Amos 2:3

3 ¹I will cut off the ruler from its midst, and will kill ²all its princes^[a] with him," says the LORD.

Amos 2:3 Meaning and Commentary

Amos 2:3

And I will cut off the judge from the midst thereof
Either from the midst of Moab, the country in general; or from Kerioth in particular, so Kimchi; meaning their principal governor, their king, as Aben Ezra; for kings sometimes have acted as judges, took the bench, and sat and administered justice to their subjects: and I will stay all the princes thereof with him, saith the Lord;
the king, and the princes of the blood, and his nobles; so that there should be none to succeed him, or to protect and defend the people; the destruction should be an entire one, and inevitable, for the mouth of the Lord had spoken it. This was fulfilled at the same time as the prophecy against the children of Ammon by Nebuchadnezzar, five years after the destruction of Jerusalem ^F15, which is next threatened.

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FOOTNOTES:

F15 Joseph. Antiqu. l. 10. c. 9. sect. 7. Vid. Judith i. 12.

Amos 2:3 In-Context

1 Thus says the LORD: "For three transgressions of Moab, and for four, I will not revoke the punishment, because he burned to lime the bones of the king of Edom.

2 So I will send a fire upon Moab, and it shall devour the strongholds of Kerioth, and Moab shall die amid uproar, amid shouting and the sound of the trumpet;

3 I will cut off the ruler from its midst, and will kill all its princes with him," says the LORD.

4 Thus says the LORD: "For three transgressions of Judah, and for four, I will not revoke the punishment, because they have rejected the law of the LORD, and have not kept his statutes, but their lies have led them astray, those after which their fathers walked.

5 So I will send a fire upon Judah, and it shall devour the strongholds of Jerusalem."

Cross References

• 1. [Jeremiah 48:7]
• 2. [Jeremiah 48:7]

Footnotes

• [a]. Or officials