1 Thus hath the Lord GOD shewed unto me: and behold a basket of summer fruit.
2 And he said, Amos, what seest thou? And I said, A basket of summer fruit. Then said the LORD unto me, The end is come upon my people of Israel; I will not again pass by them any more.
3 And the songs of the temple shall be howlings in that day, saith the Lord GOD: there shall be many dead bodies in every place; they shall cast them forth with silence.
4 Hear this, O ye that swallow up the needy, even to make the poor of the land to fail,
5 Saying, When will the new moon be gone, that we may sell corn? and the sabbath, that we may set forth wheat, making the ephah small, and the shekel great, and falsifying the balances by deceit?
6 That we may buy the poor for silver, and the needy for a pair of shoes; yea, and sell the refuse of the wheat?
7 The LORD hath sworn by the excellency of Jacob, Surely I will never forget any of their works.
8 Shall not the land tremble for this, and every one mourn that dwelleth therein? and it shall rise up wholly as a flood; and it shall be cast out and drowned, as by the flood of Egypt.
9 And it shall come to pass in that day, saith the Lord GOD, that I will cause the sun to go down at noon, and I will darken the earth in the clear day:
10 And I will turn your feasts into mourning, and all your songs into lamentation; and I will bring up sackcloth upon all loins, and baldness upon every head; and I will make it as the mourning of an only son, and the end thereof as a bitter day.
11 Behold, the days come, saith the Lord GOD, that I will send a famine in the land, not a famine of bread, nor a thirst for water, but of hearing the words of the LORD:
12 And they shall wander from sea to sea, and from the north even to the east, they shall run to and fro to seek the word of the LORD, and shall not find it.
13 In that day shall the fair virgins and young men faint for thirst.
14 They that swear by the sin of Samaria, and say, Thy god, O Dan, liveth; and, The manner of Beersheba liveth; even they shall fall, and never rise up again.
1 Thus hath the Lord H136 GOD H3069 shewed H7200 unto me: and behold a basket H3619 of summer fruit. H7019
2 And he said, H559 Amos, H5986 what seest H7200 thou? And I said, H559 A basket H3619 of summer fruit. H7019 Then said H559 the LORD H3068 unto me, The end H7093 is come H935 upon my people H5971 of Israel; H3478 I will not again H3254 pass H5674 by them any more.
3 And the songs H7892 of the temple H1964 shall be howlings H3213 in that day, H3117 saith H5002 the Lord H136 GOD: H3069 there shall be many H7227 dead bodies H6297 in every place; H4725 they shall cast them forth H7993 with silence. H2013
4 Hear H8085 this, O ye that swallow up H7602 the needy, H34 even to make H7673 the poor H6041 H6035 of the land H776 to fail, H7673
5 Saying, H559 When will the new moon H2320 be gone, H5674 that we may sell H7666 corn? H7668 and the sabbath, H7676 that we may set forth H6605 wheat, H1250 making the ephah H374 small, H6994 and the shekel H8255 great, H1431 and falsifying H5791 the balances H3976 by deceit? H4820
6 That we may buy H7069 the poor H1800 for silver, H3701 and the needy H34 for a pair of shoes; H5275 yea, and sell H7666 the refuse H4651 of the wheat? H1250
7 The LORD H3068 hath sworn H7650 by the excellency H1347 of Jacob, H3290 Surely I will never H5331 forget H7911 any of their works. H4639
8 Shall not the land H776 tremble H7264 for this, and every one mourn H56 that dwelleth H3427 therein? and it shall rise up H5927 wholly as a flood; H2975 and it shall be cast out H1644 and drowned, H8257 H8248 as by the flood H216 of Egypt. H4714
9 And it shall come to pass in that day, H3117 saith H5002 the Lord H136 GOD, H3069 that I will cause the sun H8121 to go down H935 at noon, H6672 and I will darken H2821 the earth H776 in the clear H216 day: H3117
10 And I will turn H2015 your feasts H2282 into mourning, H60 and all your songs H7892 into lamentation; H7015 and I will bring up H5927 sackcloth H8242 upon all loins, H4975 and baldness H7144 upon every head; H7218 and I will make H7760 it as the mourning H60 of an only H3173 son, and the end H319 thereof as a bitter H4751 day. H3117
11 Behold, the days H3117 come, H935 saith H5002 the Lord H136 GOD, H3069 that I will send H7971 a famine H7458 in the land, H776 not a famine H7458 of bread, H3899 nor a thirst H6772 for water, H4325 but of hearing H8085 the words H1697 of the LORD: H3068
12 And they shall wander H5128 from sea H3220 to sea, H3220 and from the north H6828 even to the east, H4217 they shall run to and fro H7751 to seek H1245 the word H1697 of the LORD, H3068 and shall not find H4672 it.
