Amos 3:12

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Translations sourced from the public-domain WEB, KJV, and ASV. See all sources.

“Yahweh says: “As the shepherd rescues out of the mouth of the lion two legs, or a piece of an ear, so shall the children of Israel be rescued who sit in Samaria on the corner of a couch, and on the silken cushions of a bed.””

— WEB

“Thus saith the LORD; As the shepherd taketh out of the mouth of the lion two legs, or a piece of an ear; so shall the children of Israel be taken out that dwell in Samaria in the corner of a bed, and in Damascus in a couch.”

— KJV

“Thus saith Jehovah: As the shepherd rescueth out of the mouth of the lion two legs, or a piece of an ear, so shall the children of Israel be rescued that sit in Samaria in the corner of a couch, and on the silken cushions of a bed.”

— ASV

Bible Verses About the Good Shepherd

Cross-references

Related verses via the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge.

1 Samuel 17:34-37 "David said to Saul, “Your servant was keeping his father’s sheep; and when a lion or a bear came, and took a lamb out of the flock,"
Romans 11:4-5 "But how does God answer him? “I have reserved for myself seven thousand men, who have not bowed the knee to Baal.”1 Kings 19:18"
Isaiah 31:4 "For Yahweh says to me, “As the lion and the young lion growling over his prey, if a multitude of shepherds is called together against him…"
1 Kings 22:25 "Micaiah said, “Behold, you will see on that day, when you go into an inner room to hide yourself.”"
2 Kings 16:9 "The king of Assyria listened to him; and the king of Assyria went up against Damascus, and took it, and carried its people captive to Kir…"
1 Kings 20:34 "Ben Hadad said to him, “The cities which my father took from your father I will restore. You shall make streets for yourself in Damascus,…"
1 Kings 20:30 "But the rest fled to Aphek, into the city; and the wall fell on twenty-seven thousand men who were left. Ben Hadad fled, and came into th…"
Amos 9:2-3 "Though they dig into Sheol,Sheol is the place of the dead. there my hand will take them; and though they climb up to heaven, there I will…"

Commentary

shepherd--a pastoral image, appropriately used by Amos, a shepherd himself. piece of . . . ear--brought by the shepherd to the owner of the sheep, so as not to have to pay for the loss (Gen 31:39; Exo 22:13). So if aught of Israel escapes, it shall be a miracle of God's goodness. It shall be but a scanty remnant. There is a kind of goat in the East the ears of which are a foot long, and proportionally broad. Perhaps the reference is to this. Compare on the image Sa1 17:34-35; Ti2 4:17. that dwell in Samaria in the corner of a bed--that is, that live luxuriously in Samaria (compare Amo 6:1, Amo 6:4). "A bed" means here the Oriental divan, a raised part of the room covered with cushions. in Damascus in a couch--Jeroboam II had lately restored Damascus to Israel (Kg2 14:25, Kg2 14:28). So the Israelites are represented as not merely in "the corner of a bed," as in Samaria, but "in a (whole) couch," at Damascus, living in luxurious ease. Of these, now so luxurious, soon but a remnant shall be left by the foe. The destruction of Damascus and that of Samaria shall be conjoined; as here their luxurious lives, and subsequently under Pekah and Rezin their inroads on Judah, were combined (Isa 7:1-8; Isa 8:4, Isa 8:9; Isa 17:3). The parallelism of "Samaria" to "Damascus," and the Septuagint favor English Version rather than GESENIUS: "on a damask couch.

— Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Commentary (public domain)

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