Amos 7:9 - Exposition

The high places of Issac. The shrines of idolatry all over the land. The bamoth are the altars erected on high places and now dedicated to idols ( 1 Kings 3:2 ; 2 Kings 23:8 ; Isaiah 16:12 ; Hosea 10:8 ). Isaac here and in Amos 7:16 is used as a synonym for Israel, perhaps with some ides of contrasting the deeds of the people with the blameless life of the patriarch and his gentle piety (Pusey). Septuagint, βωμοὶ τοῦ γέλωτος , with reference to the meaning of the name Issac, "altars of derision," whence Jerome's version, excelsa idoli. The sanctuaries of Israel. The idol temples at Dan and Bethel ( 1 Kings 12:29 ), at Gilgal ( Amos 4:4 ), and perhaps in other places, which had been sanctified by ancient patriarchal worship. Septuagint, αἱ τελεεταὶ τοῦ ̓ισραήλ , "the rites of Israel;" Vulgate, sanctificationes Israel. With the sword. God is represented as standing like an armed warrior taking vengeance on the guilty family. Jeroboam II . had roved Israel from Syria, and was popular owing to his success in war ( 2 Kings 14:25-28 ); but his dynasty was overthrown, and this overthrow was the destruction of the Israelitish monarchy. The murder of his son Zachariah by Shallum ( 2 Kings 15:10 ) led to those disastrous commotions which culminated in the conquest of Samaria by the Assyrians and the deportattion of the people.