Amos 7:10 — meaning, Hebrew and Greek word study, commentary
Amos 7:10
Then Amaziah the priest of Bethel sent to Jeroboam king of Israel, saying, Amos hath conspired against thee in the midst of the house of Israel: the land is not able to bear all his words.
a word · noun, common masculine plural construct + pronominal suffix, 3rd person masculine 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
Jeremiah 38:4 Therefore the princes said unto the king, We beseech thee, let this man be put to death: for thus he weakeneth the hands of the men of war t…
1 Kings 12:31-32 And he made an house of high places, and made priests of the lowest of the people, which were not of the sons of Levi.
Jeremiah 26:8-11 Now it came to pass, when Jeremiah had made an end of speaking all that the LORD had commanded him to speak unto all the people, that the pr…
Matthew 21:23 And when he was come into the temple, the chief priests and the elders of the people came unto him as he was teaching, and said, By what aut…
Acts 24:5 For we have found this man a pestilent fellow, and a mover of sedition among all the Jews throughout the world, and a ringleader of the sect…
1 Kings 13:33 After this thing Jeroboam returned not from his evil way, but made again of the lowest of the people priests of the high places: whosoever w…
Luke 23:2 And they began to accuse him, saying, We found this fellow perverting the nation, and forbidding to give tribute to Cæsar, saying that he hi…
Acts 5:28 Saying, Did not we straitly command you that ye should not teach in this name? and, behold, ye have filled Jerusalem with your doctrine, and…
Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).
Commentary
Matthew Henry on Amos 7:10–end
One would have expected, 1. That what we met with in the former part of the chapter would awaken the people to repentance, when they saw that they were reprieved in order that they might have space to repent and that they could not obtain a pardon unless the did repent. 2. That it would endear the prophet Amos to them, who had not only shown his good-will to them in praying against the judgments that invaded them, but had prevailed to turn away those judgments, which, if they had had any sense of gratitude, would have gained him an interest in their affections. But it fell out quite contrary; they continue impenitent, and the next news we hear of Amos is that he is persecuted. Note, As it is…
AMAZIAH'S CHARGE AGAINST AMOS: HIS DOOM FORETOLD. (Amo 7:10-17)
priest of Beth-el--chief priest of the royal sanctuary to the calves at Beth-el. These being a device of state policy to keep Israel separate from Judah. Amaziah construes Amos words against them as treason. So in the case of Elijah and Jeremiah (Kg1 18:17; Jer 37:13-14). So the antitype Jesus was charged (Joh 19:12); political expediency being made in all ages the pretext for dishonoring God and persecuting His servants (Joh 11:48-50). So in the case of Paul (Act 17:6-7; Act 24:5).
in the midst of . . . Israel--probably alluding to Amos' own words, "in the midst of . . . Israel" (Amo 7:8), foretelling the state's overthrow t…
Amaziah the priest of Beth-el - The idolatrous priest who had been established by the king to maintain the worship of the golden calves which Jeroboam the elder had set up at this place.
Amos hath conspired against thee - This was truly a lying prophet; there is not one word of truth in this message which he sent to Jeroboam. Amos had not conspired against the king - had not said that Jeroboam should die by the sword - and had not said that Israel should be carried away captive, though this last was implied in God's threatening and afterwards delivered by this prophet; see Amo 7:17.
