Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Amos 8:7
The LORD hath sworn by the excellency of Jacob, Surely I will never forget any of their works.
7. Such heartless dishonesty arouses Jehovah’s indignation; and He swears by the pride of Jacob, that He will never forget any of their works, but bring them, namely, into account. The pride of Jacob may be Jehovah Himself (cf. 1Sa 15:29 “the splendour of Israel,” of Jehovah; and for the oath by Himself, Amo 6:8); or, as the expression is not elsewhere used of Jehovah, but denotes Israel’s vain-glorious self-confidence (Amo 6:8; cf. Hos 5:5; Hos 7:10), it may have that sense here: Jehovah swears ironically by that which, however deeply He disapproves of it, He knows to be unalterable. The oath, as Amo 4:2, Amo 6:8, each time provoked by the spectacle of some crying moral wrong.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
By the excellency of Jacob – that is, by Himself who was its Glory, as Samuel calls Him the Strength 1Sa 15:29 or the Glory of Israel. Amos had before said, God sware by His Holiness and by Himself or His soul. Now, in like way, He pledges that Glory wherewith He was become the Glory of His people. He reminds them, who was the sole Source of their glory; not their calves, but Himself, their Creator; and that He would not forget their deeds. I will not forget any, literally, all; as David and Paul say, all flesh, all living men, shall not be justified, that is, none, no one, neither the whole nor any of its parts. Amos brings before the mind all their actions, and then says of all and each, the Lord will not forget them. God must cease to be God, if He did not do what He sware to do, punish the oppressors and defrauders of the poor.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Verse 7. By the excellency of Jacob] By the state of eminence to which he had raised the descendants of Jacob; or, by the excellent ONE of Jacob, that is, HIMSELF. The meaning is: “As surely as I have raised you to such a state of eminence, so surely will I punish you in proportion to your advantages and your crimes.”
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
The Lord; who changeth not, whose words and purposes are immutably true and stedfast, who hath often told you, that unless you repent he will punish for your sins, now he hath sworn it, and sends you word by me, that he hath in most solemn and irrevocable manner determined, published, and expressly declared that he will visit all your sins upon you.
By the excellency of Jacob; by himself, for God cannot swear by any greater, and he is called the excellency of Jacob, Psa 47:4.
Surely, Heb. If; if I am a God, I will remember and punish.
I will never forget, or let pass unpunished; I will never remit the punishment by an act of pardon, nor ever omit to punish by an act of forgetfulness.
Any of their works; not one of all those their abominable injustices and irreligion, not one of these cruelties.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
7. Lord hath sworn by the excellencyof Jacobthat is, by Himself, in whom Jacob’s seed glory[MAURER]. Rather, by thespiritual privileges of Israel, the adoption as His peculiar people[CALVIN], the temple, andits Shekinah symbol of His presence. Compare Am6:8, where it means Jehovah’s temple (compare Am4:2).
never forgetnot passby without punishing (Amo 8:2;Hos 8:13; Hos 9:9).
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
The Lord hath sworn by the excellency of Jacob,…. Not by the ark, as R. Japhet; nor by the temple, as Kimchi; but by himself; which sense Kimchi also mentions, and Aben Ezra; the God of Jacob and his glory, the most excellent of all Jacob’s enjoyments, and of whom he had reason to boast and glory; see Am 6:8;
surely I will never forget any of their works; their wicked works, especially those now mentioned; God forgets when he forgives them, or suffers them to go unpunished; but though he had done so long, he would do so no more; on which they might depend, since he had not only said it, but swore to it.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
Such wickedness as this would be severely punished by the Lord. Amo 8:7. “Jehovah hath sworn by the pride of Jacob, Verily I will not forget all their deeds for ever. Amo 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 Hos 5:5 and Hos 7:10. Jehovah swears by the pride of Jacob, as He does by His holiness in Amo 4:2, or by His soul in Amo 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. , to forget a sin, i.e., to leave it unpunished. In Amo 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 Amo 8:7, and take as referring back to Amo 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. Ragaz , to tremble, or, when applied to the earth, to quake, does not mean to shudder, or to be shocked, as Rosenmller explains it after Jer 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 Isa 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 Amo 9:5. In Amo 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. , 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 Amo 9:5, is a defective form for , just as is for in Job 40:20, and it is still further defined by the expression , which follows. All the ancient versions have taken it as , 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 (Isa 57:20). is a softened form for , as is shown by in Amo 9:5.
