The Meaning of Amos 9:4 Explained

Amos 9:4

KJV: And though they go into captivity before their enemies, thence will I command the sword, and it shall slay them: and I will set mine eyes upon them for evil, and not for good.

YLT: And if they go into captivity before their enemies, From thence I command the sword, And it hath slain them, And I have set Mine eye on them for evil, And not for good.

Darby: and though they go into captivity before their enemies, there will I command the sword, and it shall slay them: and I will set mine eyes upon them for evil, and not for good.

ASV: And though they go into captivity before their enemies, thence will I command the sword, and it shall slay them: and I will set mine eyes upon them for evil, and not for good.

KJV Reverse Interlinear

And though they go  into captivity  before  their enemies,  thence will I command  the sword,  and it shall slay  them: and I will set  mine eyes  upon them for evil,  and not for good. 

What does Amos 9:4 Mean?

Verse Meaning

The Lord would even slay the Israelites whom their enemy led away into captivity. Yahweh would order the sword to slay them even there, though there they would be under the protection of a strong foreign power. They would not be able to hide from His all-seeing eye. Normally God watched over His people for their good, but here He promised to set His eyes on them for evil. His purpose and intention for them was evil from their viewpoint. So thorough was the dispersion following the Assyrian invasion of Israel that the exiles came to be known as the "lost tribes." They were not really lost, however, as later revelation makes clear ( Amos 9:11-15; et al.).

Context Summary

Amos 9:1-15 - The Day Of Restoration
The guilty will certainly be punished. If they enter the sacred place of worship, even that will not shelter them, Amos 9:1. Flight and concealment will be in vain. Let them climb ever so high, or burrow ever so deep; let them scale the loftiest hills, or dive into the deepest seas-the consequences of their sins will overtake them, Amos 9:2-3. How can sinners hope to escape from Him whose chambers are built in the heavens and whose voice governs the tides, Amos 9:6? The great desolations of the past prove the exactness and severity of His judgments, Amos 9:7-8. How remarkably Amos 9:9 has been fulfilled? Notwithstanding their scatterings, the Hebrew people have been preserved as a race.
The final paragraph, Amos 9:11-15, is very reassuring. It is a burst of noble anticipation, quoted by the Apostle James, Acts 15:14-17. The promises made to Abraham and David are yet to be fulfilled. The derision of their foes, of whom Edom was the ringleader, will be silenced. Through the parted curtain, we descry the golden age of the future. There is a divine plan working to its conclusion, and Israel shall yet come again to the land given to their fathers [source]

Chapter Summary: Amos 9

1  The certainty of the desolation
11  The restoring of the tabernacle of David

What do the individual words in Amos 9:4 mean?

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 on them for harm and not for good
וְאִם־ יֵלְכ֤וּ בַשְּׁבִי֙ לִפְנֵ֣י אֹֽיבֵיהֶ֔ם‪‬ מִשָּׁ֛ם אֲצַוֶּ֥ה אֶת־ הַחֶ֖רֶב וַהֲרָגָ֑תַם וְשַׂמְתִּ֨י עֵינִ֧י עֲלֵיהֶ֛ם לְרָעָ֖ה וְלֹ֥א לְטוֹבָֽה

וְאִם־  And  Though 
Parse: Conjunctive waw, Conjunction
Root: אִם  
Sense: if.
יֵלְכ֤וּ  they  go 
Parse: Verb, Qal, Imperfect, third person masculine plural
Root: הָלַךְ  
Sense: to go, walk, come.
בַשְּׁבִי֙  into  captivity 
Parse: Preposition-b, Article, Noun, masculine singular
Root: שְׁבִי 
Sense: captivity, captives.
לִפְנֵ֣י  before 
Parse: Preposition-l, Noun, common plural construct
Root: לִפְנֵי 
Sense: face.
אֹֽיבֵיהֶ֔ם‪‬  their  enemies 
Parse: Verb, Qal, Participle, masculine plural construct, third person masculine plural
Root: אֹיֵב  
Sense: (Qal) enemy.
מִשָּׁ֛ם  from  there 
Parse: Preposition-m, Adverb
Root: שָׁם  
Sense: there, thither.
אֲצַוֶּ֥ה  I  will  command 
Parse: Verb, Piel, Imperfect, first person common singular
Root: צָוָה  
Sense: to command, charge, give orders, lay charge, give charge to, order.
אֶת־  - 
Parse: Direct object marker
Root: אֹות 
Sense: sign of the definite direct object, not translated in English but generally preceding and indicating the accusative.
הַחֶ֖רֶב  the  sword 
Parse: Article, Noun, feminine singular
Root: חֶרֶב  
Sense: sword, knife.
וַהֲרָגָ֑תַם  and  it  shall  slay  them 
Parse: Conjunctive waw, Verb, Qal, Conjunctive perfect, third person feminine singular, third person masculine plural
Root: הָרַג  
Sense: to kill, slay, murder, destroy, murderer, slayer, out of hand.
וְשַׂמְתִּ֨י  and  I  will  set 
Parse: Conjunctive waw, Verb, Qal, Conjunctive perfect, first person common singular
Root: שׂוּמָה 
Sense: to put, place, set, appoint, make.
עֵינִ֧י  My  eyes 
Parse: Noun, common singular construct, first person common singular
Root: עֹונָה 
Sense: eye.
עֲלֵיהֶ֛ם  on  them 
Parse: Preposition, third person masculine plural
Root: עַל 
Sense: upon, on the ground of, according to, on account of, on behalf of, concerning, beside, in addition to, together with, beyond, above, over, by, on to, towards, to, against.
לְרָעָ֖ה  for  harm 
Parse: Preposition-l, Adjective, feminine singular
Root: רַע 
Sense: bad, evil.
וְלֹ֥א  and  not 
Parse: Conjunctive waw, Adverb, Negative particle
Root: הֲלֹא 
Sense: not, no.
לְטוֹבָֽה  for  good 
Parse: Preposition-l, Noun, feminine singular
Root: טָבַב 
Sense: good, pleasant, agreeable.