Amos 5:1-3, King James Version
Italic words were supplied in the English translation for clarity.
Amos 5:1-3
A Funeral Lament over Fallen Israel
A lamentation over the house of Israel
Amos sings a funeral before the final collapse. The virgin of Israel is fallen; she shall no more rise; she is forsaken upon her land; there is none to raise her up. The female personification is a nation in grief, not a claim about Israelite women's sexuality and not a blame on virginity.
The poem may speak of a future as already present. It is grief, not triumph over enemies. Lament does not authorize celebrating Jewish suffering or claiming that the church replaced fallen Israel. Northern Israel is still the first audience.
A thousand leave a hundred
The city that went out by a thousand shall leave a hundred, and that which went forth by a hundred shall leave ten, to the house of Israel. The ratios picture devastating loss. They are not a modern casualty forecast, a saved percentage, or a remnant quota.
Even inside this funeral, verse 4 will call the house of Israel to seek and live. The lament makes the threatened loss emotionally present. It is not fatalism, and it is not a code for a coming war.
How this should shape us
Name communal losses honestly and keep the dignity of those the poem represents. Mourn preventable ruin rather than relish it. Do not sexualize the female figure, and do not convert military ratios into prophecy charts.
Teach it back
Explain Amos 5:1-3 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 poem's date, meter, proleptic voice, and exact military setting remain open; its funeral character and severe loss are clear.
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 5:1-3, 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, 5:1-3
Supports: Verse-level translation, syntax, textual, literary, historical, and uncertainty notes.
NET Bible Amos PDF, printed pp. 1713-1716, translation and notes on 5:1-3
Supports: Whole-book movement, eighth-century horizon, literary boundaries, composition, and verse-level alternatives.
Dines, 'Amos,' Oxford Bible Commentary, printed pp. 585-587, discussion of 5:1-3
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 5:1-3, 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, 5:1-3
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. 1713-1716, translation and notes on 5:1-3
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. 585-587, discussion of 5:1-3
Open source ↗