Amos 5:2
in Amos 5“Fallen is Virgin Israel, never to rise again. She lies abandoned on her land, with no one to raise her up.”
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
The virgin of Israel is fallen; she shall no more rise: she is cast down upon her land; there is none to raise her up.
KJV
The virgin of Israel is fallen; she shall no more rise: she is forsaken upon her land; there is none to raise her up.
⋯
This verse in Amos 5
Commentary
7 notes on this verseThe virgin of Israel - The kingdom of Israel, or the ten tribes, which were carried into captivity; and are now totally lost in the nations of the earth.
This site's exposition
a lamentation, O house of Israel
on Amos 5:1-3
Amos takes up a lamentation over a nation not yet dead, the funeral dirge sung before the funeral, the virgin of Israel fallen and none to raise her up. The bench reads virgin as a title of unbroken standing now shattered rather than any comment on conduct, the same title the prophets give Zion and Babylon alike when a people's confidence is stripped away. The arithmetic of verse 3, a thousand marching out and a hundred returning, ten out of a hundred, is read as the ordinary shrinkage of an army broken in the field, one defeat cutting the nation down by nine parts in ten.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers1 voice
(Chapter 5, Verses 1-2) Hear this word, which I bring against you as a lamentation. The house of Israel has fallen, and it shall not rise again. The virgin of Israel is cast down upon her own land; there is no one to raise her up. LXX: Hear this word, which I will take up against you as a lamentation. The house of Israel has fallen, it shall not rise again.
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
), has come down from what she was; that state, though not pure and chaste as a virgin, yet was beautiful and gay, and had its charms; she looked high herself, and was courted by many as a virgin; but she has fallen into contempt and poverty, and is universally slighted.
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — leading-punctuation+unbalanced-parens
The virgin of Israel is fallen,....
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
La 2:13; may be interpreted, Thou who wast once the "virgin daughter of Zion." Rather, "virgin" as applied to a state implies its beauty, and the delights on which it prides itself, its luxuries, power, and wealth [CALVIN]. no more rise--in the existing order of things: in the Messianic dispensation it is to rise again, according to many prophecies.
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
She hath fallen, she shall rise no more, the virgin of Israel; she hath been dashed down upon her land, there is none to raise her up - Such is the dirge, a dirge like that of David over Saul and Jonathan, over what once was lovely and mighty, but which had perished. He speaks of all as past, and that, irremediably. Israel is one of the things which had been, and which would never again be. He calls her tenderly, “the virgin of Israel,” not as having retained her purity or her fealty to God; still less, with human boastfulness, as though she had as yet been unsubdued by man. For she had been faithless to God, and had been many times conquered by man. Nor does it even seem that God so calls her, because He once espoused her to Himself For isaiah so calls Babylon. But Scripture seems to speak of cities, as women, because in women tenderness is most seen; they are most tenderly guarded; they, when pure, are most lovely; they, when corrupted, are most debased. Hence , “God says on the one hand, “I remember thee, the love of thine espousals” Jer 2:2; on the other, “Hear, thou harlot, the word of the Lord” Eze 16:35. When He claims her faithfulness He calls her, betrothed.” Again , “when He willeth to signify that a city or nation has been as tenderly loved and anxiously guarded, whether by Himsclf or by others, He calleth it “virgin,” or when lie would indicate its beauty and lovely array. Isaiah saith, ‘come down and sit in the dust, virgin daughter of Babylon’ Isa 47:1, that is, thou who livedest before in all delicacies, like a virgin under the shelter of her home. For it follows, ‘for thou shalt no more be called tender and delicate.’” More pitiable, for their tenderness and delicacy, is the distress of women. […]
The words behind it
11 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| נָֽפְלָה֙ | nafelah | she has fallen | H5307 → | 435 times |
| לֹֽא־ | lo'- | not | H3808 → | 5168 times |
| תוֹסִ֣יף | tosif | she will repeat | H3254 → | 212 times |
| ק֔וּם | kum | to rise | H6965 → | 628 times |
| בְּתוּלַ֖ת | betulat | [the] virgin of | H1330 → | |
| יִשְׂרָאֵ֑ל | yisrael | Israel | H3478 → | 2507 times |
| נִטְּשָׁ֥ה | niteshah | she has been abandoned | H5203 → | |
| עַל־ | ʾal- | on | H5921 → | 5755 times |
| אַדְמָתָ֖הּ | ʾadmatah | own land her | H127 → | 225 times |
| אֵ֥ין | ʾein | there not | H369 → | 789 times |
| מְקִימָֽהּ׃ | mekimah | [is one who] raises up her | H6965 → | 628 times |
נָֽפְלָה֙she has fallen
nafelahH5307 →435 times
לֹֽא־not
lo'-H3808 →5168 times
תוֹסִ֣יףshe will repeat
tosifH3254 →212 times
ק֔וּםto rise
kumH6965 →628 times
בְּתוּלַ֖ת[the] virgin of
betulatH1330 →
יִשְׂרָאֵ֑לIsrael
yisraelH3478 →2507 times
נִטְּשָׁ֥הshe has been abandoned
niteshahH5203 →
עַל־on
ʾal-H5921 →5755 times
אַדְמָתָ֖הּown land her
ʾadmatahH127 →225 times
אֵ֥יןthere not
ʾeinH369 →789 times
מְקִימָֽהּ׃[is one who] raises up her
mekimahH6965 →628 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
Hosea 14:1Return, O Israel, to the LORD your God, for you have stumbled by your iniquity.
it leads to
- Hosea 6:1
Come, let us return to the LORD. For He has torn us to pieces, but He will heal us; He has wounded us, but He will bind up our wounds.
- Joel 2:12–13
“Yet even now,” declares the LORD, “return to Me with all your heart, with fasting, weeping, and mourning.”
- Hosea 12:6
But you must return to your God, maintaining love and justice, and always waiting on your God.
- 2 Chronicles 30:6–9
So the couriers went throughout Israel and Judah with letters from the king and his officials, which read: “Children of Israel, return to the LORD, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, so that…
- Hosea 6:1
Through
Hosea 6:2After two days He will revive us; on the third day He will raise us up, that we may live in His presence.
it leads to
- 2 Kings 20:5
“Go back and tell Hezekiah the leader of My people that this is what the LORD, the God of your father David, says: ‘I have heard your prayer; I have seen your tears. I…
- 1 Corinthians 15:4
that He was buried, that He was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures,
- Isaiah 26:19
Your dead will live; their bodies will rise. Awake and sing, you who dwell in the dust! For your dew is like the dew of the morning, and the earth will bring forth her…
- Ezekiel 37:11–13
Then He said to me, “Son of man, these bones are the whole house of Israel. Look, they are saying, ‘Our bones are dried up, and our hope has perished; we are cut off.’
- 2 Kings 20:5
Where this verse is studied
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; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; Jerome, Commentary on Amos; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763) and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.
