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Selected Verse: Amos 1:2 - Strong Concordance

Verse	Translation	Text
Am 1:2	Strong Concordance	And he said [0559], The LORD [03068] will roar [07580] from Zion [06726], and utter [05414] his voice [06963] from Jerusalem [03389]; and the habitations [04999] of the shepherds [07462] shall mourn [056], and the top [07218] of Carmel [03760] shall wither [03001].
	King James	And he said, The LORD will roar from Zion, and utter his voice from Jerusalem; and the habitations of the shepherds shall mourn, and the top of Carmel shall wither.

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A Commentary, Critical, Practical, and Explanatory on the Old and New Testaments, by Robert Jamieson, A.R. Fausset and David Brown [1882]
will roar--as a lion (Joe 3:16). Whereas Jehovah is there represented roaring in Israel's behalf, here He roars against her (compare Psa 18:13; Jer 25:30). from Zion . . . Jerusalem--the seat of the theocracy, from which ye have revolted; not from Dan and Beth-el, the seat of your idolatrous worship of the calves. habitations . . . mourn--poetical personification. Their inhabitants shall mourn, imparting a sadness to the very habitations. Carmel--the mountain promontory north of Israel, in Asher, abounding in rich pastures, olives, and vines. The name is the symbol of fertility. When Carmel itself "withers," how utter the desolation! (Sol 7:5; Isa 33:9; Isa 35:2; Jer 50:19; Nah 1:4).

A Commentary, Critical, Practical, and Explanatory on the Old and New Testaments, by Robert Jamieson, A.R. Fausset and David Brown [1882]

will roar--as a lion (Joe 3:16). Whereas Jehovah is there represented roaring in Israel's behalf, here He roars against her (compare Psa 18:13; Jer 25:30).

from Zion . . . Jerusalem--the seat of the theocracy, from which ye have revolted; not from Dan and Beth-el, the seat of your idolatrous worship of the calves.

habitations . . . mourn--poetical personification. Their inhabitants shall mourn, imparting a sadness to the very habitations.

Carmel--the mountain promontory north of Israel, in Asher, abounding in rich pastures, olives, and vines. The name is the symbol of fertility. When Carmel itself "withers," how utter the desolation! (Sol 7:5; Isa 33:9; Isa 35:2; Jer 50:19; Nah 1:4).

Notes on the Bible, by Albert Barnes, [1834]
The Lord will roar - Amos joins on his prophecy to the end of Joel's, in order at once in its very opening to attest the oneness of their mission, and to prepare people's minds to see, that his own prophecy was an expansion of those words, declaring the nearer and coming judgments of God. Those nearer judgments, however, of which he spake, were but the preludes of the judgments of the Great Day which Joel foretold, and of that last terrible voice of Christ, "the Lion of the tribe of Judah," of whom Jacob prophesies; "He couched, He lay down as a lion, and as a young lion; who shall raise Him up?" Gen 49:9. God is said to "utter His" awful "voice from Zion and Jerusalem," because there He had set His Name, there He was present in His Church. It was, as it were, His own place, which He had hallowed by tokens of His presence, although "the heaven and the heaven of heavens cannot contain Him." In the outset of his prophecy, Amos warned Israel, that there, not among themselves in their separated state, God dwelt. Jeremiah, in using these same words toward Judah, speaks not of Jerusalem, but of heaven; "The Lord shall roar from on high, and utter His voice from His holy habitation" Jer 25:30. The prophecy is to the ten tribes or to the pagan: God speaks out of the Church. He uttereth His Voice out of Jerusalem, as He saith, "Out of Zion shall go forth, the law, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem" Isa 2:3, "where was the Temple and the worship of God, to shew that God was not in the cities of Israel, that is, in Dan and Bethel, where were the golden calves, nor in the royal cities of Samaria and Jezreel, but in the true religion which was then in Zion and Jerusalem." And the habitations of the shepherds shall mourn - Perhaps, with a feeling for the home which he had loved and left, the prophet's first thought amid the desolation which he predicts, was toward his own shepherd-haunts. The well-known Mount Carmel was far in the opposite direction in the tribe of Asher. Its name is derived from its richness and fertility, perhaps "a land of vine and olive yards." In Jerome's time, it was "thickly studded with olives, shrubs and vineyards." "Its very summit of glad pasturcs." It is one of the most striking natural features of Palestine. It ends a line of hills, 18 miles long, by a long bold headland reaching out far into the Mediterranean, and forming the south side of the Bay of Acco or Acre. Rising 1,200 feet above the sea , it stands out "like some guardian of its native strand;" yet withal, it was rich with every variety of beauty, flower, fruit, and tree. It is almost always called "the Carmel," "the rich garden-ground." From its neighborhood to the sea, heavy dews nightly supply it with an ever-renewed freshness, so that in mid-summer it is green and flowery . Travelers describe it, as "quite green, its top covered with firs and oaks, lower down with olives and laurels, and everywhere excellently watered." "There is not a flower," says Van de Velde , "that I have seen in Galilee or on the plains along the coasts, that I do not find here again on Carmel. It is still the same fragrant lovely mountain as of old." : "Its varied world of flowers attracts such a number of the rarer vari-colored insects that a collector might for a whole year be richly employed." "It is a natural garden and repository of herbs." Its pastures were rich, so as to equal those of Bashan. "It gives rise to a number of crystal streams, the largest of which gushes from the spring of Elijah" Jer 50:19; Nah 1:4. It had abundant supplies in itself. If it too became a desert, what else would be spared? "If they do these things in a green tree, what shall be done in the dry?" Luk 23:31. All, high and low, shall be stricken in one common desolation; all the whole land, fromm "the pastures of the shepherds" in the south to Mount Carmel in the North. And this, as soon as God had spoken. "He spake, and it was made." So now, contrariwise, He uttercth His Voice, and Carmel hath languished. Its glory hath passed away, as in the twinkling of an eye. God hath spoken the word, and it is gone. What depended on God's gifts, abides; what depended on man, is gone. There remains a wild beauty still; but it is the beauty of natural luxuriance. "All," says one who explored its depths , "lies waste; all is a wilderness. The utmost fertility is here lost for man, useless to man. The vineyards of Carmel, where are they now? Behold the long rows of stones on the ground, the remains of the walls; they will tell you that here, where now with difficulty you force your way through the thick entangled copse, lay, in days of old, those incomparable vineyards to which Carmel owes its name."

