Amos 3:13

This feature in the threat is brought out into peculiar prominence by a fresh introduction. Amo 3:13. "Hear ye, and testify it to the house of Jacob, is the utterance of the Lord, Jehovah, the God of hosts: Amo 3:14. That in the day when I visit the transgressions of the house of Israel upon it, I shall visit it upon the altars of Bethel; and the horns of the altar will be cut off, and fall to the ground. Amo 3:15. And I smite the winter-house over the summer-house, and the houses of ivory perish, and many houses vanish, is the saying of Jehovah." The words "Hear ye" cannot be addressed to the Israelites, fore they could not bear witness against the house of Israel, but must either refer to the prophets, as in Amo 3:9 ("publish ye"), or to the heathen, in which case they correspond to "assemble yourselves and behold" in Amo 3:9. The latter assumption is the only correct one, for the context does not assign a sufficient motive for an address to the prophets. On the other hand, as the heathen have been summoned to convince themselves by actual observation of the sins that prevail in Samaria, it is perfectly in keeping that they should now hear what is the punishment that God is about to inflict upon Israel in consequence, and that they should bear witness against Israel from what they have heard. העיד ב, to bear witness towards or against (not "in," as Baur supposes). The house of Jacob is the whole of Israel, of the twelve tribes, as in Amo 3:1; for Judah was also to learn a lesson from the destruction of Samaria. As the appeal to the heathen to bear witness against Israel indicates the greatness of the sins of the Israelites, so, on the other hand, does the accumulation of the names of God in Amo 3:13 serve to strengthen the declaration made by the Lord, who possesses a…

A stupid, senseless, heedless people, are, in this chapter, called upon to take notice, I. Of the judgments of God denounced against them and the warnings he gave them of those judgments, and to be hereby awakened out of their security (Amo 3:1-8). II. Of the sins that were found among them, by which God was provoked thus to threaten, thus to punish, that they might justify God in his controversy with them, and, unless they repented and reformed, might expect no other than that God should proceed in his controversy (Amo 3:9-15).

3:13 The Lord’s message is to go to all Israel (literally the house of Jacob). Jacob was the ancestor of both Israel and Judah. • The witnesses who are told to listen could be the nations summoned in 3:9, the inhabitants of Samaria, or bands of prophets. • Lord God of Heaven’s Armies: This title, traditionally “Lord God of Hosts” (also in 4:13; 5:14-16, 27; 6:8), portrays God as commander of the heavenly armies; this is the true God of the universe, not a local deity (see also Exod 15:3).