Amos 4 Study Notes

4:1-13 This chapter has two major parts, and each is an accusation followed by a religious statement used in an ironic and threatening manner. The first part (vv. 1-5) includes an accusation against the aristocratic women of Samaria (vv. 1-3) followed by an ironic benediction (actually a malediction) upon the pilgrims going to the religious shrines (vv. 4-5). The second part (vv. 6-13) accuses Israel of having disregarded all preliminary judgments sent against them, and it asserts that they must be ready for final judgment (vv. 6-12). After this, Amos gives a doxology that is threatening rather than encouraging (v. 13).

4:1 The expression cows of Bashan derisively refers to the upper-class women of Samaria. Bashan, located east of the Sea of Galilee, was famous for its lush pasture and fine livestock (Dt 32:14; Ezk 39:18). Like the cattle of that region, these aristocratic women were well fed and pampered. The word cows is not necessarily an insult in every case. Being a pastoral people, the Israelites often described beauty using imagery related to things that were valued in their culture. For instance, Sg 4:1 compares a beautiful woman’s hair to a flock of goats (cp. Jr 46:20). But the women spoken of by Amos were cruel and unfeeling, as shown by their indifference to the suffering of the poor. Their arrogance was apparent in how they treated even their husbands as household slaves.

4:2-3 The Hebrew of this verse is difficult. The word translated as taken away literally means to “lift up,” and the words translated as hooks and fishhooks are obscure and may not refer to hooks at all. But if “hooks” is correct, the metaphor may describe the bodies of the “cows” being hoisted on meat hooks. Also, the location of Harmon is unknown, and it may be that a scribal error has garbled the text. Still, the main point is clear: many people will be slaughtered, and those who survive will file out of the ruined walls of the city into exile.

4:4-5 A priest or prophet would normally pronounce a benediction on pilgrims going to a shrine, encouraging them to go to God with their offerings. Amos asserted sarcastically that when the Israelites went to their shrines, it only increased their guilt.

4:6-12 Behind this passage stand the warnings of Dt 28:15-68, which told the Israelites that if they refused to obey the laws of the covenant, they would be beset with diseases, droughts, crop failures, and military defeats. Should they refuse to repent, they would suffer national destruction and exile. Amos’s point is that they did not repent and thus now must get ready for the judgment of God (Am 4:12). The partial drought that Amos described (vv. 7-8) was evidently of recent occurrence and was fresh in the people’s minds. The plagues on Egypt in the exodus and the destruction of Sodom were prototypical acts of divine judgment; the comparison implied that Israel was as evil in God’s eyes as those nations were.

4:13 This doxology may be an example of the kind of hymns the Israelites sung at their shrines and on their pilgrimages. Here, however, the lofty power of Yahweh is turned against them. This is also a fitting conclusion to the previous passage. Amos had told the Israelites to be ready to meet their God, and this is the kind of God they will meet.