Introduction: From Decree in Potential to Decree in Actuality
In chapter 4, we saw that the Holy One, Blessed is He, brought five kinds of punishments upon Israel so that they would repent - the first three in the form of famine, and the last two in the form of pestilence and the sword - yet they did not return to Hashem. Since they did not repent, the Attribute of Justice remained poised against them and exacting with them, as it says, "Therefore thus will I do to you." In chapter 7, the Holy One, Blessed is He, shows Amos these very same punishments coming from potential into actuality through various prophetic visions: first the decrees of famine, and afterwards the pestilence and the sword.
The Vision of the Locusts: The Destruction of the Late Crop
כֹּה הִרְאַנִי אֲדֹנָי יֱהֹוִה וְהִנֵּה יוֹצֵר גֹּבַי בִּתְחִלַּת עֲלוֹת הַלָּקֶשׁ וְהִנֵּה לֶקֶשׁ אַחַר גִּזֵּי הַמֶּלֶךְ׃ - Thus the Lord Hashem showed me: and behold, He was forming locusts at the beginning of the sprouting of the late crop; and behold, it was the late crop after the king's shearings.
The order of the decrees of famine mentioned above was: first withholding rain - "while there were yet three months to the harvest"; then blight and mildew, where the grain is afflicted; and finally the gazam, which is the plague of locusts, the final plague within the decree of famine. Here Hashem shows him: "forming govei" - govei is a species of locust, and the Holy One, Blessed is He, forms it specially for this purpose.
"At the beginning of the sprouting of the lekesh" - lekesh is related to malkosh, the late rain. The grain that grows by virtue of the late rain is called lekesh, because it grows from the late rain. Some commentators explain that this refers to the beginning of the late rain's falling, while the Malbim explains that it refers to the beginning of the grain's sprouting from the late rain; but according to all opinions, lekesh here relates to malkosh. And the prophet sees: precisely when the grain that sprouted from the late rain begins to grow and develop, Hashem forms the locust to destroy it.
"And behold, it was the late crop after the king's shearings" - this late crop grew after the time when the king's sheep were sheared. The meaning is: the late crop grew in the middle of the summer, as the harvest was delayed due to the withholding of rain, and then the locusts arrived. The Radak explains that this refers to the time when the grass was cut to feed the king's animals. Either way, the prophet specifies an exact time when the locusts will come and consume even the remaining grain. For when the early grain is destroyed, a person still consoles himself that the growing season is not yet over; therefore Scripture tells us that even the late crop, which came after the late rain and after the king's shearings, will also be lost. In simple terms: nothing at all will be left to eat.
"Pardon, Please" - The Prophet's Prayer
וְהָיָה אִם כִּלָּה לֶאֱכוֹל אֶת עֵשֶׂב הָאָרֶץ וָאֹמַר אֲדֹנָי יֱהֹוִה סְלַח נָא מִי יָקוּם יַעֲקֹב כִּי קָטֹן הוּא׃ - And it came to pass, when it had finished eating the grass of the land, that I said: "O Lord Hashem, pardon, please! How shall Jacob stand? For he is small!"
What is the meaning of "im kilah" (literally: "if it finished")? All the commentators explain that "im" here has the meaning of "when," citing proofs from many scriptural passages. The Malbim asks: if so, why did the verse not say "ka'asher" ("when") explicitly? From this he teaches a rule: whenever the word "im" appears with the meaning of "when," it does not lose its original connotation. "Ka'asher" is an absolute term, whereas "im" leaves room for doubt. Therefore, had it said "and it was when it finished," it would imply that it finished completely; but since it says "and it was if it finished," the intention is that it came close to finishing - drawing near the end, yet having not completely finished.
At that moment, when it had not yet finished completely but was about to finish, the prophet turned in prayer: "Hashem God, pardon, please" - forgive their iniquity and let the decree be annulled. And why is a request for forgiveness still applicable here? The Malbim explains: a person who commits a sin a first, second, and third time is forgiven, and this was the third punishment.
