Amos 9:3
And though they be hid in the top of Carmel, I will search and take them away from thence: and though they hide themselves from my eyes in the depth of the sea, there will I command the serpent and he shall bite them.
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- Vulgate (Clementine)
- Et si absconditi fuerint in vertice Carmeli, inde scrutans auferam eos ; et si celaverint se ab oculis meis in profundo maris, ibi mandabo serpenti, et mordebit eos.
- Septuagint (Swete)
- ἐὰν ἐγκατακρυβῶσιν εἰς τὴν κορυφὴν τοῦ Καρμήλου, ἐκεῖθεν ἐξερευνήσω καὶ λήμψομαι αὐτούς· καὶ ἐὰν καταδύσωσιν ἐξ ὀφθαλμῶν μου εἰς τὰ βάθη τῆς θαλάσσης, ἐκεῖ ἐντελοῦμαι τῷ δράκοντι καὶ δήξεται αὐτούς·
- Hebrew (WLC)
- וְאִם יֵחָֽבְאוּ֙ בְּרֹ֣אשׁ הַכַּרְמֶ֔ל מִשָּׁ֥ם אֲחַפֵּ֖שׂ וּלְקַחְתִּ֑ים וְאִם יִסָּ֨תְר֜וּ מִנֶּ֤גֶד עֵינַי֙ בְּקַרְקַ֣ע הַיָּ֔ם מִשָּׁ֛ם אֲצַוֶּ֥ה אֶת הַנָּחָ֖שׁ וּנְשָׁכָֽם
Haydock's commentary
Top, in woods, or caverns.
Serpent. Fishes and sea monsters are so called.
From Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary, 1859, in the transcription made by Todd Easton and kept online by John Paul Wohlschied at johnblood.gitlab.io/haydock.
The Fathers on this verse
Origen Origen De Principiis, Chapter VIII
3. But perhaps this question is asked, If it be the understanding which prays and sings with the spirit, and if it be the same which receives both perfection and salvation, how is it that Peter says, “Receiving the end of your faith, even the salvation of your souls?” If the soul neither prays nor sings with the spirit, how shall it hope for salvation? or when it attains to blessedness, shall it be no longer called a soul? Let us see if perhaps an answer may be given in this way, that as the Saviour came to save what was lost, that which formerly was said to be lost is not lost when it is saved; so also, perhaps, this which is saved is called a soul, and when it has been placed in a state of salvation will receive a name from the Word that denotes its more perfect condition. …
St Augustine Expositions on the Book of Psalms, Psalm LXXXIX
11. Lastly, what hast Thou done in the sea itself, to pacify its rage, and to weaken it? “Thou hast humbled the proud as one that is wounded” ( ver. 10 ). There is a certain proud serpent in the sea, of which another passage of Scripture speaks, “I will command the serpent, and he shall bite him;” and again, “There is that Leviathan, whom Thou hast made to mock him,” whose head He bruises above the water. “Thou,” he says, “hast humbled the proud, as one that is wounded.” Thou hast humbled Thyself, and the proud was humbled: for the proud held the proud ones through pride: but the great One is humbled, and by believing in Him become small. While the little one is nourished by the example of One who from greatness descended to humility, the devil has lost what he held: because the proud held only the proud. …