Amos 8 Commentary

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Amos 8:1 Thus the Lord GOD showed me, and behold, there was a basket of summer fruit.

• Am 7:1,4,7 

Thus the Lord GOD showed me, and behold, there was a basket of summer fruit.

Amos 8:2 He said, “What do you see, Amos?” And I said, “A basket of summer fruit.” Then the LORD said to me, “The end has come for My people Israel. I will spare them no longer.

• Amos (KJV): Am 7:8 Jer 1:11-14 Eze 8:6,12,17 Zec 1:18-21 5:2,5,6 
• A basket (KJV): De 26:1-4 2Sa 16:1,2 Isa 28:4 Jer 24:1-3 40:10 Mic 7:1 
• the end (KJV): There is here not only an allusion to the nature of the summer fruit, which must be eaten as soon as gathered, but also a paronomasia upon the words {kayitz,} "summer fruit," and {ketz,} "an end." Jer 1:12 5:31 La 4:18 Eze 7:2 3:7,10 12:23 29:8 
• I will not (KJV): Am 7:8 

He said, “What do you see, Amos?” And I said, “A basket of summer fruit.” Then the LORD said to me, “The end has come for My people Israel. I will spare them no longer.

Amos 8:3 “The songs of the palace will turn to wailing in that day,” declares the Lord GOD. “Many will be the corpses; in every place they will cast them forth in silence.”  

• the songs (KJV): Am 8:10 5:23 Ho 10:5,6 Joe 1:5,11,13 Zec 11:1-3 
• shall be howlings (KJV): Heb. shall howl
• many (KJV): Am 4:10 Isa 37:36 Jer 9:21,22 Na 3:3 
• they shall (KJV): Am 6:9,10 Jer 22:18 
• with silence (KJV): Heb. be silent, Lev 10:3 Ps 39:9 

The songs of the palace will turn to wailing in that day,” declares the Lord GOD. “Many will be the corpses; in every place they will cast them forth in silence

Amos 8:4 Hear this, you who trample the needy, to do away with the humble of the land,

• Hear (KJV): Am 7:16 1Ki 22:19 Isa 1:10 28:14 Jer 5:21 28:15 
• swallow (KJV): Am 2:6 5:11 Ps 12:5 14:4 56:1 140:12 Pr 30:14 Isa 32:6,7 Mt 23:14 Jas 5:6 

Hear this, you who trample the needy, to do away with the humble of the land,

Amos 8:5 saying, “When will the new moon be over, So that we may sell grain, And the sabbath, that we may open the wheat market, To make the bushel smaller and the shekel bigger, And to cheat with dishonest scales,  

• When (KJV): Nu 10:10 28:11-15 2Ki 4:23 Ps 81:3,4 Isa 1:13 Col 2:16 
• new moon (KJV): or, month
• be gone (KJV): Mal 1:13 
• and the (KJV): Ex 20:8-10 Ne 13:15-21 Isa 58:13 Ro 8:6,7 
• set forth (KJV): Heb. open
• making (KJV): Lev 19:36 De 25:13-16 Pr 11:1 16:11 20:23 Eze 45:10-12 Mic 6:10,11 
• falsifying the balances by deceit (KJV): Heb. perverting the balances of deceit, Ho 12:7 

saying, “When will the new moon be over, So that we may sell grain, And the sabbath, that we may open the wheat market, To make the bushel smaller and the shekel bigger, And to cheat with dishonest scales

Amos 8:6 So as to buy the helpless for money And the needy for a pair of sandals, And that we may sell the refuse of the wheat?”  

• Am 8:4 2:6 Lev 25:39-42 Ne 5:1-5,8 Joe 3:3,6 

So as to buy the helpless for money And the needy for a pair of sandals, And that we may sell the refuse of the wheat

Amos 8:7 The LORD has sworn by the pride of Jacob, “Indeed, I will never forget any of their deeds.  

• sworn (KJV): Am 6:8 De 33:26-29 Ps 47:4 68:34 Lu 2:32 
• I will (KJV): Ex 17:16 1Sa 15:2,3 Ps 10:11 Isa 43:25 Jer 17:1 31:34 Ho 7:2 8:13 9:9 

The LORD has sworn by the pride of Jacob, “Indeed, I will never forget any of their deeds

Amos 8:8 “Because of this will not the land quake And everyone who dwells in it mourn? Indeed, all of it will rise up like the Nile, And it will be tossed about And subside like the Nile of Egypt.  

