Introduction
In this part of Chapter 7, we move from the visions seen by Amos to the open confrontation: the prophecy of destruction against the high places of the calves and against the house of Yerovam, followed by the libel of Amatzyah, the priest of Beit El, who approached the king to incite him against the prophet. Through this passage, we will learn how a prophet's words are distorted, why Yerovam did not accept the slander (lashon hara), and what personal prophecy Amatzyah himself received.
"The High Places of Yischak Shall Be Desolate" - Who Is Yischak?
וְנָשַׁמּוּ בָּמוֹת יִשְׂחָק וּמִקְדְּשֵׁי יִשְׂרָאֵל יֶחֱרָבוּ וְקַמְתִּי עַל בֵּית יָרׇבְעָם בֶּחָרֶב׃ - "And the high places of Yischak shall be desolate, and the sanctuaries of Israel shall be laid waste, and I will rise against the house of Yerovam with the sword."
"And the high places shall be desolate" is clear: the altars on which they sacrificed to idols will be laid waste. What is not immediately clear is the word "Yischak." Radak explains that Yischak is Yitzchak, for the letters shin and tzadi are phonetically interchangeable. The proof is that "sechok" (שחק) and "tzechoch" (צחק) share the same meaning, both denoting laughter. And since Yitzchak was named after "God has made laughter for me," there is nothing preventing the text from writing "Yischak" instead of "Yitzchak."
However, another difficulty confronts Radak: the Jewish people are almost always referred to as "Yaakov," as we saw earlier, "How can Yaakov stand, for he is small?" Why is this? For two reasons. First, we are the direct descendants of Yaakov. Second, Yitzchak had another son - Esav - and when speaking of "the seed of Yitzchak," it might imply Esav as well. For the same reason we are not called "the House of Avraham," since Avraham also fathered Yishmael, and his grandson was Esav. Furthermore, the name "Yaakov" connotes heel (akeiv), hinting at the Jewish people in their lower spiritual state. If so, why is Yitzchak introduced here?
Radak adds that in two places in this book, the Jewish people are called "the House of Yitzchak." He explains that the prophet may well be reminding them: remember who your forefather Yitzchak was. Yitzchak stretched out his neck upon the altar, ready to be bound for the sake of Hashem's Name - yet you anger Hashem with your altars and high places! This is the meaning of "the high places of Yischak": you are the descendants of the one who offered himself to Hashem, yet you go and sacrifice to idols. This underscores the immense gravity of the indictment against them.
Malbim interprets this entirely differently: "Yischak" here does not refer to Yitzchak at all, but stems from the root of laughter (sechok) and mockery. The altars made for the calves were altars of mockery and frivolity, just as we find idol worship referred to as a "mifletzet" - evoking mockery, multiplying absurdity. Forms of idolatry are categorized as mockery, scorn, and ridicule. Therefore: "and the high places of mockery shall be desolate" - those altars of mockery will be laid waste. "And the sanctuaries of Israel" - the places they considered holy, meaning the calves in Beit El and Dan - "shall be laid waste."
"And I will rise against the house of Yerovam with the sword" - note Malbim's precise reading: Yerovam himself would die a natural death in his bed, but the house of Yerovam would perish by the sword. Do not confuse him with Yerovam ben Nevat; this refers to Yerovam ben Yoash, who lived many generations later. And indeed, so it came to pass: Zechariah, son of Yerovam ben Yoash, was assassinated by Shalum ben Yavesh, as explicitly recorded in Scripture. Thus, the prophecy "and I will rise against the house of Yerovam with the sword" was fulfilled in his son.
Amatzyah, the Priest of Beit El, Incites the King
וַיִּשְׁלַח אֲמַצְיָה כֹּהֵן בֵּית אֵל אֶל יָרׇבְעָם מֶלֶךְ יִשְׂרָאֵל לֵאמֹר קָשַׁר עָלֶיךָ עָמוֹס בְּקֶרֶב בֵּית יִשְׂרָאֵל לֹא תוּכַל הָאָרֶץ לְהָכִיל אֶת כׇּל דְּבָרָיו׃ - "Then Amatzyah, the priest of Beit El, sent to Yerovam king of Israel, saying: Amos has conspired against you in the midst of the house of Israel; the land cannot endure all his words."
Even back then, there were waves of incitement; even then, there were parties constantly engaged in agitation and breeding hatred toward anything associated with authentic Judaism. Amatzyah, the priest of Beit El, hears a prophecy that is not pleasant to his ears: "and the sanctuaries of Israel shall be laid waste" - the calves in Dan and Beit El will be destroyed. Beit El was the site of the calves and he was the priest there, meaning he was about to lose his livelihood. Therefore, he approaches Yerovam, king of Israel, and tells him: someone here is inciting against you - "Amos has conspired against you."
