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1. Vision of the Lord standing over the altar. 2–10. Proclamation of destruction to Israel. 11–15. Prophecy about the restoration of the fallen Tabernacle of David. Am.9:1. I saw the Lord standing over the altar, and He said: strike the lintel above the gate so that the doorposts shake, and bring it down on the heads of all of them, but the rest of them I will strike with the sword: no one who runs from them will escape, and no one from them who wants to be saved will escape. The fifth and final vision of the prophet Amos. The prophet sees the Lord standing at the altar (al hamisbeach, as in 1 Kings 13.1 it is better translated “at the altar” rather than “on the altar”), and hears the command to bring down the church on the heads of the assembled people. According to many interpreters (Blessed Jerome, Theodoret, Shegg, Knabenbauer, Jungerov), the church referred to in the description of the vision should mean the Temple of Jerusalem, since 1) the word misbeach (altar) is used with a member and indicates a specific, legal altar, which was only the altar of Jerusalem; 2) The Lord could not have appeared in another church in which a service displeasing to Him was performed. But it is better to agree with those interpreters of the book. Amos, which Amos 9.1 refer to the Bethel sanctuary, near which the prophet preached. (Kirill Al., Novak, Goonaker, Bishop Palladium). The prophet, indeed, speaks of the Israelites; therefore, he could not imagine them filling the temple of Jerusalem. And the feature of the vision that the Lord appears in the unlawful sanctuary does not contain anything strange if we remember that the Lord appears for judgment and punishment. The term in the word misbeach is understandable even on the assumption that the prophet is talking about the altar of Bethel. “And He said”: to whom the Lord addressed these words is not specified; or to the Angels who accompanied the Lord (Blessed Jerome, Knabenb., Yungerov) or to the prophet himself (St. Cyril Al., Shegg). “Strike the lintel above the gate (hakapthor) so that the doorposts will shake” (hasippim). The word kapthor (Russian lintel over the gate) in Exodus 25.31 means the decoration of a lamp (“ramerku”) and in the place in question it probably refers to the capital of a column (Novak, Goonaker). LXX, apparently, instead of kapthor they read kapporeth and therefore translated it with the word ὶλαστήριον, purification (glory: “strike purgation”). The word sap (in Russian, t. jamb) is used in other places in the Bible to mean threshold (Judges 19.27; 2 Kings 12.9), and cup (1 Kings 7.50). LXX translated it - πρὸπυλον, vestibule (slav. “and the vestibule will shake”). The newest commentators (Novak, Goonaker) usually take hasippim to mean thresholds; the whole expression - “hit the capital of the column (the lintel above the gate) so that the thresholds shake” - will be equivalent to this: hit so that the entire building shakes from top to bottom. An objection to the translation of hasippim by the word thresholds can be the following after the sentence in question “bring them down (bezaam) on their heads,” since it is impossible to bring down the thresholds on their heads. This same sentence also shows the unsatisfactoryness of the translation of hasippim adopted in our text with the word jambs, because the jambs cannot be brought down on everyone’s heads. The difficulty of expression should perhaps be explained by the fact that architectural biblical terms are not precisely known to us. Also worthy of attention is Goonaker’s proposal to read hasippun, ceiling, instead of hasippim (1 Kings 6.15), while changing Vejreaschu (“and they will be shaken”) into the singular. h. veiraasch. “The rest of them,” that is, those who survived the destruction of the church, or - every single one. Part of Art. The first, from the words of the others, is considered not a continuation of the description of the vision, but the beginning of a speech about the vision and to explain it (Novak). Am.9:2. Even if they bury themselves in the pit, and from there My hand will take them; At least they ascended to heaven, and from there I will overthrow them. The prophet uses a hyperbolic expression, expressing the idea that nowhere will it be possible to escape from the punishing right hand of God. Am.9:3. And even if they hid on the top of Carmel, I will find them there and take them; even if they are hidden from Mine eyes at the bottom of the sea, and there I will command the sea serpent to