Yet one must still ask: they did not repent, so why do they deserve this? To this the prophet says, "How shall Jacob stand? For he is small" - the people of Israel will have no recovery after such a terrible blow. "For he is small" - both in the physical sense, that they are in a state of weakness and a famine now would wipe them out completely; and in the spiritual sense, that they are on a low level. For an affliction to be beneficial, a person must possess some spiritual standing, and then the blow can transform him for the better; but one who is small in his spiritual level may only be brought by the blow to further defiance rather than becoming righteous. Thus, physically they are too weak to endure the blow, and spiritually they are too diminished for the blow to bring about their repentance.
And for this reason he specifically said "Jacob." The Jewish people have two names: when they are on a high spiritual level they are called Israel, related to dominion (serarah), ruling and exalted above all; but when they are on their low level they are called Jacob, from the word eikev (heel) - lowest of all, and from the connotation of being supplanted, "and he has supplanted me these two times." Therefore he said, "How shall Jacob stand?" - the people of Israel are small and weak, both physically and spiritually, and so he pleaded: "Forgive, please, for he is small."
נִחַם יְהֹוָה עַל זֹאת לֹא תִהְיֶה אָמַר יְהֹוָה׃ - Hashem relented concerning this; "It shall not be," said Hashem.
Hashem accepted the prophet's prayer, relented from the evil, and said "It shall not be" - the decree was annulled.
The Vision of Fire: "Calling to Contend by Fire"
כֹּה הִרְאַנִי אֲדֹנָי יֱהֹוִה וְהִנֵּה קֹרֵא לָרִב בָּאֵשׁ אֲדֹנָי יֱהֹוִה וַתֹּאכַל אֶת תְּהוֹם רַבָּה וְאָכְלָה אֶת הַחֵלֶק׃ - Thus the Lord God showed me, and behold, the Lord God was calling to contend by fire; and it devoured the great deep, and devoured the portion.
In the prophetic vision, the prophet sees Hashem, as it were, summoning His angels - angels of fire - to come and contend with Israel. And the fire is so vast that "it devoured the great deep," consuming and burning everything.
"And devoured the portion" - this is an obscure expression. The commentators explain that it refers to a plot of land, a field plot, and the definite article indicates the distinguished plot of the field, just as "one of the people" means the most distinguished among the people. And who is the distinguished one? The king. This is the field plot belonging to the king, just as stated earlier: "and behold, the late-crop after the king's shearings."
And what was this meant to symbolize? That the guilt hinged upon the king. The Radak explains: when the king was good, the people walked in a good way, for the king guided them on the straight path; but when the king was evil, the people committed wickedness and learned from his bad deeds. We already noted this earlier, that this was our sign for calculating the seventy years of exile corresponding to the seventy Shemitah cycles in which they sinned: how did we know in which Shemitah cycles they sinned? We calculated which wicked kings reigned during those Shemitah years, because as soon as a king was wicked, we know that the people sinned. Jeroboam, within a short time, took a nation of servants of Hashem and turned them into idolaters. And vice versa: Hezekiah arose to reign after his father Ahaz, who locked the doors of the study halls and prevented the study of Torah, yet in Hezekiah's days, from Dan to Beersheba, school children were experts in the laws of purity and impurity, which are the most difficult laws. An evil king produces an evil people; and right after him, his son reigns as a righteous king, and the people are righteous. Everything depends on the king. Therefore, when the prophet came to say on whose account the calamity would strike, he mentioned "the king's shearings" and said "and devoured the portion" - the special and choicest portion, the king's portion, would be consumed by this great fire.
And what was that fire? The Radak cites that it may be a metaphor for the scorching heat of the blazing sun: when there is no rain, the sun scorches everything, drying up the crops and drying up the rivers, and the prophet sees how everything is burned and parched due to the withholding of rain. The Radak also cites in the name of his father that the fire is literal: the Holy One, blessed be He, actually intended to judge them with fire and brimstone, like Sodom and Gomorrah, but the prophet prayed, and by the power of his prayer it was annulled. A proof for this comes from Isaiah's words, "We had almost been like Sodom" - just a moment more and we would have been like Sodom, for Hashem intended to consume them with fire just as He did to Sodom and Gomorrah.
