Amos 3:12 — meaning, Hebrew and Greek word study, commentary
Amos 3:12
Thus saith the LORD; As the shepherd taketh out of the mouth of the lion two legs, or a piece of an ear; so shall the children of Israel be taken out that dwell in Samaria in the corner of a bed, and in Damascus in a couch.
to say (used with great latitude) · verb, qal perfect, 3rd person masculine singular
LORD
יְהוָה֒Yah.weh
H3068
Jehovah · proper noun, a title
shepherd
הָרֹעֶ֜הha.ro.'Eh
H7462
to tend a flock · definite article + verb, qal active participle, masculine singular absolute
out
יַצִּ֨ילya.Tzil
H5337
to snatch away · verb, hiphil imperfect, 3rd person masculine singular
mouth
מִפִּ֧יmi.Pi
H6310
the mouth (as the means of blowing) · preposition + noun, common masculine singular construct
lion
הָאֲרִ֛יha.'a.Ri
H738
a lion · definite article + noun, common masculine singular absolute
two
שְׁתֵּ֥יshe.Tei
H8147
two · noun, common feminine dual construct
legs
כְרָעַ֖יִםkhe.ra.'A.yim
H3767
the leg (from the knee to the ankle) of men or locusts… · noun, common feminine dual absolute
piece
בְדַלve.dal-
H915
a part · noun, common masculine singular construct
ear
אֹ֑זֶן'O.zen
H241
broadness. i.e. (concrete) the ear (from its form in ma… · noun, common feminine singular absolute
children
בְּנֵ֣יbe.Nei
H1121
a son (as a builder of the family name) · noun, common masculine plural construct
Israel
יִשְׂרָאֵ֗לYis.ra.'El
H3478
Jisrael · proper noun, a place name
out
יִנָּצְל֞וּyi.na.tze.Lu
H5337
to snatch away · verb, niphal imperfect, 3rd person masculine plural
dwell
הַיֹּֽשְׁבִים֙hai.yo.she.Vim
H3427
properly · definite article + verb, qal active participle, masculine plural absolute
Samaria
בְּשֹׁ֣מְר֔וֹןbe.Sho.me.Ron
H8111
Shomeron · preposition + proper noun, a place name
corner
בִּפְאַ֥תbif.'At
H6285
properly · preposition + noun, common feminine singular construct
bed
מִטָּ֖הmi.Tah
H4296
a bed (as extended) forsleeping or eating · noun, common feminine singular absolute
Damascus
וּבִדְמֶ֥שֶׁקu.vid.Me.shek
H1833
damask (as a fabric of Damascus) · conjunction + preposition + noun, common masculine singular construct
couch
עָֽרֶשׂ'A.res
H6210
a couch (properly · noun, common feminine singular absolute
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
1 Samuel 17:34-37 And David said unto Saul, Thy servant kept his father’s sheep, and there came a lion, and a bear, and took a lamb out of the flock:
Romans 11:4-5 But what saith the answer of God unto him? I have reserved to myself seven thousand men, who have not bowed the knee to the image of Baal.
Isaiah 31:4 For thus hath the LORD spoken unto me, Like as the lion and the young lion roaring on his prey, when a multitude of shepherds is called fort…
1 Kings 20:30 But the rest fled to Aphek, into the city; and there a wall fell upon twenty and seven thousand of the men that were left. And Ben-hadad fle…
1 Kings 20:34 And Ben-hadad said unto him, The cities, which my father took from thy father, I will restore; and thou shalt make streets for thee in Damas…
1 Kings 22:25 And Micaiah said, Behold, thou shalt see in that day, when thou shalt go into an inner chamber to hide thyself.
2 Kings 16:9 And the king of Assyria hearkened unto him: for the king of Assyria went up against Damascus, and took it, and carried the people of it capt…
Amos 9:2-3 Though they dig into hell, thence shall mine hand take them; though they climb up to heaven, thence will I bring them down:
Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).
Commentary
Matthew Henry on Amos 3:9–end
The Israelites are here again convicted and condemned, and particular notice given of the crimes they are convicted of and the punishment they are condemned to.
