Amos 9:7
in Amos 9“Are you not like the Cushites to Me, O children of Israel?” declares the LORD. “Did I not bring Israel up from the land of Egypt, the Philistines from Caphtor, and the Arameans from Kir?
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
Are ye not as the children of the Ethiopians unto me, O children of Israel? saith Jehovah. Have not I brought up Israel out of the land of Egypt, and the Philistines from Caphtor, and the Syrians from Kir?
KJV
Are ye not as children of the Ethiopians unto me, O children of Israel? saith the Lord. Have not I brought up Israel out of the land of Egypt? and the Philistines from Caphtor, and the Syrians from Kir?
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This verse in Amos 9
Commentary
7 notes on this verseAre you not like the children of Ethiopia to me, O sons of Israel, says the Lord? Did I not bring up Israel from the land of Egypt, and the Philistines from Cappadocia, and the Syrians from Cyrene? Behold, the eyes of the Lord God are upon the sinful kingdom, and I will destroy it from the face of the earth: yet will I not utterly destroy the house of Jacob, says the Lord. LXX: Are you not like the children of Ethiopia to me, O sons of Israel, says the Lord?
This site's exposition
children of the Ethiopians
Are ye not as children of the Ethiopians unto me strips Israel of any claim to unique privilege on the ground of ethnicity alone: the God who brought Israel from Egypt also brought the Philistines from Caphtor and the Syrians from Kir, each nation's migration his doing. The bench reads the verse as the deliberate undercutting of any presumption that election exempts from judgment, the same exodus language used of Israel's neighbors so the exodus itself cannot be treated as a talisman.
The record, by era
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
The Arabians - A wild, thievish, and servile nation. Have not I brought - And whereas you boast my kindness to you, bringing you out of Egypt, and thereupon conclude, God cannot leave you whom he hath so redeemed; you argue amiss, for this aggravates your sin.
Are ye not as children of the Ethiopians unto me, O children of Israel? saith the Lord,....
The Nineteenth Century3 voices
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
Are ye not as children of the Ethiopians unto Me, O children of Israel! - Their boast and confidence was that they were children of the patriarch, to whom God made the promises.
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
proposed
2Ki 16:9), just as elsewhere Israel is threatened with a return to Egypt whence they had been delivered. The "Ethiopians," Hebrew, "Cushites," were originally akin to the race that founded Babylon: the cuneiform inscriptions in this confirming independently the Scripture statement (Ge 10:6, 8, 10).
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — unbalanced-parens
Children of the Ethiopians - Or Cushites. Cush was the son of Ham, Gen 10:6; and his descendants inhabited a part of Arabia Petraea and Arabia Felix. All this stock was universally despised. See Bochart. The Philistines from Caphtor - The island of Crete, the people of which were the Cherethim. See, 1Sa 30:14; Eze 25:16; Zep 2:5. The Syrians from Kir? - Perhaps a city of the Medes, Isa 22:6. Aram, from whom Syria had its name, was the son of Shem, Gen 10:22. Part of his descendants settled in this city, and part in Aram Naharaim, “Syria of the two rivers,” viz., Mesopotamia, included between the Tigris and the Euphrates. The meaning of the verse is this: Do not presume on my having brought you out of the land of Egypt and house of bondage, into a land flowing with milk and honey. I have brought other nations, and some of your neighbors, who are your enemies, from comparatively barren countries, into fruitful territories; such, for instance, as the Philistines from Caphtor, and the Syrians from Kir.
