Amos 2:12
in Amos 2“But you made the Nazirites drink wine and commanded the prophets not to prophesy.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
But ye gave the Nazirites wine to drink, and commanded the prophets, saying, Prophesy not.
KJV
But ye gave the Nazarites wine to drink; and commanded the prophets, saying, Prophesy not.
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This verse in Amos 2
Commentary
8 notes on this verse(Verse 12.) Is it not so, sons of Israel, says the Lord, that you offered wine to the Nazarenes and sent commands to the prophets, saying: Do not prophesy. Likewise, the Septuagint. I granted you so many benefits, that I would kill your enemies and give their land to you, and I would choose prophets and Nazarenes from your sons and young men, and I would consecrate them to my worship. Can you say that I have not done these things, and that I have denied my mercy towards you, by which you live?
This site's exposition
ye gave the Nazarites wine to drink
on Amos 2:12-16
The grace just recited is answered with its own rejection, wine given to Nazarites to break the very vow of Numbers 6 that set them apart, and prophets commanded outright, prophesy not, the silencing of the voice Amos himself will meet again at Amaziah's mouth in chapter 7. The judgment that follows is the covenant curse of Leviticus 26 and Deuteronomy 28 enacted as a battlefield collapse rather than described in the abstract, the swift unable to flee, the strong stripped of strength, the archer and the horseman both failing, until the most courageous man in the army runs away naked, having thrown down even his weapons to survive. Amos closes the whole opening section on that image, courage itself unable to save when the Lord himself is the adversary.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers1 voice
Samson and Samuel drank neither wine nor strong drink, for they were children of promise and conceived in abstinence and fasting. Aaron and the other priests when about to enter the temple refrained from all intoxicating drink for fear they should die. From this we learn that they die who minister in the church without sobriety. And hence it is a reproach against Israel: "You gave my Nazirites wine to drink."
The Puritans and the Awakening3 voices
But ye gave the Nazarites wine to drink,.... Contrary to their vow and calling, and in contempt of it, and to make them like themselves; they either persuaded them, or forced them to it: and commanded the prophets, saying, prophesy not; hard and heavy things, judgments and denunciations of vengeance, only smooth things; by this authoritative language it appears that this is said of the rulers and governors of the people, as king, princes, and priests; see Amo 7:12.
With tumult - Such as soldiers in fight or assaults make, when they carry all by force. The judge - The governor that is, every one of them. To err - Their idolatry blinded them, partly from the natural tendency of this sin, and partly from the just judgment of God.
Note, Satan and his agents are very busy to corrupt the minds of young people that look heavenward; and many that we thought would have been Nazarites they have overcome by giving them wine to drink, by drawing them in to the love of mirth and pleasure, and drinking company.
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
But ye gave the Nazarites wine - This was expressly forbidden in the laws of their institution. See Num 6:1-3. Prophesy not - They would not worship God, and they would not hear the voice of his prophets.
1 more voice on this verse
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
But ye gave the Nazarites wine to drink - Literally, “and,” (this, on their part, was the consequence of what God did for them) “ye caused the Nazarites to drink wine.” God appointed; Israel strove to undo His appointment. God “raised up Nazarites,” as a testimony to them; they sought to make His servants break their vow, in order to rid themselves of that testimony. Their pains to destroy it, is a strong proof of its power. The world is mad against true religion, because it feels itself condemned by it. People set themselves against religion and the religious, the Church or the priesthood, only when and because they feel their power on God’s side against them. What people despise, they do not oppose. “They kill us, they do not despise us,” were true words of a French priest, as to the “reign of reason” in the first French revolution. If the people in power had not respected the Nazarites, or felt that the people respected them, they would not have attempted to corrupt or to force them to break their vow. The word, “cause” them “to drink,” does not express whether they used constraint or seduction. Israel’s consciences supplied it. Yet since they “persecuted the prophets” and put them to death, it seems likely that Amos means that they used violence, either by forcing the wine into their mouths, as the swine-flesh was forced into the mouth of Eleazar (2 Macc. 6:18), and, in the Decian persecution an infant was made to eat of the idol oblation , or by threat of death. And commanded the prophets, saying, Prophesy not - God had commanded the prophets to prophesy. Israel issued and laid upon them his commands against the commands of God. The more God reveals His Will, the directer and more determinate the opposition of those who will not yield. God’s perseverance in trying to win them irritates them; they oppose grace, and are angered at not being let alone. […]
How the passage was read
What the Jewish commentators add
And you gave the Nazirites to drink wine —lest they instruct you, for a drunken man is forbidden to instruct. And you gave the Nazirites to drink wine — Jonathan renders: And you misled your teachers with wine.
