Cyril of Alexandria — Commentary on Scripture | TrulyRandomVerse

On Amos

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Amos 2:6

"They sell the righteous for silver, and the needy for a pair of sandals": They did not endure to speak rightly and justly, and to render for each of those being judged the justice that accords with the law. But if it happened that a man was righteous, sober and gentle, modest and unboastful; for such a one would be understood as both righteous and needy, or poor in spirit; being brought to judgment by one of the more powerful, this man is sold to his enemies, although the law clearly proclaimed, "You shall not take person in judgment;" and again, "You shall not slay the innocent and the just." For the one entrusted with judging is certainly established in the order of God, to whom alone judging is proper. "For there is one lawgiver and judge," according to the voice of the saint. Therefore, the one who falsifies the account of justice and shows partiality will certainly insult the divine dignity, and offends God who says, "Execute true judgment, and show mercy and compassion every one to his brother." He accuses them, therefore, of selling the just and the needy to their enemies, an…

"They sell the righteous for silver, and the needy for a pair of sandals": They did not endure to speak rightly and justly, and to render for each of those being judged the justice that accords with the law. But if it happened that a man was righteous, sober and gentle, modest and unboastful; for such a one would be understood as both righteous and needy, or poor in spirit; being brought to judgment by one of the more powerful, this man is sold to his enemies, although the law clearly proclaimed, "You shall not take person in judgment;" and again, "You shall not slay the innocent and the just." For the one entrusted with judging is certainly established in the order of God, to whom alone judging is proper. "For there is one lawgiver and judge," according to the voice of the saint. Therefore, the one who falsifies the account of justice and shows partiality will certainly insult the divine dignity, and offends God who says, "Execute true judgment, and show mercy and compassion every one to his brother." He accuses them, therefore, of selling the just and the needy to their enemies, and of being accustomed to doing this for the sake of a few and most worthless gains, which would scarcely suffice for those who received them for the purchase of sandals.

Commentary on Amos
Amos 2:6
He does not leave him unpunished, but rather subjects to punishments Israel, that is, the tribes in Samaria. And that they themselves, sinning unguardedly, have all but consumed the tranquility owed by God to the weak, the turning away for three and four sins would show, which having suffered they must necessarily be subjected to terrible things, and be in every evil. Therefore, the divine David, fearing this thing, and knowing it to be a cause of destruction, implored, saying, "Do not turn Your face from me, and do not turn away in wrath from Your servant." For wrath always follows, and, as it were, accompanies the turnings away.

Commentary on Amos
Amos 3:1

The word might be understood as having come against all of Israel, no longer taking Judah and Ephraim in part, but with the whole race gathered as if into one; for every tribe of Israel was brought up from Egypt. Therefore, with none being left out, he commands them to hear the things from God. And what were these things? For there are countless, he says, cities and countries throughout the whole world under heaven, and those in them are beyond number, but you from Israel out of all I have made chosen, I made myself manifest through many wonders, I delivered you from bitter and unbearable slavery, I declared you enviable and thrice-blessed, I have instructed you by law for what is pleasing to me, I have fortified you with my assistance, and I have brought you into the land promised to the fathers. But since you alone, he says, out of all who have been deemed worthy of so conspicuous a grace have not ceased grieving and have offended in many ways, for this reason I will henceforth demand of you an account of your folly, I will no longer tolerate those who sin and have an unreproved in…

The word might be understood as having come against all of Israel, no longer taking Judah and Ephraim in part, but with the whole race gathered as if into one; for every tribe of Israel was brought up from Egypt. Therefore, with none being left out, he commands them to hear the things from God. And what were these things? For there are countless, he says, cities and countries throughout the whole world under heaven, and those in them are beyond number, but you from Israel out of all I have made chosen, I made myself manifest through many wonders, I delivered you from bitter and unbearable slavery, I declared you enviable and thrice-blessed, I have instructed you by law for what is pleasing to me, I have fortified you with my assistance, and I have brought you into the land promised to the fathers. But since you alone, he says, out of all who have been deemed worthy of so conspicuous a grace have not ceased grieving and have offended in many ways, for this reason I will henceforth demand of you an account of your folly, I will no longer tolerate those who sin and have an unreproved inclination for this. Therefore, to despise God and to disregard the master's will is a cause of destruction for anyone henceforth who has known him, or has been known by him, in the manner of spiritual kinship.

Commentary on Amos
Amos 3:3
He therefore accuses them, because they claimed that the prophets from Him did not convey words from above and from God; but rather they thought that things were being uttered from their own opinion, and that they were speaking things different from what seemed good to the Lord of all. For this reason He says, O foolish and senseless ones, will any of you become friends and walk the same path of life, not having known yourselves, or rather one another; that is, unless they have seen one another to be of the same character and like-minded? "For every creature loves its like, and a man will cleave to his like." And if this is true, how could I have accepted the prophets, as it were, into friendship and love, being holy Myself, if they too had not become holy? How then do you persecute the saints, to whom I have entrusted My words, whom I have accepted as good, as it were walking the same road of My wills? For whatever I might wish, this is also their will. Therefore, to rebuke the prophets is nothing other than to direct the rebuke against Me.

