Amos 5:9
in Amos 5He flashes destruction on the strong, so that fury comes upon the stronghold.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
that bringeth sudden destruction upon the strong, so that destruction cometh upon the fortress.
KJV
That strengtheneth the spoiled against the strong, so that the spoiled shall come against the fortress.
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This verse in Amos 5
Commentary
8 notes on this verseThat strengtheneth the spoiled against the strong,.... Such as have been taken by an enemy, who have been stripped of their armour, and spoiled of all their goods and substance, and have no friends nor allies, nor anything to help themselves with; the Lord can supply them with strength, furnish them with weapons, and send them helpers, so that they shall rise up against their conquerors and spoilers, and in their turn subdue them. The Targum is, "that strengthens the weak against the strong;'' or causes the weak to prevail over the strong.
This site's exposition
those who turn justice into wormwood
on Amos 5:7-9
Verse 7 names the crime the chapter answers, the courts made bitter. The second of the book's three hymns breaks in, setting the Maker of the stars against the corrupt judges. Its close, "He flashes destruction on the strong," shows a God able to overturn any human balance of power.
This site's exposition
He flashes destruction on the strong
The verb is read in more than one way. John Gill follows the older rendering, God strengthening the spoiled against the strong, and cites the Targum. Albert Barnes reads it as God making devastation smile on the strong, and Jamieson, Fausset and Brown, after Maurer, read destruction coming upon them.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers1 voice
(Verse 8 onwards) You who turn judgment into wormwood and abandon righteousness on earth, who makes the Bear and Orion, who turns darkness into morning and darkens day into night. He who calls the waters of the sea and pours them out on the face of the earth: His name is the Lord. He who laughs at destruction, bringing devastation upon the strong. The One who brings judgment from on high and establishes justice on earth; the One who does all things, who transforms and turns the shadow of death into morning and darkens day into night.
The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice
Divers proofs and instances are here given of God's power, as Creator, in the kingdom of nature, as both founding and governing that kingdom. First, The stars are the work of his hands; those stars which the heathens worshipped (
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The Nineteenth Century3 voices
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
That strengtheneth the spoiled - (Literally, “spoil” English margin) probably That “maketh devastation to smile on the strong.” . The “smile,” in anger, attests both the extremity of anger, and the consciousness of the ease, wherewith the offence can be punished. They were strong in their own strength; strong, as they deemed, in their “fortress” ; “strong with an evil strength, like one phrensied against his physician.” But their strength would be weakness. “Desolation” when God willed, would “smile at” all which they accounted “might,” and would “come against the fortress,” which, as they deemed, “cut off” all approach.
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
The Hebrew is elsewhere used, to make, to shine, to make glad: and as English Version here (Ps 39:13), "recover strength." the spoiled shall come--"devastation," or "destruction shall come upon" [MAURER].
That strengtheneth the spoiled - Who takes the part of the poor and oppressed against the oppressor; and, in the course of his providence, sets up the former, and depresses the latter.
How the passage was read
What the Jewish commentators add
On the verses either side of this one
They hated him who reproves them in the gate —You do not fear Him or His prophets, and you hated those who reprove you in the gates of the courts.
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
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| הַמַּבְלִ֥יג | hamavlig | the [who] causes to flash | H1082 → | |
| שֹׁ֖ד | shod | devastation | H7701 → | 25 times |
| עַל־ | ʾal- | on | H5921 → | 5755 times |
| עָ֑ז | ʾaz | [the] strong | H5794 → | |
| וְשֹׁ֖ד | veshod | and devastation | H7701 → | 25 times |
| עַל־ | ʾal- | on | H5921 → | 5755 times |
| מִבְצָ֥ר | mivtzar | a fortress | H4013 → | |
| יָבֽוֹא׃ | yavo' | it will come | H935 → | 2568 times |
הַמַּבְלִ֥יגthe [who] causes to flash
hamavligH1082 →
שֹׁ֖דdevastation
shodH7701 →25 times
עַל־on
ʾal-H5921 →5755 times
עָ֑ז[the] strong
ʾazH5794 →
וְשֹׁ֖דand devastation
veshodH7701 →25 times
עַל־on
ʾal-H5921 →5755 times
מִבְצָ֥רa fortress
mivtzarH4013 →
יָבֽוֹא׃it will come
yavo'H935 →2568 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
Hebrews 11:34quenched the raging fire, and escaped the edge of the sword; who gained strength from weakness, became mighty in battle, and put foreign armies to flight.
it leads to
- 1 Samuel 17:51–52
David ran and stood over him. He grabbed the Philistine’s sword and pulled it from its sheath and killed him; and he cut off his head with the sword. When the Philistines saw that…
- 2 Kings 6:16–18
“Do not be afraid,” Elisha answered, “for those who are with us are more than those who are with them.”
- Judges 15:8
And he struck them ruthlessly with a great slaughter, and then went down and stayed in the cave at the rock of Etam.
- Psalms 144:10
to Him who gives victory to kings, who frees His servant David from the deadly sword.
- 2 Chronicles 32:20–22
In response, King Hezekiah and the prophet Isaiah son of Amoz cried out to heaven in prayer,
- 1 Samuel 17:51–52
Through
2 Kings 13:17“Open the east window,” said Elisha. So he opened it and Elisha said, “Shoot!” So he shot. And Elisha declared: “This is the LORD’s arrow of victory, the arrow of victory over Aram, for…
it leads to
- 1 Kings 20:26
In the spring, Ben-hadad mobilized the Arameans and went up to Aphek to fight against Israel.
- 2 Kings 5:10–14
Then Elisha sent him a messenger, who said, “Go and wash yourself seven times in the Jordan, and your flesh will be restored, and you will be clean.”
- 1 Kings 20:26
Through
2 Kings 13:25Then Jehoash son of Jehoahaz took back from Ben-hadad son of Hazael the cities that Hazael had taken in battle from his father Jehoahaz. Jehoash defeated Ben-hadad three times, and so recovered the cities…
it leads to
- 2 Kings 13:18–19
Then Elisha said, “Take the arrows!” So he took them, and Elisha said to the king of Israel, “Strike the ground!” So he struck the ground three times and stopped.
- 2 Kings 13:18–19
Where this verse is studied
About Amos
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); Carl Friedrich Keil, The Twelve Minor Prophets; 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.