The Malbim explains that here Hashem shows him the final two decrees - pestilence and the sword - and they are portrayed as a consuming fire in the camp, as in the phrase "and you were like a brand plucked from the burning." "And it devoured the great deep" hints at those who went to Egypt to seek their aid and support, whom the fire consumed first, as it says, "I sent pestilence among you in the manner of Egypt" - those who went along the way of Egypt were seized by pestilence, and likewise "I slew your young men with the sword." And why is Egypt called the "deep"? Because the Land of Israel is elevated, "and bring you up out of the affliction of Egypt" to the Holy Land, and one who descends from the Land descends into the abyss. Furthermore, the prophet refers to their very journey to Egypt as "and lowered yourself to Sheol" (Isaiah 57), and Sheol is the deep abyss - signifying degradation and descent. Afterwards, "and devoured the portion" - the portion to which the pestilence and the sword advanced in the Land of Israel, which is the portion and inheritance of Israel, the Holy Land, as in "they have trodden my portion under foot." First the fire would consume those who went down to Egypt in the wilderness, and afterwards those who remained here in the portion allotted to us.
"Cease, Please" - The Fourth Iniquity
וָאֹמַר אֲדֹנָי יֱהֹוִה חֲדַל נָא מִי יָקוּם יַעֲקֹב כִּי קָטֹן הוּא׃ - Then said I: "O Lord God, cease, I beseech You; how shall Jacob stand? For he is small."
Once again the prophet prayed, but this time he pleaded, "Desist, please" (*chadal na*), rather than "Forgive, please" (*selach na*). The Malbim explains: Earlier, it was after three transgressions, and for three, forgiveness is still applicable; but here, it is a fourth transgression, and a fourth is not pardoned. Therefore, he did not ask for forgiveness, but for desisting - that despite everything, Hashem should cease the punishment, not out of forgiveness, but because "how will Yaakov stand," for they would have no recovery. The Radak also addresses this shift in phrasing and explains that forgiveness and desisting are essentially the same, for if He forgives them, He will naturally desist. But according to the Malbim, we have a wonderful explanation: there it was a third transgression, where forgiveness is possible; here it is a fourth transgression, and one cannot ask for forgiveness, but at the very least that He desist.
נִחַם יְהֹוָה עַל זֹאת גַּם הִיא לֹא תִהְיֶה אָמַר אֲדֹנָי יֱהֹוִה׃ - Hashem relented concerning this; "This too shall not come to pass," said the Lord Hashem.
Following the prayer, Hashem relented from this decree as well, having heard - as Ibn Ezra notes - the prophet's supplication twice. "This too shall not come to pass," and through the merit of Amos's prayer, Yisrael was saved from this decree as well.
The Vision of the Plumb Line: A Plumb-Line Wall and a Plumb Line in His Hand
כֹּה הִרְאַנִי וְהִנֵּה אֲדֹנָי נִצָּב עַל חוֹמַת אֲנָךְ וּבְיָדוֹ אֲנָךְ׃ - Thus He showed me, and behold, the Lord was standing upon a plumb-line wall, and in His hand was a plumb line.
First of all, what is an anakh? Rashi writes that it is an Arabic word, referring to a plumb line with a lead weight, which a wall builder observes in order to align the row of stones. In modern terms: a level or plumb bob. When a builder wants to know whether the wall he is constructing is straight, he takes a string with a weight and suspends it from above. If the line hangs taut and the distance between it and the wall remains uniform along the entire height of the wall, it is a sign that the wall is straight. If the line rests against the wall, or if the distance is four centimeters at the bottom and one centimeter at the top, it is a sign that the wall is crooked and leaning outward. This is called an anakh, because it measures vertical alignment.