• the land (KJV): It is supposed that an earthquake is here intended; the rising and falling of the ground, with a wave-like motion, and its leaving its proper place and bounds, in consequence of an earthquake, being justly and beautifully compared to the swelling, overflowing, and subsiding of the Nile. Ps 18:7 60:2,3 114:3-7 Isa 5:25 24:19,20 Jer 4:24-26 Mic 1:3-5 Na 1:5,6 Hab 3:5-8 Hag 2:6,7 
• every one (KJV): Am 8:10 9:5 Jer 12:4 Ho 4:3 10:5 Mt 24:30 
• rise (KJV): Am 9:5 Isa 8:7,8 Jer 46:8 Da 9:26 

Because of this will not the land quake And everyone who dwells in it mourn? Indeed, all of it will rise up like the Nile, And it will be tossed about And subside like the Nile of Egypt.  

Amos 8:9 “It will come about in that day,” declares the Lord GOD, “That I will make the sun go down at noon And make the earth dark in broad daylight.  

• that I (KJV): This is supposed to refer to an eclipse; and Abp. Usher has shown that about eleven years after Amos prophesied there were two great eclipses of the sun, one at the feast of tabernacles, and the other some time before the passover. Am 4:13 5:8 Job 5:14 Isa 13:10 29:9,10 59:9,10 Jer 15:9 Mic 3:6 Mt 24:29 Rev 6:12 8:12 
• and I (KJV): Ex 10:21-23 Mt 27:45 Mk 15:33 Lu 23:44 

It will come about in that day,” declares the Lord GOD, “That I will make the sun go down at noon And make the earth dark in broad daylight

Amos 8:10 “Then I will turn your festivals into mourning And all your songs into lamentation; And I will bring sackcloth on everyone’s loins And baldness on every head. And I will make it like a time of mourning for an only son, And the end of it will be like a bitter day.  

• I will turn (KJV): Am 8:3 5:23 6:4-7 De 16:14 1Sa 25:36-38 2Sa 13:28-31 Job 20:23 Isa 21:3,4 22:12-14 Da 5:4-6 Ho 2:11 Na 1:10 
• sackcloth (KJV): Isa 15:2,3 Jer 48:37 Eze 7:18 27:30,31 
• as the (KJV): Jer 6:26 Zec 12:10 Lu 7:12,13 
• a bitter (KJV): Job 3:5 *marg:

Then I will turn your festivals into mourning And all your songs into lamentation; And I will bring sackcloth on everyone’s loins And baldness on every head. And I will make it like a time of mourning for an only son, And the end of it will be like a bitter day.  

Amos 8:11 “Behold, days are coming,” declares the Lord GOD, “When I will send a famine on the land, Not a famine for bread or a thirst for water, But rather for hearing the words of the LORD.  

• but (KJV): 1Sa 3:1 28:6,15 Ps 74:9 Isa 5:6 30:20,21 Eze 7:26 Mic 3:6 Mt 9:36 

Behold, days are coming,” declares the Lord GOD, “When I will send a famine on the land, Not a famine for bread or a thirst for water, But rather for hearing the words of the LORD.  

Amos 8:12 “People will stagger from sea to sea And from the north even to the east; They will go to and fro to seek the word of the LORD, But they will not find it.  

• shall run (KJV): Pr 14:6 Da 12:4 Mt 11:25-27 12:30 24:23-26 Ro 9:31-33 Ro 11:7-10 2Ti 3:6,7 

People will stagger from sea to sea And from the north even to the east; They will go to and fro to seek the word of the LORD, But they will not find it.

Amos 8:13 “In that day the beautiful virgins And the young men will faint from thirst.  

• De 32:25 Ps 63:1 144:12-15 Isa 40:30 41:17-20 Jer 48:18 La 1:18 2:10,21 Ho 2:3 Zec 9:17 

In that day the beautiful virgins And the young men will faint from thirst.  

Amos 8:14 “As for those who swear by the guilt of Samaria, Who say, ‘As your god lives, O Dan,’ And, ‘As the way of Beersheba lives,’ They will fall and not rise again.”

• swear (KJV): Ho 4:15 Zep 1:5 
• sin (KJV): De 9:21 1Ki 12:28,29,32 13:22-34 14:16 16:24 2Ki 10:29 Ho 8:5,6 10:5 13:2,16 
• manner (KJV): Heb. way, Ac 9:2 18:25 19:9,23 24:14 
• Beersheba (KJV): Am 8:5 
• shall fall (KJV): De 33:11 2Ch 36:16 Ps 36:12 140:10 Pr 29:1 Isa 43:17 Jer 25:27 51:64 

As for those who swear by the guilt of Samaria, Who say, ‘As your god lives, O Dan,’ And, ‘As the way of Beersheba lives,’ They will fall and not rise again.”