Amos 3:12
in Amos 3This is what the LORD says: “As the shepherd snatches from the mouth of the lion two legs or a piece of an ear, so the Israelites dwelling in Samaria will be rescued having just the corner of a bed or the cushion of a couch.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
Thus saith Jehovah: As the shepherd rescueth out of the mouth of the lion two legs, or a piece of an ear, so shall the children of Israel be rescued that sit in Samaria in the corner of a couch, and on the silken cushions of a bed.
KJV
Thus saith the Lord; As the shepherd taketh out of the mouth of the lion two legs, or a piece of an ear; so shall the children of Israel be taken out that dwell in Samaria in the corner of a bed, and in Damascus in a couch.
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This verse in Amos 3
Commentary
11 notes on this verseAs the shepherd taketh out of the mouth of the lion - Scarcely any of you shall escape; and those that do shall do so with extreme difficulty, just as a shepherd, of a whole sheep carried away by a lion, can recover no more than two of its legs, or a piece of its ear, just enough to prove by the marks on those parts, that they belonged to a sheep which was his own.
This site's exposition
An adversary there shall be even round about the land
on Amos 3:11-12
The adversary named without a name is read by the bench as Assyria, the empire whose shadow lies behind every oracle in the book though Amos never speaks its name outright, its armies to surround the land and spoil the very palaces just named as guilty. The shepherd rescuing two legs or a piece of an ear from the lion's mouth invokes the legal principle of Exodus 22:13, evidence produced to prove a beast was truly killed and the loss not the shepherd's fault, applied here to a remnant so meager it will only prove how total the disaster was, not that it was survived. The corner of a bed and the couch in Damascus, a textual crux the commentators read as either luxury furnishings looted or the posture of the doomed reclining in false security, are named with the readings rather than settled.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers2 voices
(Vers. 12, 13.) Thus says the Lord: Just as a shepherd rescues from the mouth of a lion two legs or the tip of an ear, so will the sons of Israel who dwell in Samaria be rescued, on the corner of a bed and in Damascus on the sheets. LXX: Thus says the Lord: Just as a shepherd tears away from the mouth of a lion two legs or the tip of an ear, so will the sons of Israel who dwell in Samaria be torn away, in front of the tribe and in Damascus. In the beginning of Amos, where we discussed those verses: The Lord will roar from Zion, and from Jerusalem He will give His voice; and the beautiful pastures will mourn, and the top of Carmel will wither, we said that He was using his art of speaking so that, since as a shepherd of sheep He knew nothing more terrifying than a lion, He would compare the anger of the Lord to lions. According to this meaning, he now also takes an example from what he had often seen, and thus describes that the small remaining remnants of the Assyrians must be extracted by hand: just as if a shepherd, with all the other parts devoured, were to snatch two legs or the outermost part of the ear from the jaws of a lion. And with the example of comparison set aside, he says that the sons of Israel, specifically the ten tribes who dwell in Samaria, will be extracted in the same way, from the edge of the bed and from the grab at Damascus. What seems to me to be explained in this way: we read in Isaiah that Rezin king of Aram, that is, the Syrians, who reigned in Damascus, and Pekah son of Remaliah king of Israel, with the intention of fighting against Judah, came (Isa. VII): concerning whom the Lord directs Achaz king of Judah and Jerusalem not to be afraid of the two half-burnt torches: because as a sign of complete liberation, the Virgin's conception and childbirth are shown to him. […]
If, then, any hope of salvation is still left to you, if any slight remembrance of God, if any desire for future rewards, if any fear of the punishments reserved for the unrepentant come back quickly to sobriety; raise your eyes to the heavens; return to your senses; cease your wickedness; shake off the drunkenness that has drenched you; stand up against him who has overthrown you. Have the strength to rise up from the earth. Remember the good Shepherd, how he will pursue and deliver you.
The Puritans and the Awakening3 voices
(1.) Their country shall be invaded and ruined; and observe how the punishment answers to the sin. [1.] Great tumults are in the midst of the land, and therefore an adversary shall be even round about the land; the Assyrian forces shall surround it and break in upon it on every side.