Two details appear in the verse: "standing upon a plumb-line wall" - a wall that is straight and measured with a plumb line; and "in His hand was a plumb line" - that the Holy One, Blessed be He, holds the same measuring tool in His hand. This immediately suggests weighing and measuring, weights and judgment, pointing to the conduct of strict justice (*din*). As Rashi explains: "'A plumb-line wall' - the line of strict justice"; a wall is a straight line, and *anakh* represents justice. The Radak explains that *anakh* refers to tin or lead, which in Arabic is called *anaq*, serving as the builder's plumb bob; through it, as it were, the Holy One, Blessed be He, weighs their deeds. And what did this come to show him? That Hashem does not make a complete end of them as their evil deeds deserve, because it is within His power to incline toward chesed and within His power to execute strict justice - it is in the hand of the Holy One, Blessed be He, to do either, and He, as it were, weighs matters with the weight in His hand.
The Malbim looks deeper and explains the duality. The wall is a plumb-line wall, built with a level and measured with a plumb line, and it represents the entirety of creation made by the Holy One, Blessed be He - like a wall enclosing all of existence. Scripture comes to teach us that the world is founded upon justice: the Holy One, Blessed be He, created His world with the attribute of justice (*middat hadin*) and the plumb line of law, with the balance scales of justice suspended over all of reality to judge each person according to their deeds and assess everything as needed; this is the meaning of "A king establishes the land through justice." Everything was created through Divine providence, and providence is justice - and this is general providence (*hashgachah kelalit*), ensuring that everything occurring in the world transpires according to the exact measure of the weight, precisely as is fitting and according to the Divine will.
Beyond this, the prophet saw that "in His hand was a plumb line" - even after the wall has already been built, the weight remains in His hand. What does this signify? That Hashem, as it were, is measuring anew. Once there is an upright wall and a world sustained according to justice, the Holy One, Blessed be He, now exercises individual providence (*hashgachah pratit*) based on human actions, which change from time to time and from era to era. The creation of the world has already taken place, and the world was built and formed in righteousness, justice, and law; yet in His governance, shifts arise from the power of human deeds, and these must constantly be re-examined. Therefore, a plumb line is in His hand - to measure and examine whether what Hashem gives His people is in righteousness and according to the letter of the law, and to punish sinners through specific providence, according to individualized judgment, beyond the general providence represented by the wall that embodies the structure of the world.
"What Do You See, Amos?" - Individual Providence
וַיֹּאמֶר יְהֹוָה אֵלַי מָה אַתָּה רֹאֶה עָמוֹס וָאֹמַר אֲנָךְ וַיֹּאמֶר אֲדֹנָי הִנְנִי שָׂם אֲנָךְ בְּקֶרֶב עַמִּי יִשְׂרָאֵל לֹא אוֹסִיף עוֹד עֲבוֹר לוֹ׃ - And Hashem said to me, "What do you see, Amos?" And I said, "A plumb line." Then the Lord said, "Behold, I am placing a plumb line in the midst of My people Yisrael; I will no longer pass over them."
The Malbim explains: There were two elements in the vision - a plumb-line wall and a plumb line in Hashem's hand. Hashem's question, "What do you see, Amos?" meant: What did you take note of? What stands out to you as a novel sight? For when a person looks, what catches the eye is the unusual, the novel, the unexpected. When someone enters his house or a familiar place, his eye immediately catches the change: Who moved the table over there? It is the novel element that draws the eye.
Amos replied: "A plumb line" - I see the plumb line that is in Hashem's hand. That is to say: the plumbed wall does not surprise me and is nothing novel to me, for it represents the general order of providence through which the Holy One, blessed be He, created His world according to strict judgment and justice, and this is something well known and familiar to me - that everything was created with measure, judgment, and weight. What surprises me is that the construction is finished, and yet You are still holding a plumb line in Your hand. This indicates that You are about to inflict an individualized punishment, for the plumb line in Hashem's hand teaches that the attribute of strict judgment and the plummet of justice continue even after the Holy One, blessed be He, finished the construction of His world - namely, individual judgment, according to which You are about to punish with a retribution unrelated to the collective judgment. This is what I am noticing with precision in my vision.
