Amos 6:5
in Amos 6You improvise songs on the harp like David and invent your own musical instruments.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
that sing idle songs to the sound of the viol; that invent for themselves instruments of music, like David;
KJV
That chant to the sound of the viol, and invent to themselves instruments of musick, like David;
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This verse in Amos 6
Commentary
8 notes on this verseA commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
That chant to the voice of the lyre - Accompanying “the voice of the lyre” with the human voice; giving vocal expression and utterance to what the instrumental music spoke without words. The word, which Amos alone uses in this one place, describes probably a hurried flow of unmeaning, unconsidered words, in which the rhythm of words and music was everything, the sense, nothing; much like most glees.
This site's exposition
beds of ivory
on Amos 6:4-6
The catalogue of luxury piles detail on detail, beds of ivory, lambs from the flock and calves from the stall eaten without regard to cost, music invented like David though without David's purpose, wine drunk in bowls rather than cups and the finest oil for anointing used as ordinary grooming. The comparison to David is read by the bench as the sharpest stroke, since David's music served worship and theirs serves only appetite, imitation without the substance it once carried. They are not grieved for the affliction of Joseph closes the list on the true charge, not luxury itself but luxury pursued while the nation's own wound went unfelt.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers1 voice
(Vers. 2 seqq.) Go through Chalane, and see: and from there go to great Emath, and descend to Geth of the Philistines: to the best of their kingdoms, if their boundary is wider than your boundary. You who are separated on the day of evil, and approach the throne of wickedness.
The Puritans and the Awakening3 voices
They had no concern at all for the interests of the church of God, and of the nation, that were sinking and going to decay: They are not grieved for the affliction of Joseph; the church of God, including both the kingdoms of Judah and Israel (which are called Joseph, Ps. lxxx. 1 ), was in distress, invaded, insulted, and broken in upon.
A serious prophet studying to put a weight upon God's threatenings and to make them appear terrible, by setting forth the severity of those judgments that were coming upon these sensualists (
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — unbalanced-parens
That chant to the sound of the viol,....
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
They defend their luxurious passion for music by his example: forgetting that he pursued this study when at peace and free from danger, and that for the praise of God; but they pursue for their own self-gratification, and that when God is angry and ruin is imminent.
1 more voice on this verse
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
And invent to themselves instruments of music, like David - See the note on 1Ch 23:5; and see especially the note on 2Ch 29:25 (note). I believe that David was not authorized by the Lord to introduce that multitude of musical instruments into the Divine worship of which we read, and I am satisfied that his conduct in this respect is most solemnly reprehended by this prophet; and I farther believe that the use of such instruments of music, in the Christian Church, is without the sanction and against the will of God; that they are subversive of the spirit of true devotion, and that they are sinful. If there was a wo to them who invented instruments of music, as did David under the law, is there no wo, no curse to them who invent them, and introduce them into the worship of God in the Christian Church? I am an old man, and an old minister; and I here declare that I never knew them productive of any good in the worship of God; and have had reason to believe that they were productive of much evil. Music, as a science, I esteem and admire: but instruments of music in the house of God I abominate and abhor. This is the abuse of music; and here I register my protest against all such corruptions in the worship of the Author of Christianity. The late venerable and most eminent divine, the Revelation John Wesley, who was a lover of music, and an elegant poet, when asked his opinion of instruments of music being introduced into the chapels of the Methodists said, in his terse and powerful manner, “I have no objection to instruments of music in our chapels, provided they are neither Heard nor Seen.” I say the same, though I think the expense of purchase had better be spared. The word הפרטים happoretim, which we render chant, and the margin quaver, signifies to dance, to skip, etc. […]
The words behind it
9 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| הַפֹּרְטִ֖ים | haporetim | those [who] improvise | H6527 → | |
| עַל־ | ʾal- | on | H5921 → | 5755 times |
| פִּ֣י | pi | [the] mouth of | H6310 → | |
| הַנָּ֑בֶל | hanavel | the lyre | H5035 → | |
| כְּדָוִ֕יד | kedavid | like David | H1732 → | |
| חָשְׁב֥וּ | chashevu | they have devised | H2803 → | |
| לָהֶ֖ם | lahem | for themselves | ||
| כְּלֵי־ | kelei- | instruments of | H3627 → | |
| שִֽׁיר׃ | shir | song | H7892 → | 59 times |
הַפֹּרְטִ֖יםthose [who] improvise
haporetimH6527 →
עַל־on
ʾal-H5921 →5755 times
פִּ֣י[the] mouth of
piH6310 →
הַנָּ֑בֶלthe lyre
hanavelH5035 →
כְּדָוִ֕ידlike David
kedavidH1732 →
חָשְׁב֥וּthey have devised
chashevuH2803 →
לָהֶ֖םfor themselves
lahem
כְּלֵי־instruments of
kelei-H3627 →
שִֽׁיר׃song
shirH7892 →59 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
Ecclesiastes 2:8and I accumulated for myself silver and gold and the treasure of kings and provinces. I gathered to myself male and female singers, and the delights of the sons of men—many concubines.
it leads to
- 1 Kings 10:10
Then she gave the king 120 talents of gold, a great quantity of spices, and precious stones. Never again was such an abundance of spices brought in as those the queen of Sheba gave…
- 1 Kings 10:10
Through
Amos 8:3“In that day,” declares the Lord GOD, “the songs of the temple will turn to wailing. Many will be the corpses, strewn in silence everywhere!”
it leads to
- Amos 5:23
Take away from Me the noise of your songs! I will not listen to the music of your harps.
- Amos 6:9–10
And if there are ten men left in one house, they too will die.
- Amos 5:23
Through
Isaiah 5:12At their feasts are the lyre and harp, tambourines and flutes and wine. They disregard the actions of the LORD and fail to see the work of His hands.
it leads to
- Psalms 28:5
Since they show no regard for the works of the LORD or what His hands have done, He will tear them down and never rebuild them.
- Job 34:27
because they turned aside from Him and had no regard for any of His ways.
- Job 21:11–14
They send forth their little ones like a flock; their children skip about,
- Amos 6:4–6
You lie on beds inlaid with ivory, and lounge upon your couches. You dine on lambs from the flock and calves from the stall.
- Psalms 28:5
Through
Amos 5:23Take away from Me the noise of your songs! I will not listen to the music of your harps.
it leads to
- Amos 8:10
I will turn your feasts into mourning and all your songs into lamentation. I will cause everyone to wear sackcloth and every head to be shaved. I will make it like a time of…
- Amos 8:10
About Amos
Who and where
1 name in this verse with a page on the site.
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; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763) and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.