Now seemingly, where is the conspiracy? Did Amos organize people to overthrow Yarov'am? The Malbim explains: by prophesying that Yarov'am will die by the sword, he incites a conspiracy against you. People hear that the prophet said the king will be assassinated, and this encourages them and puts ideas in their heads: perhaps it is worthwhile to organize and take action. This is the meaning of "Amos has conspired against you."
Yet the truth, says the Malbim, is that this is untrue. Amos never said that Yarov'am would die by the sword; rather, he spoke of "the house of Yarov'am" - his descendants. Yarov'am himself died in his bed. Thus, there was no prophecy here inciting anyone to murder the king. Nevertheless, there was certainly reason for Yarov'am to be enraged by what he was now hearing, for what was he hearing? That he was about to die by the sword. Historically, such a thing had already caused regicide: Yehu, following the prophet's prophecy, went and killed Yehoram king of Israel and Achazyahu king of Yehudah, because he heard from the prophet that they were destined to die. This is precisely what is about to happen here, claims Amatzyah.
"The land cannot bear all his words" - he speaks words that even the land cannot tolerate. And "the land" does not mean the soil, but rather the people of the land, its inhabitants. For the king might ostensibly say: The prophecy is against me; the inhabitants of the land have nothing to worry about - if not me, another tyrant will come, what do they care? To this Amatzyah replies: the people, too, cannot endure his prophecies, for he prophesies calamity and trouble upon the people as well. Consequently, if you kill him, you need not fear public opinion; not only will the media be on your side, but the people will also support his execution. As Ibn Ezra writes: "And behold, if you put him to death, all will rejoice." You will be a popular leader; everyone will rejoice that the king has finally gotten rid of this bothersome prophet.
And so he was portrayed in their eyes: always only harsh things - troubles, disasters, death, sword, famine, locusts. Always only apocalyptic forecasts. Do you not have anything good to say to the people? This is precisely what people say today: Why do the rabbis always speak only about Gog and Magog? Tell the people good things, we have a wonderful nation, fantastic youth! This has always been the media's line, and it was the line of the false prophets from time immemorial. Yet with these "pleasant" words, they bring disaster and distress upon the nation. In the meantime, let things be pleasant, and if disaster follows later - they do not care. The main thing is that it feels good right now.
The Deliberate Distortion of the Prophet's Words
כִּי כֹה אָמַר עָמוֹס בַּחֶרֶב יָמוּת יָרׇבְעָם וְיִשְׂרָאֵל גָּלֹה יִגְלֶה מֵעַל אַדְמָתוֹ׃ - "For thus said Amos: Yarov'am shall die by the sword, and Israel shall surely be exiled from its land."
Here Amatzyah spells out his two claims. Corresponding to "Amos has conspired against you," he says: "Yarov'am shall die by the sword." And Rashi likewise notes that Amos never said this at all, but rather "and I will rise against the house of Yarov'am," referring to his son Zechariah, whom Shallum ben Yavesh assassinated. But Amatzyah is willing to distort reality if only to incite Yarov'am against Amos. And corresponding to "the land cannot bear all his words," he quotes: "and Israel shall surely be exiled from its land" - demonstrating that he prophesies calamity for the people dwelling in the land as well.
The Malbim explains: all of this was a lie. Amos never said that Yarov'am would die by the sword, but rather spoke about the house of Yarov'am, nor did he mention at all that "Israel shall surely be exiled from its land." Amatzyah fabricated everything from his own heart. From this, one can understand why Amos continues to prophesy and why Yarov'am does not take steps to eliminate him. After all, kings in those days had no qualms about persecuting prophets - Izevel killed all the prophets except for those hidden in caves. Rather, Yarov'am did not accept lashon hara: he verified the facts and discovered that Amatzyah had a personal interest in portraying matters this way, and that this was not what Amos had said. Once it became clear to him that Amatzyah had spoken falsely, he did not harm the prophet.
Ibn Ezra takes a different approach. His commentary implies that he understood this was indeed the actual prophecy, for we do not find the king telling Amatzyah, "You have spoken falsely; Amos said no such thing." However, this approach presents a difficulty: historically, we find no record of Yarov'am dying by the sword, as the verses explicitly state that his son Zechariah was the one who was killed. To this, Ibn Ezra answers: even though Scripture does not record that Yarov'am died by the sword, we know that the word of Hashem is true, and it was fulfilled. In any case, the approach more substantiated by the verses is that of Rashi and the Malbim: that the prophecy was not directed against Yarov'am himself, but against the house of Yarov'am, which is why we do not find that Yarov'am himself died by the sword.
