Amos 7:3 - Exposition

Repented for this; or, concerning this destruction. The punishment was conditioned by man's behaviour or other considerations. Here the prophet's intercession abates the full infliction of the penalty (compare analogous expressions, Deuteronomy 32:36 ; 1 Samuel 15:11 ; 2 Samuel 24:16 ; Jeremiah 18:8 ; Jeremiah 42:10 ; Jonah 3:10 , where see note). Amos may have had in memory the passage in Joel 2:13 . The LXX . here and in Joel 2:6 has ΄ετανόησον κύριε ἐπὶ τούτῳ καὶ τοῦτο οὐκ ἔσται λέγει κύριος , "Repent, O Lord, for this; and this shall not be, saith the Lord." Hence some early commentators gathered that the prophet's intercession was rejected; but the words do not necessarily bear that sense (see St. Cyril Alex. and Theodoret, in loc .). It shall not be. This respite refers to the retreat of the Assyrians under Pul, the usurping monarch who assumed the name of Tiglath-Pileser II . ( 2 Kings 15:17 , etc.). Some commentators consider the judgment to be literally plague of locusts; but this is not probable.