Chapter 9 is the concluding chapter of Sefer Amos. It opens with a harsh prophetic vision of destruction and a relentless hunt for fugitives in every hiding place, and concludes with prophecies of consolation regarding the restoration of the fallen Tabernacle of David and the return of Israel to their land never to be uprooted again. We will proceed verse by verse, examining the approach of Rashi, Radak, Ibn Ezra, and Targum on the one hand, and the unique path of the Malbim on the other - for from verse 7 onward, the Malbim redirects the entire focus from a prophecy of doom to words of consolation.
The Vision at the Altar
רָאִיתִי אֶת־אֲדֹנָי נִצָּב עַל־הַמִּזְבֵּחַ וַיֹּאמֶר הַךְ הַכַּפְתּוֹר וְיִרְעֲשׁוּ הַסִּפִּים וּבְצַעַם בְּרֹאשׁ כֻּלָּם וְאַחֲרִיתָם בַּחֶרֶב אֶהֱרֹג לֹא־יָנוּס לָהֶם נָס וְלֹא־יִמָּלֵט לָהֶם פָּלִיט׃ - I saw the Lord standing upon the altar, and He said: Strike the capital so that the threshold posts shake, and cleave them upon the head of them all; and the remainder of them I will slay with the sword; no fugitive of them shall flee, and no survivor of them shall escape.
Amos says: I see in a prophetic vision Hashem standing upon the altar in the Beit HaMikdash. Radak explains: I see Hashem commanding an angel to strike the capital (kaftor), and thereby the threshold posts will shake. What is the kaftor? In ancient gateways, there were doorposts on both sides, and at the top the gate formed an arch, crowned by a central keystone that held the arch so it would not collapse - this is called the kaftor. Others say that the kaftor refers to an ornamental design, where capitals and flowers were carved into the upper part of the gate. In any case, as it were, Hashem stands in the Beit HaMikdash and commands the angel to strike the lintel of the doorway, causing the thresholds - the posts of the gate - to tremble, expressing the destruction of the Temple. For intolerable deeds were committed here, and consequently, the Temple must be destroyed.
"And break them upon the head of them all" - Radak explains that this is an imperative, accented on the penultimate syllable (mil'el). "Betza" connotes cutting and severing, as in "and cut me off" (vayvatze'eni), or dividing into pieces. And whom shall he cut off? Those who are at the head of everyone - the Kohanim. The Holy One, blessed be He, says: Them too I commanded the angel to cut down. And is it only them? No. "And the remainder of them I will slay with the sword" - if the Kohanim are the head, the rest of the people, who are beneath them, are called the remainder (acharit), and they too will perish by the sword.
"No fugitive of them shall flee, and no survivor of them shall escape" - this presents an apparent difficulty: how can such a thing be said, given the promise that the Jewish people will never be wiped out? Radak therefore explains that this refers specifically to those condemned to die: of those who have incurred death, not one will escape. No one will be able to hide from the enemies, and the enemies will spare none of them - whoever was decreed to die will be killed.
The Homiletical Interpretation: Robbery Accuses First
Radak cites a Midrashic exposition: "I saw the Lord standing upon the altar" - He stood over that generation to slaughter it, for the altar symbolizes slaughter, Heaven forbid, of the people. "Strike the capital" - this refers to King Yoshiyahu, who was the topmost, central, and vital figure. "So that the threshold posts shake" - these are his counselors and advisors (synkletos), his royal guard and attendants. "And break them upon the head of them all" - for what sin? Rabbi Pinchas said in the name of Rabbi Yochanan: A parable of a measure filled with sins; which sin accuses first? Robbery (gezel). That is why concerning the Generation of the Flood it is said, "for the earth was filled with robbery," and for this transgression their verdict was sealed.
We have previously explained why robbery accuses first: from every transgression a person commits, a damaging angel is created, and the character of the angel matches the nature of the sin. A sin of insolence and brazenness creates an insolent, brazen angel. Robbery is pure brazenness - reaching out and seizing what belongs to someone else - and therefore, even when all the other damaging angels are calm and quiet, the angel of robbery leaps forward and cries out first. There may be greater sins before him, but he is impudent and shouts first. And once he accuses at the head, it resembles creditors: it takes only one creditor to step forward and begin seizing assets, and immediately all the others pounce upon the spoil so nothing will be left. In the same way, the moment robbery accuses first, all the other sins follow suit and level their accusations. This is the meaning of "u-vetza'am be-rosh kulam" - the illicit gain (betza) that they grasp, as in "the robber blesses himself, yet blasphemes Hashem" (botzea berech ni'etz Hashem), where betza denotes robbery, and this sin stands at the head of all transgressions. And Rabbi Yehudah says in the name of Rabbi Yochanan: A parable of people guilty of idolatry, immorality, and bloodshed, yet the gravest among them balances all of them. This is "at the head of all of them" - not only does it leap forward first, but it outweighs them all.
