5:1 This message begins as the previous two did, with a call to hear the Lord's word. However here Amos announced that what follows is a dirge (Heb. qinah) against the house of Israel. A dirge was a lament that was sung at the funeral of a friend, relative, or prominent person (e.g., 2 Sam. 1:17-27; 3:33-34; 2 Chron. 35:25). The prophets used the dirge genre to prophesy the death of a city, people, or nation (cf. Jer. 7:29; 9:10-11, 17-22; Lam.; Ezek. 19; 26:17-18; 27:2, 32; 28:12; 32:2). Amos announced Israel's death at the height of its prosperity under Jeroboam II.
"To his listeners, hearing this lament would be as jarring as reading one's own obituary in the newspaper."47
5:2 Amos announced that the virgin Israel, in the prime of her beauty and vigor, had fallen fatally. "Fallen"in funeral songs usually means "fallen in battle"(cf. 2 Sam. 1:19, 25, 27; 3:34; Lam. 2:21). She would never rise to her former position again. No one came to her aid, even Yahweh (cf. Judg. 6:13; 2 Kings 21:14; Isa. 2:6). She lay forsaken in her land.
5:3 Cities that had sent 1,000 soldiers against Israel's enemy saw only 100 survive, and smaller towns that sent out only 100 soldiers saw only 10 come home alive. No nation could survive such devastating defeat in war.
