Passage

Amos 7.6

Book: Amos · NASB95

Immediate context (±2 verses)

ASV

4. Thus the Lord Jehovah showed me: and, behold, the Lord Jehovah called to contend by fire; and it devoured the great deep, and would have eaten up the land. 5. Then said I, O Lord Jehovah, cease, I beseech thee: how shall Jacob stand? for he is small.

6. Jehovah repented concerning this: this also shall not be, saith the Lord Jehovah.

Thus he showed me: and, behold, the Lord stood beside a wall made by a plumb-line, with a plumb-line in his hand. 8. And Jehovah said unto me, Amos, what seest thou? And I said, A plumb-line. Then said the Lord, Behold, I will set a plumb-line in the midst of my people Israel; I will not again pass by them any more; (Amos 7:4-8, ASV)

WEB

4. Thus the Lord Yahweh showed me and behold, the Lord Yahweh called for judgment by fire; and it dried up the great deep, and would have devoured the land. 5. Then I said, “Lord Yahweh, stop, I beg you! How could Jacob stand? For he is small.”

6. Yahweh relented concerning this. “This also shall not be,” says the Lord Yahweh.

Thus he showed me and behold, the Lord stood beside a wall made by a plumb line, with a plumb line in his hand. 8. Yahweh said to me, “Amos, what do you see?” I said, “A plumb line.” Then the Lord said, “Behold, I will set a plumb line in the middle of my people Israel. I will not again pass by them any more. (Amos 7:4-8, WEB)

KJV

4. Thus hath the Lord GOD shewed unto me: and, behold, the Lord GOD called to contend by fire, and it devoured the great deep, and did eat up a part. 5. Then said I, O Lord GOD, cease, I beseech thee: by whom shall Jacob arise? for he is small. ^{by: or, who of (or, for,) Jacob shall stand?}

6. The LORD repented for this: This also shall not be, saith the Lord GOD.

Thus he shewed me: and, behold, the Lord stood upon a wall made by a plumbline, with a plumbline in his hand. 8. And the LORD said unto me, Amos, what seest thou? And I said, A plumbline. Then said the Lord, Behold, I will set a plumbline in the midst of my people Israel: I will not again pass by them any more: (Amos 7:4-8, KJV)

YLT

4. Thus hath the Lord Jehovah shewed me, and lo, the Lord Jehovah is calling to contend by fire, and it consumeth the great deep, yea, it hath consumed the portion, and I say: 5. 'Lord Jehovah, cease, I pray Thee, How doth Jacob arise, for he [is] small?'

6. Jehovah hath repented of this, 'It also shall not be,' said the Lord Jehovah.

Thus hath He shewed me, and lo, the Lord is standing by a wall [made according to] a plumb-line, and in His hand a plumb-line; 8. and Jehovah saith unto me, 'What art thou seeing, Amos?' And I say, 'A plumb-line;' and the Lord saith: 'Lo, I am setting a plumb-line in the midst of My people Israel, I do not add any more to pass over to it. (Amos 7:4-8, YLT)

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Setting

Speaker: Amos of Tekoa, a herdsman (noqed, sheep breeder) and tender of sycamore figs from Judah, speaking the word of the LORD.
Audience: The northern kingdom of Israel, addressed at the height of its prosperity under Jeroboam II. The second of five visions, reported in the first person.
Location: Delivered in the northern kingdom, principally at Bethel, the royal sanctuary and state temple (Amos 7:13).
Time period: c. 760-750 BC, in the reigns of Uzziah of Judah and Jeroboam II of Israel, "two years before the earthquake" (Amos 1:1). Amos is generally reckoned the earliest of the writing prophets.

Theological reading

The second vision, a consuming fire, closes exactly as the first did: the prophet pleads, and "the LORD relented concerning this. This too shall not be, said the Lord GOD."

The repetition is doing work. Amos gives the same plea, "cease, I beg You; how can Jacob stand? He is so small", and the same result, and then the pattern breaks. The third vision (Amos 7:7-9, the plumb line) contains no intercession, and the fourth and fifth (8:1-3; 9:1-4) announce an end. A reader who has watched two reversals is meant to feel the absence of the third.

Relenting is not reversal of character. The verb nacham (H5162 - nacham) is affective and volitional, not cognitive, and the reversal here is of an announced course rather than of a purpose. Jeremiah 18:7-10 states the underlying rule openly: announced judgment is conditional, and its being averted is the rule working rather than failing.

Intercession as an ordained means. The visions present Amos's plea as genuinely effective without presenting God as informed by it. This is the same shape as Moses at the golden calf, where the intercessor's argument appeals entirely to God's own prior commitments (Exodus 32:11-13), and it is the standard biblical picture of prayer inside providence. See Prayer and Divine Providence.

Key words

Theologically-loaded Greek or Hebrew words in this verse may have entries in the lexicon. Curated to roughly 100 contested terms across the corpus, not every word.

H5162 - nacham, nacham, Strong's H5162
H0136 - adonai, adonai, Strong's H0136
H3068 - YHWH, YHWH, Strong's H3068

Quoted in

Concepts:

God Is Surprised Objection

Lexicon:

H5162 - nacham

Passages:

Amos 7.3

Notes

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Why these four translations

ris3n chose ASV, WEB, KJV, and YLT for two reasons together. They are the most literal English translations available (formal-equivalence: word-for-word renderings that preserve the Hebrew and Greek grammar rather than smoothing it into modern dynamic-equivalence idiom). And they are in the public domain in the United States, which means fair-use quotation at any length requires no publisher license. Modern licensed translations (NASB95, ESV, NIV) restrict volume of quotation under their copyright terms, so they are not used at stub-level coverage here. NASB95 appears only on hand-curated rich passage hubs under Lockman Foundation's fair-use allowance.

The four:

ASV (American Standard Version, 1901). The basis of the modern critical-text English tradition.
WEB (World English Bible, contemporary). Public-domain revision in the ASV line, in current English.
KJV (King James Version, 1611). Reformation-era, Textus Receptus base.
YLT (Young's Literal Translation, Robert Young, 1862). Hyper-literal preservation of Hebrew and Greek grammar; useful for word-study work even where English reads stiff.

See Bibles for the full per-translation history, translators, textual basis, strengths, and weaknesses.