The words behind it
19 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| הֲל֣וֹא | halo' | ¿ not | H3808 → | 5168 times |
| כִבְנֵי֩ | khivnei | like [the] sons of | H1121 → | 4930 times |
| כֻשִׁיִּ֨ים | khushiyim | [the] Cushites | H3569 → | |
| אַתֶּ֥ם | ʾatem | [are] you | H859 → | 1094 times |
| לִ֛י | li | to me | ||
| בְּנֵ֥י | benei | O people of | H1121 → | 4930 times |
| יִשְׂרָאֵ֖ל | yisrael | Israel | H3478 → | 2507 times |
| נְאֻם־ | neum- | [the] utterance of | H5002 → | 376 times |
| יְהוָ֑ה | yahweh | Yahweh | H3068 → | 6520 times |
| הֲל֣וֹא | halo' | ¿ not | H3808 → | 5168 times |
| אֶת־ | ʾet- | <obj.> | H853 → | 10935 times |
| יִשְׂרָאֵ֗ל | yisrael | Israel | H3478 → | 2507 times |
| הֶעֱלֵ֙יתִי֙ | heeleiti | did I bring up | H5927 → | 890 times |
| מֵאֶ֣רֶץ | meeretz | from [the] land of | H776 → | 2504 times |
| מִצְרַ֔יִם | mitzrayim | Egypt | H4714 → | 641 times |
| וּפְלִשְׁתִּיִּ֥ים | ufelishtiyim | and [the] Philistines | H6430 → | 287 times |
| מִכַּפְתּ֖וֹר | mikaftor | from Caphtor | H3731 → | |
| וַאֲרָ֥ם | vaaram | and Aram | H758 → | |
| מִקִּֽיר׃ | mikir | from Kir | H7024 → |
הֲל֣וֹא¿ not
halo'H3808 →5168 times
כִבְנֵי֩like [the] sons of
khivneiH1121 →4930 times
כֻשִׁיִּ֨ים[the] Cushites
khushiyimH3569 →
אַתֶּ֥ם[are] you
ʾatemH859 →1094 times
לִ֛יto me
li
בְּנֵ֥יO people of
beneiH1121 →4930 times
יִשְׂרָאֵ֖לIsrael
yisraelH3478 →2507 times
נְאֻם־[the] utterance of
neum-H5002 →376 times
יְהוָ֑הYahweh
yahwehH3068 →6520 times
הֲל֣וֹא¿ not
halo'H3808 →5168 times
אֶת־<obj.>
ʾet-H853 →10935 times
יִשְׂרָאֵ֗לIsrael
yisraelH3478 →2507 times
הֶעֱלֵ֙יתִי֙did I bring up
heeleitiH5927 →890 times
מֵאֶ֣רֶץfrom [the] land of
meeretzH776 →2504 times
מִצְרַ֔יִםEgypt
mitzrayimH4714 →641 times
וּפְלִשְׁתִּיִּ֥יםand [the] Philistines
ufelishtiyimH6430 →287 times
מִכַּפְתּ֖וֹרfrom Caphtor
mikaftorH3731 →
וַאֲרָ֥םand Aram
vaaramH758 →
מִקִּֽיר׃from Kir
mikirH7024 →
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
Amos 2:10And I brought you up from the land of Egypt and led you forty years in the wilderness, that you might take possession of the land of the Amorite.
it leads to
- Deuteronomy 2:7
Indeed, the LORD your God has blessed you in all the work of your hands. He has watched over your journey through this vast wilderness. The LORD your God has been with you these…
- Exodus 12:51
And on that very day the LORD brought the Israelites out of the land of Egypt by their divisions.
- Acts 7:42
But God turned away from them and gave them over to the worship of the host of heaven, as it is written in the book of the prophets: ‘Did you bring Me sacrifices and…
- Amos 3:1
Hear this word that the LORD has spoken against you, O children of Israel, against the whole family that I brought up out of the land of Egypt:
- Exodus 3:8
I have come down to rescue them from the hand of the Egyptians and to bring them up out of that land to a good and spacious land, a land flowing with milk and…
- Deuteronomy 2:7
Through
Deuteronomy 2:23And the Avvim, who lived in villages as far as Gaza, were destroyed by the Caphtorites, who came out of Caphtor and settled in their place.)
it leads to
- Genesis 10:14
the Pathrusites, the Casluhites (from whom the Philistines came), and the Caphtorites.
- Joshua 13:3
All the territory of the Philistines and the Geshurites, from the Shihor east of Egypt to the territory of Ekron on the north (considered to be Canaanite territory)—that of the five Philistine rulers of…
- Genesis 10:14
Through
2 Kings 16:9So the king of Assyria responded to him, marched up to Damascus, and captured it. He took its people to Kir as captives and put Rezin to death.
it leads to
- Isaiah 22:6
Elam takes up a quiver, with chariots and horsemen, and Kir uncovers the shield.
- Isaiah 22:6
Where this verse is studied
On this page
Studies2
On this verse
On this chapter
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 on the Old Testament; 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 (1748-1763); John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.