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

10When a man comes to carry a dead body outside to burn it, he will ask his relative, ‘Is there anyone with you in the house?’ The relative will answer, ‘No.’ Then the man will say, ‘Be quiet!. Do not speak the name of the Lord!’ 11When the Lord gives his command, enemies will destroy all the houses, great and small. They will break them all into pieces. Horses cannot run on rocks. People do not try to plough the sea. But you Israelites have changed what is fair and honest into something bad. You have made justice seem like poison. 13You are proud because you won against Lo-Debar and Karnaim. You think that your own strength did that. 14But the Lord God Almighty says to you Israelites, ‘I am sending an enemy nation to attack you. They will bring trouble to you everywhere, all the way from Lebo-Hamath in the north, to the Arabah valley in the south.’

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 48:4I did it because I know what you are like. You refuse to obey me. You do not want to change the way that you live. Your neck is like iron and it will not bend! Your head is as hard as bronze!
• Jeremiah 5:3Lord, you want people to be honest and true. You have punished your people, but they did not feel any pain. You nearly destroyed them, but they still refuse to change. Their minds have become as hard as rock. They refuse to turn back to you.
• Jeremiah 6:29A very hot fire can remove the dirt from silver and make it pure. I punish my people to make them pure, but it is useless. There are too many wicked people, so I cannot make them pure.
• Zechariah 7:11But the people would not listen and they turned away. They put their hands over their ears, because they did not want to hear.
• Amos 5:7You people change what is right and true to make lies. You are not fair or honest.
• 1 Kings 21:7Jezebel said, ‘You are the king who rules Israel! Now get up from your bed and eat something. Do not be upset! I will get Naboth's vineyard for you.’
• Psalms 94:20You will not become a friend of cruel rulers. They make laws that only hurt people.
• Isaiah 59:13We have turned against the Lord. We have refused to obey him. We have chosen to be cruel to other people, and we have turned against the truth. We think about the lies that we can tell, and we use them to deceive people.
• Hosea 10:4They promise to do many things, but they never do what they promise. They make useless agreements. So people accuse each other in the courts. They are like weeds that grow in a farmer's field.
• Micah 7:3They know very well how to work together to do bad things. Rulers demand gifts and judges ask for money. Powerful bad people always get what they want. All these people work together to do what is bad.
• Habakkuk 1:3You cause me to see many things that are not right. You do not punish people who are doing wrong things. Why do you let that happen? People do cruel things and there is violence everywhere. They argue and they fight and they quarrel.
• Acts 7:51Then Stephen said, ‘You people do not want to obey God! You do not want to listen to God's true message. You are the same as your ancestors. Like them, you always fight against what the Holy Spirit says.

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