Amos 5

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Amos 5

1 Hear ye this word which I take up against you, even a lamentation, O house of Israel.

2 The virgin of Israel is fallen; she shall no more rise: she is forsaken upon her land; there is none to raise her up.

3 For thus saith the Lord God; The city that went out by a thousand shall leave an hundred, and that which went forth by an hundred shall leave ten, to the house of Israel.

4 For thus saith the Lord unto the house of Israel, Seek ye me, and ye shall live:

5 But seek not Bethel, nor enter into Gilgal, and pass not to Beersheba: for Gilgal shall surely go into captivity, and Bethel shall come to nought.

6 Seek the Lord, and ye shall live; lest he break out like fire in the house of Joseph, and devour it, and there be none to quench it in Bethel.

7 Ye who turn judgment to wormwood, and leave off righteousness in the earth,

8 Seek him that maketh the seven stars and Orion, and turneth the shadow of death into the morning, and maketh the day dark with night: that calleth for the waters of the sea, and poureth them out upon the face of the earth: The Lord is his name:

9 That strengtheneth the spoiled against the strong, so that the spoiled shall come against the fortress.

10 They hate him that rebuketh in the gate, and they abhor him that speaketh uprightly.

11 Forasmuch therefore as your treading is upon the poor, and ye take from him burdens of wheat: ye have built houses of hewn stone, but ye shall not dwell in them; ye have planted pleasant vineyards, but ye shall not drink wine of them.

12 For I know your manifold transgressions and your mighty sins: they afflict the just, they take a bribe, and they turn aside the poor in the gate from their right.

13 Therefore the prudent shall keep silence in that time; for it is an evil time.

14 Seek good, and not evil, that ye may live: and so the Lord, the God of hosts, shall be with you, as ye have spoken.

15 Hate the evil, and love the good, and establish judgment in the gate: it may be that the Lord God of hosts will be gracious unto the remnant of Joseph.

16 Therefore the Lord, the God of hosts, the Lord, saith thus; Wailing shall be in all streets; and they shall say in all the highways, Alas! alas! and they shall call the husbandman to mourning, and such as are skilful of lamentation to wailing.

17 And in all vineyards shall be wailing: for I will pass through thee, saith the Lord.

18 Woe unto you that desire the day of the Lord! to what end is it for you? the day of the Lord is darkness, and not light.

19 As if a man did flee from a lion, and a bear met him; or went into the house, and leaned his hand on the wall, and a serpent bit him.

20 Shall not the day of the Lord be darkness, and not light? even very dark, and no brightness in it?

21 I hate, I despise your feast days, and I will not smell in your solemn assemblies.

22 Though ye offer me burnt offerings and your meat offerings, I will not accept them: neither will I regard the peace offerings of your fat beasts.

23 Take thou away from me the noise of thy songs; for I will not hear the melody of thy viols.

24 But let judgment run down as waters, and righteousness as a mighty stream.

25 Have ye offered unto me sacrifices and offerings in the wilderness forty years, O house of Israel?

26 But ye have borne the tabernacle of your Moloch and Chiun your images, the star of your god, which ye made to yourselves.

27 Therefore will I cause you to go into captivity beyond Damascus, saith the Lord, whose name is The God of hosts.

Notes

Cross Reference

Commentary

Rashi

Verse 2

<html>The virgin of Israel—When they are exiled in the days of Hoshea son of Elah (II Kings 17:1-6), a king will never again rise from the ten tribes. she is spread out on her soil Heb. נִטְּשָׁה. Anything that is cast, lying, and spread out upon the field is called נְטִישָה.</html>

Verse 3

<html>that gives forth a thousand Heb. הַיֹּצֵאת, that gives forth a thousand men.</html>

Verse 4

<html>Seek Me and live—Perform the pilgrimage to pay your vows in Jerusalem.</html>

Verse 5

<html>But seek not Bethel etc. nor pass Beersheba—Here it does not say, “You shall not come,” or “You shall not seek,” but, “You shall not pass.” This teaches us that there was no idol worship there, but as long as one of the members of the ten tribes would go out to seek and did not yet pass Beersheba, he could still turn to the Temple, to Jerusalem, and once he passed Beersheba, that is the way to the calf in Bethel or to the calf in Dan. And so Scripture states: (infra 8:14) “As your god, O Dan, lives, and as the way of Beersheba lives.” And you should know [that this is so], for Scripture pronounced decrees of retribution on Gilgal and Bethel, and did not decree upon Beersheba. for Gilgal shall be exiled—According to its name is its curse. And, similarly, there is a city near Bethel named Beth-aven in the Book of Joshua (7:2). shall become nought Heb. לְאָוֶן. [Jonathan renders:] לִלְמָא, which is the Aramaic translation of הֶבֶל, vanity, and this is a similarity to (Hosea 12: 12) “If Gilead is nought, it is because they are but futility.”</html>

Verse 6

<html>lest He break out like fire Heb. יִצְלַח. Lest His anger ascend as fire to the house of Joseph. the house of Joseph—Like לְבֵית יוֹסֵף, to the house of Joseph.</html>

Verse 7

<html>Those who turn justice to wormwood—and they do not remember My conversions, that I turn etc.</html>

