Amos 5:9
He flashes destruction on the strong, so that fury comes upon the stronghold.
BSB
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.
Rare words are the text's own signal of a deliberate thread: the fewer the occurrences, the more the places it appears belong together.
The walk8
Follow this verse’s cross-references two steps out. Each card is a verse this one points to, and beneath it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several different paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it. Every stop shows its own words, and every stop is a page.
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.
leads to
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…
“Do not be afraid,” Elisha answered, “for those who are with us are more than those who are with them.”
And he struck them ruthlessly with a great slaughter, and then went down and stayed in the cave at the rock of Etam.
to Him who gives victory to kings, who frees His servant David from the deadly sword.
In response, King Hezekiah and the prophet Isaiah son of Amoz cried out to heaven in prayer,
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…
leads to
In the spring, Ben-hadad mobilized the Arameans and went up to Aphek to fight against Israel.
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.”
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…
leads to
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.
That 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.
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.
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].
