Amos 3:12

3:9-15 That power which is an instrument of unrighteousness, will justly be brought down and broken. What is got and kept wrongfully, will not be kept long. Some are at ease, but there will come a day of visitation, and in that day, all they are proud of, and put confidence in, shall fail them. God will inquire into the sins of which they have been guilty in their houses, the robbery they have stored up, and the luxury in which they lived. The pomp and pleasantness of men's houses, do not fortify against God's judgments, but make sufferings the more grievous and vexatious. Yet a remnant, according to the election of grace, will be secured by our great and good Shepherd, as from the jaws of destruction, in the worst times.

Amos 3:12 . As the shepherd taketh out of the mouth of the lion two legs, &c. — When a lion hath for some time ravaged the flock, but is at last frighted away by the noise of the shepherds and their dogs, or by darts and other offensive weapons thrown at him, then all that, in such a case, the shepherd can hope to save will be but some poor remains of the prey that the lion hath seized. And thus shall it be at the taking of Samaria: only a small remainder of the inhabitants shall escape the search of their enemies, though they try to hide themselves in their most retired apartments. In the corner of a bed — In some dark corner behind a bed; and in Damascus — Supposing some of them have fled thither; in a couch — Some few of the poor may escape when the enemy finds them sick upon their couches. But the marginal reading, on the bed’s feet, is thought by some to give a better sense: or, as the word rendered Damascus also signifies a corner, the clause may be properly rendered, In the side or corner of a couch, an interpretation approved by Aben Ezra. See Buxtorf.

(12) Taketh out . . . taken out.— Should be (as in margin) delivereth . . . be delivered. The agricultural image, used by Amos, is very impressive. The shanks and pieces of the ear, worthless portions, saved from the lion’s jaws, represent the remnants of Samaria’s population that shall escape. In Damascus in a couch.—Some would render “in Damascus on that of (i.e., corner of) a couch,” Damascus corresponding to Samaria in the parallel clause. But this construction is very questionable, and it would be much simpler and safer to adopt the reading of most Hebrew texts, and render on a couch’s damask (so Gesenius and Ewald), referring to the silken (?) or white woollen fabric for which Damascus, even in that early age, was famous. The relations between Syria and Israel at this moment were intimate. The meaning is that even the noblest and wealthiest will be regarded, if saved, as worthless salvage.

Thus saith the LORD; As the shepherd taketh {m} out of the mouth of the lion two legs, or a piece of an ear; so shall the children of Israel be taken out that dwell in Samaria in the corner of a bed, and in {n} Damascus in a couch. (m) When the lion has satisfied his hunger, the shepherd finds a leg or a piece of an ear, to show that the sheep have been torn by his teeth. (n) Where they thought to have had a sure stronghold, and to have been in safety.

In brief, this verse foretells how few and with what difficulty they shall escape who are not swallowed up of the approaching judgments, and it is elegantly expressed in the following similitude. As the shepherd taketh out of the mouth; as the shepherd doth hardly rescue a small part of a sheep or lamb, when the lion hath seized and torn it. The lion; the fiercest, strongest, and boldest creature, not a bear or wolf. Two legs; which are parts the ravening lion less regardeth and last eateth; or a piece of an ear, less considerable than the legs. So shall the children of Israel, some of the children of Israel, or some of the ten tribes, but the poorer, meaner, and more worthless of them, be taken out that dwell in Samaria; shall escape when Samaria is taken. In the corner of a bed; lying in some dark corner, and on a piece of a bed, as the poor do in most places. In Damascus; the chiefest city of Syria, taken by Tiglath-pileser much about the time when he wasted Israel in aid of Ahaz against Rezin and Pekah. In a couch; some few of the poorer among them also shall escape, pitied by the enemy when he findeth them weakly and sick upon their couch.

12. shepherd—a pastoral image, appropriately used by Amos, a shepherd himself. piece of … ear—brought by the shepherd to the owner of the sheep, so as not to have to pay for the loss (Ge 31:39; Ex 22:13). So if aught of Israel escapes, it shall be a miracle of God's goodness. It shall be but a scanty remnant. There is a kind of goat in the East the ears of which are a foot long, and proportionally broad. Perhaps the reference is to this. Compare on the image 1Sa 17:34, 35; 2Ti 4:17. that dwell in Samaria in the corner of a bed—that is, that live luxuriously in Samaria (compare Am 6:1, 4). "A bed" means here the Oriental divan, a raised part of the room covered with cushions. in Damascus in a couch—Jeroboam II had lately restored Damascus to Israel (2Ki 14:25, 28). So the Israelites are represented as not merely in "the corner of a bed," as in Samaria, but "in a (whole) couch," at Damascus, living in luxurious ease. Of these, now so luxurious, soon but a remnant shall be left by the foe. The destruction of Damascus and that of Samaria shall be conjoined; as here their luxurious lives, and subsequently under Pekah and Rezin their inroads on Judah, were combined (Isa 7:1-8; 8:4, 9; 17:3). The parallelism of "Samaria" to "Damascus," and the Septuagint favor English Version rather than Gesenius: "on a damask couch." The Hebrew pointing, though generally expressing damask, may express the city "Damascus"; and many manuscripts point it so.

