Amos 6:11

Amo 6:11 For, behold, the LORD commandeth, and he will smite the great house with breaches, and the little house with clefts.

Ver. 11. For, behold, the Lord commandeth] Calamities, and they come; the Chaldeans, and they are at hand with their battle axes, but it is he that gives them their commission, and biddeth them fall on.

And he will smite the great house with breaches, &c.] i.e. He will destroy rich and poor together; pale death will knock at both their houses with an even foot ( aequo pulsat pede), as in time of plague, earthquake, or the like epidemic evil. The grave is the congregation house of all living, Job 30:23, whereinto men chop often before they think; as a man that walks in the snow may fall into a clay pit. The mortal scythe is master of the royal sceptre; and it mows down the lilies of the crown as well as the grass of the field. Death is the only king "against whom there is no rising up," as Agur phraseth the most absolute predominance, Pro 30:31; it levelleth lords and lowlies, and lays all waste; breaking down the greater houses and cleaving the lesser, with an utter extermination of all. Search you therefore, search you, O nation not desired; before the decree come forth, &c., Zep 2:1-2. Being wise after the fact helps not; repentance, though true, may come too late in respect of temporal judgments, as in Moses, Deu 1:37, and David, 2Sa 12:10.

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.

commandeth, and he will smite--His word of command, when once given, cannot but be fulfilled (Isa 55:11). His mere word is enough to smite with destruction.

great house . . . little house--He will spare none, great or small (Amo 3:15). JEROME interprets "the great house" as Israel, and "the small house" as Judah: the former being reduced to branches or ruins, literally, "small drops"; the latter, though injured with "clefts" or rents, which threaten its fall, yet still permitted to stand.

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 11. He will smote the great house with breaches] The great and small shall equally suffer; no distinction shall be made; rich and poor shall fall together; death has received his commission, and he will spare none. Horace has a sentiment precisely like this, Carm. Lib. i., Od. iv., v. 13.

Pallida mors aequo pulsat pede pauperum TABERNAS,

Regumque TURRES.

With equal pace impartial fate

Knocks at the palace as the cottage gate.

But this may refer particularly to the houses of the poor in Eastern countries; their mud walls being frequently full of clefts; the earth of which they are built seldom adhering together because of its sandiness.

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

This verse is added only to confirm the former sentence. The Prophet indeed intimates, that the common people, as well as the chiefs, in vain trusted in their quiet state; for the Lord would destroy them all together, from the highest to the lowest. Behold, Jehovah, he says, commands etc.; by using the word commands, he means, that God had many reasons why he should take away and destroy them all. But he goes farther than this, and intimates that their destruction was dependent on the sole will of God; as though he said, “Though the Lord may not send for ministers of vengeance, though he may not prepare great forces, yet his word only, whenever it shall go forth, will consume you all.” We now then perceive what the Prophet means by the word “commands.”

He afterwards adds, He will smite the great house with confusions, or, according to some, with breaking רסס, resas, means properly to mingle. The Prophet therefore, I doubt not, refers here to those dreadful falls which commonly happen to great and splendid palaces. When a cottage is overturned so great a ruin is not occasioned by its weight; nay, when its ruin begins to appear, fragments fall down one after another, so that the whole work falls without any violence. This, I say, is the case with small and common houses; but when there is a great building, its downfall is tremendous. I am therefore inclined to render the word “confusion,” and the difference between small and great houses will then be more evident. Great houses then shall be smitten with confusions, (mixtionibus, with minglings) but small houses shall be smitten with fissures or clefts. But yet, as I have already reminded you, the Prophet means that there would be a ruin, both to the principal men and to the common people, so that they would all perish, from the least to the greatest. We hence learn how great was the corruption of that people; for God punishes none but the wicked. It then follows that equity was everywhere subverted and that all orders of men were become vicious and corrupt. It follows —

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.

(11) Breaches.—For this read ruins. (See end of Note on Amo_6:8.) The overthrow of all classes of the population is here referred to.

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

11. For behold, &c.] The words give the reason for Amo_6:8, rather than for Amo_6:9-10, which describe merely an episode in the ruin.

commandeth] viz. the human agents, by whose instrumentality (cf. Isa_10:6) He carries out His will. Who these agents are conceived by Amos to be will appear in Amo_6:14.

the great house into fragments and the little house into clefts] Neither the palaces of the wealthy, nor the more modest dwellings of the ordinary citizens, will escape the coming ruin.

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.

For, behold, the Lord commandeth,.... Hath determined and ordered the judgment before, and what follows: Kimchi paraphrases it, hath decreed the earthquake, as in Amo 3:15; of which he understands the following:

and he will smite the great house with breaches; or "droppings" (h); so that the rain shall drop through:

and the little house with clefts; so that it shall fall to ruin; that is, he shall smite the houses both of great and small, of the princes, and of the common people, either with an earthquake, so that they shall part asunder and fall; or, being left without inhabitants, shall of course become desolate, there being none to repair their breaches. Some understand, by the "great house", the ten tribes of Israel; and, by the "little house", the two tribes of Judah and Benjamin; to which sense the Targum seems to incline,

"he will smite the great kingdom with a mighty stroke, and the little kingdom with a weak stroke.''

