Amos 3:15
in Amos 3I will tear down the winter house along with the summer house; the houses of ivory will also perish, and the great houses will come to an end,” declares the LORD.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
And I will smite the winter-house with the summer-house; and the houses of ivory shall perish, and the great houses shall have an end, saith Jehovah.
KJV
And I will smite the winter house with the summer house; and the houses of ivory shall perish, and the great houses shall have an end, saith the Lord.
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This verse in Amos 3
Commentary
8 notes on this verse(Verse 14, 15.) Listen and testify in the house of Jacob, says the Lord God of hosts, because on the day when I begin to visit the transgressions of Israel upon him, I will also visit the altars of Bethel: and the horns of the altar shall be cut off, and shall fall to the ground: and I will strike the winter house with the summer house, and the houses of ivory shall perish: and many houses shall be destroyed, says the Lord.
This site's exposition
testify in the house of Jacob
on Amos 3:13-15
The chapter's last oracle names Bethel by its function rather than its fame, the horns of the altar cut off and fallen to the ground, stripping the very place of asylum and atonement the northern kingdom had built to rival Jerusalem's own temple since Jeroboam I. Winter house and summer house together with the houses of ivory recall Ahab's ivory house named at 1 Kings 22:39, and the bench reads the list as evidence that the wealth financing Bethel's calves and Samaria's luxury was the same wealth taken from the poor named two chapters earlier. The great houses shall have an end closes chapter 3 on the same note chapter 1 opened with, judgment reaching from the surrounding nations' palaces to Israel's own, with no exemption left standing.
The record, by era
The Puritans and the Awakening4 voices
The winter-house - Which probably was in the chief city, whither the great men retired in the winter. The summer-house - The houses of pleasure, where the nobles and rich men spent the summer time.
And I will smite the winter house with the summer house,....
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,
Note, The pomp or pleasantness of men's houses will be so far from fortifying them against God's judgments that it will make them the more grievous and vexatious, as their extravagance about them will be put to the score of their sins and follies.
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
And I will smite the winter house with the summer house - Upon idolatry, there follow luxury and pride. “So wealthy were they,” says Jerome, “as to possess two sorts of houses, “the winter house” being turned to the south, the “summer house” to the north, so that, according to the variety of the seasons, they might temper to them the heat and cold.” Yet of these luxuries, (so much more natural in the East where summer-heat is so intense, and there is so little provision against cold) the only instance expressly recorded, besides this place, is “the winter house” of Jehoiakim.
1 more voice on this verse
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
I will smite the winter house with the summer house - I will not only destroy the poor habitations and villages in the country, but I will destroy those of the nobility and gentry as well as the lofty palaces in the fortified cities in which they dwell in the winter season, as those light and elegant seats in which they spend the summer season. Dr. Shaw observes that “the hills and valleys round about Algiers are all over beautified with gardens and country seats, whither the inhabitants of better fashion retire during the heats of the summer season. They are little white houses, shaded with a variety of fruit trees and evergreens, which beside shade and retirement, afford a gay and delightful prospect toward the sea. The gardens are all well stocked with melons, fruits, and pot herbs of all kinds; and (which is chiefly regarded in these hot countries) each of them enjoys a great command of water.” And the houses of ivory - Those remarkable for their magnificence and their ornaments, not built of ivory, but in which ivory vessels, ornaments, and inlaying abounded. Thus, then, the winter houses and the summer houses, the great houses and the houses of uncommon splendor, shall all perish. There should be a total desolation in the land. No kind of house should be a refuge, and no kind of habitation should be spared. Ahab had at Samaria a house that was called the ivory house, 1Ki 22:39. This may be particularly referred to in this place. We cannot suppose that a house constructed entirely of ivory can be intended.
The words behind it
14 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וְהִכֵּיתִ֥י | vehikeiti | and I will strike | H5221 → | 499 times |
| בֵית־ | veit- | [the] house of | H1004 → | 2046 times |
| הַחֹ֖רֶף | hachoref | the winter | H2779 → | |
| עַל־ | ʾal- | to | H5921 → | 5755 times |
| בֵּ֣ית | beit | [the] house of | H1004 → | 2046 times |
| הַקָּ֑יִץ | hakayitz | the summer | H7019 → | 20 times |
| וְאָבְד֞וּ | veavedu | and they will perish | H6 → | 184 times |
| בָּתֵּ֣י | batei | [the] houses of | H1004 → | 2046 times |
| הַשֵּׁ֗ן | hashen | <the> ivory | H8127 → | 55 times |
| וְסָפ֛וּ | vesafu | and people will snatch away | H5595 → | |
| בָּתִּ֥ים | batim | houses | H1004 → | 2046 times |
| רַבִּ֖ים | rabim | great | H7227 → | 454 times |
| נְאֻם־ | neum- | [the] utterance of | H5002 → | 376 times |
| יְהוָֽה׃ ס | yahweh | Yahweh | H3068 → | 6520 times |
וְהִכֵּיתִ֥יand I will strike
vehikeitiH5221 →499 times
בֵית־[the] house of
veit-H1004 →2046 times
הַחֹ֖רֶףthe winter
hachorefH2779 →
עַל־to
ʾal-H5921 →5755 times
בֵּ֣ית[the] house of
beitH1004 →2046 times
הַקָּ֑יִץthe summer
hakayitzH7019 →20 times
וְאָבְד֞וּand they will perish
veaveduH6 →184 times
בָּתֵּ֣י[the] houses of
bateiH1004 →2046 times
הַשֵּׁ֗ן<the> ivory
hashenH8127 →55 times
וְסָפ֛וּand people will snatch away
vesafuH5595 →
בָּתִּ֥יםhouses
batimH1004 →2046 times
רַבִּ֖יםgreat
rabimH7227 →454 times
נְאֻם־[the] utterance of
neum-H5002 →376 times
יְהוָֽה׃ סYahweh
yahwehH3068 →6520 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
Amos 6:11For the LORD gives a command: “The great house will be smashed to pieces, and the small house to rubble.”
it leads to
- Isaiah 55:11
so My word that proceeds from My mouth will not return to Me empty, but it will accomplish what I please, and it will prosper where I send it.
- 2 Kings 25:9
He burned down the house of the LORD, the royal palace, and all the houses of Jerusalem—every significant building.
- Nahum 1:14
The LORD has issued a command concerning you, O Nineveh: “There will be no descendants to carry on your name. I will cut off the carved image and cast idol from the house of…
- Amos 6:8
The Lord GOD has sworn by Himself—the LORD, the God of Hosts, has declared: “I abhor Jacob’s pride and detest his citadels, so I will deliver up the city and everything in it.”
- Isaiah 55:11
Through
Isaiah 5:9I heard the LORD of Hosts declare: “Surely many houses will become desolate, great mansions left unoccupied.
it leads to
- Matthew 23:38
Look, your house is left to you desolate.
- Amos 5:11
Therefore, because you trample on the poor and exact from him a tax of grain, you will never live in the stone houses you have built; you will never drink the wine from the…
- Isaiah 22:14
The LORD of Hosts has revealed in my hearing: “Until your dying day, this sin of yours will never be atoned for,” says the Lord GOD of Hosts.
- Matthew 23:38
Through
Judges 3:20Then Ehud approached him while he was sitting alone in the coolness of his upper room. “I have a word from God for you,” Ehud said, and the king rose from his seat.
it leads to
- Jeremiah 10:7
Who would not fear You, O King of nations? This is Your due. For among all the wise men of the nations, and in all their kingdoms, there is none like You.
- Jeremiah 10:7
About Amos
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Carl Friedrich Keil, The Twelve Minor Prophets; 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.