Amos 3:9 — meaning, Hebrew and Greek word study, commentary
Amos 3:9
Publish in the palaces at Ashdod, and in the palaces in the land of Egypt, and say, Assemble yourselves upon the mountains of Samaria, and behold the great tumults in the midst thereof, and the oppressed in the midst thereof.
to hear intelligently (often with implication of attent… · verb, hiphil imperative, 2nd person masculine plural
palaces
אַרְמְנ֣וֹת'ar.me.Not
H759
a citadel (from its height) · noun, common feminine plural absolute
Ashdod
בְּאַשְׁדּ֔וֹדbe.'ash.Dod
H795
Ashdod · preposition + proper noun, a place name
palaces
אַרְמְנ֖וֹת'ar.me.Not
H759
a citadel (from its height) · noun, common feminine plural absolute
land
בְּאֶ֣רֶץbe.'E.retz
H776
the earth (at large · preposition + noun, common feminine singular construct
Egypt
מִצְרָ֑יִםmitz.Ra.yim
H4714
Mitsrajim · proper noun, a place name
say
וְאִמְר֗וּve.'im.Ru
H559
to say (used with great latitude) · conjunction + verb, qal imperative, 2nd person masculine plural
Assemble
הֵאָֽסְפוּ֙he.'a.se.Fu
H622
to gather for any purpose · verb, niphal imperative, 2nd person masculine plural
mountains
הָרֵ֣יha.Rei
H2022
a mountain or range of hills (sometimes used figurative… · noun, common masculine plural construct
Samaria
שֹׁמְר֔וֹןsho.me.Ron
H8111
Shomeron · proper noun, a place name
behold
וּרְא֞וּu.re.'U
H7200
to see · conjunction + verb, qal imperative, 2nd person masculine plural
great
רַבּוֹת֙ra.bOt
H7227
abundant (in quantity · adjective, feminine plural absolute
tumults
מְהוּמֹ֤תme.hu.Mot
H4103
confusion or uproar · noun, common feminine plural absolute
midst
בְּקִרְבָּֽהּbe.kir.Bah
H7130
properly · preposition + noun, common masculine singular construct + pronominal suffix, 3rd person feminine singular
oppressed
וַעֲשׁוּקִ֖יםva.'a.shu.Kim
H6217
used in plural masculine as abstractly · conjunction + noun, common masculine plural absolute
midst
בְּתוֹכָ֔הּbe.to.Khah
H8432
a bisection · preposition + noun, common masculine singular construct + pronominal suffix, 3rd person feminine 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
Amos 4:1 Hear this word, ye kine of Bashan, that are in the mountain of Samaria, which oppress the poor, which crush the needy, which say to their ma…
Amos 6:1 Woe to them that are at ease in Zion, and trust in the mountain of Samaria, which are named chief of the nations, to whom the house of Israe…
Amos 1:8 And I will cut off the inhabitant from Ashdod, and him that holdeth the sceptre from Ashkelon, and I will turn mine hand against Ekron: and…
1 Samuel 5:1 And the Philistines took the ark of God, and brought it from Eben-ezer unto Ashdod.
Jeremiah 22:8-9 And many nations shall pass by this city, and they shall say every man to his neighbour, Wherefore hath the LORD done thus unto this great c…
Jeremiah 31:5 Thou shalt yet plant vines upon the mountains of Samaria: the planters shall plant, and shall eat them as common things.
Jeremiah 50:2 Declare ye among the nations, and publish, and set up a standard; publish, and conceal not: say, Babylon is taken, Bel is confounded, Meroda…
Amos 8:6 That we may buy the poor for silver, and the needy for a pair of shoes; yea, and sell the refuse of the wheat?
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…
Publish in . . . palaces--as being places of greatest resort (compare Mat 10:27); and also as it is the sin of princes that he arraigns, he calls on princes (the occupants of the "palaces") to be the witnesses.
Ashdod--put for all Philistia. Convene the Philistine and the Egyptian magnates, from whom I have on various occasions rescued Israel. (The opposite formula to "Tell it not in Gath," namely, lest the heathen should glory over Israel). Even these idolaters, in looking on your enormities, will condemn you; how much more will the holy God?
upon the mountains of Samaria--on the hills surrounding and commanding the view of Samaria, the metropolis of the ten tribes, which was on a lower…
Publish in the palaces - The housetops or flat roofs were the places from which public declarations were made. See on Isa 21:1 (note), and on Mat 10:27 (note). See whether in those places there be not tumults, oppressions, and rapine sufficient to excite my wrath against them.
