Amos 4:1
in Amos 4Hear this word, you cows of Bashan on Mount Samaria, you women who oppress the poor and crush the needy, who say to your husbands, “Bring us more to drink.”
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
Hear this word, ye kine of Bashan, that are in the mountain of Samaria, that oppress the poor, that crush the needy, that say unto their lords, Bring, and let us drink.
KJV
Hear this word, ye kine of Bashan, that are in the mountain of Samaria, which oppress the poor, which crush the needy, which say to their masters, Bring, and let us drink.
⋯
This verse in Amos 4
Commentary
9 notes on this verseHear this word, ye kine of Bashan,.... Or "cows of Bashan" (n); a country beyond Jordan, inhabited by the tribes of Gad and Reuben, and the half tribe of Manasseh, very fruitful of pasturage, and where abundance of fat cattle were brought up; to whom persons of distinction, and of the first rank, are here compared.
This site's exposition
ye kine of Bashan
on Amos 4:1-3
Amos names the wealthy women of Samaria kine of Bashan, cattle fattened on that region's famous pasture, sleek and demanding, who press their husbands for wine while the poor go crushed beneath them. The bench reads the insult as aimed at appetite rather than at sex as such, a whole class fed fat on extortion. The oath answers the picture with hooks and fishhooks, the captors leading the fattened women out through breaches in the wall the way a fisherman strings his catch, each led out in her turn to be cast beyond the ruined palace.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers1 voice
(Chapter 4, Verse 1 onwards) Hear this word, you fat cows of Samaria, who oppress the poor, who crush the needy, who say to your husbands, 'Bring us something to drink!' The Lord God has sworn by his holiness: behold, days are coming upon you when they will take you away with hooks, even the last of you with fishhooks. And you will go out through breaches, each one straight ahead, and you will be cast out into Harmon, declares the Lord.
The Reformation2 voices
Hear this word, ye kine of Bashan, that are in the mountain of Samaria, which oppress the poor, which crush the needy, which say to their masters, Bring, and let us drink.
quarantine:scripture (2026-07-29) — verbatim-scripture
It is even fatness: then I make no more account of you than of cows; ye are become fat; but your power will not terrify me; your riches will not deprive me of the liberty of treating you as it becomes me and as God has commanded me." We hence see that the Prophet here assails with scorn the chief men of the kingdom, who wished to be sacred and untouched.
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — odd-straight-quotes
The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice
Bring, and let us drink, is the language of those that crush the needy, as if the tears of the oppressed, mingled with their wine, made it drink the better. And by their associations for drinking and reveling, and an excess of riot, they strengthen their combinations for persecution and oppression, and harden the hearts of one another in it. How their punishment is described,
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
Hear ye this, ye kine of Bashan - The pastures of Bashan were very rich, and it had its name probably from its richness of soil . The Batanea of later times was a province only of the kingdom of Bashan, which, with half of Gilead, was given to the half tribe of Manasseh.
2 more voices on this verse
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
This accounts for masculine forms in the Hebrew being intermixed with feminine; the latter being figurative, the former the real persons meant. say to their masters--that is, to their king, with whom the princes indulged in potations (Ho 7:5), and whom here they importune for more wine. "Bring" is singular, in the Hebrew implying that one "master" alone is meant.
Hear this word, ye kine of Bashan - Such an address was quite natural from the herdsman of Tekoa. Bashan was famous for the fertility of its soil, and its flocks and herds; and the prophet here represents the iniquitous, opulent, idle, lazy drones, whether men or women, under the idea of fatted bullocks, which were shortly to be led out to the slaughter.
How the passage was read
What the Jewish commentators add
cows of Bashan —This refers to the wives of the princes and the officers. Jonathan renders: wealthy in property.
