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Amos 7:7-9, King James Version
Italic words were supplied in the English translation for clarity.
Amos 7:7-9
The Measuring Object Marks an End to Passing By
What seest thou, Amos?
The LORD stood upon a wall made by a plumbline, with a plumbline in his hand. The rare Hebrew noun may be a plumb line, tin, or another metal object. A construction-standard metaphor is plausible, not certain. The package must not claim that God is measuring personal perfection with a literal moral tool.
Amos names what he sees. Then the Lord says he will set that object in the midst of Israel and will not again pass by them. The two reprieves have reached a declared limit for the judged system.
High places desolate, a sword against Jeroboam's house
The high places of Isaac shall be desolate, the sanctuaries of Israel laid waste, and the LORD will rise against the house of Jeroboam with the sword. Royal cult and dynasty are in view. The sword sentence is not a warrant for violence against Jews, clergy, rulers, or political families.
Amaziah will soon restate this word as a direct death prediction against Jeroboam (7:11). Compare the report with the vision. Arbitrary purity tests and perfectionism cannot be hung on an uncertain object. Transparent, reviewable standards can.
How this should shape us
Use clear standards and escalating consequences after repeated noncompliance, not improvised or perfectionist judgment. Heed correction before a community's reprieve runs out. Do not claim God's final deadline for a person, church, ethnicity, or nation, and do not turn a disputed symbol into a weapon.
Teach it back
Explain Amos 7:7-9 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: Plumb line, tin, metal, wall, measurement, and destruction interpretations remain active; the explicit no-longer-pass-by sentence anchors the unit.
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 7:7-9, 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, 7:7-9
Supports: Verse-level translation, syntax, textual, literary, historical, and uncertainty notes.
NET Bible Amos PDF, printed pp. 1718-1719, translation and notes on 7:7-9
Supports: Whole-book movement, eighth-century horizon, literary boundaries, composition, and verse-level alternatives.
Dines, 'Amos,' Oxford Bible Commentary, printed pp. 587-588, discussion of 7:7-9
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 7:7-9, 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, 7:7-9
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. 1718-1719, translation and notes on 7:7-9
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. 587-588, discussion of 7:7-9
Open source ↗