= Amos 7 * Please see [[nsv:license|License]] for Copyright notice and Licensing information. * [ [[Amos_6|Previous]] | [[Amos_8|Next]] ] == Amos 7 1 Thus hath the Lord God shewed unto me; and, behold, he formed grasshoppers in the beginning of the shooting up of the latter growth; and, lo, it was the latter growth after the king's mowings. 2 And it came to pass, that when they had made an end of eating the grass of the land, then I said, O Lord God, forgive, I beseech thee: by whom shall Jacob arise? for he is small. 3 The Lord repented for this: It shall not be, saith the Lord. 4 Thus hath the Lord God shewed unto me: and, behold, the Lord God called to contend by fire, and it devoured the great deep, and did eat up a part. 5 Then said I, O Lord God, cease, I beseech thee: by whom shall Jacob arise? for he is small. 6 The Lord repented for this: This also shall not be, saith the Lord God. 7 Thus he shewed me: and, behold, the Lord stood upon a wall made by a plumbline, with a plumbline in his hand. 8 And the Lord said unto me, Amos, what seest thou? And I said, A plumbline. Then said the Lord, Behold, I will set a plumbline in the midst of my people Israel: I will not again pass by them any more: 9 And the high places of Isaac shall be desolate, and the sanctuaries of Israel shall be laid waste; and I will rise against the house of Jeroboam with the sword. 10 Then Amaziah the priest of Bethel sent to Jeroboam king of Israel, saying, Amos hath conspired against thee in the midst of the house of Israel: the land is not able to bear all his words. 11 For thus Amos saith, Jeroboam shall die by the sword, and Israel shall surely be led away captive out of their own land. 12 Also Amaziah said unto Amos, O thou seer, go, flee thee away into the land of Judah, and there eat bread, and prophesy there: 13 But prophesy not again any more at Bethel: for it is the king's chapel, and it is the king's court. 14 Then answered Amos, and said to Amaziah, I was no prophet, neither was I a prophet's son; but I was an herdman, and a gatherer of sycomore fruit: 15 And the Lord took me as I followed the flock, and the Lord said unto me, Go, prophesy unto my people Israel. 16 Now therefore hear thou the word of the Lord: Thou sayest, Prophesy not against Israel, and drop not thy word against the house of Isaac. 17 Therefore thus saith the Lord; Thy wife shall be an harlot in the city, and thy sons and thy daughters shall fall by the sword, and thy land shall be divided by line; and thou shalt die in a polluted land: and Israel shall surely go into captivity forth of his land. == Notes == Cross Reference == Commentary == Rashi ==== Verse 1 Thus... showed me—retribution, that He wished to bring locusts. at the beginning of the shooting up of the latter growth [Heb. לֶקֶשׁ, an expression of the latter rain (מַלְקוֹש) when the grain shoots up in its stalk. and behold the latter growth—was growing after the king’s mowings—After they mowed the king’s grains. Before it would shoot up in its stalk, they would mow it [as] young corn (שַׁחַת) to feed the cattle, and so did Jonathan render it: [After] the king’s young corn (שַׁחֲתָא) was mown. This is a mishnaic expression. (Menachoth 10:8) “One may cut young corn (שַׁחַת) and feed the cattle.” ==== Verse 2 And it came to pass when it finished Heb. אִם. When it finished eating. the grass of the earth—in that field. and I said, “O Lord God! Forgive now!”—and destroy not the land. who shall arise [with] Jacob—[Jonathan renders:] Who shall arise and beseech for their sins? for he is small [Jonathan renders:] For they are wandering. ==== Verse 3 The Lord relented concerning this—He acquiesced to my prayer and was entreated of me. ==== Verse 4 showed me—another retribution to bring upon them. and behold... calls—His household to contend with them by the retribution of the kindling of fire. the field Heb. הַחֵלֶק, the parcel of land. ==== Verse 7 on a wall made by a plumbline—On the wall of justice, and so did Dunash interpret it: אֲנָךְ is an Arabic expression for the plumbline. The lead by which the builder of the walls looks to straighten the row of stones. Here, too, it is an expression of the plumbline of justice. [from Teshuvoth Dunash, p.12] ==== Verse 8 Behold I place a plumbline—Behold I judge them with the line of strict justice. pardon them—to wait for them for their transgressions. ==== Verse 9 and the sanctuaries of Israel—That is Bethel, as it is said: (verse 13) “For it is the sanctuary of a king.” upon the house of Jeroboam—son of Joash. ==== Verse 10 the priest of Bethel—A priest of the idols. ==== Verse 11 Jeroboam shall die by the sword—But he did not say that, only, “And I will rise upon the house of Jeroboam,” and that refers to his son, Zechariah, who was assassinated by Shallum son of Jabesh (II Kings 15). ==== Verse 12 “Seer”—You, who prophesy the future. go, run away to the land of Judah—for there is the sanctuary of the Holy One, blessed be He, in Whose Name you prophesy. and eat bread there—This is an expression of derision. He said to him, “There they will give you crumbs of bread as pay for what you prophesy.” ==== Verse 13 But do not continue to prophesy in Bethel—for here they mention only the name of the idols. ==== Verse 14 I am neither a prophet—I am not one of your false prophets, who take pay for prophesying. I do not need all this, and I never behaved in that manner, for I am wealthy and an owner of cattle and property, as Jonathan renders: For I am an owner of cattle and I have sycamores in the plain. a cattle herder Heb. בוֹקֵר and an inspector of sycamores Heb. וּבוֹלֵס. One who searches the sycamores to see which one has reached its time to cut in order to increase the branches, and which one is fit for beams, for so was the custom to cut the virgin sycamores. וּבוֹלֵס is like וּבוֹלֵש, a searcher, but Amos was a stammerer, for so they said: Why was he named Amos? Because he was burdened (עָמוּס) by his tongue, and Israel would call him pesilus (Greek for tongue-tied) as it is stated in Pesikta. [from Pesikta de-Rav Kahana p.125] ==== Verse 16 and do not prophesy [Heb.. וְלֹאתַטִּיף. It is an expression of prophecy, and there are many in Scripture, e.g. (Ezekiel 21:2) “And prophesy (וְהַטֵּף) to the south.”