1. Notice is given of it to their neighbours. The prophet is ordered to publish it in the palaces of Ashdod, one of the chief cities of the Philistines; nay, the summons must go further, even to the palaces in the land of Egypt. "The great men of both those nations, that dwell in the palaces, that are inquisitive concerning the affairs of the neighboring nations, and are conversant with the public intelligence, let them assemble themselves upon the mountains of Samaria," Amo 3:9. There, upon a throne high and lifted up, the judgment…
shepherd--a pastoral image, appropriately used by Amos, a shepherd himself.
piece of . . . ear--brought by the shepherd to the owner of the sheep, so as not to have to pay for the loss (Gen 31:39; Exo 22:13). So if aught of Israel escapes, it shall be a miracle of God's goodness. It shall be but a scanty remnant. There is a kind of goat in the East the ears of which are a foot long, and proportionally broad. Perhaps the reference is to this. Compare on the image Sa1 17:34-35; Ti2 4:17.
that dwell in Samaria in the corner of a bed--that is, that live luxuriously in Samaria (compare Amo 6:1, Amo 6:4). "A bed" means here the Oriental divan, a raised part of the room covered with cushions.…
As the shepherd taketh out of the mouth of the lion - Scarcely any of you shall escape; and those that do shall do so with extreme difficulty, just as a shepherd, of a whole sheep carried away by a lion, can recover no more than two of its legs, or a piece of its ear, just enough to prove by the marks on those parts, that they belonged to a sheep which was his own.
So shall the children of Israel be taken out - Those of them that escape these judgments shall escape with as great difficulty, and be of as little worth, as the two legs and piece of an ear that shall be snatched out of the lion's mouth. We know that when the Babylonians carried away the people into Chaldea they left behind only…
The Church Fathers
If, then, any hope of salvation is still left to you, if any slight remembrance of God, if any desire for future rewards, if any fear of the punishments reserved for the unrepentant come back quickly to sobriety; raise your eyes to the heavens; return to your senses; cease your wickedness; shake off the drunkenness that has drenched you; stand up against him who has overthrown you. Have the strength to rise up from the earth. Remember the good Shepherd, how he will pursue and deliver you. And if there are but "two legs, or the tip of an ear," leap back from him who has wounded you. Remember the compassion of God, how he heals with olive oil and wine. Do not despair of salvation. Recall the memory of what has been written, how he that falls rises again, and he that is turned away turns again, he that has been smitten is healed, he that is caught by wild beasts escapes, and he that confesses is not rejected. The Lord does not wish the death of the sinner, but that he return and live. Do not be contemptuous as one who has fallen into the depths of sins.
(Vers. 12, 13.) Thus says the Lord: Just as a shepherd rescues from the mouth of a lion two legs or the tip of an ear, so will the sons of Israel who dwell in Samaria be rescued, on the corner of a bed and in Damascus on the sheets. LXX: Thus says the Lord: Just as a shepherd tears away from the mouth of a lion two legs or the tip of an ear, so will the sons of Israel who dwell in Samaria be torn away, in front of the tribe and in Damascus. In the beginning of Amos, where we discussed those verses: The Lord will roar from Zion, and from Jerusalem He will give His voice; and the beautiful pastures will mourn, and the top of Carmel will wither, we said that He was using his art of speaking so that, since as a shepherd of sheep He knew nothing more terrifying than a lion, He would compare the anger of the Lord to lions. According to this meaning, he now also takes an example from what he had often seen, and thus describes that the small remaining remnants of the Assyrians must be extracted by hand: just as if a shepherd, with all the other parts devoured, were to snatch two legs or the outermost part of the ear from the jaws of a lion. And with the example of comparison set aside, he says that the sons of Israel, specifically the ten tribes who dwell in Samaria, will be extracted in the same way, from the edge of the bed and from the grab at Damascus. What seems to me to be explained in this way: we read in Isaiah that Rezin king of Aram, that is, the Syrians, who reigned in Damascus, and Pekah son of Remaliah king of Israel, with the intention of fighting against Judah, came (Isa. VII): concerning whom the Lord directs Achaz king of Judah and Jerusalem not to be afraid of the two half-burnt torches: because as a sign of complete liberation, the Virgin's conception and childbirth are shown to him. Therefore, the children of Samaria dwell in the region and district of the bed, resting in the help of the Syrians, and promising victory to themselves in the bed of Damascus: just as one who is tired is refreshed in bed: so they fortified their weakened forces with the help of the neighboring nation. And in the same Isaiah, it is said by way of a type of future events, that a child will be born who, before he knows how to call his father and mother, will receive the spoils of Samaria and the power of Damascus, which, of course, fought against Jerusalem with united…
Dictionary and topics
Bed — (Heb. mittah), for rest at night (Ex. 8:3; 1 Sam. 19:13, 15, 16, etc.); during sickness (Gen. 47:31; 48:2; 49:33, etc.); as a sofa for rest (1 Sam. 28:23; Amos 3:12). Another Hebrew word (er’es) so…
Bedstead — Used in Deut. 3:11, but elsewhere rendered “couch,” “bed.” In 2 Kings 1:4; 16:2; Ps. 132:3; Amos 3:12, the divan is meant by this word.
