Amos 5:26
You shall take up Sikkuth your king, and Kiyyun your star-god—your images that you made for yourselves,
English Standard Version (ESV)
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The phrase "your king" and "your star-god" isn't just naming two different deities, but highlights how they chose to define and control their own worship. They weren't just passively receiving a god; they were actively constructing one based on their own desires, making their ultimate downfall a consequence of their own deliberate choices.
Amos is confronting Israel about their hypocrisy: they outwardly practice religious rituals but inwardly harbor corrupted hearts and pursue idolatry. While they claim to worship God, their actions reveal they’ve been carrying portable shrines and images of foreign gods, particularly celestial deities like "Sikkuth your king" and "Kiyyun your star-god." This verse highlights that their worship was not only directed towards false gods but involved self-made idols, a deep offense to God that sets the stage for his pronouncement of exile in the following verse.
Why would ancient Israelites carry around little shrines with them? What does this tell us about their devotion?
Amos confronts the Israelites with a stark image: they carried their idols with them, not just in grand public displays, but in personal, portable shrines. These 'tabernacles' held images of their chosen gods, like 'Sikkuth' (likely a title meaning 'King') and 'Kiyyun' (possibly related to a star-god).
This wasn't just about distant, abstract worship. It was intimate and mobile. Think of it like carrying a personal totem or a favorite saint's statue. This practice revealed a fundamental problem: they were prioritizing their own manufactured deities over the God who had freed them. Their worship wasn't about submitting to the Divine, but about carrying what they wanted to represent divinity.
Amos points to a critical flaw in Israel's worship. What was it, and how does it still affect us?
The core issue Amos addresses is that these gods – Sikkuth and Kiyyun – were 'made for yourselves.' This wasn't an accidental straying; it was a deliberate act of creation and self-determination in worship.
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Instead of submitting to the God who revealed Himself, Israel chose to craft their own understanding of divinity. They sculpted their gods, named them, and built shrines for them. This is the essence of idolatry: replacing God's revelation with human invention. It's about making a god that fits our desires, our convenience, and our worldview, rather than conforming ourselves to the God who is.
Understand the original words
nasa · Hebrew Verb
A term referring to the act of lifting, carrying, or bearing; in this context, it implies the active participation in the idolatrous worship of false deities.
Sikkuth · Hebrew Noun
A name for a deity, likely derived from the Akkadian 'Sakkud', associated with the planet Saturn; representing an idol that the Israelites had adopted and enthroned as their own sovereign in place of the true God.
Kiyyun · Hebrew Noun
A term derived from the Akkadian 'Kaiwanu', referring to the planet Saturn; it describes a celestial body worshipped as a divine entity, illustrating the Israelites' shift toward astral idolatry.
tselem · Hebrew Noun
A term denoting a physical representation or likeness, often used in Scripture to describe objects used in false worship; strictly forbidden by the Decalogue.
Amos directly confronts the Israelites of his day, accusing them of carrying portable shrines of idols like 'Sikkuth' (possibly a kingly deity) and 'Kiyyun' (likely a star-god, associated with Saturn) - even during their worship of God. This verse points to a deeply ingrained pattern of syncretism and idolatry that had roots stretching back to the wilderness period and was particularly prevalent in the Northern Kingdom just before its fall.
c. 15th-13th century BC
Israel's Exodus and Wilderness Wandering
Following their exodus from Egypt, the Israelites engaged in various forms of idolatry, including the worship of a calf image and potentially other deities learned from Egyptian or Canaanite cultures. This period set a pattern of spiritual compromise.
c. 10th century BC
Solomon's Idolatry
King Solomon, in his later years, allowed the worship of foreign gods by his wives and later by the kingdom, introducing practices that further corrupted Israel's religious landscape.
c. 8th century BC— this verse
Northern Kingdom of Israel's Apostasy
Under various kings, the Northern Kingdom of Israel increasingly adopted and promoted the worship of foreign gods and celestial bodies, including deities associated with Assyrian and Babylonian pantheons.
c. 732 BC
Assyrian Conquest of Northern Israel
The Assyrian Empire conquered significant portions of the Northern Kingdom, leading to deportations and the imposition of Assyrian religious influences, further entrenching star worship and foreign cults.
722 BC
Fall of Samaria and Exile
The capital city of Samaria fell to the Assyrians, and the Northern Kingdom of Israel was largely exiled, scattering its people and solidifying the prophetic warnings of judgment for idolatry.
Stephen quotes this passage, directly linking this idolatry to Israel's subsequent judgment and enslavement to 'the host of heaven,' highlighting the theme of divine abandonment due to sin.
Jeremiah 43:7This passage describes the Judeans taking their idols, including images of the 'king of heaven,' with them into exile in Egypt, showing a parallel pattern of carrying their false gods into judgment.
Deuteronomy 4:19This verse warns Israel against worshipping the sun, moon, and stars, directly connecting to Amos' accusation of worshipping 'your star-god,' indicating a long-standing temptation to celestial idolatry.
Isaiah 46:1Isaiah describes Babylonian gods being carried in wagons, mirroring the 'tabernacle' or portable shrine imagery in Amos and emphasizing the futility and shame of trusting in idols that must be carried rather than carrying their worshippers.
barnesAmos 5:26: "But ye have borne the tabernacle of your Moloch and Chiun your images, the star of your god, which ye made to yourselves."
But ye have borne - Literally, "And ye bare the tabernacle of your Moloch" (literally, "your king," from where the idol Moloch had its name.) He assigns the reason, why he had denied that they sacririced to God in the wilderness. "Did ye offer sacrifices unto Me, and ye bare?" that is, seeing that ye bare. The two were incompatible. Since they did "carry about t…
clarkeAmos 5:26: "But ye have borne the tabernacle of your Moloch and Chiun your images, the star of your god, which ye made to yourselves."
But ye have borne - The preceding verse spoke of their fathers; the present verse speaks of the Israelites then existing, who were so grievously addicted to idolatry, that they not only worshipped at stated public places the idols set up by public authority, but they carried their gods about with them everywhere. The tabernacle of your Moloch - Probably a small…
The phrase "your king" and "your star-god" isn't just naming two different deities, but highlights how they chose to define and control their own worship. They weren't just passively receiving a god; they were actively constructing one based on their own desires, making their ultimate downfall a consequence of their own deliberate choices.
Amos is confronting Israel about their hypocrisy: they outwardly practice religious rituals but inwardly harbor corrupted hearts and pursue idolatry. While they claim to worship God, their actions reveal they’ve been carrying portable shrines and images of foreign gods, particularly celestial deities like "Sikkuth your king" and "Kiyyun your star-god." This verse highlights that their worship was not only directed towards false gods but involved self-made idols, a deep offense to God that sets the stage for his pronouncement of exile in the following verse.
Amos is confronting Israel about their hypocrisy: they outwardly practice religious rituals but inwardly harbor corrupted hearts and pursue idolatry. While they claim to worship God, their actions reveal they’ve been carrying portable shrines and images of foreign gods, particularly celestial deities like "Sikkuth your king" and "Kiyyun your star-god." This verse highlights that their worship was not only directed towards false gods but involved self-made idols, a deep offense to God that sets the stage for his pronouncement of exile in the following verse.
"You shall take up Sikkuth your king, and Kiyyun your star-god—your images that you made for yourselves," — The phrase "your king" and "your star-god" isn't just naming two different deities, but highlights how they chose to define and control their own worship. They weren't just passively receiving a god;…
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