ESV Global Study Bible :: Footnotes for Amos 9

Amos 9:1–15 This final vision has two parts, one negative (vv. 1–10) and the other positive (vv. 11–15). God considers worthless all the sacrifices the Israelites had given in an attempt to manipulate him on their behalf, while bringing reproach upon his name with their sinful lives. Therefore God would demand their own lives as sacrifices (vv. 9–10). But God’s ultimate purpose in judgment is never destruction; it is always restoration. So vv. 11–15 depict a day when Israel, again recognizing David as its true king (v. 11), would be restored to its land.

Amos 9:1 Capitals are the tops of columns, and thresholds are the bases. Mentioning the two together enfolds the totality of the temple structure. Revelation 20:11–15 uses this image of no escape to describe the last judgment.

Amos 9:2–3 Two groups of opposites: Sheol (the underworld) vs. heaven; and Carmel (the mountaintop) vs. the bottom of the sea. In short, there is no place between these extremes to escape God.

Amos 9:7 Cushites (or Nubians), who lived south of Egypt, were considered to be living at the end of the world. All peoples are under God’s care.

Amos 9:11–15 In contrast to the mighty temple of Israel that God would smash to the ground (v. 1), the fragile booth of David (v. 11) would be repaired. The reminder that Israel’s well-being depends on the descendants of David would come with special force to Amos’s northern audience, who had rejected the Davidic king. God has committed himself to bless his people, and eventually the world, through the family of David (2 Sam. 7:15–16; Ps. 72:17).

Amos 9:11 In that day reminds the reader of the day of the Lord that the Israelites confidently expected. If there was to be punishment instead of blessing (see 5:18–20 and note), that did not mean it was to be God’s final word. This time, the day will be a blessing to the people.

Amos 9:12 The nations . . . called by my name connects with the nations described in vv. 7–8. Israel has a special place among the nations, but it is a place of mission, not simply of privilege. In Acts 15:16–17, James cites Amos 9:11–12. He understands this passage to indicate that “all the nations” (that is, Gentiles) are included in God’s blessings, as God had promised to Abraham (Gen. 12:3).

Amos 9:13 When God restores the land, it will be amazingly productive and will not need to rest for a moment. As soon as the reaper has harvested one crop, the plowman comes right behind planting another one, and as soon as someone sows the seed, the grapes grow so rapidly that the treader of grapes comes to pick the ripe grapes and gather them for the winepress. This is a beautiful poetic image of a land like the garden of Eden—with fruitfulness that is free from the curse (Gen. 3:17–19; compare Amos 4:6–10).