Bible Strands
Amos 6:14
For behold, I will raise up a nation against you, O house of Israel,” declares the LORD, the God of Hosts, “and they will oppress you from Lebo-hamath to the Brook of the Arabah.”
Berean Standard Bible
Follow its threads on the canvas →
Study note
Setting — Yahweh, the God of Hosts, addresses the house of Israel immediately following their self-congratulatory boasting over territorial conquests.
The words — מֵקִים (me.Kim) literally means "[am] about to raise up," coupled with עֲלֵי/כֶ֜ם ('a.lei./Khem) meaning "on/you," structuring the declaration as an active divine mobilization against the nation.
The thread — The boundary "from Lebo-hamath to the Brook of the Arabah" mirrors the territorial language in 1 Kings 8:65 and 2 Kings 14:25, while the announcement of a raised nation aligns with the warning in Jeremiah 5:15.
Why it lands — The verse requires acknowledging that military success and geographic control cannot insulate a community from covenant consequences, as divine judgment will directly counter self-reliant pride.
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
But, behold, I will raise up against you a nation, O house of Israel, saith the Lord the God of hosts; and they shall afflict you from the entering in of Hemath unto the river of the wilderness.
Cross-references
- 1 Kings 8:65 So at that time Solomon and all Israel with him—a great assembly of people from Lebo-hamath to the Brook of Egypt—kept the feast before the LORD our God for seven days and seven more days—fourteen days in all.
- 2 Kings 14:25 This Jeroboam restored the boundary of Israel from Lebo-hamath to the Sea of the Arabah, according to the word that the LORD, the God of Israel, had spoken through His servant Jonah son of Amittai, the prophet from Gath-hepher.
- Jeremiah 5:15 Behold, I am bringing a distant nation against you, O house of Israel,” declares the LORD. “It is an established nation, an ancient nation, a nation whose language you do not know and whose speech you do not understand.
- Numbers 34:7 Your northern border will run from the Great Sea directly to Mount Hor,
- 2 Kings 15:29 In the days of Pekah king of Israel, Tiglath-pileser king of Assyria came and captured Ijon, Abel-beth-maacah, Janoah, Kedesh, Hazor, Gilead, and Galilee, including all the land of Naphtali, and he took the people as captives to Assyria.
- 2 Kings 17:6 In the ninth year of Hoshea, the king of Assyria captured Samaria and carried away the Israelites to Assyria, where he settled them in Halah, in Gozan by the Habor River, and in the cities of the Medes.
- Isaiah 7:20 On that day the Lord will use a razor hired from beyond the Euphrates—the king of Assyria—to shave your head and the hair of your legs, and to remove your beard as well.
- 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.”
- Ezekiel 47:15 This shall be the boundary of the land: On the north side it will extend from the Great Sea by way of Hethlon through Lebo-hamath to Zedad,
- Hosea 10:5 The people of Samaria will fear for the calf of Beth-aven. Indeed, its people will mourn over it with its idolatrous priests—those who rejoiced in its glory—for it has been taken from them into exile.