Amos 7:17

Thy wife shall be a harlot&c. As before (Amos 6:8), the vision of a captured city rises before him: Amaziah's wife will be treated as a harlot by the victorious conquerors (cf. Isaiah 13:16; Zechariah 14:2); his children, daughters as well as sons, will perish by the sword; his lands will be distributed to new occupants; he himself will die in a foreign land; finally, Israel itself will go into exile. "In the cityheightens the disgrace for the principal lady in the place" (Wellh.).

divided by(measuring-) line Cf. Micah 2:4 (end); Jeremiah 6:12; and see 2 Kings 17:24.

in an unclean land A foreign land is regarded as -unclean," because Jehovah could not be properly worshipped in it (cf. 1 Samuel 26:19 end): no presence of Jehovah sanctified it; there were no sanctuaries in it dedicated to Him; consequently, even food eaten in it was -unclean" likewise, for it was not hallowed by part of it being brought into His house, and offered to Him. See Hosea 9:3-4 (R.V. marg.); Ezekiel 4:13, with Cheyne's and Davidson's notes respectively; also O.T.J.C[187][188], pp. 249 f.

[187] .T.J.C.… W. Robertson Smith, The Old Testament in the Jewish Church, ed. 2, 1892.

[188] … W. Robertson Smith, The Old Testament in the Jewish Church, ed. 2, 1892.

and Israel shall surely go into exile away from his land Amos repeats exactly the words placed in his mouth by Amaziah in Amos 7:11.