Amos 4

General context

"Hear this word, ye kine of Bashan, that are in the mountain of Samaria, which oppress the poor, which crush the needy, which say to their masters, Bring, and let us drink." The Lord God has sworn by his holiness that they will be taken away "with hooks, and your posterity with fishhooks," going out at the breaches. "Come to Beth-el, and transgress; at Gilgal multiply transgression"; bring sacrifices every morning and tithes after three years, offer thanksgiving with leaven and publish the free offerings, "for this liketh you." Then five disasters, each ending "yet have ye not returned unto me, saith the Lord": cleanness of teeth and want of bread; rain withheld three months before harvest, sent on one city and not another, so that cities wandered for water unsatisfied; blasting and mildew, and the palmerworm devouring gardens, vineyards, fig and olive trees; pestilence "after the manner of Egypt," young men slain with the sword, horses taken and the stink of camps; overthrow "as God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah," leaving them "as a firebrand plucked out of the burning." "Therefore thus will I do unto thee, O Israel: and because I will do this unto thee, prepare to meet thy God, O Israel." The chapter closes naming him: "he that formeth the mountains, and createth the wind, and declareth unto man what is his thought, that maketh the morning darkness, and treadeth upon the high places of the earth, The Lord, The God of hosts, is his name."

Cited passages: Amos 4:1, Amos 4:2, Amos 4:3, Amos 4:4, Amos 4:5, Amos 4:6, Amos 4:7, Amos 4:8, Amos 4:9, Amos 4:10, Amos 4:11, Amos 4:12, Amos 4:13

Amos 4 (KJV)

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Historical context

The address "kine of Bashan" is applied to people "in the mountain of Samaria" who oppress the poor and tell "their masters" to bring drink; the text says "every cow" of them but does not otherwise identify the group. Beth-el and Gilgal are named as places where sacrifices, tithes and offerings are brought, and the chapter mocks the practice without describing the rites beyond what it lists: sacrifices every morning, tithes after three years, thanksgiving with leaven, free offerings. Five past disasters are attributed to the Lord in the first person, hunger, drought, blight and palmerworm, pestilence and sword, overthrow; none is dated or located beyond "one city" and "another city." Sodom and Gomorrah and "the manner of Egypt" are comparisons. Verse 12 says "thus will I do unto thee" without saying what. The oath is "by his holiness." The chapter names no king, and the closing title, "The Lord, The God of hosts, is his name," is the first of the book's name-statements, repeated at 5:8 and 9:6.

Cited passages: Amos 4:1, Amos 4:3, Amos 4:4, Amos 4:5, Amos 4:7, Amos 4:10, Amos 4:11, Amos 4:12, Amos 4:2, Amos 4:13, Amos 5:8, Amos 9:6

Literary context

The refrain "yet have ye not returned unto me, saith the Lord" closes five sentences in a row (verses 6, 8, 9, 10, 11), and the disasters it follows grow in severity from empty teeth to overthrow like Sodom. Before the refrain, verses 4 and 5 give commands in the voice of an invitation, "Come to Beth-el, and transgress," so that the worship the people enjoy is described as the very thing charged against them. The chapter's opening image is cattle and its threat is fishing tackle, hooks and fishhooks. Verse 12 twice says "O Israel" and withholds the content of "thus will I do," replacing it with a summons, "prepare to meet thy God." The last verse is a series of participles, formeth, createth, declareth, maketh, treadeth, ending in a name, which the book repeats at 5:8 and 9:6 as a refrain of its own. The palmerworm in verse 9 is one of Joel's four devourers, named here as one plague among five.

Cited passages: Amos 4:8, Amos 4:11, Amos 4:6, Amos 4:4, Amos 4:5, Amos 4:1, Amos 4:2, Amos 4:12, Amos 4:13, Amos 5:8, Amos 4:9, Joel 1:4

Key moments

1. Kine of Bashan (Amos 4:1). Those in Samaria who crush the needy and call for drink are addressed as cows of Bashan.
2. Hooks and fishhooks (Amos 4:2). The Lord swears they will be taken away with hooks and their posterity with fishhooks.
3. Come to Beth-el and transgress (Amos 4:4). Worship at Beth-el and Gilgal is described as transgression the people enjoy.
4. Cleanness of teeth (Amos 4:6). The first disaster, hunger in every city, did not bring them back to the Lord.
5. A firebrand plucked out (Amos 4:11). Some were overthrown like Sodom and Gomorrah and the rest were like a firebrand pulled from the fire.
6. Prepare to meet thy God (Amos 4:12). Israel is told to prepare to meet its God without being told what he will do.
7. The God of hosts is his name (Amos 4:13). The one who forms mountains and creates wind is named as the Lord, the God of hosts.

For reflection

Five times the Lord says, "yet have ye not returned unto me," to people who bring sacrifices every morning. What does the chapter assume a return would have looked like, if not more offerings?

People in this chapter

• Jacob