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. 4 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
16 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| שִׁמְע֞וּ | shimu | hear | H8085 → | 1159 times |
| הַדָּבָ֣ר | hadavar | the word | H1697 → | 1440 times |
| הַזֶּ֗ה | hazeh | <the> this | H2088 → | 1180 times |
| פָּר֤וֹת | parot | O cows of | H6510 → | |
| הַבָּשָׁן֙ | habashan | <the> Bashan | H1316 → | |
| אֲשֶׁר֙ | ʾasher | who | H834 → | 5497 times |
| בְּהַ֣ר | behar | [are] on [the] mountain of | H2022 → | 546 times |
| שֹֽׁמְר֔וֹן | shomeron | Samaria | H8111 → | 109 times |
| הָעֹשְׁק֣וֹת | haoshekot | who oppress | H6231 → | |
| דַּלִּ֔ים | dalim | poor [people] | H1800 → | 47 times |
| הָרֹצְצ֖וֹת | harotzetzot | who crush | H7533 → | |
| אֶבְיוֹנִ֑ים | ʾevyonim | needy [people] | H34 → | 61 times |
| הָאֹמְרֹ֥ת | haomerot | who say | H559 → | 5305 times |
| לַאֲדֹֽנֵיהֶ֖ם | laadoneihem | to masters their | H113 → | |
| הָבִ֥יאָה | haviah | bring ! | H935 → | 2568 times |
| וְנִשְׁתֶּֽה׃ | venishteh | so we may drink | H8354 → | 217 times |
שִׁמְע֞וּhear
shimuH8085 →1159 times
הַדָּבָ֣רthe word
hadavarH1697 →1440 times
הַזֶּ֗ה<the> this
hazehH2088 →1180 times
פָּר֤וֹתO cows of
parotH6510 →
הַבָּשָׁן֙<the> Bashan
habashanH1316 →
אֲשֶׁר֙who
ʾasherH834 →5497 times
בְּהַ֣ר[are] on [the] mountain of
beharH2022 →546 times
שֹֽׁמְר֔וֹןSamaria
shomeronH8111 →109 times
הָעֹשְׁק֣וֹתwho oppress
haoshekotH6231 →
דַּלִּ֔יםpoor [people]
dalimH1800 →47 times
הָרֹצְצ֖וֹתwho crush
harotzetzotH7533 →
אֶבְיוֹנִ֑יםneedy [people]
ʾevyonimH34 →61 times
הָאֹמְרֹ֥תwho say
haomerotH559 →5305 times
לַאֲדֹֽנֵיהֶ֖םto masters their
laadoneihemH113 →
הָבִ֥יאָהbring !
haviahH935 →2568 times
וְנִשְׁתֶּֽה׃so we may drink
venishtehH8354 →217 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
Psalms 22:12Many bulls surround me; strong bulls of Bashan encircle me.
it leads to
- Amos 4:1–3
Hear this word, you cows of Bashan on Mount Samaria, you women who oppress the poor and crush the needy, who say to your husbands, “Bring us more to drink.”
- Acts 4:27
In fact, this is the very city where Herod and Pontius Pilate conspired with the Gentiles and the people of Israel against Your holy servant Jesus, whom You anointed.
- Psalms 68:30
Rebuke the beast in the reeds, the herd of bulls among the calves of the nations, until it submits, bringing bars of silver. Scatter the nations who delight in war.
- Amos 4:1–3
Through
Ecclesiastes 4:1Again I looked, and I considered all the oppression taking place under the sun. I saw the tears of the oppressed, and they had no comforter; the power lay in the hands of their…
it leads to
- Ecclesiastes 3:16
Furthermore, I saw under the sun that in the place of judgment there is wickedness, and in the place of righteousness there is wickedness.
- Ecclesiastes 3:16
Through
Amos 6:1Woe to those at ease in Zion and those secure on Mount Samaria, the distinguished ones of the foremost nation, to whom the house of Israel comes.
it leads to
- Isaiah 32:9–11
Stand up, you complacent women; listen to me. Give ear to my word, you overconfident daughters.
- James 5:5
You have lived on earth in luxury and self-indulgence. You have fattened your hearts in the day of slaughter.
- Luke 12:17–20
So he thought to himself, ‘What shall I do, since I have nowhere to store my crops?’
- Isaiah 32:9–11
Through
Amos 5:11Therefore, 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…
it leads to
- Zephaniah 1:13
Their wealth will be plundered and their houses laid waste. They will build houses but not inhabit them, and plant vineyards but never drink their wine.
- Zephaniah 1:13
About Amos
Who and where
2 names in this verse with a page on the site.
- PlaceThe northern hill countrySamariaThe hill Omri bought and built his capital on, where Ahab raised a temple to Baal, where the four lepers found the Aramean camp em…
- PlaceEast of the Sea of Galilee, north of GileadBashanThe fertile tableland east of the Sea of Galilee, the kingdom of Og and the giant clans, taken by Israel before the Jordan crossin…
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; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; Jerome, Commentary on Amos; John Calvin, Commentaries; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763) and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.