Amos 5:6 - Exposition

Break out like fire. God is called "a consuming fire" ( Deuteronomy 4:24 ; Hebrews 12:29 ; comp. Jeremiah 4:4 ). And devour it; Septuagint, ὅπως μὴ ἀναλάμψη ὡς πῦρ ὁ οἶκος ἰωσὴφ καὶ καταφάγῃ αὐτόν , "Lest the house of Joseph blaze as fire, and he devour him;" Vulgate, Ne forte comburatur ut ignis domus Joseph, et devorabit. But it is best to take the last member of the sentence thus: "and it (the fire) devour." The house of Joseph. Ephraim, i.e. the kingdom of Israel, of which Ephraim was the distinguishing tribe. In Bethel; or, for Bethel. The LXX ; paraphrasing, has, τῷ οἴκῳ ἰσραήλ , "for the house of Israel."