In light of this, what is "Strike the capital"? Targum Yonatan renders: "I saw the glory of Hashem departing from the cherubim and resting upon the altar." For the Shechinah resides between the cherubim in the Holy of Holies, and toward there we direct our hearts and faces in prayer. And He said: If the House of Israel does not return to the Torah, the lamp of the Menorah will be extinguished - referring to King Yoshiyahu, who was like the pure Menorah; King Yoshiyahu will be slain; the Temple will be destroyed and the courtyards left desolate; the vessels of the Beit HaMikdash will go into captivity; "and the rest of them I will slay with the sword, no fugitive among them shall flee, and no survivor among them shall escape" - not one of them will be saved.
The Approach of the Malbim: The Altar at Beit El
All the commentators explain that the altar mentioned here is the altar of the Beit HaMikdash. The Malbim, however, takes a different approach. In his view, these matters are linked to what we saw earlier in Chapter 3: "For on the day I punish the transgressions of Israel, I will visit punishment upon the altars of Beit El, and the horns of the altar shall be cut off." The altar mentioned here refers to the altars of Baal, the altars of Beit El, as stated explicitly in that verse.
He explains this based on what we have already mentioned several times: Hoshea ben Elah wanted to abolish the idolatrous worship of the calves, and he permitted the pilgrimage to Jerusalem, removing the roadblocks (parsedot) and removing the guards stationed there. As a result, a rebellion broke out among the people, and they divided into two factions: one faction stood with Hoshea ben Elah and supported his move, while the other faction opposed it and adamantly refused to let him abolish the calf altars. Those opponents went and informed on Hoshea to the king of Assyria, hoping he would kill Hoshea so they could continue worshiping at the altars as they pleased. The outcome: "and shut him up in prison," and afterward "and besieged Samaria," and consequently he exiled them all. What they intended as harm toward him alone boomeranged right back upon them.
Here the prophet describes how this entire episode was guided by Divine Providence. As it were, Hashem stood above that idolatrous altar in Beit El and commanded, "Smite the capital" - the lintel that had an ornamental knob like a capital - and thereby "let the doorposts shake," destroying the altar itself and severing its horns. "And wound them in the head, all of them" - through this they were cut apart (nivtzu) and split into two factions, for the word bitzua denotes splitting and division. This was the beginning of their downfall: the division and splitting were the head (the beginning) of their fall. "And I will slay the remainder of them with the sword" - the end result of this turmoil was that I will slay them with the sword via the king of Assyria. "He that flees of them shall not flee away" - no one will escape by fleeing, and even someone who slips away from the enemy's sword will eventually be overtaken by the sword, as we shall see further on.
No Escape and No Hiding Place
אִם־יַחְתְּרוּ בִשְׁאוֹל מִשָּׁם יָדִי תִקָּחֵם וְאִם־יַעֲלוּ הַשָּׁמַיִם מִשָּׁם אוֹרִידֵם׃ - Though they dig into Sheol, from there My hand shall take them; and though they climb up to heaven, from there I will bring them down.
Now the prophet explains his statement, "He that flees of them shall not flee away": no form of flight or escape will avail them. Even if one burrows an underground tunnel as deep as Sheol to hide there, from there I will seize them and deliver them into the enemy's hand. "And though they climb up to heaven" - did they have airplanes or a hot air balloon? Malbim explains: this refers to the peaks of soaring mountains that reach into the heavens, and from there I will bring them down to deliver them into the enemy's hand.
וְאִם־יֵחָבְאוּ בְּרֹאשׁ הַכַּרְמֶל מִשָּׁם אֲחַפֵּשׂ וּלְקַחְתִּים וְאִם־יִסָּתְרוּ מִנֶּגֶד עֵינַי בְּקַרְקַע הַיָּם מִשָּׁם אֲצַוֶּה אֶת־הַנָּחָשׁ וּנְשָׁכָם׃ - And though they hide themselves on the top of Carmel, from there I will search and take them out; and though they hide from My sight in the bottom of the sea, from there I will command the serpent, and it shall bite them.
At the top of Mount Carmel there were numerous caves and expansive caverns, and people were accustomed to hiding there. Hashem says: From there I Myself will search for them, take them, and deliver them to the enemy - for the entire lesson here is to show that everything happened under Divine Providence. "And though they hide from My sight in the bottom of the sea" - did they have submarines? Rather, this refers to desolate, isolated islands in the sea where people do not go. There I will command the serpent; and Radak explains that this refers to the great sea monster, the Leviathan, or in places where sea snakes are found, they will bite them. Rashi cites Targum Yonatan: "nations that are fierce as serpents" will encircle them there and seize them from there.
A Note: "Though they hide themselves on the top of Carmel" and the Lesson of History
Incidentally, "though they hide themselves on the top of Carmel" brings to mind a fascinating historical point. When Rommel's army was already at the gates of Eretz Yisrael, near Egypt, and there was grave fear that the Nazis were about to reach here, records show that the Jewish Yishuv in the land prepared a contingency plan: to ascend Mount Carmel and stage a "Masada scenario," meaning, if we cannot be saved, a collective suicide. This notion is completely antithetical to Halachah. As we have discussed several times, Masada is not mentioned by Chazal because such an act is entirely un-Jewish. A Jew does not commit suicide. If a gentile comes to take you into exile, you go into exile; mitzvot can be observed in exile as well. This reflects a nationalistic pride that does not stem from holiness, for human life is precious above all.
