The Meaning of Amos 6:7 Explained

Amos 6:7

KJV: Therefore now shall they go captive with the first that go captive, and the banquet of them that stretched themselves shall be removed.

YLT: Therefore now they remove at the head of the captives, And turned aside is the mourning-feast of stretched-out ones.

Darby: Therefore shall they now go captive, with the first that go captive, and the revelry of them that stretched themselves shall pass away.

ASV: Therefore shall they now go captive with the first that go captive; and the revelry of them that stretched themselves shall pass away.

KJV Reverse Interlinear

Therefore now shall they go captive  with the first  that go captive,  and the banquet  of them that stretched  themselves shall be removed. 

What does Amos 6:7 Mean?

Verse Meaning

Amos announced that these luxuriant leaders would go into captivity at the head of the people of Israel. Their banquets would cease, and they would lounge on their soft couches no longer.
Money and material possessions are not wrong in themselves, but the love of them leads to all types of evil ( 1 Timothy 6:9-10; James 5:1-6).

Context Summary

Amos 6:1-14 - "woe To Them That Are At Ease In Zion!"
Zion is included with Samaria in this prophecy and the nobles are especially condemned for their drunkenness, gluttony, and insolence. The prophet quotes the example of great neighboring peoples as a warning that the abuse of God's good gifts leads to their withdrawal. Calneh on the Tigris, and Hamath, had fallen before Assyria; Gath, also, had been recently overwhelmed-how unlikely, therefore, that Israel, eaten through by extravagance and luxury, could endure. National dissolution is not far away, when palaces are filled with riot while the poor rot in neglect. It was thus that Joseph's brethren ate their food at the pit's mouth, while Joseph lay beneath. Many professing Christians are similarly "at ease," indifferent to their brother's woe.
The greatness of approaching judgment is illustrated by a simple incident. A household of eleven is smitten by plague; ten die, one only survives. So great has been the mortality that no nearer relative than an uncle is left to carry out the dead for cremation; and when the matter of a funeral service is broached, the suggestion is instantly met by the remark, "Those old customs cannot be observed amid the stress of such a time; we do not now mention God's name." Funeral rites would pass out of use. God's dealings with His people had been as useless as plowing rocks would be. [source]

Chapter Summary: Amos 6

1  The wantonness of Israel,
7  shall be plagued with desolation;
12  and their incorrigibleness shall end in affliction

What do the individual words in Amos 6:7 mean?

Therefore now they shall go captive as the first of the captives and shall be removed At banquets those who recline -
לָכֵ֛ן עַתָּ֥ה יִגְל֖וּ בְּרֹ֣אשׁ גֹּלִ֑ים וְסָ֖ר מִרְזַ֥ח סְרוּחִֽים פ

עַתָּ֥ה  now 
Parse: Adverb
Root: עַתָּה  
Sense: now.
יִגְל֖וּ  they  shall  go  captive 
Parse: Verb, Qal, Imperfect, third person masculine plural
Root: גָּלָה  
Sense: to uncover, remove.
בְּרֹ֣אשׁ  as  the  first 
Parse: Preposition-b, Noun, masculine singular
Root: רֹאשׁ 
Sense: head, top, summit, upper part, chief, total, sum, height, front, beginning.
גֹּלִ֑ים  of  the  captives 
Parse: Verb, Qal, Participle, masculine plural
Root: גָּלָה  
Sense: to uncover, remove.
וְסָ֖ר  and  shall  be  removed 
Parse: Conjunctive waw, Verb, Qal, Conjunctive perfect, third person masculine singular
Root: סוּר 
Sense: to turn aside, depart.
מִרְזַ֥ח  At  banquets 
Parse: Noun, masculine singular construct
Root: מַרְזֵחַ  
Sense: cry, cry of joy, revelry.
סְרוּחִֽים  those  who  recline 
Parse: Adjective, masculine plural
Root: סָרוּחַ 
Sense: to go free, be unrestrained, be overrun, exceed, overhang, grow luxuriously.
פ  - 
Parse: Punctuation