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Thursday, October 31st, 2024
the Week of Proper 25 / Ordinary 30
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J.B. Rotherham Emphasized Bible

Amos 6:12

Shall horses run upon crag? or will a man plough there with oxen? For ye have turned to poison the sentence of justice, and the fruit of righteousness, to wormwood:

Bible Study Resources

Concordances:

- Nave's Topical Bible - Hemlock;   Rulers;   Thompson Chain Reference - Gall;   Torrey's Topical Textbook - Ox, the;   Ploughing;   Rocks;  

Dictionaries:

- American Tract Society Bible Dictionary - Gall;   Hemlock;   Wormwood;   Baker Evangelical Dictionary of Biblical Theology - Amos, Theology of;   Easton Bible Dictionary - Hemlock;   Poison;   Wormwood;   Fausset Bible Dictionary - Amos;   Hemlock;   Poison;   Holman Bible Dictionary - Amos;   Gall;   Hemlock;   Poison;   Hastings' Dictionary of the Bible - Agriculture;   Rock;   Wormwood;   Hastings' Dictionary of the New Testament - Trial-At-Law;   Wisdom of Solomon;   Morrish Bible Dictionary - Amos ;   Gall;   Hemlock;   People's Dictionary of the Bible - Gall;   Wormwood;   Smith Bible Dictionary - Hemlock,;   Wilson's Dictionary of Bible Types - All;   Hemlock;   Plow (and forms);   Rock;   Watson's Biblical & Theological Dictionary - Gall;   Hemlock;   Wormwood;  

Encyclopedias:

- International Standard Bible Encyclopedia - Amos (1);   Calf, Golden;   Gall;   Judge;   Plow;   Text of the Old Testament;   Wormwood;   The Jewish Encyclopedia - Agriculture;   Simeon B. Ḥalafta;  

