separate · definite article + noun, gentilic masculine plural absolute
wine
יָ֑יִןYa.yin
H3196
wine (as fermented) · noun, common masculine singular absolute
drink
וַתַּשְׁק֥וּva.tash.Ku
H8248
to quaff · conjunction + verb, hiphil sequential imperfect, 2nd person masculine plural
commanded
צִוִּיתֶ֣םtzi.vi.Tem
H6680
(intensively) to constitute · verb, piel perfect, 2nd person masculine plural
prophets
הַנְּבִיאִים֙ha.ne.vi.'Im
H5030
a prophet or (generally) inspired man · definite article + noun, common masculine plural absolute
saying
לֵאמֹ֔רle.Mor
H559
to say (used with great latitude) · preposition + verb, qal infinitive construct
Prophesy
תִּנָּבְאֽוּti.na.ve.'U
H5012
to prophesy · verb, niphal imperfect, 2nd person masculine plural
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
Isaiah 30:10 Which say to the seers, See not; and to the prophets, Prophesy not unto us right things, speak unto us smooth things, prophesy deceits:
Amos 7:13 But prophesy not again any more at Beth-el: for it is the king’s chapel, and it is the king’s court.
Jeremiah 11:21 Therefore thus saith the LORD of the men of Anathoth, that seek thy life, saying, Prophesy not in the name of the LORD, that thou die not by…
Micah 2:6 Prophesy ye not, say they to them that prophesy: they shall not prophesy to them, that they shall not take shame.
Amos 7:16 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.
Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).
Commentary
Matthew Henry on Amos 2:9–end
Here, I. God puts his people Israel in mind of the great things he has done for them, in putting them into possession of the land of Canaan, the greatest part of which these ten tribes now enjoyed, Amo 2:9, Amo 2:10. Note, We need often to be reminded of the mercies we have received, which are the heaviest aggravations of the sins we have committed. God gives liberally, and upbraids us not with our meanness and unworthiness, and the disproportion between his gifts and our merits; but he justly upbraids us with our ingratitude, and ill requital of his favours, and tells us what he has done for us, to shame us for not rendering again according to the benefit done to us. "Son, remember; Israel,…
Ye so despised these My favors, as to tempt the Nazarite to break his vow; and forbade the prophets prophesying (Isa 30:10). So Amaziah forbade Amos (Amo 7:12-14).
Adam Clarke on Amos 2:12
But ye gave the Nazarites wine - This was expressly forbidden in the laws of their institution. See Num 6:1-3.
Prophesy not - They would not worship God, and they would not hear the voice of his prophets.
John Gill on Amos 2:12
But ye gave the Nazarites wine to drink,.... Contrary to their vow and calling, and in contempt of it, and to make them like themselves; they either persuaded them, or forced them to it:
and commanded the prophets, saying, prophesy not; hard and heavy things, judgments and denunciations of vengeance, only smooth things; by this authoritative language it appears that this is said of the rulers and governors of the people, as king, princes, and priests; see Amos 7:12.
John Calvin on Amos 2:9-12
Amos 2:9-12
9. Yet destroyed I the Amorite before them, whose height was like the height of the cedars, and he was strong as the oaks; yet I destroyed his fruit from above, and his roots from beneath.
9. Et ego exterminavi Amorrhaeum a facie ipsorum, cujus proceritas erat sicut proceritas cedrorum, et qui fortis erat sicut quercus; et perdidi fructum ejus superne et radicem ejus subtus.
10. Also I brought you up from the land of Egypt, and led you forty years through the wilderness, to possess the land of the Amorite.
10. Et ego eduxi vos e terra Egypti, et deduxi vos (ambulare feci vos ad verbum) in deserto per quadraginta annos ad possidendam terram Amorrhaei.
11. And I raised up of y…
The Church Fathers
Samson and Samuel drank neither wine nor strong drink, for they were children of promise and conceived in abstinence and fasting. Aaron and the other priests when about to enter the temple refrained from all intoxicating drink for fear they should die. From this we learn that they die who minister in the church without sobriety. And hence it is a reproach against Israel: "You gave my Nazirites wine to drink."