"Flee Away to the Land of Yehudah" - The Threat and the Contempt
וַיֹּאמֶר אֲמַצְיָה אֶל עָמוֹס חֹזֶה לֵךְ בְּרַח לְךָ אֶל אֶרֶץ יְהוּדָה וֶאֱכׇל שָׁם לֶחֶם וְשָׁם תִּנָּבֵא׃ - "And Amatzyah said to Amos: Seer, go, flee away to the land of Yehudah, and there eat bread, and there prophesy."
When Amatzyah saw that he was not succeeding in enlisting the king to eliminate Amos, he turned to threats. "Seer" is a designation for a prophet, one who envisions the future. He tells him: Flee to the land of Yehudah, because here you are in danger of being killed by the king. Although the king had done nothing to him, Amatzyah hints: very soon the king will indeed rise up and take action.
Beyond that, he insults him: "and eat bread there." In those days, it was customary for someone approaching a prophet to bring him a gift, as we saw with Shaul, who said, "What shall we bring the man?" and his attendant replied that he had a quarter of a silver shekel in hand. Amatziah is telling him: You prophesy in order to get a meal; bread is your goal - so go there, where they will give it to you. Here, the people do not believe; here, they might even beat you, but a gift or a meal for your prophecy you will not receive. Words of utter contempt. And as Rashi comments: He spoke to him in a derogatory manner - there they will give you crusts of bread as payment for prophesying to them.
Moreover, he tells him: If your intention is to bring people back to the right path, it will do you no good here. In the land of Yehudah, your prophecies fall on receptive ears; there they will allow you to prophesy and will listen to you. Yehudah was on a higher spiritual level than Yisrael, the ten tribes. The ten tribes were on a very low level, and since the death of Shlomo, they did not have even one righteous king, whereas in Yehudah there were righteous kings. Therefore: "and prophesy there" - but here, who will listen to you?
וּבֵית אֵל לֹא תוֹסִיף עוֹד לְהִנָּבֵא כִּי מִקְדַּשׁ מֶלֶךְ הוּא וּבֵית מַמְלָכָה הוּא׃ - But at Beit-el, do not prophesy anymore, for it is a king's sanctuary and it is a royal estate.
In Beit-el, the Name of Heaven is not mentioned, only the name of idolatry. "For it is a king's sanctuary" - the king's sanctuary is there, meaning the calves, which the king made into a substitute for the Beit HaMikdash. There, his idolatry is worshiped, and consequently, no one here will support a person who comes and prophesies against the calves. Who will provide you with a livelihood in a place where everyone who comes arrives to worship the calves? And regarding the second goal, to set the people straight, he tells him: "and it is a royal estate" - this is the royal house, and the line you are promoting contradicts the king's policy. The king favors the calves, favors idolatry, and your rebuke does not fall on receptive ears here. Since that is so, flee to the land of Yehudah.
Amos's Response: "I am not a prophet"
וַיַּעַן עָמוֹס וַיֹּאמֶר אֶל אֲמַצְיָה לֹא נָבִיא אָנֹכִי וְלֹא בֶן נָבִיא אָנֹכִי כִּי בוֹקֵר אָנֹכִי וּבוֹלֵס שִׁקְמִים׃ - Then Amos answered and said to Amatziah: I am not a prophet, nor am I a prophet's disciple, for I am a cattle herder and a tender of sycamore figs.
Rashi explains: I am not like your false prophets who take payment to prophesy. I have no need for that, and I do not act in this manner. Amos was a wealthy man, an owner of property, cattle, and sheep, as he was "among the sheep breeders" (nokdim), meaning a shepherd. He did not need anyone to toss him a piece of bread. "Boker" - a cattle herder. "Shikmim" - sycamore trees of the lowlands.
And what is "boles"? Rashi explains that boles is like bolesh, to search or inspect. He would inspect the sycamores to see which tree had reached the time for its branches to be trimmed, and which branches were suitable for beams - for they would prune the young shoots of the sycamore. And why does it say "boles" rather than "bolesh"? Rashi explains: Amos had a speech impediment, and for this reason he was named Amos, because his speech was burdened (amus). There is a person who speaks clearly, and there is one who sounds as if he has food in his mouth, whose speech is not distinct; such a person is "burdened" (amus) in his speech. Our Sages noted that they used to call him "Yisrael psilus," meaning a stutterer, whose mouth is, as it were, flawed and his speech is not articulate. Perhaps from this also comes the familiar Hebrew expression "boles" for someone who stuffs large amounts into his mouth ravenously (bulmus), his mouth burdened with food - although according to Rashi here, it is not from the root of amus, but from belishah (searching).