13 In that day H3117 shall the fair H3303 virgins H1330 and young men H970 faint H5968 for thirst. H6772
14 They that swear H7650 by the sin H819 of Samaria, H8111 and say, H559 Thy god, H430 O Dan, H1835 liveth; H2416 and, The manner H1870 of Beersheba H884 liveth; H2416 even they shall fall, H5307 and never rise up H6965 again.
1 Thus the Lord Jehovah showed me: and, behold, a basket of summer fruit.
2 And he said, Amos, what seest thou? And I said, A basket of summer fruit. Then said Jehovah unto me, The end is come upon my people Israel; I will not again pass by them any more.
3 And the songs of the temple shall be wailings in that day, saith the Lord Jehovah: the dead bodies shall be many: in every place shall they cast them forth with silence.
4 Hear this, O ye that would swallow up the needy, and cause the poor of the land to fail,
5 saying, When will the new moon be gone, that we may sell grain? and the sabbath, that we may set forth wheat, making the ephah small, and the shekel great, and dealing falsely with balances of deceit;
6 that we may buy the poor for silver, and the needy for a pair of shoes, and sell the refuse of the wheat?
7 Jehovah hath sworn by the excellency of Jacob, Surely I will never forget any of their works.
8 Shall not the land tremble for this, and every one mourn that dwelleth therein? yea, it shall rise up wholly like the River; and it shall be troubled and sink again, like the River of Egypt.
9 And it shall come to pass in that day, saith the Lord Jehovah, that I will cause the sun to go down at noon, and I will darken the earth in the clear day.
10 And I will turn your feasts into mourning, and all your songs into lamentation; and I will bring sackcloth upon all loins, and baldness upon every head; and I will make it as the mourning for an only son, and the end thereof as a bitter day.
11 Behold, the days come, saith the Lord Jehovah, that I will send a famine in the land, not a famine of bread, nor a thirst for water, but of hearing the words of Jehovah.
12 And they shall wander from sea to sea, and from the north even to the east; they shall run to and fro to seek the word of Jehovah, and shall not find it.
13 In that day shall the fair virgins and the young men faint for thirst.
14 They that swear by the sin of Samaria, and say, As thy god, O Dan, liveth; and, As the way of Beer-sheba liveth; they shall fall, and never rise up again.
1 Thus hath the Lord Jehovah shewed me, and, lo, a basket of summer-fruit.
2 And He saith, `What art thou seeing, Amos?' and I say, `A basket of summer-fruit.' And Jehovah saith unto me: `The end hath come unto My people Israel, I do not add any more to pass over to it.
3 And howled have songstresses of a palace in that day, An affirmation of the Lord Jehovah, Many `are' the carcases, into any place throw -- hush!
4 Hear this, ye who are swallowing up the needy, To cause to cease the poor of the land,
5 Saying, When doth the new moon pass, And we sell ground corn? And the sabbath, and we open out pure corn? To make little the ephah, And to make great the shekel, And to use perversely balances of deceit.
