Amos 3:14

Amo 3:14 That in the day that I shall visit the transgressions of Israel upon him I will also visit the altars of Bethel: and the horns of the altar shall be cut off, and fall to the ground.

Ver. 14. That in the day that I shall visit, &c.] Tell them so from me, saith God: say to these wicked, Woe be unto them, it shall be ill with them! Isa 3:11. The jealous Lord of hosts will surely visit the iniquity of idolatrous fathers upon their children to the third and fourth generation, Exo 20:5. See Jer 3:21-22 Eze 16:21; Eze 16:36 Hos 2:4. As they have their day of defection, so hath he of visitation; his season, his harvest for judgment, Mat 13:30. What then will they do when God riseth up: and when he visiteth, what will they answer him? Job 31:14.

I will also visit the altars of Bethel] At first there was but one altar, 1Ki 12:32-33; 1Ki 13:2, but afterwards they multiplied, as in Peter’s at Rome there are said to be now over one hundred altars, Hos 8:11; Hos 10:1 : there is no end of will worship; but, like the Jerusalem artichoke, plant it where you will, it overruns the ground and chokes the heart. Now as God "loved the gates of Zion," where he was solemnly worshipped, "more than all the dwellings of Jacob," Psa 87:2, and as the walls of good people (whose houses are little churches) are continually before him, Isa 49:16, so he heartily hateth places and monuments of idolatry; and layeth them waste as he hath done our abbeys and monasteries. Zisca overthrew three hundred of them in Bohemia; and among the rest the famous monastery called the King’s Court, a mile from Prague; in the walls whereof the whole Bible was most exquisitely written in letters of gold; but little read or regarded by those filthy abbey lubbers, of whom Luther testifieth that they were tam desperatae malitiae, &c., so desperately debauched that they dared adventure upon any villany whatsoever.

And the horns of the altar, &c.] Which were held the holier parts thereof. This was fulfilled by good Josiah many years after, 2Ki 23:15 2Ch 34:4; 2Ch 34:6. Nullum tempus occurrit Regi. Time can be no prejudice to God’s proceedings; neither is his forbearance any quittance.

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.

3:14 pagan altars at Bethel: The shrine at Bethel, built by Jeroboam I shortly after his inauguration (1 Kgs 12:26-33), continued through the dynasty of Jehu (2 Kgs 10:29), from whom Jeroboam II descended. This shrine merged worship of Yahweh (the Lord) with the pagan symbol of a bull. When the altars were destroyed, the Bethel shrine, the king’s official sanctuary (Amos 7:13), and the northern kingdom would also be ruined.

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

That--rather, "since," or "for." This verse is not, as English Version translates, the thing which the witnesses cited are to "testify" (Amo 3:13), but the reason why God calls on the heathen to witness Samaria's guilt; namely, in order to justify the punishment which He declares He will inflict.

I will also visit . . . Beth-el--the golden calves which were the source of all "the transgressions of Israel" (Kg1 12:32; Kg1 13:2; Kg2 23:15-16), though Israel thought that by them their transgressions were atoned for and God's favor secured.

horns of the altar--which used to be sprinkled with the blood of victims. They were horn-like projecting points at the corners of ancient altars. The singular, "altar," refers to the great altar erected by Jeroboam to the calves. The "altars," plural, refer to the lesser ones made in imitation of the great one (Ch2 34:5, compare with Kg1 13:2; Hos 8:11; Hos 10:1).

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Verse 14. In the day that I shall visit] When Josiah made a reformation in the land he destroyed idolatry, pulled down the temples and altars that had been consecrated to idol worship, and even burnt the bones of the priests of Baal and the golden calves upon their own altars. See 2Kg 23:15-16, &c.

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

Amos, I have no doubt, added this passage, to show that the superstitions, in which he knew the Israelites falsely trusted, would be so far from being of any help to them, that they would, on the contrary, lead them to ruin, because the people were by them provoking God’s wrath the more against themselves. When the Israelites heard that God was offended with them, they looked on their sacrifices and other superstitions, as their shield and cover: for thus do hypocrites mock God. But we know that the sacrifices offered at Bethel were mere profanations; for the whole worship was spurious. God had indeed chosen to himself a place where he designed sacrifices to be offered. The Israelites built a temple without any command, nay, against the manifest prohibition of God. Since then they had thus violated and corrupted the whole worship of God, strange was their madness to dare to obtrude on God their superstitions, as though they could thus pacify his displeasure! The Prophet then rebukes now this stupidity and says, In the day when God shall visit the sins of Israel, he will inflict punishment on the altars of Bethel By the sins, which the Prophet mentions, he means plunder, unjust exactions, robbery, and similar crimes; for there prevailed then, as we have seen, among the people, an unbridled cruelty, avarice, and perfidiousness.

