Amos 6:9
in Amos 6And if there are ten men left in one house, they too will die.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
And it shall come to pass, if there remain ten men in one house, that they shall die.
KJV
And it shall come to pass, if there remain ten men in one house, that they shall die.
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This verse in Amos 6
Commentary
7 notes on this verseA commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
If there shall remain ten men - He probably still denounces the punishment of the rich inhabitants of the palaces, since in these only, of old, would there be found “ten men.” They died, it seems, at once, and so probably through the plague, the common companion. of the siege. The prophet had before compared them to Sodom. It may be, that, in this mention of “ten men,” he tacitly refers to the history of that destruction. Then God promised, not to destroy the city, if there were ten righteous in it Gen 18:
This site's exposition
ten men left in one house
on Amos 6:9-11
The scene shrinks to a single house, where even "ten men left in one house" will die. The relative is told to keep silent, for "the name of the LORD must not be invoked," in dread that naming God might bring judgment.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers2 voices
The passage involves deep obscurity from the viewpoint of commentary. It resembles the part in Genesis where there is mention of the treaty that Laban and Jacob made with each other about ownership of the offspring of the sheep, one man owning some, the other …
(Vers. 7 seqq.) Therefore now they will migrate to the head of the transmigrants, and the faction of the revelers will be removed.
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
In the most sickly times, if there be ten in a house, one may hope that at least the one-half of them will escape, according to the proportion of two in a bed, one taken and the other left; but here not one of ten shall live to bury the rest. Another instance of the greatness of the mortality is (
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — unbalanced-parens
And it shall come to pass,.... When the city is delivered up and taken: if there remain; who are not carried captive, or destroyed by the sword: ten men in one house; that is, many, a certain number for an uncertain: that they shall die; either with famine, or by the pestilence, though they have escaped the other calamities; so general shall the destruction be, by one means or another.
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
Ten men - they shall die - All shall be cut off by the sword, or by captivity, or by famine.
How the passage was read
What the Jewish commentators add
On the verses either side of this one
And his kinsman and the one who saved him from burning shall carry him —His kinsman and his friend who saved his bones from the fire. In this manner, Jonathan rendered it: And his kinsman shall carry him out of the fire.
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. 2 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וְהָיָ֗ה | vehayah | and it will be | H1961 → | 3559 times |
| אִם־ | ʾim- | if | H518 → | 1069 times |
| יִוָּ֨תְר֜וּ | yivateru | they will remain | H3498 → | |
| עֲשָׂרָ֧ה | ʾasarah | ten | H6235 → | |
| אֲנָשִׁ֛ים | ʾanashim | men | H582 → | |
| בְּבַ֥יִת | bevayit | in a house | H1004 → | 2046 times |
| אֶחָ֖ד | ʾechad | one | H259 → | 971 times |
| וָמֵֽתוּ׃ | vametu | and they will die | H4191 → | 839 times |
וְהָיָ֗הand it will be
vehayahH1961 →3559 times
אִם־if
ʾim-H518 →1069 times
יִוָּ֨תְר֜וּthey will remain
yivateruH3498 →
עֲשָׂרָ֧הten
ʾasarahH6235 →
אֲנָשִׁ֛יםmen
ʾanashimH582 →
בְּבַ֥יִתin a house
bevayitH1004 →2046 times
אֶחָ֖דone
ʾechadH259 →971 times
וָמֵֽתוּ׃and they will die
vametuH4191 →839 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
Psalms 109:13May his descendants be cut off; may their name be blotted out from the next generation.
it leads to
- Proverbs 10:7
The memory of the righteous is a blessing, but the name of the wicked will rot.
- Job 18:19
He has no offspring or posterity among his people, no survivor where he once lived.
- Psalms 37:28
For the LORD loves justice and will not forsake His saints. They are preserved forever, but the offspring of the wicked will be cut off.
- Proverbs 10:7
Through
Esther 5:11Haman recounted to them his glorious wealth, his many sons, and all the ways the king had honored and promoted him over the other officials and servants.
it leads to
- Esther 9:7–10
including Parshandatha, Dalphon, Aspatha,
- Esther 9:7–10
Through
Esther 9:10They killed these ten sons of Haman son of Hammedatha, the enemy of the Jews, but they did not lay a hand on the plunder.
it leads to
- Esther 5:11
Haman recounted to them his glorious wealth, his many sons, and all the ways the king had honored and promoted him over the other officials and servants.
- Esther 8:11
By these letters the king permitted the Jews in each and every city the right to assemble and defend themselves, to destroy, kill, and annihilate all the forces of any people or province hostile…
- Esther 5:11
Through
Amos 5:3This is what the Lord GOD says: “The city that marches out a thousand strong will only see a hundred return, and the one that marches out a hundred strong will have but ten…
it leads to
- Romans 9:27
Isaiah cries out concerning Israel: “Though the number of the Israelites is like the sand of the sea, only the remnant will be saved.
- Isaiah 6:13
And though a tenth remains in the land, it will be burned again. As the terebinth and oak leave stumps when felled, so the holy seed will be a stump in the land.”
- Romans 9:27
Where this verse is studied
On this page
Studies1
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; Jerome, Commentary on Amos; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament; Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible and Theodore of Mopsuestia, COMMENTARY ON AMOS 6:9–10.