Amos 6:13 NIV

Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary - Amos 6:8-14

In the former part of the chapter we had these secure Israelites loading themselves with pleasures, as if they could never be made merry enough; here we have God loading them with punishments, as if they could never be made miserable enough. And observe, I. How strongly this burden is bound on, not to be shaken off by their presumption and security; for it is bound by the Lord the God of hosts, by his mighty, his almighty, hand, which none can resist; it is bound with an oath, which puts the... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Amos 6:13

Ye which rejoice in a thing of nought ,.... In their wealth and riches, which are things that are not, because of the uncertainty of them; and, in comparison of true riches, have no solidity and substance in them, Proverbs 23:5 ; or in any of the things of this world, the lusts of it, the honours of it, human wisdom or strength; all are things of nought, of no worth, give no satisfaction, and are of no continuance, and not to be gloried in, Jeremiah 9:23 ; or in their idols, for an idol... read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Amos 6:13

Ye which rejoice in a thing of naught - In your idols: for an idol is nothing in the world. Have we not taken to us horns - We have arrived to power and dignity by our strength. Horns were the symbols of power and authority. So Horace: - Vina parant animos: tum pauper cornua sumet . "Wine repairs our strength, and furnishes the poor with horns." At such times they think themselves as great as the greatest. read more

John Calvin

John Calvin's Commentary on the Bible - Amos 6:13

Verse 13 This verse will seem better connected with the last, if we bear in mind the view to which I have referred: for the Prophet inveighs again against the careless contempt with which the Israelites were filled. Ye rejoice, he says, in a thing of nought A thing of nought he calls those fallacies, by which they were wont to deceive, not only others, but also their own selves. For hypocrites not only falsely pretend the name of God, but also deceive themselves by self flatteries, when they... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Amos 6:12-14

The prophet shows the folly of these evil doers who think in their own strength to defy judgment and to resist the enemy whom God is sending against them. read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Amos 6:12-14

The doomed people who will not turn. Sin brings often present gain, but it never pays in the end. When the balance is struck, the wrong doer always finds it on the wrong side of the book. A sinner is one who sets himself against God, and in the nature of things ignorance cannot overreach knowledge, nor weakness overcome omnipotence. Israel had long been under instruction in this matter, and they would see it one day when the knowledge would be too late. Many Scripture maxims are... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Amos 6:13

In a thing of nought; a nothing— a thing which does not really exist, viz. your prosperity and power. Horns ; symbols of strength ( Deuteronomy 33:17 ; 1 Kings 22:11 ); the idea being derived from the wild bull, the strongest animal of their fauna. Their boast was a consequence of the successful wars with the Syrians ( 2 Kings 14:25-28 ). The prophet proceeds to demolish their proud vaunt. read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Amos 6:13

Joy in the unreal always precarious. It is quite unaccountable. It is almost incredible. But it is unquestionably true. Men reject the staff, and lean upon the broken reed. Whatever is worthy of trust they doubt, whatever is utterly unreliable they confide in. This was the way of Israel, and it is the way of humanity. They do not see the reality of things. They attribute to them qualities they do not possess, qualities sometimes the very opposite of the actual ones. Then they act on their... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Amos 6:13

Human joy in the unsubstantial. "Ye which rejoice in a thing of nought, which say, Have we not taken to us horns by our own strength?" "Horns" are signs and symbols of power; here they stand for the military resources with which they fancied that they could conquer every foe. "These delusions of God-forgetting pride the prophet casts down, by saying that Jehovah, the God of hosts, will raise up a nation against them, which will crush them down in the whole length and breadth of the... read more

Albert Barnes

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Whole Bible - Amos 6:13

Who rejoice - (Literally, “the rejoicers!” Amos, as is his wont, speaks of them with contempt and wonder at their folly, “the rejoicers!” much as we say, the cowards! the renegades!) “in a thing of nought,” literally, “a non-thing,” (“no-whit, nought”) not merely in a thing valueless, but in a “non-thing,” that has no existence at all, as nothing has any substantial existence out of God. This “non-thing” was their power, strength, empire, which they thought they had, but which was soon to... read more

Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary - Amos 6:8-14

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Amos 6:13

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Amos 6:13

John Calvin's Commentary on the Bible - Amos 6:13

The Pulpit Commentary - Amos 6:12-14

The Pulpit Commentary - Amos 6:12-14

The Pulpit Commentary - Amos 6:13

The Pulpit Commentary - Amos 6:13

The Pulpit Commentary - Amos 6:13

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Whole Bible - Amos 6:13

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