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.
For G1063 of G1537 this sort G5130 are they G1526 which creep G1744 into G1519 houses, G3614 and G2532 lead captive G162 silly women G1133 laden G4987 with sins, G266 led away G71 with divers G4164 lusts, G1939 Ever G3842 learning, G3129 and G2532 never G3368 able G1410 to come G2064 to G1519 the knowledge G1922 of the truth. G225
A scorner H3887 seeketh H1245 wisdom, H2451 and findeth it not: but knowledge H1847 is easy H7043 unto him that understandeth. H995
Then G5119 if G1437 any man G5100 shall say G2036 unto you, G5213 Lo, G2400 here G5602 is Christ, G5547 or G2228 there; G5602 believe G4100 it not. G3361 For G1063 there shall arise G1453 false Christs, G5580 and G2532 false prophets, G5578 and G2532 shall shew G1325 great G3173 signs G4592 and G2532 wonders; G5059 insomuch that, G5620 if G1487 it were possible, G1415 they shall deceive G4105 the very G2532 elect. G1588 Behold, G2400 I have told G4280 you G5213 before. G4280 Wherefore G3767 if G1437 they shall say G2036 unto you, G5213 Behold, G2400 he is G2076 in G1722 the desert; G2048 go G1831 not G3361 forth: G1831 behold, G2400 he is in G1722 the secret chambers; G5009 believe G4100 it not. G3361
At G1722 that G1565 time G2540 Jesus G2424 answered G611 and said, G2036 I thank G1843 thee, G4671 O Father, G3962 Lord G2962 of heaven G3772 and G2532 earth, G1093 because G3754 thou hast hid G613 these things G5023 from G575 the wise G4680 and G2532 prudent, G4908 and G2532 hast revealed G601 them G846 unto babes. G3516 Even so, G3483 Father: G3962 for G3754 so G3779 it seemed G1096 good G2107 in thy G4675 sight. G1715 All things G3956 are delivered G3860 unto me G3427 of G5259 my G3450 Father: G3962 and G2532 no man G3762 knoweth G1921 the Son, G5207 but G1508 the Father; G3962 neither G3761 knoweth G1921 any man G5100 the Father, G3962 save G1508 the Son, G5207 and he G2532 to G3739 whomsoever G1437 the Son G5207 will G1014 reveal G601 him.
But G1161 Israel, G2474 which followed G1377 after the law G3551 of righteousness, G1343 hath G5348 not G3756 attained G5348 to G1519 the law G3551 of righteousness. G1343 Wherefore? G1302 Because G3754 they sought it not G3756 by G1537 faith, G4102 but G235 as G5613 it were by G1537 the works G2041 of the law. G3551 For G1063 they stumbled G4350 at that stumblingstone; G3037 G4348 As G2531 it is written, G1125 Behold, G2400 I lay G5087 in G1722 Sion G4622 a stumblingstone G3037 G4348 and G2532 rock G4073 of offence: G4625 and G2532 whosoever G3956 believeth G4100 on G1909 him G846 shall G2617 not G3756 be ashamed. G2617
What G5101 then? G3767 Israel G2474 hath G2013 not G3756 obtained G2013 that G5127 which G3739 he seeketh for; G1934 but G1161 the election G1589 hath obtained it, G2013 and G1161 the rest G3062 were blinded G4456 (According as G2531 it is written, G1125 God G2316 hath given G1325 them G846 the spirit G4151 of slumber, G2659 eyes G3788 that they should G991 not G3361 see, G991 and G2532 ears G3775 that they should G191 not G3361 hear;) G191 unto G2193 this G4594 day. G2250 And G2532 David G1138 saith, G3004 Let G1096 their G846 table G5132 be made G1096 a snare, G1519 G3803 and G2532 a trap, G1519 G2339 and G2532 a stumblingblock, G1519 G4625 and G2532 a recompence G1519 G468 unto them: G846 Let G4654 their G846 eyes G3788 be darkened, G4654 that they may G991 not G3361 see, G991 and G2532 bow down G4781 their G846 back G3577 alway. G1275
Worthy.Bible » Commentaries » Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible » Commentary on Amos 8
Commentary on Amos 8 Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
CHAPTER 8
Am 8:1-14. Vision of a Basket of Summer Fruit Symbolical, of Israel's End. Resuming the Series of Symbols Interrupted by Amaziah, Amos Adds a Fourth. The Avarice of the Oppressors of the Poor: The Overthrow of the Nation: The Wish for the Means of Religious Counsel, when There Shall Be a Famine of the Word.
1. summer fruit—Hebrew, kitz. In Am 8:2 "end" is in Hebrew, keetz. The similarity of sounds implies that, as the summer is the end of the year and the time of the ripeness of fruits, so Israel is ripe for her last punishment, ending her national existence. As the fruit is plucked when ripe from the tree, so Israel from her land.
2. end—(Eze 7:2, 6).