In this lies an answer to those who question why the Gedolei Yisrael did not instruct people to move to the Land of Israel: those who were here in the Land were preparing a collective suicide on Mount Carmel, and who knew whether the Land was safe from danger? On the contrary, concentrating the Jewish people in Eretz Yisrael would have saved Hitler the arduous task of hunting them down across every country in Europe; he could have arrived here and focused all his energy on a place where millions of Jews were concentrated, rather than searching for them everywhere. Indeed, we saw that he was already very close, and only at the final moment did Hashem preserve for us a remnant and survivors. Thus, asking such questions stems from a lack of historical awareness.
Even in Captivity the Sword Shall Overtake Them
וְאִם־יֵלְכוּ בַשְּׁבִי לִפְנֵי אֹיְבֵיהֶם מִשָּׁם אֲצַוֶּה אֶת־הַחֶרֶב וַהֲרָגָתַם וְשַׂמְתִּי עֵינִי עֲלֵיהֶם לְרָעָה וְלֹא לְטוֹבָה׃ - And though they go into captivity before their enemies, from there I will command the sword, and it shall slay them; and I will set My eyes upon them for evil and not for good.
Even those who go into captivity. The Radak explains: like those who went down to Egypt with Yochanan ben Kareiach, who went there voluntarily and were certain they would be saved there. Yirmiyahu had told them that there would be no salvation for them in going to Egypt, but they did not listen to him - and you see that there too, the sword overtook them, just as he had foretold.
The Malbim explains that this clarifies what was stated earlier, "no fugitive among them shall escape": even the survivors whom the enemy leaves alive and takes into captivity will not escape the sword, for in the places to which they are exiled, I will decree destruction and slaughter upon them. And lest you think this will happen merely by chance, because I withdrew My Divine providence from them and consequently the enemy's sword struck them - it therefore says, "I will set My eyes upon them for evil and not for good": this too will unfold through Divine providence, a providence for harm, to punish them for their evil deeds.
He Who Touches the Earth, and It Melts
וַאדֹנָי יֱהוִה הַצְּבָאוֹת הַנּוֹגֵעַ בָּאָרֶץ וַתָּמוֹג וְאָבְלוּ כָּל־יוֹשְׁבֵי בָהּ וְעָלְתָה כַיְאֹר כֻּלָּהּ וְשָׁקְעָה כִּיאֹר מִצְרָיִם׃ - The Lord, God of Hosts, is He Who touches the earth and it melts, and all who dwell in it shall mourn; it will rise like the Nile in its entirety, and subside like the Nile of Egypt.
The Targum renders it: "De-nazif be-ar'a ve-zei'a" - Hashem rebukes the earth and the earth quakes. "Va-tamog" (and it melts) is an expression of shaking and movement: Hashem touches the earth and it trembles, and this decree comes directly from Me.
The Malbim explains that "He Who touches the earth and it melts" corresponds to what we saw earlier: "Shall not the land tremble for this?" - over the evil deeds they committed. Here the prophet hints at the rebellion among them when they revolted against Hoshea ben Elah, which, as it were, even the earth itself raged over. And he comes and declares: know that this too was orchestrated by Hashem. The people's rebellion was from Hashem; the arrival of the enemies who exiled the nation was from Hashem; like the Nile rising and submerging the land, everything is from Hashem. "I saw the Lord standing upon the altar," meaning upon the altar of Baal that Hoshea ben Elah sought to abolish - to teach you that this was from Hashem: that Hoshea would come and abolish the altar, that the people would rebel against him, and that the king of Assyria would come and strike them all down.
He Who Builds His Upper Chambers in the Heavens
הַבּוֹנֶה בַשָּׁמַיִם מַעֲלוֹתָו וַאֲגֻדָּתוֹ עַל־אֶרֶץ יְסָדָהּ הַקֹּרֵא לְמֵי־הַיָּם וַיִּשְׁפְּכֵם עַל־פְּנֵי הָאָרֶץ יְהוָה שְׁמוֹ׃ - He Who builds His upper chambers in the heavens and established His vault upon the earth, Who summons the waters of the sea and pours them over the face of the earth - Hashem is His Name.
Ibn Ezra explains: why does the verse mention the creation and structure of the universe here? So that you will realize that Hashem created all of existence, and if so, where do you think you can flee from Him? If Hashem created everything, He knows everything. See how He merely touches the earth and it melts; and what is man, who is not even a fraction of a percent of the whole earth, nothing more than a tiny speck within it - do you really believe you can escape from Him?
The Malbim explains this in light of what is written in Tehillim 104: "He stretches out the heavens like a curtain, Who roofs His upper chambers with water," and "He established the earth upon its foundations" - as we recite in Barchi Nafshi on the night of Rosh Chodesh. This connects to the explanation we have already learned in Iyov and elsewhere regarding the act of Creation: at first, the entire world was covered with water. What did Hashem do when He willed that dry land appear? He "stretched out the heavens like a curtain." In the past, people did not understand what "stretches out the heavens like a curtain" meant, since the sky seemed to be empty space, but today we know there is an atmosphere, what the Malbim defines as the "sphere of respiration" - that protective envelope around Planet Earth containing oxygen, whereas beyond it, on the moon and throughout space, there is no oxygen. Hashem stretched out the heavens, as it were, like a canopy wrapping the Earth.
