Bible Strands
Amos 1:8
I will cut off the ruler of Ashdod and the one who wields the scepter in Ashkelon. I will turn My hand against Ekron, and the remnant of the Philistines will perish,” says the Lord GOD.
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — The prophet Amos delivers a divine oracle of judgment against the Philistine city-states, positioned between the pronouncement against Gaza and the warning to Tyre. God speaks as the executing judge, targeting the political and military leadership of Ashdod, Ashkelon, Ekron, and the surviving Philistines.
The words — The text specifies יוֹשֵׁב (yo.Shev, "inhabitant[s]") and שֵׁ֖בֶט (She.vet, "a scepter") to identify the human authorities under sentence. It pairs the verb הִכְרַתִּי (hikh.ra.Ti, "I will cut off") with the declaration that God will turn His hand against Ekron and eliminate the Philistine remnant.
The thread — This judgment motif appears in Ezekiel 25:16, where God declares He will stretch out His hand against the Philistines and cut them off. It resonates with Isaiah 14:29, which warns the Philistines not to rejoice over a broken rod, and Jeremiah 47:4, which announces the coming day to destroy the Philistines and cut off their remaining allies from Tyre and Sidon.
Why it lands — The verse demands recognition that divine judgment targets established political structures and military power, not merely peripheral populations. It requires the reader to accept that human sovereignty is subject to immediate execution when it operates in defiance of covenant order.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Hebrew words
King James Version
And I will cut off the inhabitant from Ashdod, and him that holdeth the sceptre from Ashkelon, and I will turn mine hand against Ekron: and the remnant of the Philistines shall perish, saith the Lord God.
Cross-references
- Ezekiel 25:16 therefore this is what the Lord GOD says: Behold, I will stretch out My hand against the Philistines, and I will cut off the Cherethites and destroy the remnant along the coast.
- Isaiah 14:29 Do not rejoice, all you Philistines, that the rod that struck you is broken. For a viper will spring from the root of the snake, and a flying serpent from its egg.
- Jeremiah 47:4 For the day has come to destroy all the Philistines, to cut off from Tyre and Sidon every remaining ally. Indeed, the LORD is about to destroy the Philistines, the remnant from the coasts of Caphtor.
- Zephaniah 2:4 For Gaza will be abandoned, and Ashkelon left in ruins. Ashdod will be driven out at noon, and Ekron will be uprooted.
- 2 Chronicles 26:6 Uzziah went out to wage war against the Philistines, and he tore down the walls of Gath, Jabneh, and Ashdod. Then he built cities near Ashdod and among the Philistines.
- Psalms 81:14 how soon I would subdue their enemies and turn My hand against their foes!
- Isaiah 20:1 Before the year that the chief commander, sent by Sargon king of Assyria, came to Ashdod and attacked and captured it,
- Zechariah 9:6 A mixed race will occupy Ashdod, and I will cut off the pride of the Philistines.
- Isaiah 1:25 I will turn My hand against you; I will thoroughly purge your dross; I will remove all your impurities.
- Amos 3:9 Proclaim to the citadels of Ashdod and to the citadels of Egypt: “Assemble on the mountains of Samaria; see the great unrest in the city and the acts of oppression in her midst.”