John Calvin Commentary Amos 3:11-12

"Therefore thus saith the Lord Jehovah: An adversary [there shall be], even round about the land; and he shall bring down thy strength from thee, and thy palaces shall be plundered. Thus saith Jehovah: As the shepherd rescueth out of the mouth of the lion two legs, or a piece of an ear, so shall the children of Israel be rescued that sit in Samaria in the corner of a couch, and on the silken cushions of a bed." — Amos 3:11-12 (ASV)

The Prophet here announces the punishment God would inflict on the Israelites. An enemy, he says, and indeed one around you, and so on. Some think צר, tsar, to be a verb in the imperative mood, but this cannot be maintained. But Amos here declares that an enemy was near the Israelites, who would besiege them on every side.

The ungodly always seek escapes, and if they see the smallest hole, they think that they can escape. Strange is the presumption of men with regard to God: when they see themselves hemmed in, they are truly frightened, indeed, they become completely disheartened; yet they seek subterfuges on the right hand and on the left, and never submit to God except when forced.

This is the reason why the Prophet now says that an enemy was near, and indeed around them; as if he said, “You have no reason to think that any way of escape is open to you, for God has hemmed you in on every side. There is therefore a siege that so confines you, that you hope in vain to escape.” An enemy, he says, is indeed around — around the whole land, who will take away from thee thy strength.

Here the Prophet removes from the Israelites their vain confidence, for they could not think of God’s vengeance while looking at their own power. They indeed thought that they had sufficient protection in their own large numbers, riches, and arms, as men are accustomed to set up against God what proceeds from Him, as though creatures could do anything against Him, and as though God could not take away, when He pleases, what He has given. Yet such is the blindness of men.

Hence the Prophet says that all the wealth and all the strength in which the Israelites excelled would be useless, since an enemy, he says, armed by God, shall take from thee thy strength; and thy palaces shall be plundered.

In the next verse he leaves some hope, though this is not explicitly done. For when he says that some would be saved, as when a shepherd snatches from the jaws of a lion the ear of a sheep or two legs, it is not the Prophet’s design to mitigate the severe judgment he had spoken of before. Instead, he shows that if any were saved, it would not be because the people could defend themselves or were able to resist, but it would be like when a trembling shepherd snatches some small portion of the spoil from the lion’s mouth.

We must bear in mind what I have just said about the proud confidence of the people, for the Israelites thought that they were safe enough from danger and therefore despised all threats.

But what does Amos say? “Do not think,” he says, “that there will be any defense for you, for your enemies will be like lions, and you will have no more strength to resist them than sheep do when not only wolves but lions seize them and take them as their prey.” When anything is then saved, it is, as it were, by a miracle; the shepherd may perhaps take a part of the ear or two legs from the lion’s mouth after it is satisfied.

The shepherd dares not contend with the lion; he always runs away from it, but the lion will have its prey and devour it at its pleasure. When it leaves a part of the ear or two legs, the shepherd will then seize them and say, “See, how many sheep have been devoured by lions.” These will be the proofs of his loss.

So now the Prophet says, “The Lord will expose you as prey to your enemies, and their rapacity will be no less dreaded by you than that of a lion. In vain then you think yourselves defended by your forces, for what is a sheep to a lion?

But if any part of you should remain, it will be like an ear or a leg. And still more — as when a lion devours a sheep and leaves nothing after having taken its prey until it is satisfied, so it shall happen to you.”

They are then mistaken who think that the preceding denunciation is here intentionally mitigated. For the Prophet does not do this, but continues the same subject and shows that the whole people would become prey, that their enemies would be like lions, and that they would have no strength to resist.

Some hope, I do admit, is here given to the people; for, as has been seen before, God intended that there should always be some remnant as a seed among that chosen people. This, I admit, is true, but we must still consider what the Prophet is discussing and what he had in view. He then did not expressly intend here to console the Israelites; though incidentally he says that some would remain, his object was to show that the whole kingdom was now given up as prey to lions, and that nothing would be saved except a very small portion, like when a shepherd carries away an ear after the wolves and lions have been satiated.