Amos 6:14
in Amos 6For behold, I will raise up a nation against you, O house of Israel,” declares the LORD, the God of Hosts, “and they will oppress you from Lebo-hamath to the Brook of the Arabah.”
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
For, behold, I will raise up against you a nation, O house of Israel, saith Jehovah, the God of hosts; and they shall afflict you from the entrance of Hamath unto the brook of the Arabah.
KJV
But, behold, I will raise up against you a nation, O house of Israel, saith the Lord the God of hosts; and they shall afflict you from the entering in of Hemath unto the river of the wilderness.
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This verse in Amos 6
Commentary
8 notes on this verseI will raise up against you a nation - The Assyrians under Pul, Tiglath-pileser, and Shalmaneser, who subdued the Israelites at various times, and at last carried them away captive in the days of Hosea, the last king of Israel in Samaria. From the entering in of Hamath (on the north) unto the river of the wilderness - Besor, which empties itself into the sea, not far from Gaza, and was in the southern part of the tribe of Simeon.
This site's exposition
Shall horses run upon the rock
on Amos 6:12-14
Two impossibilities, horses running on bare rock and oxen plowing the sea, expose the absurdity the bench reads throughout the chapter, that a people could turn judgment into gall and righteousness into hemlock and still expect the natural order to hold steady around them. Rejoicing in a thing of nought and boasting have we not taken to us horns by our own strength is read as military pride in some minor victory mistaken for permanent security, horns being the standard Hebrew figure for strength. The Lord's answer closes the chapter and the book's whole first half, a nation raised up to afflict them from Hamath in the north to the river of the wilderness in the south, the full length of the land the boasted strength claimed to hold.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers1 voice
(Verse 12 onwards) For behold, the Lord will command and strike down the great house with ruins, and the small house with breaches. Can horses run on rocks, or can it be plowed with oxen? For you have turned justice into bitterness, and the fruit of righteousness into wormwood. You who rejoice in nothingness, who say: Have we not taken horns for ourselves in our strength?
The Puritans and the Awakening3 voices
The whole nation has shared in the iniquity, and therefore must expect to share in the calamity. Note, When men are in any way instruments of affliction to us we must see God raising them up against us, for they are in his hand--the rod, the sword, in his hand.
Hemath - A city of Syria, bordering on Israel, northeast. The wilderness - Which is the southwest parts of Canaan. So all your country shall be destroyed.
But, behold, I will raise up against you a nation, O house of Israel, saith the Lord, the God of hosts,....
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
proposed
from the entering in of Hamath--the point of entrance for an invading army (as Assyria) into Israel from the north; specified here, as Hamath had been just before subjugated by Jeroboam II (Am 6:2). Do not glory in your recently acquired city, for it shall be the starting-point for the foe to afflict you.
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — starts-lowercase
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
But - (For,) - it was a non-thing, a nonexistent thing, a phantom, whereat they rejoiced; “for behold I raise up a nation.” God is said to “raise up,” when, by His Providence or His grace, He calls forth those who had not been called before, for the office for which He designs them. Thus, He raised up judges Jdg 2:16-18, delivers Jdg 3:9-15, prophets , Nazarites Amo 2:11, priests 1Sa 2:35, kings 2Sa 7:8, calling each separately to perform what He gave them in charge. So He is said to “raise up” even the evil ministers of His good Will, whom, in the course of His Providence, He allows to raise themselves up aloft to that eminence, so often as, in fulfilling their own bad will, they bring about, or are examples of, His righteous judgment. Thus God “raised up Hadad” as “an adversary” 1Ki 11:14 to Solomon, and again Rezon 1Ki 11:23; and the Chaldees Hab 1:6. So again God says to Pharaoh, “For this have I raised thee up Exo 9:16, to show in thee My power.” So here He says, “I will raise up against you a nation, and they shall afflict you from the entering in of Hamath.” Israel, under Jeroboam II, had recovered a wider extent of territory, than had, in her northern portion, belonged to her since the better days of Solomon. Jeroboam “recovered Damascus and Hamath” 2Ki 14:28, 2Ki 14:25, which belonged to “Judah, unto Israel. He restored,” as God promised him by Jonah, “the coast of Israel from the entering of Hamath unto the sea of the plain. The entering of Hamath” expresses the utmost northern boundary promised to Israel Num 34:8. But this does not in itself express whether Hamath itself was included. Hamath however, and even Damascus itself, were incorporated in the bounds of Israel. The then great scourge of Israel had become part of its strength. Southward, Ammon and even Moab, had been taken into its borders. […]
How the passage was read
What the Jewish commentators add
from the approach to Hamath —which is in the northwestern corner of Eretz Israel.
