Amos 6:13

Ye which rejoice in a thing of nought, which say, Have we not taken to us horns by our own strength?

King James Version · Read in your translation · Open the Explore console

Word by word — the Hebrew

Word	Hebrew	Strong’s	Meaning
rejoice	הַשְּׂמֵחִ֖ים ha.se.me.Chim	H8056	blithe or gleeful · definite article + adjective, masculine plural absolute
thing	דָּבָר dâbâr	H1697	a word
nought	הֲל֣וֹא ha.Lo'	H3808	not (the simple or abs. negation) · interrogative particle + negative particle
say	הָאֹ֣מְרִ֔ים ha.'O.me.Rim	H559	to say (used with great latitude) · definite article + verb, qal active participle, masculine plural absolute
taken	לָקַ֥חְנוּ la.Kach.nu	H3947	to take (in the widest variety of applications) · verb, qal perfect, 1st person common plural
horns	קַרְנָֽיִם kar.Na.yim	H7161	a horn (as projecting) · proper noun, a place name
strength	בְחָזְקֵ֔נוּ ve.cha.ze.Ke.nu	H2392	power · preposition + noun, common masculine singular construct + pronominal suffix

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 28:14-15 Wherefore hear the word of the LORD, ye scornful men, that rule this people which is in Jerusalem.
Luke 12:19-20 And I will say to my soul, Soul, thou hast much goods laid up for many years; take thine ease, eat, drink, and be merry.
2 Kings 14:25 He restored the coast of Israel from the entering of Hamath unto the sea of the plain, according to the word of the LORD God of Israel, whic…
James 4:16 But now ye rejoice in your boastings: all such rejoicing is evil.
Exodus 32:18-19 And he said, It is not the voice of them that shout for mastery, neither is it the voice of them that cry for being overcome: but the noise…
Judges 9:19-20 If ye then have dealt truly and sincerely with Jerubbaal and with his house this day, then rejoice ye in Abimelech, and let him also rejoice…
Judges 9:27 And they went out into the fields, and gathered their vineyards, and trode the grapes, and made merry, and went into the house of their god,…
Judges 16:23-25 Then the lords of the Philistines gathered them together for to offer a great sacrifice unto Dagon their god, and to rejoice: for they said,…

Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Amos 6:8–end

In the former part of the chapter we had these secure Israelites loading themselves with pleasures, as if they could never be made merry enough; here we have God loading them with punishments, as if they could never be made miserable enough. And observe, I. How strongly this burden is bound on, not to be shaken off by their presumption and security; for it is bound by the Lord the God of hosts, by his mighty, his almighty, hand, which none can resist; it is bound with an oath, which puts the sentence past revocation: The Lord God has sworn, and he will not repent, and, since he could swear by no greater, he has sworn by himself. How dreadful, how miserable, is the case of those whose ruin, w…

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Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Amos 6:13

rejoice in a thing of naught--that is, in your vain and fleeting riches. Have we not taken to us horns--that is, acquired power, so as to conquer our neighbors (Kg2 14:25). Horns are the Hebrew symbol of power, being the instrument of strength in many animals (Psa 75:10).

Adam Clarke on Amos 6:13

Ye which rejoice in a thing of naught - In your idols: for an idol is nothing in the world. Have we not taken to us horns - We have arrived to power and dignity by our strength. Horns were the symbols of power and authority. So Horace: - Vina parant animos: tum pauper cornua sumet. "Wine repairs our strength, and furnishes the poor with horns." At such times they think themselves as great as the greatest.

John Gill on Amos 6:13

Ye which rejoice in a thing of nought,.... In their wealth and riches, which are things that are not, because of the uncertainty of them; and, in comparison of true riches, have no solidity and substance in them, Proverbs 23:5; or in any of the things of this world, the lusts of it, the honours of it, human wisdom or strength; all are things of nought, of no worth, give no satisfaction, and are of no continuance, and not to be gloried in, Jeremiah 9:23; or in their idols, for an idol is nothing in the world, 1 Corinthians 8:4; and yet they rejoiced in them, Acts 7:41; or in their own works of righteousness, as men of a pharisaical temper do, as these people were; these indeed are something,…

The Church Fathers

Whence also we say that the holy men are just and that they are made pleasing to God after their sins not only through their merits but through the mercy of him to whom every creature is subject and stands in need of his mercy. Let heretics hear, who are lifted up by pride and say, "We have taken unto us horns by our own strength." Let them listen to what Moab heard said to him: "We have heard the pride of Moab, he is exceedingly proud. 'His haughtiness and his arrogance and his pride and the loftiness of his heart I know,' says the Lord, 'because his strength is not according to the loftiness thereof.' "
— Jerome, AGAINST THE PELAGIANS 2:29

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

Confidence · FALSE — FALSE
Horn · SYMBOLI — SYMBOLI
Self-Righteousness · 2:9; — 2:9;

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 6:13

Word by word — the Hebrew

Cross-references

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Amos 6:8–end

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Amos 6:13

Adam Clarke on Amos 6:13

John Gill on Amos 6:13

The Church Fathers

Dictionary and topics

Amos 6:13

Word by word — the Hebrew

Cross-references

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Amos 6:8–end

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Amos 6:13

Adam Clarke on Amos 6:13

John Gill on Amos 6:13

The Church Fathers

Dictionary and topics

John Calvin on Amos 6:13

Keil & Delitzsch on Amos 6:12–end

Tyndale Open Study Notes on Amos 6:13

Rashi on Amos 6:13