Radak explains: "I am not a prophet" - I have not been a prophet from my youth; "nor am I a prophet's disciple" - I am not the son of a prophet who could instruct me in the ways of prophecy. Rather, "I am a cattle herder." And he interprets "boles" in two ways: either like bolesh, searching; or from the language of mixing, that he would mix the sycamore figs with other items to feed the cattle. For we find in Chazal balus in the sense of mixed: "I will not eat his bread from a mixed dough (isah belusah)," meaning a dough that is not sifted and clean, but mixed with coarse bran and fine bran, everything that is usually separated out to make fine bread - and the poor person eats it all mixed together. Nowadays, this is called boutique bread, health bread, with rye and seeds, and people pay double or triple for it, fifteen shekels a loaf. But in their time, it was poor-quality bread, pat belusah. If so, "boles shikmim" means that he would mix the sycamores into fodder for his livestock. Sycamores are a species of fig, as it says in Tehillim, "and their sycamores with frost."
The Malbim adds another dimension to Amos's words: Do you think that I prophesy to gain renown among the prophets, to make a name for myself? "I am not a prophet, nor am I a prophet's disciple" - this is neither my trade nor the trade of my fathers, and I seek no prestige in it. A person who seeks renown in an area does so because it is his profession; if someone runs a printing press, he wants everyone to know that there is a printing shop in such-and-such place. But if someone merely has a hobby of taking photographs from time to time, he has no desire to gain fame as a photographer, so that people will not hire him to photograph events, since it is merely for enjoyment. A person seeks recognition only in what constitutes his primary occupation, and Amos is saying: This is not my primary occupation. Likewise regarding livelihood: thank God, I have a source of livelihood and have no need for this - I have plentiful cattle and a forest where trees grow, and I tend sycamores. The Malbim also explains boles like bolesh, though in his view he inspects the sycamores to ensure they grow properly. In truth, all the explanations point in one direction: inspecting and examining the sycamores, whether to see that they grow properly, to determine which branches are suitable for beams, or to see which fruit is fit for food.
"And Hashem took me from following the flock"
וַיִּקָּחֵנִי יְהֹוָה מֵאַחֲרֵי הַצֹּאן וַיֹּאמֶר אֵלַי יְהֹוָה לֵךְ הִנָּבֵא אֶל עַמִּי יִשְׂרָאֵל׃ - And Hashem took me from following the flock, and Hashem said to me: Go, prophesy to My people Yisrael.
Do not imagine that I abandoned my work willingly in order to go and prophesy, or that I was seeking fame and publicity. That was not the case: I had what to do with my life, I was a shepherd, and the Holy One, blessed be He, drew me and took me against my will from behind the flock. He rested His prophecy upon me and compelled me to prophesy. If so, how can you tell me not to prophesy, contrary to an explicit divine command? Hashem said to me, "Go, prophesy to My people Israel" - and Israel means the ten tribes, as opposed to Judah, which is the kingdom of Judah and Benjamin. Hashem took me and chose me against my will, and commanded me specifically to prophesy to the ten tribes and not to the tribe of Judah. How could I alter the divine command?
"You say, 'Do not prophesy'" - Prophecy and Preaching
וְעַתָּה שְׁמַע דְּבַר יְהֹוָה אַתָּה אֹמֵר לֹא תִנָּבֵא עַל יִשְׂרָאֵל וְלֹא תַטִּיף עַל בֵּית יִשְׂחָק׃ - "And now, hear the word of Hashem: You say, 'Do not prophesy against Israel, and do not preach against the house of Isaac.'"
"And now, hear the word of Hashem" - I now have a new prophecy, which I had not prophesied before, a personal prophecy for you. Until now there were general prophecies, and now you will receive from me a word from Hashem directed specifically at you. For I am now prophesying, "and Israel shall surely be exiled from upon its land," a prophecy freshly given to me now - so how can you say to me, "Do not prophesy against Israel," that I should not inform them of what the future holds?
