Amos 5:5 - Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible

But seek not Beth-el; consult not, worship not, depend not on the idol calf at Beth-el; or seek not God at Beth-el, but at Jerusalem, where he will be found; cast off idolatry, return to the true God and to his instituted worship, so shall ye live. Nor enter into Gilgal; a city of great idolatry, a place where God will not be sought nor found by you: see Hosea 4:15, Hosea 9:15 12:11, where it is more fully explained. Pass not to Beer-sheba; though God of old did appear there to Isaac, Genesis 26:24, though Abraham dwelt there, Genesis 21:31-33, and Jacob sacrificed there with acceptance, Genesis 46:1-3, yet now God appointeth Jerusalem and the temple the only places of his solemn worship, and of your seeking him. Gilgal; the inhabitants of Gilgal, for the place could not go into captivity; it is a metonymy, the place put for the people. Shall surely go into captivity; Shalmaneser and his Assyrians shall certainly carry them away captives. Beth-el, both city and people, shall come to nought; shall be vanity and disappointment to all that trust to the idols of it.