Amos 5:16

“Therefore the Lord, the God of hosts, the Lord, saith thus, etc.] The connection of these words is not with those that immediately precede, but with the whole context; seeing neither promises nor threats, exhortations, good advice, and intimations of grace and mercy, had no effect, at least upon the generality of the people, therefore the Lord declared as follows: wailing [shall be] in all streets; in all the streets of the towns and cities of Israel, because of the slain and wounded in them: and they shall say in all the highways, alas! alas! in the several roads throughout the country, as travellers pass on, and persons flee from the enemy; they shall lament the state of the kingdom, and…”

“Therefore--resumed from Amo 5:13. God foresees they will not obey the exhortation (Amo 5:14-15), but will persevere in the unrighteousness stigmatized (Amo 5:7, Amo 5:10, Amo 5:12). the Lord--JEHOVAH. the God of hosts, the Lord--an accumulation of titles, of which His lordship over all things is the climax, to mark that from His judgment there is no appeal. streets . . . highways--the broad open spaces and the narrow streets common in the East. call the husbandman to mourning--The citizens shall call the inexperienced husbandmen to act the part usually performed by professional mourners, as there will not be enough of the latter for the universal mourning which prevails. such as are skilful…”

“Therefore the Lord, the God of Hosts, the Lord - For the third time in these three last verses Amos again reminds them, by whose authority he speaks, His who had revealed Himself as “I am,” the self-existent God, God by nature and of nature, the Creator and Ruler and Lord of all, visible or invisible, against their false gods, or fictitious substitutes for the true God. Here, over and above those titles, “He is,” that is, He alone is, the “God of Hosts, God of all things, in heaven and earth,” the heavenly bodies from whose influences the idolaters hoped for good, and the unseen evil beings Isaiah 24:21, who seduced them, he adds the title, which people most shrink from, “Lord.” He who so…”

“Therefore - The prophet foreseeing their obstinacy, proceeds to denounce judgment against them. The husbandman - This sort of men are little used to such ceremonies of mourning, but now such also shall be called upon; leave your toil, betake yourselves to publick mourning. Amos 5:17”

“5:16-17 crying . . . mourning . . . wailing: Grief would result from the widespread and certain destruction that lay ahead (5:1-2). 5:16 farmers . . . professional mourners: This expression is a graphic way of describing that everyone would grieve.”

“the Lord: Amo 5:27, Amo 3:13 Wailing: Amo 8:10; Isa 15:2-5, Isa 15:8, Isa 22:12; Jer 4:31, Jer 9:10, Jer 9:18-20; Joe 1:8, Joe 1:11, Joe 1:14; Mic 1:8, Mic 2:4; Rev 18:10, Rev 18:15, Rev 18:16, Rev 18:19 such: Jer 9:17-19 Amos 5:17”

“This judgment is announced in Amo 5:16, Amo 5:17. Amo 5:16. "Therefore thus saith Jehovah the God of hosts, the Lord: In all roads lamentation! and in all streets will men say, Alas! alas! and they call the husbandman to mourning, and lamentation to those skilled in lamenting. Amo 5:17. And in all vineyards lamentation, because I go through the midst of thee, saith Jehovah." Lâkhēn (therefore) is not connected with the admonitions in Amo 5:14, Amo 5:15, nor can it point back to the reproaches in Amo 5:7, Amo 5:10-12, since they are too far off: it rather links on to the substance of Amo 5:13, which involves the thought that all admonition to return is fruitless, and the ungodly still…”