isaiah 30:13). These expressions are evidently intended to represent the humbled state of the Davidic dynasty; though what the humiliation actually referred to is, is uncertain. According to some, the allusion is to the loss sustained by David’s house through the revolt of the ten tribes[203] according to others, it is to the future ruin of Judah, which it appears from Amos 2:5 (cf. the words of rebuke in Amos 3:1, Amos 6:1) that Amos contemplated; others, again, suppose the reference to be to the actual overthrow of David’s dynasty by the Chaldaeans in 586 b.c., and infer accordingly that Amos 9:11-15 was an addition made to the original prophecy of Amos during (or after) the Babylonian exile. On the whole, the second view seems the best (cf. p. 122 f.). [203] A reference to the blow inflicted upon Judah by Amaziah (2 Kings 14:13 f.) is doubtful, as this must have happened some 30 years previously, and under Uzziah Judah appears to have rapidly recovered itself.ruins] lit. things torn down. The cognate verb (hâras) is often applied to a wall or fortress (e.g. Micah 5:11; Ezekiel 26:12); it is the exact opposite of the following build (see Ezekiel 36:36; Malachi 1:4). as in the days of old] i.e. the age of David and Solomon.

In that day I will raise up - Amos, as the prophets were taught to do, sums up his prophecy of woe with this one full promise of overflowing good. For the ten tribes, in their separate condition, there was no hope, no future.

11. In that day — When the judgment has fallen, the sinners have been destroyed, and a righteous nucleus has been saved.