Following this, the Holy One, blessed be He, evaporated the waters, and the water vapor mixed into the air remained within this sphere of respiration. This is the meaning of "Who roofs His upper chambers with water" - that He placed water in the heights, establishing the law of nature whereby water ascends and remains bound up in the clouds. Besides this, there are also higher waters; Chazal speak of the "upper waters" and "lower waters." We have previously explained that there are celestial bodies made entirely of ice, and occasionally ice meteorites enter our atmosphere; as they descend to Earth, the intense friction melts the ice into water, which falls as rain. Anyone interested can read about this in Rabbi Zamir Cohen's The Revolution (HaMahapach). But here we are not discussing those outer waters, but rather the waters within the sphere of respiration, the waters that ascended and are held within the clouds.
Through this, "the dry land appeared," and the mountains seemed to emerge from the deep, fulfilling "He established the earth upon its foundations" - how? By building His upper chambers in the heavens, as the vapors rose skyward. And thereby, "and established His vault (agudato) upon the earth" - the earth became bound together. What is an agudah (a bundle or union)? The Malbim explains that Chazal stated a bundle consists of no fewer than three: here on earth, the element of earth remained bound together with the elements of water and wind (air), and this forms the foundation of the physical structure. Recently, there was a terrible hurricane in the United States, "Irma": the letters Alef, Reish, Mem, Alef - eish (fire), ruach (wind), mayim (water), adamah (earth), all four foundational elements. And if you wish to add the letter Yud - who orchestrated all of this? The Yud, the Holy One, blessed be He. Everything comes from Him.
And by Hashem raising the waters to the heavens, the earth was bound together with the soil, and through this He set a boundary for the sea so that it would not break out of the bond with which He bound it to the earth, restraining the waters from covering the dry land. And this is the meaning of "Who calls for the waters of the sea and pours them out upon the face of the earth": the One Who raised the waters upward and set the sea into its place - when He wills it, He calls to the heavens and they bring down rain, and He calls to the sea and the sea covers the earth - a small tsunami, and suddenly entire countries are wiped out. Hashem, by His will, brings down the waters from above and spills the sea across the dry land. "Hashem is His name" - He is capable of doing all of this. If so, how can you rebel against His word, when He has the power to do all of this to whoever rebels against Him?
"Are You Not Like the Children of Cushites to Me?"
הֲלוֹא כִבְנֵי כֻשִׁיִּים אַתֶּם לִי בְּנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל נְאֻם־יְהוָה הֲלוֹא אֶת־יִשְׂרָאֵל הֶעֱלֵיתִי מֵאֶרֶץ מִצְרַיִם וּפְלִשְׁתִּיִּים מִכַּפְתּוֹר וַאֲרָם מִקִּיר׃ - Are you not like the children of Cushites to Me, O children of Israel? says Hashem. Did I not bring up Israel from the land of Egypt, and the Philistines from Caphtor, and Aram from Kir?
This sentence is obscure, and obscure verses elicit many interpretations. Rashi explains: Why should I refrain from punishing you? After all, you do not repent, and you descend from the sons of Noah just like the other nations, and you are like the Cushites in your deeds - "Can a Cushite change his skin?" Just as a Cushite cannot change his skin, so you do not change your deeds and conduct. And He says to them: "Did I not bring up Israel from the land of Egypt" - I took you out of Egypt, but was I obligated to do so? After all, I also brought the Philistines out of Caphtor - and Caphtor is Cappadocia according to Targum Yonatan, a region in Turkey. And when the Caphtorim attacked the Avvim - "and the Avvim who lived in villages as far as Gaza" - they also conquered the people of Gaza and the rest of the Philistine lords. And it is worth noting: the Caphtorim were a tiny nation, a nation of dwarf-like people the size of a button (kaftor), yet they conquered them. And behold, I delivered them from their hands; the Philistines were later rescued from them, yet I did not take them to be My people. But you, who were delivered into the hand of Egypt, I took you out of their hand and made you My people. And similarly, "and Aram from Kir": I am destined to bring them up from the place called Kir, "and he exiled them to Kir," where they would be exiled by Sennacherib, and I will bring them out from there as well - but was it in order to make them My people? You, I brought up from Egypt to make you My people, so why do you not walk in My ways?
Radak cites the words of Ibn Ezra in the name of Yefet: Cushite women were treated promiscuously, and the Cushites were notorious for licentiousness, as were slaves, such that no man knew who his father was; who his mother was was in great doubt, and who his father was he did not know at all. And He says to them: You were the children of one father; you are not like the Philistines who came from Caphtor, nor like Aram who came from Kir, who all intermingled with the nations among whom they lived, so that today it is impossible to know who is an authentic Philistine and who is an authentic Aramean. But with you this is not so, for it is known that the Jewish people did not intermingle with the nations in Egypt. And this is the meaning of "Did I not bring up Israel" - this is proof that I am your Father, as Moshe said, "Is He not your Father Who acquired you?" And Ibn Ezra adds that the letter mem of "from the land of Egypt" [me'eretz Mitzrayim] also applies to the continuation of the verse, meaning "and from the Philistines and from Caphtor," meaning that I saved and brought Israel out of all these places.
