Walk through Amos, verse by verse, with the great Bible Commentaries of Matthew Henry (1662 - 1714) & Adam Clarke (1760 - 1832)
3:5
Can a bird fall in a snare upon the earth, where no gin is for him? shall one take up a snare from the earth, and have taken nothing at all? KJV
{Whether a bird shall fall into a snare of (the) earth, without a fowler? Whether a snare shall be taken
away from (the) earth, before that it take something?} Wycliffe's Bible
Can a bird fall in a snare - Can ye, as a sinful people, fall into calamities which I have not appointed?
Shall one take up a snare - and have taken nothing - Will the snare be removed before it has caught the expected prey? - shall I remove my judgments till they are fully accomplished? This is a curious passage, and deserves farther consideration. The original, literally translated, is nearly as follows: "Shall the trap arise from the ground; and catching, shall it not catch?" Here is a plain allusion to such traps as we employ to catch rats, foxes, etc.
Affliction does not spring out of the dust, but it is God’s justice, and our own wickedness,
Shall one take up a snare - and have taken nothing - Will the snare be removed before it has caught the expected prey? - shall I remove my judgments till they are fully accomplished? This is a curious passage, and deserves farther consideration. The original, literally translated, is nearly as follows: "Shall the trap arise from the ground; and catching, shall it not catch?" Here is a plain allusion to such traps as we employ to catch rats, foxes, etc.
Affliction does not spring out of the dust, but it is God’s justice, and our own wickedness,