(h) "guttis, seu stillis", Piscator; "quae est minuta et rorans pluvia", Drusius.

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

The Lord commandeth and He will smite - Jerome: “If He commandeth, how doth He smite? If He smiteth, how doth He command? In that thing which He “commands” and enjoins His ministers, He Himself is seen to “smite.” In Egypt the Lord declares that He killed the first-born, who, we read, were slain by “the destroyer” Exo 12:23. The “breaches” denote probably the larger, “the cleft” the smaller ruin. The greater pile was the more greatly destroyed.

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

Lord. He has done it. Do not repine. (Theodoret; St. Cyril) --- Hebrew, "Be silent, and not to remember the," &c. He will offer comfort. (Calmet) --- Still, none will return to the Lord. (St. Jerome)

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).

For, behold; consider this well: it seems to be the continued speech of him who took care of the dead, Amo 6:10.

The Lord commandeth; God, provoked by our sins, hath sent out thy enemies; war, famine, and pestilence all come commissioned of God, and when the arrow is shot it will hit and kill.

He will smite the great house with breaches; the palaces of great men, and their families, shall have great breaches made in them, by which they shall be ruined.

And the little house with clefts; the cottages and lesser dwellings of poor men, with their families, shall by lesser strokes be ruined, their clefts shall be enough to do this. All shall be overthrown, and we must submit to it.

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

The prophet confirms the judgment denounced in ver. 8. The Lord commandeth, and he will smite. The expression, thus taken, implies that God executes his commands through the ministers of his judgment; but it may well be rendered, "and men shall smite". (comp. Amo_9:9) Breaches clefts. The great palace requires a breach to bring it to the ground; the little but is ruined by a small rent or cleft. All houses, great and small, shall be smitten. Possibly Israel and Judah are signified respectively by "the great house" and "the little house"; (comp. Amo_9:11) and their treatment by the Assyrians may be thus symbolized.

The Lord commandeth.

It was the office and function of a prophet to lose himself in becoming the vehicle of Divine communications, the organ of Divine decisions. His prefatory words were these: "Thus saith the Lord." He saw and felt the Lord"s presence, not only in his own ministry, but in all the events that occurred in the range of his observation, whether affecting individuals or nations.

I THERE IS AN ELEMENT OF AUTHORITY IN EVERY WORD OF THE LORD. Whether God addresses to men language of rebuke or reproach, of entreaty or of threatening, he speaks with authority. His invitation is that of a King; it is a command When our Lord Christ spoke in the course of his ministry, he spoke with authority. The Divine judgment is always correct, the Divine will is always obligatory.

II ALL AGENCIES AND INSTRUMENTALITIES ARE OBEDIENT TO THE LORD"S BEHESTS. It is so with the forces of nature. "The stormy wind fulfilleth his word;" "His ministers are a flaming fire." It is so with the institutions of human society, with the purposes and the activities of men. The hand which is visible in a work may be that of a creature; the power that directs that hand may, nevertheless, be creative wisdom and creative might. God gives the word; it is executed by ten thousand ministers of his holy will. He maketh even the wrath of man to praise him.

III THE POWER OF THE GREATEST AMONG MEN IS INCAPABLE OF RESISTING THE DIVINE COMMANDS. The "great house" and the "little house" alike are smitten when the Lord makes bare his arm. Israel and Judah, the prince and the husbandman, may know that nothing can protect them from the might of the Eternal when his decree of judgment has gone out against them. Well may the people that rebel against God tremble and fear, and remember that they are but men. T.

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

For behold - It seems to be the continued speech of him who took care of the dead, ver. 10, God hath sent out war, famine, and pestilence. The great house - The palaces of great men shall have great breaches made in them, and the cottages of poor men shall, by lesser strokes, be ruined.

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

look

"listen" or "pay attention"

the big house will be smashed to pieces, and the little house to bits

These two phrases share similar meanings. The contrast between "the big house" and "the little house" means that this refers to all houses. AT: "all the houses will be smashed into small pieces" (See: Parallelism and Merism)

the big house will be smashed to pieces

This can be stated in active form. AT: "the enemy will smash the big house to pieces" (See: Active or Passive)

to pieces ... to bits

You can use the same word for both of these phrases.

the little house to bits

This can be stated with the understood information included. AT: "enemies will smash the little house to bits" (See: Ellipsis)

translationWords

command

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

into splinters—That it shall be splintered into fine chips.

chips—Larger than splinters. According to its prominence, shall be its destruction. In this manner did Jonathan render: And he shall smite the large kingdom with a mighty blow, and the small kingdom with a weak blow.

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.