Fuente: Keil & Delitzsch Commentary on the Old Testament
God, having made known the vices of the rich, now shows that he would be their judge and avenger: for were they only reproved, they would not have cared much, like the usurer mentioned by Horace, who said, “The people may hiss me, but I felicitate myself.” So also these robbers were wont to do, when they were filled: though the whole people exclaimed against them, though God thundered from heaven, they laughed everything to scorn; for they were utterly destitute of every shame; and they were also become hardened; and insatiable cupidity had so blinded and demented them, that they had cast aside every care for what was right and becoming. Since it was so, God now declares that they could not escape punishment; and that this threatening might more effectually penetrate into their hearts, the Prophet makes use of an oath in the name of God, Jehovah, he says, hath sworn by the excellency of Jacob
An old interpreter has rendered the words, “He has sworn against the pride of Jacob:” but he did not sufficiently consider the design of the Prophet; for he speaks not here of vice, but of that dignity which the Lord had conferred on the posterity of Abraham; for we have before seen this expression, ‘I abhor the excellency of Jacob.’ Some give this rendering, “I abhor the pride of Jacob,” as though God were speaking there of perverse haughtiness. But he, on the contrary, means, that the Israelites were deceived, for they thought themselves safe and secure, because they were introduced into great favor by a singular privilege. “This,” the Lord says, “will profit them nothing: I have hitherto been kind and bountiful to the children of Abraham; but I now abhor this whole dignity.” So also he says now in this place, Jehovah hath sworn by the excellency of Jacob. They were proud of their dignity which yet was the free gift of God, hence God interposes a form of oath, the fittest to reprove their presumption. Some at the same time give this translation, “By myself, (at least they give this explanation,) by myself have I sworn:” for God was the glory of Jacob. Others think that by this word, גאון, gaun, is designated the sanctuary; for this was the excellency of Jacob, because God had chosen it as a habitation for himself in the midst of his people: hence, also, He is often said to dwell between the cherubim; not that he was inclosed in the sanctuary, but because the people perceived there his presence, his favor, and his power. But I rather understand by the term, excellency, in this place, the adoption, by which God had separated for himself that people from the rest of the world. Sworn then hath Jehovah. How? By the excellency of Jacob: and thus he glances in a severe manner at the ingratitude of the people, as they did not own themselves to be in every respect bound to God; for they had been peculiarly chosen, when yet other nations in many things excelled them. It was doubtless an invaluable favor for that ignoble people to have been chosen to be God’s peculiar possession and heritage. Hence the Prophet now rightly introduces God as being angry; and the form of the oath is suited to set forth the people’s ingratitude: “What! do ye now rise up against me, and elevate your horns? By what right? Under what pretext? Who are ye? I chose you, and ye truly repay me with this reward, — that though ye owe me all things, ye seek to defraud me of my right. I therefore swear by the excellency of Jacob, — I swear by the benefits which I conferred on you, — that I will not allow that which is justly precious in my sight to be disgracefully profaned. Whatever then I have hitherto bestowed on you, I will return on your own heads, and, as ye deserve, ye shall miserably perish.” This is the meaning.
We hence see that the oath which the Prophet uses, ought to be applied to the present case. He says, I shall never forget all your works, that is, none of your works shall be passed by unpunished. For though conscience sometimes disturbs hypocrites yet they think that many things may be concealed; and if the hundredth part, or at farthest the tenth, must be accounted for, they think this to be quite enough: “Why! God may perhaps observe this or that, but many faults will escape him.” Since then hypocrites thus heedlessly deceive themselves, the Prophet says, “Nothing can ever be hid from my sight; nay, as I now know all their works, I will show that all their sins are recorded in my books, in my memory, so that all things shall at last be called to an account.” It now follows —
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
DESCRIPTION OF JUDGMENTS PROPHESIEDBITTER MOURNING
TEXT: Amo. 8:7-10
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, is 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 sack cloth upon all lions, 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.
QUERIES
a.
Why speak of the land rising like the River?
b.
Did the Lord actually cause the sun to go down at noon?
c.
Why and how is the Lord to bring baldness upon every head?