bite them. And at least they hid on the top of Carmel. Wed. Am 1.2. The Prophet names Carmel as a supposed place of refuge for fugitives, perhaps due to the abundance of caves in Mount Carmel, and also because the top of the mountain was covered with dense vegetation, convenient for hiding. “And there I will command the sea serpent to bite them”: the sea serpent or leviathan is a monster that, according to popular belief, lived in the seas (cf. Ps 103.26; Is 27.1). Am.9:4. And if they go into captivity ahead of their enemies, then I will command the sword to kill them there too. I will fix My eyes on them for their harm and not for their good. Those who escaped from the sword of the enemy by captivity will die in captivity. Am.9:5. For the Lord God of hosts will touch the earth, and it will melt, and all who live on it will mourn; and all of it will rise up like a river, and will go down like the river of Egypt. As in Amos 5:13, the announcement of judgment ends with the glorification of the majesty and omnipotence of God. Figure of speech in Art. 5 is taken from the memory of the recent earthquake (Amos 4.11). From here, in Am 8.8, the prophet also borrows a form for expressing a threat. See note. to Am 8.8. Am.9:6. He has built His high palaces in the heavens and established His arch on the earth, He calls for the waters of the sea and pours them out over the face of the earth; Lord is His name. The prophet gives a figurative description of the greatness of God. “He built His palaces on high (maalothav) in the heavens”: maalah means the actual rising or step on the ladder (1 Kings 10.19; Ps 120.1, etc.); LXX translated it with the word ἀνάβασις, glory. "sunrise"; The newest commentators usually identify maalothav with Heb. alijоth the highest abodes, the heavenly palaces. “And His arch” (Vaaguddatho): Heb. aguddah means a tie, a yoke, a belt (Exodus 12.22; Isaiah 58.6), a crowd of people (2 Kings 2.25); when applied to a building, agguddah can mean a vault, a foundation, in which sense this word is used in Art. 6th The Prophet calls the firmament or visible sky the foundation (vault) of the palaces on high. The entire expression of the prophet is identical to the strong saying of Isaiah: “heaven is My throne, the earth is My footstool” (Is. 66:1): - LXX derived the word aguddah from the chapter nagad and translated - ἐπαγγελία - testimony, promise; from here in Slavic “found your promise on the earth.” Am.9:7. Are you not like the children of the Ethiopians to Me, the children of Israel? says the Lord. Was it not I who brought Israel out of the land of Egypt, and the Philistines from Caphtor, and the Aramites from Cyrus? Israel could still hope that it would be saved from the coming judgment of God, as a covenant people chosen by God from among others. The prophet destroys this vain hope. In ch. I-II he put Israel on a par with the pagan peoples before the punishing Justice of God. To you. 3:1–2, the prophet pointed out that God’s special mercies to the people, their election, placed special obligations on them and would serve as the basis for a more severe judgment against them. In Am 9.7 the prophet again makes it clear that Israel has no advantage over other nations. The children of Israel are to the Lord as the despised Ethiopians, and just as the Lord brought Israel out of Egypt, so He brought the Philistines out of Caphtor and the Aramites out of Cyrus. Caphtor, the homeland of the Philistines (Deut 2.23; Jer 47.4), is identified with the island of Crete (Gitzig, Keil), with Cyprus (Goonaker) or with the Nile Delta (Ebers). LXX and Vulg. mistakenly identified Caphtor with Cappadocia; from here to glory t.: “and foreigners (Philistines) from Cappadocia.” “And the Aramites from Cyrus”: according to the LXX translation – “and the Syrians from the pit”; LXX apparently derived the word Kir from karoh to dig. Simmon, blessed Jerome translated kir to the words. Κυρήνη, Cyrenae, Theodotion – τοῖχος, wall. For the location of Cyrus, see note. Am 1.5. The prophet identifies the exodus of Israel from Egypt with the resettlement of the Philistines and the Aramites, because the special meaning of the exodus from Egypt and the theocratic calling of Israel has now been lost: only simple historical events remain, analogies for which can be found in the history of pagan peoples. Am.9:8. Behold, the eyes of the Lord God are upon the sinful kingdom, and I will destroy it from the face of the earth; But I will not completely destroy the house of Jacob, says the Lord. The election of the people