Notes on the Bible, by Albert Barnes, [1834]

The Lord will roar - Amos joins on his prophecy to the end of Joel's, in order at once in its very opening to attest the oneness of their mission, and to prepare people's minds to see, that his own prophecy was an expansion of those words, declaring the nearer and coming judgments of God. Those nearer judgments, however, of which he spake, were but the preludes of the judgments of the Great Day which Joel foretold, and of that last terrible voice of Christ, "the Lion of the tribe of Judah," of whom Jacob prophesies; "He couched, He lay down as a lion, and as a young lion; who shall raise Him up?" Gen 49:9. God is said to "utter His" awful "voice from Zion and Jerusalem," because there He had set His Name, there He was present in His Church. It was, as it were, His own place, which He had hallowed by tokens of His presence, although "the heaven and the heaven of heavens cannot contain Him." In the outset of his prophecy, Amos warned Israel, that there, not among themselves in their separated state, God dwelt. Jeremiah, in using these same words toward Judah, speaks not of Jerusalem, but of heaven; "The Lord shall roar from on high, and utter His voice from His holy habitation" Jer 25:30. The prophecy is to the ten tribes or to the pagan: God speaks out of the Church. He uttereth His Voice out of Jerusalem, as He saith, "Out of Zion shall go forth, the law, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem" Isa 2:3, "where was the Temple and the worship of God, to shew that God was not in the cities of Israel, that is, in Dan and Bethel, where were the golden calves, nor in the royal cities of Samaria and Jezreel, but in the true religion which was then in Zion and Jerusalem."

And the habitations of the shepherds shall mourn - Perhaps, with a feeling for the home which he had loved and left, the prophet's first thought amid the desolation which he predicts, was toward his own shepherd-haunts. The well-known Mount Carmel was far in the opposite direction in the tribe of Asher. Its name is derived from its richness and fertility, perhaps "a land of vine and olive yards." In Jerome's time, it was "thickly studded with olives, shrubs and vineyards." "Its very summit of glad pasturcs."

It is one of the most striking natural features of Palestine. It ends a line of hills, 18 miles long, by a long bold headland reaching out far into the Mediterranean, and forming the south side of the Bay of Acco or Acre. Rising 1,200 feet above the sea , it stands out "like some guardian of its native strand;" yet withal, it was rich with every variety of beauty, flower, fruit, and tree. It is almost always called "the Carmel," "the rich garden-ground." From its neighborhood to the sea, heavy dews nightly supply it with an ever-renewed freshness, so that in mid-summer it is green and flowery . Travelers describe it, as "quite green, its top covered with firs and oaks, lower down with olives and laurels, and everywhere excellently watered." "There is not a flower," says Van de Velde , "that I have seen in Galilee or on the plains along the coasts, that I do not find here again on Carmel. It is still the same fragrant lovely mountain as of old." : "Its varied world of flowers attracts such a number of the rarer vari-colored insects that a collector might for a whole year be richly employed." "It is a natural garden and repository of herbs."