Those that stretch themselves lazily upon their couches when God's judgments are abroad shall go captive with the first that go captive. Notice is given of it to themselves,
As the shepherd - As the shepherd doth hardly rescue a small part of a sheep or lamb from the lion, so a small part of the children of Israel, shall escape when Samaria is taken.
4 more voices on this verse
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
Thus saith the Lord, as the shepherd taketh out of the mouth of the lion,....
8 The lion hath roared, who will not fear? the Lord G OD hath spoken, who can but prophesy? The scope of these verses is to convince the people of Israel that God had a controversy with them. That which the prophet has to say to them is to let them know that the Lord has something to say against them,
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
The parallelism of "Samaria" to "Damascus," and the Septuagint favor English Version rather than GESENIUS: "on a damask couch." The Hebrew pointing, though generally expressing damask, may express the city "Damascus"; and many manuscripts point it so.
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
As the shepherd taketh - (Rather, rescueth) out of the mouth of the lion two legs (Properly, the shank, the lower part of the leg below the knee, which in animals is dry, and bone only and worthless) “or apiece” (the tip) “of an ear, so” (that is, so few and weak, so bared and spoiled, a mere remnant,) “shall the children of Israel be taken out” (rather, “rescued”) “that” now “dwell” at ease “in Samaria in the corner of a bed, and in Damascus” , in “a couch,” or rather “in Damascus, a couch.” Now, that soft, rounded, oblong, hill of Samaria, was one large luxurious couch, in which its rich and great rested securely, propped and cushioned up on both sides, in, what is still the place of dignity, “the corner of a bed,” or “Divan,” that is, the inner corner where the two sides meet. Damascus also, which Jeroboam had won for Israel, was a canopied couch to them, in which they stayed themselves. It is an image of listless ease and security, like that of these whom the false prophetesses lulled into careless stupidity as to their souls; “sewing pillows to all armholes,” or “wrists” Eze 13:18, whereon to lean in a dull inertness. In vain! Of all those who then dwelt at ease and in luxury, the Good Shepherd Himself should rescue from “the lion,” (the enemy, in the first instance the Assyrian,) a small remnant, in the sight of the enemy and of man of little account, but precious in the sight of God. The enemy would leave them perhaps, as not worth removing, just as, when the lion has devoured the fat and the strong, the shepherd may recover from him some slight piece of skin or extremity of the bones. Amos then, as well as Joel (see the note at Joe 2:32), preaches that same solemn sentence, so repeated throughout the prophets, “a reimnant” only “shall be saved.” So doubtless it was in the captivity of the ten tribes, as in the rest. […]
How the passage was read
What the Jewish commentators add
On the verses either side of this one
An adversary, even round about the land —The adversary is prepared to come, and he will come around this land.
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. 7 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
23 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| כֹּה֮ | koh | thus | H3541 → | 577 times |
| אָמַ֣ר | ʾamar | he says | H559 → | 5305 times |
| יְהוָה֒ | yahweh | Yahweh | H3068 → | 6520 times |
| כַּאֲשֶׁר֩ | kaasher | just as | H834 → | 5497 times |
| יַצִּ֨יל | yatzil | he delivers | H5337 → | 212 times |
| הָרֹעֶ֜ה | haroeh | the shepherd | H7462 → | |
| מִפִּ֧י | mipi | from [the] mouth of | H6310 → | |
| הָאֲרִ֛י | haari | <the> lion | H738 → | 80 times |
| שְׁתֵּ֥י | shetei | two | H8147 → | 768 times |
| כְרָעַ֖יִם | kheraayim | legs | H3767 → | |
| א֣וֹ | ʾo | or | H176 → | |
| בְדַל־ | vedal- | a piece of | H915 → | |
| אֹ֑זֶן | ʾozen | an ear | H241 → | |
| כֵּ֣ן | ken | so | H3651 → | 771 times |
| יִנָּצְל֞וּ | yinatzelu | they will be delivered | H5337 → | 212 times |
| בְּנֵ֣י | benei | [the] people of | H1121 → | 4930 times |
| יִשְׂרָאֵ֗ל | yisrael | Israel | H3478 → | 2507 times |
| הַיֹּֽשְׁבִים֙ | haiyoshevim | who dwell | H3427 → | 1079 times |
| בְּשֹׁ֣מְר֔וֹן | beshomeron | in Samaria | H8111 → | 109 times |
| בִּפְאַ֥ת | bifat | with a corner of | H6285 → | |
| מִטָּ֖ה | mitah | a bed | H4296 → | |
| וּבִדְמֶ֥שֶׁק | uvidmeshek | and with silk of | H1833 → | |
| עָֽרֶשׂ׃ | ʾares | a couch | H6210 → |
כֹּה֮thus
kohH3541 →577 times
אָמַ֣רhe says
ʾamarH559 →5305 times
יְהוָה֒Yahweh
yahwehH3068 →6520 times
כַּאֲשֶׁר֩just as
kaasherH834 →5497 times
יַצִּ֨ילhe delivers
yatzilH5337 →212 times
הָרֹעֶ֜הthe shepherd
haroehH7462 →
מִפִּ֧יfrom [the] mouth of
mipiH6310 →
הָאֲרִ֛י<the> lion
haariH738 →80 times
שְׁתֵּ֥יtwo
sheteiH8147 →768 times
כְרָעַ֖יִםlegs
kheraayimH3767 →
א֣וֹor
ʾoH176 →
בְדַל־a piece of
vedal-H915 →
אֹ֑זֶןan ear
ʾozenH241 →
כֵּ֣ןso
kenH3651 →771 times
יִנָּצְל֞וּthey will be delivered
yinatzeluH5337 →212 times
בְּנֵ֣י[the] people of
beneiH1121 →4930 times
יִשְׂרָאֵ֗לIsrael
yisraelH3478 →2507 times
הַיֹּֽשְׁבִים֙who dwell
haiyoshevimH3427 →1079 times
בְּשֹׁ֣מְר֔וֹןin Samaria
beshomeronH8111 →109 times
בִּפְאַ֥תwith a corner of
bifatH6285 →
מִטָּ֖הa bed
mitahH4296 →
וּבִדְמֶ֥שֶׁקand with silk of
uvidmeshekH1833 →
עָֽרֶשׂ׃a couch
ʾaresH6210 →
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 31:4For this is what the LORD has said to me: “Like a lion roaring or a young lion over its prey—and though a band of shepherds is called out against it, it is not…
it leads to
- Amos 3:8
The lion has roared—who will not fear? The Lord GOD has spoken—who will not prophesy?
- Hosea 11:10
They will walk after the LORD; He will roar like a lion. When He roars, His children will come trembling from the west.
- Zechariah 2:5
For I will be a wall of fire around it, declares the LORD, and I will be the glory within it.’”
- Isaiah 42:13
The LORD goes forth like a mighty one; He stirs up His zeal like a warrior. He shouts; yes, He roars in triumph over His enemies:
- Zechariah 12:8
On that day the LORD will defend the people of Jerusalem, so that the weakest among them will be like David, and the house of David will be like God, like the angel of…
- Amos 3:8
Through
1 Kings 20:30The rest of them fled into the city of Aphek, where the wall fell on twenty-seven thousand of the remaining men. Ben-hadad also fled to the city and hid in an inner room.
it leads to
- 2 Chronicles 18:24
Micaiah replied, “You will soon see, on that day when you go and hide in an inner room.”
- 1 Kings 22:25
Micaiah replied, “You will soon see, on that day when you go and hide in an inner room.”
- Luke 13:4
Or those eighteen who were killed when the tower of Siloam collapsed on them: Do you think that they were more sinful than all the others living in Jerusalem?
- 2 Chronicles 18:24
About Amos
Who and where
1 name in this verse with a page on the site.
This page draws on 10 works. Open the list of works
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); Basil of Caesarea, LETTER 44, TO A FALLEN MONK; Edward Bouverie Pusey, The Minor Prophets: A Commentary; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; Jerome, Commentary on Amos; 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.