to hear intelligently (often with implication of attent… · verb, qal imperative, 2nd person masculine plural
word
הַדָּבָ֣רha.da.Var
H1697
a word · definite article + noun, common masculine singular absolute
up
נֹשֵׂ֧אno.Se'
H5375
to lift · verb, qal active participle, masculine singular absolute
lamentation
קִינָ֖הki.Nah
H7015
a dirge (as accompanied by beating the breasts or on in… · noun, common feminine singular absolute
house
בֵּ֥יתbeit
H1004
a house (in the greatest variation of applications · noun, common masculine singular construct
Israel
יִשְׂרָאֵֽלYis.ra.'El
H3478
Jisrael · proper noun, a place name
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
Ezekiel 19:1 Moreover take thou up a lamentation for the princes of Israel,
Jeremiah 7:29 Cut off thine hair, O Jerusalem, and cast it away, and take up a lamentation on high places; for the LORD hath rejected and forsaken the gen…
Jeremiah 9:10 For the mountains will I take up a weeping and wailing, and for the habitations of the wilderness a lamentation, because they are burned up,…
Jeremiah 9:17 Thus saith the LORD of hosts, Consider ye, and call for the mourning women, that they may come; and send for cunning women, that they may co…
Jeremiah 9:20 Yet hear the word of the LORD, O ye women, and let your ear receive the word of his mouth, and teach your daughters wailing, and every one h…
Ezekiel 19:14 And fire is gone out of a rod of her branches, which hath devoured her fruit, so that she hath no strong rod to be a sceptre to rule. This i…
Ezekiel 26:17 And they shall take up a lamentation for thee, and say to thee, How art thou destroyed, that wast inhabited of seafaring men, the renowned c…
Ezekiel 27:2 Now, thou son of man, take up a lamentation for Tyrus;
Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).
Commentary
Matthew Henry on Amos 5:1-3
This chapter begins, as those two next foregoing began, with, Hear this word. Where God has a mouth to speak we must have an ear to hear; it is our duty, it is our interest, yet so stupid are most men that they need to be again and again called upon to hear the word of the Lord, to give audience, to give attention. Hear this word. this convincing awakening word must be heard and heeded, as well as words of comfort and peace; the word that is taken up against us, as well as that which makes for us; for, whether we hear or forbear, the word of God shall take effect, and not a tittle of it shall fall to the ground. It is the word which I take up - not the prophet only, but the God that sent him…
Hear ye this word - Attend to this doleful song which I make for the house of Israel.
John Gill on Amos 5:1
Hear ye the word which I take up against you,.... And which was not his own word, but the word of the Lord; and which he took up, by his direction as a heavy burden as some prophecies are called, and this was; and which, though against them, a reproof for their sins, and denunciation of punishment for them, yet was to be heard; for every word of God is pure, and to be hearkened to, whether for us or against us; since the whole is profitable, either for doctrine and instruction in righteousness, or for reproof and correction. It may be rendered, "which I take up concerning you", or "over you" (z):
even a lamentation, O house of Israel; a mournful ditty, an elegiac song over the house of Isra…
Amos 5:1
1. Hear ye this word which I take up against you, even a lamentation, O house of Israel.
1. Audite verbum hoc quod ego tollo super vos, lamentum domus Israel.
Some render the verse thus, "Hear ye this word, because upon you, or for you, I raise a lamentation:" but we shall hereafter speak more at large as to the proper rendering. Let us see what the subject is. The Prophet here denounces on the Israelites the punishment they had deserved; and yet they did not think that it was nigh; and they ferociously despised, I have no doubt, the denunciation itself, because no chance had as yet taken place, which might have pointed out such a destruction. Hence the Prophet and his threateni…
The Church Fathers
(Chapter 5, Verses 1-2) Hear this word, which I bring against you as a lamentation. The house of Israel has fallen, and it shall not rise again. The virgin of Israel is cast down upon her own land; there is no one to raise her up. LXX: Hear this word, which I will take up against you as a lamentation. The house of Israel has fallen, it shall not rise again. The virgin of Israel is cast down upon her own land, there is no one to raise her up. As for the order of the letters and the true beginning of the story, the ten tribes that are called Israel were led into captivity and have never returned to their own land. But the people of Israel are called the Virgin, not because they remained in the purity of virginity, but because they were once united with the Lord like a virgin. Therefore, the prophet is commanded to take up lamentation over them, so that they may not be restored to their former state. But as for spiritual understanding, the prophet takes up lamentation over all of Israel who once beheld God with their minds and then ceased to serve Him, according to what is commanded in Ezekiel (Ezek. 2), to devour the book in which lamentation, song, and woe were written both inside and outside. Understand within the following song of Solomon, which says: The king has brought me into his chamber (Song of Songs 1:4). And the forty-fourth psalm, in which it is written: All the glory of the daughter of the king is within. But whatever is read in the letter, and appears in the bark, and is not held in the marrow of the spirit, is outside. Therefore, both literally and figuratively, in all the books of the prophets, there is lamentation written over those who repent after sin: A song is worthy for those who are not stained by the filth of sins: Woe to those who do not repent; but according to the hardness of their heart, they store up wrath for themselves on the day of wrath. But if, as we have said, there is lamentation over those who repent; and repentance restores the health of the wounds: how is it said according to the Septuagint, The house of Israel has fallen, it will not rise again. The virgin of Israel has strayed in her own land, there is no one to raise her up? This can be explained as follows: After the house of Israel has fallen of its own will, it will by no means regain its former dignity; after the virgin of Israel has strayed in her own land, she…
The Church Fathers: public-domain translations (Ante-Nicene and Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers), verse-indexed by SermonIndex (CC BY 4.0).
The Elegy. - Amo 5:1. "Hear ye this word, which I raise over you; a lamentation, O house of Israel. Amo 5:2. The virgin Israel is fallen; she does not rise up again; cast down upon her soil; no one sets her up. Amo 5:3. For thus saith the Lord Jehovah, The city that goes out by a thousand will retain a hundred, and that which goes out by a hundred will retain ten, for the house of Israel." הדּבר הזּה is still further defined in the relative clause אשׁר וגו as קינה, a mournful song, lit., a lamentation or dirge for one who is dead (cf. Sa2 1:17; Ch2 35:25). אשׁר is a relative pronoun, not a conjunction (for); and qı̄nâh is an explanatory apposition: which I raise or commence as (or "namely")…
The charges against Israel had been filed (3:1-2; 4:1-3); now it was time for judgment. Amos made this point clear by singing a funeral song for Israel, as though the nation were already dead.
5:1 funeral song: The Hebrew word (qinah) describes a special rhythm (3+2 beats) used for funeral dirges (most of the book of Lamentations is written in qinah). The ominous significance was clear: Israel had already died and now awaited burial.
