Amos 3

Amos asks a series of rhetorical questions with obvious answer. The point of the questions isn’t as obvious. But the final question, scholars seem to agree, is the best clue. Amos is reporting a message from God and he’s not getting the response he should. Perhaps the point is that the people should be taking him seriously, when they’re not. Or maybe the point is that the people expect God to do only good things for his chosen people. And not punish their evil behavior. Their surprise at what’s coming will be because they forget their agreement with God, which has a long and severe penalty clause (Deuteronomy 28:16-28).

Lions hunt quietly and kill loudly.

Perhaps with some exaggeration, Amos’s point might be that he isn’t delivering his own message, like some disgruntled citizen from another country—Judah, in his case. He was delivering God’s message to the northern Jewish nation of Israel.

More literally, “who wouldn’t prophesy.”

Hebrew documents say “Ashdod,” a leading city of Philistines. But an ancient Jewish translation of their Bible into Greek, called the Septuagint, uses “Assyria.” The Septuagint was the first translation of the Hebrew Bible into Greek, an international language of New Testament times, much like English is today. Translators began working on that before the birth of Jesus. Assyria and Egypt were famous for their own injustice, exploitation, and unrest. Amos’s implication seems to be that what Israel is doing is worse.

Samaria was capital of the northern Jewish nation of Israel. Israel broke in half after King Solomon died. Northern tribes became known as Israel. Southern tribes took the name of the largest tribe: Judah.

Moses warned the people that once they arrived in their future homeland, they were to worship in only one central location: “The LORD your God will choose one worship center for the entire nation of Israel. That’s where all your tribes will come to worship” (Deuteronomy 12:5). Jerusalem became that site, in Judah’s tribal territory along the border with Benjamin’s tribe (2 Chronicles 6:6). Northern rulers of Israel didn’t want their people returning to Jerusalem to worship. They feared reunification under one king from David’s descendants. And it wouldn’t be them.

Horns on the four corners of the altars apparently helped hold the wood and the sacrificial meat in place.