Tag Archives: Amos

Amos 5:4-6*

Pete and Bec saw this recently

A – For thus saith the LORD unto the house of Israel,

B – Seek ye me, and ye shall live

C – But seek not Bethel,

D – nor enter into Gilgal,

E – and pass not to Beersheba:

D’ – for Gilgal shall surely go into captivity,

C’ – and Bethel shall come to nought.

B’ – Seek the LORD, and ye shall live;

A – lest he break out like fire in the house of Joseph

Pete suggests that the prophet  Amos is warning the people to turn to nobody else except “Yahweh, the God of Armies”, and don’t presume either that you can go to the southern most tip of Judah, Beersheba (8:14) and find refuge there. As the Assyrian looms ever larger in the North, Israel is becoming a land in the shadow of death (5:8). The only hope is to ‘seek the LORD’ and His ways (5:14) – contrast the ways of Beersheba (8:14).

Note: as a result of this we have searched and found the same chiasm in Vetus Testamentum, Vol. 27, Fasc. 2 (Apr., 1977), pp. 170-177,  THE CHIASTIC STRUCTURE OF AMOS V 1-17, J.DE WAARD.

Also,  “Poet and Peasant” by Kenneth Bailey, 1976, has B-B’ as above. 

Joel 3:12 – Amos 1:5

The chiasm below was discovered in response to the suggested chiasm posted by RS for Joel 3:16 – Amos 1:2. Initially I broadened the search to see if it stretched further into Amos. There are indeed further links, but it became apparent that this larger chiasm centres around Joel 3v20. Apart from the roar/utter/voice parallel, note also the parallel of the rare word, decision/threshing instruments. The suggested chiasm below does not include words placed in parallel which occur elsewhere in the passage, such as Zion and Jerusalem,  and hence do not fit into the chiastic pattern.

A (Joel 3:12) Let the heathen be wakened, and come up to the valley of Jehoshaphat: for there WILL I SIT <03427> to judge all the heathen round about.

B (Joel 3:13) PUT <07971> ye in the sickle, for the harvest is ripe: come, get you down; for the press is full, the fats overflow; for their wickedness is great.

C (Joel 3:14,15) Multitudes, multitudes in the valley OF DECISION <02742>: for the day of the LORD is near in the valley OF DECISION <02742>. The sun and the moon shall be darkened, and the stars shall withdraw their shining.

D (Joel 3:16) Yahweh also SHALL ROAR out of Zion, and UTTER HIS VOICE from Jerusalem; and the heavens and the earth shall shake:

E (Joel 3:16) but Yahweh will be the hope of his people, and the strength of the children OF ISRAEL.

F (Joel 3:17,18) So shall ye know that I am Yahweh your God DWELLING <07931> in Zion, my holy mountain: then shall Jerusalem be holy, and there shall no strangers pass through her any more. And it shall come to pass in that day, that the mountains shall drop down new wine, and the hills shall flow with milk, and all the rivers of Judah shall flow with waters, and a fountain shall come forth of the house of Yahweh, and shall water the valley of Shittim.

G (Joel 3:19) Egypt shall be a desolation, and Edom shall be a desolate wilderness, for the violence against the children of Judah, because they have shed innocent BLOOD in their land.

H (Joel 3:20) But Judah shall dwell for ever, and Jerusalem from generation to generation.

G′ (Joel 3:21) For I will cleanse THEIR BLOOD that I have not cleansed:

F′ (Joel 3:21) for Yahweh DWELLETH <07931> in Zion.

E′ (Amos 1:1) The words of Amos, who was among the herdmen of Tekoa, which he saw concerning ISRAEL in the days of Uzziah king of Judah, and in the days of Jeroboam the son of Joash king of ISRAEL, two years before the earthquake.

D′ (Amos 1:2) And he said, Yahweh WILL ROAR from Zion, and UTTER HIS VOICE from Jerusalem; and the habitations of the shepherds shall mourn, and the top of Carmel shall wither.

C′ (Amos 1:3) Thus saith Yahweh; For three transgressions of Damascus, and for four, I will not turn away the punishment thereof; because they have threshed Gilead with THRESHING INSTRUMENTS <02742> of iron:

B′ (Amos 1:4) But I WILL SEND <07971> a fire into the house of Hazael, which shall devour the palaces of Benhadad.

A′ (Amos 1:5) I will break also the bar of Damascus, and cut off THE INHABITANT <03427> from the plain of Aven, and him that holdeth the sceptre from the house of Eden: and the people of Syria shall go into captivity unto Kir, saith Yahweh.

Amos 3:8-12

 

A (8) THE LION hath roared, who will not fear? the Lord Yahweh hath spoken, who can but prophesy?

B (9) Publish IN THE PALACES at Ashdod, and IN THE PALACES

C (9) IN THE LAND of Egypt, and say, Assemble yourselves upon the mountains of Samaria, and behold the great tumults in the midst thereof, and the oppressed in the midst thereof.

