John Calvin Commentary Amos 4:1

"Hear this word, ye kine of Bashan, that are in the mountain of Samaria, that oppress the poor, that crush the needy, that say unto their lords, Bring, and let us drink." — Amos 4:1 (ASV)

The one who divided the chapters seems not to have carefully considered the Prophet’s argument, for he continues here his reproof of the rich, and he had been prophesying against the leading men in the kingdom of Israel. Indeed, we know how much ferocity there is in the rich when they become formidable to others through their power.

Therefore, the Prophet here scorns their arrogance: Hear, he says, this word; as if he said, “I see how it will be; for these great and pompous men will haughtily despise my threat, they will not consider themselves exposed to God’s judgment; and they will also think that they are being wronged. They will inquire, ‘Who am I?’ and ask, ‘How dares a shepherd attack them with such boldness?’” “Hear then, you cows; as if he said that he did not care for the greatness in which they prided themselves.

“What then is your wealth? It is simply fatness. Therefore, I make no more account of you than of cows; you have become fat; but your power will not terrify me; your riches will not deprive me of the freedom to treat you as I should and as God has commanded me.” Thus, we see that the Prophet here scorns the leading men of the kingdom, who wished to be considered sacred and untouchable.

The Prophet asks by what privilege they intended to excuse themselves from hearing the word of the Lord. If they pleaded their riches and their own authority, “These,” he says, “are fatness and grossness; you are at the same time cows, and I will regard you as cows; and I will not deal with you less freely than I do with my own cattle.” We now perceive the Prophet’s intention.

But he continues with his comparison: for though he here accuses the leaders of the kingdom of oppressing the innocent and distressing the poor, he still addresses them in the feminine gender, who dwell, he says, on the mountain of Samaria, who oppress the poor, who consume the needy, who say, etc.

He does not consider them worthy of the name of men; and yet they wished to be seen as a class separate from the common people, as if they were some heroes or halfgods. The Prophet, contemptuously, calls them cows here; and he also withholds from them the name of men.

Bashan, we know, derived its name from fatness; it was a very rich mountain, celebrated for its pastures. Since the fertility of this mountain was well known among that people, the Prophet gave the name "cows of Bashan" to those fat and full men.

And it was right that they should be handled so roughly, because through fatness, as is usually the case, they had become dull. For when men abound in riches and become great in power, they forget themselves and despise God, because they think themselves beyond the reach of danger.

Since, then, this security makes the rich torpid, inattentive to any threats, and disobedient to God’s word, so that they regard all counsel as superfluous, the Prophet here rebukes them with greater harshness and addresses them reproachfully by the name of cows.

And when he says that they were on the mountain of Samaria, this is still ironical. For they might have made this objection: that they lived in the royal city, were watchful over the state of the whole nation, and that the kingdom depended on their counsel and vigilance. “I see how it is,” he says. “You are not on Mount Bashan, but on the Mount of Samaria. What is the difference between Samaria and Bashan?

For you are there intoxicated with your pleasures. Just as cows, when fattened, are burdened with their own weight and can hardly drag their own bodies along, so it is with you; such is your slowness through your gluttony. Samaria then, though it may seem to be a watchtower, is still no different from Mount Bashan. For you are not there so very concerned (as you pretend) for the public safety; but, on the contrary, you devour great riches; and as your greed is insatiable, the whole government is nothing else to you than fatness or a rich pasture.”

But the Prophet chiefly reproves them because they oppressed the poor and consumed the needy. Though the rich undoubtedly committed other wrongs, yet because they especially exercised cruelty towards the miserable and those who were destitute of all help, this is the reason why the Prophet here states expressly that the poor and the needy were oppressed by the rich.

And we also know that God promises special aid to the miserable when they find no help on earth, for it further incites God’s mercy when all cruelly rage against the distressed, when no one extends a helping hand to them or deigns to help them.

He adds, finally, what they say to their masters. I wonder why interpreters render this in the second person, "who say to your masters"; for the Prophet speaks here in the third person. They therefore seem to deliberately misrepresent the Prophet's real meaning.

And by "masters" they understand the king and his counselors, as if the Prophet here addressed his words to these leading men of the kingdom. Their rendering, then, is unsuitable. But the Prophet calls those "masters" who were exactors, to whom the poor were debtors.

The meaning is that the king’s counselors and judges colluded with the rich who plundered the poor; for when the rich brought a bribe, they immediately obtained from the judges what they required. Indeed, those who hunt for nothing but prey are to be bought for a price.

They said then to their masters, Bring and we shall drink; that is, “Only satisfy my greed, and I will award to you what you would demand. Provided then you bring me a bribe, do not worry, I will sell all the poor to you.”

We now comprehend the Prophet's design, for he sets forth here what kind of oppressions those were of which he had been complaining.

“You then oppress the poor—and how? Even by selling them to their creditors, and by selling them for a price.

Hence, when a reward is offered to you, this satisfies you. You inquire nothing about the justice of the cause, but instantly condemn the miserable and the innocent because they do not have the means to redeem themselves.

And the masters to whom they are debtors, who through your injustice hold them bound, pay the price. There is thus a mutual collusion between you.”