Darby Bible
Amos 6:12
12Shall 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,
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
10And a man's uncle, and he that should burn him, shall take him up to bring out the bones from the house, and shall say unto him that is in the inner parts of the house, Is there yet [any] with thee? and he shall say, None. And he will say, Silence! for we may not make mention of Jehovah's name. 11For behold, Jehovah commandeth, and he will smite the great house with breaches, and the little house with clefts. 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, 13— ye that rejoice in a thing of nought, that say, Have we not taken to us power by our own strength? 14For behold, O house of Israel, saith Jehovah the God of hosts, I will raise up against you a nation; and they shall afflict you from the entering in of Hamath unto the torrent of the Arabah.
Read all of Amos 6Amos 6:12 word by word
הַיְרֻצ֤וּן בַּסֶּ֙לַע֙ סוּסִ֔ים אִֽם־יַחֲר֖וֹשׁ בַּבְּקָרִ֑ים כִּֽי־הֲפַכְתֶּ֤ם לְרֹאשׁ֙ מִשְׁפָּ֔ט וּפְרִ֥י צְדָקָ֖ה לְלַעֲנָֽה׃Read the interlinear
- horsesסוּסsûs sûs · swallowH5483
- runרוּץrûts · to run: runH7323
- rockסֶ֫לַעsela‛ · rockH5553
- oxenבָּקָרbâqâr · cattleH1241
- turnedהָפַךְhâphak · to overturnH2015
- judgmentמִשְׁפָּטmishpâţ · justice: judgementH4941
- fruitפְּרִיperîy · fruitH6529
- righteousnessצְדָקָהtsedâqâh · righteousnessH6666
- wormwoodלַעֲנָהla‛ănâh · wormwoodH3939
Cross-references for Amos 6:12
- Isaiah 48:4Because I knew that thou art obstinate, and thy neck is an iron sinew, and thy brow brass,
- Jeremiah 5:3Jehovah, are not thine eyes upon fidelity? Thou hast smitten them, but they are not sore; thou hast consumed them, they have refused to receive correction: they have made their faces harder than a rock; they have refused to return.
- Jeremiah 6:29The bellows are burned, the lead is consumed by the fire; they have melted, and melted in vain; and the bad are not plucked away.
- Zechariah 7:11But they refused to hearken, and turned a rebellious shoulder, and made their ears heavy, that they should not hear.
- Amos 5:7Ye who turn judgment to wormwood, and cast down righteousness to the earth,
- 1 Kings 21:7And Jezebel his wife said to him, Dost thou now exercise sovereignty over Israel? arise, eat bread, and let thy heart be glad: I will give thee the vineyard of Naboth the Jizreelite.
- Psalms 94:20Shall the throne of wickedness be united to thee, which frameth mischief into a law?
- Isaiah 59:13in transgressing and lying against Jehovah, and departing away from our God, speaking oppression and revolt, conceiving and uttering from the heart words of falsehood.
- Hosea 10:4They speak [mere] words, swearing falsely in making a covenant; therefore shall judgment spring up as hemlock in the furrows of the fields.
- Micah 7:3Both hands are for evil, to do it well. The prince asketh, and the judge [is there] for a reward; and the great [man] uttereth his soul's greed: and [together] they combine it.
- Habakkuk 1:3Why dost thou cause me to see iniquity, and lookest thou upon grievance? For spoiling and violence are before me; and there is strife, and contention riseth up.
- Acts 7:51O stiffnecked and uncircumcised in heart and ears, ye do always resist the Holy Spirit; as your fathers, ye 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
In the dictionaries
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
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