Amos 7:17
in Amos 7Therefore this is what the LORD says: ‘Your wife will become a prostitute in the city, and your sons and daughters will fall by the sword. Your land will be divided by a measuring line, and you yourself will die on pagan soil. And Israel will surely go into exile, away from their homeland.’”
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
therefore thus saith Jehovah: Thy wife shall be a harlot in the city, and thy sons and thy daughters shall fall by the sword, and thy land shall be divided by line; and thou thyself shalt die in a land that is unclean, and Israel shall surely be led away captive out of his land.
KJV
Therefore thus saith the Lord; Thy wife shall be an harlot in the city, and thy sons and thy daughters shall fall by the sword, and thy land shall be divided by line; and thou shalt die in a polluted land: and Israel shall surely go into captivity forth of his land.
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This verse in Amos 7
Commentary
8 notes on this verse(v. 14 onwards) And Amos answered and said to Amaziah, 'I am not a prophet, nor am I the son of a prophet, but I am a herdsman and a gatherer of sycamore fruit. And the Lord took me from following the flock, and the Lord said to me (the Vulgate adds 'the Lord'): Go, prophesy to my people Israel. Now hear the word of the Lord: You say, 'Do not prophesy against Israel, and do not preach against the house of idolatry.'
This site's exposition
drop not thy word against the house of Isaac
on Amos 7:16-17
Because Amaziah said, prophesy not against Israel, and drop not thy word against the house of Isaac, the word turns from the nation onto the household that tried to silence it: Amaziah's wife reduced to harlotry in a conquered city, his children fallen by the sword, his land divided by line, and he himself dying on polluted ground. The bench reads the sentence as measure for measure, the man who wanted no word against Israel handed a word against his own family by name, with Israel's own captivity restated at the close so the reader is not left thinking Amaziah alone bears it.
The record, by era
The Puritans and the Awakening3 voices
Sometimes the sins of our relations are to be looked upon as judgments of God upon us. His children, though they keep honest, yet shall not keep alive: His sons and his daughters shall fall by the sword of war, and he himself shall live to see it.
); for, when the contest is between God and man, it is easy to foresee, it is very easy to foretel, who will come off with the worst of it. 1 Thus hath the Lord G OD shewed unto me; and, behold, he formed grasshoppers in the beginning of the shooting up of the latter growth; and, lo, it was the latter growth after the king's mowings.
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — leading-punctuation+unbalanced-parens
Therefore thus saith the Lord,....
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
Thy wife shall be a harlot - These were, and still are, among the horrors of war. His own sentence comes last, when he had seen the rest, unable to hinder it. Against his and her own will, she should suffer this.
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
proposed
The words, "saith THE LORD are in striking opposition to "Thou sayest" (Am 7:16). divided by line--among the foe. a polluted land--Israel regarded every foreign land as that which really her own land was now, "polluted" (Isa 24:5;
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — unbalanced-parens+odd-straight-quotes
1 more voice on this verse
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
Thy wife shall be a harlot - As this was the word of the Lord, so it was fulfilled; but as we have no farther account of this idolatrous priest, so we cannot tell in what circumstances these threatenings were executed. 1. His wife was to be a public prostitute; she was probably such already privately in the temple, as the wife of an idolatrous priest. 2. His sons and daughters were to fall by the sword. 3. Their inheritance was to be taken by strangers. 4. And himself was to die a captive in a heathen land. Israel shall surety go into captivity - He now declares fully what he had not declared before, though Amaziah had made it a subject of accusation. This particular was probably revealed at this instant, as well as those which concerned Amaziah and his family.