was not unconditional, but conditional; if the people have not fulfilled the terms of the covenant, the demands of righteousness, then Jehovah also violates the covenant and, instead of showing mercy, will destroy and exterminate. “Behold, the eyes of the Lord God are upon the sinful kingdom”: the prophet probably speaks not generally about the kingdom of sinners (Driver), but specifically about the kingdom of Israel. At the same time, there is no need to think that the prophet meant by the expression sinful kingdom to expose the opposition between the kingdom of Israel and the kingdom of Judah, contrary to what was expressed in Am 3.1; Am 6.1, 11) equal condemnation of both kingdoms. (From here Wellg., Novak and others conclude that Article 8 et c. is not authentic). The prophet speaks of Israel without reference to Judah. From 8 tbsp. the conclusion of the book begins. Amos and sets forth the promise of salvation for the remnant of the house of Jacob. The Prophet, completing what was said earlier, proclaims that only sinners will perish (8-10), that after trials the restoration of the people will take place (11-12) and that the mercies of God will be poured out in abundance on the saved. Negative criticism (Baudissin, Smend, Wellg., Novak) considers Art. 8–15 by an addition made by the hand of the last editor of the book of the prophet Amos, due to the fact that in previous speeches the prophet decisively speaks of the destruction of the entire people brought out of Egypt (Am 3.1; cf. Am 2.4–5; Am 6.1). But the presented consideration cannot be considered convincing. The separation of threat and promise in prophetic speech is a common technique. Amos's speeches in ch. I-VIII do not exclude the idea of ​​salvation, since, obviously, the prophet described the punishment threatening the people hyperbolically. In the first half of Art. The 8th also speaks of the destruction of the house of Israel in an absolute sense; but after this, in the second half of the verse, salvation is discussed. This is not a contradiction, but the usual accepted form of presentation. And if it is impossible to reject the accessories of Art. 8th to one author, then there is no reason to doubt the affiliation of Art. 8–15 to the same prophet who had previously announced the destruction of the people in absolute form. As for the images used in Art. 8–15 to depict future salvation, then they fully correspond to the peculiarities of the speech of the prophet Amos and, therefore, prove by this that Art. 8–15 to the original composition of the book of Amos. The expression "house of Jacob" in v. 8 denotes the kingdom of Israel, and in some lists LXX, as well as in the following. i.e. replaced by the words: “house of Israel.” Am.9:9. For behold, I will command and scatter the house of Israel among all nations, as grain is scattered in a sieve, and not one falls on the ground. The prophet explains the words of the previous verse - I will not completely destroy the house of Jacob in the sense that only sinners will perish. The prophet compares the test ahead of the people - obviously captivity and dispersion -, according to the Russian text, with the cleaning of grain through a sieve or, as in glory. text, fanned. “As grains are scattered in a sieve, and not a single one falls to the ground”: in Hebrew. kaascher innoa bakebarah velo ippol zeror arez, “like shaking in a sieve, and the zeror will not fall to the ground. The image is not clear, since the meaning of the word zeror (in Russian, “grain”) in Art. 9th is doubtful. LXX translated it with the word σύντριμμα, glory. erasure ("and the erasure will not fall on the earth"). Blazh. Jerome gives the word zeror the meaning lapillus pebble, as in 2 Samuel 17.13. In this meaning we take zeror in Art. 9th and some commentators. At the same time, the image of the prophet is explained in the sense that, just as only stones will remain in the sieve, so only sinners will remain in the land of captivity (Hoffmann). Etymologically, zerar (from zarar to compress, bind, pay) means something solid, compact, a solid mass. In this general meaning the word Goonaker takes, which at the end of Art. On the 9th he translates: (I will shake the house of Israel) “as one shakes a sieve, and in the mass it will not fall to the ground.” The idea of ​​the expression will be that through the sieve or trials the separation of good and evil elements in the people will be achieved. The comparison turns out to be, apparently, strained, and therefore there is no reason to prefer it to the one