The Meaning of Amos 4:1 Explained

Amos 4:1

KJV: Hear this word, ye kine of Bashan, that are in the mountain of Samaria, which oppress the poor, which crush the needy, which say to their masters, Bring, and let us drink.

YLT: Hear this word, ye kine of Bashan, Who are in the mountain of Samaria, Who are oppressing the poor, Who are bruising the needy, Who are saying to their lords: 'Bring in, and we do drink.'

Darby: Hear this word, ye kine of Bashan, that are in the mountain of Samaria, that oppress the poor, that crush the needy, that say to their lords, Bring, and let us drink:

ASV: Hear this word, ye kine of Bashan, that are in the mountain of Samaria, that oppress the poor, that crush the needy, that say unto their lords, Bring, and let us drink.

KJV Reverse Interlinear

Hear  this word,  ye kine  of Bashan,  that [are] in the mountain  of Samaria,  which oppress  the poor,  which crush  the needy,  which say  to their masters,  Bring,  and let us drink. 

What does Amos 4:1 Mean?

Verse Meaning

Amos opened this second message as he did the first (ch3), with the cry, "Hear this word." He addressed the wealthy women of Samaria, calling them "cows of Bashan." Bashan was a very luxuriant region of Transjordan east and northeast of the Sea of Chinnereth (Galilee) where cattle had plenty to eat and grew fat (cf. Psalm 22:12; Jeremiah 50:19; Ezekiel 39:18; Micah 7:14). These women, along with their men, were oppressing (threatening) the poor and crushing (harassing) the needy. The women were even ordering their husbands to wait on them and bring them drinks. The Hebrew word "adonim, translated "husbands," means "lords" or "masters." By using it Amos was stressing the role reversal that existed. The picture is of spoiled, lazy women ordering their husbands to provide them with luxuries that the men had to oppress the poor to obtain (cf. Deuteronomy 28:56-57; Isaiah 32:9-13).
"What is luxury? The word "luxury" comes from a Latin word that means "excessive." It originally referred to plants that grow abundantly (our English word "luxurious"), but then it came to refer to people who have an abundance of money, time, and comfort, which they use for themselves as they live in aimless leisure. Whenever you are offered "deluxe service," that"s the same Latin word: service above and beyond what you really need." [1]

Context Summary

Amos 4:1-11 - Calamities Are God's Warnings
Speaking after the imagery of his vocation, Amos the herdsman compares the rich and powerful of Samaria, who were living in luxury and wantonness, to the kine of Bashan, a breed of cattle notorious for strength and stubbornness. They broke through hedges, threw down fences, trespassed on neighboring pastures, and gored lesser cattle. The judges and magistrates were in cruel collusion with the masters who oppressed the serfs, and were willing to condone breaches of the law for drink. Sacrifices and tithes were rigorously maintained, but the entire religious system was rotten.
Already heavy judgment had fallen upon the degenerate people. There had been famine, the intermission of the rainy seasons, blasting and mildew, pestilence and murrain-but all in vain. That God was behind these phenomena was obvious from the fact that rain showers had fallen in one place and not in another. There had been a method in God's dealings that indicated a personal agency. The worst cities had suffered the most. But the people had refused to lay it to heart. Note the sorrowful refrain-yet have ye not returned unto me, saith the Lord. It may be that some reader of these lines may find herein a clue to the mysterious succession of strokes that have befallen himself and his household. [source]

Chapter Summary: Amos 4

1  He reproves Israel for oppression,
4  for idolatry,
6  and for their incorrigibleness

What do the individual words in Amos 4:1 mean?

Hear word this you cows of Bashan who [are] on the mountain of Samaria who oppress the poor who crush the needy who say to your husbands bring [wine] and let us drink
שִׁמְע֞וּ הַדָּבָ֣ר הַזֶּ֗ה פָּר֤וֹת הַבָּשָׁן֙ אֲשֶׁר֙ בְּהַ֣ר שֹֽׁמְר֔וֹן הָעֹשְׁק֣וֹת דַּלִּ֔ים הָרֹצְצ֖וֹת אֶבְיוֹנִ֑ים הָאֹמְרֹ֥ת לַאֲדֹֽנֵיהֶ֖ם הָבִ֥יאָה וְנִשְׁתֶּֽה

שִׁמְע֞וּ  Hear 
Parse: Verb, Qal, Imperative, masculine plural
Root: שָׁמַע 
Sense: to hear, listen to, obey.
הַדָּבָ֣ר  word 
Parse: Article, Noun, masculine singular
Root: דָּבָר  
Sense: speech, word, speaking, thing.
הַזֶּ֗ה  this 
Parse: Article, Pronoun, masculine singular
Root: זֶה  
Sense: this, this one, here, which, this … that, the one … the other, another, such.
פָּר֤וֹת  you  cows 
Parse: Noun, feminine plural construct
Root: פָּרָה  
Sense: cow, heifer.
הַבָּשָׁן֙  of  Bashan 
Parse: Article, Proper Noun, feminine singular
Root: בָּשָׁן 
Sense: a district east of the Jordan known for its fertility which was given to the half-tribe of Manasseh.
אֲשֶׁר֙  who  [are] 
Parse: Pronoun, relative
Root: אֲשֶׁר 
Sense: (relative part.).
בְּהַ֣ר  on  the  mountain 
Parse: Preposition-b, Noun, masculine singular construct
Root: הַר  
Sense: hill, mountain, hill country, mount.
שֹֽׁמְר֔וֹן  of  Samaria 
Parse: Proper Noun, feminine singular
Root: שֹׁמְרֹון  
Sense: the region of northern Palestine associated with the northern kingdom of the 0 tribes of Israel which split from the kingdom after the death of Solomon during the reign of his son Rehoboam and were ruled by Jeroboam.
הָעֹשְׁק֣וֹת  who  oppress 
Parse: Article, Verb, Qal, Participle, feminine plural
Root: עָשַׁק  
Sense: to press upon, oppress, violate, defraud, do violence, get deceitfully, wrong, extort.
דַּלִּ֔ים  the  poor 
Parse: Adjective, masculine plural construct
Root: דַּל  
Sense: low, poor, weak, thin, one who is low.
הָרֹצְצ֖וֹת  who  crush 
Parse: Article, Verb, Qal, Participle, feminine plural
Root: רָצַץ  
Sense: to crush, oppress.
אֶבְיוֹנִ֑ים  the  needy 
Parse: Noun, masculine plural
Root: אֶבְיׄון  
Sense: in want, needy, chiefly poor, needy person.
הָאֹמְרֹ֥ת  who  say 
Parse: Article, Verb, Qal, Participle, feminine plural
Root: אָמַר 
Sense: to say, speak, utter.
לַאֲדֹֽנֵיהֶ֖ם  to  your  husbands 
Parse: Preposition-l, Noun, masculine plural construct, third person masculine plural
Root: אָדֹון  
Sense: firm, strong, lord, master.
הָבִ֥יאָה  bring  [wine] 
Parse: Verb, Hifil, Imperative, masculine singular, third person feminine singular
Root: בֹּוא 
Sense: to go in, enter, come, go, come in.
וְנִשְׁתֶּֽה  and  let  us  drink 
Parse: Conjunctive waw, Verb, Qal, Conjunctive imperfect Cohortative if contextual, first person common plural
Root: שָׁתָה  
Sense: to drink.