3. songs of … temple—(Am 5:23). The joyous hymns in the temple of Judah (or rather, in the Beth-el "royal temple," Am 7:13; for the allusion is to Israel, not Judah, throughout this chapter) shall be changed into "howlings." Grotius translates, "palace"; compare Am 6:5, as to the songs there. But Am 5:23, and Am 7:13, favor English Version.
they shall cast them forth with silence—not as the Margin, "be silent." It is an adverb, "silently." There shall be such great slaughter as even to prevent the bodies being buried [Calvin]. There shall be none of the usual professional mourners (Am 5:16), but the bodies will be cast out in silence. Perhaps also is meant that terror, both of God (compare Am 6:10) and of the foe, shall close their lips.
4. Hear—The nobles needed to be urged thus, as hating to hear reproof.
swallow up the needy—or, "gape after," that is, pant for their goods; so the word is used, Job 7:2, Margin.
to make the poor … to fail—"that they (themselves) may be placed alone in the midst of the earth" (Isa 5:8).
5. So greedy are they of unjust gain that they cannot spare a single day, however sacred, from pursuing it. They are strangers to God and enemies to themselves, who love market days better than sabbath days; and they who have lost piety will not long keep honesty. The new moons (Nu 10:10) and sabbaths were to be kept without working or trading (Ne 10:31).
set forth wheat—literally, "open out" stores of wheat for sale.
ephah—containing three seahs, or above three pecks.
making … small—making it below the just weight to purchasers.
shekel great—taking from purchasers a greater weight of money than was due. Shekels used to be weighed out in payments (Ge 23:16). Thus they committed a double fraud against the law (De 25:13, 14).
6. buy … poor for silver … pair of shoes—that is, that we may compel the needy for money, or any other thing of however little worth, to sell themselves to us as bondmen, in defiance of Le 25:39; the very thing which brings down God's judgment (Am 2:6).
sell the refuse of … wheat—which contains no nutriment, but which the poor eat at a low price, being unable to pay for flour.
7. Lord hath sworn by the excellency of Jacob—that is, by Himself, in whom Jacob's seed glory [Maurer]. Rather, by the spiritual privileges of Israel, the adoption as His peculiar people [Calvin], the temple, and its Shekinah symbol of His presence. Compare Am 6:8, where it means Jehovah's temple (compare Am 4:2).
never forget—not pass by without punishing (Am 8:2; Ho 8:13; 9:9).
8. the land … rise up wholly as a flood—The land will, as it were, be wholly turned into a flooding river (a flood being the image of overwhelming calamity, Da 9:26).
cast out and drowned, &c.—swept away and overwhelmed, as the land adjoining the Nile is by it, when flooding (Am 9:5). The Nile rises generally twenty feet. The waters then "cast out" mire and dirt (Isa 57:20).
9. "Darkness" made to rise "at noon" is the emblem of great calamities (Jer 15:9; Eze 32:7-10).
10. baldness—a sign of mourning (Isa 15:2; Jer 48:37; Eze 7:18).
I will make it as … mourning of an only son—"it," that is, "the earth" (Am 8:9). I will reduce the land to such a state that there shall be the same occasion for mourning as when parents mourn for an only son (Jer 6:26; Zec 12:10).
11. famine of … hearing the words of the Lord—a just retribution on those who now will not hear the Lord's prophets, nay even try to drive them away, as Amaziah did (Am 7:12); they shall look in vain, in their distress, for divine counsel, such as the prophets now offer (Eze 7:26; Mic 3:7). Compare as to the Jews' rejection of Messiah, and their consequent rejection by Him (Mt 21:43); and their desire for Messiah too late (Lu 17:22; Joh 7:34; 8:21). So, the prodigal when he had sojourned awhile in the "far-off country, began to be in want" in the "mighty famine" which arose (Lu 15:14; compare 1Sa 3:1; 7:2). It is remarkable that the Jews' religion is almost the only one that could be abolished against the will of the people themselves, on account of its being dependent on a particular place, namely, the temple. When that was destroyed, the Mosaic ritual, which could not exist without it, necessarily ceased. Providence designed it, that, as the law gave way to the Gospel, so all men should perceive it was so, in spite of the Jews' obstinate rejection of the Gospel.
12. they shall wander from sea to sea—that is, from the Dead Sea to the Mediterranean, from east to west.
from … north … to … east—where we might expect "from north to south." But so alienated was Israel from Judah, that no Israelite even then would think of repairing southward, that is, to Jerusalem for religious information. The circuit is traced as in Nu 34:3, &c., except that the south is omitted. Their "seeking the word of the Lord" would not be from a sincere desire to obey God, but under the pressure of punishment.
13. faint for thirst—namely, thirst for hearing the words of the Lord, being destitute of all other comfort. If even the young and strong faint, how much more the infirm (Isa 40:30, 31)!
14. swear by the sin of Samaria—namely, the calves (De 9:21; Ho 4:15). "Swear by" means to worship (Ps 63:11).
The manner—that is, as "the way" is used (Ps 139:24; Ac 9:2), the mode of worship.
Thy god, O Dan—the other golden calf at Dan (1Ki 22:26-30).
liveth … liveth—rather, "May thy god … live … may the manner … live." Or, "As (surely as) thy god, O Dan, liveth." This is their formula when they swear; not "May Jehovah live!" or, "As Jehovah liveth!"