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Amos 4:1-3, King James Version
Italic words were supplied in the English translation for clarity.
Amos 4:1-3
Samaria's Privileged Women Hear the Poor's Cry
Women of Samaria and the demand for drink
"Kine of Bashan" addresses privileged women on Samaria's mountain. Bashan was famous for rich pasture and strong cattle. The metaphor is elite luxury, not a body insult. They oppress the poor, crush the needy, and say to their masters, Bring, and let us drink.
KJV "masters" may mean husbands. Women here participate in a household economy that extracts from the poor. They are not uniquely to blame for Samaria, and their male partners and rulers are not excused. Beneficiaries who command comfort produced by crushing people are named as participants.
Through the breaches, each woman straight before her
The Lord GOD swears by his holiness that days are coming when they will be taken away with hooks, and their remnant with fishhooks. They will go out at the breaches, every one straight before her. The last destination word is uncertain; the package should not build a location claim on KJV "palace."
Forced removal reverses elite insulation. Capture imagery does not authorize abuse, sexual humiliation, or trafficking of captives. The cattle metaphor must not be reused as misogyny or fat-shaming. The poor's cry is the moral center.
How this should shape us
Trace luxury and convenience to labor conditions without demeaning women or any body type. Change purchasing and household demands when credible reports show that comfort depends on crushing the needy. Hold beneficiaries and enforcers together, not one sex alone.
Teach it back
Explain Amos 4:1-3 in your own words. Include its place in Amos's judgment-restoration movement, one material uncertainty, and one use the context rules out.
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Go deeper
The explanation above is meant to stand on its own. Open these notes only if you want language, history, disagreements, or source locations.
Where careful interpreters disagreeThe strongest options and their difficulties
Where do careful interpreters disagree?
Best judgment: The social status of the women, the relation to husbands, the capture implements, and the destination are disputed; participation in oppression for luxury is explicit.
How certain? probableResearch trail and exact locationsThe source record behind this section
Supports: Exact reader-facing Scripture wording, paragraph markers, supplied-word markup, and complete verse coverage.
Amos 4:1-3, pinned eng-kjv2006 USFM corpus
Supports: Masoretic Hebrew wording, morphology, clause relationships, wordplays, names, and the base text behind translation discussion.
Open Scriptures MorphHB v.2.2, commit 6a5db284c715c18b239422e57bb89684e6a19f00, wlc/Amos.xml, 4:1-3
Supports: Verse-level translation, syntax, textual, literary, historical, and uncertainty notes.
NET Bible Amos PDF, printed pp. 1712-1713, translation and notes on 4:1-3
Supports: Whole-book movement, eighth-century horizon, literary boundaries, composition, and verse-level alternatives.
Dines, 'Amos,' Oxford Bible Commentary, printed pp. 585, discussion of 4:1-3
Sources for This Section
These records identify the source, the claim it supports, and the exact location used. A source remains evidence to evaluate; it does not replace the biblical text.
Biblical text
King James (Authorized) Version — eng-kjv2006
eBible.org and CrossWire Bible Society
USFM archive eng-kjv2006_usfm.zip; source files dated 2026-08-19; downloaded 2026-08-24; archive SHA-256 aec1b3b26c622fd3d963d2bbac963016b9513246ffbfa20da00bb100372ea007; normalized corpus SHA-256 09aef51d90488aa7b9722b3fd9a93f4b25f6bf2064c5fd798fb39673c300ddf2.
Supports: Exact reader-facing Scripture wording, paragraph markers, supplied-word markup, and complete verse coverage.
Exact location: Amos 4:1-3, pinned eng-kjv2006 USFM corpus
Open source ↗hebrew text and morphology
Open Scriptures Hebrew Bible: Amos
Open Scriptures
Open Scriptures, release 2.2
Supports: Masoretic Hebrew wording, morphology, clause relationships, wordplays, names, and the base text behind translation discussion.
Exact location: Open Scriptures MorphHB v.2.2, commit 6a5db284c715c18b239422e57bb89684e6a19f00, wlc/Amos.xml, 4:1-3
Open source ↗translation and translator notes
NET Bible: Amos with translators' notes
Biblical Studies Press
Biblical Studies Press, 2006
Supports: Verse-level translation, syntax, textual, literary, historical, and uncertainty notes.
Exact location: NET Bible Amos PDF, printed pp. 1712-1713, translation and notes on 4:1-3
Open source ↗modern critical commentary
Amos
Jennifer M. Dines
Oxford University Press, in The Oxford Bible Commentary, 2001
Supports: Whole-book movement, eighth-century horizon, literary boundaries, composition, and verse-level alternatives.
Exact location: Dines, 'Amos,' Oxford Bible Commentary, printed pp. 585, discussion of 4:1-3
Open source ↗