Parallel Translations

Easy-to-Read Version
Do horses run over loose rocks? No, and people don't use cows for plowing. But you turned everything upside down. You changed justice and goodness to bitter poison.
New American Standard Bible
Do horses run on rocks? Or does one plow them with oxen? Yet you have turned justice into poison, And the fruit of righteousness into wormwood,
New Century Version
Horses do not run on rocks, and people do not plow rocks with oxen. But you have changed fairness into poison; you have changed what is right into a bitter taste.
New English Translation
Can horses run on rocky cliffs? Can one plow the sea with oxen? Yet you have turned justice into a poisonous plant, and the fruit of righteous actions into a bitter plant.
Update Bible Version
Shall horses run on the rock? will one plow [there] with oxen? that you have turned justice into gall, and the fruit of righteousness into wormwood;
Webster's Bible Translation
Shall horses run upon the rock? will [one] plow [there] with oxen? for ye have turned judgment into gall, and the fruit of righteousness into hemlock:
Amplified Bible
Do horses run on rocks? Do men plow rocks with oxen? [Of course not!] Yet you have turned justice into poison And the fruit of righteousness into wormwood (bitterness),
English Standard Version
Do horses run on rocks? Does one plow there with oxen? But you have turned justice into poison and the fruit of righteousness into wormwood—
World English Bible
Do horses run on the rocky crags? Does one plow there with oxen? But you have turned justice into poison, And the fruit of righteousness into bitterness;
Wycliffe Bible (1395)
Whether horsis moun renne in stoonys, ether it mai be eerid with wielde oxun? For ye turneden doom in to bitternesse, and the fruyt of riytfulnesse in to wermod.
English Revised Version
Shall horses run upon the rock? will one plow there with oxen? that ye have turned judgment into gall, and the fruit of righteousness into wormwood:
Berean Standard Bible
"Do horses gallop on the cliffs? Does one plow the sea with oxen? But you have turned justice into poison and the fruit of righteousness into wormwood-
Contemporary English Version
Horses can't gallop on rocks; oceans can't be plowed. But you have turned justice and fairness into bitter poison.
American Standard Version
Shall horses run upon the rock? will one plow there with oxen? that ye have turned justice into gall, and the fruit of righteousness into wormwood;
Bible in Basic English
Is it possible for horses to go running on the rock? may the sea be ploughed with oxen? for the right to be turned by you into poison, and the fruit of righteousness into a bitter plant?
Complete Jewish Bible
Do horses run on rock? Does one plow there with oxen? Yet you have turned justice into poison and the fruit of righteousness into bitter wormwood.
Darby Translation
Shall horses run upon the rock? will [men] plough [thereon] with oxen? For ye have turned judgment into gall, and the fruit of righteousness into wormwood,
JPS Old Testament (1917)
Do horses run upon the rocks? Doth one plow there with oxen? that ye have turned justice into gall, and the fruit of righteousness into wormwood;
King James Version (1611)
Shall horses runne vpon the rocke? wil one plow there with oxen? for ye haue turned iudgement into gall, and the fruite of righteousnesse into hemlocke.
New Living Translation
Can horses gallop over boulders? Can oxen be used to plow them? But that's how foolish you are when you turn justice into poison and the sweet fruit of righteousness into bitterness.
New Life Bible
Do horses run on rocks? Does one plow them with oxen? Yet you have turned what is fair into poison. You have turned what is right and good into something bitter.
New Revised Standard
Do horses run on rocks? Does one plow the sea with oxen? But you have turned justice into poison and the fruit of righteousness into wormwood—
Geneva Bible (1587)
Shal horses runne vpon the rocke? or wil one plowe there with oxen? for yee haue turned iudgement into gall, and the fruite of righteousnes into wormewood.
George Lamsa Translation
Do horses run upon rocks? Or does one plough with horses? For you have turned justice into bitterness, and the fruit of righteousness into wormwood;
Douay-Rheims Bible
(6-13) Can horses run upon the rocks, or can any one plough with buffles? for you have turned judgment into bitterness, and the fruit of justice into wormwood.
Revised Standard Version
Do horses run upon rocks? Does one plow the sea with oxen? But you have turned justice into poison and the fruit of righteousness into wormwood--
Bishop's Bible (1568)
Shal horses run vpo the rocke? or wil one plowe there with oxen? for ye haue turned iudgement into gall, & the fruite of righteousnesse into wormewood.
Brenton's Septuagint (LXX)
For, behold, the Lord commands, and he will smite the great house with breaches, and the little house with rents.
Good News Translation
Do horses gallop on rocks? Does anyone plow the sea with oxen? Yet you have turned justice into poison, and right into wrong.
Christian Standard Bible®
Do horses gallop on the cliffs?Does anyone plow there with oxen?Yet you have turned justice into poisonand the fruit of righteousness into wormwood—
Hebrew Names Version
Do horses run on the rocky crags? Does one plow there with oxen? But you have turned justice into poison, And the fruit of righteousness into bitterness;
King James Version
Shall horses run upon the rock? will one plow there with oxen? for ye have turned judgment into gall, and the fruit of righteousness into hemlock:
Lexham English Bible
Do horses run on rocks, or does one plow the sea with oxen? But you have turned justice into poison and the fruit of righteousness into wormwood!
Literal Translation
Shall horses run on the rock? Or will one plow there with oxen? For you have turned justice into poison, and the fruit of righteousness into wormwood,
Young's Literal Translation
Do horses run on a rock? Doth one plough [it] with oxen? For ye have turned to gall judgment, And the fruit of righteousness to wormwood.
Miles Coverdale Bible (1535)
Who can runne with horses, or plowe wt oxen vpon the harde rockes off stone? For why, ye haue turned true iudgment in to bytternesse, and the frute of rightuousnesse in to wormwod:
THE MESSAGE
Do you hold a horse race in a field of rocks? Do you plow the sea with oxen? You'd cripple the horses and drown the oxen. And yet you've made a shambles of justice, a bloated corpse of righteousness, Bragging of your trivial pursuits, beating up on the weak and crowing, "Look what I've done!"
New King James Version
Do horses run on rocks? Does one plow there with oxen? Yet you have turned justice into gall, And the fruit of righteousness into wormwood,
New American Standard Bible (1995)
Do horses run on rocks? Or does one plow them with oxen? Yet you have turned justice into poison And the fruit of righteousness into wormwood,
Legacy Standard Bible
Do horses run on rocks?Or does one plow them with oxen?Yet you have overturned justice into gallAnd the fruit of righteousness into wormwood,

Contextual Overview

8 Sworn hath the Lord, Yahweh, by his own life, Declareth Yahweh, God of hosts, abhorring am I, the grandeur of Jacob, and, his palaces, I hate, - therefore will I cast off the city and the fulness thereof. 9 And it shall come to pass, though there be left remaining ten men in one house, yet shall they die; 10 And a man's near of kin, even he who is about to burn the bones, shall carry him out of the house, when he shall say to him that is in the hinder parts of the house - Are there yet any with thee? and he shall say - No one. Then shall he say - Hush! for we must not invoke the name of Yahweh. 11 For lo! Yahweh, is giving command, and will smite the great house into ruins, - and the little house with clefts. 12 Shall horses run upon crag? or will a man plough there with oxen? For ye have turned to poison the sentence of justice, and the fruit of righteousness, to wormwood: 13 Who rejoice in a thing of nought, - who say, Have we not by our own strength, taken to ourselves horns? 14 For behold me! raising up against you, O house of Israel, Declareth Yahweh, the God of hosts - a nation! And they shall crush you, from the entering in of Hamath, unto the torrent-bed of the waste plain.

