Charles Ellicott Commentary Amos 9:1

"I saw the Lord standing beside the altar: and he said, Smite the capitals, that the thresholds may shake; and break them in pieces on the head of all of them; and I will slay the last of them with the sword: there shall not one of them flee away, and there shall not one of them escape." — Amos 9:1 (ASV)

The last vision is transferred to the shrine at Bethel, the seat of the calf-worship. The prophet sees Jehovah Himself standing in majesty by the altar of burnt offering, and by His side the angel of His presence, to whom now, as on many other occasions, the mission of destruction has been entrusted. To him the words of Jehovah are addressed (so Aben Ezra, Kimchi).

It is doubtful what is meant by the Hebrew Caphtôr (mistranslated "lintel of the door"). It may mean the wreathed capital of the columns, as in Zephaniah 2:14 (so Hitzig and Keil). The word sippîm (mistranslated "posts") properly signifies "thresholds," but is here understood by the first-mentioned commentator to mean the cornice supported by the columns. This is confirmed by the Septuagint on Isaiah 6:4 (see Delitzsch on this passage).

But as there is no mention of the temple building, only of the altar of burnt offering, it is much safer to adhere to the ordinary and well-established meanings of these terms. We should accordingly follow Ewald in taking Caphtôr as referring to the ornamented horns of the altar. Similarly, in Exodus 25:31; Exodus 37:17, it signifies the richly decorated extremities of the golden candelabra.

The scene is wonderfully vivid. Around the colossal altar of burnt offering, a crowd of eager devotees is gathered. Jehovah gives the word of command to His angel, and with a blow that shakes the very threshold, the ornamented altar horns are shivered to fragments, which are hurled down upon the panic-stricken multitude below.

And cut ...—Rather, and dash them in pieces upon the head of all of them.