6 To purchase with money the poor, And the needy for a pair of sandals, Yea, the refuse of the pure corn we sell.
7 Sworn hath Jehovah by the excellency of Jacob: `I forget not for ever any of their works.
8 For this doth not the land tremble, And mourned hath every dweller in it? And come up as a flood hath all of it. And it hath been cast out, and hath sunk, Like the flood of Egypt.
9 And it hath come to pass in that day, An affirmation of the Lord Jehovah, I have caused the sun to go in at noon, And caused darkness on the land in a day of light,
10 And have turned your festivals to mourning, And all your songs to lamentation, And caused sackcloth to come up on all loins, And on every head -- baldness, And made it as a mourning `of' an only one, And its latter end as a day of bitterness.
11 Lo, days are coming, An affirmation of the Lord Jehovah, And I have sent a famine into the land, Not a famine of bread, nor a thirst of water But of hearing the words of Jehovah.
12 And they have wandered from sea unto sea, And from north even unto east, They go to and fro to seek the word of Jehovah, And they do not find.
13 In that day faint do the fair virgins, And the young men, with thirst.
14 Those swearing by the guilt of Samaria, And have said, Live doth thy god, O Dan, And, Live doth the way of Beer-Sheba, And they have fallen -- and rise not again!'
1 Thus did Jehovah shew unto me; and behold, a basket of summer-fruit.
2 And he said, Amos, what seest thou? And I said, A basket of summer-fruit. And Jehovah said unto me, The end is come upon my people Israel: I will not again pass by them any more.
3 And the songs of the palace shall be howlings in that day, saith the Lord Jehovah. The dead bodies shall be many; in every place they shall be cast forth. Silence!
4 Hear this, ye that pant after the needy, even to cause to fail the poor of the land,
5 saying, When will the new moon be gone, that we may sell corn? and the sabbath, that we may set forth wheat? making the ephah small and the shekel great, and falsifying the balances for deceit:
6 that we may buy the poor for silver, and the needy for a pair of shoes; and that we may sell the refuse of the wheat.
7 Jehovah hath sworn by the glory of Jacob, Certainly I will never forget any of their works.
8 Shall not the land tremble for this, and every one mourn that dwelleth therein? And it shall wholly rise up like the Nile; and it shall surge and sink down, as the river of Egypt.
9 And it shall come to pass in that day, saith the Lord Jehovah, that I will cause the sun to go down at noon, and I will darken the land in the clear day.
10 And I will turn your feasts into mourning, and all your songs into lamentation; and I will bring up sackcloth upon all loins, and baldness upon every head; and I will make it as the mourning for an only [son], and the end thereof as a bitter day.
11 Behold, days come, saith the Lord Jehovah, when I will send a famine in the land; not a famine of bread, nor a thirst for water, but of hearing the words of Jehovah.
12 And they shall wander from sea to sea, and from the north to the east; they shall run to and fro to seek the word of Jehovah, and shall not find it.
13 In that day shall the fair virgins and the young men faint for thirst;
14 they that swear by the sin of Samaria, and say, [As] thy god, O Dan, liveth! and, [As] the way of Beer-sheba liveth! even they shall fall, and never rise up again.
1 Thus the Lord Yahweh showed me: behold, a basket of summer fruit.
2 He said, "Amos, what do you see?" I said, "A basket of summer fruit." Then Yahweh said to me, "The end has come on my people Israel. I will not again pass by them any more.
3 The songs of the temple will be wailings in that day," says the Lord Yahweh. "The dead bodies will be many. In every place they will throw them out with silence.
4 Hear this, you who desire to swallow up the needy, And cause the poor of the land to fail,
5 Saying, 'When will the new moon be gone, that we may sell grain? And the Sabbath, that we may market wheat, Making the ephah small, and the shekel large, And dealing falsely with balances of deceit;
6 That we may buy the poor for silver, And the needy for a pair of shoes, And sell the sweepings with the wheat?'"
7 Yahweh has sworn by the pride of Jacob, "Surely I will never forget any of their works.
8 Won't the land tremble for this, And everyone mourn who dwells in it? Yes, it will rise up wholly like the River; And it will be stirred up and sink again, like the River of Egypt.
