Amos 5:9 kjv
That strengtheneth the spoiled against the strong, so that the spoiled shall come against the fortress.
Amos 5:9 nkjv
He rains ruin upon the strong, So that fury comes upon the fortress.
Amos 5:9 niv
With a blinding flash he destroys the stronghold and brings the fortified city to ruin.
Amos 5:9 esv
who makes destruction flash forth against the strong, so that destruction comes upon the fortress.
Amos 5:9 nlt
With blinding speed and power he destroys the strong,
crushing all their defenses.
Amos 5 9 Cross References
| Verse | Text | Reference |
|---|---|---|
| Job 9:4 | "...He is wise in heart and mighty in strength...who can resist Him?" | God's wisdom and irresistible power. |
| Job 12:13-14 | "With Him are wisdom and might...He breaks down, and it cannot be rebuilt." | Divine sovereignty over creation and destruction. |
| Psa 24:8 | "Who is this King of glory? The Lord, strong and mighty, the Lord mighty in battle." | God's identity as a powerful warrior. |
| Psa 33:16-17 | "The king is not saved by a mighty army; a warrior is not delivered by great strength...a horse is a false hope for salvation." | Futility of human strength for deliverance. |
| Prov 21:31 | "The horse is made ready for the day of battle, but victory belongs to the Lord." | Ultimate source of victory is God. |
| Isa 2:12-17 | "For the day of the Lord...will be against all the proud and lofty...and against every fortified wall..." | God humbles the proud and destroys strongholds. |
| Isa 10:33-34 | "The Lord, the Lord of hosts, will lop off the boughs with a terrible crash; and the lofty of stature will be cut down." | God cutting down the mighty. |
| Isa 25:2 | "For You have made a city into a heap, a fortified city into a ruin." | God turning fortified cities into ruins. |
| Isa 40:23-24 | "He reduces rulers to nothing, He makes the judges of the earth useless...scarcely are they planted, scarcely sown, scarcely has their stem taken root...He merely blows on them and they wither." | God's ease in removing human power. |
| Jer 49:16 | "As for your terror, the arrogance of your heart has deceived you, O you who live in the clefts of the rock...Though you build your nest on high like the eagle, I will bring you down from there." | God brings down the prideful, even from heights. |
| Zep 1:14-15 | "Near is the great day of the Lord...a day of distress and desolation, a day of darkness and gloom, a day of clouds and thick darkness, a day of trumpet and battle cry against the fortified cities." | The Day of the Lord brings desolation to cities. |
| Zech 4:6 | "...Not by might nor by power, but by My Spirit,' says the Lord of hosts." | God's work is not by human strength but His Spirit. |
| Mt 7:26-27 | "And everyone who hears these words of Mine and does not act on them, will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand..." | Futility of building without solid foundation (spiritual). |
| Lk 1:51-52 | "...He has scattered those proud in the thoughts of their heart. He has brought down rulers from their thrones, and has exalted those who were humble." | God opposes the proud and exalts the humble. |
| 1 Cor 1:27-29 | "But God has chosen the foolish things of the world...the weak things...and the things that are not, so that no human might boast before God." | God confounds the wise and powerful through weakness. |
| Amo 3:11 | "Therefore thus says the Lord God, 'An enemy will surround the land; he will pull down your stronghold from you and your palaces will be plundered.'" | Direct threat of fortress destruction within Amos. |
| Amo 6:8 | "The Lord God has sworn by His own self, the Lord God of hosts says: 'I abhor the pride of Jacob, and detest his fortresses; therefore I will deliver up the city with all that is in it.'" | God's detestation for proud fortresses. |
| Amo 9:1 | "I saw the Lord standing beside the altar, and He said, 'Strike the capitals so that the thresholds shake, and break them on the heads of all the people!'" | God destroying places of worship/power directly. |
| Oba 1:3-4 | "The arrogance of your heart has deceived you...Though you build your nest as high as the eagles...I will bring you down from there," declares the Lord. | Pride leads to fall, even for the high and mighty. |
| Pro 18:10-11 | "The name of the Lord is a strong tower...A rich man’s wealth is his strong city, and like a high wall in his own imagination." | Contrasts God as true fortress with perceived wealth as fortress. |
| Jer 25:31 | "The Lord has a dispute with the nations; He will enter into judgment with all flesh; as for the wicked, He will give them to the sword,' declares the Lord." | God's global judgment over nations. |
| Isa 41:15 | "Behold, I will make you a new, sharp threshing sledge with double edges; you will thresh the mountains and crush them." | God equipping His people to overcome great obstacles. |
Amos 5 verses
Amos 5 9 Meaning
Amos 5:9 declares the Lord's absolute power to swiftly bring down those who are mighty and to dismantle human strongholds. It reveals God as the one who effortlessly devastates human power structures and fortified places, overturning what humanity considers impregnable. The verse underscores that no human strength, whether military or societal, can stand against the divine will and judgment.