Verse 12. - The prophet shows that the chastisement is inevitable, and that only the smallest remnant, the most worthless among the inhabitants, and they with much difficulty, can escape. The illustration from a common incident in a shepherd's life is very natural in Amos. Taketh ; better, rescueth . So below, shall be taken out; shall be rescued . The usual explanation is that a shepherd attacks the lion which has seized one of his sheep (comp. 1 Samuel 17:34 , etc.), and rescues from it the most worthless parts - "a couple of shank bones or a bit, or tip, of an ear." But as an attack on a lion would be an abnormal act of courage on the part of a shepherd, and the comparison is with things likely and usual, it is probable that the meaning is that the shepherd finds only these poor remnants after the lion has left his prey. So such a poor remnant shall be rescued from the ten tribes of Israel. That dwell in Samaria in the corner of a bed; that sit at ease, lounging in the cosiest corner of the divan, an image of indolent ease and careless security in the face of impending judgment. And in Damascus in a couch; LXX., καὶ ἐν Δαμασκῷ : Vulgate, et in Damasci grabato . The Syriac and Jewish Versions agree in considering the word "Damascus" to be a proper name. The other modern rendering takes it to mean the material which we call "damask," or something similar. Hence our Revised Version gives, "on the silken cushions of a bed;" and others, "on the damask of a couch." Dr.

Pusey retains the old rendering, on the grounds that there is no evidence to prove that the manufactures for which Damascus was celebrated in after time existed at this period, its exports being then wine and white wool ( Ezekiel 27:18 ), and that the Arabic word dimakso (which critics have cited as connected with the term "damask") has nothing to do with Damascus, and meant raw, not manufactured, "silk." He translates, "in Damascus, a couch," and explains this to mean that Damascus, which Jeroboam II had won for Israel ( 2 Kings 14:28 ), "was a canopied couch to them, in which they stayed themselves." This agrees with the ancient Jewish interpretation, which explains the clause to mean that the Israelites would some day depend for help on the Syrians represented by Damascus A third exposition, favoured by the Latin Vulgate, makes the words to mean, "on a couch of Damascus;" i.e. a Syrian couch of a costly and luxurious nature. This comes to the same as the modern rendering given, above and seems to be the easiest explanation of the expression. The difficulty depends chiefly on the punctuation of the word דמשך ; or them may be some corruption in the text. What the LXX. meant by their rendering is problematical, Κατέναντι τῆς φυλῆς καὶ ἐν Δαμασκῷ , "The children of Israel who dwell in Samaria in the presence of the tribe and in Damascus." Amos 3:12

12 . So sudden will be the surprise, so overwhelming the numbers of the foe, that of the luxurious nobles of Samaria only an insignificant remnant will escape with their bare lives: all the rest will be swept away by the foe. As the shepherd taketh &c.] better, rescueth (R.V.). A shepherd would bring such remains of a missing animal to his master, as evidence that it had really been torn by beasts ( Exodus 22:13 ; cf. Genesis 31:39 ). The comparison, which is suggested no doubt by the experiences of Amos’ shepherd life, illustrates forcibly both the scant numbers and the shattered condition of the survivors, besides hinting at the formidable powers of the assailant. be taken out ] be rescued. that sit in Samaria in the corner of a divan ] The grandees of Samaria are represented as sitting luxuriously in the cushioned corners of their divans. In Assyria the king reclined, or sat up, on a couch beside the table, leaning his weight upon his left elbow, and having his right hand free and disposable (see the representation in Rawlinson’s Anc. Monarchies , ed. 4, i. 493). In the modern oriental houses of the wealthy (Van Lennep, Bible Customs in Bible Lands , p. 460, referred to by Mitchell), ‘a divan,’ or cushioned seat, about a yard in width, extends along three sides of the principal room, while a row of richly woven stuffed cushions lines the wall behind, and forms a support for the back: the seat of honour is the inmost corner of the divan, opposite the door.

In some such luxurious state the magnates of Samaria sat in Amos’s day. The framework of the seat was often inlaid with ivory ( Amos 6:4 ). and in Damascus in a couch ] The Hebrew text can hardly be right; nor, as pointed, is the Heb. word here found ( d’mésheḳ ) identical with that for Damascus ( damméseḳ ). Most moderns render and on the damask (whence R.V. silken cushions ) of a couch . This rendering yields an excellent sense; but it cannot be regarded as certain: for (1) it is doubtful whether, in the time of Amos, Damascus was yet celebrated for the manufacture which in modern European languages is called after it: (2) in Arabic also, the name of the material ( dimaḳs ), which has been appealed to in support of this explanation, differs from that of the city ( Dimaḳsh ); hence it is very questionable whether it really derives its name from it. It is considered by Fränkel, Aram. Fremdwörter im Arabischen , p. 40, to be varied by metathesis from midaḳs , a form which also occurs, and which in its turn is derived from the Syr. mîtaḳs , which is the Greek μέταξα . Whatever uncertainty there may be about the word, it must, however, either be, or be the corrupt representative of, a term either synonymous or parallel with corner , in the preceding clause.