Commentary on Amos
Amos 3:4

Those who study the habits of wild beasts say that the lion, when it is in need of food, roams about powerfully through mountains and glens and forests, turning its eye this way and that, and seeking to catch something of the animals grazing in the woods. But when it sees something suitable for food, then it comes near and makes its attack, roaring terribly and harshly. Why then, He says, do you accuse God, because He makes the threat before the attack of terrible things? And why do you gnash your teeth at the prophets themselves, because they too have cried out against your impiety? For I am like a lion, He says, which is accustomed to roar before the hunt, all but threatening the attack beforehand, and the prophets are like cubs, imitating my custom. But just as for the animals in the mountains the hunter's shout beforehand is not entirely unprofitable, scaring them to flight before they happen to be caught, so also for sinners the threat and prediction before the terrible things is exceedingly useful, leading them to repentance and avoidance of what is impending. God, therefore, c…

Those who study the habits of wild beasts say that the lion, when it is in need of food, roams about powerfully through mountains and glens and forests, turning its eye this way and that, and seeking to catch something of the animals grazing in the woods. But when it sees something suitable for food, then it comes near and makes its attack, roaring terribly and harshly. Why then, He says, do you accuse God, because He makes the threat before the attack of terrible things? And why do you gnash your teeth at the prophets themselves, because they too have cried out against your impiety? For I am like a lion, He says, which is accustomed to roar before the hunt, all but threatening the attack beforehand, and the prophets are like cubs, imitating my custom. But just as for the animals in the mountains the hunter's shout beforehand is not entirely unprofitable, scaring them to flight before they happen to be caught, so also for sinners the threat and prediction before the terrible things is exceedingly useful, leading them to repentance and avoidance of what is impending. God, therefore, compares himself to a lion that does not leap upon and bring things from his wrath upon some, unless he first makes known the threat, so that by repenting they might be saved, receiving the prediction of the things that will be as a medicine for salvation before the onset of the terrible things.

Commentary on Amos
Amos 3:5
The discourse is now made by way of comparison. For fowlers most skillfully bring down the sparrows that have settled in the plants, and with snares, on the other hand, some crush what is caught. But the discourse now seems to signify through the sparrows those who are accustomed to think lofty things, the boastful in mind and arrogant in spirit, and not enduring to be brought down with the lowly; and through those caught in snares, the lovers of earthly things, and those who seek only carnal and fattening things. And God again compares himself to a fowler and a snare, bringing the proud down to the earth, and as it were crushing and hunting for punishment those who mind only the things on earth. But those from Israel were boastful, despising God and rejecting prophets and dishonoring the law; and they were no less also exceedingly greedy for the things in the world, and seeking only the things on earth, overcome by whose strange desires they did not accept the word of God, but opposed those who call to virtue.

Commentary on Amos
Amos 3:6

But perhaps you say that the outcome of these matters grieves you not moderately. Will there then be an affliction in a city, perchance, which the Lord has not done? It is like as if one should say: Will there then be anyone among men able to afflict a city either with diseases or sieges or destructions of crops or even in some other such way? But if no one of men could do such things, and it lies rather in the authority and power of God, why are you angry with those who announce it beforehand? And yet it is necessary to repent, and by inclinations to this to appease him the one who is grieved and has the power to harm those who have sinned. Therefore, in these matters, we shall understand the 'evil' that comes from God in the cities not as wickedness—far from it!—but rather as an affliction, that is, the wrath and movement for whatever reason, which He might bring upon sinners, persuading them to turn back to what is more fitting. For it is written that, "With bit and bridle you shall restrain the jaws of those who do not draw near to you." For since He is good, and "wishes all peop…

But perhaps you say that the outcome of these matters grieves you not moderately. Will there then be an affliction in a city, perchance, which the Lord has not done? It is like as if one should say: Will there then be anyone among men able to afflict a city either with diseases or sieges or destructions of crops or even in some other such way? But if no one of men could do such things, and it lies rather in the authority and power of God, why are you angry with those who announce it beforehand? And yet it is necessary to repent, and by inclinations to this to appease him the one who is grieved and has the power to harm those who have sinned. Therefore, in these matters, we shall understand the 'evil' that comes from God in the cities not as wickedness—far from it!—but rather as an affliction, that is, the wrath and movement for whatever reason, which He might bring upon sinners, persuading them to turn back to what is more fitting. For it is written that, "With bit and bridle you shall restrain the jaws of those who do not draw near to you." For since He is good, and "wishes all people to be saved and to come to the knowledge of truth," He somehow compels them by means of wrath toward what is better, and sometimes powerfully moves, with terrors and threats, those whom reason and the guidance of what is beneficial do not persuade.

