Amos 1:2 — meaning, Hebrew and Greek word study, commentary
Amos 1:2
And he said, The LORD will roar from Zion, and utter his voice from Jerusalem; and the habitations of the shepherds shall mourn, and the top of Carmel shall wither.
to say (used with great latitude) · conjunction + verb, qal sequential imperfect, 3rd person masculine singular
LORD
יְהוָה֙Yah.weh
H3068
Jehovah · proper noun, a title
roar
יִשְׁאָ֔גyish.'Ag
H7580
to rumble or moan · verb, qal imperfect, 3rd person masculine singular
Zion
מִצִיּ֣וֹןmi.tzi.Yon
H6726
Tsijon (as a permanent capital) · preposition + proper noun, a place name
utter
יִתֵּ֣ןyi.Ten
H5414
to give · verb, qal imperfect, 3rd person masculine singular
voice
קוֹל֑וֹko.Lo
H6963
a voice or sound · noun, common masculine singular construct + pronominal suffix, 3rd person masculine singular
Jerusalem
וּמִירוּשָׁלִַ֖םu.mi.ru.sha.Lim
H3389
Jerushalaim or Jerushalem · conjunction + preposition + proper noun, a place name
habitations
נְא֣וֹתne.'ot
H4999
a home · noun, common feminine plural construct
shepherds
הָרֹעִ֔יםha.ro.'Im
H7462
to tend a flock · definite article + verb, qal active participle, masculine plural absolute
mourn
וְאָֽבְלוּ֙ve.'a.ve.Lu
H56
to bewail · conjunction + verb, qal sequential perfect, 3rd person common plural
top
רֹ֥אשׁrosh
H7218
the head (as most easily shaken) · noun, common masculine singular construct
Carmel
הַכַּרְמֶֽלha.kar.Mel
H3760
Karmel · definite article + proper noun, a place name
wither
וְיָבֵ֖שׁve.ya.Vesh
H3001
to be ashamed · conjunction + verb, qal sequential perfect, 3rd person masculine singular
Strong's Exhaustive Concordance (James Strong, 1890/1894), public domain; digitized by Open Scriptures (CC BY-SA). KJV word tagging: eBible.org (public domain). Original-language text, parsing and brief lexicon: STEPBible.org data from Tyndale House, Cambridge (CC BY 4.0).
Cross-references
Joel 3:16 The LORD also shall roar out of Zion, and utter his voice from Jerusalem; and the heavens and the earth shall shake: but the LORD will be th…
Jeremiah 25:30 Therefore prophesy thou against them all these words, and say unto them, The LORD shall roar from on high, and utter his voice from his holy…
Isaiah 42:13 The LORD shall go forth as a mighty man, he shall stir up jealousy like a man of war: he shall cry, yea, roar; he shall prevail against his…
Amos 9:3 And though they hide themselves in the top of Carmel, I will search and take them out thence; and though they be hid from my sight in the bo…
Jeremiah 12:4 How long shall the land mourn, and the herbs of every field wither, for the wickedness of them that dwell therein? the beasts are consumed,…
Nahum 1:4 He rebuketh the sea, and maketh it dry, and drieth up all the rivers: Bashan languisheth, and Carmel, and the flower of Lebanon languisheth.
Proverbs 20:2 The fear of a king is as the roaring of a lion: whoso provoketh him to anger sinneth against his own soul.
Isaiah 33:9 The earth mourneth and languisheth: Lebanon is ashamed and hewn down: Sharon is like a wilderness; and Bashan and Carmel shake off their fru…
Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).
Commentary
Matthew Henry on Amos 1:1-2
Here is, I. The general character of this prophecy. It consists of the words which the prophet saw. Are words to be seen? Yes, God's words are; the apostles speak of the word of life, which they had not only heard, but which they had seen with their eyes, which they had looked upon, and which their hands had handled (Jo1 1:1), such a real substantial thing is the word of God. The prophet saw these words, that is, 1. They were revealed to him in a vision, as John is said to see the voice that spoke to him, Rev 1:12. 2. That which was foretold by them was to him as certain as if he had seen it with his bodily eyes. It intimates how strong he was in that faith which is the evidence of things no…
will roar--as a lion (Joe 3:16). Whereas Jehovah is there represented roaring in Israel's behalf, here He roars against her (compare Psa 18:13; Jer 25:30).
from Zion . . . Jerusalem--the seat of the theocracy, from which ye have revolted; not from Dan and Beth-el, the seat of your idolatrous worship of the calves.
habitations . . . mourn--poetical personification. Their inhabitants shall mourn, imparting a sadness to the very habitations.
Carmel--the mountain promontory north of Israel, in Asher, abounding in rich pastures, olives, and vines. The name is the symbol of fertility. When Carmel itself "withers," how utter the desolation! (Sol 7:5; Isa 33:9; Isa 35:2; Jer 50:19; Nah 1:4).
Adam Clarke on Amos 1:2
The Lord will roar from Zion - It is a pity that our translators had not followed the hemistich form of the Hebrew: -
Jehovah from Zion shall roar,
And from Jerusalem shall give forth his voice;
And the pleasant dwellings of the shepherds shall mourn,
And the top of mount Carmel shall wither.
Carmel was a very fruitful mountain in the tribe of Judah, Jos 15:56; Isa 35:2.
This introduction was natural in the mouth of a herdsman who was familiar with the roaring of lions, the bellowing of bulls, and the lowing of kine. The roaring of the lion in the forest is one of the most terrific sounds in nature; when near, it strikes terror into the heart of both man and beast.
The Church Fathers
(Verse 2.) And he said: The Lord from Zion shall roar, and from Jerusalem he shall give his voice. And the pastures of the shepherds have shone, and the top of Carmel has dried up. LXX: And he said: The Lord from Zion has spoken, and from Jerusalem he has given his voice, and the pastures of the shepherds have shone, and the top of Carmel has dried up. It is natural that all artisans of their craft speak with examples, and each one brings forth the likeness of the one in which he has spent his time: for example, the sailor and the navigator compare their sadness to a storm; they call damage, shipwreck; they call their enemies, adverse winds. Once again, it names prosperity and joy, the most gentle breeze and favorable winds; calm seas and waters, like peaceful fields. From the opposite direction, the soldier signifies whatever he says, shield, sword, armor, helmet, spear, bow, arrow, death, wound, and victory. In the mouths of philosophers, Socrates and Plato are always present, Xenophon and Theophrastus, Zeno and Aristotle, Stoics and Peripatetics. Orators praise Lysias and Hyperides, Pericles and Demosthenes, Gracchi, Catos, Ciceros, and Hortensius in heaven. If they are epic poets, they frequently mention Homer and Virgil; if they are lyric poets, they celebrate Pindar and Flaccus. Why were these things said? To show that even the prophet Amos, who was a shepherd of shepherds, not in cultivated places with planted trees and vineyards, or certainly among green forests and meadows, but in the vastness of the wilderness, where the fierceness of lions and the killing of livestock dwell, made use of his skill in words, in order to mention the terrible and fearful voice of the Lord, the roaring of lions, and the growling of a lion. Comparing the destruction of the Israelite cities to the solitude of shepherds and the dryness of mountains: The Lord, he says, will roar from Zion, and from Jerusalem he will give his voice. In Hebrew, to roar is called Jesag: Beautifully he will roar from Zion, and from Jerusalem he will give his voice, where the temple and the religion of God were, in order to teach that God is not present in the cities of Israel, that is, in Bethel and Dan, where the golden calves were, nor in the capital city of Samaria and Jezreel, but rather in the true religion, which was practiced at that time in Zion and Jerusalem. With the roaring of…
The Church Fathers: public-domain translations (Ante-Nicene and Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers), verse-indexed by SermonIndex (CC BY 4.0).
Dictionary and topics
Carmel — A park; generally with the article, “the park.” (1.) A prominent headland of Central Palestine, consisting of several connected hills extending from the plain of Esdraelon to the sea, a distance of…
Jeroboam — Increase of the people. (1.) The son of Nebat (1 Kings 11:26-39), “an Ephrathite,” the first king of the ten tribes, over whom he reigned twenty-two years (B.C. 976-945). He was the son of a widow of…
Carmel · 1. A fertile and picturesque mountain in Palestine — 1. A fertile and picturesque mountain in Palestine
Dictionary: Easton's (1897) and Smith's (1863), public domain. Topics: Nave's Topical Bible (1896) and Torrey's Topical Textbook (1897), public domain. Both as parsed by NEUU (CC BY 4.0).
John Gill on Amos 1:2
And he said,.... That is, the Prophet Amos, before described; he, being under divine inspiration, said as follows:
the Lord will roar from Zion, and utter his voice from Jerusalem; not from Samaria, nor from Dan and Bethel, but from Zion and Jerusalem, where the temple of the Lord stood; and out of the holy of holies in it, where was the seat of the divine Majesty; and his voice being compared to the roaring of a lion, denotes his wrath and vengeance; and is expressive of some terrible threatening prophecy he would send from hence, by one or other of his prophets; perhaps Amos may mean himself; and who, having been a shepherd or herdsman in the wilderness, had often heard the terrible roari…
Amos 1:2
2. And he said, The Lord will roar from Zion, and utter his voice from Jerusalem; and the habitations of the shepherds shall mourn, and the top of Carmel shall wither.
2. Et dixit, Jehova e Sion ruget, et e Jerusalem edet (vel, emittet) vocem suam; et lugebunt (vel, disperibunt) habitacula pastorum; et arescet (vel, pudefiet) vertex Carmeli. [17]
He employs here the same words which we explained yesterday in the [16]Lecture on Joel; but for another purpose. By saying, Jehovah from Zion shall roar,' Joel intended to set forth the power of God, who had been for a time silent, as though he was not able to repel his enemies. As God was then despised by the ungodly, Joel declares that…
Amo 1:1 contains the heading, which has already been discussed in the Introduction; and אשׁר חזה ("which he saw") refers to דּברי עמוס (the words of Amos). Amo 1:2 forms the Introduction, which is attached to the heading by ויּאמר, and announces a revelation of the wrath of God upon Israel, or a theocratic judgment. Amo 1:2. "Jehovah roars out of Zion, and He utters His voice from Jerusalem; and the pastures of the shepherds mourn, and the head of Carmel withers." The voice of Jehovah is the thunder, the earthly substratum in which the Lord manifests His coming to judgment (see at Joe 3:16). By the adoption of the first half of the verse word for word from Joel, Amos connects his prophecy wi…
This message speaks of judgment at the day of the Lord. • Mount Zion (the Temple in Jerusalem) was the logical source of a message from the Lord. • Mount Carmel rises from the Mediterranean Sea and is well watered even in time of drought. If all the grass on Mount Carmel withered, it would be the sign of a catastrophic drought.
Rashi on Amos 1:2
shall roar from Zion—From the Holy of Holies the speech emanates.
and the dwellings of the shepherds shall be cut off—Jonathan renders: And the dwellings of the kings shall become desolate, and the strength of their walled cities shall be destroyed.