And the Holy One, blessed be He, said to him: What you see is correct - "Behold, I am setting a plumb line in the midst of My people Israel; I will not pass by them any more." Israel will no longer be judged according to the collective judgment.
And what is the difference between judgment according to the collective law, which is the wall, and judgment according to individual law, which is the plumb line in Hashem's hand? The Malbim explains two differences. First: when Hashem judges according to collective law, He does not judge each and every person individually, but rather the entire world as a whole. Second: sometimes under collective judgment, the Holy One, blessed be He, does not exact retribution from the individual according to his deeds, and the judgment is overlooked for the time being. How so? If these are years of abundance, even if you personally deserve famine, since according to the collective judgment there is abundance, you benefit along with the public. Likewise, if according to the collective judgment there is peace, even if you deserve war and distress, the Holy One, blessed be He, as it were, overlooks your individual judgment. This does not mean that you will not be judged at all - what is not judged here is judged in the World Above - but rather, since the collective judgment does not allow for it, you are consequently not harmed.
And sometimes, the Malbim explains, Hashem passes over the iniquity and the punishment when the general time is not conducive to calamity. For in collective judgment there are broad guidelines: it is not fitting now for an earthquake to occur and destroy the entire country. The Holy One, blessed be He, then waits to exact retribution from that person until, according to the collective judgment, a catastrophe arrives; then the creditor will find an opportunity to collect his debt - they will exact retribution from you individually as well, for you have an old debt that has been pending for a long time, and it was only because no collective trouble arose that you were not judged. But when the collective trouble arrives, you will be punished along with them.
Here, however, the Holy One, blessed be He, says to him: "Behold, I am setting a plumb line" - a new plumb line, a distinct measure, and not the wall. A plumb line that judges and weighs at all times according to individual judgment, assessing what each and every person deserves and is worthy of. And in two ways this differs from the collective judgment. First: "in the midst of My people Israel" - I will judge and evaluate each and every individual through personal providence (hashgachah pratit) according to his deeds and individual verdict; each person will have his own plumb line and will be measured individually, not according to the collective judgment, but according to the providence fitting for him. Second: "I will not pass by them any more" - even if the general time is not yet ripe for calamity, the Holy One, blessed be He, will not pass over him. For under collective judgment, if you deserve punishment but the community does not, you are not judged; under individual judgment, however, even if the others do not deserve punishment, you will be punished individually. Everyone else will experience good while you will experience misfortune, because the judgment is an individual judgment, and "I will not pass by them any more."
Furthermore, sometimes according to the natural order these are years of abundance, yet you deserve famine. What does the Holy One, blessed be He, do? Personally, you will experience famine - I will measure out providence individually: he will have no money and no means to purchase, sinking into terrible poverty, so that even though there is food in the world, he has nothing to eat. There is no need to wait for years in which famine would strike anyway; rather, according to individual judgment, you personally will suffer hunger.
In summary:
The chapter presents three visions before us. In the vision of the locust swarm, the decrees of famine that consume even the late crop are revealed, and the prophet's prayer, "Please forgive," annuls it - for three transgressions are still forgiven. In the vision of the fire, the decrees of pestilence and the sword that consume those who descend to Egypt and Israel's portion in the Land are revealed; and because this represents a fourth transgression, the prophet does not ask for forgiveness but rather pleads, "Please cease," and this too is annulled - in both cases by virtue of the plea, "How shall Jacob stand, for he is small?", referring to physical weakness and spiritual diminishedness. And in the vision of the plumb line, a transformation in divine providence is revealed: the straight wall represents the collective providence through which the world was created in strict justice and law, while the plumb line in Hashem's hand represents individual providence, which does not wait for a time of collective calamity and does not overlook judgment, but rather measures and weighs each and every person according to his deeds - "Behold, I am setting a plumb line in the midst of My people Israel; I will not pass by them any more."