Hence he says now, When God shall visit the sins of Israel; that is, when he shall punish avarice, pride, and cruelty; when he shall execute vengeance on pillages and robberies, he shall then visit also the altars of Bethel. The Israelites thought that God would be propitious to them while they sacrificed though they were wholly abandoned in their lives: they indeed thought that every uncleanness was purified by their expiations; and they thought that God was satisfied while they performed an external worship. Hence, when they offered sacrifices, they imagined that they thus made a compact with God, and presented such a compensation, that he dared not to punish their sins. Their own fancy greatly deceives them,” says Amos. For, as we know, this was, at the same time, their principal sin, — that they rashly dared to change the worship of God, that they dared to build a temple without his command; in short, that they had violated the whole law. God then will begin with superstitions in executing judgment for the sins of the people. We now then understand the Prophet’s design in saying, that God would visit the altars of Bethel when inflicting punishment on the sins of Israel.

But as it was difficult to produce conviction on this subject, the Prophet here invites attention, Hear ye, and testify, he says, in the house of Jacob. Having bidden them to hear, he introduces God as the speaker: for the Israelites, as we know they were wont to do, might have pretended that Amos had, without authority, threatened such a punishment. “Nothing is mine,” he says. We then see the design of this address, when he says, Hear: he shows God to be the author of this prophecy, and that nothing was his own but the ministration. Hear ye, then, and testify in the house of Jacob By the word testify, he seals his prophecy that it might have more weight, that they might not think that it was a mere mockery, but might know that God was dealing seriously with them, Then testify ye in the house of Jacob. And for the same purpose are the titles which he ascribes to God, The Lord Jehovah, he says, the God of hosts He might have used only one word, “Thus saith Jehovah,” as the prophets mostly do; but he ascribes dominion to him, and he also brings before them his power, — for what end? To strike the Israelites with terror, that vain flatteries might no longer, as heretofore, take possession of them; but that they might understand, that so far were they from doing anything towards pacifying God’s wrath by their superstitions, that they thereby the more provoked him.

John Calvin's Commentaries (1540-1563) — public domain. Text from the Calvin Translation Society English edition (1840s-50s) via the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (ccel.org). Calvin's coverage is partial (roughly two-thirds of the Bible); uncommented books and verses are honest gaps, never fabricated. The 19th-century editor's footnotes and remarks are omitted so the notes are faithfully Calvin's own voice.

14. visit] Cf. on Amo_3:2.

I will also visit] I will visit: there is no ‘also’; the וְ, by a common Hebrew idiom, merely introduces the verbal predicate.

the altars of Beth-el] Beth-el, now Beitin, was in Amos’s day the principal sanctuary of the northern kingdom. It lay on the sloping side of a low hill about 10 miles N. of Jerusalem, on the right hand of the great route leading northwards to Shechem and Samaria. It must have been regarded as a sacred spot from very early times: its maẓẓçbâh, or sacred stone pillar, was connected by tradition with a memorable occasion in the life of the patriarch Jacob (Gen_28:10-22; cf. Gen_35:1-8; Hos_12:4; it is alluded to as a sanctuary in 1Sa_10:3); and its time-honoured sanctity, taken in conjunction with its situation at the extreme south of Jeroboam’s kingdom, on the immediate route to Jerusalem, no doubt led him to select it as one of his chief sanctuaries (1Ki_12:28-33). Here he established one of the two calves of gold, erected an altar, and instituted a priesthood to serve it (ib.: cf. Amo_7:10). Amos represents Beth-el as being the most popular sanctuary of the northern kingdom: it was under the special patronage of the king (Amo_7:13); altars (in the plural) had taken the place of the single altar of Jeroboam I. (1Ki_13:1); the sanctuary was crowded with worshippers (Amo_9:1); an elaborate ritual was observed there (Amo_4:4-5), and the houses of the wealthy were numerous (Amo_3:15). Comp. also Amo_3:5; Hos_4:15; Hos_10:5; Hos_10:8; Hos_10:15. The altar and sanctuary of Beth-el were finally destroyed by Josiah (2Ki_23:15). At present Beth-el is nothing more than a poor village, containing, it is said, about 400 persons. See Rob. B.R[148] i. 448 f.; Stanley, S. and P. pp. 217–223; Memoirs of the P. E. F. Survey, ii. 295 f.; Moore, Comm. on Judges, pp. 40, 42, 433.

