Bible Strands
Amos 5:19
It will be like a man who flees from a lion, only to encounter a bear, or who enters his house and rests his hand against the wall, only to be bitten by a snake.
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — The prophet Amos addresses Israel concerning the "Day of the LORD," describing it as a time of unavoidable darkness rather than expected light.
The words — The text uses יָנ֥וּס (ya.Nus, "he flees") and הָ/אֲרִ֔י (ha./'a.Ri, "the lion") to depict a man escaping one danger only to immediately face another.
The thread — This pattern of inescapable peril runs through Isaiah 24:17 and Jeremiah 48:43, where terror, pit, and snare await the earth's inhabitants.
Why it lands — The passage states that human flight from divine judgment only leads to greater exposure, requiring the reader to abandon any expectation of safety on that day.
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
As if a man did flee from a lion, and a bear met him; or went into the house, and leaned his hand on the wall, and a serpent bit him.
Cross-references
- Isaiah 24:17 Terror and pit and snare await you, O dweller of the earth.
- Jeremiah 15:2 If they ask you, ‘Where shall we go?’ you are to tell them that this is what the LORD says: ‘Those destined for death, to death; those destined for the sword, to the sword; those destined for famine, to famine; and those destined for captivity, to captivity.’
- Jeremiah 48:43 Terror and pit and snare await you, O dweller of Moab,” declares the LORD.
- Job 20:24 Though he flees from an iron weapon, a bronze-tipped arrow will pierce him.
- Acts 28:4 When the islanders saw the creature hanging from his hand, they said to one another, “Surely this man is a murderer. Although he was saved from the sea, Justice has not allowed him to live.”
- 1 Kings 20:29 For seven days the armies camped opposite each other, and on the seventh day the battle ensued, and the Israelites struck down the Arameans—a hundred thousand foot soldiers in one day.
- Amos 9:1 I saw the Lord standing beside the altar, and He said: “Strike the tops of the pillars so that the thresholds shake. Topple them on the heads of all the people, and I will kill the rest with the sword. None of those who flee will get away; none of the fugitives will escape.