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

17There will be loud crying in every vineyard, because I will pass through your land ⌞with death⌟. The Lord has said this. 18How horrible it will be for those who long for the day of the Lord! Why do you long for that day? The day of the Lord is one of darkness and not light. It is like a person who flees from a lion only to be attacked by a bear. It is like a person who goes home and puts his hand on the wall only to be bitten by a snake. 20The day of the Lord brings darkness and not light. It is pitch black, with no light. 21I hate your festivals; I despise them. I’m not pleased with your religious 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

Words taken from the KJV.

• As if a manאִישׁ'îysh · man: anyoneH376
• did fleeנוּסnûs · to fleeH5127
• fromפָּנֶהpânîym · face: beforeH6440
• a lionאֲרִי'ărîy 'aryêh · lionH738
• and a bearדֹּבdôb dôb · bearH1677
• metפָּגַעpâga‛ · to fall onH6293
• him; or wentבּוֹאbô' · to come (in): comeH935
• into the houseבַּ֫יִתbayith · house: homeH1004
• and leanedסָמַךְsâmak · to supportH5564
• his handיָדyâd · handH3027
• on the wallקִירqîyr qir qîyrâh · wallH7023
• and a serpentנָחָשׁnâchâsh · serpentH5175
• bitנָשַׁךְnâshak · to biteH5391

Cross-references for Amos 5:19

• Amos 9:1I saw the Lord standing by the altar, and he said: Strike the tops of the pillars so that the foundations shake. Cut off everyone’s head. I will kill with a sword all who are left. None of them will be able to get away. None of them will be able to escape.
• 1 Kings 20:29They camped facing one another for seven days, and on the seventh day the battle started. The Israelites killed 100,000 Aramean foot soldiers in one day.
• Job 20:24If that person flees from an iron weapon, a bronze bow will pierce him.
• Isaiah 24:17Disasters, pits, and traps are in store for those who live on earth.
• Jeremiah 15:2When they ask you where they should go, say to them, ‘This is what the Lord says: Those who are destined to die will die. Those who are destined to die in wars will die in wars. Those who are destined to die in famines will die in famines. Those who are destined to die in captivity will die in captivity.’
• Jeremiah 48:43Disasters, pits, and traps are in store for those who live in Moab,” declares the Lord.
• Acts 28:4When the people who lived on the island saw the snake hanging from his hand, they said to each other, “This man must be a murderer! He may have escaped from the sea, but justice won’t let him 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