Amos 9

Amos 9:3

3. — the serpent.] The word is used for a water-animal, Isa. xxvii. 1; and appears to be here used for some carnivorous fish. W. Lowth.

The general meaning of these verses is, that whatever places of refuge the Israelites may seek, their attempts at hiding themselves shall be ineffectual: for the hand of God, which is every where present, will draw them from thence, and give them over to their enemies. Duncus.

Amos 9:6

6. It is he that buildeth his stories in the heaven.] An awful description of God’s irresistible power, discovering itself in the works of the creation, particularly in his appointing several regions of the air, as so many apartments that lead to the highest heavens, the seat of his own glory. See Ps. civ. 3. W. Lowth.

— and hath founded his troop in the earth;] The old English translation hath rendered the sense very perspicuously thus: “And hath laid the foundation of his globe of elements in the earth.” The word rendered “troop,” signifies the collection of elements and other creatures, which furnish the earth, expressed by a word, which we render “the host,” Gen. ii. 1. W. Lowth.

Amos 9:7

7. Are ye not as children of the Ethiopians unto me, &c.] Is there any reason in you, O ye children of Israel, why I should respect you more than the very Ethiopians? Why should I make any difference betwixt you and the very Philistines? If you say that I brought up Israel out of Egypt, so also did I bring the Philistines out of Caphtor, and the Syrians from Kir. Bp. Hall.

The sense seems to be, Trust not in your ancestors, who were so highly favoured by me; your vices have made you vile in my sight. Trust not in my deliverance of you from the land of Egypt. Other nations have been transplanted into fertile countries, as well as you; and particularly your neighbouring enemies. Abp. Newcome.

Israel? saith the LORD. Have not I brought up Israel out of the land of Egypt? and the e Philistines from Caphtor, and the Syrians from Kir?

Amos 9:8

8. — saving that I will not utterly destroy &c.] God still promises to preserve a remnant in the midst of his heaviest judgments, that He may perform to them the promises made to their fathers. See Jer. xxx. 11; Joel ii. 32; Rom. xi. 28, 29. W. Lowth.

Amos 9:9

9. — yet shall not the least grain fall upon the earth.] I will mingle or scatter the Israelites among all nations, just as good and bad grain are mingled in a sieve; but will so order it that none of the good grain shall be lost, or fall to the ground. Compare Matt. iii. 12. W. Lowth.

Amos 9:11

11. In that day] When I come to make a remarkable difference between the good and the bad, ver. 9. W. Lowth.

— the tabernacle of David] Under the figure of rebuilding a tabernacle, that was partly demolished by force, partly decayed with age, the Prophet foretels the restoring of the kingdom of David to one of his seed after it should be fallen into a very low condition, and the enlargement of his subjects in the room of those who had shaken off their obedience. Bp. Chandler.

Amos 9:12

12. That they may possess the remnant of Edom, &c.] That my apostles and servants, and their successors, whom I shall use in the restoration of the Church, may take a kind of spiritual possession of the Gentiles in my name, (bringing them within the pale of the Church and fold of the great Shepherd of our souls,) even of the greatest enemies of the Church, as the Edomites were of the Jews: at least of a remnant of them, that is, so many as shall return by true repentance and obedience from their opposition to the truth. Dr. Stokes.

— saith the Lord that doeth this.] After the restoration of the Jews from their captivity, the Messiah came, and the Gentiles were admitted into his Church: and on the future grand restoration of the Jews, the borders of the Christian Church will be enlarged among the Gentiles, Rom. xi. 12. 15. Abp. Newcome.

The restoring of the tabernacle of David. Before CHRIST about 787. draweth forth. wine. § Joel 3. 18.

Amos 9:13

13.—the plowman shall overtake the reaper. &c.] Rather, “the plowman shall meet the reaper;” that is, there shall be such an increase of the fruits of the earth, that as soon as the harvest is got in, it will be time to plow for the next year, which was not usual in those hot countries, where the corn was ripe early in the summer, in the month of May, or June at farthest. And “the treader of grapes” shall meet “him that soweth seed;” that is, the vintage shall be so plentiful, that whereas it used to begin in August, it shall not be over till seed-time, the earliest season of which was November. W. Lowth. It is a lively way of expressing, that the harvest and vintage should be copious and long in gathering. Abp. Newcome. And together with plenty of all outward blessings, it prefigures the abundance of God’s spiritual graces, and the great harvest of the Church, of which our Saviour Himself speaks, Matt. ix. 37, in such figurative expressions as were familiar to the Oriental writers. Poole, Dr. Stokes.

—the hills shall melt.] They shall flow, as it were with the abundance of wine produced on them, Joel iii. 18. Mountains and hills are the proper places for vineyards. Abp. Newcome. See the note on Joel iii. 18.

Amos 9:15

15.—they shall no more be pulled up out of their land] But shall dwell in it secure from any annoyance of

cnemies. Compare Jer. xxiii. 6; xxxii. 41; Ezek. xxxiv. 28; Joel iii. 20; Mic. iv. 4; Zeph. iii. 13. W. Lowth.

We have here a prophecy, that the ruin of the house and kingdom of David should precede the coming of the Messiah; who should at his coming repair the breaches thereof, and build it again. The captivity of Zedekiah by the Chaldees perfected the fall of David’s kingdom, which could not rise before the return from that captivity, and was to rise, as seems to be implied, before a new captivity began. After the Babylonian captivity was over, none of David’s race was in any account. Edom was not “possest” by any of Zorobabel’s descendants, nor were “the heathen called by God’s name” through their means; till God gave unto Jesus the throne of his father David, and for the suffering of death exalted Him to his right hand, to be a Saviour and a Prince. His coming was “for the fall and rising again of many in Israel,” and by the preaching of his Apostles the Gentiles were converted, and made part of his kingdom, out of which the Jews had excluded themselves. But “the days come,” when this shall appear to be more visibly the kingdom of David, by the coming of the body of the Jews into it, and probably by his literally “planting them” again in their “land,” as his principal subjects, from whence they shall be no more ejected. Bp. Chandler.