[148] .R. … Edw. Robinson, Biblical Researches in Palestine (ed. 2, 1856).

the horns of the altar] which conferred the right of asylum upon those who laid hold of them (see 1Ki_1:50-51; 1Ki_2:28): but even this refuge should fail Israel in the day of visitation, which Amos here foresees. On the ‘horns’ of the altar, see also Jer_17:1; Eze_43:15; Eze_43:20; Exo_27:2 (on the altar of burnt-offering); Exo_30:2 (on the altar of incense); Psa_118:27. They were an important adjunct to the altar: and at least in the ritual of the Temple at Jerusalem the ceremonial of atonement could in many cases only be completed upon them (Lev_4:7; Lev_4:18; Lev_4:25; Lev_4:30; Lev_4:34). A stelè from Teima (S.E. of Edom), containing an interesting Aramaic inscription, shews the ‘horns’ rising from the corner of an altar, and curved like those of an ox (Perrot and Chipiez, Hist. of Art in Sardinia, Judaea, &c., i. 304).

14–15. The thought of Amo_3:11 is further developed. The ruin will be complete: the idolatrous altars, and the sumptuous palaces, will alike be involved in it.

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.

And I will smite the winter house with the summer house,.... Both the one and, the other shall fall to the ground, being beat down by the enemy, or shook and made to fall by the earthquake predicted, Amo 1:1; as Kimchi thinks: kings and great personages had houses in the city in the winter season, in which they lived for warmth; and others in the country in the summertime, to which they retired for the benefit of the air; or they had, in one and the same house, a summer and a winter parlour; see Jdg 3:20; it signifies that the destruction should reach city and country, and deprive them of what was for their comfort and pleasure:

and the houses of ivory shall perish; or "of the tooth" (l); the elephant's tooth, of which ivory is made. Ahab made a house of ivory; and perhaps more were made by others afterwards, following his example, Kg1 22:39; not that these houses were made wholly of ivory, only "covered" with it, as the Targum here paraphrases it; or they were cieled or wainscotted with it, or were inlaid and covered with it, and were reckoned very curious work; but should be demolished, and perish in the general ruin:

and the great houses shall have an end, saith the Lord; the houses of princes, nobles, and other persons of figure and distinction; houses great in building, or many in number, as Kimchi observes, and as the word (m) will bear to be rendered; these, which the builders and owners of them thought would have continued many ages, and have perpetuated their names to posterity, should now be thrown down, and be no more; of which they might assure themselves, since the Lord had said it.

(l) "domus dentis", Montanus, Mercerus, Vatablus. (m) "aedes multi", V. L. "domus multae", Pagninus, Montanus, Mercerus, Cocceius, Burkius.

Next: Amos Chapter 4

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

In the day that I shall visit the transgression of Israel upon, him, I will also visit (upon) the altars of Bethel - Israel then hoped that its false worship of “nature” would avail it. God says, contrariwise, that when He should punish, all their false worship, so far from helping them, should itself be the manifest object of His displeasure. Again God attests, at once, His long-suffering and His final retribution. Still had He foreborne to punish, “being slow to anger and of great goodness;” but when that day, fixed by the divine Wisdom, should come, wherein He should vindicate His own holiness, by enduring the sin no longer, then He would “visit their transgressions,” that is, all of them, old and new, forgotten by man or remembered, “upon them.” Scripture speaks of “visiting offences upon” because, in God’s Providence, the sin returns upon a man’s own head. It is not only the cause of his being punished, but it becomes part of his punishment.

The memory of a man’s sins will be part of his eternal suffering. Even in this life, “remorse,” as distinct from repentance, is the “gnawing” of a man’s own conscience for the folly of his sin. Then also God would visit upon the false worship. It is thought that God visits less speedily even grave sins against Himself, (so that man does not appeal falsely to Him and make Him, in a way, a partner of his offence,) than sins against His own creature, man. It may be that, All-Merciful as He is, He bears the rather with sins, involving corruption of the truth as to Himself, so long as they are done in ignorance, on account of the ignorant worship Act 17:23, Act 17:30; Act 14:16 of Himself, or the fragments of truth which they contain, until the evil in them have its full sway in moral guilt Rom. 1. Montanus: “Wonderful is the patience of God in enduring all those crimes and injuries which pertain directly to Himself; wonderful His waiting for repentance. But the deeds of guilt which violate human society, faith, and justice, hasten judgment and punishment, and, as it were, with a most effectual cry call upon the Divine Mind to punish, as it is written, “The voices of thy brother’s blood crieth unto Me from the ground, And now cursed art thou, ...” Gen 4:10-11.

