The Meaning of Amos 2:14 Explained

Amos 2:14

KJV: Therefore the flight shall perish from the swift, and the strong shall not strengthen his force, neither shall the mighty deliver himself:

YLT: And perished hath refuge from the swift, And the strong strengtheneth not his power, And the mighty delivereth not his soul.

Darby: And flight shall perish from the swift, and the strong shall not strengthen his force, neither shall the mighty deliver his soul.

ASV: And flight shall perish from the swift; and the strong shall not strengthen his force; neither shall the mighty deliver himself;

KJV Reverse Interlinear

Therefore the flight  shall perish  from the swift,  and the strong  shall not strengthen  his force,  neither shall the mighty  deliver  himself: 

What does Amos 2:14 Mean?

Context Summary

Amos 2:6-16 - Neither Shall Israel Escape
First the prophet enumerates Israel's sins. They were unjust to the poor, carrying their extortions to such lengths as to goad the poor to desperation. They were unchaste. They held their idolatrous festivities in idol shrines while they unjustly detained and confiscated the pledges of the poor. They perpetrated shamelessly the enormous crimes for which the Amorites were dispossessed by Joshua and their fathers. But notice nothing is said of that great general and his valiant soldiers; our mind is carried beyond all human agency to the Eternal. I destroyed, etc. Amos 2:9.
The ripple of the ocean on the beach which you hear and see is due to the action of the sun or moon; so the changes that men attribute to political combinations must ultimately be traced back to the divine will in its permissive or decretive energy. One of the most graphic pictures is in Amos 2:13. We can almost see the heavily laden wagon dragged from the harvest field. The wheels creak and groan; the oxen advance with difficulty; the timbers threaten to succumb. So God bears up the world; and thus did Jesus stoop and sweat great drops of blood under the sins of the whole world. [source]

Chapter Summary: Amos 2

1  God's judgments upon Moab,
4  upon Judah,
6  and upon Israel
9  God complains of their ingratitude

What do the individual words in Amos 2:14 mean?

Therefore shall perish flight from the swift and the strong not shall strengthen his power and the mighty nor shall deliver himself
וְאָבַ֤ד מָנוֹס֙ מִקָּ֔ל וְחָזָ֖ק לֹא־ יְאַמֵּ֣ץ כֹּח֑וֹ וְגִבּ֖וֹר לֹא־ יְמַלֵּ֥ט נַפְשֽׁוֹ

וְאָבַ֤ד  Therefore  shall  perish 
Parse: Conjunctive waw, Verb, Qal, Conjunctive perfect, third person masculine singular
Root: אָבַד  
Sense: perish, vanish, go astray, be destroyed.
מָנוֹס֙  flight 
Parse: Noun, masculine singular
Root: מָנׄוס  
Sense: flight, refuge, place of escape.
מִקָּ֔ל  from  the  swift 
Parse: Preposition-m, Adjective, masculine singular
Root: קַל  
Sense: swift, light, fleet.
וְחָזָ֖ק  and  the  strong 
Parse: Conjunctive waw, Adjective, masculine singular
Root: חָזָק  
Sense: strong, stout, mighty.
יְאַמֵּ֣ץ  shall  strengthen 
Parse: Verb, Piel, Imperfect, third person masculine singular
Root: אָמֵץ  
Sense: to be strong, alert, courageous, brave, stout, bold, solid, hard.
כֹּח֑וֹ  his  power 
Parse: Noun, masculine singular construct, third person masculine singular
Root: כֹּחַ 
Sense: strength, power, might.
וְגִבּ֖וֹר  and  the  mighty 
Parse: Conjunctive waw, Adjective, masculine singular
Root: גִּבֹּור  
Sense: strong, mighty.
לֹא־  nor 
Parse: Adverb, Negative particle
Root: הֲלֹא 
Sense: not, no.
יְמַלֵּ֥ט  shall  deliver 
Parse: Verb, Piel, Imperfect, third person masculine singular
Root: מָלַט 
Sense: to slip away, escape, deliver, save, be delivered.
נַפְשֽׁוֹ  himself 
Parse: Noun, feminine singular construct, third person masculine singular
Root: נֶפֶשׁ  
Sense: soul, self, life, creature, person, appetite, mind, living being, desire, emotion, passion.