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

horses: Isaiah 48:4, Jeremiah 5:3, Jeremiah 6:29, Jeremiah 6:30, Zechariah 7:11, Zechariah 7:12

for: Amos 5:7, Amos 5:11, Amos 5:12, 1 Kings 21:7-13, Psalms 94:20, Psalms 94:21, Isaiah 59:13, Isaiah 59:14, Hosea 10:4, Hosea 10:13, Micah 7:3, Habakkuk 1:3, Habakkuk 1:4, Acts 7:51, Acts 7:52

Reciprocal: Deuteronomy 29:18 - among you a root Esther 5:9 - joyful Proverbs 16:10 - transgresseth Proverbs 17:15 - that justifieth Ecclesiastes 5:8 - regardeth Amos 5:15 - establish Amos 6:3 - and cause Matthew 13:5 - General Mark 4:5 - General Luke 8:6 - General John 8:15 - judge Acts 24:25 - righteousness Revelation 8:11 - Wormwood

Cross-References

Genesis 6:1
And it came to pass when men had begun to multiply on the face of the ground and daughters had been born to them,
Genesis 6:2
that the sons of God saw the daughters of men! that they were, fair, - so they took to themselves wives of whomsoever they chose,
Genesis 6:3
And Yahweh said - My spirit shall not rule in man to times age - abiding, for that, he also, is flesh, - Yet his days shall be a hundred and twenty years.
Genesis 6:4
The giants, were in the each in these days, and also, after that, when the sons of God began to go in unto the daughters of men, and sons were born to them, the same, were the heroes that were from age-past times the men of renown.
Genesis 6:5
Then Yahweh saw that great, was the wickedness of man in the earth, and that, every purpose of the devices of his heart, was only wicked all the day;
Genesis 6:8
But, Noah, had found favour in the eyes, of Yahweh.
Genesis 6:13
So God said unto Noah: the end of all flesh, hath come in before me, for, filled, is the earth with violence, because of them, - behold me, then, destroying them with the earth.
Genesis 6:14
Make for thee an ark of timbers of gopher, Grooms, shalt thou make with the ark, - and - thou shalt cover it within and without with pitch.
Genesis 6:15
And, this, is how thou shalt make it, - three hundred cubits, the length of the ark, fifty cubits, the breadth thereof, and thirty cubits the height thereof.
Genesis 6:16
A place for light, shalt thou make to the ark and to a cubit, shalt thou finish it upwards, and the opening of the ark - in the side thereof, shalt thou put, - with lower, second and third stories, shalt thou make it.

Gill's Notes on the Bible

Shall horses run upon the rocks? or will [one] plough [there] with oxen?.... Will any man be so weak and foolish, to propose or attempt a race for horses upon rocks, where they and their riders would be in danger of breaking their necks? or would any man act so unwise a part, as to take a yoke of oxen to plough with them upon a rock, where no impression can be made? as vain and fruitless a thing it would be to attempt to bring such persons under a conviction of their sins, and to repentance for them, and reformation from them, who are given up to a judicial hardness of heart, like that of a rock, as are the persons described in the next clause; or as such methods with horses and oxen would be contrary to all the rules of reason and prudence, so as contrary a part do such persons act whose characters are next given, and there is no probability of bringing them to better sense and practice of things;

for ye have turned judgment into gall, and the fruit of righteousness into hemlock; that which would be beneficial to a nation, than which nothing is more so, as the exercise of justice, and judgment, into that which is bitter and pernicious to it, as injustice and oppression; see Amos 5:7.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

The two images both represent a toil, which people would condemn as absurd, destructive, as well as fruitless. The horse’s hoofs or his limbs would be broken; the plowing-gear would be destroyed. The prophet gains the attention by the question. What then? they ask. The answer is implied by the for, which follows. Ye are they, who are so doing. As absurd is it to seek gain from injustice and oppression, to which God had annexed loss and woe, temporal and eternal. More easy to change the course of nature or the use of things of nature, than the course of God’s Providence or the laws of His just retribution. They had changed the sweet laws of “justice” and equity “into” the “gall” of oppression, and the healthful “fruit of righteousness,” whereof they had received the seed from God, into the life-destroying poison of sin. Better to have “plowed” the rock “with oxen” for food! For now, where they looked for prosperity, they found not barrenness, but death.

Others understand the question as the taunt of unbelievers, trusting in the strength of Samaria, that when horses should run on their rocky eminence, or the oxen plow there, then might an enemy look for gain from investing the hill of Samaria. “Shall things which are against nature be done?” “Yes,” the prophet then would answer, “for ye have done against nature yourselves. Ye, have “changed justice,” the solace of the oppressed, “into wormwood,” the bitterness of oppression. Well may what ye think above the laws of physical nature be done, when ye have violated the laws of moral nature. Well may the less thing be done, your destruction, secure as by nature ye seem, when ye have done the greater, violating the laws of the God of nature.” Amos, however, when he refers to the sayings of the unbelievers, distinguishes them from his own.

Clarke's Notes on the Bible

Verse Amos 6:12. Shall horses run upon the rock — First, they could not do it, because they were unshod; for the shoeing of horses with iron was not then known. Secondly, If they did run on the rock, it would be useless to their owner, and hurtful to themselves. Thirdly, And it would be as useless to plough on the rock with oxen; for there it would be impossible to sow with any advantage. Fourthly, Just as useless and injurious would it be to put gall in the place of judgment, and hemlock in the place of righteousness. You have not only been labouring in vain for yourselves, but you have also been oppressive to others; and for both ye shall suffer.


 
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