D (10) For they know not to do right, saith Yahweh, who store up violence and robbery in their palaces.

C1 (11) Therefore thus saith the Lord Yahweh; An adversary there shall be even round about THE LAND;

B1 (11) and he shall bring down thy strength from thee, and THY PALACES shall be spoiled.

A1 (12) Thus saith Yahweh; As the shepherd taketh out of the mouth OF THE LION two legs, or a piece of an ear; so shall the children of Israel be taken out that dwell in Samaria in the corner of a bed, and in Damascus in a couch.

Amos 2:6-11

A (6) Thus saith <0559> YAHWEH;

B (6) For three transgressions OF ISRAEL, and for four, I will not turn away the punishment thereof; because they sold the righteous for silver, and the poor for a pair of shoes;

C (7) That pant after the dust OF THE EARTH <0776> on the head of the poor,

D (7) and TURN ASIDE <05186> the way of the meek: and a man and his father will go in unto the same maid,

E (7) to profane my holy name:

D1 (8) AND THEY LAY THEMSELVES DOWN <05186> upon clothes laid to pledge by every altar, and they drink the wine of the condemned in the house of their god.

C1 (9, 10) Yet destroyed I the Amorite before them, whose height was like the height of the cedars, and he was strong as the oaks; yet I destroyed his fruit from above, and his roots from beneath. Also I brought you up FROM THE LAND <0776> of Egypt, and led you forty years through the wilderness, to possess the land of the Amorite.

B1 (11) And I raised up of your sons for prophets, and of your young men for Nazarites. Is it not even thus, O ye children OF ISRAEL?

A1 (11) saith <05002> YAHWEH.

Amos 1:15 – 2:4

A (1:15) And their king SHALL GO <01980> into captivity,

B (1:15) he and HIS PRINCES together, saith Yahweh.

C (2:1) Thus saith Yahweh; For three transgressions OF MOAB, and for four, I will not turn away the punishment thereof;

D (2:1) because he burned the bones of the king of Edom into lime:

C1 (2:2) But I will send a fire UPON MOAB, and it shall devour the palaces of Kerioth: and MOAB shall die with tumult, with shouting, and with the sound of the trumpet:

B1 (2:3) And I will cut off the judge from the midst thereof, and will slay ALL THE PRINCES thereof with him, saith Yahweh.

A1 (2:4) Thus saith Yahweh; For three transgressions of Judah, and for four, I will not turn away the punishment thereof; because they have despised the law of Yahweh, and have not kept his commandments, and their lies caused them to err, after the which their fathers HAVE WALKED <01980>:

Amos 1:1-14

A (1,2) The words of Amos, who was among the herdmen of Tekoa, which he saw concerning Israel IN THE DAYS of Uzziah king of Judah, and IN THE DAYS of Jeroboam the son of Joash king of Israel, two years before the earthquake. And he said, Yahweh will roar from Zion, and utter his voice from Jerusalem; and the habitations of the shepherds shall mourn, and the top of Carmel shall wither.

B (3-5) Thus saith Yahweh; For three transgressions of Damascus, and for four, I will not turn away the punishment thereof; because they have threshed GILEAD with threshing instruments of iron: But I will send a fire into the house of Hazael, which shall devour the palaces of Benhadad. I will break also the bar of Damascus, and cut off the inhabitant from the plain of Aven, and him that holdeth the sceptre from the house of Eden: and the people of Syria shall go into captivity unto Kir, saith Yahweh.

C (6-8) Thus saith Yahweh; For three transgressions of Gaza, and for four, I will not turn away the punishment thereof; because they carried away captive the whole captivity, to deliver them up TO EDOM: But I will send a fire on the wall of Gaza, which shall devour the palaces thereof: And I will cut off the inhabitant from Ashdod, and him that holdeth the sceptre from Ashkelon, and I will turn mine hand against Ekron: and the remnant of the Philistines shall perish, saith the Lord Yahweh.

D (9) Thus saith Yahweh; For three transgressions OF TYRUS, and for four, I will not turn away the punishment thereof;

E (9) because they delivered up the whole captivity to Edom, and remembered not the brotherly covenant:

D1 (10) But I will send a fire on the wall OF TYRUS, which shall devour the palaces thereof.

C1 (11,12) Thus saith Yahweh; For three transgressions OF EDOM, and for four, I will not turn away the punishment thereof; because he did pursue his brother with the sword, and did cast off all pity, and his anger did tear perpetually, and he kept his wrath for ever: But I will send a fire upon Teman, which shall devour the palaces of Bozrah.

B1 (13) Thus saith Yahweh; For three transgressions of the children of Ammon, and for four, I will not turn away the punishment thereof; because they have ripped up the women with child OF GILEAD, that they might enlarge their border:

A1 (14) But I will kindle a fire in the wall of Rabbah, and it shall devour the palaces thereof, with shouting IN THE DAY of battle, with a tempest in the day of the whirlwind: