Amos 6:4

That lie upon beds of ivory,.... That were made of it, or inlaid with it, or covered with it, as the Targum; nor was it improbable that these were made wholly of ivory, for such beds we read of:

That lie upon beds of ivory, and stretch themselves upon their couches, and eat the lambs out of the flock, and the calves out of the midst of the stall; That lie - (see Amos 2:8).

The woe is to be added to them that, either out of laziness or luxury, and to please the flesh, lay themselves to rest upon beds of ivory; on beautiful, rich beds, bought with the gain of bribes and oppression. Stretch themselves upon their couches: this somewhat explains the former; they did extremely indulge their pride and luxury, and on beds or couches laid themselves to feast, when God called them to mourn and weep. Eat, with excess, as ,38 Lu 12:19,20. The lambs out of the flock; the very best in all their flock, and probably they chose them out first, before they set out lambs for sacrifices; or else these gluttonous judges and rulers eat the best lambs, not of their own, but out of poor oppressed men’ s flocks. The calves, those that were fattest too, out of the midst of the stall; kept on purpose to make them most delicious and nourishing meat.

Amos 6:4 That lie upon beds of ivory, and stretch themselves upon their couches, and eat the lambs out of the flock, and the calves out of the midst of the stall;Ver. 4. That lie upon beds of ivory] Which was a commodity far fetched (even out of India), and dearly bought; precious and sumptuous, Ezekiel 27:15. The wealthier sort used to deck their houses with such kind of beds decked with ivory ( lectis eburatis, as Plautus phraseth it), as Esther 1:6, with gold and silver; hence their houses are called houses of ivory, Amos 3:15 1 Kings 22:39. See Plin. lib. 33. cap. 11; Horat. l. 2. Sat. 6. Here, then, is condemned their luxury, and abuse of God’ s good gifts, with neglect of the public welfare, and contempt of judgments threatened. And stretch themselves upon their couches] Pandiculantur in suis cubilibus, so Rabbi Solomon. Others render it, redundantibus ac diffluentibus. Woe to them that delight in overlong and large coverlets, curtains, &c., superfluously hanging down on all sides upon the very ground: so Kimchi. The Seventy and Vulgate render it, Woe to those that wantonize upon their couches, melting in sensual pleasures. Kατασπαταλωντες. Lascivientes. Deliciantes. Compare 1 Timothy 5:6 James 5:5. God grudgeth not his people an honest affluence, Psalms 23:4, but granteth them all things richly to enjoy, 1 Timothy 6:17. Howbeit he requireth them to be sober and watch; not making provision for the flesh, to live after the lusts thereof, but walking decently as in the day; not in rioting and drunkenness, not in chambering and wantonness, Romans 13:13-14. And eat the lambs out of the flock] E grege, id est, egregios ac optimos, the very best and fattest morsels, pampering their paunches; swinish belly gods. And the calves out of the midst of the stall] The French call them high-grass-veals, Veaux de haute graisse. Nothing would down with them but tid bits, λιπαρακαιλαμπρα, dainty and goodly, Revelation 18:9. Those abbey lubbers of the Romish synagogue are compared to fed horses, pampered in their cloisters (as war horses in their stalls or stables), and prepared unto battle, Revelation 9:7. Lawful it is, I grant, at some times to eat of the fat and drink of the sweet, Nehemiah 8:10, and to please the appetite, Deuteronomy 4:26, to gratify it with what it liketh and lusteth after. But yet it must still be remembered, that it is a sin to feed without fear; and a shame for a servant of God to be a slave to his palate. "Eat such things as are set before you," παρατιθεμενα, saith Christ to his disciples, be it never so homely or wholesome, Luke 10:8. And Genesis 9:3, after, "Every moving thing that liveth shall be meat for you," it is added, "even as the green herb have I given you all things," that is, soberly and without curiosity, to take and make use of such meats as are at hand, as Dr Willet interprets it.

(4) Of ivory—i.e., inlaid with that material.

Verse 4. That lie upon beds of ivory] The word הוי hoi, wo, is understood at the beginning of each of the first, third, fourth, fifth, and sixth verses. The beds mentioned here may be either sofas to recline on at table, or beds to sleep on; and these among the ancients were ornamented with ivory inlaid. They were called lectos eburatos by Plautus, lectos eburnos by Horace, "ivory beds." Probably those ornamented with shells, or mother-of-pearl, may be intended. Several works of this kind may be still seen in Palestine and other places. I have before me a cross brought from Jerusalem, incrusted all over with mother-of-pearl, and various figures chased on it. There must have been a great deal of luxury and effeminacy among the Israelites at this time; and, consequently, abundance of riches. This was in the time of Jeroboam the second, when the kingdom had enjoyed a long peace. The description in the fourth, fifth, and sixth verses, is that of an Asiatic court even in the present day.

4. That lie upon divans (Amos 3:12) of ivory] i.e. divans, the frames of which were inlaid with ivory: cf. the “ivory couches,” and “great ivory seats,” which Sennacherib boasts that he received from Hezekiah (K.A.T[174][175] p. 293 bottom, referred to by Mitchell). [174] .A.T. … Eb. Schrader, Die Keilinschriften und das A. T., ed. 2, 1883 (translated under the title The Cuneiform Inscriptions and the O. T. 1885, 1888). The references are to the pagination of the German, which is given on the margin of the English translation. [175] … Eb. Schrader, Die Keilinschriften und das A. T., ed. 2, 1883 (translated under the title The Cuneiform Inscriptions and the O. T. 1885, 1888). The references are to the pagination of the German, which is given on the margin of the English translation.and are stretched out upon their couches] The older custom in Israel was to sit while eating (Genesis 27:19; Judges 19:6; 1 Samuel 20:5; 1 Samuel 20:24; 1 Kings 13:20), whether upon a rug or carpet spread out on the floor, or (2 Kings 4:10) on a seat: the custom of reclining at table is first mentioned here; it was not impossibly a foreign fashion introduced from Syria, and is in any case viewed by the shepherd-prophet as a signal mark of effeminacy and luxury. Of course, in later times—probably through Greek or Aramaic influence—it became general (Sir 41:19; Matthew 9:10; Matthew 26:7, &c.). lambs] Heb. kârîm, not the usual word for lambs, and denoting apparently such as, from their age or kind, were a special delicacy (cf. Deuteronomy 32:14; 1 Samuel 15:9). and calves out of the midst of the stall] Brought directly from the place where they were tied up (such, as Arabic shews, is the meaning of the word) to be fatted. Cf. Luke 15:23.

That lie upon beds (that is, sofas) of ivory - that is, probably inlaid with ivory.

Condemnation of the nobles, Amos 6:1-7.1. Woe — See on Amos 5:18. That are at ease — Margin, “secure.” In a bad sense, those who are recklessly at ease, who are insensible to the dangers lurking on every side (Isaiah 32:9).