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Thy wife shall be a harlot - As this was the word of the Lord, so it was fulfilled; but as we have no farther account of this idolatrous priest, so we cannot tell in what circumstances these threatenings were executed.

1. His wife was to be a public prostitute; she was probably such already privately in the temple, as the wife of an idolatrous priest.

His sons and daughters were to fall by the sword.

Their inheritance was to be taken by strangers.

And himself was to die a captive in a heathen land.

Israel shall surety go into captivity -

He now declares fully what he had not declared before, though Amaziah had made it a subject of accusation. This particular was probably revealed at this instant, as well as those which concerned Amaziah and his family.

Thy wife shall be a harlot - These were, and still are, among the horrors of war. His own sentence comes last, when he had seen the rest, unable to hinder it. Against his and her own will, she should suffer this. Jerome: “Great is the grief, and incredible the disgrace, when the husband, in the midst of the city and in the presence of all, cannot hinder the wrong done to his wife, for the husband had rather hear that his wife had been slain, than defiled.” What he adds “thy daughters” (as well as his “sons”) “shall fall by the sword,” is an unwonted barbarity, and not part of the Assyrian customs, who carried off women in great numbers, as wives for their soldiery.

Perhaps Amos mentions the unwonted cruelty, that the event might bring home the more to the minds of the people the prophecies which relate to themselves. When this had been fulfilled before his eyes, “Amaziah himself, who now gloried in the authority of the priesthood, was to be led into captivity, die in a land polluted by idols, yet not before be saw the people whom he had deceived, enslaved and captive.” Amos closes by repeating emphatically the exact words, which Amaziah had alleged in his message to Jeroboam; “and Israel shall surely go into captivity forth of his land.” He had not said it before in these precise words. Now he says it, without reserve of their repentance, as though he would say, “Thou hast pronounced thine own sentence; thou hast hardened thyself against the word of God; thou hardenest thy people against the word of God; it remains then that it should fall on thee and thy people.” Rup.: “How and when the prophecy against Amaziah was fulfilled, Scripture does not relate. He lies hid amid the mass of miseries”. Scripture hath no leisure to relate all which befalls those of the viler sort “The majesty of Holy Scripture does not lower itself to linger on baser persons, whom God had rejected.

It is no new thing for the accusers of the brethren, to misrepresent them as enemies to the king and kingdom, as traitors to their prince, and troublers of the land, when they are the best friends to both. Those who make gain their godliness, and are governed by the hopes of wealth and preferment, are ready to think these the most powerful motives with others also. But those who have a warrant from God, like Amos, ought not to fear the face of man. If God, that sent him, had not strengthened him, he could not thus have set his face as a flint. The Lord often chooses the weak and foolish things of the world to confound the wise and mighty. But no fervent prayers, or self-denying labours, can bring proud sinners to bear faithful reproofs and warnings. And all who oppose or despise the Divine word, must expect fatal effects to their souls, unless they repent.

“The houses of ivory shall perish, and the great houses shall have an end, saith the Lord.” “The Lord God of hosts is He that toucheth the land, and it shall melt, and all that dwell therein shall mourn.” “Thy sons and thy daughters shall fall by the sword, and thy land shall be divided by line; and thou shalt die in a polluted land: and Israel shall surely go into captivity forth of his land.” “Because I will do this unto thee, prepare to meet thy God, O Israel.” Amos 9:8-10; 3:15; Amos 9:5; 7:17; Amos 4:12. PK 286.1

For a season these predicted judgments were stayed, and during the long reign of Jeroboam II the armies of Israel gained signal victories; but this time of apparent prosperity wrought no change in the hearts of the impenitent, and it was finally decreed, “Jeroboam shall die by the sword, and Israel shall surely be led away captive out of their own land.” Amos 7:11. PK 286.2

The boldness of this utterance was lost on king and people, so far had they gone in impenitence. Amaziah, a leader among the idolatrous priests at Bethel, stirred by the plain words spoken by the prophet against the nation and their king, said to Amos, “O thou seer, go, flee thee away into the land of Judah, and there eat bread, and prophesy there: but prophesy not again any more at Bethel: for it is the king's chapel, and it is the king's court.” Verses 12, 13. PK 286.3

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