Amos 2:5

Old Testament Minor Prophet ASV (1901)

What does Amos 2:5 say?

The American Standard Version records this verse as: “but I will send a fire upon Judah, and it shall devour the palaces of Jerusalem.” Read the surrounding verses and the named sources below before drawing broader conclusions.

The verse

but I will send a fire upon Judah, and it shall devour the palaces of Jerusalem.
Amos 2:5 — American Standard Version

Context — Amos 2

American Standard Version (1901) — public domain. Click any verse for its study page.
5but I will send a fire upon Judah, and it shall devour the palaces of Jerusalem.

What do historical commentaries say?

John Gill's Exposition
John Gill (1697–1771) · Exposition of the Old and New Testament · 18th-century historical commentary
“But I will send a fire upon Judah, etc.] An enemy, Nebuchadnezzar, who should burn, waste, and destroy, all that were in his way: and it shall devour the palaces of Jerusalem; the chief city of Judah, the royal city, where stood the temple, the palace of the most High, and the palaces of the king and his nobles; these were burnt with fire when it was taken by the Chaldean army, about two hundred years after this prophecy, (<245213>Jeremiah 52:13).”
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Jamieson, Fausset & Brown
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown · Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible · 19th-century historical commentary
“a fire--Nebuchadnezzar.”
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Barnes' Notes
Albert Barnes (1798–1870) · Notes on the Whole Bible · 19th-century historical commentary
“I will send a fire upon Judah - All know now, how Jerusalem, its temple, and its palaces perished by fire, first by Nebuchadnezzar, then by the Romans. Yet some two centuries passed, before that first destruction came. The ungodly Jews flattered themselves that it would never come. So we know that a “fiery stream” Daniel 7:10 will issue and come forth from Him; “a fire” that “consumeth to destruction” Job 31:12, all who, whether or no they are in the body of the Church, are not of the heavenly Jerusalem; dead members in the body which belongs to the Living Head. And it will not the less come, because it is not regarded. Rather, the very condition of all God’s judgments is, to be disregarded…”
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Tyndale Open Study Notes
Tyndale House Publishers · Tyndale Open Study Notes · Modern study notes
“2:5 Judah’s paganism brought the same punishment as the sins of its pagan neighbors: fire (1:4, 7, 10, 12, 14; 2:2) that would destroy Jerusalem. The Babylonians burned Jerusalem when they captured it in 586 BC (see 2 Kgs 25:9; Neh 2:17; 4:2).”
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Treasury of Scriptural Knowledge
R. A. Torrey and contributors · The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge · Cross-reference reference work
“I will: Jer 17:27, Jer 21:10, Jer 37:8-10, Jer 39:8, Jer 52:13; Hos 8:14 Amos 2:6”
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Related study paths

Sources and verification