Amos 2:4
in Amos 2This is what the LORD says: “For three transgressions of Judah, even four, I will not revoke My judgment, because they reject the Law of the LORD and fail to keep His statutes; they are led astray by the lies in which their fathers walked.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
Thus saith Jehovah: For three transgressions of Judah, yea, for four, I will not turn away the punishment thereof; because they have rejected the law of Jehovah, and have not kept his statutes, and their lies have caused them to err, after which their fathers did walk.
KJV
Thus saith the Lord; For three transgressions of Judah, and for four, I will not turn away the punishment thereof; because they have despised the law of the Lord, and have not kept his commandments, and their lies caused them to err, after the which their fathers have walked:
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This verse in Amos 2
Commentary
8 notes on this verse(Verse 4, 5.) Thus says the Lord: On account of three crimes of Judah, and on account of four, I will not turn them aside, because they have rejected the law of the Lord and have not kept his commandments. They have been deceived by their idols, after which their fathers walked, and I will send fire into Judah, and it will devour the palaces of Jerusalem.
This site's exposition
they have despised the law of the Lord
on Amos 2:4-5
The formula shifts here in a way every hearer in Israel would have felt, since the six oracles before this named war crimes against neighbors while Judah's charge is purely covenantal, despising the law of the Lord and being led astray by lies their fathers walked after, meaning idolatry inherited across generations rather than any single act of violence. The bench reads the shift as deliberate, moving the whole argument from the natural law that binds every nation to the revealed law that binds Judah and Israel alone, which is the ground the next oracle will stand on at full weight. Fire upon Judah devouring the palaces of Jerusalem is read by the older writers as reaching its fulfilment in the Babylonian destruction more than a century later.
The record, by era
The Puritans and the Awakening3 voices
Thus saith the Lord, for three transgressions of Judah,.... With whom Benjamin must be joined; for the two tribes are meant as distinct from the ten tribes, under the name of Israel, following. The prophet proceeds from the Heathens round about to the people of God themselves, for the ill usage of whom chiefly the above nations are threatened with ruin, lest they should promise themselves impunity in sin; though, if they rightly considered things, they could not expect it; since, if the Heathens, ignorant of the will of God, and his law, were punished for their sins, then much more those who knew it, and did it not, Luk 12:47; and he begins with Judah, partly because he was of that tribe, lest he should be charged with flattery and partiality, and partly because of the order of his prophecy, which being chiefly concerned with Israel, it was proper that what he had to say to Judah should be delivered first: and for four, I will not turn away the punishment thereof; the prophet retains the same form as in his prophecies against the Heathen nations; his own people, and God's professing people, being guilty of numerous transgressions, as well as they, and more aggravated than theirs; See Gill on Amo 1:3; because they have despised the law of the Lord; a law so holy, just, and good, and so righteous, as no other nation had; and yet was not only not observed, but contemned: other nations sinned against the light of nature, and are not charged with breaches of the law of God, which was not given them; but these people had it, yet lightly esteemed it; counted it as a strange thing; walked not according to it, but cast it away from them; which was a great affront to the sovereignty of God, and a trampling upon his legislative power and authority: and have not kept his commandments; or "statutes" (p); the ordinances of the ceremonial law, which he appointed them to observe for […]
He at length begins his charge against Israel, to which all that goes before is but an introduction. The sins they are charged with--injustice, oppression, whoredom,
They made nothing of selling a righteous man, and his righteous cause when it came to be tried before them, for a piece of silver; sentence was passed, not according to the merits of the cause, but the bribe always turned the scale, and judgment was set to sale by auction to the highest bidder.
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
For three transgressions of Judah - We may take the three and four here to any latitude; for this people lived in continual hostility to their God, from the days of David to the time of Uzziah, under whom Amos prophesied. Their iniquities are summed up under three general heads: 1. They despised, or rejected the law of the Lord. 2. They kept not his statutes. 3. They followed lies, were idolaters, and followed false prophets rather than those sent by Jehovah.