9 "It will happen in that day," says the Lord Yahweh, "That I will cause the sun to go down at noon, And I will darken the earth in the clear day.
10 I will turn your feasts into mourning, And all your songs into lamentation; And I will make you wear sackcloth on all your bodies, And baldness on every head. I will make it like the mourning for an only son, And the end of it like a bitter day.
11 Behold, the days come," says the Lord Yahweh, "That I will send a famine in the land, Not a famine of bread, Nor a thirst for water, But of hearing the words of Yahweh.
12 They will wander from sea to sea, And from the north even to the east; They will run back and forth to seek the word of Yahweh, And will not find it.
13 In that day the beautiful virgins And the young men will faint for thirst.
14 Those who swear by the sin of Samaria, And say, 'As your god, Dan, lives;' And, 'As the way of Beersheba lives;' They will fall, and never rise up again."
1 This is what the Lord God let me see: and I saw a basket of summer fruit.
2 And he said, Amos, what do you see? And I said, A basket of summer fruit. Then the Lord said to me, The end has come to my people Israel; never again will my eyes be shut to their sin.
3 And the songs of the king's house will be cries of pain in that day, says the Lord God: great will be the number of the dead bodies, and everywhere they will put them out without a word.
4 Give ear to this, you who are crushing the poor, and whose purpose is to put an end to those who are in need in the land,
5 Saying, When will the new moon be gone, so that we may do trade in grain? and the Sabbath, so that we may put out in the market the produce of our fields? making the measure small and the price great, and trading falsely with scales of deceit;
6 Getting the poor for silver, and him who is in need for the price of two shoes, and taking a price for the waste parts of the grain.
7 The Lord has taken an oath by the pride of Jacob, Truly I will ever keep in mind all their works.
8 Will not the land be shaking with fear because of this, and everyone in it have sorrow? and all of it will be overflowing like the River; and it will be troubled and go down again like the River of Egypt.
9 And it will come about in that day, says the Lord God, that I will make the sun go down in the middle of the day, and I will make the earth dark in daylight:
10 Your feasts will be turned into sorrow and all your melody into songs of grief; everyone will be clothed with haircloth, and the hair of every head will be cut; I will make the weeping like that for an only son, and the end of it like a bitter day.
11 See, the days are coming, says the Lord God, when I will send times of great need on the land, not need of food or desire for water, but for hearing the words of the Lord.
12 And they will go wandering from sea to sea, and from the north even to the east, running here and there in search of the word of the Lord, and they will not get it.
13 In that day the fair virgins and the young men will be feeble from need of water.
14 Those who make their oaths by the sin of Samaria and say, By the life of your God, O Dan; and, By the living way of Beer-sheba; even they will go down, never again to be lifted up.
Worthy.Bible » Commentaries » Keil & Delitzsch Commentary » Commentary on Amos 8
Commentary on Amos 8 Keil & Delitzsch Commentary
The Ripeness of Israel for Judgment - Amos 8:1-14
Under the symbol of a basket filled with ripe fruit, the Lord shows the prophet that Israel is ripe for judgment (Amos 8:1-3); whereupon Amos, explaining the meaning of this vision, announces to the unrighteous magnates of the nation the changing of their joyful feasts into days of mourning, as the punishment from God for their unrighteousness (Amos 8:4-10), and sets before them a time when those who now despise the word of God will sigh in vain in their extremity for a word of the Lord (Amos 8:11-14).
