Shall a trumpet be blown in the city, and the people not be afraid? shall there be calamity in a city, and the LORD has not done it?
All Commentaries on Amos 3:6 Go To Amos 3
John Chrysostom
AD 407
I do not say these things in arrogance, but I have the prophet Amos standing at my side, crying and saying, “There is no evil in the city which the Lord has not done.” Now evil is a manyfaceted term. I wish that you shall learn the exact meaning of each expression, in order that on account of ambiguity you may not confound the nature of the things and fall into blasphemy. There is then evil, which is really evil; fornication, adultery, covetousness, and the countless dreadful things, which are worthy of the utmost reproach and punishment. Again there is evil, which rather is not evil but is called so, famine, pestilence, death, disease, and other of a similar nature. For these would not be evils. On this account I said they are called so only. Why then? Because, were they evils intended to become the sources of good to us, chastening our pride, goading our sloth and leading us on to zeal, making us more attentive.