1 more on this passage, in their own words ▾
over a thing of naught —Over their greatness and their wealth, which is nought, since it will not endure.
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. 2 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
18 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| כִּ֡י | ki | for | H3588 → | 4482 times |
| הִנְנִי֩ | hini | here I | H2005 → | |
| מֵקִ֨ים | mekim | [am] about to raise up | H6965 → | 628 times |
| עֲלֵיכֶ֜ם | ʾaleikhem | on you | H5921 → | 5755 times |
| בֵּ֣ית | beit | O house of | H1004 → | 2046 times |
| יִשְׂרָאֵ֗ל | yisrael | Israel | H3478 → | 2507 times |
| נְאֻם־ | neum- | [the] utterance of | H5002 → | 376 times |
| יְהוָ֛ה | yahweh | Yahweh | H3068 → | 6520 times |
| אֱלֹהֵ֥י | ʾelohei | [the] God of | H430 → | 2601 times |
| הַצְּבָא֖וֹת | hatzevaot | <the> hosts | H6635 → | 485 times |
| גּ֑וֹי | goy | a nation | H1471 → | 561 times |
| וְלָחֲצ֥וּ | velachatzu | and they will oppress | H3905 → | |
| אֶתְכֶ֛ם | ʾetkhem | <obj.> you | H853 → | 10935 times |
| מִלְּב֥וֹא | milevo' | from Lebo | H935 → | 2568 times |
| חֲמָ֖ת | chamat | Hamath | H2574 → | |
| עַד־ | ʾad- | to | H5704 → | 1261 times |
| נַ֥חַל | nachal | [the] wadi of | H5158 → | |
| הָעֲרָבָֽה׃ ס | haaravah | <the> Arabah | H6160 → |
כִּ֡יfor
kiH3588 →4482 times
הִנְנִי֩here I
hiniH2005 →
מֵקִ֨ים[am] about to raise up
mekimH6965 →628 times
עֲלֵיכֶ֜םon you
ʾaleikhemH5921 →5755 times
בֵּ֣יתO house of
beitH1004 →2046 times
יִשְׂרָאֵ֗לIsrael
yisraelH3478 →2507 times
נְאֻם־[the] utterance of
neum-H5002 →376 times
יְהוָ֛הYahweh
yahwehH3068 →6520 times
אֱלֹהֵ֥י[the] God of
ʾeloheiH430 →2601 times
הַצְּבָא֖וֹת<the> hosts
hatzevaotH6635 →485 times
גּ֑וֹיa nation
goyH1471 →561 times
וְלָחֲצ֥וּand they will oppress
velachatzuH3905 →
אֶתְכֶ֛ם<obj.> you
ʾetkhemH853 →10935 times
מִלְּב֥וֹאfrom Lebo
milevo'H935 →2568 times
חֲמָ֖תHamath
chamatH2574 →
עַד־to
ʾad-H5704 →1261 times
נַ֥חַל[the] wadi of
nachalH5158 →
הָעֲרָבָֽה׃ ס<the> Arabah
haaravahH6160 →
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
1 Kings 8:65So at that time Solomon and all Israel with him—a great assembly of people from Lebo-hamath to the Brook of Egypt—kept the feast before the LORD our God for seven days and seven more…
it leads to
- Numbers 34:5
where it will turn from Azmon, join the Brook of Egypt, and end at the Sea.
- 1 Kings 8:2
And all the men of Israel came together to King Solomon at the feast in the seventh month, the month of Ethanim.
- Numbers 34:8
and from Mount Hor to Lebo-hamath, then extend to Zedad,
- 2 Chronicles 7:8–9
So at that time Solomon and all Israel with him—a very great assembly of people from Lebo-hamath to the Brook of Egypt—kept the feast for seven days.
- Joshua 13:5
the land of the Gebalites; and all Lebanon to the east, from Baal-gad below Mount Hermon to Lebo-hamath.
- Numbers 34:5
Through
2 Kings 14:25This Jeroboam restored the boundary of Israel from Lebo-hamath to the Sea of the Arabah, according to the word that the LORD, the God of Israel, had spoken through His servant Jonah son of…
it leads to
- Deuteronomy 3:17
The Jordan River in the Arabah bordered it from Chinnereth to the Sea of the Arabah (the Salt Sea) with the slopes of Pisgah to the east.
- Numbers 13:21
So they went up and spied out the land from the Wilderness of Zin as far as Rehob, toward Lebo-hamath.
- Jonah 1:1
Now the word of the LORD came to Jonah son of Amittai, saying,
- Deuteronomy 3:17
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 on the Old Testament; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); 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); John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.