Vision of a Basket of Ripe Fruit. - Amos 8:1. “Thus did the Lord Jehovah show me: and behold a basket with ripe fruit. Amos 8:2. And He said, What seest thou, Amos? And I said, A basket of ripe fruit. Then Jehovah said to me, The end is come to my people Israel; I will not pass by them any more. Amos 8:3. And the songs of the palace will yell in that day, is the saying of the Lord Jehovah: corpses in multitude; in every place hath He cast them forth: Hush!” כּלוּב from כּלך , to lay hold of, to grasp, lit., a receiver, here a basket (of basket-work), in Jeremiah 5:27 a bird-cage. קיץ : summer-fruit (see at 2 Samuel 16:1); in Isaiah 16:9; Isaiah 28:4, the gathering of fruit, hence ripe fruit. The basket of ripe fruit ( qayits ) is thus explained by the Lord: the end ( qēts ) is come to my people (cf. Ezekiel 7:6). Consequently the basket of ripe fruit is a figurative representation of the nation that is now ripe for judgment, although qēts , the end, does not denote its ripeness for judgment, but its destruction, and the word qēts is simply chosen to form a paronomasia with qayits . לא אוסיף וגו as in Amos 7:8. All the joy shall be turned into mourning. the thought is not that the temple-singing to the praise of God (Amos 5:23) would be turned into yelling, but that the songs of joy (Amos 6:5; 2 Samuel 19:36) would be turned into yells, i.e., into sounds of lamentation (cf. Amos 8:10 and 1 Maccabees 9:41), namely, because of the multitude of the dead which lay upon the ground on every side. השׁליך is not impersonal, in the sense of “which men are no longer able to bury on account of their great number, and therefore cast away in quiet places on every side;” but Jehovah is to be regarded as the subject, viz., which God has laid prostrate, or cast to the ground on every side. For the adverbial use of הס cannot be established. The word is an interjection here, as in Amos 6:10; and the exclamation, Hush! is not a sign of gloomy despair, but an admonition to bow beneath the overwhelming severity of the judgment of God, as in Zephaniah 1:7 (cf. Habakkuk 2:20 and Zechariah 2:13).
To this vision the prophet attaches the last admonition to the rich and powerful men of the nation, to observe the threatening of the Lord before it is too late, impressing upon them the terrible severity of the judgment. Amos 8:4. “Hear this, ye that gape for the poor, and to destroy the meek of the earth, Amos 8:5. Saying, When is the new moon over, that we may sell corn? and the sabbath, that we may open wheat, to make the ephah small, and the shekel great, and to falsify the scale of deceit? Amos 8:6. To buy the poor for silver, and the needy for a pair of shoes, and the refuse of the corn will we sell.” The persons addressed are the השּׁאפים אביון , i.e., not those who snort at the poor man, to frighten him away from any further pursuit of his rights (Baur), but, according to Amos 2:6-7, those who greedily pant for the poor man, who try to swallow him (Hitzig). This is affirmed in the second clause of the verse, in which שׁאפים is to be repeated in thought before להשׁבּית : they gape to destroy the quiet in the land ( ענוי־ארץ = ענוים , in Amos 2:7), “namely by grasping all property for themselves, Job 22:8; Isaiah 5:8” (Hitzig). Amos 8:5 and Amos 8:6 show how they expect to accomplish their purpose. Like covetous usurers, they cannot even wait for the end of the feast-days to pursue their trade still further. Chōdēsh , the new moon, was a holiday on which all trade was suspended, just as it was on the Sabbath (see at Numbers 28:11 and 2 Kings 4:23). השׁבּיר שׁבר , to sell corn, as in Genesis 41:57. פּתח בּר , to open up corn, i.e., to open the granaries (cf. Genesis 41:56). In doing so, they wanted to cheat the poor by small measure (ephah), and by making the shekel great, i.e., by increasing the price, which was to be weighed out to them; also by false scales ( ‛ivvēth , to pervert, or falsify the scale of deceit, i.e., the scale used for cheating), and by bad corn ( mappal , waste or refuse); that in this way they might make the poor man so poor, that he would either be obliged to sell himself to them from want and distress (Leviticus 25:39), or be handed over to the creditor by the court of justice, because he was no longer able to pay for a pair of shoes, i.e., the very smallest debt (cf. Amos 2:6).