If then upon that very grave guilt against God Himself there be accumulated these other sins, this so increases the load, that God casts it out. However long then Israel with impunity, given itself to that vain, alien worship, this evinced the patience, not the approval, of God. Now, when they are to be punished for the fourth transgresston, they will be punished for the first, second and third, and so, most grievously; when brought to punishment for their other sins, they should suffer for their other guilt of impiety and superstition.”

And the horns of the altar - This was the one great “altar” 1Ki 12:32-33; 1Ki 13:1-5 for burnt-offerings, set up by Jeroboam, in imitation of that of God at Jerusalem, whose doom was pronounccd in the act of its would-be consecration. He had copied faithfully outward form. At each corner, where the two sides met in one, rose the “horn,” or pillar, a cubit high , there to sacrifice victims, Psa 118:27, there to place the blood of atonement Exo 29:12. So far from atoning, they themselves were “the” unatoned “sin” of “Jeroboam whereby 2Ki 17:21 he drove Israel from following the Lord, and made them sin a great sin. These were to be cut off; hewn down, with violence. A century and a half had passed, since the man of God had pronounced its sentence. They still stood. The day was not yet come; Josiah was still unborn; yet Amos, as peremptorily, renews the sentence. In rejecting these, whereon the atonement was made, God pronounced them out of covenant with Himself. Heresy makes itself as like as it can to the truth, but is thereby the more deceiving, not the less deadly. Amos mentions the altars of Bethel, as well as the altar. Jeroboam made but one altar, keeping as close as he could to the divine ritual. But false worship and heresy ever hold their course, developing themselves. They never stand still where they began, but spread, like a cancer 2Ti 2:17. It is a test of heresy, like leprosy, that it spreads abroad Lev. 13, preying on what at first seemed sound. The oneness of the altar had relation to the Unity of God. In Samaria, they worshiped, they know not what Joh 4:22, not God, but some portion of His manifold operations. The many altars, forbidden as they were, were more in harmony with the religion of Jeroboam, even because they were against God’s law. Heresy develops, becoming more consistent, by having less of truth.

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

CHAPTER III.

Bethel. Manahem seems to have sent one of the calves to engage Phul to come to his assistance, Osee x. 5., and 4 Kings xv. 19. Salmanasar had both, Osee viii. 5. Josias afterwards defiled the profane altars, 4 Kings xxiii. 15. --- Horns, made of brass, which the Assyrians carried off. (Calmet) --- The fairest possessions of sinners will at last perish. (Worthington)

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).

In the day; in the appointed time, and within compass of a little time too; God will in his set time make quick work with them.

Visit the transgressions of Israel upon him; the many and great transgressions of the ten tribes, these God will, as he hath foretold by his prophets, severely punish, and in particular their idolatry.

The altars, erected unto the calves, and on which they Offered sacrifices to those idols by Jeroboam’s appointment at first, and by the continued commands of their idolatrous governors. It is possible there might be altars to other idols too: see 2Ch 34:4; Hos 8:11; 10:1.

Beth-el; anciently called Luz, but afterwards Jacob, on his comfortable vision, did change its name into Beth-el; it was in the tribe of Benjamin, and one of the two places Jeroboam first set up his idolatry in.

The horns of the altar; whether a more sacred part in their account I know not, but who fled to the altar, and laid hold on the horns of it, found them a sanctuary, 1Ki 2:28; but these now should not be safety to themselves.

Shall be cut off, the altars shall be pulled down,

and fall to the ground; be cast out as common, and trodden under foot with contempt.

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

That in the day, etc. This verse is rightly joined to the preceding, as it particularizes the threats which the heathen are summoned to testify. Visit upon; equivalent to "punish". (Zep_1:8) Altars of Bethal. We read of one altar being set up by Jeroboam I, (1Ki_12:29, 1Ki_12:33) but doubtless others had been added in the course of time. The denunciation of 1Ki_13:2, 3 is here repeated. The horns of the altar. These were certain projections at the four angles of the altar, perhaps in the form of an ox"s horn, on which the blood of the sin offering was smeared, and which therefore were considered the holiest part of the altar. (see Exo_27:2 Exo_29:12; Lev_16:18) The instruments of idolatry or impure worship should share the destruction of the idolaters.

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

Of Israel - The many and great transgressions of the ten tribes.

John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.