Another explanation is that of Radak's father: "Are you not like the children of Cushites" - a Cushite does not change his skin all his days; he is born a Cushite and remains a Cushite, and so too you do not change your deeds and remain the same.
Malbim: From Here On, Words of Consolation
Thus far the explanations of the commentators, who hold that from verse 7 until the end of the book in verse 15, the rebuke continues. But the Malbim explains that from here on it is no longer rebuke: Amos wishes to conclude with words of consolation, and from this point forward the words are positive. Consequently, we see that while the other commentators explain what follows in a negative light, the Malbim interprets it positively, for according to his approach, the prophecies of doom ended here, and the consolations begin.
"Are you not like the children of Cushites to Me" - you are distinct to Me like the children of Cushites. Just as a Cushite is always conspicuous, recognizable, and uniquely identifiable to his father, and is never lost because he stands out in the landscape, so you are recognizable and distinct to Me. That is, even though you have dispersed among the nations, you have not assimilated among them, you have not intermarried with them, and you have not bonded with them; you are always recognizable to Me: "All who see them shall acknowledge them, that they are the seed that Hashem has blessed," they are the children of the living God.
And proof of this: "Did I not bring up Israel from the land of Egypt." Even though they were there for many days, subjugated in Egypt for 210 years, despite all this they did not intermingle with the Egyptians. I brought Israel up completely separate from the nations, distinct in its name and lineage. There was only one exception, and Scripture publicized her - Shelomit bat Dibri - she was the only one violated by an Egyptian. But regarding all the others, it is written "Hanochite" [HaChanochi], "Palluite" [HaPallui], and Chazal say that Hashem placed the letter heh at the beginning and the letter yud at the end to testify about them that they are holy and pure, great-grandchildren and grandchildren of Yaakov without any mixture of those about whom it is said, "whose issue is like the issue of horses," without any Egyptian intermingling.
In contrast to this, He says to them: Did I really bring up the Philistines from Caphtor and Aram from Kir? The Philistines were conquered in ancient times by the Caphtorim and later returned to the land of the Philistines, yet nevertheless, was that still the "Philistines"? Those who were exiled to Caphtor had already become half-Philistine and half-Caphtorite, and when they came up, they were no longer the original Philistines. And similarly Aram, whom the king of Assyria would exile to Kir: when I bring Aram up from Kir, will it be Aram? It will be an Aram intermingled with the people of Kir, not the original Aram. For in exile they dissolved among the nations, and were no longer Philistines and Arameans but Caphtorites and Kirites, ceasing to exist as a distinct nation. But this is not so with you: when I brought you up from Egypt, you were the authentic Jewish nation, the children of Avraham, Yitzchak, and Yaakov without any change. The people of Israel alone did not intermarry or assimilate with them, and their seed became known among the nations.
"I Will Not Utterly Destroy the House of Yaakov"
הִנֵּה עֵינֵי אֲדֹנָי יֱהוִה בַּמַּמְלָכָה הַחַטָּאָה וְהִשְׁמַדְתִּי אֹתָהּ מֵעַל פְּנֵי הָאֲדָמָה אֶפֶס כִּי לֹא הַשְׁמֵיד אַשְׁמִיד אֶת־בֵּית יַעֲקֹב נְאֻם־יְהוָה׃ - Behold, the eyes of the Lord Hashem are upon the sinful kingdom, and I will destroy it from off the face of the earth; except that I will not utterly destroy the house of Jacob, says Hashem.
According to the Malbim, Hashem sets His attention to punish - take note - a kingdom from among the nations for its sins, and therefore this is a positive prophecy: I will punish the sinful kingdom and destroy it from off the face of the earth, and it shall no longer be a nation. But the House of Jacob I will not destroy. That is, even though they will be punished for their wicked deeds, total destruction will not occur, and Israel will always remain recognizable by their families, their customs, and their conduct.
However, according to the other commentators, who explain this as a prophecy of calamity, it refers to the Kingdom of Ephraim, and Rashi specifies: the House of Jehu. For these kings were wicked and sinful; from Jeroboam son of Nebat down to Hoshea son of Elah, all of them were wicked. Hashem says: Behold, My eyes are set upon them, upon the Kingdom of Israel, and I will destroy it. If so, will the people of Israel perish, Heaven forbid? Therefore, He states: I will destroy the kingdom, but I will not destroy the House of Jacob. In other words, the monarchy will be destroyed - and this is once again a harsh prophecy regarding Israel, but directed at their kings - while the House of Jacob, the mass of the people, will not be destroyed, but they will no longer have a king from among these wicked rulers.
The Righteousness of His Dispersion of Israel
כִּי־הִנֵּה אָנֹכִי מְצַוֶּה וַהֲנִעוֹתִי בְכָל־הַגּוֹיִם אֶת־בֵּית יִשְׂרָאֵל כַּאֲשֶׁר יִנּוֹעַ בַּכְּבָרָה וְלֹא־יִפּוֹל צְרוֹר אָרֶץ׃ - For behold, I command, and I will shake the house of Israel among all the nations, as grain is shaken in a sieve, yet not a single grain shall fall to the earth.
