Amos 6:12

Amos 6:12 in other versions

• King James Version (KJV)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:
• New International Version (NIV)Do horses run on the rocky crags? Does one plow the sea with oxen? But you have turned justice into poison and the fruit of righteousness into bitterness—
• English Standard Version (ESV)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—
• New King James Version (NKJV)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,

Context of Amos 6:12

10A close relative and burner will remove his corpse from the house. He will call to someone in the inner recesses of the house, “Any more with you?” That person will reply, “None.” Then he will say, “Silence, because the Lord’s name must not be invoked.” 11For the Lord commands: The large house will be smashed to pieces, and the small house to rubble. Do horses gallop on the cliffs? Does anyone plow there with oxen? Yet you have turned justice into poison and the fruit of righteousness into wormwood — 13you who rejoice over Lo-debar and say, “Didn’t we capture Karnaim for ourselves by our own strength?” 14But look, I am raising up a nation against you, house of Israel — this is the declaration of the Lord, the God of Armies — and they will oppress you from the entrance of Hamath to the Brook of the Arabah.

Amos 6:12 word by word

הַיְרֻצ֤וּן בַּסֶּ֙לַע֙ סוּסִ֔ים אִֽם־יַחֲר֖וֹשׁ בַּבְּקָרִ֑ים כִּֽי־הֲפַכְתֶּ֤ם לְרֹאשׁ֙ מִשְׁפָּ֔ט וּפְרִ֥י צְדָקָ֖ה לְלַעֲנָֽה׃Read the interlinear

Words taken from the KJV.

• Shall horsesסוּסsûs sûs · horseH5483
• runרוּץrûts · to run: runH7323
• upon the rockסֶ֫לַעsela‛ · cragH5553
• plowחָרַשׁchârash · to plow/plotH2790
• with oxenבָּקָרbâqâr · cattleH1241
• for ye have turnedהָפַךְhâphak · to overturnH2015
• judgmentמִשְׁפָּטmishpâţ · justiceH4941
• into gallרֹאשׁrô'sh rôsh · poisonH7219
• and the fruitפְּרִיperîy · fruitH6529
• of righteousnessצְדָקָהtsedâqâh · righteousnessH6666
• into hemlockלַעֲנָהla‛ănâh · wormwoodH3939

Cross-references for Amos 6:12

• Isaiah 48:4Because I know that you are stubborn, and your neck is iron and your forehead bronze,
• Jeremiah 5:3Lord, don’t your eyes look for faithfulness? You have struck them, but they felt no pain. You finished them off, but they refused to accept discipline. They made their faces harder than rock, and they refused to return.
• Jeremiah 6:29The bellows blow, blasting the lead with fire. The refining is completely in vain; the evil ones are not separated out.
• Zechariah 7:11But they refused to pay attention and turned a stubborn shoulder; they closed their ears so they could not hear.
• Amos 5:7Those who turn justice into wormwood also throw righteousness to the ground.
• 1 Kings 21:7Then his wife Jezebel said to him, “Now, exercise your royal power over Israel. Get up, eat some food, and be happy. For I will give you the vineyard of Naboth the Jezreelite.”
• Psalms 94:20Can a corrupt throne be your ally, a throne that makes evil laws?
• Isaiah 59:13transgression and deception against the Lord, turning away from following our God, speaking oppression and revolt, conceiving and uttering lying words from the heart.
• Hosea 10:4They speak mere words, taking false oaths while making covenants. So lawsuits break out like poisonous weeds in the furrows of a field.
• Micah 7:3Both hands are good at accomplishing evil: the official and the judge demand a bribe; when the powerful man communicates his evil desire, they plot it together.
• Habakkuk 1:3Why do you force me to look at injustice? Why do you tolerate wrongdoing? Oppression and violence are right in front of me. Strife is ongoing, and conflict escalates.
• Acts 7:51“You stiff-necked people with uncircumcised hearts and ears! You are always resisting the Holy Spirit. As your ancestors did, you do also.

Commentaries on Amos 6:12

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 12Shall 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…Read the comment
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 12The 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…Read the comment
• Matthew Henry Concise Commentary · v. 8-14Verses 8-14 How dreadful, how miserable, is the case of those whose eternal ruin the Lord himself has sworn; for he can execute his purpose, and none can alter it! Those hearts are wretchedly hardened that will not be brought to mention God's name, and to worship him, when the hand of God is gone out against them, when sickness and death are in their families. Those that will not be tilled as fields, shall be abandoned as rocks. When our services of God…Read the comment
• Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 12Running horses over cliffs is unwise because unshod horses can damage their hooves on rocks. Obviously, oxen cannot plow the sea either. A slight change in the Hebrew text asks Can oxen be used to plow them [as in cliffs], which is equally absurd. But you have turned: The comparisons highlight Israel's own absurdity in moral matters. justice into poison: The people twisted what is just and right, making it toxic and bitter (see also Amos 5:7).Read the comment
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 1212. In turning "judgment (justice) into gall (poison), and ... righteousness into hemlock" (or wormwood, bitter and noxious), ye act as perversely as if one were to make "horses run upon the rock" or to "plough with oxen there" [Maurer]. As horses and oxen are useless on a rock, so ye are incapable of fulfilling justice [Grotius]. Ye impede the course of God's benefits, because ye are as it were a hard rock on which His favor cannot run. "Those that will…Read the comment

Topics related to Amos 6:12

• Hemlock
• Rulers

In the dictionaries

• Banquet
• Chant
• Ease
• Hemlock
• Poison
• Wormwood
• Amos (1)
• Calf, Golden
• Gall
• Judge

Commentaries on Amos 6

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
• Matthew Henry Concise Commentary
• Tyndale Open Study Notes
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary
• Rashi on Tanakh
• Calvin’s Commentaries
• Keil & Delitzsch Commentary
• John Wesley’s Notes
• Darby Translation Notes
• Geneva Bible Translation Notes
• Kingcomments
• Matthew Henry’s Complete Commentary
• Matthew Henry’s Modern English Commentary
• Scofield Reference Notes, 1917 Edition
• Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary
• EGW Writings