EasyEnglish Bible 2018
Amos 7:14
14Then Amos answered Amaziah, ‘My job was not as a prophet. My father never did that work. My job was to work as a shepherd. I also took care of fig trees.
Amos 7:14 in other versions
- King James Version (KJV)Then answered Amos, and said to Amaziah, I was no prophet, neither was I a prophet’s son; but I was an herdman, and a gatherer of sycomore fruit:
- New International Version (NIV)Amos answered Amaziah, “I was neither a prophet nor the son of a prophet, but I was a shepherd, and I also took care of sycamore-fig trees.
- English Standard Version (ESV)Then Amos answered and said to Amaziah, "I was no prophet, nor a prophet's son, but I was a herdsman and a dresser of sycamore figs.
- New King James Version (NKJV)Then Amos answered, and said to Amaziah: “I was no prophet, Nor was I a son of a prophet, But I was a sheepbreeder And a tender of sycamore fruit.
Context of Amos 7:14
12Then Amaziah said to Amos, ‘Go away, you prophet! Go back to your own country, Judah. Speak your messages from God to get your food there! 13Do not speak God's message here in Bethel any longer. It is where our king and our nation come to worship.’ Then Amos answered Amaziah, ‘My job was not as a prophet. My father never did that work. My job was to work as a shepherd. I also took care of fig trees. 15But the Lord told me to leave my work as a shepherd. He told me to go and to speak his message to his people, the Israelites. 16So listen to the Lord's message to you! You are telling me, “Do not speak God's message against Israel. Do not say that trouble is coming to Isaac's descendants.”
Read all of Amos 7Amos 7:14 word by word
וַיַּ֤עַן עָמוֹס֙ וַיֹּ֣אמֶר אֶל־אֲמַצְיָ֔ה לֹא־נָבִ֣יא אָנֹ֔כִי וְלֹ֥א בֶן־נָבִ֖יא אָנֹ֑כִי כִּֽי־בוֹקֵ֥ר אָנֹ֖כִי וּבוֹלֵ֥ס שִׁקְמִֽים׃Read the interlinear
Words taken from the KJV.
- Then answeredעָנָה‛ânâh · to answerH6030
- Amosעָמוֹס‛âmôs · AmosH5986
- and saidאָמַר'âmar · to sayH559
- to Amaziahאֲמַצְיָ֫הוּ'ămatsyâh 'ămatsyâhû · AmaziahH558
- no prophetנָבִיאnâbîy' · prophetH5030
- sonבֵּןbên · son: childH1121
- an herdmanבּוֹקֵרbôqêr · herdsmanH951
- and a gathererבָּלַסbâlas · to gather/tend figsH1103
- of sycomore fruitשִׁקְמָהshâqâm shiqmâh · sycamoreH8256
Cross-references for Amos 7:14
- 1 Kings 20:35At this time, the Lord gave a message to a prophet who belonged to a group of prophets. He told the prophet to say to one of his friends, ‘Hit me with your stick.’ But his friend refused to do it.
- 2 Kings 2:3A group of prophets lived in Bethel. They came out to Elisha and they asked him, ‘Do you know that the Lord will take your master away from you today?’ Elisha replied, ‘Yes, I do know that, but do not talk about it now.’
- 2 Kings 4:38After that, Elisha went back to Gilgal. There was a famine in that region. The group of prophets came to meet with Elisha. He said to his servant, ‘Put the large pot over the fire. Cook some soup for the prophets.’
- 2 Kings 6:1One day, the group of prophets said to Elisha, ‘The place where we meet with you is too small for us.
- 2 Chronicles 16:7At that time, the prophet Hanani went to visit Asa, king of Judah. He said to him, ‘You asked the king of Syria to help you. You should have trusted the Lord your God to help you instead. Because of that, the army of Syria's king has escaped from your power.
- 2 Chronicles 19:2The prophet Jehu, Hanani's son, went to meet him. He said to King Jehoshaphat, ‘You agreed to help a wicked man. You became the friend of someone who hates the Lord. You should not have done that. You have caused the Lord to be very angry with you.
- 2 Chronicles 20:34The other things that happened while Jehoshaphat was king are written in a book. Hanani's son Jehu recorded all of them in his book, which is part of ‘The history of Israel's kings’.
- Amos 1:1Amos was one of the shepherds who lived in the town of Tekoa. God spoke to him. He showed Amos the things that would happen to the people of Israel. God did that two years before the earthquake came. It was during the time that Uzziah was the king of Judah, and Joash's son, Jeroboam, was the king of Israel. This book tells about the message that Amos received from God.
- Zechariah 13:5He will say, “I am not a prophet. I am a farmer. From the time that I was a boy, I have worked on the land.”
- 1 Corinthians 1:27Instead, God chose to use things that people think are silly. He did this so that clever people would be ashamed. Yes, God chose to use things that people think are weak. He did this so that powerful people would be ashamed.
Commentaries on Amos 7:14
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 14I was no prophet - I am an extraordinary messenger of God. I am not called to the prophetic office but for this occasion. I have no message to Judah, and therefore need not go there. I have a message to Israel alone, and I must faithfully deliver it. For the account which Amos gives here of himself, see the introduction.Read the comment
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 14I was no prophet - The order of the words is emphatic. “No prophet I, and no prophet‘s son I, for a herdsman I, and dresser of sycamores.” It may be, Amos would meet, for the people‘s sake, Amaziah‘s taunt. He had a living, simple indeed, yet that of the prophets was as simple. But chiefly he tells them of the unusual character of his mission. He did not belong to the order of the prophets, nor had he been educated in the schools of the prophets, nor had…Read the comment
- Matthew Henry Concise Commentary · v. 10-17Verses 10-17 It is no new thing for the accusers of the brethren, to misrepresent them as enemies to the king and kingdom, as traitors to their prince, and troublers of the land, when they are the best friends to both. Those who make gain their godliness, and are governed by the hopes of wealth and preferment, are ready to think these the most powerful motives with others also. But those who have a warrant from God, like Amos, ought not to fear the face…Read the comment
- Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 14Amos was not a professional prophet or a disciple in training. He had no financial reason to leave his job to prophesy. herdsman: The Hebrew word here differs from the one in Amos 1:1 and is not found elsewhere in the Old Testament. It relates to a word for cattle, suggesting Amos may have raised cattle as a breeder or herder (see Amos Book Introduction, “The Prophet Amos”). The sycamore-fig was gathered for cattle feed.Read the comment
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 1414. I was no prophet--in answer to Amaziah's insinuation (Am 7:12), that he discharged the prophetical office to earn his "bread" (like Israel's mercenary prophets). So far from being rewarded, Jehovah's prophets had to expect imprisonment and even death as the result of their prophesying in Samaria or Israel: whereas the prophets of Baal were maintained at the king's expense (compare 1Ki 18:19). I was not, says Amos, of the order of prophets, or educated…Read the comment
Topics related to Amos 7:14
In the dictionaries
Commentaries on Amos 7
- 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
EasyEnglish Bible 2018 — Copyright © MissionAssist 2018
Commentaries