Here too, the Malbim explains that these words were spoken for good. Come and see the great Providence: the Holy One, blessed be He, will shake them among all the nations; they will be wanderers, dispersed among the peoples. According to those who explain this as a curse, it is dispersion among the nations. But the Malbim interprets it in a positive light: "the righteousness of His dispersion of Israel," that the dispersion itself is an act of charity and kindness. For had we been concentrated in one place, and had Hitler sought to destroy us, what would have remained of the Jewish people? But even had he destroyed all of Europe - which, by Hashem's grace, he did not succeed in doing - all the Jews of the East would still have remained; and had he reached the Eastern lands, there were still Jews in the Land of Israel; and had he come here, there were Jews in the Far East. In short, Jews are dispersed throughout the world, and it is impossible ever to destroy them all completely. Thus, this shaking - that the House of Israel will wander among all the nations - is what guarantees their survival: they will never cease to be a nation, nor will any nation be able to destroy them completely, for they will move from nation to nation, and through this they will endure.
Furthermore: "As one shakes a sieve." A sieve is a strainer. People would sift wheat and barley in a sieve, shaking it to cleanse the grain of waste. The waste is fine and falls through the holes of the sieve, while the solid grain - the full kernels containing flour - does not fall to the ground but remains inside the sieve. There was an additional benefit to these exiles: through the dispersion and exiles, the wicked would fall away and assimilate among the nations, whereas the righteous, bound up in the bundle of Torah and mitzvos, remain within the sieve and do not fall to the ground, holding fast to their faith. Thus, this too is a positive promise: those elements resembling the Erev Rav, those defective elements, will separate from us and remain behind among the nations. And on the contrary, others from among the nations will come and convert; and the holy Or HaChaim wrote that this is part of the purpose of exile, so that those holy sparks that fell among the nations will return and join the Jewish people.
Those Who Deny Divine Providence
בַּחֶרֶב יָמוּתוּ כֹּל חַטָּאֵי עַמִּי הָאֹמְרִים לֹא־תַגִּישׁ וְתַקְדִּים בַּעֲדֵינוּ הָרָעָה׃ - All the sinners of My people shall die by the sword, who say: "The evil shall not approach nor overtake us."
And what will happen to those who are like the chaff falling through the sieve to the ground? "All the sinners of My people shall die by the sword." These are the ones who say "it will not approach" - that incoming misfortune is merely coincidental, neither guided by Providence nor brought on by their wicked deeds, as if evil does not deliberately approach them to inflict punishment. What is the difference between something that "approaches" and a mishap that occurs suddenly? "Approaching" implies intention - as in, "I approached him and spoke with him"; approaching is an action done with premeditation, whereas an accident occurs on its own. They claim: evil exists, but there is no intentional approach here, meaning the misfortune is not from Hashem, not planned, and not guided by Providence. What can one do, there was a storm, and in the storm we took a blow as well. They fail to understand that there is a design at work here.
And they add, "nor overtake us" - they do not believe that their deeds hasten the arrival of misfortune. For when one multiplies wicked deeds, calamity arrives ahead of its time, because the evil deeds bring it forward. Yet they claim that calamity is completely independent of timing, that everything is coincidental, and that it does not arrive earlier upon the wicked before it strikes the righteous. Consequently, through this attitude they deny reward and punishment.
I Will Raise Up the Fallen Sukkah of David
בַּיּוֹם הַהוּא אָקִים אֶת־סֻכַּת דָּוִיד הַנֹּפֶלֶת וְגָדַרְתִּי אֶת־פִּרְצֵיהֶן וַהֲרִסֹתָיו אָקִים וּבְנִיתִיהָ כִּימֵי עוֹלָם׃ - On that day I will raise up the fallen sukkah of David, and I will wall up their breaches, and its ruins I will raise up, and I will build it as in days of old.
At first, the Malbim explains, the House of David was fully built and established - a permanent house, an unbroken royal dynasty passed down from generation to generation. In the second stage, it was no longer a house but a sukkah, and that was during the Second Temple era: the monarchy of the House of David had ceased, and we no longer had kings from his line. Those who ruled were the Chashmonaim, and later Herod, a servant who rose to kingship - but not the dynasty of David. Even so, one cannot say the house was completely destroyed; rather, it was like a sukkah. Why a sukkah? Because there were still Nesi'im (princes) from the House of David: Hillel was from the seed of David, Rebbi [Rabbi Yehudah HaNasi] was from the seed of David, Rabban Gamliel - there were still leaders of the Davidic line. A house was gone, but a sukkah remained. A Nasi is not a king, yet it preserves continuity. But in this long exile, the Nesi'im ceased as well, and today we have no Nasi from the House of David.
The Holy One, blessed be He, comes and promises: I will raise up the sukkah of David. First, I will raise up someone from David's line to lead the nation like the leadership of the Nesi'im; the monarchy will not return all at once, but initially as the rule of a Nasi. The Malbim explains that it was already clarified in the Book of Yechezkel that the sun that will shine for the House of David - when it returns to radiate light, as in "Speedily cause the sprout of David Your servant to flourish" - will arrive in three stages. As explained in the lessons on Yechezkel chapter 34, it is written there: "He shall feed them and he shall be their shepherd," "And I, the Lord, will be their God," and "My servant David shall be a prince among them" - three stages in the restoration of the Davidic dynasty.