Commentary on Amos
Amos 3:8

"A lion will roar, and who will not be afraid? The Lord God has spoken, and who will not prophesy?" It is not the prophets, he says, who bring on the things that come from wrath; how could they? For they are also human in nature, just like you, but they have been honored by God by learning all the things that He might wish to fulfill, and to bring upon cities and lands either good things, perhaps, or things that are accustomed to cause pain. But perhaps you say to this: Let them learn, if you wish; let them be enriched by you with the knowledge of future events; let all the mysteries be made clear to them; but let them speak to no one, nor let them sound anything in the ears of those who reject them. What then is the reply to this from God? A lion will roar and who will not be afraid? For if, he says, when the lion roars, the most powerful of beasts, there would not be anyone so hard-hearted and arrogant as not to receive fear, how, when God, who is above all, speaks and commands them to announce what they learn, would they not fear the one who has commanded them? For they are not, l…

"A lion will roar, and who will not be afraid? The Lord God has spoken, and who will not prophesy?" It is not the prophets, he says, who bring on the things that come from wrath; how could they? For they are also human in nature, just like you, but they have been honored by God by learning all the things that He might wish to fulfill, and to bring upon cities and lands either good things, perhaps, or things that are accustomed to cause pain. But perhaps you say to this: Let them learn, if you wish; let them be enriched by you with the knowledge of future events; let all the mysteries be made clear to them; but let them speak to no one, nor let them sound anything in the ears of those who reject them. What then is the reply to this from God? A lion will roar and who will not be afraid? For if, he says, when the lion roars, the most powerful of beasts, there would not be anyone so hard-hearted and arrogant as not to receive fear, how, when God, who is above all, speaks and commands them to announce what they learn, would they not fear the one who has commanded them? For they are not, like you, scornful and unyielding, holding in no account the things that seem good to the Lord of all.

Commentary on Amos
Amos 4:11
In this he was probably suggesting to us the eventual sacking that happened in the time of Jeremiah by the hand of Nebuchadnezzar, who took the whole of Judea, set fire even to Jerusalem itself and its neighboring cities and towns, pulled down the divine Temple, took captive the survivors from the fighting, and as a glorious conqueror went back home with the captives, who finally returned to Judea at the completion of the period of 70 years.

Commentary on Amos
Amos 4:12
Since initial measures did not suffice, He proceeded to an overthrow similar to the Sodomites; this was the kind of thing, as he said, that was inflicted on them by divine wrath. Therefore prepare to call upon your God, O Israel: Since he did not benefit from being chastised, let him prepare himself for an encounter with God, accepting repentance and adopting a lifestyle calculated to appease Him.

Commentary on Amos
Amos 5:14

Seek good and not evil, that you may live, and so it will be the Lord God the Almighty with you; in the manner that you said, We have hated evil and loved good, and establish judgment in the gates, so that the Lord God the Almighty may have mercy on the remnant of Joseph. Therefore, in the manner you have spoken, he says, seek good and not evil, so that you may gain well-being by living and being saved, and the Lord God, who has authority over all, may be with you. And establish judgment in the gates, that is, become upright judges; not recording an unjust vote against the weaker; not misrepresenting the power of the just; nor indeed striking the heads of the poor; nor turning aside the way of the humble, so that God may henceforth have mercy on those left from Joseph from the captivities that have already occurred. Therefore, it is necessary to think rightly, and to correct our own minds, so that we must think the things pleasing to God, and achieve virtue, and cling to the ways of justice, and be wise guardians of uprightness; for thus we will have the God of all with us and defend…

Seek good and not evil, that you may live, and so it will be the Lord God the Almighty with you; in the manner that you said, We have hated evil and loved good, and establish judgment in the gates, so that the Lord God the Almighty may have mercy on the remnant of Joseph. Therefore, in the manner you have spoken, he says, seek good and not evil, so that you may gain well-being by living and being saved, and the Lord God, who has authority over all, may be with you. And establish judgment in the gates, that is, become upright judges; not recording an unjust vote against the weaker; not misrepresenting the power of the just; nor indeed striking the heads of the poor; nor turning aside the way of the humble, so that God may henceforth have mercy on those left from Joseph from the captivities that have already occurred. Therefore, it is necessary to think rightly, and to correct our own minds, so that we must think the things pleasing to God, and achieve virtue, and cling to the ways of justice, and be wise guardians of uprightness; for thus we will have the God of all with us and defending us.

