Amos 6:12

12. Shall horses run upon the rock? Or, cliff. The answer is an emphatic No. The attempt would result in the horses’ undoing.

Will one plow there with oxen? Again the answer is, No. The plow would be broken and the oxen hurt. Every one of Amos’s hearers would see the absurdity of doing these things. So, the prophet means to say, it is equally absurd for you to expect the divine help while you arouse Jehovah’s anger by perverting justice and righteousness, or to trust in your own resources, whose true value you overestimate greatly; your past successes do not warrant the present optimism. The second question is literally, “Will one plow with oxen?” The answer to this is in the affirmative. The context, however, as already suggested, demands a negative answer. To remove the difficulty the English translators added “there,” that is, upon the rock, which meets the demands of the context, and upon this addition the above interpretation is based. Most recent commentators, following the suggestion of Michaelis, divide the last word in Hebrew into two and make a slight change in the vowel points, which results in the reading, “Will one plow the sea with oxen?” This meets the demands of the context, and gives excellent sense.

For Better, R.V., “that.” Judgment [“justice”]… righteousness See on Amos 5:7.

Turned… into gall In defiance of all prophetic exhortations. Gall is the same word as in Hosea 10:4, where the translation is “hemlock” (see there).

Fruit Result or effect. Hemlock [“wormwood”] See on Amos 5:7. The effects of a faithful administration of justice are always wholesome and desirable; by an unfaithful administration the Israelites have made the effects undesirable and detrimental. For this reason they can expect no help from Jehovah.