Such wickedness as this would be severely punished by the Lord. Amos 8:7. “Jehovah hath sworn by the pride of Jacob, Verily I will not forget all their deeds for ever. Amos 8:8. Shall the earth not tremble for this, and every inhabitants upon it mourn? and all of it rises like the Nile, and heaves and sinks like the Nile of Egypt.” The pride of Jacob is Jehovah, as in Hosea 5:5 and Hosea 7:10. Jehovah swears by the pride of Jacob, as He does by His holiness in Amos 4:2, or by His soul in Amos 6:8, i.e., as He who is the pride and glory of Israel: i.e., as truly as He is so, will He and must He punish such acts as these. By overlooking such sins, or leaving them unpunished, He would deny His glory in Israel. שׁכח , to forget a sin, i.e., to leave it unpunished. In Amos 8:8 the negative question is an expression denoting strong assurance. “For this” is generally supposed to refer to the sins; but this is a mistake, as the previous verse alludes not to the sins themselves, but to the punishment of them; and the solemn oath of Jehovah does not contain so subordinate and casual a thought, that we can pass over Amos 8:7, and take על זאת as referring back to Amos 8:4-6. It rather refers to the substance of the oath, i.e., to the punishment of the sins which the Lord announces with a solemn oath. This will be so terrible that the earth will quake, and be resolved, as it were, into its primeval condition of chaos. Râgaz , to tremble, or, when applied to the earth, to quake, does not mean to shudder, or to be shocked, as Rosenmüller explains it after Jeremiah 2:12. Still less can the idea of the earth rearing and rising up in a stormy manner to cast them off, which Hitzig supports, be proved to be a biblical idea from Isaiah 24:20. The thought is rather that, under the weight of the judgment, the earth will quake, and all its inhabitants will be thrown into mourning, as we may clearly see from the parallel passage in Amos 9:5. In Amos 8:8 this figure is carried out still further, and the whole earth is represented as being turned into a sea, heaving and falling in a tempestuous manner, just as in the case of the flood. כּלּהּ , the totality of the earth, the entire globe, will rise, and swell and fall like waters lashed into a storm. This rising and falling of the earth is compared to the rising and sinking of the Nile. According to the Parallel passage in Amos 9:5, כּאר is a defective form for כּיאר , just as בּוּל is for יבוּל in Job 40:20, and it is still further defined by the expression כּיאור מצרים , which follows. All the ancient versions have taken it as יאור , and many of the Hebrew codd. (in Kennicott and De Rossi) have this reading. Nigrash, to be excited, a term applied to the stormy sea (Isaiah 57:20). נשׁקה is a softened form for נשׁקעה , as is shown by שׁקעה in Amos 9:5.
“And it will come to pass on that day, is the saying of the Lord Jehovah, I cause the sun to set at noon, and make it dark to the earth in clear day. Amos 8:10. And turn your feasts into mourning, and all your songs into lamentation: and bring mourning clothes upon all loins, and baldness upon every head; and make it like mourning for an only one, and the end thereof like a bitter day.” The effect of the divine judgment upon the Israelites is depicted here. Just as the wicked overturn the moral order of the universe, so will the Lord, with His judgment, break through the order of nature, cause the sun to go down at noon, and envelope the earth in darkness in clear day. The words of the ninth verse are not founded upon the idea of an eclipse of the sun, though Michaelis and Hitzig not only assume that they are, but actually attempt to determine the time of its occurrence. An eclipse of the sun is not the setting of the sun ( כּוא ). But to any man the sun sets at noon, when he is suddenly snatched away by death, in the very midst of his life. And this also applies to a nation when it is suddenly destroyed in the midst of its earthly prosperity. But it has a still wider application. When the Lord shall come to judgment, at a time when the world, in its self-security, looketh not for Him (cf. Matthew 24:37.), this earth's sun will set at noon, and the earth be covered with darkness in bright daylight. And every judgment that falls upon an ungodly people or kingdom, as the ages roll away, is a harbinger of the approach of the final judgment. Amos 8:10. When the judgment shall burst upon Israel, then will all the joyous feasts give way to mourning and lamentation (compare Amos 8:3 and Amos 5:16; Hosea 2:13). On the shaving of a bald place as a sign of mourning, see Isaiah 3:24. This mourning will be very deep, like the mourning for the death of an only son (cf. Jeremiah 6:26 and Zechariah 12:10). The suffix in שׂמתּיה (I make it ) does not refer to אבל (mourning), but to all that has been previously mentioned as done upon that day, to their weeping and lamenting (Hitzig). אחריתהּ , the end thereof, namely, of this mourning and lamentation, will be a bitter day ( כ is caph verit. ; see at Joel 1:15). This implies that the judgment will not be a passing one, but will continue.