accepted in our text. Am.9:11. In that day I will restore the fallen tabernacle of David, I will mend the cracks therein, and I will restore what was broken, and will build it as in the days of old, The prophet begins a description of the future restoration of Israel “on that day” (bajom hahu), i.e., at the end of the tests appointed for the people. - “I will restore the fallen tabernacle of David”: by the tabernacle of David the prophet means the royal house of David; calling this house a fallen tabernacle, that is, a dilapidated tent, the prophet points to the decline of the dynasty of David, using it for the inhabitants of the tents. The idea of ​​the decline of the house of David is reinforced by further expressions: “I will repair the cracks in it and restore what was destroyed.” Negative exegetes point out that a contemporary of Amos was the Judah king Uzziah, who brought power and splendor to the state (2 Kings 14.22; Isa. 2). Hence they do not find it possible for Amos to speak of the house of David as a fallen tabernacle with cracks and breaks, and refer v. 11–15 to post-captivity time (Novak). But in Am 5.1–2 the prophet also calls the kingdom of Israel a fallen virgin, although at that time, under Jerome II, the kingdom of Israel reached its greatest power. Obviously, the prophet evaluates the state of affairs on its merits, and the temporary splendor of the house of David does not blind him: in essence, even under Uzziah, this house was already a tabernacle with cracks and breaches, ready to open at any moment. Therefore, there is no reason to deny that the verses in question belong to Amos. “And I will build it as in the days of old,” that is, in the days of David and Solomon, the most glorious time in the history of the House of David (2 Kings 7.1; 1 Kings 9.5). LXX understood the words of the prophet as an indication of the eternal existence of the restored tabernacle and translated: ὀικοδομήσω καθὼ t ἀι ἠμέραι τοῦ αιῶνος, into glory: “and I will reward you like the days of the age” . Am.9:12. that they may possess the remnant of Edom and all the nations among whom my name shall be proclaimed, says the Lord, who doeth all these things. Restored to its former glory, the house of David and the people of Israel will again take possession of those nations that it controlled under David, namely Edom, of which only a remnant will remain (Am 1.11); and will also take possession of all the nations “on whom the name” of God is called (Russian not exactly: “among whom My name will be proclaimed”), i.e., who honor the Lord and are the property of the Lord (cf. 2 Sam. 12.28; Deut. 28.10; Jer. 7.10), in LXX the thought of art. On the 12th it was conveyed differently, since instead of ijrschu eth-scheerith edom they apparently read idrischuni (from darasch to explore, search) scheerith adam: the resulting translation was δπως ἐκξήτησουσίν Με οί κατάλοιποι τῶν ἀνθρώπων, in glory: “for the remaining people will seek Me.” So. rev., according to the LXX translation, the prophet does not speak about Israel’s possession of Edom and other nations, but about the turning to God of all nations. The reading of LXX corresponds entirely to the context of the speech in ch. IX, gives a thought consistent with the prophetic worldview and is confirmed by the words of Ap. James, who quotes v. The 12th prophecy of Amos is exactly in Greek. text (Acts 15.15–17). Am.9:13. Behold, the days will come, says the Lord, when the plowman will find the reaper, and the trampler of grapes will find the sower; and the mountains will flow with grape juice, and all the hills will flow. The prophet speaks of the benefits that Israel will enjoy after the restoration of the Tabernacle of David. The prophet foretells an extraordinary abundance of fruits; as a result of which there will be no longer the usual break between field work (“the plowman will find the reaper,” etc.), grape juice will flow straight from the mountains covered with vineyards, and the hills on which the herds graze will be covered with such abundant vegetation that milk will flow from them. Instead of the words “the plowman will find the reaper” in Slavic it reads: “and the harvest will embrace the grapes”: LXX omitted the word choresch plowman, and freely translated the phrase bemoscheh hazzarah περκασει ᾿εν τω σπόρω ἡσταφυλὴ, the grapes will ripen during sowing. Figurative expressions of the original at the end of the article. 