Amos 5:10
in Amos 5There are those who hate the one who reproves in the gate and despise him who speaks with integrity.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
They hate him that reproveth in the gate, and they abhor him that speaketh uprightly.
KJV
They hate him that rebuketh in the gate, and they abhor him that speaketh uprightly.
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This verse in Amos 5
Commentary
8 notes on this verse(Verse 10) They hated the one who reproves at the gate, and they abhor the one who speaks truthfully. LXX: They hated the one who reproves at the gates, and they abhorred the holy word. These are the ones whom God derides with devastation and brings upon them destruction. They hate the one who reproves at the gate, that is, in judgment: either me, or other prophets who were sent to them, speaking truthfully or the flawless word, as Symmachus interpreted, or the holy speech, as Theodotion and the LXX translated.
This site's exposition
who reproves in the gate
on Amos 5:10-13
The gate was the court, and "those who hate the one who reproves in the gate" are the officials meant to protect the poor. The "stone houses you have built" and the "lush vineyards you have planted" go unused, the covenant curse of Deuteronomy 28:30 and 39.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers1 voice
They take the two sons as types of two peoples, the elder Jewish, the younger Christian.… But if I show that the Jew does not fit the type represented by the elder son, it will be admitted, in consequence, that the Christian is not typified by the younger. Admittedly, the Jew is called a "son" and an "elder son" since he is first by adoption, and although he resents the Christian's reconciliation with God his Father (this is a point which our opponents seize upon most eagerly), yet the statement "Behold, how many years I serve you and I have never transgressed your commandment" cannot be one which the Jew makes to the Father. For when was Judah not a transgressor of the law? "Hearing with the ear and not hearing, holding in hate him who reproves at the gates and scorning holy speech."
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
They hate him that rebukes in the gate, in the gate of the Lord's house, or in their courts of justice, or in the places of concourse, where Wisdom is lifting up her voice, Prov. i. Reprovers in the gate are reprovers by office; these they hated, counting them their enemies because they told them the truth, as Ahab hated Micaiah.
They hate him that rebuketh in the gate,....
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
proposed
him that rebuketh in the gate--the judge who condemns their iniquity in the place of judgment (Isa 29:21). abhor him that speaketh uprightly--the prophet telling them the unwelcome truth: answering in the parallelism to the judge, "that rebuketh in the gate" (compare 1Ki 22:8;
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — starts-lowercase+unbalanced-parens
They hate him that rebuketh in the gate - They cannot bear an upright magistrate, and will not have righteous laws executed.
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
They hate him that rebuketh - “The gate” is the well-known place of concourse, where just or, in Israel now, unjust judgment was given Deu 25:7; Job 5:4; Job 31:21; 2Sa 15:2; Pro 22:22; Isa 29:21, where all was done which was to be done publicly Rth 4:1, Rth 4:11. Samaria had a large area by its chief gate, where two kings could hold court, and the 400 false prophets and the people, in great numbers, could gather 1Ki 22:10; 2Ch 18:9, and a market could be held 2Ki 7:1. Josiah brake down an idol-shrine, which was in one of the gates of Jerusalem 2Ki 23:8. The prophets seized the opportunity of finding the people together, and preached to them there. So it was even in the days of Solomon. “Wisdom crieth without; she uttereth her voice in the streets; she crieth in the chief place of concourse, in the openings of the gates, in the city she uttereth her words, How long, ye simple ones, will ye love simplicity?...” Pro 1:20-22, and again, “She standeth in the top of high places, by the way, in the meeting of the paths. She crieth at the gates, at the entry of the city, at the coming in at the doors; Unto you, O men, I call, “Pro 8:2-4. Jeremiah mentions two occasions, upon which God bade him reprove the king and people in the gates of Jerusalem Jer 17:19; Jer 19:2. There doubtless Amos and Hosea reproved them, and, for reproving, were “hated.” As Isaiah says, “they lay a snare for him that reproveth in the gate” Isa 29:21. They sinned publicly, and therefore they were to be rebuked publicly. They sinned “in the gate” by injustice and oppression, and therefore were to be “rebuked before all, that others also might fear” 1Ti 5:20. And they abhor him that speaketh uprightly - Literally, “perfectly.” The prophets spoke “perfectly” , “for they spoke the all-perfect word of God, of which David says, “The law of the Lord is perfect, converting the soul” Psa 19:7. […]
How the passage was read
What the Jewish commentators add
They hated him who reproves them in the gate —You do not fear Him or His prophets, and you hated those who reprove you in the gates of the courts.
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
6 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| שָׂנְא֥וּ | saneu | they hate | H8130 → | 146 times |
| בַשַּׁ֖עַר | vashaar | in the gate | H8179 → | 374 times |
| מוֹכִ֑יחַ | mokhiach | [one who] reproves | H3198 → | |
| וְדֹבֵ֥ר | vedover | and [one who] speaks | H1696 → | 1141 times |
| תָּמִ֖ים | tamim | blameless | H8549 → | |
| יְתָעֵֽבוּ׃ | yetaevu | they abhor | H8581 → |
שָׂנְא֥וּthey hate
saneuH8130 →146 times
בַשַּׁ֖עַרin the gate
vashaarH8179 →374 times
מוֹכִ֑יחַ[one who] reproves
mokhiachH3198 →
וְדֹבֵ֥רand [one who] speaks
vedoverH1696 →1141 times
תָּמִ֖יםblameless
tamimH8549 →
יְתָעֵֽבוּ׃they abhor
yetaevuH8581 →
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
2 Chronicles 36:16But they mocked the messengers of God, despising His words and scoffing at His prophets, until the wrath of the LORD against His people was stirred up beyond remedy.
it leads to
- Jeremiah 5:12–13
They have lied about the LORD and said: “He will not do anything; harm will not come to us; we will not see sword or famine.
- Jeremiah 5:12–13
Through
Isaiah 29:21those who indict a man with a word, who ensnare the mediator at the gate, and who with false charges deprive the innocent of justice.
it leads to
- Amos 5:10–12
There are those who hate the one who reproves in the gate and despise him who speaks with integrity.
- James 5:6
You have condemned and murdered the righteous, who did not resist you.
- Amos 5:10–12
Through
1 Kings 22:8The king of Israel answered, “There is still one man who can ask the LORD, but I hate him because he never prophesies anything good for me, but only bad. He is Micaiah son…
it leads to
- John 7:7
The world cannot hate you, but it hates Me, because I testify that its works are evil.
- John 17:14
I have given them Your word and the world has hated them; for they are not of the world, just as I am not of the world.
- John 3:19–21
And this is the verdict: The Light has come into the world, but men loved the darkness rather than the Light because their deeds were evil.
- Micah 2:7
Should it be said, O house of Jacob, “Is the Spirit of the LORD impatient? Are these the things He does?” Do not My words bring good to him who walks uprightly?
- John 15:18–19
If the world hates you, understand that it hated Me first.
- John 7:7
Where this verse is studied
On this page
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); 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; Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible and Tertullian, ON PURITY 8.