|<< Amos 6 >>| Barnes' Notes on the Bible 1Woe to them that are
at ease in Zion, and trust in the mountain of Samaria, which are
named chief of the nations, to whom the house of Israel came!
Woe to them that are at ease - The word always means such as are
recklessly at their ease, "the careless ones," such as those
whom Isaiah bids Isaiah 32:9-11, "rise up, tremble, be troubled,
for many days and years shall ye be troubled." It is that luxury
and ease, which sensualize the soul, and make it dull, stupid,
hard-hearted. By one earnest, passing word, the prophet warns
his own land, that present sinful ease ends in future woe. "Woe
unto them that laugh now: for they shall mourn and weep" Luke
6:25. Rup.: "He foretells the destruction and captivity of both
Judah and Israel at once; and not only that captivity at
Babylon, but that whereby they are dispersed unto this day."
Luxury and deepest sins of the flesh were rife in that
generation (see John 8:9; Romans 2:21-24; Luke 11:39, Luke
11:42; Matthew 23:14, Matthew