Amos 5:23

Take thou away from me the noise of thy songs,.... The ten tribes, very probably, imitated the, temple music at Jerusalem, both vocal and instrumental, and had their songs and hymns of praise, which

Take thou away from me the noise of thy songs; for I will not hear the melody of thy viols. Take thou away from me - literally, 'Take away from upon me;' the idea being that of a burden pressing upon the bearer.

The noise of thy songs; by way of contempt and loathing, God calls their songs noise; how harmonious, delightful, and ravishing soever they might be to their ears, they were not pleasing unto God. Songs, used in their sacrifices, and their solemn feasts; herein they imitated temple-worship, but all was unpleasing to the Lord. I will not hear: this is not to be taken absolutely, for God heard the noise; but it is taken in a qualified sense, he did not hear with delight and acceptance. The melody, the pleasing harmony, the sweet concert, of thy viols; this one kind of musical instrument put for all the rest: in a word, your hypocrisy, idolatry, and injustice spoil all your services, and make God weary of you and them.

Amos 5:23 Take thou away from me the noise of thy songs; for I will not hear the melody of thy viols.Ver. 23. Take thou away from me the noise of thy songs] No more pleasing to me than the grunting of a hog or the braying of an ass, because hateless, heartless; for as every sound is not music, so neither is every musical sound melodious to God. The voice which is made in the mouth is nothing so sweet to our ears as that which comes from the depth of the breast. "Sing with grace in your hearts," is the best tune to all the psalms; which are therefore called "spiritual songs," Colossians 3:16, both because they are indited by the Spirit, and are to be sung with the spirit, 1 Corinthians 14:15, and because they being so sung, do make us more spiritual in the use of them; while we sing David’ s Psalms with David’ s heart. For I will not hear the melody of thy viols] Or of thine organ, harp, cittern, lute, bag pipe, for so some render it, with respect to the etymology of the word Nebel. The Greek rendereth it, Of the psalteries. What need we trouble ourselves much about those things whereof we can neither have proof nor profit, at least not profit enough to pay for the pains? God will not hear either their voice or instrument music, because the heart was wanting. “ Non vex sed votum, non musica chordula, sed cor. ” The deeper and hollower the belly of the lute or viol is the pleasanter is the sound; the fleeter, the more grating and harsh in our ears. Think the same of God, and see how exceeding offensive to all his senses, yea, to his very soul, hypocrisy is, Isaiah 1:11-13.

(23) Songs.—The very sound of their tumultuous songs was a burden to Jehovah. As Christ cleansed the Temple, so would He dispel all this hypocritical and perilous confusion of ideas.

Verse 23. The noise of thy songs - the melody of thy viols.] They had both vocal and instrumental music in those sacrificial festivals; and God hated the noise of the one and shut his ears against the melody of the other. In the first there was nothing but noise, because their hearts were not right with God; and in the latter there could be nothing but (זמרת zimrath) cutting and scraping, because there was no heart-no religious sense in the thing, and nearly as little in them that used it. See on Amos 6:5.

23. The songs and music accompanying the worship (cf. Amos 8:10; Isaiah 30:29 a) are rejected by Jehovah likewise. Of what nature these were in pre-exilic times, we do not precisely know: the descriptions in the Chronicles reflect the usage of a much later age, when the Temple music was more highly organized. The distinctly liturgical Psalms are also all probably post-exilic. from me] lit. from upon me: the praises of sinful Israel are represented as a burden to Jehovah, from which He would gladly be freed. Cf. Isaiah 1:14 (of various sacred seasons), “They are a cumbrance upon me.” viols] most probably harps, but possibly lutes. See the Additional Note, p. 234. Additional Note on Chap. Amos 5:23 (nηbhel)The Hebrew word nηbhel is rendered viol in A.V., R.V., of Amos 5:23; Amos 6:5, Isaiah 14:11, and in A.V. of Isaiah 5:12 (R.V. lute), elsewhere in both versions psaltery (2 Samuel 6:5; 1 Kings 10:12, &c.); in the P.B.V. of the Psalms, lute (Psalms 33:2; Psalms 57:9 (= Psalms 108:3), Psalms 81:2, Psalms 92:4, Psalms 144:9, Psalms 150:3)[225], once (Psalms 71:20) vaguely music. Although there is no excuse for the same Heb. word being thus rendered differently in one and the same version, it is true that the exact instrument meant is uncertain. The LXX. usually represent nηbhel by νάβλα, or (Psalms generally, Isaiah 5:12, Nehemiah 12:27) ψαλτήριον, here and Amos 6:5 by the general term ὄργανα. The νάβλα was known to the Greeks as a Sidonian instrument (Athen. iv. p. 175); and we learn from Ovid (Ars Am. 3. 327) that it was played duplici palma. It is often in the O.T. coupled with the kinnτr; according to Josephus (Ant. 8. 3. 8) the difference between the κινύρα (= kinnτr) and the νάβλα was that the former had ten strings and was played with the plectrum, the latter had twelve notes, and was played with the hand. These are substantially all the data which we possess for determining what instrument the nηbhel was. Kinnτr in A.V., R.V., is always represented by harp: and if this rendering be correct, nηbhel might well be the lyre. There is, however, force in the remark[226] that the kinnτr is mentioned much more frequently than the nηbhel, and seems to have been in more common use; the nηbhel was used at the feasts of the wealthy (Amos 6:5; Isaiah 5:12; Isaiah 14:11), or in religious ceremonies; it was therefore probably a more elaborate and expensive instrument. This consideration would point to kinnτr being the lyre, and nηbhel the harp. The large and heavy stationary harp of modern times must not, however, be thought of: the nηbhel could be played while the performer was walking (1 Samuel 10:5; 2 Samuel 6:5); and the ancients had small portable harps, of triangular shape (called accordingly by the Greeks τρίγωνα), which could be so used[227].

Take thou away from Me - Literally, “from upon Me,” that is, from being a burden to Me, a weight on Me.

21-25. The popular service is an abomination to Jehovah. The prophet represents Jehovah as out of sympathy with and even hostile to the popular worship. In what sense this is to be understood see on Hosea 6:6.