New English Translation
Amos 6:11
11Indeed, look! The Lord is giving the command. He will smash the large house to bits, and the small house into little pieces.
Amos 6:11 in other versions
- King James Version (KJV)For, behold, the Lord commandeth, and he will smite the great house with breaches, and the little house with clefts.
- New International Version (NIV)For the Lord has given the command, and he will smash the great house into pieces and the small house into bits.
- English Standard Version (ESV)For behold, the Lord commands, and the great house shall be struck down into fragments, and the little house into bits.
- New King James Version (NKJV)For behold, the Lord gives a command: He will break the great house into bits, And the little house into pieces.
Context of Amos 6:11
9If ten men are left in one house, they too will die. 10When their close relatives, the ones who will burn the corpses, pick up their bodies to remove the bones from the house, they will say to anyone who is in the inner rooms of the house, “Is anyone else with you?” He will respond, “Be quiet! Don’t invoke the Lord’s name!” Indeed, look! The Lord is giving the command. He will smash the large house to bits, and the small house into little pieces. 12Can horses run on rocky cliffs? Can one plow the sea with oxen? Yet you have turned justice into a poisonous plant, and the fruit of righteous actions into a bitter plant. 13You are happy because you conquered Lo-Debar. You say, “Did we not conquer Karnaim by our own power?”
Read all of Amos 6Amos 6:11 word by word
כִּֽי־הִנֵּ֤ה יְהוָה֙ מְצַוֶּ֔ה וְהִכָּ֛ה הַבַּ֥יִת הַגָּד֖וֹל רְסִיסִ֑ים וְהַבַּ֥יִת הַקָּטֹ֖ן בְּקִעִֽים׃Read the interlinear
Words taken from the KJV.
- For, behold, the Lordיְהֹוָהyehôvâh · LORDH3068
- commandethצָוָהtsâvâh · to commandH6680
- and he will smiteנָכָהnâkâh · to smiteH5221
- the greatגָּדוֹלgâdôl gâdôl · great: largeH1419
- houseבַּ֫יִתbayith · house: homeH1004
- with breachesרָסִיסrâsîys · fragmentH7447
- and the littleקָטֹןqâţân qâţôn · smallH6996
- with cleftsבְּקִיעַbeqîya‛ · breachH1233
Cross-references for Amos 6:11
- Amos 3:6If an alarm sounds in a city, do people not fear? If disaster overtakes a city, is the Lord not responsible?
- Amos 9:1I saw the sovereign One standing by the altar and he said, “Strike the tops of the support pillars, so the thresholds shake! Knock them down on the heads of all the people, and I will kill the survivors with the sword. No one will be able to run away; no one will be able to escape.
- Psalms 105:16He called down a famine upon the earth; he cut off all the food supply.
- Isaiah 10:5Assyria, the club I use to vent my anger, is as good as dead, a cudgel with which I angrily punish.
- Isaiah 13:3I have given orders to my chosen soldiers; I have summoned the warriors through whom I will vent my anger, my boasting, arrogant ones.
- Isaiah 46:10who announces the end from the beginning and reveals beforehand what has not yet occurred, who says, ‘My plan will be realized, I will accomplish what I desire,’
- Isaiah 55:11In the same way, the promise that I make does not return to me, having accomplished nothing. No, it is realized as I desire and is fulfilled as I intend.”
- Ezekiel 29:18“Son of man, King Nebuchadrezzar of Babylon made his army labor hard against Tyre. Every head was rubbed bald and every shoulder rubbed bare; yet he and his army received no wages from Tyre for the work he carried out against it.
- Nahum 1:14The Lord has issued a decree against you: “Your dynasty will come to an end. I will destroy the idols and images in the temples of your gods. I will desecrate your grave – because you are accursed!”
- Amos 6:8The sovereign Lord confirms this oath by his very own life. The Lord, the God who commands armies, is speaking: “I despise Jacob’s arrogance; I hate their fortresses. I will hand over to their enemies the city of Samaria and everything in it.”
- Amos 3:15I will destroy both the winter and summer houses. The houses filled with ivory will be ruined, the great houses will be swept away.” The Lord is speaking!
- 2 Kings 25:9He burned down the Lord’s temple, the royal palace, and all the houses in Jerusalem, including every large house.
- Hosea 13:16(14:1) Samaria will be held guilty, because she rebelled against her God. They will fall by the sword, their infants will be dashed to the ground – their pregnant women will be ripped open.
- Zechariah 14:2For I will gather all the nations against Jerusalem to wage war; the city will be taken, its houses plundered, and the women raped. Then half of the city will go into exile, but the remainder of the people will not be taken away.
- Luke 19:44They will demolish you – you and your children within your walls – and they will not leave within you one stone on top of another, because you did not recognize the time of your visitation from God.”
- Ecclesiastes 10:18Because of laziness the roof caves in, and because of idle hands the house leaks.
Commentaries on Amos 6:11
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 11He will smote the great house with breaches - The great and small shall equally suffer; no distinction shall be made; rich and poor shall fall together; death has received his commission, and he will spare none. Horace has a sentiment precisely like this, Carm. Lib. i., Od. iv., 5:13. Pallida mors aequo pulsat pede pauperum Tabernas, Regumque Turres. With equal pace impartial fate Knocks at the palace as the cottage gate. But this may refer particularly…Read the comment
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 11The Lord commandeth and He will smite - Jerome: “If He commandeth, how doth He smite? If He smiteth, how doth He command? In that thing which He “commands” and enjoins His ministers, He Himself is seen to “smite.” In Egypt the Lord declares that He killed the first-born, who, we read, were slain by “the destroyer” Exodus 12:23. The “breaches” denote probably the larger, “the cleft” the smaller ruin. The greater pile was the more greatly destroyed.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. 1-14The 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. 1111. commandeth, and he will smite--His word of command, when once given, cannot but be fulfilled (Is 55:11). His mere word is enough to smite with destruction. great house ... little house--He will spare none, great or small (Am 3:15). Jerome interprets "the great house" as Israel, and "the small house" as Judah: the former being reduced to branches or ruins, literally, "small drops"; the latter, though injured with "clefts" or rents, which threaten its…Read the comment
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
New English Translation — © 1996-2016 Biblical Studies Press, L.L.C.
Commentaries