First: the man from the House of David "shall feed them" - he will lead them and compel them to execute justice and righteousness. With this, a sukkah begins to rise; it is not yet a permanent building, but the sukkah of David, meaning the leadership from David's line, will return. Yet the sukkah is still in ruins. In the second stage, the Jewish people accept upon themselves the yoke of the Kingdom of Heaven and willingly accept his leadership, which is "and he shall be their shepherd." Indeed, there appears to be a redundancy in the verse - "he shall feed them and he shall be their shepherd" - are they not the same thing? No: at first "he shall feed them" by authority, and later they will accept his rule willingly: "I take him to be my shepherd."
Even so, this is not yet the final stage. Regarding this, our verse states: "and I will wall up their breaches" - by fencing the breaches of the generation, "and its ruins [harisotav] I will raise up." This is why it is written harisotav in the masculine form and not harisoteha in the feminine, even though it refers to a sukkah - because it points to David. Then the sukkah will be complete rather than ruined. And when is it complete? When the shepherd is accepted willingly. As long as one does not accept the shepherd and he rules by force, it is a ruined sukkah, for a leader lacks true power when his authority is not embraced willingly. But when the people willingly accept the prince - "its ruins I will raise up," a properly standing sukkah. Afterwards, the Kingdom of Heaven will be revealed, "And I, the Lord, will be their God," and through this, "and My servant David shall be a prince among them" - he will be the King Messiah. Then it is no longer a temporary sukkah but a permanent structure, and this is "and I will build it as in days of old": an established, enduring monarchy, not a sukkah but a permanent edifice - the true monarchy of the House of David.
"That they may possess the remnant of Edom"
לְמַעַן יִירְשׁוּ אֶת־שְׁאֵרִית אֱדוֹם וְכָל־הַגּוֹיִם אֲשֶׁר־נִקְרָא שְׁמִי עֲלֵיהֶם נְאֻם־יְהוָה עֹשֶׂה זֹּאת׃ - That they may possess the remnant of Edom, and all the nations upon whom My Name is called, says the Lord who does this.
The reality will be that most of Edom will fall in the war of Gog and Magog, and those who remain from them - all the nations who survive then - are called the remnant of Edom. Regarding them it is said, "upon whom My Name is called": those who will be willing to accept the sovereignty of Hashem and the true faith that Mashiach will teach them, until Hashem's Name is called upon them. For whoever does not accept the sovereignty of Hashem will perish in the war of Gog, while whoever accepts it will have the Name of Hashem upon him, and all this will be an inheritance for Mashiach.
Here the Malbim offers an innovative explanation. The commentators, Ibn Ezra and Radak, explain that the verse should be read as though inverted: "so that those upon whom My Name is called may possess the remnant of Edom" - meaning the Jewish people, upon whom Hashem's Name is called, will inherit the remnant of Edom. For according to its literal reading, it appears as though the remnant of Edom will possess, which led them to explain that the wording is inverted. The Malbim explains: according to our interpretation, this is unnecessary. Rather, "that they may possess" - the remnant of Edom are themselves the ones upon whom "My Name is called," not Israel; even upon the remnant of Edom My Name will be called, and Mashiach will inherit them all.
Days of Abundance
הִנֵּה יָמִים בָּאִים נְאֻם־יְהוָה וְנִגַּשׁ חוֹרֵשׁ בַּקֹּצֵר וְדֹרֵךְ עֲנָבִים בְּמֹשֵׁךְ הַזָּרַע וְהִטִּיפוּ הֶהָרִים עָסִיס וְכָל־הַגְּבָעוֹת תִּתְמוֹגַגְנָה׃ - Behold, days are coming, says the Lord, when the plowman shall overtake the reaper, and the treader of grapes him who draws forth seed; and the mountains shall drip sweet wine, and all the hills shall melt.
See how much goodness these days will bring: the produce and fruits will be so abundant that harvesting will take a long time, and people will not finish reaping before plowing season arrives. When one has only a small field to reap, it takes two weeks and it is done, with ample time remaining before plowing. But when the yield is vast, one reaps and reaps for months, until someone says: sir, it is already time to plow the soil for next season's crops! Likewise, the treading of the grapes will extend until the time of sowing, all due to the sheer abundance of grain and grapes. This mirrors what is written in the Torah, "And your threshing shall reach to the vintage, and the vintage shall reach to the sowing time" - you will be threshing and already it is time for the vintage; you will be harvesting grapes and already it is time for sowing.
And the matter will be so wondrous, that from the sheer abundance and quality of the produce, the mountains will drip sweet wine (asis) from the fruit-nectar dripping down the hillsides; and Rashi explains asis - good and sweet wine. "And all the hills will melt" - the hills upon which cattle and flocks graze will melt from the abundance of milk, as it is written, "and the hills will flow with milk." And even though "milk" is not explicitly stated here, the commentators - Ibn Ezra and after him Radak - have already explained that Scripture relies on the discerning reader, as is the way of Scripture in many places, and Radak brings several proofs for this. And why must we interpret it this way? Because the matter is stated explicitly elsewhere, "will melt with milk," and therefore here too the intention is to an abundance of milk, for there will be numerous cattle and sheep, and consequently milk will abound.