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
From foreign kingdoms he passes to Judah and Israel, lest it should be said, he was strenuous in denouncing sins abroad, but connived at those of his own nation. Judah's guilt differs from that of all the others, in that it was directly against God, not merely against man.
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
For three transgressions of Judah etc. - Rup.: “Here too there is no difference of Jew and Gentile. The word of God, a just judge, spareth no man’s person. whom sin joins in one, the sentence of the Judge disjoins not in punishment” Rom 2:12. “As many as have sinned without law, shall also perish without law, and as many as have signed in the law, shall be judged by the law.” Jerome: “Those other nations, Damascus and the rest, he upbraids not for having cast away the law of God, and despised His commandments, for they had not the written law, but that of nature only. So then of them he says, that “they corrupted all their compassions” - and the like. But Judah, who, at that time, had the worship of God and the temple and its rites, and had received the law and commandments and judgments and precepts and testimonies, is rebuked and convicted by the Lord, for that it had “cast aside His law and not kept His commandments;” wherefore it should be punished as it deserved. And since they rejected and despised these, then, in course, “their lies deceived them,” that is, their idols; “lies” on their part who made them and worshiped them for the true God, and “lies” and lying to them, as deceiving their hopes. “For an idol is nothing in the world” 1Co 8:4, as neither are all the vanities in the world whereof people make idols, but they deceive by a vain show, as though they were something. Jerome: “They would not have been deceived by their idols, unless they had first rejected the law of the Lord and not done His commandments.” They had sinned with a high hand: “despising” and so rejecting the law of God; and so He despised and rejected them, leaving them to be deceived by the lies which they themselves had chosen. So it ever is with man. […]
The words behind it
25 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| כֹּ֚ה | koh | thus | H3541 → | 577 times |
| אָמַ֣ר | ʾamar | he says | H559 → | 5305 times |
| יְהוָ֔ה | yahweh | Yahweh | H3068 → | 6520 times |
| עַל־ | ʾal- | on | H5921 → | 5755 times |
| שְׁלֹשָׁה֙ | sheloshah | three | H7969 → | 432 times |
| פִּשְׁעֵ֣י | pishei | <the> transgressions of | H6588 → | 93 times |
| יְהוּדָ֔ה | yehudah | Judah | H3063 → | 819 times |
| וְעַל־ | veal- | and on | H5921 → | 5755 times |
| אַרְבָּעָ֖ה | ʾarbaah | four | H702 → | 318 times |
| לֹ֣א | lo' | not | H3808 → | 5168 times |
| אֲשִׁיבֶ֑נּוּ | ʾashivenu | I will revoke it | H7725 → | 1056 times |
| עַֽל־ | ʾal- | because | H5921 → | 5755 times |
| מָאֳסָ֞ם | moosam | have rejected they | H3988 → | |
| אֶת־ | ʾet- | <obj.> | H853 → | 10935 times |
| תּוֹרַ֣ת | torat | [the] law of | H8451 → | |
| יְהוָ֗ה | yahweh | Yahweh | H3068 → | 6520 times |
| וְחֻקָּיו֙ | vechukav | and statutes his | H2706 → | |
| לֹ֣א | lo' | not | H3808 → | 5168 times |
| שָׁמָ֔רוּ | shamaru | they have kept | H8104 → | |
| וַיַּתְעוּם֙ | vaiyatum | and they have misled them | H8582 → | |
| כִּזְבֵיהֶ֔ם | kizveihem | lies their | H3577 → | |
| אֲשֶׁר־ | ʾasher- | which | H834 → | 5497 times |
| הָלְכ֥וּ | halekhu | they walked | H1980 → | 1546 times |
| אֲבוֹתָ֖ם | ʾavotam | ancestors their | H1 → | |
| אַחֲרֵיהֶֽם׃ | ʾachareihem | after them | H310 → | 715 times |
כֹּ֚הthus