The words behind it
24 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| לָכֵ֞ן | lakhen | <to> therefore | H3651 → | 771 times |
| כֹּה־ | koh- | thus | H3541 → | 577 times |
| אָמַ֣ר | ʾamar | he says | H559 → | 5305 times |
| יְהוָ֗ה | yahweh | Yahweh | H3068 → | 6520 times |
| אִשְׁתְּךָ֞ | ʾishtekha | wife your | H802 → | |
| בָּעִ֤יר | bair | in the city | H5892 → | 1090 times |
| תִּזְנֶה֙ | tizneh | she will be a prostitute | H2181 → | |
| וּבָנֶ֤יךָ | uvaneikha | and sons your | H1121 → | 4930 times |
| וּבְנֹתֶ֙יךָ֙ | uvenoteikha | and daughters your | H1323 → | |
| בַּחֶ֣רֶב | bacherev | by the sword | H2719 → | 413 times |
| יִפֹּ֔לוּ | yipolu | they will fall | H5307 → | 435 times |
| וְאַדְמָתְךָ֖ | veadmatekha | and land your | H127 → | 225 times |
| בַּחֶ֣בֶל | bachevel | with <the> measuring-line | H2256 → | |
| תְּחֻלָּ֑ק | techulak | it will be divided | H2505 → | |
| וְאַתָּ֗ה | veatah | and you | H859 → | 1094 times |
| עַל־ | ʾal- | on | H5921 → | 5755 times |
| אֲדָמָ֤ה | ʾadamah | ground | H127 → | 225 times |
| טְמֵאָה֙ | temeah | unclean | H2931 → | |
| תָּמ֔וּת | tamut | you will die | H4191 → | 839 times |
| וְיִ֨שְׂרָאֵ֔ל | veyisrael | and Israel | H3478 → | 2507 times |
| גָּלֹ֥ה | galoh | certainly <go into exile> | H1540 → | 186 times |
| יִגְלֶ֖ה | yigleh | it will go into exile | H1540 → | 186 times |
| מֵעַ֥ל | meal | from on | H5921 → | 5755 times |
| אַדְמָתֽוֹ׃ ס | ʾadmato | land its | H127 → | 225 times |
לָכֵ֞ן<to> therefore
lakhenH3651 →771 times
כֹּה־thus
koh-H3541 →577 times
אָמַ֣רhe says
ʾamarH559 →5305 times
יְהוָ֗הYahweh
yahwehH3068 →6520 times
אִשְׁתְּךָ֞wife your
ʾishtekhaH802 →
בָּעִ֤ירin the city
bairH5892 →1090 times
תִּזְנֶה֙she will be a prostitute
tiznehH2181 →
וּבָנֶ֤יךָand sons your
uvaneikhaH1121 →4930 times
וּבְנֹתֶ֙יךָ֙and daughters your
uvenoteikhaH1323 →
בַּחֶ֣רֶבby the sword
bacherevH2719 →413 times
יִפֹּ֔לוּthey will fall
yipoluH5307 →435 times
וְאַדְמָתְךָ֖and land your
veadmatekhaH127 →225 times
בַּחֶ֣בֶלwith <the> measuring-line
bachevelH2256 →
תְּחֻלָּ֑קit will be divided
techulakH2505 →
וְאַתָּ֗הand you
veatahH859 →1094 times
עַל־on
ʾal-H5921 →5755 times
אֲדָמָ֤הground
ʾadamahH127 →225 times
טְמֵאָה֙unclean
temeahH2931 →
תָּמ֔וּתyou will die
tamutH4191 →839 times
וְיִ֨שְׂרָאֵ֔לand Israel
veyisraelH3478 →2507 times
גָּלֹ֥הcertainly <go into exile>
galohH1540 →186 times
יִגְלֶ֖הit will go into exile
yiglehH1540 →186 times
מֵעַ֥לfrom on
mealH5921 →5755 times
אַדְמָתֽוֹ׃ סland its
ʾadmatoH127 →225 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 9:3They will not remain in the land of the LORD; Ephraim will return to Egypt and eat unclean food in Assyria.
it leads to
- Ezekiel 4:13
Then the LORD said, “This is how the Israelites will eat their defiled bread among the nations to which I will banish them.”
- Hosea 8:13
Though they offer sacrifices as gifts to Me, and though they eat the meat, the LORD does not accept them. Now He will remember their iniquity and punish their sins: They will return to…
- Leviticus 25:23
The land must not be sold permanently, because it is Mine, and you are but foreigners and residents with Me.
- Jeremiah 2:7
I brought you into a fertile land to eat its fruit and bounty, but you came and defiled My land, and made My inheritance detestable.
- Ezekiel 4:13
Through
2 Kings 17:6In the ninth year of Hoshea, the king of Assyria captured Samaria and carried away the Israelites to Assyria, where he settled them in Halah, in Gozan by the Habor River, and in the…
it leads to
- Hosea 13:16
Samaria will bear her guilt because she has rebelled against her God. They will fall by the sword; their little ones will be dashed to pieces, and their pregnant women ripped open.
- 1 Chronicles 5:26
So the God of Israel stirred up the spirit of Pul king of Assyria (that is, Tiglath-pileser king of Assyria) to take the Reubenites, the Gadites, and the half-tribe of Manasseh into exile. And…
- Deuteronomy 28:64
Then the LORD will scatter you among all the nations, from one end of the earth to the other, and there you will worship other gods, gods of wood and stone, which neither you…
- Hosea 13:16
Through
Jeremiah 28:16Therefore this is what the LORD says: ‘I am about to remove you from the face of the earth. You will die this year because you have preached rebellion against the LORD.’”
it leads to
- Jeremiah 29:32
this is what the LORD says: ‘I will surely punish Shemaiah the Nehelamite and his descendants. He will have no one left among this people, nor will he see the good that I will…
- Jeremiah 29:32
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); 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) and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.