Amos 5 26

Amos 5:26 kjv

But ye have borne the tabernacle of your Moloch and Chiun your images, the star of your god, which ye made to yourselves.

Amos 5:26 nkjv

You also carried Sikkuth your king And Chiun, your idols, The star of your gods, Which you made for yourselves.

Amos 5:26 niv

You have lifted up the shrine of your king, the pedestal of your idols, the star of your god? which you made for yourselves.

Amos 5:26 esv

You shall take up Sikkuth your king, and Kiyyun your star-god ? your images that you made for yourselves,

Amos 5:26 nlt

No, you served your pagan gods ? Sakkuth your king god and Kaiwan your star god ? the images you made for yourselves.

Amos 5 verses

Amos 5 26 Meaning

Amos 5:26 declares God's judgment upon the Northern Kingdom of Israel for their pervasive idolatry and syncretistic worship. Despite their outward religious rituals, they secretly or openly carried symbols and images of pagan deities like "Sikkuth your king" and "Kiyyun your images," associated with star worship. This practice of venerating foreign gods, which they themselves fabricated, rendered their worship of YHWH an abomination in God's sight, leading to their impending exile beyond Damascus.

Amos 5 26 Context

Amos, a shepherd from Tekoa in Judah, prophesied during the reigns of Uzziah of Judah and Jeroboam II of Israel, a period of relative prosperity and national pride for both kingdoms (circa 760-750 BC). Despite this outward flourishing, spiritual decay and social injustice were rampant in Israel (the Northern Kingdom), the primary audience of Amos's prophecy.Chapter 5 of Amos presents a lamentation for the house of Israel (vv. 1-3), followed by an earnest call to "seek the Lord and live" (vv. 4-6), contrasting their perversion of justice and righteousness with God's expectations. The immediate verses preceding verse 26 describe Israel's false sense of security due to their elaborate but hollow worship rituals. They offer sacrifices and feasts but lack true repentance and righteousness. God declares He hates and despises their religious assemblies (vv. 21-23), longing instead for justice to roll down like waters (v. 24). Verse 26, then, serves as a direct indictment of the actual content of their "worship"—it was not for YHWH alone, but polluted by the veneration of foreign deities, revealing the true state of their hearts. This syncretism ultimately justifies God's judgment of exile, fulfilling the warning from the previous verses.

Amos 5 26 Word analysis

• You shall take up (וּנְשָׂאתֶ֣ם - u-nesathem): "Take up" or "carry." This implies bearing a burden, processionally carrying idols, or perhaps making cultic figures on portable shrines, which signifies open adherence or devotion to these deities. It's a vivid picture of commitment.

• Sikkuth (אֵ֣ת סִכּוּת - et sikkuth): The proper noun "Sikkuth" likely refers to the Babylonian astral deity Sakkut, possibly a form of Saturn or an epithet of a high god. Its identification as "your king" implies a chief deity or sovereign god worshipped by Israel, revealing their rejection of YHWH's exclusive kingship. It reflects the influence of Mesopotamian astral cults.

• your king (מַלְכְּכֶ֔ם - malkĕkhem): The term for "king" is crucial. While YHWH is Israel's true King, they adopted a pagan deity as their sovereign, illustrating the nature of their idolatry as spiritual rebellion and a transfer of allegiance.

• and Kiyyun (וְאֵ֖ת כִּיּוּן - vĕ'et kiyyun): "Kiyyun" is generally understood to be the West Semitic equivalent or an epithet of the Assyrian-Babylonian stellar deity Kaiwan, another name for Saturn, identified with the morning star or chief planet. This reinforces the astral worship theme.

• your images (צַלְמֵיכֶ֑ם - tsalmei'khem): "Images" or "likenesses," referring to cult statues, symbols, or representations of the deities. This demonstrates tangible forms of their idolatry, objects of worship that rivaled YHWH.

• the star of your god (כּוֹכַ֣ב אֱלֹהֵיכֶ֔ם - kokhav eloheikhem): This phrase clarifies the nature of both Sikkuth and Kiyyun as astral deities. It explicitly identifies the idols with star worship, a common form of polytheism in the ancient Near East which was strictly forbidden by the Mosaic Law. "Your god" (singular) suggests a principal deity or that the "star" was considered their divine manifestation.

• which you made for yourselves (אֲשֶׁ֥ר עֲשִׂיתֶ֖ם לָכֶֽם - asher asitem lakhem): This final clause profoundly underscores Israel's culpability. The idols were not inherently divine beings, but creations of their own hands and minds. It highlights the futility and human-centeredness of idolatry, where the worshipper literally constructs their own object of worship, rejecting the living God who created them. This is a common polemic against idols in prophetic literature.

• Words-group by words-group analysis:

  • "You shall take up Sikkuth your king and Kiyyun your images": This phrase paints a picture of a people devotedly bearing their pagan idols, signifying an act of worship or allegiance. "Taking up" suggests a public or ceremonial act, revealing deep-seated commitment to these false deities, contrasting sharply with true worship of YHWH alone.
  • "the star of your god": This phrase unifies Sikkuth and Kiyyun under the umbrella of astral worship. It explicitly names the divine objects of their worship as celestial bodies or deities associated with them. It also highlights the shift from YHWH, the Creator of the stars, to the created things themselves.
  • "which you made for yourselves": This crucial concluding phrase places responsibility squarely on the Israelites. Their idols were not divine revelations but human fabrications. It underscores the ultimate emptiness and folly of idolatry, presenting it as a self-manufactured religion designed to suit their own desires rather than to honor the sovereign God. This human initiative in creating "gods" for "themselves" is the core of their offense.

Amos 5 26 Bonus section

The Septuagint (Greek Old Testament) translates this verse differently from the Masoretic Text, leading to variations, most notably reflected in Stephen's citation in Acts 7:43. While Amos 5:26 speaks of "Sikkuth your king and Kiyyun your images, the star of your god," Acts 7:43 (following the Septuagint's interpretation of a slightly different Hebrew vocalization) renders it "the tent of Moloch and the star of the god Rephan." This demonstrates that the ancient Jewish tradition (as seen in the LXX) interpreted these obscure terms as specific pagan deities, linking "Sikkuth" to Molech (a known god of the Ammonites often associated with child sacrifice) and "Kiyyun" to Rephan (an Egyptian deity, also linked to Saturn, further emphasizing astral worship). This shows that by the New Testament era, the understanding of these obscure pagan names continued to center around severe forms of idolatry, providing specific examples of the types of deities Israel embraced. Stephen's direct quotation underscores the continuous nature of Israel's apostasy through centuries, confirming Amos's prophecy of exile for their persistent rebellion.

Amos 5 26 Commentary

Amos 5:26 stands as a profound indictment against Israel's pervasive idolatry, revealing the true nature of their spiritual declension despite their outward religiosity. God declares that their seemingly devout feasts and offerings were an abomination because their hearts were divided, carrying the very symbols of foreign, astral deities like Sikkuth and Kiyyun. This verse encapsulates the hypocrisy: while claiming to worship YHWH, they simultaneously embraced gods of human creation, demonstrating a deep syncretism born out of convenience and cultural assimilation rather than a genuine fear of God. The mention of "the star of your god" explicitly links their false worship to pagan astral cults, universally condemned in Scripture. Furthermore, the emphasis on "which you made for yourselves" powerfully exposes the self-centered nature of idolatry—it's a religion tailored by man, not revealed by God, utterly void of true power or saving grace. This rebellion against YHWH's exclusive claim to worship was a principal cause for their impending judgment and exile. Spiritually, this warns against any divided loyalty or external religious acts devoid of inner devotion and obedience to the one true God.