(Verse 12.) Is it not so, sons of Israel, says the Lord, that you offered wine to the Nazarenes and sent commands to the prophets, saying: Do not prophesy. Likewise, the Septuagint. I granted you so many benefits, that I would kill your enemies and give their land to you, and I would choose prophets and Nazarenes from your sons and young men, and I would consecrate them to my worship. Can you say that I have not done these things, and that I have denied my mercy towards you, by which you live? Why did you burst forth into such rage, that you would get my Nazarenes drunk with wine, whom the law commands not to drink anything that can intoxicate? (Num. VI): and you would command the prophets not to prophesy in my name. This is what the priest Amaziah of Bethel commanded the prophet Amos, whom we now have in our hands: and it was commanded by the king to Jeremiah, not to speak the words of the Lord to the people, to the extent that his words were even burned with fire. Tatianus, the leader of the Encratites, attempts to construct his heresy on this matter, stating that wine should not be drunk, since it is commanded by the law that Nazarenes should not drink wine, and now they are accused by a prophet who provides wine to the Nazarenes. If they follow the letter in all things and introduce Jewish fables into the churches of Christ, then they should also grow their hair long, abstain from eating dried and green grapes, and not approach their deceased mother and father. And if by chance they have done these things and have been overcome by human frailty or necessity, they should shave their heads, and all their days of dedication and work shall be void. But if they do not do these things, nor are they able to mix water with wine like the Jewish innkeepers, let them understand the shadows of truth, the grace of the Gospel, the necessity of the Law, and that drunkenness with which the vigor of the soul is intoxicated and overwhelmed by worldly cares, and let them command those prophets, saying: 'Do not prophesy, you who, overcome by envy, forbid learned men from speaking the word of doctrine.' And as the Lord says: 'Go and say to this people' (Is. VI, 9), they on the contrary command them not to speak in the name of the Lord, especially if the one teaching provides for the utility of the readers and listeners, not for shameful gain, fame, and boasting.
Dictionary and topics
Drunkenness · General scriptures concerning — General scriptures concerning
Fraternity · .The Nazarites, vows of — .The Nazarites, vows of
Israel, Prophecies Concerning · .Of — .Of
Nazarite · Character of — Character of
Nazarites · Ungodly Jews tried to corrupt — Ungodly Jews tried to corrupt
Prophets · Persecutions of — Persecutions of
Temptation · General scriptures concerning — General scriptures concerning
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).
But Jehovah had not only put Israel into possession of Canaan; He had also continually manifested Himself to it as the founder and promoter of its spiritual prosperity. Amo 2:11. "And I raised up some of your sons as prophets, and some of your young men as dedicated ones (Naziraeans). Ah, is it not so, ye sons of Israel? is the saying of Jehovah. Amo 2:12. But ye made the dedicated drink wine, and ye commanded the prophets, saying, Ye shall not prophesy." The institution of prophecy and the law of the Nazarite were gifts of grace, in which Israel had an advantage over every other nation, and by which it was distinguished above the heathen as the nation of God and the medium of salvation. Amo…
In addition to priests, God provided prophets to speak his word and will (Deut 18:15-19) and holy men called Nazirites, who were dedicated to the Lord by vows that included abstention from fermented drinks (Num 6:1-21). Israel showed its disregard for God by telling both the Nazirites and the prophets to ignore and violate God’s calling (see Amos 7:12-13).
Rashi on Amos 2:12
And you gave the Nazirites to drink wine—lest they instruct you, for a drunken man is forbidden to instruct. And you gave the Nazirites to drink wine—Jonathan renders: And you misled your teachers with wine.
“Do not prophesy.”—Amaziah the priest of Bethel commanded Amos in this manner: (Amos 7:12) “Seer, go, flee to the land of Judah.”