John Gill on Amos 3:9
Publish in the palaces at Ashdod, and in the palaces in the land of Egypt,.... This is spoken to the prophets, to publish and declare in all the courts of the Philistines and Egyptians, and among all the princes and great men therein, the sins of the people of Israel, and the punishment God threatened them with; and let them, even these very Heathens, judge whether there was not a just proportion between them, and whether their sins did not deserve such calamities to be brought upon them, the Lord by his prophets had denounced;
and say, assemble yourselves on the mountains of Samaria; the metropolis of the ten tribes, Isaiah 7:9; and which was built upon a mountain, and several others were…
The Church Fathers
(Vers. 9, 10.) Make it heard in the houses of Azotus, and in the houses of the land of Egypt, and say: Gather yourselves together upon the mountains of Samaria, and behold the many follies in the midst thereof, them that suffer wrong, and that oppress in the innermost parts thereof, and they have not known to do the right thing, saith the Lord: treasuring up iniquity and spoils in their houses. LXX: Declare ye in the countries of the Assyrians, and make it known in the land of Egypt, and say: Gather yourselves together upon the mountain of Samaria, and behold the many wonderful things in the midst thereof, and the oppressions in it, and they have not known the things that are to come in it, saith the Lord, who treasureth up iniquity and misery in their countries. We have already mentioned that the prophet Amos specifically, indeed a large part of the volume, prophesies to the ten tribes called Israel and Ephraim, and Samaria. Therefore, he is also commanded to announce now to Ashdod and the land of Egypt that follows. For Ashdod, the Seventy Assyrians wanting something, since Ashdod is called Esdod in the language of the Hebrews, and the Assyrians, Assur. For the buildings that are called Armanoth, they rendered regions, which are called Sadoth, and they have nothing in the word of similitude. He said, 'Tell them to gather all the nations that are nearby, and let them see the crimes of Israel, so that they do not think that God's judgment is unjust. Just as if he were to say, 'First see what they do, and then you can approve of my opinion.' And he introduced it beautifully: Over the mountains of Samaria, or the city that is now called Sebaste, then known as Samaria, or the whole province that is situated in the mountains: and see the many insanities in their midst, that they worship calves as gods and sacrifice their own children. Not content with this wickedness, they defame the poor in their own homes and do not know how to do what is right, storing up not gold and money, which are sometimes obtained through labor, but wickedness and plunder in their own houses: so that because they have deserted the worship of God and have worshipped idols, God may give them over to a reprobate mind, to do what is not fitting.' And since, according to the laws of tropology, Samaria is referred to as the heretics who falsely claim to be the keepers of God's commandments,…
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
Ephraim, Mount — The central mountainous district of Palestine occupied by the tribe of Ephraim (Josh. 17:15; 19:50; 20:7), extending from Bethel to the plain of Jezreel. In Joshua’s time (Josh. 17:18) these hills…
Ashdod · A city of the Philistines — A city of the Philistines
Palace · Proclamations issued from — Proclamations issued from
Palaces · The term applied to: Houses of great men — The term applied to: Houses of great men
Samaria, Ancient · A mountainous country — A mountainous country
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).
Amos 3:9
9. Publish in the palaces at Ashdod, and in the palaces in the land of Egypt, and say, Assemble yourselves upon the mountains of Samaria, and behold the great tumults in the midst thereof, and the oppressed in the midst thereof.
9. Promulgate in palatiis Asdod, et in palatiis terrae Aegypti, et dicite, Congregamini super montes Samaria, et videte tumultus multos (vel, concussiones multas) in medio ejus, et oppressiones in medio ejus.
Amos begins here to set judges over the Israelites; for they would not patiently submit to God's judgment: and he constitutes and sets over them as judges the Egyptians and Idumeans. This prophecy no doubt increasingly exasperated the minds of the pe…
Amos has thus vindicated his own calling, and the right of all the prophets, to announce to the people the judgments of God; and now (Amo 3:9-15) he is able to proclaim without reserve what the Lord has resolved to do upon sinful Israel. Amo 3:9. "Make it heard over the palaces in Ashdod, and over the palaces in the land of Egypt, and say, Assemble yourselves upon the mountains of Samaria, and behold the great tumult in the midst thereof, and the oppressed in the heart thereof. Amo 3:10. And they know not to do the right, is the saying of Jehovah, who heap up violence and devastation in their palaces." The speaker is Jehovah (Amo 3:10), and the prophets are addressed. Jehovah summons them to…
The prophet now turns to two of Israel’s enemies, Philistia (Hebrew Ashdod, one of the key cities of Philistia) and Egypt. He invites them to surround Samaria (the capital of the kingdom of Israel) to see its chaos and oppression. Israel appeared strong from the outside, but it was rotten within, rife with class struggles. The enemies would take advantage of Israel’s internal weakness (see 3:11).
Rashi on Amos 3:9
Announce—You Philistines and Egyptians, announce this and say in your palaces that they gather on the mountains of Samaria, to see from atop the mountains into the midst of the city, their evil way.
