Amo 7:1-6 | KD | STEP | The first two visions. - -3. The Locusts. - Amo 7:1. “Thus the Lord Jehovah showed me; and, behold, He formed locusts in the beginning of the springing up of the second crop; and, behold, it was a second crop after the king’s mowing. Amo 7:2. And it came to pass, when they had finished eating the vegetable of the land, I said, Lord Jehovah, forgive, I pray: how can Jacob stand? for he is small. Amo 7:3. Jehovah repented of this: It shall not take place, saith Jehovah.” The formula, “Thus the Lord Jehovah showed me,” is common to this and the three following visions ( , , and ), with this trifling difference, that in the third ( ) the subject (the Lord Jehovah) is omitted, and 'Adōnâi (the Lord) is inserted instead, after vehinnēh (and behold). הראני denotes seeing with the eyes of the mind - a visionary seeing. These visions are not merely pictures of a judgment which was ever threatening, and drawing nearer and nearer (Baur); still less are they merely poetical fictions, or forms of drapery selected arbitrarily, for the purpose of clothing the prophet’s thoughts; but they are inward intuitions, produced by the Spirit of God, which set forth the punitive judgments of God. Kōh ( ita , thus) points to what follows, and vehinnēh (and behold) introduces the thing seen. Amos sees the Lord form locusts. Baur proposes to alter יוצר (forming) into יצר (forms), but without any reason, and without observing that in all three visions of this chapter hinnēh is followed by a participle (קרא in , and נצּב in ), and that the 'Adōnâi which stands before נצּב in shows very clearly that this noun is simply omitted in , because 'AdōnâI Yehōvâh has immediately preceded it. גּבי (a poetical form for גּבה, analogous to שׂדי for שׂדה, and contracted into גּוב in ) signifies locusts, the only question being, whether this meaning is derived from גּוּב = Arab. jâb , to cut, or from גּבה = Arab. jb‛a , to creep forth (out of the earth). The fixing of the time has an important bearing upon the meaning of the vision: viz., “at the beginning of the springing up of the second crop (of grass);” especially when taken in connection with the explanation, “after the mowings of the king.” These definitions cannot be merely intended as outward chronological data. For, in the first place, nothing is known of the existence of any right or prerogative on the part of the kings of Israel, to have the early crop in the meadow land throughout the country mown for the support of their horses and mules (1Ki 18:5), so that their subjects could only get the second crop for their own cattle. Moreover, if the second crop, “after the king’s mowings,” were to be interpreted literally in this manner, it would decidedly weaken the significance of the vision. For if the locusts did not appear till after the king had got in the hay for the supply of his own mews, and so only devoured the second crop of grass as it grew, this plague would fall upon the people alone, and not at all upon the king. But such an exemption of the king from the judgment is evidently at variance with the meaning of this and the following visions. Consequently the definition of the time must be interpreted spiritually, in accordance with the idea of the vision. The king, who has had the early grass mown, is Jehovah; and the mowing of the grass denotes the judgments which Jehovah has already executed upon Israel. The growing of the second crop is a figurative representation of the prosperity which flourished again after those judgments; in actual fact, therefore, it denotes the time when the dawn had risen again for Israel ( ). Then the locusts came and devoured all the vegetables of the earth. עשׂב הארץ is not the second crop; for עשׂב does not mean grass, but vegetables, the plants of the field (see at ). and require that this meaning should be retained. When the locusts had already eaten the vegetables of the earth, the prophet interceded, and the Lord interposed with deliverance. This intercession would have been too late after the consumption of the second crop. On the other hand, when the vegetables had been consumed, there was still reason to fear that the consumption of the second crop of grass would follow; and this is averted at the prophet’s intercession. והיה for ויהי, as in ; , etc. סלח־נא, pray forgive, sc. the guilt of the people (cf. Num 14:19). מי יקוּם, how (מי qualis ) can Jacob (the nation of Israel) stand (not arise), since it is small? קטן, small, i.e., so poor in sources and means of help, that it cannot endure this stroke; not “so crushed already, that a very light calamity would destroy it” (Rosenmüller). for נחם על, see Exo 32:14. זאת (this) refers to the destruction of the people indicated in מי יקוּם; and זאת is also to be supplied as the subject to לא תהיה.