13th LXX-th simplified; from here to glory we read: “And the mountains will dig up sweetness, and all the hills will be planted.” Am.9:14. And I will bring back My people Israel from captivity, and they will build up the deserted cities and settle in them, plant vineyards and drink wine from them, plant gardens and eat the fruits from them. Am.9:15. And I will establish them in their land, and they will no longer be pulled out of their land which I have given them, says the Lord your God. The prophet heralds the restoration of cities, the revival of the former calm life and complete safety from enemies. The prophecy of Amos about the restoration of the Tabernacle of David and the sending of blessings to the people of Israel by some commentators (Cyril Al., Theodore M., Kalmet) is understood as a prediction about the return from Babylonian captivity and about the times of Zerubbabel. In particular, the prophecy that Israel would once take possession of the remnant of Edom was fulfilled, according to Calmet, in the fact of the subjugation of the Edomites to the Jews under Hyrcanus (I. Josephus, Ancient Jude 13: 1, 1–6). But the prophet in v. 11–15 foresees an outpouring of such an abundance of benefits, which did not happen either under Zerubbabel, much less under Hyrcanus. The image of the prophet’s expression (vv. 11, 12) shows that he contemplates the same times that are depicted with similar features in other prophets (Isa. 11; Hos. 2.21–23), i.e., messianic times. In the messianic sense, the prophecy of Amos in question was understood by the ancient Jews, who adopted the name bar naphilim, “Son of the Fallen” for the Messiah, borrowing this name, obviously, from Art. 11th. In the New Testament, the prophecy of Amos about the restoration of the Tabernacle of David is interpreted by Ap. James in a speech he delivered at the Apostolic Council in Jerusalem (Acts 15.16–17). According to the apostle’s explanation, the Prophet foreshadows the conversion of all pagan peoples to Christ and the formation from them of the people of God or the Church, which is obviously the restoration of the Tabernacle of David. Following the apostle, church teachers also interpreted the words of the prophet Amos in the messianic sense. According to the explanation of St. John Chrysostom, the restoration of the Tabernacle of David was accomplished in “the re-creation of the descendants of David in the Person of the Lord Jesus Christ, the descendant of David in the flesh and the King of the new spiritual kingdom on earth” (Conversations on Acts 15.16–17). According to the interpretation of St. Ephraim the Syrian, “the tabernacle of David” the prophet calls the entire human race, which was overthrown by the transgression of the commandment and restored from the fall by Christ, or the Church. Blazh. Theodoret means by the restoration of the tabernacle the taking upon Himself as the Savior of mankind from the seed of David. Art. should also be attributed to messianic times. 13–15, which talks about sending down abundant benefits to the restored people. The very expressions of the prophet in v. 13–15 show that his speech is not direct and should be understood in a spiritual sense. The law promises an abundance of earthly blessings as a reward to the people for faithfulness to the commandments of God (Lev. 26.3–6). Hence, the abundance of blessings is for the prophet a symbol of the spiritual perfection of the people, their holiness, an image of those spiritual gifts that will be sent down to the members of the restored Tabernacle of David or the Church of Christ. Church teachers also interpret individual features of the image of the glorious future of spiritual Israel presented by the prophet. “Prophet means,” says St. Ephraim the Syrian in his explanation of Art. 13–15, - divine blessings and heavenly gifts sent down to us after the resurrection of Christ. Here he calls the churches mountains, and the teaching taught in them sweetness. He calls the holy monasteries and hermitage caves of the god-readers, who flourish in the mountains and practice praise, “hills.” According to the explanation of St. Cyril Al., the words of the prophet about the return of the people from captivity and their settlement forever in their land (vv. 14–15) should be attributed to the deliverance of people from captivity to the devil and sin granted by Christ and eternal life in the Kingdom of glory. The expression of the prophet in v. The 15th and they will no longer be uprooted from their land is a prophecy about the Church of Christ, which enemies will persecute, but will never overcome or enslave. (Yungerov, pp. 201–202). You might be interested in: