Amos 5:15

Hate the evil, and love the good, and establish judgment in the gate: it may be that the LORD God of hosts will be gracious unto the remnant of Joseph.

EXPOSITORY (ENGLISH BIBLE)

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary

5:7-17 The same almighty power can, for repenting sinners, easily turn affliction and sorrow into prosperity and joy, and as easily turn the prosperity of daring sinners into utter darkness. Evil times will not bear plain dealing; that is, evil men will not. And these men were evil men indeed, when wise and good men thought it in vain even to speak to them. Those who will seek and love that which is good, may help to save the land from ruin. It behoves us to plead God's spiritual promises, to beseech him to create in us a clean heart, and to renew a right spirit within us. The Lord is ever ready to be gracious to the souls that seek him; and then piety and every duty will be attended to. But as for sinful Israel, God's judgments had often passed by them, now they shall pass through them.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

Hate the evil and love the good - Man will not cease wholly to "seek evil," unless he "hate" it; nor will he "seek good," unless he "love" it. Jerome: "He 'hateth evil,' who not only is not overcome by pleasure, but hates its deeds; and he 'loveth good,' who, not unwillingly or of necessity or from fear, doth what is good, but because it is good." Dionysius: "Evil of sin must be hated, in and for itself; the sinner must not be hated in himself, but only the evil in him." They hated him, who reproved them; he bids them hate sin. They "set down righteousness on the ground;" he bids them, "establish," literally, "set up firmly, judgment in the gate." To undo, as far as anyone can, the effects of past sin, is among the first-fruits of repentance.

It may be that the Lord God of Hosts will be gracious - o: "He speaks so, in regard of the changeableness and uncertainty, not in God, but in man. There is no question but that God is gracious to all who "hate evil and love good;" but He doth not always deliver them from temporal calamity or captivity, because it is not for their salvation. Yet had Israel "hated evil and loved good," perchance He would have delivered them from captivity, although He frequently said, they should be carried captive. For so He said to the two tribes in Jeremiah, "Amend your ways, and your doings, and I will cause you to dwell in this place" Jeremiah 7:3. But since God knew that most of them would not repent, He saith not, "will be gracious unto Israel," but, "unto the remnant of Joseph, that is, "the remnant, according to the election of grace" Romans 11:4-5; such as had been "the seven thousand who bowed not the knee unto Baal;" those who repented, while "the rest were hardened." He says, "Joseph," not Ephraim, in order to recall to them the deeds of their father. Jacob's blessing on Joseph descended upon Ephraim, but was forfeited by Jeroboam's "sin wherewith he made Israel to sin." Rup.: "Joseph in his deeds and sufferings was a type of Jesus Christ, in whom the remnant is saved." "A remnant," however, only, "should be saved;" so the prophet says;

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary

15. Hate … evil … love … good—(Isa 1:16, 17; Ro 12:9).

judgment in the gate—justice in the place where causes are tried.

it may be that the Lord … will be gracious—so, "peradventure" (Ex 32:30). Not that men are to come to God with an uncertainty whether or no He will be gracious: the expression merely implies the difficulty in the way, because of the want of true repentance on man's part, so as to stimulate the zealous earnestness of believers in seeking God (compare Ge 16:2; Joe 2:14; Ac 8:22).

the remnant of Joseph—(see Am 5:6). Israel (represented by "Ephraim," the leading tribe, and descendant of Joseph) was, as compared to what it once was, now but a remnant, Hazael of Syria having smitten all the coasts from Jordan eastward, Gilead and Bashan, Gad, Reuben, and Manasseh (2Ki 10:32, 33) [Henderson]. Rather, "the remnant of Israel that shall have been left after the wicked have been destroyed" [Maurer].

Matthew Poole's Commentary

Slight dislikes will do little in this ease, you rulers and judges must heartily

hate, and show that you hate, the evil, both ways, doings, contrivers, and abettors of the evil among the people and yourselves;

and love the good; commend, encourage, defend, and reward all good in others, and do it yourselves; let your heart be toward good things and good men.

Establish judgment in the gate: by this it is evident the prophet speaks to governors and judges among them: what the import of the phrase is see Amos 5:10,12. Set up honest and upright judges in every gate, where judges did sit in those days.

It may be that the Lord God of hosts will be gracious; possibly he will forgive, or abate or respite the evil days, possibly he may give you his gracious presence, and yet save

the remnant of Joseph; what the invasions of enemies, or the civil wars, have spared, and left in Samaria and Israel, the ten tribes: Amos 5:6.

Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible

Hate the evil, and love the good,.... Evil is not only not to be sought, but to be hated, especially the evil of sin, because of its evil nature, and pernicious effects and consequences; and, if it was for no other reason but because it is hateful and abominable unto God, therefore they that love him should hate evil, even with a perfect hatred; as all good men do, though it is present with them, and cleaves unto them, and they do it, Psalm 97:10; and "good" is to be loved for its goodness' sake; and the good effects of it; a good God is to be loved, and all good men, and all good things; the good word of God, and his commands and ordinances; and highly to be esteemed, and affectionately regarded:

and establish judgment in the gate; openly, publicly, in every court of judicature, which used to be kept in the gates of cities; not only execute judgment and justice in all, cases brought into court, but let it have its constant course, and be always practised according to the settled laws of it:

it may be that the Lord God of hosts will be gracious unto the remnant of Joseph: who should escape the fire that should break out of his house, and devour it, even the ten tribes, Amos 5:6; such of them as should seek the Lord, and that which is good; for in the worst of times God reserves a remnant for himself, as in the times of Elijah, Isaiah, Christ, and his apostles; a remnant according to the election of grace, to whom he has been gracious in the choice and reserve he has made of them; in the stores of grace he has hid up for them; in the provision and mission of his Son as a Saviour; and in waiting the time of their conversion, when he is gracious to them, in regenerating, quickening, pardoning, and justifying of them; and still will be in the visits of his love; in the supplies of his grace, in supporting them under afflictions, temptations, desertions, &c. and in giving them his word and ordinances for their comfort and relief: nor is this "may be" to be understood in a way of doubt or hesitation, but of good hope, yea, of a holy confidence; and so some render it, "without doubt the Lord God of hosts will be gracious" (g), &c. see Zephaniah 2:3.

(g) "sine dubio", Tarnovius; so Burkius.

Geneva Study Bible

Hate the evil, and love the good, and establish judgment in the gate: it may be that the LORD God of hosts will be gracious unto the remnant of Joseph.

EXEGETICAL (ORIGINAL LANGUAGES)

Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

15. The exhortation of Amos 5:14 is repeated in yet stronger terms: Hate the evil, and love the good. Cf. Isaiah 1:16 f.

establish judgment in the gate] Rather, set up firmly, set it standing, opposed to lay it on the ground, Amos 5:7. Judgement, like righteousness in Amos 5:7, is pictured as a concrete object, and almost personified: cf. Isaiah 59:14.

the remnant of Joseph] The prophet can hardly be thinking of the remnant to which ‘Joseph’ (Amos 5:6) had already been reduced by its many calamities (Amos 4:6-11); for he represents Israel in general as still wealthy and prosperous (cf. Amos 6:13). No doubt he has mentally in view the ‘remnant,’ to which he sees that before long it will have been actually reduced (cf. Amos 3:12), and which he pictures implicitly as including those who respond now to his present invitation to repent; a remnant, such as this, may peradventure merit Jehovah’s mercy (comp. Amos 9:8 f.). The passage contains in germ the doctrine of the preservation, through judgement, of a faithful remnant, which became shortly afterwards a distinctive feature in the teaching of Isaiah.

Pulpit Commentary

Verse 15. - Reverse your former conduct, undo what ye have done (ver. 10). This verse emphasizes the preceding; hating and loving are more real and hearty than mere seeking. The LXX. makes this clause to be what the people said, Ον τρόπον εἴπατε, μεμισήκαμεν τὰ πονρὰ καὶ ἠγαπήσαμεν τὰκαλά, "As ye said, We have hated evil, and loved good." Establish judgment. Maintain justice in your tribunals (in contrast to ver. 7); then it may be that the Lord will have mercy on you or some of you. The remnant of Joseph; implying that only a few of them will be saved after this heavy chastisement, which points to the final ruin of their city and nation. The prophet speaks of the "remnant of Joseph" instead of Ephraim, to remind them of their forefather, who received the patriarchal blessing of Jacob, for whose sake this remnant should be spared (comp. Isaiah 6:13; Isaiah 10:21, etc.; Joel 2:32; Romans 11:4, etc.). Amos 5:15

Keil and Delitzsch Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament

"Seek good, and not evil, that ye may live; and so Jehovah the God of hosts may be with you, as ye say. Amos 5:15. Hate evil, and love good, and set up justice in the gate; perhaps Jehovah the God of hosts will show favour to the remnant of Joseph." The command to seek and love good is practically the same as that to seek the Lord in Amos 5:4, Amos 5:6; and therefore the promise is the same, "that ye may live." But it is only in fellowship with God that man has life. This truth the Israelites laid hold of in a perfectly outward sense, fancying that they stood in fellowship with God by virtue of their outward connection with the covenant nation as sons of Israel or Abraham (cf. John 8:39), and that the threatened judgment could not reach them, but that God would deliver them in every time of oppression by the heathen (cf. Micah 3:11; Jeremiah 7:10). Amos meets this delusion with the remark, "that Jehovah may be so with you as ye say." כּן neither means "in case ye do so" (Rashi, Baur), nor "in like manner as, i.e., if ye strive after good" (Hitzig). Neither of these meanings can be established, and here they are untenable, for the simple reason that כּן unmistakeably corresponds with the following כּאשׁר. It means nothing more than "so as ye say." The thought is the following: "Seek good, and not evil: then will Jehovah the God of the heavenly hosts be with you as a helper in distress, so as ye say." This implied that in their present condition, so long as they sought good, they ought not to comfort themselves with the certainty of Jehovah's help. Seeking good is explained in v. 15 as loving good, and this is still further defined as setting up justice in the gate, i.e., maintaining a righteous administration of justice at the place of judgment; and to this the hope, so humiliating to carnal security, is attached: perhaps God will then show favour to the remnant of the people. The emphasis in these words is laid as much upon perhaps as upon the remnant of Joseph. The expression "perhaps He will show favour" indicates that the measure of Israel's sins was full, and no deliverance could be hoped for if God were to proceed to act according to His righteousness. The "remnant of Joseph" does not refer to "the existing condition of the ten tribes" (Ros., Hitzig). For although Hazael and Benhadad had conquered the whole of the land of Gilead in the times of Jehu and Jehoahaz, and had annihilated the Israelitish army with the exception of a very small remnant (2 Kings 10:32-33; 2 Kings 13:3, 2 Kings 13:7), Joash and Jeroboam II had recovered from the Syrians all the conquered territory, and restored the kingdom to its original bounds (2 Kings 13:23., 2 Kings 14:26-28). Consequently Amos could not possibly describe the state of the kingdom of the ten tribes in the time of Jeroboam II as "the remnant of Joseph." As the Syrians had not attempted any deportation, the nation of the ten tribes during the reign of Jeroboam was still, or was once more, all Israel. If, therefore, Amos merely holds out the possibility of the favouring of the remnant of Joseph, he thereby gives distinctly to understand, that in the approaching judgment Israel will perish with the exception of a remnant, which may possibly be preserved after the great chastisement (cf. Amos 5:3), just as Joel (Joel 3:5) and Isaiah (Isaiah 6:13; Isaiah 10:21-23) promise only the salvation of a remnant to the kingdom of Judah.