And it shall come to pass ,.... When the city is delivered up and taken: if there remain ; who are not carried captive, or destroyed by the sword: ten men in one house ; that is, many, a certain number for an uncertain: that they shall die ; either with famine, or by the pestilence, though they have escaped the other calamities; so general shall the destruction be, by one means or another. read more
Ten men - they shall die - All shall be cut off by the sword, or by captivity, or by famine. read more
Verse 9 The Prophet here amplifies the calamity, which was nigh the people; as though he had said, that God would not now take moderate vengeance on that reprobate people, for he did nothing by dealing moderately with them: there was therefore nigh at hand the heaviest vengeance, which would reduce the people to nothing. This is the import of the Prophet’s words when he says, that ten, if remaining in the same house, would die But in naming ten survivors, he intimates that a slaughter had... read more
Here follows the announce. merit of punishment for the crimes mentioned above: the people shall go into captivity; they shall be rejected of God, and given over to utter ruin. read more
Wrath revealing itself in judgment. The squaring of a sinner's account with God is of necessity a bitter experience. It is the last fact in a wide induction, and completes our knowledge of what sin really is. The best and only adequate view of this is reached when a man reads it in the light of its punishment. We are enabled to perform this office for Israel's crying and incredible wickedness here. I. THE WORD THAT CANNOT BE BROKEN . Accommodating himself to our mode of... read more
If there remain ten men in one house. If these escape death in war, they shall die of famine and pestilence in the three years' siege of Samaria ( 2 Kings 17:5 ). If the prophet is still referring to the rich chieftains, ten would be only a poor remnant of the inhabitants of their palaces. The LXX . adds, very unnecesarily, καὶ ὑπολειφθήσονται οἱ κατάλοιποι , "And those remaining shall be left behind." read more
If there shall remain ten men - He probably still denounces the punishment of the rich inhabitants of the palaces, since in these only, of old, would there be found “ten men.” They died, it seems, at once, and so probably through the plague, the common companion. of the siege. The prophet had before compared them to Sodom. It may be, that, in this mention of “ten men,” he tacitly refers to the history of that destruction. Then God promised, not to destroy the city, if there were ten righteous... read more
Amos 6:9-11. If there remain ten men in one house, &c. Those that escape the hands of the enemy shall die by the pestilence. And a man’s uncle (or kinsman) shall take him up Some friend or relation, whose duty it is to perform the last offices for the deceased, shall take him up directly and burn him: for so it should be rendered, and not, AND HE THAT burneth him. The meaning is, that he should not stay to perfume the body with rich ointments, as was the usual custom; nor... read more
Pride and its punishment (6:1-14)Israel’s leaders deceive themselves that the nation is secure. They live prosperously and see no possibility of any immediate crisis. Amos reminds them that other nations were stronger than Israel and other cities more prosperous than Samaria, but they still fell to enemy armies (6:1-3). These upper class people live in luxury, without any concern for the injustice that is ruining the nation. When Israel is conquered, they will be in the first group taken into... read more
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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