Amós 4

ARC · Chapter 4/9

1Ouvi esta palavra, vós, vaccas de Basan, vós, que estaes no monte de Samaria, vós, que opprimis aos pobres, que quebrantaes os necessitados, vós, que dizeis a seus senhores: Dae cá, para que bebamos.

2Jurou o Senhor Jehovah, pela sua sanctidade, que eis que dias estão para vir sobre vós, em que vos levarão com anzoes e a vossos descendentes com anzoes de pesca.

3E saireis pelas brechas, uma após outra, e lançareis fóra o que levastes para o palacio, disse o Senhor.

4Vinde a Beth-el, e transgredi, em Gilgal augmentae as transgressões, e de manhã trazei os vossos sacrificios, e os vossos dizimos ao terceiro dia.

5E queimae o sacrificio de louvores do pão levedado, e apregoae os sacrificios voluntarios, fazei-o ouvir; porque assim o quereis, ó filhos de Israel, disse o Senhor Jehovah.

6Por isso tambem vos dei limpeza de dentes em todas as vossas cidades, e falta de pão em todos os vossos logares; comtudo não vos convertestes a mim, disse o Senhor.

7Além d'isso, retive de vós a chuva, faltando ainda tres mezes até á sega; e fiz chover sobre uma cidade, e sobre outra cidade não fiz chover; sobre um campo choveu, mas o outro, sobre o qual não choveu, se seccou.

8E andaram vagabundas duas ou tres cidades a uma cidade, para beberem agua, mas não se saciaram: comtudo não vos convertestes a mim, disse o Senhor.

9Feri-vos com queimadura, e com ferrugem; a multidão das vossas hortas, e das vossas vinhas, e das vossas figueiras, e das vossas oliveiras, comeu a locusta; comtudo não vos convertestes a mim, disse o Senhor.

10Enviei a peste contra vós, á maneira do Egypto: os vossos mancebos matei á espada, e os vossos cavallos deixei levar presos, e o fedor dos vossos exercitos fiz subir aos vossos narizes; comtudo não vos convertestes a mim, disse o Senhor.

11Subverti a alguns d'entre vós, como Deus subverteu a Sodoma e Gomorrah, sendo vós como um tição arrebatado do incendio; comtudo não vos convertestes a mim, disse o Senhor.

12Portanto, assim te farei, ó Israel! Porquanto pois isto te farei, prepara-te, ó Israel, a encontrares o teu Deus.

13Porque eis que o que fórma os montes, e cria o vento, e declara ao homem qual seja o seu pensamento, o que faz da manhã trevas, e piza os altos da terra, o Senhor Deus dos Exercitos é o seu nome.

📖 Chapter study

Summary

Amos calls the wealthy women of Samaria 'cows of Bashan' for oppressing the poor, and lists five disasters (famine, drought, blight, war, earthquake) that God sent as warnings which Israel repeatedly ignored.

Explanation

'Cows of Bashan' is a shocking, deliberately offensive comparison: Bashan was famous for its well-fed cattle, and Amos uses the image to describe Samaria's elite women, fattened on luxury, who pressure their husbands to oppress the poor in order to sustain their lifestyle. The refrain repeated five times, 'yet have ye not returned unto me,' is the heart of the chapter: God sent gradual warnings (famine, partial drought, agricultural blight, plague, war) hoping the people would repent, but every warning was ignored. The conclusion is a solemn summons: 'prepare to meet thy God, O Israel.' The lesson for today is to recognize the 'warnings' found in life's hardships as invitations to reflection, not merely as bad luck.

Fun facts

  • Bashan was a fertile region east of the Jordan River, famous since antiquity for raising sturdy cattle — the comparison would have been immediately understood, and felt as an insult, by Israel's elite women.
  • The mention of God destroying them 'as Sodom and Gomorrah' (v. 11) is one of the few references in the Old Testament that uses this specific event as a standard of comparison for divine judgment on an entire nation.

Verse-by-verse explanation

  1. Amós 4:1“Kine of Bashan” is an insulting nickname for the wealthy women of Samaria, compared to the well-fed cattle of the Bashan region, who demanded more drink from their husbands while oppressing the poor.
  2. Amós 4:2A shocking image: the wealthy women of Samaria (“kine of Bashan” from the previous verse) will be taken captive like fish caught on a hook.
  3. Amós 4:3They will file out through the breaches in the destroyed walls, forced to abandon even the luxuries they had accumulated.
  4. Amós 4:4“Come to Beth-el, and transgress” is a sarcastic invitation: Bethel and Gilgal were popular shrines where people went to offer excessive sacrifices, thinking this made up for their everyday injustice — the prophet mocks this kind of empty religiosity.
  5. Amós 4:5A sarcastic invitation to keep performing the same religious rituals as always, since that is really what they enjoy doing — even though it is empty of justice.
  6. Amós 4:6“Yet have ye not returned unto me” repeats several times throughout this chapter, each time after a different plague (famine, drought, crop blight, pestilence); the repetition shows that not even a string of disasters made the people change their ways.
  7. Amós 4:7God recalls having controlled the rain selectively, making it rain on one city and not another, as a specific and personal warning, not a generic drought.
  8. Amós 4:8People from various cities had to wander in search of water without finding enough — even so, the people did not turn back to God.
  9. Amós 4:9One more agricultural plague — excessive heat, blight, and locusts — striking gardens and orchards, and still no change in behavior.
  10. Amós 4:10God sent pestilence as in Egypt (recalling the plagues of the Exodus) and allowed military defeats — even with bodies rotting, the people remained unyielding.
  11. Amós 4:11The comparison with Sodom and Gomorrah (Genesis 19), cities destroyed by fire, shows the severity of the punishment Israel had already partly suffered — and still the people continued as they were.
  12. Amós 4:12After listing all the ignored warnings, God announces that he will now act for good, calling Israel to prepare for this final confrontation.
  13. Amós 4:13A hymn of praise describing God’s power as creator — who forms the mountains and the wind — reinforcing that this is the same God Israel is going to “meet” in judgment.

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