Cows+of+Bashan

=toc= =Interpretations =

1. The “Cows of Bashan” were a symbol of wealth and luxury or a sign of a fertility cult in Samaria.[1] 2. “The Targum identified the audience as the leaders of the nation who made requests to false gods, “their lords”. [2] 3. The Cows of Bashan were a Baal cult. This conclusion is reached by relating the Hebrew word for “husband” to “lord” or Baal and “drinking” to a Baal feast.[3] 4. They could also have been “worshippers of a cow, possibly as a female counterpart to the worship of the Lord as a bull.”[4] 5. “The female element may also be figurative, making it the wealthy of Israel.”[5] 6. This “could have been a name these particular women called themselves as disciples of the cult that a conflation of Yahweh and Baal.[6] 7. Since Bashan is fertile land it “produced the fattest and strongest animals; they were used as a symbol of the mighty.”[7] 8. The Midrash states that the Cows of Bashan is the reference to the courts of justice.[8] 9. The “Cows of Bashan” were the women of the society. Through the word “husband” in Amos 4:1d, one could infer that the cows of Bashan must have been the women, “who say to your husbands, ‘Bring now, that we may drink.’”. Routtenberg writes, “According to the Talmud the prophet is here referring to the women [89].”[9] The cows of Bashan are the rich women of the society. Finley and Tatford further identify the “Cows of Bashan” to the wealthy women of Samaria.[10] Veldkamp added that the “Cows of Bashan” were “the elite and cultured women of the city.[11]

=Location of Bashan =

Bashan is located at “the northernmost part of Israel, east of the Jordan River and north of the Yarmuk River.”[12] The land sat on a mountain range of Mount Hauran or Mount Bashan, “both sides of the middle and upper Yarmuk River.”[13] It is well-watered and thus protecting it from becoming a desert land.[14] The land, being fertile, had good pastures for producing fat cattle.[15] Bashan is also good for farming.[16]

=Wickedness of the “Cows of Bashan” =

Amos (4:1) not only points out who were the “Cows of Bashan”, he also records what they did, “who oppress the poor, who crush the needy, who say to your husbands, ‘Bring now, that we may drink.’” The word “poor” could also be translated as “scanty, helpless, powerless, or insignificant”; it could be understood that the “Cows of Bashan” were subsisting those who were helpless and powerless, namely—the poor. The verb “Crush” could also mean “smash up, ill-treated or abuse”. The “Needy” were those who lack the basic necessities of life.[17] Another way to understand “who crush the needy” would be that those who were lacking the basic necessities of life were also being abused by the “Cows of Bashan”, “They constantly demanded more from their husbands that their desires might be satiated. To meet their demands meant further oppression of the poor and even trampling upon the needy.”[18] The verb “bring” is an imperative indicating the strong will and determination of the “Cows of Bashan”.[19] It is not clear from the text of what the “Cows of Bashan” were demanding from their husbands to bring back for them to drink. Veldkamp writes that the cows of Bashan were demanding //wine//,[20] “drinking and feasting and the throwing of parties were some of the chief concerns;”[21] thus, “they nagged their husbands to ‘bring’ more and more to satisfy their thirst.”[22]

=Endnotes =

[1] <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 11pt;">Gary V. Smith. //Amos// (Fearn, UK: Mentor, 1998), 173.

[2] Ibid, 174.

[3] Ibid, <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 11pt;">174-175.

[4] <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 11pt;">Thomas J Finley, //Joel, Amos, Obadiah// (Chicago: Moody Press, 1990), 199.

[5] <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 11pt;">Ibid, 198.

[6] <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 11pt;">Billy K Smith, //Amos, Obadiah, Jonah// ([Nashville], TN: Broadman & Holman, 1995), 84.

[7]<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 11pt;"> Bernard Thorogood, //A Guide to the Book of Amos: With Theme Discussions on Judgment, Social Justice, Priest and Prophet// (Valley Forge: Judson Press, 1977), 72. Cf. Deuteronomy 32:24; Psalm 22:12; Ezekiel 39:18.

[8]<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 11pt;"> Hyman J Routtenberg, //Amos of Tekoa; a Study in Interpretation//, 1st ed. (New York: Vantage Press, 1971), 63.

[9]<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 11pt;"> Ibid, 63.

[10] <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 11pt;">Frederick A Tatford, //Prophet of Social Injustice: An Exposition of Amos// (Eastbourne: Prophetic Witness, 1974), 41; 43.

[11] <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 11pt;">Herman Veldkamp. //The Farmer from Tekoa//. (Ontario: Paideia Press, 1977), 121.

[12]<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif';"> Billy K Smith, //Amos, Obadiah, Jonah// ([Nashville], TN: Broadman & Holman, 1995), 84. Cf. Thomas J Finley, //Joel, Amos, Obadiah// (Chicago: Moody Press, 1990), 198.

[13]<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 11pt;"> Billy K Smith, //Amos, Obadiah, Jonah// ([Nashville], TN: Broadman & Holman, 1995), 84.

[14]<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 11pt;"> Thomas J Finley, //Joel, Amos, Obadiah// (Chicago: Moody Press, 1990), 198. Cf. Psalm 68:15.

[15]<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 11pt;"> Bernard Thorogood, //A Guide to the Book of Amos: With Theme Discussions on Judgment, Social Justice, Priest and Prophet// (Valley Forge: Judson Press, 1977), 72. Cf. Psalm 22:12, Jeremiah 50:19, Ezekiel 39:18; Micah 7:14.

[16]<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 11pt;"> Frederick A Tatford, //Prophet of Social Injustice: An Exposition of Amos// (Eastbourne: Prophetic Witness, 1974), 43.

[17]<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 11pt;"> Billy K Smith, //Amos, Obadiah, Jonah// ([Nashville], TN: Broadman & Holman, 1995), 85.

[18]<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 11pt;"> Bernard Thorogood, //A Guide to the Book of Amos: With Theme Discussions on Judgment, Social Justice, Priest and Prophet// (Valley Forge: Judson Press, 1977), 72.

[19]<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 11pt;"> Billy K Smith, //Amos, Obadiah, Jonah// ([Nashville], TN: Broadman & Holman, 1995), 85.

[20]<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 11pt;"> Herman Veldkamp. //The Farmer from Tekoa//. (Ontario: Paideia Press, 1977), 122.

[21]<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif';"> Gary V. Smith. //Amos//. (Fearn, UK: Mentor, 1998), 176.

[22]<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 11pt;"> Billy K Smith, //Amos, Obadiah, Jonah// ([Nashville], TN: Broadman & Holman, 1995), 85.

Bibliography Finley, Thomas J. //Joel, Amos, Obadiah.// Wycliffe Exegetical Commentary. Chicago: Moody Press, 1990. Routtenberg, Rabbi Hyman J. //Amos of Tekoa//. A Study in Interpretations. New York: Vantage Press, 1971. Smith, Billy K and Frank S Page. //Amos, Obadiah, Jonah.// New American Commentary. Nashville: Broadman& Holman, 1995. Smith, Gary V. //Amos.// Rev. and Expanded ed. Ed. Mentor Commentaries. Fearn, UK: Mentor, 1998. Tatford, Frederick. A. //Prophet of Social Injustice//. An Exposition of Amos. Eastbourne: Prophetic Witness Publishing House, 1974. Thorogood, Bernard. //A Guide to the Book of Amos//. With Theme Discussions on Judgment: Social Justice: Priest and Prophet. Valley Forge: Judson Press, 1971. Veldkamp, Herman. //The Farmer from Tekoa//. On the Book of Amos. Ontario, 1977.

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