kohH3541 →577 times
אָמַ֣רhe says
ʾamarH559 →5305 times
יְהוָ֔הYahweh
yahwehH3068 →6520 times
עַל־on
ʾal-H5921 →5755 times
שְׁלֹשָׁה֙three
sheloshahH7969 →432 times
פִּשְׁעֵ֣י<the> transgressions of
pisheiH6588 →93 times
יְהוּדָ֔הJudah
yehudahH3063 →819 times
וְעַל־and on
veal-H5921 →5755 times
אַרְבָּעָ֖הfour
ʾarbaahH702 →318 times
לֹ֣אnot
lo'H3808 →5168 times
אֲשִׁיבֶ֑נּוּI will revoke it
ʾashivenuH7725 →1056 times
עַֽל־because
ʾal-H5921 →5755 times
מָאֳסָ֞םhave rejected they
moosamH3988 →
אֶת־<obj.>
ʾet-H853 →10935 times
תּוֹרַ֣ת[the] law of
toratH8451 →
יְהוָ֗הYahweh
yahwehH3068 →6520 times
וְחֻקָּיו֙and statutes his
vechukavH2706 →
לֹ֣אnot
lo'H3808 →5168 times
שָׁמָ֔רוּthey have kept
shamaruH8104 →
וַיַּתְעוּם֙and they have misled them
vaiyatumH8582 →
כִּזְבֵיהֶ֔םlies their
kizveihemH3577 →
אֲשֶׁר־which
ʾasher-H834 →5497 times
הָלְכ֥וּthey walked
halekhuH1980 →1546 times
אֲבוֹתָ֖םancestors their
ʾavotamH1 →
אַחֲרֵיהֶֽם׃after them
ʾachareihemH310 →715 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
Ezekiel 20:13Yet the house of Israel rebelled against Me in the wilderness. They did not follow My statutes and they rejected My ordinances—though the man who does these things will live by them—and they utterly…
it leads to
- Ezekiel 20:8
But they rebelled against Me and refused to listen. None of them cast away the abominations before their eyes, and they did not forsake the idols of Egypt. So I resolved to pour out…
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Ezekiel 20:21
But the children rebelled against Me. They did not walk in My statutes or carefully observe My ordinances—though the man who does these things will live by them—and they profaned My Sabbaths. So I…
- Ezekiel 20:24
For they did not practice My ordinances, but they rejected My statutes and profaned My Sabbaths, fixing their eyes on the idols of their fathers.
- Ezekiel 20:8
Through
Ezekiel 20:24For they did not practice My ordinances, but they rejected My statutes and profaned My Sabbaths, fixing their eyes on the idols of their fathers.
it leads to
- Ezekiel 20:16
because they kept rejecting My ordinances, refusing to walk in My statutes, and profaning My Sabbaths; for their hearts continually went after their idols.
- Ezekiel 6:9
Then in the nations to which they have been carried captive, your survivors will remember Me—how I have been grieved by their adulterous hearts that turned away from Me, and by their eyes that…
- Ezekiel 20:16
Through
Hosea 12:2The LORD also brings a charge against Judah. He will punish Jacob according to his ways and repay him according to his deeds.
it leads to
- Micah 6:2
Hear, O mountains, the LORD’s indictment, you enduring foundations of the earth. For the LORD has a case against His people, and He will argue it against Israel:
- Hosea 4:1
Hear the word of the LORD, O children of Israel, for the LORD has a case against the people of the land: “There is no truth, no loving devotion, and no knowledge of God…
- Isaiah 10:6
I will send him against a godless nation; I will dispatch him against a people destined for My rage, to take spoils and seize plunder, and to trample them down like clay in the…
- Micah 6:2
Where this verse is studied
On this page
Studies2
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About Amos
Who and where
1 name in this verse with a page on the site.
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; Jerome, Commentary on Amos; John Calvin, Commentaries on the Twelve Minor Prophets; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763) and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.