Can a bird fall in a snare upon the earth, where no trap is for it? shall one take up a snare from the earth, having taken nothing at all?
All Commentaries on Amos 3:5 Go To Amos 3
Cyril of Alexandria
AD 444
In this case the verse probably refers by sparrows to people given to conceit, with arrogant and self-important ideas, who cannot bear to accommodate themselves to the lowly; they are lovers of earthly things caught in snares, seeking only what is fleshly and opulent. God this time compares Himself to a hunter and a snare, bringing down to earth the haughty, and striking, as it were, and catching for punishment those whose minds are fixed solely on the earth.
