Amos 5:19

Amos 5:19 in other versions

• King James Version (KJV)As if a man did flee from a lion, and a bear met him; or went into the house, and leaned his hand on the wall, and a serpent bit him.
• New International Version (NIV)It will be as though a man fled from a lion only to meet a bear, as though he entered his house and rested his hand on the wall only to have a snake bite him.
• English Standard Version (ESV)as if a man fled from a lion, and a bear met him, or went into the house and leaned his hand against the wall, and a serpent bit him.
• New King James Version (NKJV)It will be as though a man fled from a lion, And a bear met him! Or as though he went into the house, Leaned his hand on the wall, And a serpent bit him!

Context of Amos 5:19

17And in all vineyards shall be wailing; for I will pass through the midst of thee, saith Jehovah. 18Woe unto you that desire the day of Jehovah! To what end is the day of Jehovah for you? It shall be darkness and not light: as if a man fled from a lion, and a bear met him; or went into the house and leaned his hand on the wall, and a serpent bit him. 20Shall not the day of Jehovah be darkness, and not light? even very dark, and no brightness in it? 21I hate, I despise your feasts, and I will not smell [a sweet odour] in your solemn assemblies.

Amos 5:19 word by word

כַּאֲשֶׁ֨ר יָנ֥וּס אִישׁ֙ מִפְּנֵ֣י הָאֲרִ֔י וּפְגָע֖וֹ הַדֹּ֑ב וּבָ֣א הַבַּ֔יִת וְסָמַ֤ךְ יָדוֹ֙ עַל־הַקִּ֔יר וּנְשָׁכ֖וֹ הַנָּחָֽשׁ׃Read the interlinear

• manאִישׁ'îysh · manH376
• fledנוּסnûs · to fleeH5127
• lionאֲרִי'ărîy 'aryêh · lionH738
• bearדֹּבdôb dôb · bearH1677
• metפָּגַעpâga‛ · to fall onH6293
• wentבּוֹאbô' · to come (in): comeH935
• houseבַּ֫יִתbayith · house: homeH1004
• leanedסָמַךְsâmak · to supportH5564
• handיָדyâd · handH3027
• wallקִירqîyr qir qîyrâh · wallH7023

Cross-references for Amos 5:19

• Amos 9:1I saw the Lord standing upon the altar; and he said, Smite the chapiter that the thresholds may shake; and break all of them in pieces, in the head; and I will slay the last of them with the sword: he that fleeth of them shall not get away by flight, and he that escapeth of them shall not be delivered.
• 1 Kings 20:29And they encamped one over against the other seven days; and it came to pass that on the seventh day the battle was joined; and the children of Israel smote of the Syrians a hundred thousand footmen in one day.
• Job 20:24If he have fled from the iron weapon, the bow of brass shall strike him through.
• Isaiah 24:17Fear, and the pit, and the snare are upon thee, inhabitant of the land.
• Jeremiah 15:2And it shall come to pass, if they say unto thee, Whither shall we go forth? then thou shalt tell them, Thus saith Jehovah: Such as are for death, to death; and such as are for the sword, to the sword; and such as are for the famine, to the famine; and such as are for captivity, to captivity.
• Jeremiah 48:43Fear, and the pit, and the snare shall be upon thee, O inhabitant of Moab, saith Jehovah.
• Acts 28:4And when the barbarians saw the beast hanging from his hand, they said to one another, This man is certainly a murderer, whom, [though] saved out of the sea, Nemesis has not allowed to live.

Commentaries on Amos 5:19

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 19As if a man did flee from a lion, and a bear met him - They shall go from one evil to another. He who escapes from the lion's mouth shall fall into the bear's paws: - Incidit in Scyllam, cupiens vitare Charybdim. The Israelites, under their king Menahem, wishing to avoid a civil war, called in Pul, king of Assyria, to help them. This led to a series of evils inflicted by the Syrian and Assyrian kings, till at last Israel was ravaged by Shalmaneser, and…Read the comment
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 19As if a man, did flee from a lion - The Day of the Lord is a day of terror on every side. Before and behind, without and within, abroad under the roof of heaven, or under the shelter of his own, everywhere is terror and death. The Syrian bear is said to have been more fierce and savage than the lion. For its fierceness and voracity Daniel 7:5, God made it, in Daniel‘s vision, a symbol of the empire of the Medes. From both lion and bear there might be…Read the comment
• Matthew Henry Concise Commentary · v. 18-27Verses 18-27 Woe unto those that desire the day of the Lord's judgments, that wish for times of war and confusion; as some who long for changes, hoping to rise upon the ruins of their country! but this should be so great a desolation, that nobody could gain by it. The day of the Lord will be a dark, dismal, gloomy day to all impenitent sinners. When God makes a day dark, all the world cannot make it light. Those who are not reformed by the judgments of…Read the comment
• Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 18-27The pronouncements of sorrow in this section develop two main themes: Israel’s apostasy (turning away from God) would make the day of the Lord a day of judgment, not salvation; and Judah’s spiritual complacency (feeling satisfied and unconcerned about faithfulness to God) would also bring judgment.Read the comment
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 1919. As if a man did flee ... a lion, and a bear met him--Trying to escape one calamity, he falls into another. This perhaps implies that in Am 5:18 their ironical desire for the day of the Lord was as if it would be an escape from existing calamities. The coming of the day of the Lord would be good news to us, if true: for we have served God (that is, the golden calves). So do hypocrites flatter themselves as to death and judgment, as if these would be a…Read the comment

Topics related to Amos 5:19

• Judgments
• Wicked (People)

In the dictionaries

• Fence
• Manifold
• Seek
• Bear
• Joel (2)
• Serpent

Commentaries on Amos 5

• 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