The Church Fathers
(Verses 10 onwards) And Amaziah the priest of Bethel sent a message to Jeroboam king of Israel, saying, 'Amos has rebelled against you in the midst of the house of Israel. The land is not able to bear all his words. For thus Amos says: 'Jeroboam shall die by the sword, and Israel shall surely be led away captive from their own land.'' Then Amaziah said to Amos 'You seer, go, flee away to the land of Judah. There eat bread, and prophesy there. But never again prophesy at Bethel, for it is the king's sanctuary, and it is the royal residence.'' LXX: And Amasias sent priests from Bethel to Jeroboam, the king of Israel, saying: Amos is gathering groups against you in the midst of the house of Israel; the land cannot endure all his words. For Amos says: Jeroboam will die by the sword, and Israel will be led captive out of its own land. And Amasias said to Amos: You see, go forth and depart (or go) to the land of Judah, and there live and prophesy there; but do not continue to prophesy in Bethel, for it is the king's sanctuary and the house of the kingdom. The proverb of Solomon, or rather the commandment, is: Do not argue with the bad, lest they hate you (Prov. IX, 8): And on the contrary, he has commanded about the good: Argue with the wise, and they will love you. In another place also: Whoever rebukes, he says, the ways of a person, will have more favor than the one who speaks what is pleasing (Prov. XXVIII, 23). Therefore, even Amos spoke to the people with the desire for correction, and he threatened terrible things from the words of God, so that those who repent would return to God and forsake idols. Then the priest of Bethel, where the golden calf was, whom Jeroboam the son of Nebat had made (3 Kings 12), and others who had succeeded him in power, sent to Jeroboam the grandson of Jehu, to inform him, saying: Amos has rebelled against you, and he is making assemblies and gatherings in the midst of your kingdom, Israel, and he speaks so boldly that the land of your kingdom cannot bear his words. Yet he dares to send to the king of Israel as if he were a high priest, fearing that if the people turn to the worship of God, he will lose his priesthood glory. And when he has heard the two, the high places will be demolished with idols, whether it is the laughter of altars or the sanctifications, or the ceremonies of Israel will be desolated, and I will rise up…
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
Amaziah — Strengthened by Jehovah. (1.) A Levite, son of Hilkiah, of the descendants of Ethan the Merarite (1 Chr. 6:45). (2.) The son and successor of Joash, and eighth king of the separate kingdom of Judah…
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…
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).
John Gill on Amos 7:10
Then Amaziah the priest of Bethel,.... The Targum calls him the prince or president of Bethel; and the word used signifies both a prince and a priest; and very probably this man had the care of the civil as well as religious matters in Bethel. Aben Ezra styles him the priest of Baal; he was one that succeeded the priests that Jeroboam the son of Nebat placed here, to offer sacrifices to the calf he set up in this place, 1 Kings 12:32; who hearing the above three visions of Amos delivered, and fearing that he would alienate the people from the idolatrous worship he was at the head of, and frighten them from an attendance on it, which would lessen his esteem with the people, and also his world…
Amos 7:10-13
10. Then Amaziah the priest of Bethel sent to Jeroboam king of Israel, saying, Amos hath conspired against thee in the midst of the house of Israel: the land is not able to bear all his words.
10. Et misit Amazias sacerdos Bethel ad Jeroboam regem Israel, dicendo, Conspiravit contra te Amos in medio domus Israel: non poterit terra sustinere omnes ejus sermones.
11. For thus Amos saith, Jeroboam shall die by the sword, and Israel shall surely be led away captive out of their own land.
11. Quia sic dicit Amos, Gladio morientur Jeroboam; et Israel migrando migrabit e terra sua.
12. Also Amaziah said unto Amos, O thou seer, go, flee thee away into the land of Judah, and there…
Opposition to the Prophet at Bethel. - The daring announcement of the overthrow of the royal family excites the wrath of the high priest at Bethel, so that he relates the affair to the king, to induce him to proceed against the troublesome prophet (Amo 7:10 and Amo 7:11), and then calls upon Amos himself to leave Bethel (Amo 7:12 and Amo 7:13). That this attempt to drive Amos out of Bethel was occasioned by his prophecy in Amo 7:7-11, is evident from what Amaziah says to the king concerning the words of Amos. "The priest of Bethel" (Kōhēn Bēth-ēl) is the high priest at the sanctuary of the golden calf at Bethel. He accused the prophet to the king of having made a conspiracy (qâshar; cf.…
This section graphically depicts the corruption of the priesthood, reinforcing the point of the visions on either side of it, that judgment is inescapable.
