New King James Version
Amos 6:12
12Do horses run on rocks? Does one plow there with oxen? Yet you have turned justice 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 Living Translation (NLT)Can horses gallop over boulders? Can oxen be used to plow them? But that’s how foolish you are when you turn justice into poison and the sweet fruit of righteousness into bitterness.
Context of Amos 6:12
10And when a relative of the dead, with one who will burn the bodies, picks up the bodies to take them out of the house, he will say to one inside the house, “Are there any more with you?” Then someone will say, “None.” And he will say, “Hold your tongue! For we dare not mention the name of the Lord.” 11For behold, the Lord gives a command: He will break the great house into bits, And the little house into pieces. 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, 13You who rejoice over Lo Debar, Who say, “Have we not taken Karnaim for ourselves By our own strength?” 14“But, behold, I will raise up a nation against you, O house of Israel,” Says the Lord God of hosts; “And they will afflict you from the entrance of Hamath To the Valley 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
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 48:4Because I knew that you were obstinate, And your neck was an iron sinew, And your brow bronze,
- Jeremiah 5:3O Lord, are not Your eyes on the truth? You have stricken them, But they have not grieved; You have consumed them, But they have refused to receive correction. They have made their faces harder than rock; They have refused to return.
- Jeremiah 6:29The bellows blow fiercely, The lead is consumed by the fire; The smelter refines in vain, For the wicked are not drawn off.
- Zechariah 7:11“But they refused to heed, shrugged their shoulders, and stopped their ears so that they could not hear.
- Amos 5:7You who turn justice to wormwood, And lay righteousness to rest in the earth!”
- 1 Kings 21:7Then Jezebel his wife said to him, “You now exercise authority over Israel! Arise, eat food, and let your heart be cheerful; I will give you the vineyard of Naboth the Jezreelite.”
- Psalms 94:20Shall the throne of iniquity, which devises evil by law, Have fellowship with You?
- Isaiah 59:13In transgressing and lying against the Lord, And departing from our God, Speaking oppression and revolt, Conceiving and uttering from the heart words of falsehood.
- Hosea 10:4They have spoken words, Swearing falsely in making a covenant. Thus judgment springs up like hemlock in the furrows of the field.
- Micah 7:3That they may successfully do evil with both hands— The prince asks for gifts, The judge seeks a bribe, And the great man utters his evil desire; So they scheme together.
- Habakkuk 1:3Why do You show me iniquity, And cause me to see trouble? For plundering and violence are before me; There is strife, and contention arises.
- Acts 7:51“You stiff-necked and uncircumcised in heart and ears! You always resist the Holy Spirit; as your fathers did, so do you.
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
New King James Version — © 1982 Thomas Nelson, Inc
Commentaries