Commentary on Amos
Amos 5:15
And again it signifies Ephraim, that is, the ten tribes. For as I have already said before, since Ephraim came from Joseph, for this reason he is also signified by his father's name.

Commentary on Amos
Amos 5:21
The word would be especially fitting for those from Judah and Benjamin. For the tribes in Samaria to the worship of idols being wholly attached, they were found to be very slothful and greatly negligent of the laws given through Moses; but those in Jerusalem sacrificed on the high places to Baal and offered libations to the host of heaven, yet in addition to this they pretended to take care to show reverence for the law, and to be eager to fulfill both sacrifices and feasts. But that the Creator of all things has hated these things, he also made clear through the voice of Isaiah, saying, "Hear the word of the Lord, you rulers of Sodom; attend to the law of God, you people of Gomorrah. What is the multitude of your sacrifices to me, says the Lord? I am full of the burnt offerings of rams, and the fat of lambs and the blood of bulls and goats I do not desire."

Commentary on Amos
Amos 5:24
And judgment shall roll down as water, and righteousness as an impassable torrent. The righteous verdict against them will be like an impassable torrent, that is, dragging away what falls into it and sparing nothing. For when God drives someone into destruction and troubles, who is the one who will save? Who is the one who will help and deliver from judgment? Or what way will there be, by which if one passed through, he might be outside of the evils? None at all. "For who will turn back the high hand?" And, "If he shuts a man in, who can open it?" according to what is written.

Commentary on Amos
Amos 9:11
The tent of David means the race of the Jews. It must be known that after Cyrus had freed Israel from captivity, they returned to Judea and built the temple of God. Then, after they had again fortified the cities that had been destroyed before, they lived in security day by day for a long time. While such is the factual reference in the passage, the deeper meaning closer to reality would be in Christ. For since, as I said, Christ came back to life; for the Father raised the tent of David, and rebuilt its ruins, a great and abundant participation in spiritual goods has come upon all people, both Greeks and Jews; "For God is one, who has justified the circumcision by faith, and the uncircumcision through faith." Therefore, a very great supply of spiritual fruits is given to those who have believed, which is very well signified through earthly fruits.

Commentary on Amos
Amos 9:13

And the mountains drip sweetness. Therefore, the mountains, as it seems, here he calls the churches of Christ, on account of the loftiness of the doctrines in them, and the excellence of their piety towards God, and because the mountains appear to be covered with various plants, while the churches of Christ have countless heads of saints, like cedars and the tallest trees, which are established by the outlets of spiritual waters. But just as in the most wooded of mountains, swarms of bees flying about produce the sweet and precious honey; so again also in the churches, those who are more distinguished than others and more mature in virtue and understanding, collecting the sweet honey of the teaching about Christ, practically make it drip even into the hearts of others. Therefore, the mountains will drip sweetness in this way, I think. And he said the hills will be planted together. But hills are like those who are second and have less in virtue than those who are exceedingly distinguished in it. For there are measures of holiness and righteousness in the churches, and as Paul says, "…

And the mountains drip sweetness. Therefore, the mountains, as it seems, here he calls the churches of Christ, on account of the loftiness of the doctrines in them, and the excellence of their piety towards God, and because the mountains appear to be covered with various plants, while the churches of Christ have countless heads of saints, like cedars and the tallest trees, which are established by the outlets of spiritual waters. But just as in the most wooded of mountains, swarms of bees flying about produce the sweet and precious honey; so again also in the churches, those who are more distinguished than others and more mature in virtue and understanding, collecting the sweet honey of the teaching about Christ, practically make it drip even into the hearts of others. Therefore, the mountains will drip sweetness in this way, I think. And he said the hills will be planted together. But hills are like those who are second and have less in virtue than those who are exceedingly distinguished in it. For there are measures of holiness and righteousness in the churches, and as Paul says, "According to the grace given to each" by God who distributes such things. Therefore, these also will be planted together, he says, that is, flourishing and fruitful, and bearing a mind richly covered with the orthodoxy of divine doctrines.

Commentary on Amos
Amos 9:15
And that the God of all has restored our captivity, no one would doubt. For Christ proclaimed "release to the captives," and He rescued from the greed of the devil the whole world under heaven. Then indeed, then, like farmers, we became caretakers of all the spiritual fruitfulness, we planted gardens and vineyards, and we shall eat their fruit. For we shall receive the rewards for our labors, and we shall also gather the fruits of equity. And that we shall have an unshakable dwelling with God, and that no one could cast out those who are in the lots once given by him, he will make clear by saying, "I will plant them upon their land which I have given them, says the Lord God." "For the gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable," and we will be established in every good thing, having Christ himself as our leader and festival-president; through whom and with whom to God the Father be the glory and the power with the Holy Spirit for ever and ever. Amen.

Commentary on Amos