Bible Strands
Amos 3:12
This is what the LORD says: “As the shepherd snatches from the mouth of the lion two legs or a piece of an ear, so the Israelites dwelling in Samaria will be rescued having just the corner of a bed or the cushion of a couch.
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — The Lord speaks through Amos to the house of Jacob, immediately after pronouncing an enemy siege that will tear down their strongholds and plunder their citadels.
The words — The Hebrew כֹּה֮ (koh) frames the oracle as “thus,” and יַצִּ֨יל (ya.Tzil) specifies the act of “delivering” or “snatching out” from danger.
The thread — The shepherd-lion motif parallels David’s account in 1 Samuel 17:34 and the Lord’s declaration in Isaiah 31:4, while the concept of a spared remnant corresponds to Romans 11:4.
Why it lands — The text states that Israel’s rescue will leave survivors identifiable only by fragments of bedding, requiring the reader to acknowledge that divine judgment will strip away all security while leaving only a minimal, unadorned remnant.
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
Thus saith the Lord; As the shepherd taketh out of the mouth of the lion two legs, or a piece of an ear; so shall the children of Israel be taken out that dwell in Samaria in the corner of a bed, and in Damascus in a couch.
Cross-references
- 1 Samuel 17:34 David replied, “Your servant has been tending his father’s sheep, and whenever a lion or a bear came and carried off a lamb from the flock,
- Romans 11:4 And what was the divine reply to him? “I have reserved for Myself seven thousand men who have not bowed the knee to Baal.”
- Isaiah 31:4 For this is what the LORD has said to me: “Like a lion roaring or a young lion over its prey—and though a band of shepherds is called out against it, it is not terrified by their shouting or subdued by their clamor—so the LORD of Hosts will come down to do battle on Mount Zion and its heights.
- 1 Kings 20:30 The rest of them fled into the city of Aphek, where the wall fell on twenty-seven thousand of the remaining men. Ben-hadad also fled to the city and hid in an inner room.
- 1 Kings 20:34 Ben-hadad said to him, “I will restore the cities my father took from your father; you may set up your own marketplaces in Damascus, as my father did in Samaria.” “By this treaty I release you,” Ahab replied. So he made a treaty with him and sent him away.
- 1 Kings 22:25 Micaiah replied, “You will soon see, on that day when you go and hide in an inner room.”
- 2 Kings 16:9 So the king of Assyria responded to him, marched up to Damascus, and captured it. He took its people to Kir as captives and put Rezin to death.
- Amos 9:2 Though they dig down to Sheol, from there My hand will take them; and though they climb up to heaven, from there I will pull them down.
- Isaiah 8:4 For before the boy knows how to cry ‘Father’ or ‘Mother,’ the wealth of Damascus and the plunder of Samaria will be carried off by the king of Assyria.”
- Isaiah 17:1 This is the burden against Damascus: “Behold, Damascus is no longer a city; it has become a heap of ruins.