💾 Archived View for scholasticdiversity.us.to › scriptures › jewish › t › Steinsaltz%20on%20Amos%206… captured on 2024-05-10 at 12:26:30. Gemini links have been rewritten to link to archived content
-=-=-=-=-=-=-
6 ‎[1] **Woe! The tranquil in Zion and the secure on Mount Samaria. **These feelings of security stemmed from their political and military power, as well as their economic success. They are** those who name themselves the foremost of the nations, and come to them as the house of Israel. **These people call themselves the primary and elect people among all the nations, and identify themselves as the house of Israel.
‎[2] **Cross to Kalne, **a small, nearby country,** and see, and go from there to Greater Hamat, **a large city in Syria,** and go down to Gat,**** **one** of **the** **five cities of **the** **Philistines. Are they better than these kingdoms **of Zion and Samaria?** Is their border wider than your border? **Why, then, do you turn away from Me to false gods?
‎[3] **Those who deny the evil day **of inevitable retribution and remove it from their consciousness,** and advance the regime of villainy** by supporting acts of oppression;
‎[4] **who lie on beds of ivory and lounge on their couches, **not engaging in any productive activities,** eating the **large, **fattened sheep from the flock and the calves from inside the stall, **where they are fattened.
‎[5] These are the wealthy individuals **who strum on the face of the lyre;**** they consider themselves like David with musical instruments. **They equate their music with that of King David, the composer of Psalms. This is a satirical description of idle, gluttonous individuals who portray themselves as artisans.
‎[6] It is these same individuals **who drink with** **wine bowls**** and anoint themselves **indulgently** with **fragrant **virgin oils, but they are not distressed**** over the destruction of Joseph, **the Kingdom of Israel.
‎[7] **Therefore, now they, **those complacent, spoiled individuals, **will be exiled at the head of the exiles, and the revelry of the **people who liked to be** lounging **on their beds** will be removed. **
‎[8] **The Lord God has taken an oath by Himself – **this is** the utterance of the Lord, God of hosts – I spurn the pride of Jacob,**** **possibly a reference to the Temple, as God’s dwelling among the people heightens their feelings of pride. **And **I **hate his palaces, **due to the revelry that takes place inside them;** and **therefore** I will deliver the city and all its contents **to the enemy.
‎[9] **It shall be that if ten men remain in one house, they will die. **
‎[10] Due to the multitude of corpses, **when one’s uncle, **his father’s brother,** or his mother’s brother [*****mesarefo*****],**** **who assists his father’s brother, or one** **who burns [*soref*]** **corpses to reduce the smell, arrive, they **will carry him, **the deceased, **to take **his** bones from the house, **and** **one of them standing at the entrance to the house **he will say to **the other** one, who is in the rear of the house: Are there any more** corpses** with you? He will say: None. And he will say: Be silent so as not to mention the name of the Lord. **Since the house is a place of death and impurity, do not mention the name of God in response to the calamity.
‎[11] **For, behold, the Lord commands, and He will strike the great house **and break it** into splinters, and the small house **will be smashed** into chips. **
‎[12] **Do horses run on rock, **on rocky terrain?** Can it be plowed with oxen? **At best, only the corners of such areas can be plowed with a hoe. You are comparable to a rocky field that cannot be improved; nothing will sprout in your territory, **for you have transformed justice into hemlock, **a bitter and poisonous plant,** and **your hands have turned** the fruit of righteousness into wormwood; **
‎[13] **it is you who rejoice over nothing, **insignificant matters,** who say: Haven’t we taken honors**** for ourselves with our **own** power, **and achieved glory?** **
‎[14] **For, behold, I am raising against you a nation **that will conquer your land,** house of Israel – **this is** the utterance of the Lord, God of hosts – and they will press you from Levo Hamat to the ravine of the Arava.**** **These were the borders of the Kingdom of Israel during the reign of Yorovam son of Yo’ash, roughly a contemporary of Amos.
Version: The Steinsaltz Tanakh - English
Source: https://korenpub.com/collections/the-steinsaltz-tanakh/products/steinsaltz-tanakh
License: Copyright: Steinsaltz Center