Amos 3:3-8 NIV

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Amos 3:6

Shall a trumpet be blown - The sign of alarm and invasion. And the people not be afraid? - Not take the alarm, and provide for their defense and safety? Shall there be evil in a city - Shall there be any public calamity on the wicked, that is not an effect of my displeasure? The word does not mean moral evil, but punishment for sin; calamities falling on the workers of iniquity. Natural evil is the punishment of moral evil: God sends the former when the latter is persisted in. read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Amos 3:7

Surely the Lord God will do nothing - In reference to the punishment, correction, or blessing of his people: - But he revealeth his secret unto his servants the prophets - They are in strict correspondence with him, and he shows them things to come. Such secrets of God are revealed to them, that they may inform the people; that, by repentance and conversion, they may avoid the evil, and, by walking closely with God, secure the continuance of his favor. read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Amos 3:8

The lion hath roared - God hath sent forth a terrible alarm, Who will not fear? Can any hear such denunciations of Divine wrath and not tremble? The Lord God hath spoken - And those only who are in communion with him have heard the speech. Who can but prophesy? Who can help proclaiming at large the judgment threatened against the nation? But I think נבא naba , here, is to be taken in its natural and ideal signification, to pray, supplicate, or deprecate vengeance. The Lord hath... read more

John Calvin

John Calvin's Commentary on the Bible - Amos 3:3

Verse 3 The Prophet here accumulates similitudes which may, however, be reduced to five particulars. He first shows that he uttered no empty words, but had God’s authority for what he said; and he appeals to him as his witness and approver: this is one thing. Then he shows that God designedly announces the punishment he would inflict on transgressors, that they might in time repent, and that he does not cry out for no reason, as unreflecting men grow angry for nothing, but that he is driven to... read more

John Calvin

John Calvin's Commentary on the Bible - Amos 3:4

Verse 4 The second similitude follows, Will a lion roar in the forest without a prey? Will a lion send forth his voice from his den when he has caught nothing? By this verse he intimates that God does not cry out for nothing by his Prophets; for ungodly men supposed that the air was only made to reverberate by an empty sound, when the Prophets threatened, “These,” they said, “are mere words;” as though indeed they could not find that the necessity of crying arose from themselves, because they... read more

John Calvin

John Calvin's Commentary on the Bible - Amos 3:5

Verse 5 The third similitude now follows, Will a bird fall on the earth, he says, without a fowler? The Prophet means here that nothing happens without being foreseen by God; for as nets are laid for birds, so God ensnares men by his hidden punishments. Unexpectedly indeed calamity comes, and it is commonly ascribed to chance; but the Prophet here reminds us that God stretches his nets, in which men are caught, though they think that chance rules, and observe not the hand of God. They are... read more

John Calvin

John Calvin's Commentary on the Bible - Amos 3:6

Verse 6 He adds, in the last place, Shall a trumpet sound and the people tremble not? Here he reprehends, as I have said, the torpidity of the people, to whom all threatening were a sport: “When a trumpet sounds,” he says, “all tremble; for it is a signal of danger. All then either fly for aid or stand amazed, when the trumpet sounds. God himself cries, his voice deserves much more attention than the trumpet which fills men’s minds with dread; and yet it is a sound uttered to the deaf. What... read more

John Calvin

John Calvin's Commentary on the Bible - Amos 3:7

Verse 7 But he had before spoken of the sound of the trumpet; for every excuse was thereby taken away from the Israelites, as God had not only recalled them to the right way by his scourges but also preceded these by his word: and he shows how justly he was displeased with them; hence the Prophet adds another sentence, For the Lord Jehovah will do nothing without revealing his secret to his servants, the Prophets. The Prophet declares in this verse, that God dealt not with the Israelites as... read more

John Calvin

John Calvin's Commentary on the Bible - Amos 3:8

Verse 8 It now follows, The lion roars who would not fear? The Lord Jehovah speaks, who would not prophesy? In this verse the Prophet reproved the Israelites for their usual contentions with the Prophets when their sins were sharply reprehended. Thus indeed are men wont to do; they consider not that Prophets are sent from above, and that there is a charge committed to them. Hence, when Prophets are severe in their words, the world clamors and wrangles: “What do these men intend? Why do they... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Amos 3:1-15

§ 1. First address: the prophet begins by showing Israel's ingratitude for past mercies ( Amos 3:1 , Amos 3:2 ) , and his own commission to announce the coming judgment ( Amos 3:3-8 ) . They have drawn this upon themselves by iniquities which astonish even heathen nations; and they shall be punished by the overthrow of the kingdom and the destruction of their city ( Amos 3:9-15 ) . read more

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Amos 3:6

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Amos 3:7

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Amos 3:8

John Calvin's Commentary on the Bible - Amos 3:3

John Calvin's Commentary on the Bible - Amos 3:4

John Calvin's Commentary on the Bible - Amos 3:5

John Calvin's Commentary on the Bible - Amos 3:6

John Calvin's Commentary on the Bible - Amos 3:7

John Calvin's Commentary on the Bible - Amos 3:8

The Pulpit Commentary - Amos 3:1-15

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