And at that time the light and comfort of the word of God will also fail them. Amos 8:11. “Behold, days come, is the saying of the Lord Jehovah, that I send a hungering into the land, not a hungering for bread nor a thirst for water, but to hear the words of Jehovah. Amos 8:12. And they will reel from sea to sea; and from the north, and even to the east, they sweep round to seek the word of Jehovah, and will not find it.” The bitterness of the time of punishment is increased by the fact that the Lord will then withdrawn His word from them, i.e., the light of His revelation. They who will not now hear His word, as proclaimed by the prophets, will then cherish the greatest longing for it. Such hunger and thirst will be awakened by the distress and affliction that will come upon them. The intensity of this desire is depicted in Amos 8:12. They reel ( נוּע as in Amos 4:8) from the sea to the sea; that is to say, not “from the Dead Sea in the east to the Mediterranean in the west,” for Joel 2:20 and Zechariah 14:8 are not cases in point, as the two seas are defined there by distinct epithets; but as in Psalms 72:8 and Zechariah 9:10, according to which the meaning is, from the sea to where the sea occurs again, at the other end of the world, “the sea being taken as the boundary of the earth” (Hupfeld). The other clause, “from the north even to the east,” contains an abridged expression for “from north to south and from west to east,” i.e., to every quarter of the globe.
“In that day will the fair virgins and the young men faint for thirst. Amos 8:14. They who swear by the guilt of Samaria, and say, By the life of thy God, O Dan! and by the life of the way to Beersheba; and will fall, and not rise again.” Those who now stand in all the fullest and freshest vigour of life, will succumb to this hunger and thirst. The virgins and young men are individualized, as comprising that portion of the nation which possessed the vigorous fulness of youth. עלף , to be enveloped in night, to sink into a swoon, hithp. to hide one's self, to faint away. הנּשׁבּעים refers to the young men and virgins; and inasmuch as they represent the most vigorous portion of the nation, to the nation as a whole. If the strongest succumb to the thirst, how much more the weak! 'Ashmath Shōm e rōn , the guilt of Samaria, is the golden calf at Bethel, the principal idol of the kingdom of Israel, which is named after the capital Samaria (compare Deuteronomy 9:21, “the sin of Israel”), not the Asherah which was still standing in Samaria in the reign of Jehoahaz (2 Kings 13:6); for apart from the question whether it was there in the time of Jeroboam, this is at variance with the second clause, in which the manner of their swearing is given, - namely, by the life of the god at Dan, that is to say, the golden calf that was there; so that the guilt of Samaria can only have been the golden calf at Bethel, the national sanctuary of the ten tribes (cf. Amos 4:4; Amos 5:5). The way to Beersheba is mentioned, instead of the worship, for the sake of which the pilgrimage to Beersheba was made. This worship, again, was not a purely heathen worship, but an idolatrous worship of Jehovah (see Amos 5:5). The fulfilment of these threats commenced with the destruction of the kingdom of Israel, and the carrying away of the ten tribes into exile in Assyria, and continues to this day in the case of that portion of the Israelitish nation which is still looking for the Messiah, the prophet promised by Moses, and looking in vain, because they will not hearken to the preaching of the gospel concerning the Messiah, who appeared as Jesus.