Amos 9 · Verse 6

Amos 9:6

It is he that buildeth his stories in the heaven, and hath founded his troop in the earth; he that calleth for the waters of the sea, and poureth them out upon the face of the earth: The Lord is his name.
Amos 9:6, King James Version

Amos 9:6 in other translations

BSBHe builds His upper rooms in the heavens and founds His vault upon the earth. He summons the waters of the sea and pours them over the face of the earth. The LORD is His name.
WEBIt is he who builds his rooms in the heavens, and has founded his vault on the earth; he who calls for the waters of the sea, and pours them out on the surface of the earth—the LORD is his name.
ASVit is he that buildeth his chambers in the heavens, and hath founded his vault upon the earth; he that calleth for the waters of the sea, and poureth them out upon the face of the earth; Jehovah is his name.
YLTWho is building in the heavens His upper chambers; As to His troop, Upon earth He hath founded it, Who is calling for the waters of the sea, And poureth them out on the face of the land, Jehovah is His name.
DARBYIt is he that buildeth his upper chambers in the heavens, and hath founded his vault upon the earth; he that calleth for the waters of the sea, and poureth them out upon the face of the earth: Jehovah is his name.
BBEIt is he who makes his rooms in the heaven, basing his arch on the earth; whose voice goes out to the waters of the sea, and sends them flowing over the face of the earth; the Lord is his name.
WebsterIt is he that buildeth his stories in the heaven, and hath founded his troop in the earth; he that calleth for the waters of the sea, and poureth them out upon the face of the earth: the LORD is his name.

What does Amos 9:6 mean?

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown
6. stories--literally, "ascents," that is, upper chambers, to which the ascent is by steps [Maurer]; evidently referring to the words in Psa 104:3, 13. Grotius explains it, God's royal throne, expressed in language drawn from Solomon's throne, to which the ascent was by steps (compare 1Ki 10:18, 19). founded his troop--namely, all animate creatures, which are God's troop, or host (Ge 2:1), doing His will (Psa 103:20, 21; Joe 2:11). Maurer translates, "His vault," that is, the vaulted sky, which seems to rest on the earth supported by the horizon.

Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown, 1871 · public domain

Adam Clarke's Commentary
Verse 6 Buildeth his stories in the heaven - There is here an allusion to large houses, where there are cellars, or places dug in the ground as repositories for corn; middle apartments, or stories, for the families to live in; and the house-top for persons to take the air upon. There may be here a reference to the various systems which God has formed in illimitable space, transcending each other, as the planets do in our solar system: and thus we find Solomon speaking when addressing the Most High: "The heavens and the heaven of heavens cannot contain thee, השמים ושמי השמים hashshamayim ushemey hashshamayim, 1Kgs 8:27. Six heavens are necessarily implied in these three words. According to the points, the first and third are in the dual number, and the second is the contracted form of the plural. But how many more spheres may be intended who can tell? There may be millions of millions of stellar systems in unlimited space; and then what are all these to the Vast Immensity of God! Hath founded his troop in the earth - אגדיו aguddatho, from אגד agad, to bind or gather together, possibly meaning the seas and other collections of waters which he has gathered together and bound by his perpetual decree, that they cannot pass; yet when he calleth for these very waters, as in the general deluge, he "poureth them out upon the face of the earth." The Lord is his name - This points out his infinite essence. But what is that essence? and what is his nature? and what his immensity and eternity? What archangel can tell?

Adam Clarke, 1831 · public domain

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary on Amos 9:1-10

The prophet, in vision, saw the Lord standing upon the idolatrous altar at Bethel. Wherever sinners flee from God's justice, it will overtake them. Those whom God brings to heaven by his grace, shall never be cast down; but those who seek to climb thither by vain confidence in themselves, will be cast down and filled with shame. That which makes escape impossible and ruin sure, is, that God will set his eyes upon…

Read the full comment on Amos 9:1-10 →

Amos 9:6 in the original Hebrew

Word-by-word with transliteration, English gloss and Strong's number. Tap a number for the full definition and every place the word is used.

הַבּוֹנֶ֤הha.bo.Nehwho buildsH1129
בַשָּׁמַ֙יִם֙va.sha.Ma.yimin the heavensH8064
מַעֲלוֹתָ֔יוma.'a.lo.tovstairs hisH4609
וַאֲגֻדָּת֖וֹva.'a.gu.da.Toand vault hisH92
עַל\־'al-onH5921
אֶ֣רֶץ'E.retz[the] earthH776
יְסָדָ֑הּye.sa.Dahhe has founds itH3245
הַקֹּרֵ֣אha.ko.Re'who summonsH7121
לְמֵֽי\־le.mei-<to> [the] waters ofH4325
הַיָּ֗םhai.Yamthe seaH3220
וַֽיִּשְׁפְּכֵ֛םvai.yish.pe.Khemand he poured out themH8210
עַל\־'al-onH5921
פְּנֵ֥יpe.Nei[the] surface ofH6440
הָאָ֖רֶץha.'A.retzthe earthH776
יְהוָ֥הYah.weh[is] YahwehH3068
שְׁמֽוֹ\׃she.Moname hisH8034

Source: STEPBible TAHOT/TAGNT (Tyndale House, CC BY 4.0).

