Amos 6

Amos 6 is one of the chapters of judgment proclaimed by Amos. In Amos 5 the prophet pronounced woe on those who desire "the day of the LORD." Chapter 6 again opens with "Woe," this time directed at the leaders of both the northern kingdom of Israel and Judah.

Outline

• Verses 1–3 Woe is pronounced on those who are at ease in Zion and who trust in the mountain of Samaria. They are told to go to Calneh, to Hamath the great, and to Gath of the Philistines, and are asked whether those places are better than these kingdoms. They put the evil day far away.
• Verses 4–7 They lie on beds of ivory and eat lambs and calves; they chant to the sound of the viol and invent instruments of music like David; they drink wine in bowls and anoint themselves with the finest ointments. Yet they are not grieved for the affliction of Joseph, and so they will go captive at the head of the captives.
• Verses 8–11 The Lord GOD swears by Himself. He declares that He abhors the excellency of Jacob and hates his palaces, and that He will deliver up the city to the enemy. If ten men remain in one house, they will all die, and the relative who comes to carry out the bodies will say, "Hold thy tongue: for we may not make mention of the name of the LORD." The great house and the little house alike will be smitten.
• Verses 12–14 Horses cannot run upon the rock, nor can oxen plow there, yet the people have turned judgment (justice in the courts) into gall and the fruit of righteousness into hemlock (bitter wormwood). They rejoice in a thing of nought and boast that they have taken horns (strength) by their own power. The LORD declares that He will raise up a nation against them that will afflict them from the entrance of Hamath to the Brook of the Arabah.

Key Verses

• Amos 6:1 "Woe to them that are at ease in Zion, and trust in the mountain of Samaria" — This sums up the complacency and false security that the whole chapter condemns.
• Amos 6:6 "But they are not grieved for the affliction of Joseph" — The sin identified is not so much luxury itself as indifference to the community's collapse.
• Amos 6:12 "For ye have turned judgment into gall, and the fruit of righteousness into hemlock" — This repeats the charge of Amos 5:7 and likens the perversion of justice to something contrary to the natural order.

People and Places

• Zion and Samaria: The capitals of the southern kingdom of Judah and the northern kingdom of Israel, respectively.
• Calneh, Hamath, and Gath: Cities in the region around Israel. Gath was a city of the Philistines.
• David: Mentioned as the king who made musical instruments and sang.
• Joseph and Jacob: Here these names refer not to individuals but, respectively, to the northern kingdom, centered on the tribe of Joseph, and to the people of Israel as a whole.
• The Brook of the Arabah: An expression denoting the southern limit of Israel's territory.

Points for Reflection

• The phrase "from the entrance of Hamath to the Arabah" in verse 14 corresponds to the boundaries of the territory restored by Jeroboam II in 2 Kings 14:25. For this reason, many interpreters read it as an ironic announcement that the whole of that prosperous land will be trampled. The text does not name the "nation," but it is commonly identified as Assyria and connected with the fall of the northern kingdom of Israel (c. 722 BC).
• The Korean Revised Version and the New Korean Revised Version render "a thing of nought" and "horns" in verse 13 as ordinary words. Some translations, however, such as the New Korean Standard Version, render them as the place names Lo-debar and Karnaim, reading the verse as a boast over victories won in war.
• The meaning of the scene in verse 10, with the burning of the dead and the warning not to mention the name of the LORD, is unclear. Some interpret it as depicting the horrors of plague or war; others take it as words spoken in fear that invoking the name would bring further judgment.
• In the New Testament, the story of the rich man and Lazarus, in which a man who feasted ignored the poor man at his gate, and James 5, which rebukes the rich, are often read alongside this chapter.