Amos 9:2
in Amos 9Though they dig down to Sheol, from there My hand will take them; and though they climb up to heaven, from there I will pull them down.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
Though they dig into Sheol, thence shall my hand take them; and though they climb up to heaven, thence will I bring them down.
KJV
Though they dig into hell, thence shall mine hand take them; though they climb up to heaven, thence will I bring them down:
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This verse in Amos 9
Commentary
7 notes on this verseNay, he that escapes of them, that thinks he has gained his point, shall not be delivered. Evil pursues sinners, and will arrest them. This is here enlarged upon by showing that wherever sinners flee for shelter from God's justice, it will overtake them, and the shelter will prove but a refuge of lies.
This site's exposition
Though they dig into hell
on Amos 9:2-4
Four directions are named and each is closed: dig into hell and the Lord's hand reaches there, climb to heaven and he brings them down, hide in the top of Carmel and he searches them out, hide in the bottom of the sea and he commands the serpent to bite them, go into captivity and he commands the sword to follow. The bench reads the four-fold sweep as a deliberate answer to any hope of escape by height, depth, wilderness or exile, and I will set mine eyes upon them for evil, and not for good reverses the covenant blessing of eyes upon the land for good, the same divine attention now working the other way.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers1 voice
(Vers. 2 seqq.) If they descend to the depths, my hand will bring them up from there. And if they ascend to heaven, I will bring them down from there. And if they hide themselves on the top of Carmel, I will search and take them from there. And if they hide from my sight at the bottom of the sea, I will command the serpent to bite them. And if they go into captivity before their enemies, I will command the sword to kill them. I will set my eyes upon them for evil and not for good.
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
): "Though they dig into hell, into the centre of the earth, or the darkest recesses of it, yet thence shall my hand take them, and bring them forth to be made public monuments of divine justice." The grave is a hiding-place to the righteous from the malice of the world ( Job iii.
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — leading-punctuation
Though they dig into hell, thence shall mine hand take them,....
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
Though they dig into hell - Though they should get into the deepest caverns; though they climb up to heaven - get to the most inaccessible heights; I will drag them up from the one, and pull them down from the other.
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
Height or depth are alike open to the Omnipresent God. The grave is not so awful as God. The sinner would gladly “dig through” into hell, bury himself, the living among the dead, if so he could escape the sight of God. But thence, God says, “My hand shall take them,” to place them in His presence, to receive their sentence. Or if, like the rebel angels, they could “place” their “throne amid the stars Isa 14:12-14 of God thence will I bring them down,” humbling, judging, condemning.
How the passage was read
What the Jewish commentators add
On the verses either side of this one
standing beside the altar —Going away from the cherub to the altar on its way out, on the golden altar which is in the Temple, and this is one of the ten travels made by the Shechinah. [from Jonathan ]
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. 4 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
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| אִם־ | ʾim- | if | H518 → | 1069 times |
| יַחְתְּר֣וּ | yachteru | they will dig | H2864 → | |
| בִשְׁא֔וֹל | vishol | in Sheol | H7585 → | |
| מִשָּׁ֖ם | misham | from there | H8033 → | 834 times |
| יָדִ֣י | yadi | hand my | H3027 → | 1618 times |
| תִקָּחֵ֑ם | tikachem | it will take them | H3947 → | 966 times |
| וְאִֽם־ | veim- | and if | H518 → | 1069 times |
| יַעֲלוּ֙ | yaalu | they will go up | H5927 → | 890 times |
| הַשָּׁמַ֔יִם | hashamayim | the heavens | H8064 → | |
| מִשָּׁ֖ם | misham | from there | H8033 → | 834 times |
| אוֹרִידֵֽם׃ | ʾoridem | I will bring down them | H3381 → | 381 times |
אִם־if
ʾim-H518 →1069 times
יַחְתְּר֣וּthey will dig
yachteruH2864 →
בִשְׁא֔וֹלin Sheol
visholH7585 →
מִשָּׁ֖םfrom there
mishamH8033 →834 times
יָדִ֣יhand my
yadiH3027 →1618 times
תִקָּחֵ֑םit will take them
tikachemH3947 →966 times
וְאִֽם־and if
veim-H518 →1069 times
יַעֲלוּ֙they will go up
yaaluH5927 →890 times
הַשָּׁמַ֔יִםthe heavens
hashamayimH8064 →
מִשָּׁ֖םfrom there
mishamH8033 →834 times
אוֹרִידֵֽם׃I will bring down them
ʾoridemH3381 →381 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
Job 20:6Though his arrogance reaches the heavens, and his head touches the clouds,
it leads to
- Obadiah 1:3–4
The pride of your heart has deceived you, O dwellers in the clefts of the rocks whose habitation is the heights, who say in your heart, ‘Who can bring me down to the ground?’
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Isaiah 14:13–14
You said in your heart: “I will ascend to the heavens; I will raise my throne above the stars of God. I will sit on the mount of assembly, in the far reaches of…
- Obadiah 1:3–4
Through
Obadiah 1:4Though you soar like the eagle and make your nest among the stars, even from there I will bring you down,” declares the LORD.
it leads to
- Jeremiah 49:16
The terror you cause and the pride of your heart have deceived you, O dwellers in the clefts of the rocks, O occupiers of the mountain summit. Though you elevate your nest like the…
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Habakkuk 2:9
Woe to him who builds his house by unjust gain, to place his nest on high and escape the hand of disaster!
- Isaiah 14:12–15
How you have fallen from heaven, O day star, son of the dawn! You have been cut down to the ground, O destroyer of nations.
- Job 20:6–7
Though his arrogance reaches the heavens, and his head touches the clouds,
- Jeremiah 51:53
Even if Babylon ascends to the heavens and fortifies her lofty stronghold, the destroyers I send will come against her,” declares the LORD.
- Jeremiah 49:16
Through
Jeremiah 51:53Even if Babylon ascends to the heavens and fortifies her lofty stronghold, the destroyers I send will come against her,” declares the LORD.
it leads to
- Genesis 11:4
“Come,” they said, “let us build for ourselves a city with a tower that reaches to the heavens, that we may make a name for ourselves and not be scattered over the face of…
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Genesis 11:4
Where this verse is studied
On this page
Studies2
On this verse
On this chapter
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; Jerome, Commentary on Amos; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763) and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.