Амос 9:13

The ploughman shall overtake the reaper - All the seasons shall succeed in due and natural order: but the crops shall be so copious in the fields and in the vineyards, that a long time shall be employed in gathering and disposing of them; so that the seasons of ploughing, sowing, gathering the grapes, treading the wine-press, etc., shall press on the heels of each other; so vast will be the abundance, and so long the time necessary to gather and cure the grain and fruits. We are informed by travelers in the Holy Land, Barbary, etc., that the vintage at Aleppo lasts from the fifteenth of September to the middle of November; and that the sowing season begins at the close of October, and lasts through all November. Here, then, the ploughman, sower, grape-gatherer, and operator at the wine-press, not only succeed each other, but have parts of these operations going on at the same time. But great fertility in the land, abundance in the crops, and regularity of the seasons, seem to be the things which the prophet especially predicts. These are all poetical and prophetical images, by which happy times are pointed out.

the days come--at the future restoration of the Jews to their own land. ploughman shall overtake . . . reaper . . . treader of grapes him that soweth--fulfilling Lev 26:5. Such shall be the abundance that the harvest and vintage can hardly be gathered before the time for preparing for the next crop shall come. Instead of the greater part of the year being spent in war, the whole shall be spent in sowing and reaping the fruits of earth. Compare Isa 65:21-23, as to the same period. soweth seed--literally, "draweth it forth," namely, from the sack in order to sow it. mountains . . . drop sweet wine--an appropriate image, as the vines in Palestine were trained on terraces at the sides of the hills.

Behold, the days come, saith the Lord,.... Or "are coming" (y); and which will commence upon the accomplishment of the above things, when the church of Christ is raised up and established, the Jews converted, and the Gentiles brought in: that the ploughman shall overtake the reaper; or "meet the reaper" (z); or come up to him, or touch him, as it may be rendered; and so the Targum; that is, before the reaper has well cut down the grain, or it is scarce gathered in, the ploughman shall be ready to plough up the ground again, that it may be sown, and produce another crop: and the treaders of grapes him that soweth seed; or "draweth seed" (a); out of his basket, and scatters it in the land; signifying that there should he such an abundance of grapes in the vintage, that they would continue pressing till seedtime; and the whole denotes a great affluence of temporal good things, as an emblem of spiritual ones; see Lev 26:5; where something of the like nature is promised, and expressed in much the same manner: and the mountains shall drop sweet wine; or "new wine" (b); intimating that there shall be abundance of vines grow upon the mountains, which will produce large quantities of wine, so that they shall seem to drop or flow with it: and all the hills shall melt; with liquors; either with wine or honey, or rather with milk, being covered with flocks and herds, which shall yield abundance of milk; by all which, plenty of spiritual things, as the word and ordinances, and rich supplies of grace, as well as of temporal things, is meant; see Joe 3:18. (y) "dies venientes", Montanus, Burkius. (z) "et vel cum occurret arator messori", Vatablus, Drusius; "attingent arator messorem", Pagninus, Montanus, Junius & Tremellius, Piscator; "accedet arator ad messorem", Cocceius. (a) "trahe…

To the setting up of the kingdom and its outward extension the prophet appends its inward glorification, foretelling the richest blessing of the land (Amo 9:13) and of the nation (Amo 9:14), and lastly, the eternal duration of the kingdom (Amo 9:15). Amo 9:13. "Behold, days come, is the saying of Jehovah, that the ploughman reaches to the reaper, and the treader of grapes to the sower of seed; and the mountains drip new wine, and all the hills melt away. Amo 9:14. And I reverse the captivity of my people Israel, and they build the waste cities, and dwell, and plant vineyards, and drink the wine thereof; and make gardens, and eat the fruit thereof. Amo 9:15. And I plant them in their land, and they shall no more be torn up out of their land which I have given them, saith Jehovah thy God." In the new kingdom of God the people of the Lord will enjoy the blessing, which Moses promised to Israel when faithful to the covenant. This blessing will be poured upon the land in which the kingdom is set up. Amo 9:13 is formed after the promise in Lev 26:5, "Your threshing shall reach unto the vintage, and the vintage shall reach unto the sowing-time;" but Amos transfers the action to the persons employed, and says, "The ploughman will reach to the reaper." Even while the one is engaged in ploughing the land for the sowing, the other will already be able to cut ripe corn; so quickly will the corn grow and ripen. And the treading of the grapes will last to the sowing-time, so abundant will the vintage be. The second half of the verse is taken from Joe 3:18; and according to this passage, the melting of the hills is to be understood as dissolving into streams of milk, new wine, and honey, in which the prophet had the description of the promised land as a land flowing with milk and hone…

In this chapter we have, I. Judgment threatened, which the sinners shall not escape (Amo 9:1-4), which an almighty power shall inflict (Amo 9:5, Amo 9:6), which the people of Israel have deserved as a sinful people (Amo 9:7, Amo 9:8); and yet it shall not be the utter ruin of their nation (Amo 9:8), for a remnant of good people shall escape (Amo 9:9). But the wicked ones shall perish (Amo 9:10). II. Mercy promised, which was to be bestowed in the latter days (Amo 9:11-15), as appears by the application of it to the days of the Messiah, Act 15:16. And with those comfortable promises, after all the foregoing rebukes and threatenings, the book concludes.

9:13-15 The coming age would restore the natural harmony lost in Eden (Gen 3) and would bring a new era of prosperity. 9:13 the hills . . . will drip with sweet wine: Amos points poetically to a future time when humans would once again live in harmony with God’s creation.