Amos 5:6-7, Amos 5:10-15 NIV

The Pulpit Commentary - Amos 5:7-9

The Lord of the universe. The herdsman of Tekoah was a true poet. His eyes were open to the beauty and to the splendour of nature; and his heart felt the presence of the Unseen and Eternal in all the works of his hands, in all his providential arrangements. More than this, the moral character and rule of the Omnipotent were very present and very real to him; he felt the force of the appeal made to the spiritual nature of man, and calling for a life of religious faith, of practical... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Amos 5:7-13

The contrast presaging the conflict. Judgment is coming. Warning has been given. Duty, and the prevailing derelictions of it, have been pointed out. Here God's perfections and Israel's iniquities are set in juxtaposition, and the co]location is suggestive. Such incompatibility must lead to collision. It is by God's character and ours that our mutual relations and attitudes are shaped. We see here— I. GOD REVEALING HIMSELF . ( Amos 5:8 , Amos 5:9 .) God's work is an important... read more

Albert Barnes

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Whole Bible - Amos 5:6

Seek ye the Lord and ye shall live - Literally, “seek the Lord and live;” being united to Him, the Fountain of life. He reimpresses on them the one simple need of the creature, “seek God,” the one true God as He revealed Himself, not as worldly people, or the politicians of Jeroboam’s court, or the calf-priests, fabled of Him. “Seek Him.” For in Him is all; without Him, nothing.Lest He break out like fire in Bethel - Formerly the Spirit of God came vehemently down upon Sansom Judges 14:6,... read more

Albert Barnes

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Whole Bible - Amos 5:7

Ye who turn - Those whom he calls to seek God, were people filled with all injustice, who turned the sweetness of justice into the bitterness of wormwood . Moses had used “gall” and “wormwood” as a proverb; “lest there be among you a root that beareth gall and wormwood; the Lord will not spare him, but then the anger of the Lord and His jealousy shall smoke against that man, and all the curses that are written in this book shall lie upon him” Deuteronomy 29:18, Deuteronomy 29:20. The word of... read more

Joseph Benson

Joseph Benson's Commentary of the Old and New Testaments - Amos 5:6

Amos 5:6. Seek the Lord, and ye shall live He repeats his exhortation, and also the promise of a good issue on their complying with it. Lest he break out like fire in the house of Joseph That is, the kingdom of the ten tribes, the chief whereof was Ephraim the son of Joseph. And there be none to quench it in Beth-el As if he had said, If once this fire break out, all your idols in Beth-el shall not be able to quench it. A proper caution this to the Israelites, not to trust in their... read more

Joseph Benson

Joseph Benson's Commentary of the Old and New Testaments - Amos 5:7-9

Amos 5:7-9. Ye who turn judgment to wormwood Or into hemlock, as the word here used is translated, Amos 6:12. Ye judges and rulers that pervert the law that was designed to protect innocence, and under colour of it exercise the greatest oppression. True or just judgment is sweet or pleasing; corrupt judgment, mere bitterness. And leave off righteousness That is, leave off to practise it, or make it to cease in your courts of judicature. Seek him that maketh the seven stars and Orion... read more

Donald C. Fleming

Bridgeway Bible Commentary - Amos 5:1-15

God requires repentance (5:1-15)The prophet again recalls past warnings that the people had consistently ignored. He sees vividly that the result of the people’s stubbornness will be the destruction of Israel. Samaria will be conquered and most of Israel’s army wiped out (5:1-3).What God wants is not an increase in religious ceremonies but a turning in heart and life to him. He does not want processions to religious holy places (which, in any case, will be destroyed) but the administration of... read more

E.W. Bullinger

E.W. Bullinger's Companion Bible Notes - Amos 5:6

Joseph. Put by Figure of speech Synecdoche (of the Part), App-6 , for the whole Northern Kingdom. read more

E.W. Bullinger

E.W. Bullinger's Companion Bible Notes - Amos 5:7

wormwood. Reference to Pentateuch (Deuteronomy 29:18 ). leave off. in = cast down. to. read more

James Burton Coffman

Coffman Commentaries on the Bible - Amos 5:6

"Seek Jehovah, and ye shall live; lest he break out like fire in the house of Joseph, and it devour, and there be none to quench it in Bethel."The house of Joseph ..." here means the Northern Kingdom, of which the tribes of Ephraim and Manasseh (the sons of Joseph) constituted the most powerful component of the kingdom. This led to the "House of Joseph" being a kind of title for the Northern Kingdom.The great contrast in these verses is between "Seek Jehovah" and "Seek not Bethel," or any other... read more