1 more on this passage, in their own words ▾
as Nazirites — Jonathan renders: as teachers. For they were separated from the ways of the people of the land and were engaged in the Torah. The expression נְזִירָה is everywhere only an expression of separation.
This section is reception history: how the passage was read and kept in the Jewish tradition. Where a reading parts from an essential of the Christian faith, the section says so at that point.
Texts and citation data: Sefaria; each excerpt follows its version’s licence. 6 further sources are cited on this chapter that carry no English text this site may quote or only restate the verse.
The words behind it
10 Hebrew wordsEvery Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וַתַּשְׁק֥וּ | vatashku | and you made drink | H8248 → | |
| אֶת־ | ʾet- | <obj.> | H853 → | 10935 times |
| הַנְּזִרִ֖ים | hanezirim | the Nazirites | H5139 → | |
| יָ֑יִן | yayin | wine | H3196 → | 141 times |
| וְעַל־ | veal- | and to | H5921 → | 5755 times |
| הַנְּבִיאִים֙ | haneviim | the prophets | H5030 → | 314 times |
| צִוִּיתֶ֣ם | tzivitem | you commanded | H6680 → | 494 times |
| לֵאמֹ֔ר | lemor | <to> saying | H559 → | 5305 times |
| לֹ֖א | lo' | not | H3808 → | 5168 times |
| תִּנָּבְאֽוּ׃ | tinaveu | you must prophesy | H5012 → | 115 times |
וַתַּשְׁק֥וּand you made drink
vatashkuH8248 →
אֶת־<obj.>
ʾet-H853 →10935 times
הַנְּזִרִ֖יםthe Nazirites
hanezirimH5139 →
יָ֑יִןwine
yayinH3196 →141 times
וְעַל־and to
veal-H5921 →5755 times
הַנְּבִיאִים֙the prophets
haneviimH5030 →314 times
צִוִּיתֶ֣םyou commanded
tzivitemH6680 →494 times
לֵאמֹ֔ר<to> saying
lemorH559 →5305 times
לֹ֖אnot
lo'H3808 →5168 times
תִּנָּבְאֽוּ׃you must prophesy
tinaveuH5012 →115 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
Isaiah 30:10They say to the seers, “Stop seeing visions!” and to the prophets, “Do not prophesy to us the truth! Speak to us pleasant words; prophesy illusions.
it leads to
- Amos 7:13
But never prophesy at Bethel again, because it is the sanctuary of the king and the temple of the kingdom.”
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Romans 16:18
For such people are not serving our Lord Christ, but their own appetites. By smooth talk and flattery they deceive the hearts of the naive.
- Ezekiel 13:7–10
Haven’t you seen a false vision and spoken a lying divination when you proclaim, ‘Thus declares the LORD,’ even though I have not spoken?
- Jeremiah 11:21
Therefore this is what the LORD says concerning the people of Anathoth who are seeking your life and saying, “You must not prophesy in the name of the LORD, or you will die by…
- Amos 7:13
Through
Micah 2:6“Do not preach,” they preach. “Do not preach these things; disgrace will not overtake us.”
it leads to
- Isaiah 30:10
They say to the seers, “Stop seeing visions!” and to the prophets, “Do not prophesy to us the truth! Speak to us pleasant words; prophesy illusions.
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Acts 5:40
At this, they yielded to Gamaliel. They called the apostles in and had them flogged. Then they ordered them not to speak in the name of Jesus, and released them.
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Isaiah 30:10
Through
Amos 7:16Now, therefore, hear the word of the LORD. You say: ‘Do not prophesy against Israel; do not preach against the house of Isaac.’
it leads to
- Ezekiel 21:2
“Son of man, set your face against Jerusalem and preach against the sanctuaries. Prophesy against the land of Israel
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Ezekiel 21:2
Through
Amos 7:13But never prophesy at Bethel again, because it is the sanctuary of the king and the temple of the kingdom.”
it leads to
- 1 Kings 12:32
And Jeroboam ordained a feast on the fifteenth day of the eighth month, like the feast that was in Judah, and he offered sacrifices on the altar; he made this offering in Bethel to…
- 1 Kings 12:32
Where this verse is studied
On this page
About Amos
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes on the Old Testament; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Jerome, Commentary on Amos; Jerome, AGAINST JOVINIANUS 2:15; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.