Amos 2:15

Amo 2:15 Neither shall he stand that handleth the bow; and [he that is] swift of foot shall not deliver [himself]: neither shall he that rideth the horse deliver himself.

Ver. 15. Neither shall he stand that handleth the bow] Arcitenens, though he can do it never so dexterously, yet if he trust in his bow, Psa 44:6, God will break it, Jer 49:35, or otherwise render it unuseful; as it befell the army of Sennacherib in Egypt, of Maximus against Theodosius, and the French in the battle between our Edward III and their King Philip, who being enraged with a defeat, resolved presently to revenge it, being elevated with an assured hope of triumphant victory. But it happened otherwise; for there fell at the instant of the battle a piercing shower of rain which dissolved their strings, and made their bows useless.

Neither shall he that rideth the horse] Though it be as good a one as Cain is feigned by Dubertas to have managed, or as Alexander’s Bucephalus, or Julius Cesar’s great horse serviceable, and full of terror. A horse is so swift that Job saith he "eateth up the ground"; and the Persians dedicated him to their god the sun, as the swiftest creature to the swiftest power divine, ωσπερ το ταχιστον τω ταχυτατφ θεων (Pausan.). But as the sun in heaven can neither be outrun nor stopped in his race, so neither by men nor means can God be frustrated, or his anger avoided. The Canaanites had both horses and chariots, the Israelites had neither; and yet they found a horse a vain thing for victory, Psa 33:17; Psa 147:10.

John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

2:15 The archers stood in the last ranks. If they fled, it meant the forward ranks had collapsed.

Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Verse 15. Neither shall he that rideth the horse deliver himself.] I believe all these sayings, Am 2:13-16, are proverbs, to show the inutility of all attempts, even in the best circumstances, to escape the doom now decreed, because the cup of their iniquity was full.

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

(15) Is omitted in some of Kennicott’s and De Rossi’s MSS., but without authority.

A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

15. stand] i.e. keep his place, or halt in the flight: so Nah_2:8; Jer_46:21.

swift of foot] For this virtue of a warrior cf. 2Sa_1:23; 2Sa_2:18 (the same expression as here), 1Ch_12:8.

deliver himself] As the text stands, himself must be understood from the next clause: but it is better, with a change of vowel-points, to read yimmâlçṭ, which will itself mean ‘deliver himself.’

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Neither shall he stand that handleth the bow,.... That is, at some distance, and can make use of his instruments of war afar off; yet will not think it safe to stand his ground, but will betake himself to his heels as fast as he can to save himself:

and he that is swift of foot shall not deliver himself; this is repeated, lest any should place confidence in their agility, and to show how complete and inevitable the affliction will be:

neither shall he that rideth the horse deliver himself; by fleeing on horseback, no more than he that is on foot; no ways that can be devised or thought on would preserve from this general calamity; see Psa 33:17.

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

CHAPTER II.

George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).

Neither shall he stand; though at distance from the enemies, yet shall not dare to keep his place.

That handleth the bow; much used in the wars of those times, and used by strong and valiant men, but now both strength and valour should fail Israel’s bow-men.

He that is swift of foot shall not deliver himself: this is the same, and explains that in the 14th verse.

Neither shall he that rideth the horse deliver himself: here the prophet foretells that the swiftness of the horse, which some will make use of, shall as little avail, nor his strength joined with his speed shall deliver the rider; neither the strength of the horse shall carry him through, nor his swiftness carry him away from the hand of the pursuer.

Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

Stand (Jer_46:21; Nah_2:8) The skilled archer shall not stand firm. That handleth the bow. (Jer_46:9)

The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Connecting Statement:

Yahweh continues his message of judgment on the people of Israel.

The archer will not stand

Here "stand" means to keep one's place in battle.

the fast runner will not escape

The implied information is that the fast runner will not escape from his enemies. AT: "the fast runner will be captured" (See: Assumed Knowledge and Implicit Information)

flee naked

Possible meanings are 1) this is a metonym for "run away without his weapons" or 2) this is meant literally as "run away wearing no clothes" (See: Metonymy)

in that day

"at that time"

this is Yahweh's declaration

Yahweh speaks of himself by name to express the certainty of what he is declaring. See how you translated this in Amos 2:11. AT: "this is what Yahweh has declared" or "this is what I, Yahweh, have declared" (See: First, Second, or Third Person)

translationWords

archer

horseman

Yahweh

declare

unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.

and the fleet-footed shall not deliver—himself.

Rashi on the Tanakh — English translations: “The Judaica Press complete Tanach with Rashi, translated by A. J. Rosenberg” (CC BY 4.0); “Pentateuch with Rashi's commentary by M. Rosenbaum and A.M. Silbermann, 1929-1934” (public domain); “The Metsudah Tanach series, Lakewood, N.J” (CC BY 4.0); and “The Book of Joshua, Metsudah Publications, 1997” (CC BY 4.0). Text via Sefaria.