Amos 3:7
in Amos 3Surely the Lord GOD does nothing without revealing His plan to His servants the prophets.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
Surely the Lord Jehovah will do nothing, except he reveal his secret unto his servants the prophets.
KJV
Surely the Lord God will do nothing, but he revealeth his secret unto his servants the prophets.
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This verse in Amos 3
Commentary
10 notes on this verse(Verse 3 onwards) Will two walk together unless they have agreed? Does a lion roar in the forest unless it has prey? Does a lion's cub give a cry from its den without capturing something? Does a bird fall into a trap on the ground without a trapper? Does a trap spring up from the ground before catching something? If a trumpet is blown in a city, will not the people be afraid? If there is calamity in a city, has not the Lord caused it?
This site's exposition
he revealeth his secret unto his servants the prophets
on Amos 3:7-8
Surely the Lord God will do nothing, but he revealeth his secret unto his servants the prophets states the principle behind the proverbs just given, that prophetic speech is not innovation but disclosure, the prophet made privy to a plan already decided. The lion hath roared, who will not fear, repeats the book's opening image from 1:2 and turns it into Amos's own defense, the compulsion he will name outright to Amaziah at 7:14-15 when ordered to stop prophesying at Bethel. The Lord God hath spoken, who can but prophesy closes the argument as a rhetorical question with only one honest answer, no one.
The record, by era
The Medieval Church1 voice
The Lord reveals to the prophets all things that are necessary for the instruction of the faithful; yet not all to every one, but some to one, and some to another. And although God revealed in general to the prophets what He was one day …
The Puritans and the Awakening3 voices
The secret of God is with them; it is in some sense with all the righteous ( Prov. iii. 32 ), with all that fear God ( Ps. xxv. 14 ), but in a peculiar manner with the prophets, to whom the Spirit of prophecy is a Spirit of revelation.
Surely the Lord God will do nothing,....
Of the sins that were found among them, by which God was provoked thus to threaten, thus to punish, that they might justify God in his controversy with them, and, unless they repented and reformed, might expect no other than that God should proceed in his controversy,
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
Surely the Lord God will do - For the Lord God “doeth” Nothing, but He revealeth His secret unto His servants the prophets - So our Lord saith, “And now I have told you before it come to pass, that, when it is come to pass, ye may believe” (Joh 14:29; compare Joh 13:19). While it is yet a “secret” counsel within Himself, He admitteth to it His servants the prophets.
3 more voices on this verse
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
17:25, 26). unto his servants--who being servants cannot but obey their Lord in setting forth His purpose (namely, that of judgment against Israel) (Jer 20:9; Therefore the fault which the ungodly find with them is groundless (1Ki 18:17). It aggravates Israel's sin, that God is not about to inflict judgment, without having fully warned the people, if haply they might repent.
Surely the Lord God will do nothing - In reference to the punishment, correction, or blessing of his people: - But he revealeth his secret unto his servants the prophets - They are in strict correspondence with him, and he shows them things to come. Such secrets of God are revealed to them, that they may inform the people; that, by repentance and conversion, they may avoid the evil, and, by walking closely with God, secure the continuance of his favor.
Modern Voices1 voice
Jesus will do nothing in His Church or on planet Earth without first proclaiming it through His prophets.
The words behind it
13 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| כִּ֣י | ki | for | H3588 → | 4482 times |
| לֹ֧א | lo' | not | H3808 → | 5168 times |
| יַעֲשֶׂ֛ה | yaaseh | he does | H6213 → | 2628 times |
| אֲדֹנָ֥י | ʾadonai | [the] Lord | H136 → | 440 times |
| יְהוִ֖ה | yahweh | Yahweh | H3069 → | 306 times |
| דָּבָ֑ר | davar | anything | H1697 → | 1440 times |
| כִּ֚י | ki | that | H3588 → | 4482 times |
| אִם־ | ʾim- | except | H518 → | 1069 times |
| גָּלָ֣ה | galah | he has revealed | H1540 → | 186 times |
| סוֹד֔וֹ | sodo | secret counsel his | H5475 → | |
| אֶל־ | ʾel- | to | H413 → | 5510 times |
| עֲבָדָ֖יו | ʾavadav | servants his | H5650 → | |
| הַנְּבִיאִֽים׃ | haneviim | the prophets | H5030 → | 314 times |
כִּ֣יfor
kiH3588 →4482 times
לֹ֧אnot
lo'H3808 →5168 times
יַעֲשֶׂ֛הhe does
yaasehH6213 →2628 times
אֲדֹנָ֥י[the] Lord
ʾadonaiH136 →440 times
יְהוִ֖הYahweh
yahwehH3069 →306 times
דָּבָ֑רanything
davarH1697 →1440 times
כִּ֚יthat
kiH3588 →4482 times
אִם־except
ʾim-H518 →1069 times
גָּלָ֣הhe has revealed
galahH1540 →186 times
סוֹד֔וֹsecret counsel his
sodoH5475 →
אֶל־to
ʾel-H413 →5510 times
עֲבָדָ֖יוservants his
ʾavadavH5650 →
הַנְּבִיאִֽים׃the prophets
haneviimH5030 →314 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
John 15:15No longer do I call you servants, for a servant does not understand what his master is doing. But I have called you friends, because everything I have learned from My Father I have…
it leads to
- Psalms 25:14
The LORD confides in those who fear Him, and reveals His covenant to them.
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- 1 Corinthians 2:9–12
Rather, as it is written: “No eye has seen, no ear has heard, no heart has imagined, what God has prepared for those who love Him.”
- Matthew 13:11
He replied, “The knowledge of the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven has been given to you, but not to them.
- James 2:23
And the Scripture was fulfilled that says, “Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness,” and he was called a friend of God.
- Psalms 25:14
Through
Psalms 25:14The LORD confides in those who fear Him, and reveals His covenant to them.
it leads to
- John 15:15
No longer do I call you servants, for a servant does not understand what his master is doing. But I have called you friends, because everything I have learned from My Father I have…
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- John 15:15
Through
Revelation 1:1This is the revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave Him to show His servants what must soon come to pass. He made it known by sending His angel to His servant John,
it leads to
- Revelation 22:16
“I, Jesus, have sent My angel to give you this testimony for the churches. I am the Root and the Offspring of David, the bright Morning Star.”
- Revelation 22:6
Then the angel said to me, “These words are faithful and true. The Lord, the God of the spirits of the prophets, has sent His angel to show His servants what must soon take…
- Galatians 1:12
I did not receive it from any man, nor was I taught it; rather, I received it by revelation from Jesus Christ.
- Revelation 22:16
About Amos
This page draws on 9 works. Open the list of works
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Bishop Bill Hamon, 2020: The Year of the Prophets (The Elijah List); 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); Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible and Thomas Aquinas, Commentary (church-history corpus).