Lions — The most powerful of all carnivorous animals. Although not now found in Palestine, they must have been in ancient times very numerous there. They had their lairs in the forests (Jer. 5:6; 12:8; Amos…
Silk — Heb. demeshek, “damask,” silk cloth manufactured at Damascus, Amos 3:12. A.V., “in the corner of a bed, and in Damascus in a couch;” R.V., “in the corner of a couch, and on the silken cushions of a…
Damascus · General references — General references
Lion, The · Attacks the sheepfolds — Attacks the sheepfolds
Samaria, Ancient · Predictions respecting its destruction — Predictions respecting its destruction
Shepherd · One who — One who
Shepherds · Care of the sheep by, exhibited in: Defending them when attacked by wild beasts — Care of the sheep by, exhibited in: Defending them when attacked by wild beasts
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).
Thus saith the Lord, as the shepherd taketh out of the mouth of the lion,.... Or what the lion has left, to show to his master that it had been seized and torn by a beast of prey; for otherwise it is a most daring thing, and not usual, for a shepherd to take anything out of a lion's mouth, though David did: and here it is said to be not a whole sheep, or a lamb, but
two legs, or a piece of an ear; the body of the creature being devoured by the lion, only some offal left he cared not for; two shanks of the legs that had no flesh upon them, and the gristle of the ear, as the Targum; having satisfied his hunger with the best of it: signifying hereby that only a few of the Israelites should esc…
Amos 3:11-12
11. Therefore thus saith the Lord God; An adversary there shall be even round about the land; and he shall bring down thy strength from thee, and thy palaces shall be spoiled.
11. Propterea sic dicit Dominus Jehova, Adversarius et quidem in circuitu terrae, et tollet abs te robur tuum et diripientur palatia tua.
12. Thus saith the Lord; As the shepherd taketh out of the mouth of the lion two legs, or a piece of an ear; so shall the children of Israel be taken out that dwell in Samaria in the corner of a bed, and in Damascus in a couch.
12. Sic dicit Jehova, Quemadmodum eripit pastor ex ore leonis duo crura vel externam partem auris, sic eripientur filii Israel qui habitant i…
Thus do they bring about the ruin of the kingdom. Amo 3:11. "Therefore thus saith the Lord Jehovah, An enemy, and that round about the land; and he will hurl down thy glory from thee, and thy palaces are plundered. Amo 3:12. Thus saith Jehovah, As the shepherd delivers out of the mouth of the lion two shin-bones or an ear-lappet, so will the sons of Israel deliver themselves; they who sit on the corner of the couch and on the damask of the bed." The threat is introduced in the form of an aposiopesis. צר, enemy, וּסביב הארץ, and indeed round about the land ( ו explic. as in Amo 4:10, etc.; and סביב in the construct state construed as a preposition), i.e., will come, attack the land on all sid…
A shepherd who tries to rescue: The people of both Israel and Judah believed that, because of their chosen status, God would intervene to rescue them and never let them perish. The prophet’s words are ironic: Their rescue would be like a shepherd who arrives too late to save the sheep, and who can pull only two legs or a piece of an ear from the mouth of the lion. • So it will be . . . reclining on couches: Some have interpreted this statement to mean that only the fabric of a few couches would survive the Assyrian siege of Samaria. Accordingly, the last two lines of this verse could be translated So it will be when the Israelites in Samaria are rescued / with only a broken bed and a tattere…
As the shepherd saves—I.e, he saves little.
the cartilage of an ear Heb. בְּדַל. [from Jonathan]
so will the children of Israel... be saved I.e, very few people.
in the corner of a bed or in the corner of a couch Heb. בִּפְאַת מִטָּה וּבִדְמֶשֶׁק עֶרֶשׂ. Jonathan renders: with the strength of rule and trusting in Damascus. I say that the interpretation of the Targum is as follows: Since, in the days of Jehoahaz son of Jehu it is written. (II Kings 13:7) “For the king of Aram had destroyed them,” and Jeroboam his grandson saved them partially, as it is said. (ibid. 14:27) “And the Lord did not speak to eradicate the name of Israel from under the heavens, and He saved them through Jeroboam…