Amos 5 9 Context
Amos 5:9 is part of a series of oracles of judgment delivered by the prophet Amos against the Northern Kingdom of Israel. This chapter is framed by God's lament over Israel's spiritual decay and impending downfall (Amos 5:1-3), followed by a crucial call to "Seek the Lord and live" (Amos 5:4, 6, 14). Amidst this plea for repentance, Amos warns of inevitable judgment if Israel persists in its social injustices, idolatry, and hollow religious rituals (Amos 5:7, 10-12, 21-24).
The verses immediately preceding Amos 5:9 (Amos 5:8) describe God's cosmic power—His ability to form the stars, turn darkness into morning, and bring night back, and to pour water upon the earth. This majestic depiction of divine control over the natural world provides the immediate context for Amos 5:9, demonstrating that the same omnipotent God who commands the universe is equally capable of dismantling human fortifications and powers. The people of Israel, especially the powerful and wealthy, had grown complacent, trusting in their material security, military might, and strong cities like Samaria. This verse shatters their false sense of security, showing that what they perceived as impregnable strength is fragile before the Almighty. It serves as a stark contrast between God's boundless power and humanity's limited, fallible strength.
Amos 5 9 Word analysis
- He who brings (Ha-mablîg, הַמַּבְלִיג֙): The Hebrew root בלג (balag) often means "to recover strength" or "to cheer up." However, in the hiphil or piel stem, as here, its meaning is debated. Modern scholarly consensus, as reflected in most English translations (NASB: "flashes forth," NET: "makes devastation flash"), interprets it as God causing destruction or ruin to "flash out" or come forth suddenly and with devastating power. This implies an active, swift, and overwhelming act of destruction initiated by God, not merely a passive strengthening for destruction.
- sudden destruction / flashes forth destruction: This nuance, often read into mablîg, highlights the swiftness and unexpected nature of divine judgment. What appears strong will fall instantly.
- upon the strong (ʿal-bāz leḥāzāq, עַל־בָּ֣ז לֶחָזָ֔ק):
- upon (ʿal, עַל־): Indicating the direction or target of the action, "against" or "upon."
- the strong (leḥāzāq, לֶחָזָ֔ק): Refers to "the mighty one," "the firm," "the powerful." This applies to powerful individuals, rulers, or any entity boasting its strength.
- plunder/spoil (bāz, בָּ֣ז): This word literally means "spoil," "prey," or "plunder." Its placement here is complex. Some interpretations see balag and baz as a hendiadys (two words conveying one idea) implying a sudden devastating blow leading to spoil. Other views: it's God causing the strong to become spoil, or devastation that comes upon the spoil (what the strong have accumulated). Most translations integrate this into the concept of devastation against the strong, seeing the strong as the object that is brought to ruination and then made spoil. It could ironically mean God brings judgment upon the spoiler, turning the tables on those who gained power through unjust "plunder."
- and destruction comes (wĕšōd, וְשֹׁ֖ד): šōd specifically denotes violence, devastation, desolation, or ruin. This is a very strong word for complete undoing.
- upon the fortress (ʿal-mibtzār, עַל־מִבְצָ֥ר): mibtzār refers to a "fortress," "stronghold," or "fortified place." This specifies the tangible, physical structures in which humans placed their trust for security and defense.
- it comes (yāḇôʾ, יָבִֽוא): A simple statement of future inevitability. It will come, emphasizing the certainty of the divine decree.
Amos 5 9 Bonus section
- The implicit contrast in this verse is profound: the natural order is controlled by a meticulous, all-powerful God (Amos 5:8), yet humans foolishly believe they can build structures or accumulate power that defy this same God's authority.
- This verse contributes to the "Day of the Lord" motif prevalent in Amos, where God's coming is not for salvation for Israel (as they assumed) but for destructive judgment upon their sin, tearing down everything they relied upon.
- The prophetic message serves not merely as a prediction but as a theological statement about the nature of God's justice and omnipotence. The ease with which God dismantles human strength reinforces His unmatched glory.
- For the ancient Near East, where kingdoms often relied on elaborate fortresses and military prowess, this message would have been particularly shocking and terrifying to those in power, shattering their conventional wisdom of security.
Amos 5 9 Commentary
Amos 5:9 succinctly encapsulates a core theme of prophetic literature: the irresistible sovereignty of God over human pride and perceived security. It stands as a stark declaration to a complacent Israel that their accumulated strength—be it personal might, political power, or formidable fortifications—offers no defense against the Lord. The initial phrase, though linguistically debated, strongly conveys the idea of God actively and suddenly inflicting devastation. This "flashing forth" or "bringing down suddenly" signifies the instantaneous and overwhelming nature of divine judgment. The mention of "the strong" implies the powerful figures and the elite who had exploited others (as condemned elsewhere in Amos 5), and "the fortress" represents the material security, cities, and military strength that Israel relied upon instead of their covenant God. This verse challenges any notion that human achievements, wealth, or fortifications can provide ultimate safety. It serves as a reminder that the same divine power that orders the cosmos (Amos 5:8) also governs human affairs, effortlessly humbling the proud and demolishing what humans deem impregnable. The divine judgment is presented not as a slow decay but as a sudden, cataclysmic event, overturning the established order. This serves as a warning against placing ultimate trust in created things rather than the Creator, and against the hubris that comes with human strength divorced from divine justice.