What Does Amos 6:3 Mean in the King James?
Ye that put far away the evil day, and cause the seat of violence to come near;
The analysis reads the King James wording.
King James Version The King James Version, first published in 1611. Selah Verse shows the standard text.
THE KEY
The day they push away is already being brought near by giving violence a settled seat.
THE MEANING
You can push the evil day out of thought while bringing violence near enough to become your settled place. What you treat as a distant crisis is already present in the order you make room for.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
The lie this undoes is that calling disaster distant keeps it distant; the violence brought near is already giving it a place to settle.
THE ROOT
וַתַּגִּישׁוּן
wattaggîšûn
GROWS FROM
נגשׁ
n-g-sh
To approach, draw near, or bring something close.
“cause ... to come near” in this verse is wattaggîšûn. The verb is active: the people in the verse are bringing something near. This root can describe approaching or presenting something, so nearness here is an action with consequences, not simply a distance closing by itself.
ALSO GROWS
vayiggash: Approached or came close.
וַיִּגַּשׁ
Abraham uses this same root when he draws near to speak, showing that what is brought close can be a plea as well as a threat.
haggishu: Bring forward, present, or set before someone.
הַגִּישׁוּ
This branch makes the agency plain: bringing near is a deliberate act of placing something within reach.
שֶׁבֶת
shevet
GROWS FROM
ישב
y-sh-b
To sit, remain, or dwell.
The “seat” is also a dwelling, so violence is not merely an impact expected later; it is given a place to settle. The verse holds these together: the evil day is pushed away in thought while violence is brought near as a place to sit.
ALSO GROWS
yashav: To sit down, remain, or inhabit.
יָשַׁב
The root gives the seat its settled quality: violence is made present as something that can remain.
moshav: A dwelling place, settlement, or seat.
מוֹשָׁב
This branch carries the same movement from sitting to establishing a place, deepening the force of “the seat of violence.”
THE PATTERN
What is postponed in thought can coexist with harm being made present and settled.
Because sentence against an evil work is not executed speedily, therefore the heart of the sons of men is fully set in them to do evil.That say, Let him make speed, and hasten his work, that we may see it: and let the counsel of the Holy One of Israel draw nigh and come, that we may know it!Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap.THE THREAD
And Abraham drew near, and said, Wilt thou also destroy the righteous with the wicked?“Drew near” translates וַיִּגַּשׁ (vayiggash, “he drew near”), from the same root נגשׁ (n-g-sh, “approach or bring near”) as Amos’s “cause ... to come near.” The root makes nearness an enacted choice: Abraham brings a plea close, while Amos names violence being brought close.
Read the SDV Bible.
Every verse has a Deep Dive in the app.
The iPhone Bible app with the Selah Decoded Version.
Does something in this reading look wrong? Tell us