Charles Ellicott Commentary Amos 6
Charles Ellicott Commentary
Amos 6
Charles Ellicott Commentary
Amos 6
"Woe to them that are at ease in Zion, and to them that are secure in the mountain of Samaria, the notable men of the chief of the nations, to whom the house of Israel come!" — Amos 6:1 (ASV)
Trust.— The word for “trust” is a participle, and we should translate as the parallelism indicates: the confident (or complacent) dwellers in the mountain of Samaria; i.e., the upper luxurious classes, the chief of the first of nations, meaning the rulers, to whom Israel, the supreme and highly-favoured nation, comes up for judgment and for guidance in all civil affairs. These are now summoned to listen to the rebuke of the Divine Judge.
"Pass ye unto Calneh, and see; and from thence go ye to Hamath the great; then go down to Gath of the Philistines: are they better than these kingdoms? or is their border greater than your border?" — Amos 6:2 (ASV)
The meaning is obscure. Kalneh, the Kalno of Isaiah 10:9, the Assyrian Kulunu , is probably mentioned first here because it is the most easterly. It is identified by Kiepert with Holwân, but its position is uncertain, though it is generally regarded as lying in the neighborhood of the Greek Ctesiphon, on the Tigris. Hamath is the ancient Hittite city in the valley of the Orontes, and it had felt the strong hand of Jeroboam II (2 Kings 14:28). We have no reason to believe that at this period the Assyrian power had destroyed the importance of these places, though the prophet may have regarded that outcome as imminent.
Hamath the Great (or Rabba), according to the inscriptions, sustained defeats from Shalmaneser II about 850 B.C. It was finally overthrown by Sargon in 720 B.C., who, in his own boastful language, “swept over its land like a flood.” Gath, the home of Goliath, had probably lost its original importance. Uzziah destroyed it. Were Calno, Hamath, and Gath more important than Zion or Samaria? Then, says the prophet, do not expect in your opulence and self-satisfaction immunity from a worse doom.
"-ye that put far away the evil day, and cause the seat of violence to come near;" — Amos 6:3 (ASV)
Far away. —They choose to think that the day of reckoning is far off, and cling still closer to their habits of defrauding the poor at the seat of judgment. (Compare to Ezekiel 12:21-28.)
"that lie upon beds of ivory, and stretch themselves upon their couches, and eat the lambs out of the flock, and the calves out of the midst of the stall;" — Amos 6:4 (ASV)
Of ivory — that is, inlaid with that material.
"that sing idle songs to the sound of the viol; that invent for themselves instruments of music, like David;" — Amos 6:5 (ASV)
Chant.— The original Hebrew only occurs in this passage, and is best rendered prattle, or jabber. The comparison with David is ironic. He made these instruments to please the Lord, these princes to please themselves.
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