Its pastures were rich, so as to equal those of Bashan. "It gives rise to a number of crystal streams, the largest of which gushes from the spring of Elijah" Jer 50:19; Nah 1:4. It had abundant supplies in itself. If it too became a desert, what else would be spared? "If they do these things in a green tree, what shall be done in the dry?" Luk 23:31. All, high and low, shall be stricken in one common desolation; all the whole land, fromm "the pastures of the shepherds" in the south to Mount Carmel in the North. And this, as soon as God had spoken. "He spake, and it was made." So now, contrariwise, He uttercth His Voice, and Carmel hath languished. Its glory hath passed away, as in the twinkling of an eye. God hath spoken the word, and it is gone.

What depended on God's gifts, abides; what depended on man, is gone. There remains a wild beauty still; but it is the beauty of natural luxuriance. "All," says one who explored its depths , "lies waste; all is a wilderness. The utmost fertility is here lost for man, useless to man. The vineyards of Carmel, where are they now? Behold the long rows of stones on the ground, the remains of the walls; they will tell you that here, where now with difficulty you force your way through the thick entangled copse, lay, in days of old, those incomparable vineyards to which Carmel owes its name."

The Scofield Bible Commentary, by Cyrus Ingerson Scofield, [1917]
roar "Roar," etc. Compare (Isa 42:13); (Jer 25:30-33); (Hos 11:10); (Hos 11:11); (Joe 3:16). It will be found that wherever the phrase occurs it is connected with the destruction of Gentile dominion (see "Times of the Gentiles," (Luk 21:24). (See Scofield) - (Rev 16:19) and the blessing of Israel in the kingdom. Without a doubt a near fulfilment upon Syria occurred (Kg2 14:28) but the expression, "the Lord will roar," looks forward to a vaster fulfilment. (See Scofield) - (Joe 1:4).

Explanatory Notes on the Whole Bible, by John Wesley [1754-65]
Will roar - Alluding to the roaring of an hungry lion for prey. Jerusalem - The city God had chosen where he dwelt, the seat of God's instituted worship, and the royal seat of the kingdom as God had settled it, from which in both respects the ten tribes had revolted. The habitations - Where the shepherds found pasturage they pitch their tents, and dwelt therein that they might attend their flocks. And this was the delight and wealth of these men; alluding to which Amos expresses the wealth and delight of the kingdom of Israel. Shall wither - Either blasted, or dried up with drought, and turned into barrenness. So the whole kingdom of the ten tribes, though as fruitful as Carmel should be made horrid and desolate as a wilderness.

Adam Clarke Commentary on the Whole Bible - Published 1810-1826
The Lord will roar from Zion - It is a pity that our translators had not followed the hemistich form of the Hebrew: - Jehovah from Zion shall roar, And from Jerusalem shall give forth his voice; And the pleasant dwellings of the shepherds shall mourn, And the top of mount Carmel shall wither. Carmel was a very fruitful mountain in the tribe of Judah, Jos 15:56; Isa 35:2. This introduction was natural in the mouth of a herdsman who was familiar with the roaring of lions, the bellowing of bulls, and the lowing of kine. The roaring of the lion in the forest is one of the most terrific sounds in nature; when near, it strikes terror into the heart of both man and beast.

Top

⁴ He rebuketh [01605] the sea [03220], and maketh it dry [02717], and drieth up [03001] all the rivers [05104]: Bashan [01316] languisheth [0535], and Carmel [03760], and the flower [06525] of Lebanon [03844] languisheth [0535].

¹⁹ And I will bring [07725] Israel [03478] again [07725] to his habitation [05116], and he shall feed [07462] on Carmel [03760] and Bashan [01316], and his soul [05315] shall be satisfied [07646] upon mount [02022] Ephraim [0669] and Gilead [01568].

² It shall blossom [06524] abundantly [06524], and rejoice [01523] even with joy [01525] and singing [07444]: the glory [03519] of Lebanon [03844] shall be given [05414] unto it, the excellency [01926] of Carmel [03760] and Sharon [08289], they shall see [07200] the glory [03519] of the LORD [03068], and the excellency [01926] of our God [0430].

⁹ The earth [0776] mourneth [056] and languisheth [0535]: Lebanon [03844] is ashamed [02659] and hewn down [07060]: Sharon [08289] is like a wilderness [06160]; and Bashan [01316] and Carmel [03760] shake off [05287] their fruits.

⁵ Thine head [07218] upon thee is like Carmel [03760], and the hair [01803] of thine head [07218] like purple [0713]; the king [04428] is held [0631] in the galleries [07298].

¹³ The LORD [03068] also thundered [07481] in the heavens [08064], and the Highest [05945] gave [05414] his voice [06963]; hail [01259] stones and coals [01513] of fire [0784].