"And I Will Restore the Captivity of My People Israel"
וְשַׁבְתִּי אֶת־שְׁבוּת עַמִּי יִשְׂרָאֵל וּבָנוּ עָרִים נְשַׁמּוֹת וְיָשָׁבוּ וְנָטְעוּ כְרָמִים וְשָׁתוּ אֶת־יֵינָם וְעָשׂוּ גַנּוֹת וְאָכְלוּ אֶת־פְּרִיהֶם׃ - And I will restore the captivity of My people Israel, and they shall rebuild the desolate cities and inhabit them, and plant vineyards and drink their wine, and make gardens and eat their fruit.
"And I will restore the captivity of My people Israel" - Hashem will return them to their stature and spiritual level. Yet there is a difficulty here: you just said, "The plowman shall overtake the reaper, and the treader of grapes him who sows seed" - and where is all this occurring? Here, in the Holy Land. If so, what is the meaning of "And I will restore the captivity of My people Israel" - isn't the nation already here? According to the reality of our days, this can be resolved quite simply: this is precisely our reality today. The agricultural produce here in the Land is among the most prolific in the world and has won multiple international awards, and we see a reality where all the hills melt with milk, yet the captivity of My people Israel has not fully returned, since the majority of the Jewish people, unfortunately, is still in the Diaspora. One could therefore resolve that this bounty occurs even before everyone returns.
However, the Malbim explains that "And I will restore the captivity of My people Israel" means that Hashem will restore them to their true stature. That is, it is not merely that they will return here and enjoy economic prosperity. For one can have economic prosperity while still being downtrodden in the eyes of the nations - where this or that president of the United States dictates whether you may build a balcony in Jerusalem or not. What then is your reality? There is abundance, true, but what can you do when you are subservient to the nations? Hashem says: I will restore the captivity of My people Israel - I will restore them to their prestige and stature. Through this, "and they shall rebuild desolate cities" - no one will dictate to you where to build, not the European Union, not America, and not Congress, and no one will say to you, "This is occupied territory"; cities that were desolate, you will be able to build. And the Malbim notes that this restoration of captivity, which is a restoration to their rightful standing, parallels the prophecies found in Jeremiah 31:18.
Radak explains "and they shall drink their wine" and "eat their fruit": building and planting alone are still not enough, for enemies might very well come and enjoy what is here. Indeed, we have seen many times throughout history that economic abundance only encouraged enemies to come and plunder the crops, as in the days of Gideon, when the people would harvest and the Midianites would come and seize everything. Therefore, Scripture promises: they will plant vineyards and drink their wine, and make gardens and eat their fruit - no foreign nation will come and take anything; you will plant and you will enjoy the fruits of your labor. When you did not do the will of Hashem, the nations indeed came and took it, but here, when you fulfill the will of Hashem, it will be as stated in Isaiah: "They shall build houses and inhabit them; they shall plant vineyards and eat their fruit."
The Conclusion of the Book
וּנְטַעְתִּים עַל־אַדְמָתָם וְלֹא יִנָּתְשׁוּ עוֹד מֵעַל אַדְמָתָם אֲשֶׁר נָתַתִּי לָהֶם אָמַר יְהוָה אֱלֹהֶיךָ׃ - And I will plant them upon their land, and they shall no more be uprooted from their land which I have given them, said the Lord your God.
"And I will plant them" - like a firmly planted tree; just as a planted tree does not move from its place, so Hashem tells them that there will never again be another exile. In that reality, after the redemption, they will fulfill the will of Hashem constantly, the yetzer hara (evil inclination) will no longer exist - "They shall not hurt nor destroy in all My holy mountain" - and consequently, there will be no further need for exile. "Said the Lord your God" - here Hashem addresses Amos personally: this I say to you. They will not be uprooted, and they will never go into exile again. May Hashem redeem us with an everlasting redemption. Completed is the Book of Amos.
In Summary:
Chapter 9 opens with the vision of Hashem standing upon the altar and a decree of destruction from which there is no escape - neither in the netherworld, nor in heaven, nor on Mount Carmel, nor on the seabed, nor in captivity - teaching that everything occurs by Divine providence and not by chance. The classic commentators understood the altar to be the altar of the Beit HaMikdash and the prophecy as one of rebuke and calamity, whereas the Malbim understood it as the altar of Beit El, referring to the rebellion against Hoshea son of Elah and the division of the nation into two factions, which was the beginning of their downfall. From verse 7 onward, the focus turns to words of consolation: Israel remains distinct and recognizable to Hashem like the children of the Cushites and did not assimilate among the nations, the sinful kingdom will be destroyed while the House of Jacob will not be destroyed, and our dispersal among the nations is itself the guarantee of our survival - as the chaff falls through the sieve while the kernel remains. And in conclusion: the raising up of David's fallen sukkah in three stages - a ruler by force, a ruler by consensus, and an eternal monarchy as in days of old - days of abundance in which the plowman shall overtake the reaper, the restoration of Israel to their stature and spiritual level, and a planting upon the soil from which they will never again be uprooted.