‏ Amos 7:1-6

Visions of the Locusts, the Fire, and the Plumb-Line. The Prophet’s Experience at Bethel - Amos 7 Amo 7:1-3

The first two visions. - Amo 7:1-3. The Locusts. - Amo 7:1. “Thus the Lord Jehovah showed me; and, behold, He formed locusts in the beginning of the springing up of the second crop; and, behold, it was a second crop after the king’s mowing. Amo 7:2. And it came to pass, when they had finished eating the vegetable of the land, I said, Lord Jehovah, forgive, I pray: how can Jacob stand? for he is small. Amo 7:3. Jehovah repented of this: It shall not take place, saith Jehovah.” The formula, “Thus the Lord Jehovah showed me,” is common to this and the three following visions (Amo 7:4, Amo 7:7, and Amo 8:1), with this trifling difference, that in the third (Amo 7:7) the subject (the Lord Jehovah) is omitted, and 'Adōnâi (the Lord) is inserted instead, after vehinnēh (and behold). הראני denotes seeing with the eyes of the mind - a visionary seeing. These visions are not merely pictures of a judgment which was ever threatening, and drawing nearer and nearer (Baur); still less are they merely poetical fictions, or forms of drapery selected arbitrarily, for the purpose of clothing the prophet’s thoughts; but they are inward intuitions, produced by the Spirit of God, which set forth the punitive judgments of God. Kōh (ita, thus) points to what follows, and vehinnēh (and behold) introduces the thing seen. Amos sees the Lord form locusts. Baur proposes to alter יוצר (forming) into יצר (forms), but without any reason, and without observing that in all three visions of this chapter hinnēh is followed by a participle (קרא in Amo 7:4, and נצּב in Amo 7:7), and that the 'Adōnâi which stands before נצּב in Amo 7:7 shows very clearly that this noun is simply omitted in Amo 7:1, because 'AdōnâI Yehōvâh has immediately preceded it. גּבי (a poetical form for גּבה, analogous to שׂדי for שׂדה, and contracted into גּוב in Nah 3:17) signifies locusts, the only question being, whether this meaning is derived from גּוּב = Arab. jâb, to cut, or from גּבה = Arab. jb‛a, to creep forth (out of the earth). The fixing of the time has an important bearing upon the meaning of the vision: viz., “at the beginning of the springing up of the second crop (of grass);” especially when taken in connection with the explanation, “after the mowings of the king.” These definitions cannot be merely intended as outward chronological data. For, in the first place, nothing is known of the existence of any right or prerogative on the part of the kings of Israel, to have the early crop in the meadow land throughout the country mown for the support of their horses and mules (1Ki 18:5), so that their subjects could only get the second crop for their own cattle. Moreover, if the second crop, “after the king’s mowings,” were to be interpreted literally in this manner, it would decidedly weaken the significance of the vision. For if the locusts did not appear till after the king had got in the hay for the supply of his own mews, and so only devoured the second crop of grass as it grew, this plague would fall upon the people alone, and not at all upon the king. But such an exemption of the king from the judgment is evidently at variance with the meaning of this and the following visions. Consequently the definition of the time must be interpreted spiritually, in accordance with the idea of the vision. The king, who has had the early grass mown, is Jehovah; and the mowing of the grass denotes the judgments which Jehovah has already executed upon Israel. The growing of the second crop is a figurative representation of the prosperity which flourished again after those judgments; in actual fact, therefore, it denotes the time when the dawn had risen again for Israel (Amo 4:13). Then the locusts came and devoured all the vegetables of the earth. עשׂב הארץ is not the second crop; for עשׂב does not mean grass, but vegetables, the plants of the field (see at Gen 1:11). Amo 7:2 and Amo 7:3 require that this meaning should be retained. When the locusts had already eaten the vegetables of the earth, the prophet interceded, and the Lord interposed with deliverance. This intercession would have been too late after the consumption of the second crop. On the other hand, when the vegetables had been consumed, there was still reason to fear that the consumption of the second crop of grass would follow; and this is averted at the prophet’s intercession. והיה for ויהי, as in 1Sa 17:48; Jer 37:11, etc. סלח־נא, pray forgive, sc. the guilt of the people (cf. Num 14:19). מי יקוּם, how (מי qualis) can Jacob (the nation of Israel) stand (not arise), since it is small? קטן, small, i.e., so poor in sources and means of help, that it cannot endure this stroke; not “so crushed already, that a very light calamity would destroy it” (Rosenmüller). for נחם על, see Exo 32:14. זאת (this) refers to the destruction of the people indicated in מי יקוּם; and זאת is also to be supplied as the subject to לא תהיה. Amo 7:4-6

