Amos Chapter 7

“Thus hath the Lord showed unto me, etc.] What follows in this and the two chapters, before the prophet delivered what he heard from the Lord; now what he saw, the same thing, the ruin of the ten tribes, is here expressed as before, but in a different form; before in prophecy, here in vision, the more to affect and work upon the hearts of the people: and, behold, he formed grasshoppers; or “locusts”f188, as the word is rendered, (<233304>Isaiah 33:4); and so the Septuagint here, and other versions. Kimchi interprets it, and, behold, a collection or swarm of locusts; and the Targum, a creation of them. Though Aben…”

“showed . . . me; and, behold--The same formula prefaces the three visions in this chapter, and the fourth in Amo 8:1. grasshoppers--rather, "locusts" in the caterpillar state, from a Hebrew root, "to creep forth." In the autumn the eggs are deposited in the earth; in the spring the young come forth [MAURER]. the latter growth--namely, of grass, which comes up after the mowing. They do not in the East mow their grass and make hay of it, but cut it off the ground as they require it. the king's mowings--the first-fruits of the mown grass, tyrannically exacted by the king from the people. The literal locusts, as in…”

“And behold He formed - (that is, He was forming.) The very least things then are as much in His infinite Mind, as what we count the greatest. He has not simply made “laws of nature,” as people speak, to do His work, and continue the generations of the world. He Himself was still framing them, giving them being, as our Lord saith, “My Father worketh hitherto, and I work” John 5:17. The same power of God is seen in creating the locust, as the universe. The creature could as little do the one as the other. But further, God was “framing” them for a special end, not of nature, but of His moral government, in the…”

“Thus - This is the first of five prophetic representations of what was coming upon this people. The latter growth - The shooting up of the first growth being too luxuriant, they often eat it down with cattle; but if the second growth were eat up, it marred the whole harvest. Mowed - It is supposed the first mowing of the corn in the blade was for the king's use; and after this the second springing grew up to the harvest. Amos 7:2”

“7:1–9:10 This section contains five visions. It is helpful to compare the progression of these five visions with the judgments listed in 4:6-11 (famine, drought, crop devastation, plagues, destruction). 7:1-6 The first two visions set up a mood of hopeful expectancy. God calls for judgment but then revokes it at the prophet’s intercession. 7:1 Locusts (see 4:9) were one of the plagues brought upon Egypt (Exod 10:4). Great swarms of locusts periodically invaded these lands, typically in times of drought. • king’s share: The first harvest went to the king as taxes, whereas the later harvest of the main crop fed the…”

“showed: Amo 7:4, Amo 7:7, Amo 8:1; Jer 1:11-16, Jer 24:1; Eze 11:25; Zac 1:20 he: Amo 4:9; Exo 10:12-16; Isa 33:4; Joe 1:4, Joe 2:25; Nah 3:15-17 grasshoppers: or, green worms, Govai in Arabic gabee "locusts," probably in their caterpillar state, in which they are most destructive. This is supposed to have been an emblem of the first invasion of the Assyrians. mowings: Or rather, feedings or grazings, as the people of the East make no hay. This was probably in the month of March, which is the only time of the year that the Arabs to this day feed their horses with grass. Amos 7:2”

“The first two visions. - Amo 7:1-3. The Locusts. - Amo 7:1. "Thus the Lord Jehovah showed me; and, behold, He formed locusts in the beginning of the springing up of the second crop; and, behold, it was a second crop after the king's mowing. Amo 7:2. And it came to pass, when they had finished eating the vegetable of the land, I said, Lord Jehovah, forgive, I pray: how can Jacob stand? for he is small. Amo 7:3. Jehovah repented of this: It shall not take place, saith Jehovah." The formula, "Thus the Lord Jehovah showed me," is common to this and the three following visions ( Amo 7:4, Amo 7:7, and Amo 8:1), with…”