Amos 5:9

That strengthened the spoiled against the strong&c. that causeth devastation to flash forth (R.V. marg.) upon the strong, so that devastation cometh (R.V.) upon the fortress. From illustrations of Jehovah's power as displayed in the physicalgovernment of the world, the prophet passes to examples supplied by the moralgovernment of the world: He brings sudden destruction upon the mighty, so that even their strongest fortresses cannot save them. The word rendered strengthenethoccurs also Job 9:27; Job 10:20; Psalms 39:13, and a cognate subst. in Jeremiah 8:18. The meaning was forgotten by the Jews; and hence the mediaeval commentators, as David Kimchi, conjectured a sense to strengthenor become strong, more or less consonant with the context in the various passages where the word occurred, which was followed by the Auth. Version of 1611 (in Job and Jer. comfort myself, or take comfort[Lat. - comfortare"]; in Psalms 39 recover strength;and here strengtheneth). When, however, subsequently, Arabic was again studied, and compared (especially by Alb. Schultens) with the cognate Semitic languages, the true meaning of the word was speedily discovered: balija, the corresponding word in Arabic, is to have a clear, uncontracted brow, then figuratively, to have a bright, cheerful countenance, or more generally, to be joyous; applied to the dawn, or the sun, to be bright, shine brightly(see Schultens, Origines Hebracae, 1761, p. 19. f.; Lane, Arab. Lex.p. 245). One or other of these meanings suits all the passages in which the word occurs in Hebrew: accordingly in R.V. Job 9:27 is rendered be of good cheer, with marg. "Heb. brighten up"; Job 10:20; Psalms 39:13 the old renderings are retained, but the same margin is repeated: here the text ("bringeth sudden destruction") is also a paraphrase, but the more literal rendering is given on the margin, "causeth destruction to flash forth." The repetition of the same word in the two clauses is inelegant: the LXX. for the second שד (-devastation") read probably שבר, destruction; cf. Isaiah 59:7; Isaiah 60:18.