Amos 8:14

"They that swear by the sin of Samaria, and say, As thy god, O Dan, liveth; and, As the way of Beersheba liveth; they shall fall, and never rise again."

"They that swear by the sin of Samaria ..." This expression means, "The calves at Dan and Bethel, and to `swear by,' means `to worship.'"[39] McKeating, following the New English Bible, translated this, "All who take their oath by Ashimah, goddess of Samaria";[40] but this cannot possibly be correct. The New English Bible and other translations following this alleged "reading" represent a colossal "goof" as far as Biblical translation goes. In the first place, the Hebrew text, which alone we receive as inspired, clearly has, "The guilt of Samaria, which is a reference to the idolatrous worship carried on there."[41] Furthermore, the change to "Ashimah" in this verse involves "a change" in the Hebrew text[42] a change for which there is no authority. By changing it a little more, they could make it read, "Diana of the Ephesians!" But that is not all of it, the intrusion of "Ashima" into this passage makes the verse applicable to a period long after the time when Amos lived; and, of course, the perverted meaning is promptly made the basis for an assault upon the integrity of the passage and the discarding of the whole verse as the work of a later author! It is merely the old device of misinterpreting, or mistranslating, a passage, and then making that error the basis of an attack upon the Bible!

"The sin of Samaria ..." which is under indictment here was that of worshipping the golden calves, one at Dan, the other at Bethel; and they are attributed to "Samaria," because Samaria was the capital of the country in which this monstrous departure from God's Word had taken place. Deane concurred in this view, thus:

"The sin of Samaria (means) the golden calf at Bethel. The expression, `Thy god, O Dan, liveth' refers to the other calf erected at Dan, near the source of the Jordan, in the extreme north."[43]

Smith also concurred in the judgment that the best reading of the Hebrew text in this place is "the guilt of Samaria,"[44] and not "Ashimah."

"As the way of Beersheba liveth ..." This is another instance of swearing by, or worshipping a false god, a fact deduced from the terminology employed here. Smith observed that, "The word he (lives) is used in both lines, always used in Hebrew to swear by false gods and nonsacral objects, Ha was used when oaths were taken in the name of the true God."[45] In this light, it must be true that both the god of Dan, and the way of Beersheba are references to false deities.

What a remarkable thing it is, therefore, to encounter the stout denials of commentators that there was anything wrong in that worship in Israel, except their insincerity and their oppressiveness!

"Those who, in Amos' time, swore `by the life of your god, O Dan, would not think of themselves as apostates. Neither does swearing `By the sacred way to Beersheba' in itself imply apostasy!'"[46]

Although no particular false god is mentioned in connection with "the way of Beersheba," there was, in all probably such an idol there. The notion has been advanced that the Israelitish pilgrims to the place adored "the sacred way" that led to it; but, as Harper admitted, "It is possible to understand `way' of the method of worship at Bethel."[47]

Hammershaimb beautifully summarized this verse thus:

"The god that they worship and swear by is therefore not the true Yahweh, but a god which they have fashioned to their own desires."[48] Idolatry in the Northern Kingdom had come of age. The people no longer either recognized or honored the true and Almighty God, but instead, worshipped and swore by their golden idols. Added to that was the licentious and abominable worship they practiced there; and if that was not apostasy, there never was such a thing.

"They shall fall, and never rise again ..." When God's judgment was decreed against his ungrateful and apostate people, it was determined that the pagan gods they worshipped, together with the shrines that honored them, would be utterly, completely, and finally destroyed.

It should be remembered in contemplating the fulfillment of this death sentence against the Northern Kingdom that it was terminal. The ten tribes which comprised it never returned to Canaan; their course through subsequent history, as regards any of their survivors, is totally unknown, buried by the dust of more than twenty-six centuries. The southern kingdom was granted some additional respite, due to God's purpose of bringing in the Messiah through their posterity; but when that was accomplished; and, after a due season in which God further extended his mercy and offered them the gospel, and after their complete rejection of that, they were perpetually hardened "until the times of the Gentiles be come in" (Romans 11:25); their vaunted temple was reduced to rubble, their capital city ravished and destroyed, over a million of them being put to death by the sword; and their state perished from the earth for the space of almost two millenniums of time!

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