Amos 5:26

You have taken along Sakkuth your king and Kaiwan your star god, the idols you made for yourselves.

Berean Standard Bible

Study note

Setting — The prophet Amos addresses the house of Israel immediately after questioning whether they brought sacrifices in the wilderness. He delivers this indictment just before pronouncing exile beyond Damascus as the LORD's judgment.

The words — The Hebrew verb נְשָׂאתֶם (neśātem) means "you will lift up" or "carry along," paired with the proper nouns סִכּוּת (Sikkuth), identified as "your king," and כִּיּוּן (Kiyyun), identified as "your star god." The text explicitly links these names to the צַלְמֵיכֶם (tzalmēkhem, "your images") that the people fashioned.

The thread — This pattern of foreign deity worship appears in Leviticus 20:2 regarding Molech, 1 Kings 11:33 listing Chemosh and Milcom, and 2 Kings 23:12 describing rooftop altars. The motif of carrying or lifting up idols recurs as a marker of covenant breach.

Why it lands — The text demands recognition that ritual observance cannot mask the substitution of self-made idols for the covenant God. It requires the reader to confront how cultural accommodation replaces exclusive devotion.

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

וּנְשָׂאתֶ֗םu./ne.sa.Temand/ you will lift up אֵ֚ת'et<obj.>סִכּ֣וּתsi.KutSikkuth מַלְכְּכֶ֔םmal.ke./Khemking/ your וְאֵ֖תve./'Etand/ <obj.>כִּיּ֣וּןki.YunKiyyun צַלְמֵיכֶ֑םtzal.mei./Khemimages/ your כּוֹכַב֙ko.Khav[the] star of אֱלֹ֣הֵיכֶ֔ם'e.Lo.hei./Khemgods/ your אֲשֶׁ֥ר'a.Sherwhich עֲשִׂיתֶ֖ם'a.si.Temyou madeלָכֶֽם׃la./Khemfor/ yourselves

King James Version

But ye have borne the tabernacle of your Moloch and Chiun your images, the star of your god, which ye made to yourselves.

Cross-references

Leviticus 20:2 “Tell the Israelites, ‘Any Israelite or foreigner living in Israel who gives any of his children to Molech must be put to death. The people of the land are to stone him.
2 Kings 23:12 He pulled down the altars that the kings of Judah had set up on the roof near the upper chamber of Ahaz, and the altars that Manasseh had set up in the two courtyards of the house of the LORD. The king pulverized them there and threw their dust into the Kidron Valley.
1 Kings 11:33 For they have forsaken Me to worship Ashtoreth the goddess of the Sidonians, Chemosh the god of the Moabites, and Milcom the god of the Ammonites. They have not walked in My ways, nor done what is right in My eyes, nor kept My statutes and judgments, as Solomon’s father David did.
Leviticus 18:21 You must not give any of your children to be sacrificed to Molech, for you must not profane the name of your God. I am the LORD.