Amos 7:3
in Amos 7So the LORD relented from this plan. “It will not happen,” He said.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
Jehovah repented concerning this: It shall not be, saith Jehovah.
KJV
The Lord repented for this: It shall not be, saith the Lord.
⋯
This verse in Amos 7
Commentary
9 notes on this verseA commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
The Lord repented for this - God is said to “repent, to have strong compassion upon” or “over” evil, which He has either inflicted Deu 32:36; 1Ch 21:15, or has said that He would inflict Exo 32:12; Joe 2:13; Jon 3:10; Jer 18:8, and which, upon repentance or prayer, He suspends or checks. Here, Amos does not intercede until after the judgment had been, in part, inflicted.
This site's exposition
he formed grasshoppers
on Amos 7:1-3
The first vision is a locust swarm timed at the latter growth, the crop left for the poor after the king's mowings had already been cut, so the loss falls where it can least be borne. Amos does not argue the judgment is unjust; he begs, O Lord God, forgive, I beseech thee: by whom shall Jacob arise? for he is small, pleading Jacob's weakness rather than his innocence. The Lord repented for this and the plague is stayed, the bench reading the prophet's intercession as the hinge of both spared visions, Moses and Samuel's own office exercised again.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers1 voice
(Chapter 7, verses 1-3) The Lord God showed me these things: And behold, a swarming locust at the beginning of the late crops, after the king's mowings. And it came to pass, when it had finished consuming the grass of the land, that I said: Lord God, please be merciful, I beseech You: who will raise up Jacob, for he is small? The Lord had pity on this: it shall not be, said the Lord.
The Reformation1 voice
Inasmuch then as this obstinacy prevailed among the Israelites, the Prophet here shows in various ways, that in vain they gloried, and thus securely despised the judgment of God; for though the Lord for a time had spared them, yet the final vengeance was not far distant. This is the sum of the whole: but such expression must be considered in its order.
The Puritans and the Awakening3 voices
): The Lord repented for this. He did not change his mind, for he is one mind and who can turn him? But he changed is way, took another course, and determined to deal in mercy and not in wrath.
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — leading-punctuation+unbalanced-parens
The Lord repented for this,....
God is here coming forth against this sinful nation, first by one judgment and then by another. (1.) He begins with the judgment of famine. The prophet saw this in vision.
2 more voices on this verse
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
proposed
The change was not in the mind of God (Nu 2:19; Jas 1:17), but in the effect outwardly. God unchangeably does what is just; it is just that He should hear intercessory prayer (Jas 5:16-18), as it would have been just for Him to have let judgment take its course at once on the guilty nation, but for the prayer of one or two righteous men in it (compare Ge 18:23-33;
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — unbalanced-parens
The Lord repented - Changed his purpose of destroying them by the locusts. See Amo 7:6.
The words behind it
8 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| נִחַ֥ם | nicham | he relented | H5162 → | |
| יְהוָ֖ה | yahweh | Yahweh | H3068 → | 6520 times |
| עַל־ | ʾal- | on | H5921 → | 5755 times |
| זֹ֑את | zot | this | H2063 → | 603 times |
| לֹ֥א | lo' | not | H3808 → | 5168 times |
| תִהְיֶ֖ה | tihyeh | it will be | H1961 → | 3559 times |
| אָמַ֥ר | ʾamar | he said | H559 → | 5305 times |
| יְהוָֽה׃ | yahweh | Yahweh | H3068 → | 6520 times |
נִחַ֥םhe relented
nichamH5162 →
יְהוָ֖הYahweh
yahwehH3068 →6520 times
עַל־on
ʾal-H5921 →5755 times
זֹ֑אתthis
zotH2063 →603 times
לֹ֥אnot
lo'H3808 →5168 times
תִהְיֶ֖הit will be
tihyehH1961 →3559 times
אָמַ֥רhe said
ʾamarH559 →5305 times
יְהוָֽה׃Yahweh
yahwehH3068 →6520 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
Jonah 3:10When God saw their actions—that they had turned from their evil ways—He relented from the disaster He had threatened to bring upon them.
it leads to
- Jeremiah 18:8
But if that nation I warned turns from its evil, then I will relent of the disaster I had planned to bring.
- 1 Kings 21:27–29
When Ahab heard these words, he tore his clothes, put on sackcloth, and fasted. He lay down in sackcloth and walked around meekly.
- Exodus 32:14
So the LORD relented from the calamity He had threatened to bring on His people.
- Amos 7:6
So the LORD relented from this plan. “It will not happen either,” said the Lord GOD.
- Luke 11:32
The men of Nineveh will stand at the judgment with this generation and condemn it; for they repented at the preaching of Jonah, and now One greater than Jonah is here.
- Jeremiah 18:8
Through
Joel 2:14Who knows? He may turn and relent and leave a blessing behind Him—grain and drink offerings for the LORD your God.
it leads to
- Jonah 3:9
Who knows? God may turn and relent; He may turn from His fierce anger, so that we will not perish.”
- Jonah 3:9
Through
Deuteronomy 32:36For the LORD will vindicate His people and have compassion on His servants when He sees that their strength is gone and no one remains, slave or free.
it leads to
- Psalms 135:14
For the LORD will vindicate His people and will have compassion on His servants.
- Psalms 135:14
Through
Hosea 11:8How could I give you up, O Ephraim? How could I surrender you, O Israel? How could I make you like Admah? How could I treat you like Zeboiim? My heart is turned within…
it leads to
- Jeremiah 31:20
Is not Ephraim a precious son to Me, a delightful child? Though I often speak against him, I still remember him. Therefore My heart yearns for him; I have great compassion for him,” declares…
- Jeremiah 31:20
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 Calvin, Commentaries; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763) and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.