Amos 5:18-6:14
Home > The Old Testament > Amos > Chapters 5b-6 / Verses 5:18-6:14
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Contents
Summary[edit]
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Relationship to Amos. The relationship of Chapters 5b-6 to the rest of Amos is discussed at Amos.
Story. Chapters 5b-6 consist of a series of two woes upon segments of Israelite society, followed by the announcement that Israel will be not only conquered, but utterly destroyed.
- Amos 5b / Amos 5:18-27: Woe to: those who trust in religious ceremony.
- Amos 6a / Amos 6:1-7: Woe to: those who trust in their own strength.
- Amos 6b / Amos 6:8-14: Lord has sworn destruction: upon Israel.
Message. Themes, symbols, and doctrinal points emphasized in Chapters 5b-6 include:
Discussion[edit]
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Chapters 5b-6[edit]
- Amos 5b-6: Cohesive blocks of text. There is general scholarly consensus that chapters 1-2 and 7-9 each constitute a major division in Amos. There is not much consensus, however, about the organization or structure of the chapters in between, chapters 3-6. The three speeches in chapters 3-5a appear to constitute another major division. By process of elimination, this leaves Amos 5b-6 as the other major division in Amos.
- In this major division, the first and second sections each begin with “Woe to ....” (5:18; 6:1). In addition, the first section begins with the Lord despising empty religious ceremony (5:21-23), while the third begins with the Lord abhorring concentrated wealth (6:8). All three of these sections generally follow a common pattern:
- a. what the Lord will do
- b. how Israel got it wrong
- b. what the Lord wanted instead
- a. therefore Israel will go into captivity
- a. what the Lord will do
- Amos 5b-6: Outline. Having identified Chapters 5b-6 as a cohesive block of text, having identified Chapters 5b, 6a, and 6b as it largest constituents, and having identified the general pattern of each chapter, Chapters 5-6a can be outlines as follows
- Woe to: those who trust in religious ceremony (Chapter 5b)
- Woe to: those who trust in their own strength (Chapter 6a)
- Lord has sworn destruction: upon Israel (Chapter 6b)
Amos 5b / Amos 5:18-27[edit]
- Amos 5:18-20: Day of the Lord. It appears that Israelites were already familiar with the term "Day of the Lord" and saw it as a day in which the Lord would come out in judgment for Israel. Here Amos explains that even for Israel that day will be unpleasant if Israel is not righteous (5:18-20). In Amos 9:11-15 "that day" will be a day of light only to a cleansed remnant – and to righteous gentiles.
- Amos 5:24-27. The Lord accepts religious ceremony only from those who “let judgment run down as waters, and righteousness as a mighty stream” (5:24). Moloch and Chiun were pagan gods. A nation "beyond Damascus" (5:27) easily describes Assyria which carried off the Northern Kingdom forty years later, or Babylon which carried off the Southern Kingdom another century after that. (Map). Because Israel has not been just and righteous, but has instead worshipped pagan gods, it will be carried off into captivity beyond Syria.
Amos 6a / Amos 6:1-7[edit]
- Amos 6:1. This section pronounces woe upon those who are at ease in Zion, which includes also the Southern Kingdom of Judah, and who trust in the strength and recent military success of Samaria, capital of the Northern Kingdom of Israel (6:1).
- Amos 6:2. The reference to Calneh, Hamath (now Hama), and Gath (6:2) could be interpreted as a statement that the Northern Kingdom is greater than they, and yet it will still be brought down into captivity. Or it is possible that those cities had been recently conquered and that Amos is saying the Northern Kingdom will be conquered just as they were. There is not a definitive interpretation for this verse.
- Amos 6:3-7. In either case, those who now enjoy the fruits of the Northern Kingdom’s outward success (6:3-6a) while oblivious to its underlying moral sickness (6:6b) will be the first to go into captivity when the Northern Kingdom falls (6:7).
Amos 6b / Amos 6:8-14[edit]
- Amos 6:8-14. Rather than starting with “Woe to ...” this section begins with the Lord swearing by himself, the strongest oath possible (6:8). The lament in 5:1-3 was that Israel would lose nine tenths of her children. But here, out of ten, none will be left (6:9-10). Israel will finally fear the name of the Lord (6:11). One does not run horses on rocks for fear of slipping, and one does not plow on rocks. But Israel has done the equivalent, will reap nothing good, and has itself become a rocky field devoid of fruit unto the Lord. Injustice rules, the fruit of righteousness has been turned into poison, and the people rejoice in their own strength (6:12-13). The Lord will therefore raise up a nation against Israel (6:14).
Unanswered questions[edit]
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Prompts for life application[edit]
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Prompts for further study[edit]
This section is for prompts that invite us to think about a passage more deeply or in a new way. These are not necessarily questions that beg for answers, but rather prompts along the lines of "Have you ever thought about ..." Prompts are most helpful when they are developed individually, thoughtfully, and with enough background information to clearly indicate a particular direction for further study or thought. Click the link above and to the right to edit or add content to this heading. →
Resources[edit]
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Translations and Lexicons.
- Interlinear text (English-Hebrew), (Hebrew-English)
Other Resources.
Notes[edit]
Footnotes are not required but are encouraged for factual assertions that average readers cannot easily evaluate for themselves (such as the date of King Solomon’s death or the nuanced definition of a Greek word). In contrast, insights rarely benefit from footnoting, and the focus of this page should always remain on the scriptures themselves rather than what someone has said about them. Links are actively encouraged on all sections of this page, and links to authoritative sources (such as Strong's Bible Concordance or the Joseph Smith Papers) are preferable to footnotes.