The Devouring Fire. - Amo 7:4. “Thus the Lord Jehovah showed me: and, behold, the Lord Jehovah called to punish with fire; and it devoured the great flood, and devoured the portion. Amo 7:5. And I said, Lord Jehovah, leave off, I pray: how can Jacob stand? for it is small. Amo 7:6. Jehovah repented of this; this also shall not take place, said the Lord Jehovah.” That the all-devouring fire represents a much severer judgment than that depicted under the figure of the locusts, is generally acknowledged, and needs no proof. But the more precise meaning of this judgment is open to dispute, and depends upon the explanation of the fourth verse. The object to קרא is לריב בּאשׁ, and ריב is to be taken as an infinitive, as in Isa 3:13 : He called to strive (i.e., to judge or punish) with fire. There is no necessity to supply ministros suos here. The expression is a concise one, for “He called to the fire to punish with fire” (for the expression and the fact, compare Isa 66:16). This fire devoured the great flood. Tehōm rabbâh is used in Gen 7:11 and Isa 51:10, etc., to denote the unfathomable ocean; and in Gen 1:2 tehōm is the term applied to the immense flood which surrounded and covered the globe at the beginning of the creation. ואכלה, as distinguished from ותּאכל, signifies an action in progress, or still incomplete (Hitzig). The meaning therefore is, “it also devoured (began to devour) 'eth-hachēleq;” i.e., not the field, for a field does not form at all a fitting antithesis to the ocean; and still less “the land,” for chēleq never bears this meaning; but the inheritance or portion, namely, that of Jehovah (Deu 32:9), i.e., Israel. Consequently tehōm rabbâh cannot, of course, signify the ocean as such. For the idea of the fire falling upon the ocean, and consuming it, and then beginning to consume the land of Israel, by which the ocean was bounded (Hitzig), would be too monstrous; nor is it justified by the simple remark, that “it was as if the last great conflagration (2Pe 3:10) had begun” (Schmieder). As the fire is to earthly fire, but the fire of the wrath of God, and therefore a figurative representation of the judgment of destruction; and as hachēleq (the portion) is not the land of Israel, but according to Deuteronomy (l.c.) Israel, or the people of Jehovah; so tehōm rabbâh is not the ocean, but the heathen world, the great sea of nations, in their rebellion against the kingdom of God. The world of nature in a state of agitation is a frequent symbol in the Scriptures for the agitated heathen world (e.g., Psa 46:3; Psa 93:3-4). On the latter passage, Delitzsch has the following apt remark: “The stormy sea is a figurative representation of the whole heathen world, in its estrangement from God, and enmity against Him, or the human race outside the true church of God; and the rivers are figurative representations of the kingdoms of the world, e.g., the Nile of the Egyptian (Jer 46:7-8), the Euphrates of the Assyrian (Isa 8:7-8), or more precisely still, the arrow-swift Tigris of the Assyrian, and the winding Euphrates of the Babylonian (Isa 27:1).” This symbolism lies at the foundation of the vision seen by the prophet. The world of nations, in its rebellion against Jehovah, the Lord and King of the world, appears as a great flood, like the chaos at the beginning of the creation, or the flood which poured out its waves upon the globe in the time of Noah. Upon this flood of nations does fire from the Lord fall down and consume them; and after consuming them, it begins to devour the inheritance of Jehovah, the nation of Israel also. The prophet then prays to the Lord to spare it, because Jacob would inevitably perish in this conflagration; and the Lord gives the promise that “this shall not take place,” so that Israel is plucked like a firebrand out of the fire (Amo 4:11).

If we inquire now into the historical bearing of these two visions, so much is à priori clear, - namely, that both of them not only indicate judgments already past, but also refer to the future, since no fire had hitherto burned upon the surface of the globe, which had consumed the world of nations and threatened to annihilate Israel. If therefore there is an element of truth in the explanation given by Grotius to the first vision, “After the fields had been shorn by Benhadad (2Ki 13:3), and after the damage which was then sustained, the condition of Israel began to flourish once more during the reign of Jeroboam the son of Joash, as we see from 2Ki 14:15,” according to which the locusts would refer to the invasion on the part of the Assyrians in the time of Pul; this application is much too limited, neither exhausting the contents of the first vision, nor suiting in the smallest degree the figure of the fire. The “mowing of the king” (Amo 7:1) denotes rather all the judgments which the Lord had hitherto poured out upon Israel, embracing everything that the prophet mentions in Amo 4:6-10. The locusts are a figurative representation of the judgments that still await the covenant nation, and will destroy it even to a small remnant, which will be saved through the prayers of the righteous. The vision of the fire has a similar scope, embracing all the past and all the future; but this also indicates the judgments that fall upon the heathen world, and will only receive its ultimate fulfilment in the destruction of everything that is ungodly upon the face of the earth, when the Lord comes in fire to strive with all flesh (Isa 66:15-16), and to burn up the earth and all that is therein, on the day of judgment and perdition of ungodly men (2Pe 3:7, 2Pe 3:10-13). The removal of the two judgments, however, by Jehovah in consequence of the intercession of the prophet, shows that these judgments are not intended to effect the utter annihilation of the nation of God, but simply its refinement and the rooting out of the sinners from the midst of it, and that, in consequence of the sparing mercy of God, a holy remnant of the nation of God will be left. The next two visions refer simply to the judgment which awaits the kingdom of the ten tribes in the immediate future.