Cross references for Amos 9:6

  • Amos 5:8

    Seek him that maketh the seven stars and Orion, and turneth the shadow of death into the morning, and maketh the day dark with night: that calleth for the waters of the sea, and poureth them out upon the face of the earth: The Lord is his name:

  • Psalms 104:3

    Who layeth the beams of his chambers in the waters: who maketh the clouds his chariot: who walketh upon the wings of the wind:

  • Amos 4:13

    For, lo, he that formeth the mountains, and createth the wind, and declareth unto man what is his thought, that maketh the morning darkness, and treadeth upon the high places of the earth, The Lord, The God of hosts, is his name.

  • Psalms 104:13

    He watereth the hills from his chambers: the earth is satisfied with the fruit of thy works.

  • Jeremiah 5:22

    Fear ye not me? saith the Lord: will ye not tremble at my presence, which have placed the sand for the bound of the sea by a perpetual decree, that it cannot pass it: and though the waves thereof toss themselves, yet can they not prevail; though they roar, yet can they not pass over it?

  • Genesis 7:11-19

    In the six hundredth year of Noah’s life, in the second month, the seventeenth day of the month, the same day were all the fountains of the great deep broken up, and the windows of heaven were opened. And the rain was upon the earth forty days and forty nights. In the selfsame day entered Noah, and Shem, and Ham, and Japheth, the sons of Noah, and Noah’s wife, and the three wives of his sons with them, into the ark; They, and every beast after his kind, and all the cattle after their kind, and every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth after his kind, and every fowl after his kind, every bird of every sort. …

  • Exodus 3:14-15

    And God said unto Moses, I AM THAT I AM: and he said, Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, I AM hath sent me unto you. And God said moreover unto Moses, Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, The Lord God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, hath sent me unto you: this is my name for ever, and this is my memorial unto all generations.

  • Psalms 104:5-6

    Who laid the foundations of the earth, that it should not be removed for ever. Thou coveredst it with the deep as with a garment: the waters stood above the mountains.

  • Genesis 2:1

    Thus the heavens and the earth were finished, and all the host of them.

Ranked by reader votes · OpenBible.info cross references (CC BY).

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
buildeth.
Ps 104:3,13
stories. or, spheres. Heb. ascensions.{Mäâloth,} "upper chambers," which in eastern houses are the principal apartments. Perhaps there is a reference here to the various systems which God has created in illimitable space, transcending each other as the planets do in our system.
troop. or, bundle.
Ge 2:1{Aguddah} probably is the same as the Arabic {ijad,} "an arch, vault," and may here denote the vault of heaven, or atmosphere, which God "hath founded, or established, upon, or over, {âl,} the earth," and into which "he calleth the waters of the sea, and poureth them out upon the face of the earth."
calleth.
5:8; Ge 7:11-19; Jer 5:22
The Lord.
4:13; Ex 3:14,15

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (Samuel Bagster, c. 1836) · public domain

Context

  • Amos 9:5

    And the Lord God of hosts is he that toucheth the land, and it shall melt, and all that dwell therein shall mourn: and it shall rise up wholly like a flood; and shall be drowned, as by the flood of Egypt.

  • Amos 9:6

    It is he that buildeth his stories in the heaven, and hath founded his troop in the earth; he that calleth for the waters of the sea, and poureth them out upon the face of the earth: The Lord is his name.

  • Amos 9:7

    Are ye not as children of the Ethiopians unto me, O children of Israel? saith the Lord. Have not I brought up Israel out of the land of Egypt? and the Philistines from Caphtor, and the Syrians from Kir?

Read all of Amos 9

Amos 9:6 in other languages

Spanish
Reina-Valera 1909		El edificó en el cielo sus gradas, y ha establecido su expansión sobre la tierra: él llama las aguas de la mar, y sobre la haz de la tierra las derrama: Jehová es su nombre.
French
Bible J.N. Darby 1885		C’est lui qui bâtit dans les cieux ses degrés, et qui a fondé sa voûte sur la terre; qui appelle les eaux de la mer, et les verse sur la face de la terre; l’ Éternel est son nom.
German
Elberfelder 1871		der seine Obergemächer im Himmel gebaut und seine Gewölbe über der Erde gegründet hat; der den Wassern des Meeres ruft und sie ausgießt über die Fläche der Erde: Jehova ist sein Name.
Latin
Clementine Vulgate		Qui ædificat in cælo ascensionem suam, et fasciculum suum super terram fundavit; qui vocat aquas maris, et effundit eas super faciem terræ: Dominus nomen ejus.