Wednesday, September 16, 2020
![fat_cow[1]](https://thenoontimes.files.wordpress.com/2013/09/fat_cow1.jpg?w=239&h=300)
Cows of Bashan
Hear this word, women of the mountain of Samaria, you cows of Bashan, you who oppress the weak and abuse the needy; who say to your lords, “Bring drink for us!” The Lord God has sworn by his holiness: truly the days are coming upon you when they shall drag you away with hooks, the last of you with fishhooks; you shall go through the breached walls each by a most direct way, and you shall be cast into the mire, says the Lord.
“Bashan: the region east of the Sea of Galilee, famous for its rich pasture and fattened herds, to which Amos likens the indolent women of Samaria.” (Senior cf. 1129)
“The phrase ‘cows of Bashan’ was therefore a harsh but fitting symbol for Israel’s wealthy, pampered, self-indulgent women, who maintained their lifestyles by exploiting the poor and speaking demandingly – even to their husbands”. (Zondervan cf. 1451)
God says: You only deceive yourselves when you insist on having your own way. You win petty arguments yet lose your soul. You bully and browbeat yet you throw away your heart. You adorn yourselves with fake jewels yet you toss out my love like the scraps of a meal.
Amos speaks to people who believe they are immune to any negative consequence. They store up wealth against difficult days; they cultivate political alliances to protect themselves from civil turmoil; they love little but themselves and think nothing of their neighbors. Amos warns. Yet the warning goes unheeded.
Senior, Donald, ed. THE CATHOLIC STUDY BIBLE. New York, Oxford University Press, 1990.1129. Print.
Image from: http://www.liberalrev.com/?p=1145
ARCHAEOLOGICAL STUDY BIBLE (NIV). Grand Rapids, Michigan: Zondervan, 2005. 1451. Print.
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