As if a man did flee from a lion, and a bear met him; or went into the house, and leaned his hand on the wall, and a serpent bit him.
As if a man did flee from a lion, and a bear met him - trying to escape one calamity he falls into another. This perhaps implies that in Amos 5:18 their ironical desire for the day of the Lord was as if it would be an escape from existing calamities. The coming of the day of the Lord would be good news to us, if true, because we have served God (i:e., the golden calves). So do hypocrites flatter themselves as to death and judgment, as if these would be a relief from existing ills of life. The lion may from generosity spare the prostrate, but the bear spares none (cf. Job 20:24; Isaiah 24:18).
Or went into the house, and leaned his hand on the wall and a serpent bit him - i:e., leaned on the side wall of the house, to support himself from falling. Snakes often hide themselves in fissures in a wall. Those not reformed by God's judgments will be pursued by them; if they escape one, another is ready to seize them.