¹⁶ The LORD [03068] also shall roar [07580] out of Zion [06726], and utter [05414] his voice [06963] from Jerusalem [03389]; and the heavens [08064] and the earth [0776] shall shake [07493]: but the LORD [03068] will be the hope [04268] of his people [05971], and the strength [04581] of the children [01121] of Israel [03478].

³¹ For [3754] if [1487] they do [4160] these things [5023] in [1722] a green [5200] tree [3586], what [5101] shall be done [1096] in [1722] the dry [3584]?

³ And many [07227] people [05971] shall go [01980] and say [0559], Come [03212] ye, and let us go up [05927] to the mountain [02022] of the LORD [03068], to the house [01004] of the God [0430] of Jacob [03290]; and he will teach [03384] us of his ways [01870], and we will walk [03212] in his paths [0734]: for out of Zion [06726] shall go forth [03318] the law [08451], and the word [01697] of the LORD [03068] from Jerusalem [03389].

⁹ Judah [03063] is a lion's [0738] whelp [01482]: from the prey [02964], my son [01121], thou art gone up [05927]: he stooped down [03766], he couched [07257] as a lion [0738], and as an old lion [03833]; who shall rouse him up [06965]?

⁴ That which the palmerworm [01501] hath left [03499] hath the locust [0697] eaten [0398]; and that which the locust [0697] hath left [03499] hath the cankerworm [03218] eaten [0398]; and that which the cankerworm [03218] hath left [03499] hath the caterpiller [02625] eaten [0398].

²⁸ Now the rest [03499] of the acts [01697] of Jeroboam [03379], and all that he did [06213], and his might [01369], how he warred [03898], and how he recovered [07725] Damascus [01834], and Hamath [02574], which belonged to Judah [03063], for Israel [03478], are they not written [03789] in the book [05612] of the chronicles [01697] [03117] of the kings [04428] of Israel [03478]?

¹⁹ And [2532] the great [3173] city [4172] was divided [1096] into [1519] three [5140] parts [3313], and [2532] the cities [4172] of the nations [1484] fell [4098]: and [2532] great [3173] Babylon [897] came in remembrance [3415] before [1799] God [2316], to give [1325] unto her [846] the cup [4221] of the wine [3631] of the fierceness [2372] of his [846] wrath [3709].

²⁴ And [2532] they shall fall [4098] by the edge [4750] of the sword [3162], and [2532] shall be led away captive [163] into [1519] all [3956] nations [1484]: and [2532] Jerusalem [2419] shall be [2071] trodden down [3961] of [5259] the Gentiles [1484], until [891] the times [2540] of the Gentiles [1484] be fulfilled [4137].

¹¹ They shall tremble [02729] as a bird [06833] out of Egypt [04714], and as a dove [03123] out of the land [0776] of Assyria [0804]: and I will place [03427] them in their houses [01004], saith [05002] the LORD [03068].

¹⁰ They shall walk [03212] after [0310] the LORD [03068]: he shall roar [07580] like a lion [0738]: when he shall roar [07580], then the children [01121] shall tremble [02729] from the west [03220].

³⁰ Therefore prophesy [05012] thou against them all these words [01697], and say [0559] unto them, The LORD [03068] shall roar [07580] from on high [04791], and utter [05414] his voice [06963] from his holy [06944] habitation [04583]; he shall mightily [07580] roar [07580] upon his habitation [05116]; he shall give [06030] a shout [01959], as they that tread [01869] the grapes, against all the inhabitants [03427] of the earth [0776].
³¹ A noise [07588] shall come [0935] even to the ends [07097] of the earth [0776]; for the LORD [03068] hath a controversy [07379] with the nations [01471], he will plead [08199] with all flesh [01320]; he will give [05414] them that are wicked [07563] to the sword [02719], saith [05002] the LORD [03068].
³² Thus saith [0559] the LORD [03068] of hosts [06635], Behold, evil [07451] shall go forth [03318] from nation [01471] to nation [01471], and a great [01419] whirlwind [05591] shall be raised up [05782] from the coasts [03411] of the earth [0776].
³³ And the slain [02491] of the LORD [03068] shall be at that day [03117] from one end [07097] of the earth [0776] even unto the other end [07097] of the earth [0776]: they shall not be lamented [05594], neither gathered [0622], nor buried [06912]; they shall be dung [01828] upon [06440] the ground [0127].

¹³ The LORD [03068] shall go forth [03318] as a mighty man [01368], he shall stir up [05782] jealousy [07068] like a man [0376] of war [04421]: he shall cry [07321], yea, roar [06873]; he shall prevail [01396] against his enemies [0341].

⁵⁶ And Jezreel [03157], and Jokdeam [03347], and Zanoah [02182],