Amos 2:7 — meaning, Hebrew and Greek word study, commentary
Amos 2:7
That pant after the dust of the earth on the head of the poor, and turn aside the way of the meek: and a man and his father will go in unto the same maid, to profane my holy name:
a man as an individual or a male person · conjunction + noun, common masculine singular absolute
father
וְאָבִ֗יוve.'a.Viv
H1
father · conjunction + noun, common masculine singular construct + pronominal suffix, 3rd person masculine singular
go
יָלַךְyâlak
H3212
to walk (literally or figuratively)
maid
הַֽנַּעֲרָ֔הha.na.'a.Rah
H5291
a girl (from infancy to adolescence) · definite article + noun, common feminine singular absolute
profane
חַלֵּ֖לcha.Lel
H2490
properly · verb, piel infinitive construct
holy
קָדְשִֽׁיkod.shi
H6944
a sacred place or thing · noun, common masculine singular construct + pronominal suffix
name
שֵׁ֥םshem
H8034
an appellation · noun, common masculine singular construct
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
Amos 5:12 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…
Isaiah 10:2 To turn aside the needy from judgment, and to take away the right from the poor of my people, that widows may be their prey, and that they m…
Ezekiel 22:11 And one hath committed abomination with his neighbour’s wife; and another hath lewdly defiled his daughter in law; and another in thee hath…
Micah 2:2 And they covet fields, and take them by violence; and houses, and take them away: so they oppress a man and his house, even a man and his he…
Micah 2:9 The women of my people have ye cast out from their pleasant houses; from their children have ye taken away my glory for ever.
1 Corinthians 5:1 It is reported commonly that there is fornication among you, and such fornication as is not so much as named among the Gentiles, that one sh…
Leviticus 18:8 The nakedness of thy father’s wife shalt thou not uncover: it is thy father’s nakedness.
Leviticus 18:15 Thou shalt not uncover the nakedness of thy daughter in law: she is thy son’s wife; thou shalt not uncover her nakedness.
Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).
Commentary
Matthew Henry on Amos 2:1-8
Here is, I. The judgment of Moab, another of the nations that bordered upon Israel. They are reckoned with and shall be punished for three transgressions and for four, as those before. Now, 1. Moab's fourth transgression, as theirs who were before set to the bar, was cruelty. The instance given refers not to the people of God, but to a heathen like themselves: The king of Moab burnt the bones of the king of Edom into lime. We find there was war between the Edomites and the Moabites, in which the king of Moab, in distress and rage, offered his own son for a burnt-offering, to appease his deity, Kg2 3:26, Kg2 3:27. And it should seem that afterwards he, or some of his successors, in revenge up…
pant after . . . dust of . . . earth on . . . head of . . . poor--that is, eagerly thirst for this object, by their oppression to prostrate the poor so as to cast the dust on their heads in mourning on the earth (compare Sa2 1:2; Job 2:12; Eze 27:30).
turn aside . . . way of . . . meek--pervert their cause (Amo 5:12; Job 24:4 [GROTIUS]; Isa 10:2).
a man and his father--a crime "not so much as named among the Gentiles" (Co1 5:1). When God's people sin in the face of light, they often fall lower than even those who know not God.
go in unto the same maid--from Amo 2:8 it seems likely "the damsel" meant is one of the prostitutes attached to the idol Astarte's temple: prostitution being par…
For three transgressions of Israel, etc. - To be satisfied of the exceeding delinquency of this people, we have only to open the historical and prophetic books in any part; for the whole history of the Israelites is one tissue of transgression against God. Their crimes are enumerated under the following heads: -
1. Their judges were mercenary and corrupt. They took bribes to condemn the righteous; and even for articles of clothing, such as a pair of shoes, they condemned the poor man, and delivered him into the hands of his adversary.
2. They were unmerciful to the poor generally. They pant after the dust of the earth on the head of the poor; or, to put it on the head of the poor; or, they…
The Church Fathers
They so multiplied their ill-gotten gains as to betray the rights of the needy for the basest profit (the meaning of the phrase "sandals trampling the dust of the earth," which was clear proof of their setting no store by justice, especially as they easily did so for base profit). "They pummeled the heads of the poor." Of the same people he says that they not only failed to vindicate their claim on justice but even belabored them without risk—hence his going on, "and strayed from the path of the lowly." Though their behavior was correct, they changed the verdict to a negative one, scorning them for their lowliness.
