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.
Whereupon the king H4428 took counsel, H3289 and made H6213 two H8147 calves H5695 of gold, H2091 and said H559 unto them, It is too much H7227 for you to go up H5927 to Jerusalem: H3389 behold thy gods, H430 O Israel, H3478 which brought thee up H5927 out of the land H776 of Egypt. H4714 And he set H7760 the one H259 in Bethel, H1008 and the other H259 put H5414 he in Dan. H1835
Thy calf, H5695 O Samaria, H8111 hath cast H2186 thee off; mine anger H639 is kindled H2734 against them: how long will it be ere H3808 they attain H3201 to innocency? H5356 For from Israel H3478 was it also: the workman H2796 made H6213 it; therefore it is not God: H430 but the calf H5695 of Samaria H8111 shall be broken in pieces. H7616
But camest back, H7725 and hast eaten H398 bread H3899 and drunk H8354 water H4325 in the place, H4725 of the which the LORD did say H1696 to thee, Eat H398 no bread, H3899 and drink H8354 no water; H4325 thy carcase H5038 shall not come H935 unto the sepulchre H6913 of thy fathers. H1 And it came to pass, after H310 he had eaten H398 bread, H3899 and after H310 he had drunk, H8354 that he saddled H2280 for him the ass, H2543 to wit, for the prophet H5030 whom he had brought back. H7725 And when he was gone, H3212 a lion H738 met H4672 him by the way, H1870 and slew H4191 him: and his carcase H5038 was cast H7993 in the way, H1870 and the ass H2543 stood H5975 by H681 it, the lion H738 also stood H5975 by the carcase. H5038 And, behold, men H582 passed by, H5674 and saw H7200 the carcase H5038 cast H7993 in the way, H1870 and the lion H738 standing H5975 by H681 the carcase: H5038 and they came H935 and told H1696 it in the city H5892 where the old H2205 prophet H5030 dwelt. H3427 And when the prophet H5030 that brought him back H7725 from the way H1870 heard H8085 thereof, he said, H559 It is the man H376 of God, H430 who was disobedient H4784 unto the word H6310 of the LORD: H3068 therefore the LORD H3068 hath delivered H5414 him unto the lion, H738 which hath torn H7665 him, and slain H4191 him, according to the word H1697 of the LORD, H3068 which he spake H1696 unto him. And he spake H1696 to his sons, H1121 saying, H559 Saddle H2280 me the ass. H2543 And they saddled H2280 him. And he went H3212 and found H4672 his carcase H5038 cast H7993 in the way, H1870 and the ass H2543 and the lion H738 standing H5975 by H681 the carcase: H5038 the lion H738 had not eaten H398 the carcase, H5038 nor torn H7665 the ass. H2543 And the prophet H5030 took up H5375 the carcase H5038 of the man H376 of God, H430 and laid H3240 it upon the ass, H2543 and brought it back: H7725 and the old H2205 prophet H5030 came H935 to the city, H5892 to mourn H5594 and to bury H6912 him. And he laid H3240 his carcase H5038 in his own grave; H6913 and they mourned H5594 over him, saying, Alas, H1945 my brother! H251 And it came to pass, after H310 he had buried H6912 him, that he spake H559 to his sons, H1121 saying, H559 When I am dead, H4191 then bury H6912 me in the sepulchre H6913 wherein the man H376 of God H430 is buried; H6912 lay H3240 my bones H6106 beside H681 his bones: H6106 For the saying H1697 which he cried H7121 by the word H1697 of the LORD H3068 against the altar H4196 in Bethel, H1008 and against all the houses H1004 of the high places H1116 which are in the cities H5892 of Samaria, H8111 shall surely come to pass. After H310 this thing H1697 Jeroboam H3379 returned H7725 not from his evil H7451 way, H1870 but made H6213 again H7725 of the lowest H7098 of the people H5971 priests H3548 of the high places: H1116 whosoever would, H2655 he consecrated H4390 H3027 him, and he became one of the priests H3548 of the high places. H1116 And this thing H1697 became sin H2403 unto the house H1004 of Jeroboam, H3379 even to cut it off, H3582 and to destroy H8045 it from off the face H6440 of the earth. H127
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!"