Verse 8

<html>and turns darkness into morning—There are some who live now in darkness, for whom I made it light. and day He darkens as night—There is one for whom the time is favorable as the light of day, and I darken it as the night. He Who calls the water of the sea—Jonathan renders: He Who said to gather camps as numerous as the water of the sea, and scatter them upon the face of the earth. And our Sages explained it as a reference to the generation of Enosh, when He caused the water of the ocean to inundate them. [from Mid. Psalms 88:2, Gen. Rabbah 23:7] the Lord is His Name—They should have worshipped Him, and He would have given them power over their enemies.</html>

Verse 9

<html>Who strengthens Heb. הַמַּבְלִיג, Who strengthens. Like (Job 10:20) “And I will gain strength (וְאַבְלִיגָה) a little while”; (Jer. 8:18) “Were I to suppress (מַבְלִיגִיתִי) my grief.” the robbed Heb. וְשֹׁד. A person who was robbed and weak [Jonathan renders:] Who strengthens the weak over the strong, and the robbed He gives rule over strong walled cities.</html>

Verse 10

<html>They hated him who reproves them in the gate—You do not fear Him or His prophets, and you hated those who reprove you in the gates of the courts.</html>

Verse 11

<html>you have trodden Heb. בּוֹשַׁסְכֶם, like בּוֹסַסְכֶם, you have trodden on the poor, that you trample and tread on his head. Like (Jer. 12:10) “They have trampled (בּוֹסְסוּ) My field.” and the burden of grain you take—The settling of the balance as a loan, that you raised the market price for them immediately to sell them grain with interest, in order to take their estate from them. Therefore, houses and vineyards that you have built and planted on those estates shall not remain in your hands. and the burden Heb. מַשְׂאֵת, an expression of מַשָּׂא, a burden, which they make heavy upon them. precious vineyards Heb. כַּרְמֵי חֶמֶד.</html>

Verse 12

<html>you who oppress the just—[Jonathan renders:] who oppress the innocent. turning aside… in the gate—In the gates of your courts, they turned aside the judgment of the needy.</html>

Verse 13

<html>the prudent—Whoever is wise shall keep silent when the evil comes, and he shall not criticize the Divine standard of justice, for they did all these. for it is a time of evil—[I.e.] a time destined [for them] to receive their evil.</html>

Verse 14

<html>and so… shall be etc.—If you do this, the Omnipresent shall be with you as you said in your heart, that you will keep your greatness.</html>

Verse 15

<html>the remnant of Joseph—All Israel are called by his name because he sustained them.</html>

Verse 16

<html>Alas! Alas! Heb. הוֹ הוֹ, an expression of a cry. and they shall meet the plowman with mourning Heb. וְקָרְאוּ. They shall meet companies of plowmen, plowing in the fields, with the voice of the lamentation of the mourners crying in the streets. and lamentation with those who know to wail—[Jonathan renders:] And the one who makes a lamentation shall meet one who makes a wailing. And this is only a repetitious expression. Cf. (Ps. 9:5) “My right and my cause (מִשְׁפָּטִי וְדִינִי).”</html>

Verse 18

<html>Woe to those who desire etc.—“Those who say, ‘Let Him hurry; let Him hasten His deed.’” (Isa. 5: 19) Why would you have etc.—There is a parable concerning a rooster and a bat that were awaiting the dawn, as appears in the chapter entitled “Chelek.”</html>

Verse 21

<html>[the sacrifices of] your assemblies—[Jonathan renders:] The sacrifice of your assemblies; i.e, when you call an assembly.</html>

Verse 22

<html>and the peace offerings of your fattened cattle Heb. שֶׁלֶם מְרִיאֵיכֶם, the peace offerings of your fatlings, i.e, fattened cattle.</html>

Verse 23

<html>Take away from Me the din of your songs—that the Levites sing on the platform, since you are robbers and perverters of justice.</html>

Verse 24

<html>And justice shall be revealed like water Heb. וְיִגַּל. And you shall do this, and I will accept you. The justice that you have hidden and concealed shall be revealed and stream among you like water. [after Jonathan] and righteousness—shall be revealed like a mighty stream. [after Jonathan]</html>

Verse 25

<html>Did… sacrifices and meal offerings—Is My desire for sacrifices and meal offerings? Is it not so that in the desert I did not speak with your forefathers to offer up sacrifices to Me? I said: (Lev. 1: 2) “Should a man sacrifice,” when he wishes to sacrifice. And Scripture states: (Num. 9:2) “And the children of Israel shall make the Passover sacrifice in its time.” This tells us that Israel made only that Passover sacrifice. [based on Sifre to Num. 9:2]</html>

Verse 26

<html>And you shall carry Siccuth your king—He returns to the matter of the retribution [mentioned] above. The day of the Lord is darkness for you, and not light, and you shall carry your idols into exile with you. The enemies shall load them on your necks to carry them with you into exile. Siccuth… Chiun… Kochav—They are names of pagan deities.</html>

Verse 27

<html>And I will exile you beyond Damascus—I.e, you shall not be exiled to your neighbors as heretofore, that you were delivered into the hands of the kings of Aram [In Nach Lublin-Edom, an obvious error] and they did not take you in captivity to a distant place, but to Damascus. From now on, I will deliver you into the hands of Sennacherib, and he shall exile you far away.</html>

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Table of Contents

Amos 5

Amos 5

Notes

Cross Reference

Commentary

Rashi

Verse 2

Verse 3

Verse 4

Verse 5

Verse 6

Verse 7

Verse 8

Verse 9

Verse 10

Verse 11

Verse 12

Verse 13

Verse 14

Verse 15

Verse 16

Verse 18

Verse 21

Verse 22

Verse 23

Verse 24

Verse 25

Verse 26

Verse 27