And what is the difference between "prophesy" (tinavei) and "preach" (tatif)? The Malbim explains: preaching is lesser than prophecy. Prophecy means relating what Hashem said, whereas preaching refers even to mere moral exhortation, as in the contemporary phrase "to preach morality." And you tell me also, "do not preach against the house of Isaac" - and why? Because they are the "house of Isaac (Yis-chak)" - they will laugh (yis-chaku) at your words, and your words will become an object of laughter and ridicule to them. Rashi explains that le-hatif is an expression of prophecy, like "preach (hateif) toward the south" spoken to Ezekiel. Radak interprets it as an expression of speech, like "he would preach to this people," or "Do not preach, they preach," and the Targum translates it as talif - an expression of teaching.
The Personal Prophecy to Amatziah
לָכֵן כֹּה אָמַר יְהֹוָה אִשְׁתְּךָ בָּעִיר תִּזְנֶה וּבָנֶיךָ וּבְנֹתֶיךָ בַּחֶרֶב יִפֹּלוּ וְאַדְמָתְךָ בַּחֶבֶל תְּחֻלָּק וְאַתָּה עַל אֲדָמָה טְמֵאָה תָּמוּת וְיִשְׂרָאֵל גָּלֹה יִגְלֶה מֵעַל אַדְמָתוֹ׃ - "Therefore, so says Hashem: 'Your wife shall commit harlotry in the city, and your sons and your daughters shall fall by the sword, and your land shall be divided by measuring line, and you shall die on an unclean land; and Israel shall surely be exiled from upon its land.'"
"Your wife shall commit harlotry in the city" - measure for measure. When the people of Israel commit idolatry, they are like an unfaithful wife who strays from the champion of her youth, which is why the connection to idolatry is consistently described using the language of harlotry. Amos says to him: I seek to return the Congregation of Israel to the beloved of her youth, the bride to her Beloved, while you lead her astray after other gods - therefore your wife shall commit harlotry.
And do not think that they will take her into captivity and she will act unfaithfully there, which would be a lesser disgrace. Therefore it says, "in the city shall she commit harlotry." Metzudat David explains: "in the city" implies the presumption that it was consensual. For we find regarding the law of rape that if it occurred in the city, she should have cried out, and only in the field can we not know, lest she cried out and there was none to save her. But in the city, if she did not cry out, it was certainly consensual. Thus he was told: your wife will stray willingly, not in captivity and not under duress.
And how did these events come to pass? The Malbim explains: After Zechariah the son of Jeroboam was killed, Shallum the son of Jabesh arose and sought to abolish the worship of the calf. As we have already mentioned from Hosea, both Shallum and Hoshea the son of Elah wanted to abolish the calves. In the wake of this, unrest and rebellion erupted among the people - why should the king suddenly abolish the calves? Until now we had calves, what does he have against them? So they went and informed against him to the king of Assyria, fearing what would happen, and ultimately the king of Assyria came and exiled the entire nation.
Following the abolition of the calves, Amatziah's "enterprise" was shut down. No calves - so what is the role of a high priest to the calves? The priest fled and died in exile outside the Land of Israel, likely because they also executed the priests of Baal. This is the meaning of "and you shall die on an unclean land" - you will die outside the Land. His sons and daughters were ultimately killed by the king, and his wife became destitute and abandoned to promiscuity. As was well known at the time, when a person was condemned to death by the king, his wife was often left unprotected and abandoned to violation, Heaven forbid, and this was included in the punishment decreed here.
Finally, "and Israel shall surely be exiled from upon its land" - here the decree was sealed. As explained in Isaiah chapter 7, it was stated that this would happen in sixty-five years. The Malbim notes that Amos did not write this explicitly because he feared the king; instead, he hinted at it in the next chapter, where he says, "Hush (has)" - and "has" (הס) in gematria equals sixty-five. That is to say: in "has" (65) years the exile will occur. He feared to state this explicitly, and therefore only hinted at the matter.
In summary:
The prophet foretells the desolation of the high places of mockery and the downfall of the House of Yeravam, and Amatziah the priest of Beit El - whose livelihood depends on the calves - turns the words of the prophecy upside down and incites the king, claiming that Amos is conspiring and that the people cannot even endure his words. Yeravam did not accept the lashon hara; he investigated the facts, discovered the falsehood, and therefore did not harm the prophet. Having failed, Amatziah turned to threats and humiliation: Flee to Yehudah, and eat bread there. Amos replies that he is not a prophet for a livelihood nor for prestige, but a herdsman and a grower of sycamore figs who was taken against his will from following the flock by Hashem's command to prophesy specifically to the Ten Tribes. And because he sought to silence the prophet, a personal prophecy was decreed upon Amatziah measure for measure - his wife, his children, his land, and his death on defiled ground - and upon the nation, the decree of exile was sealed, as hinted in the word "has" - sixty-five years.