Amos 5:10 - Exposition

Him that rebuketh in the gate ( Isaiah 29:21 ). The gate of Eastern cities was the place of public resort ( Proverbs 1:21 ), either for business ( Deuteronomy 25:7 ), or the administration of justice ( 2 Samuel 15:2 ), or for gossip. So "he that rebuketh in the gate" may be a judge, or a chief, or a prophet ( Jeremiah 17:19 ; Jeremiah 19:2 ). It seems better to take the words thus than to join "in the gate" to "they hate," with the meaning that those who resort to the gate—kings, chiefs, judges—hate the prophet's reproof, for the following verses show that Amos is referring chiefly to judicial proceedings, and not to his own mission. Uprightly ; literally, perfectly ; Vulgate, perfecte ; i.e. without reserve, keeping nothing back.