Amos 7:7-9

Amos 7:7-1 Samuel : . The Vision of the Wall.— The third vision is more difficult. The prophet saw ( Amos 7:7) “ and behold, Yahweh stood by a wall of ’ anak, and in His hand ’ anak.” ’ Anak is usually translated “ plummet.” By a wall that had once been found perpendicular, a plummet-wall, Yahweh stood with a plummet in His hand. What exact significance ( Amos 7:8) had this plummet? Yahweh is tired of relenting; He will simply apply the plummet to His people, and once for all destroy an edifice which is no longer worthy to stand. Kent’ s omission of the first ’ anak is an improvement: “ And behold the Lord was standing behind a wall, with a plumbline in His hand.” Other Semitic languages seem to favour the view (so Marti) that ’ anak may denote a hard or heavy kind of metal, possibly lead or steel. Marti translates, “ Thus the Lord showed me, and behold one standing on a wall of steel with steel in his hand.” Amos beholds a man unconquerable, equipped with iron and sword ( Amos 7:7), and Yahweh explains ( Amos 7:8) that this man is about to turn his sword against Israel, because he cannot again spare her. In the utter devastation of the country, Israel’ s places of worship will be laid low ( Amos 7:9).

Amos 7:8 . The plummet is usually explained as “ a crucial moral test” (Driver). Ehrlich, however, explains it as a figure for the execution of judgment ( cf. 2 Kings 21:13, Lamentations 2:8).