Amos 6:13

"Ye that rejoice in a thing of naught, that say, Have we not taken to us horns by our own strength? For, behold, I will raise up against you a nation, O house of Israel, saith Jehovah, the God of hosts; and they shall afflict you from the entrance of Hamath, unto the brook of the Arabah."

"Things of naught ... horns ..." Recent scholarly studies on these words indicate that, "a thing of naught is actually a mistranslation for Lodebar, which has the same sound in Hebrew, and that horns is the same as the proper name Karnaim, which means horns in Hebrew."[33] In this light, most recent translations render Amos 6:13, as follows:

"You brag about capturing the town of Lodebar. You boast, We were strong enough to take Karnaim."

"The verse is a sarcastic allusion to the conquests of Jeroboam II in Transjordan, which are narrated in 2 Kings 14:25, two towns that he captured being mentioned here."[34] Amos here made a play upon the meaning of the names of the towns, Lodebar, for example, meaning "a thing of naught." Nevertheless, the people were very arrogant and boastful about their successes. `The reiterated emphasis on `our ... we ... ourselves' mocks the boasting assessment which the people made of Jeroboam's successes.'"[35]

"I will raise up against you a nation, O house of Israel ..." It should always be remembered in studying this prophecy that it was exactly and terribly fulfilled just as God had promised. Both the Sacred Scriptures and the testimony of the archeologist testify to the overwhelming destruction of Israel within some thirty years after Amos wrote this prophecy.

"The kingdom of Israel was destroyed in the year 722 by Sargon in the first month of his reign when Samaria was taken after a siege which was begun by his predecessor, Shalmanezer IV, and had lasted three years."[36]

Excavations made about 1843 revealed the old palace of Sargon II and the so-called "Display Inscription" at Khorsabad, in which Sargon II described the humiliation of Samaria in his own words:

"I besieged and captured Samaria, carrying off 27,290 of the people who dwelt therein. Fifty chariots I gathered from among them. I caused others to take their portion (of the deported inhabitants). I set my officers over them and imposed upon them the tribute of the former king."[37]

"From the entrance of Hamath, unto the brook of Arabah ..." This expression stands for the northern boundary of the kingdom and the southern boundary of Canaan,"[38] thus including the southern kingdom of Judah also, a recurring theme in Amos.

"Hamath is the pass between Lebanon and Anti-Lebanon, the northern limit of Israelite territory. The Arabah is the deep valley in which the Dead Sea lies."[39] The most extended borders of Jewish dominion in the days of Solomon were encompassed in these limits; and, although they had for a brief season been restored under Jeroboam II, it was but for a little time. All was swept away by the Assyrian invasion, except that Jerusalem and the southern kingdom remained about 150 years until they were carried away to Babylon.

The relevance of this prophecy for our own times should never be overlooked. As Butler said:

"The message of Amos is still quite relevant and contemporary. Our society is almost a sister to that one in its ingratitude, irresponsibility, arrogance, and sensuality. Amos was not able to call men back to God in his day; but he was willing to lay down his life if necessary to give God's call to repentance. Can prophets of today succeed where Amos did not? Time alone will tell."[40]

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