In these laws it is not written that a father and son ought not to have the same concubine, but, in the prophet, it is thought deserving of the most extreme condemnation, "A man and his father" it is said "will go in unto the same maid." And how many other forms of unclean lust have been found out in the devils' school, while divine scripture is silent about them, not choosing to befoul its dignity with the names of filthy things and condemning their uncleanness in general terms! As the apostle Paul says, "Fornication and all uncleanness ... let it not be once named among you as becometh saints," thus including the unspeakable doings of both males and females under the name of uncleanness. It follows that silence certainly does not give license to voluptuaries.
Because the example of the patriarch seemed injurious to many who indulged their flesh so far as to live with sisters in their life time. What ought to be my course? To quote the Scriptures, or to work out what they leave unsaid? In these laws it is not written that a father and son ought not to have the same concubine, but, in the prophet, it is thought deserving of the most extreme condemnation, "A man and his father" it is said "will go in unto the same maid." And how many other forms of unclean lust have been found out in the devils' school, while divine scripture is silent about them, not choosing to befoul its dignity with the names of filthy things and condemning their uncleanness in general terms! As the apostle Paul says, "Fornication and all uncleanness ... let it not be once named among you as becometh saints," thus including the unspeakable doings of both males and females under the name of uncleanness. It follows that silence certainly does not give license to voluptuaries.
Dictionary and topics
Alms — Not found in the Old Testament, but repeatedly in the New. The Mosaic legislation (Lev. 25:35; Deut. 15:7) tended to promote a spirit of charity, and to prevent the occurrence of destitution among…
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…
Israel, Prophecies Concerning · .Of — .Of
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).
That pant after the dust of the earth on the head of the poor,.... Either were greedy after money, the dust of the earth, and even that small portion of it the poor were possessed of; they could not be easy that they should enjoy that little of it they did, but were desirous to get it out of their hands by oppression and injustice: or they were eagerly desirous of throwing the poor upon the earth, and trampling upon them, and dragging them through the dust of it, thereby filling their heads and covering their faces with it; and caused them to put their mouths in the dust, and be humble suppliants to them. Some think there is an allusion to an ancient custom, which Joseph ben Gorion (r) speak…
Amos 2:7
7. That pant after the dust of the earth on the head of the poor, and turn aside the way of the meek: and a man and his father will go in unto the same maid, to profane my holy name:
7. Anhelantes super pulverem terrae ad caput inopum, viam miserorum (vel, pauperum) deflectere facient: vir et pater ejus ingredientur ad puellam ut profanent nomen sanctum meam (vel, nomen sanctitatis meae.)
Here Amos charges them first with insatiable avarice; they panted for the heads of the poor on the dust of the earth. This place is in my judgment not well understood. s'ph, shaph, means to pant and to breathe, and is taken often metaphorically as signifying to desire: hence some render the word…
After this introduction, the prophet's address turns to Israel of the ten tribes, and in precisely the same form as in the case of the nations already mentioned, announces the judgment as irrevocable. At the same time, he gives a fuller description of the sins of Israel, condemning first of all the prevailing crimes of injustice and oppression, of shameless immorality and daring contempt of God (Amo 2:6-8); and secondly, its scornful contempt of the benefits conferred by the Lord (Amo 2:9-12), and threatening inevitable trouble in consequence (Amo 2:13-16). Amo 2:6. "Thus saith Jehovah: For three transgressions of Israel, and for four, I shall not reverse it, because they sell the righteous…
To trample . . . people was to treat them ruthlessly (see also 8:4). • The helpless and oppressed were people exploited by a socio-economic system that denied them the justice guaranteed by law (Exod 23:6-8). • That father and son sleep with the same woman demonstrated the moral destitution of the Israelites; the law of Moses prohibited this practice (Lev 18:7-8, 15; 20:11-12). • corrupting my holy name: In worshiping various fertility gods, Israel and surrounding nations engaged in “sacred prostitution” (see Hos 4:10-14). Sexual relations with a shrine prostitute were thought to ensure plentiful crops and thriving herds of livestock. This verse suggests that these acts were performed in the…
Who aspire on the dust of the earth—On the dust of the earth, when they walk on it, all their aspiration and all their thoughts are concerning the head of the poor, how they will rob them and take their property. שְׁאִיפָה is goloser in O.F., aspiring.
and they pervert the way of the humble etc.—The weak turn away from their way and go on a tortuous way because of fear of them, as Scripture says: (Job 24:4) “They turn the poor from the way.”
to the maid—I.e, a betrothed maid.
