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
And the Lord H136 GOD H3069 of hosts H6635 is he that toucheth H5060 the land, H776 and it shall melt, H4127 and all that dwell H3427 therein shall mourn: H56 and it shall rise up H5927 wholly like a flood; H2975 and shall be drowned, H8257 as by the flood H2975 of Egypt. H4714
Then the earth H776 shook H1607 and trembled; H7493 the foundations H4146 also of the hills H2022 moved H7264 and were shaken, H1607 because he was wroth. H2734
Therefore is the anger H639 of the LORD H3068 kindled H2734 against his people, H5971 and he hath stretched forth H5186 his hand H3027 against them, and hath smitten H5221 them: and the hills H2022 did tremble, H7264 and their carcases H5038 were torn H5478 in the midst H7130 of the streets. H2351 For all this his anger H639 is not turned away, H7725 but his hand H3027 is stretched out H5186 still.
For, behold, the LORD H3068 cometh forth H3318 out of his place, H4725 and will come down, H3381 and tread H1869 upon the high places H1116 of the earth. H776 And the mountains H2022 shall be molten H4549 under him, and the valleys H6010 shall be cleft, H1234 as wax H1749 before H6440 the fire, H784 and as the waters H4325 that are poured H5064 down a steep place. H4174 For the transgression H6588 of Jacob H3290 is all this, and for the sins H2403 of the house H1004 of Israel. H3478 What is the transgression H6588 of Jacob? H3290 is it not Samaria? H8111 and what are the high places H1116 of Judah? H3063 are they not Jerusalem? H3389
And G2532 then G5119 shall appear G5316 the sign G4592 of the Son G5207 of man G444 in G1722 heaven: G3772 and G2532 then G5119 shall G2875 all G3956 the tribes G5443 of the earth G1093 mourn, G2875 and G2532 they shall see G3700 the Son G5207 of man G444 coming G2064 in G1909 the clouds G3507 of heaven G3772 with G3326 power G1411 and G2532 great G4183 glory. G1391
For thus saith H559 the LORD H3068 of hosts; H6635 Yet once, H259 it is a little while, H4592 and I will shake H7493 the heavens, H8064 and the earth, H776 and the sea, H3220 and the dry H2724 land; And I will shake H7493 all nations, H1471 and the desire H2532 of all nations H1471 shall come: H935 and I will fill H4390 this house H1004 with glory, H3519 saith H559 the LORD H3068 of hosts. H6635
Before H6440 him went H3212 the pestilence, H1698 and burning coals H7565 went forth H3318 at his feet. H7272 He stood, H5975 and measured H4128 the earth: H776 he beheld, H7200 and drove asunder H5425 the nations; H1471 and the everlasting H5703 mountains H2042 were scattered, H6327 the perpetual H5769 hills H1389 did bow: H7817 his ways H1979 are everlasting. H5769 I saw H7200 the tents H168 of Cushan H3572 in affliction: H205 and the curtains H3407 of the land H776 of Midian H4080 did tremble. H7264 Was the LORD H3068 displeased H2734 against the rivers? H5104 was thine anger H639 against the rivers? H5104 was thy wrath H5678 against the sea, H3220 that thou didst ride H7392 upon thine horses H5483 and thy chariots H4818 of salvation? H3444
The mountains H2022 quake H7493 at him, and the hills H1389 melt, H4127 and the earth H776 is burned H5375 at his presence, H6440 yea, the world, H8398 and all that dwell H3427 therein. Who can stand H5975 before H6440 his indignation? H2195 and who can abide H6965 in the fierceness H2740 of his anger? H639 his fury H2534 is poured out H5413 like fire, H784 and the rocks H6697 are thrown down H5422 by him.
Thou hast made the earth H776 to tremble; H7493 thou hast broken H6480 it: heal H7495 the breaches H7667 thereof; for it shaketh. H4131 Thou hast shewed H7200 thy people H5971 hard things: H7186 thou hast made us to drink H8248 the wine H3196 of astonishment. H8653
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
The inhabitants H7934 of Samaria H8111 shall fear H1481 because of the calves H5697 of Bethaven: H1007 for the people H5971 thereof shall mourn H56 over it, and the priests H3649 thereof that rejoiced H1523 on it, for the glory H3519 thereof, because it is departed H1540 from it.
And after H310 threescore H8346 and two H8147 weeks H7620 shall Messiah H4899 be cut off, H3772 but not for himself: and the people H5971 of the prince H5057 that shall come H935 shall destroy H7843 the city H5892 and the sanctuary; H6944 and the end H7093 thereof shall be with a flood, H7858 and unto the end H7093 of the war H4421 desolations H8074 are determined. H2782
I beheld H7200 the mountains, H2022 and, lo, they trembled, H7493 and all the hills H1389 moved lightly. H7043 I beheld, H7200 and, lo, there was no man, H120 and all the birds H5775 of the heavens H8064 were fled. H5074 I beheld, H7200 and, lo, the fruitful place H3759 was a wilderness, H4057 and all the cities H5892 thereof were broken down H5422 at the presence H6440 of the LORD, H3068 and by his fierce H2740 anger. H639
The earth H776 is utterly H7489 broken down, H7489 the earth H776 is clean H6565 dissolved, H6565 the earth H776 is moved H4131 exceedingly. H4131 The earth H776 shall reel H5128 to and fro H5128 like a drunkard, H7910 and shall be removed H5110 like a cottage; H4412 and the transgression H6588 thereof shall be heavy H3513 upon it; and it shall fall, H5307 and not rise H6965 again. H3254
Now therefore, behold, the Lord H136 bringeth up H5927 upon them the waters H4325 of the river, H5104 strong H6099 and many, H7227 even the king H4428 of Assyria, H804 and all his glory: H3519 and he shall come up H5927 over all his channels, H650 and go over H1980 all his banks: H1415 And he shall pass H2498 through Judah; H3063 he shall overflow H7857 and go over, H5674 he shall reach H5060 even to the neck; H6677 and the stretching out H4298 of his wings H3671 shall fill H4393 the breadth H7341 of thy land, H776 O Immanuel. H6005 H410
The sea H3220 saw H7200 it, and fled: H5127 Jordan H3383 was driven H5437 back. H268 The mountains H2022 skipped H7540 like rams, H352 and the little hills H1389 like lambs. H1121 H6629 What ailed thee, O thou sea, H3220 that thou fleddest? H5127 thou Jordan, H3383 that thou wast driven H5437 back? H268 Ye mountains, H2022 that ye skipped H7540 like rams; H352 and ye little hills, H1389 like lambs? H1121 H6629 Tremble, H2342 thou earth, H776 at the presence H6440 of the Lord, H113 at the presence H6440 of the God H433 of Jacob; H3290
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!"