Bible Strands
Amos 3:15
I will tear down the winter house along with the summer house; the houses of ivory will also perish, and the great houses will come to an end,” declares the LORD.
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — The LORD speaks through Amos to Israel immediately after pronouncing destruction on the alters of Bethel. This declaration targets the nation's elite residences as part of a coordinated national judgment.
The words — The Hebrew verb וְ/הִכֵּיתִי (ve./hi.kei.Ti) literally means "and I will strike," paired with בֵית\־ הַ/חֹ֖רֶף (beit-/ha./Cho.ref) for "the winter house." These terms specify the deliberate dismantling of the wealthy's seasonal estates.
The thread — This pattern of dismantling luxury homes appears in Amos 6:11, which promises the smashing of the great house, while 1 Kings 22:39 and Jeremiah 36:22 document the historical and seasonal use of such elite residences. The texts link architectural opulence to impending divine judgment across the prophetic and historical records.
Why it lands — The text demands recognition that wealth and architectural privilege offer no protection from the announced punishment. It requires the reader to accept that social status and seasonal comfort are irrelevant to the certainty of the declared destruction.
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 smite the winter house with the summer house; and the houses of ivory shall perish, and the great houses shall have an end, saith the Lord.
Cross-references
- 1 Kings 22:39 As for the rest of the acts of Ahab, along with all his accomplishments and the ivory palace and all the cities he built, are they not written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Israel?
- Jeremiah 36:22 Since it was the ninth month, the king was sitting in his winter quarters with a fire burning before him.
- Amos 6:11 For the LORD gives a command: “The great house will be smashed to pieces, and the small house to rubble.”
- Judges 3:20 Then Ehud approached him while he was sitting alone in the coolness of his upper room. “I have a word from God for you,” Ehud said, and the king rose from his seat.
- Isaiah 5:9 I heard the LORD of Hosts declare: “Surely many houses will become desolate, great mansions left unoccupied.
- Psalms 45:8 All your garments are fragrant with myrrh and aloes and cassia; from palaces of ivory the harps make you glad.
- Amos 3:11 Therefore this is what the Lord GOD says: “An enemy will surround the land; he will pull down your strongholds and plunder your citadels.”