PARAPHRASE
Jehovah has sworn that just as surely as He is held up to be the pride and glory of Israel, He must punish Israels inglorious sin. Every evil work she is guilty of will be punished for the Lord does not forget any sin not repented of. Yes, the whole nation will be shaken and there will be mourning everywhere. The judgment of the Lord will overwhelm the land like the River Nile at flood stage and the nation will rage like a flood with great trouble and destruction and then sink into nothingness. And it shall come to pass in that day, says the Lord, that I will cause Israels sun to go down at noon, that is, I will take away the sunlight of her prosperity and bring suddenly upon her the darkness of destruction right at the midday of her existence. And I will turn this nation upside down by turning your festivals into times of mourning and all your gay, frivolous songs will be turned into wailing, despairing cries of lamentation. I will cause the whole nation to put on their mourning clothes and shave their heads bald in mourning custom. Your mourning will be very great and very bitterlike the mourning of those whose only son has died.
SUMMARY
The Lords judgment upon the unmitigated sin and rebellion of Israel will be very severe. The Lord is going to overwhelm the land with a flood of judgment. He is going to turn everything upside down.
COMMENT
Amo. 8:7-8 JEHOVAH HATH SWORN . . . THE LAND TREMBLE . . . IT SHALL RISE UP . . . LIKE THE RIVER . . . AND . . . BE TROUBLED AND SINK AGAIN . . . The scene changes. The worm is turned. From a description of the sinful state of Israel, we are brought abruptly to a description of the Lords terrible judgment. Jehovah is the pride of Jacob (Israel), (cf. 1Sa. 15:29). Jehovah is the One in whom Israel gloried. And, as surely as Jehovah is the glory of Israel He is also her Judge. He must judge her sins. Leaving Israels sins unpunished would be denying His glory. Amos paints, with figurative language, a terrifying picture of Gods judgment. The nation will tremble with fear as the judgment of the Lord floods over it. The nation shall be troubled and rage within like the torrents of the flooding Nile River swelling over her banks, inundating and destroying everything in its path. Then Israel, subdued, will sink down. Some commentators think Amos is likening the behaviour of the earths surface during earthquakes which God sent in judgment upon Israel to the rising and falling of the Nile. It would seem to us that what is to happen to Israel here is to cover the entire length and breadth, or the whole population, and thus too extensive for a literal earthquake, We take his language to be figurative.
Amo. 8:9-10 . . . I WILL CAUSE THE SUN TO GO DOWN AT NOON . . . TURN YOUR FEASTS INTO MOURNING . . . BRING . . . BALDNESS UPON EVERY HEAD . . . AS A BITTER DAY. Since this would be such an extraordinary phenomenon if it happened literally, we would expect it to be historically noted by the prophet. Inasmuch as it it not we take it to be figurative. K & D say, . . . 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. Jesus said, We must work the works of him that sent me, while it is day: the night cometh, when no man can work (Joh. 9:4). Israel, at ease in Samaria and Bethel, riding on a wave of material and political well-being, was at the midday of her existence. It is doubtful that she enjoyed such prosperity even in the days of David and Solomon. But, when Israel thought it was noontime, God knew that her sun had set. God was about to turn this superficial brightness into what it really was, darkness, judgment, bitterness. Indeed, instead of the air of festivity and gaiety Jehovah was about to bring mourning, lamentation and bitterness. Their religious and social festivals would cease and their gay, suggestive, idle songs would be turned into doleful, sorrowful wailing. We have seen this happen in our own generation. The Great Third Reich of Adolph Hitler was turned from the bright sunlight of its midday into the blackness of utter defeat and destruction. The gay, martial songs and festivities of the early days of the Third Reich were turned into wailing and tears. Sackcloth was the dress of mourning. Baldness produced by shaving the head was done as a mark of mourning for the dead (cf. Lev. 21:5; Isa. 15:2; Isa. 22:12; Mic. 1:16). Grief and mourning was to be so widespread as to be almost total. It would be very deep grief, like the grief of mother and father mourning the death of an only son. Gods judgment would be long and bitter.
QUIZ
1.
Why does the title, the excellency of Jacob, mean that Jehovah must judge Israel for her sins?
2.
Why is the language to be interpreted figuratively which speaks of the land rising like the River . . .?
3.
What is the meaning of the figure, the sun to go down at noon . . . etc.?
4.
What parallel to Amo. 8:10 have we witnessed in our own generation?
Fuente: College Press Bible Study Textbook Series
(7) Excellency of Jacob.In the previous use of this remarkable expression (Amo. 6:8) Jehovah is said to abhor it, but here He swears by it. The excellency which He abhorred was the miserable substitute which they had made for His great Name. Here He gives it the value which, in itself, it ought to possess.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
7. The heartless greed and dishonesty has aroused the indignation of Jehovah and makes judgment inevitable.
Hath sworn See on Amo 4:2.
Excellency of Jacob Jehovah (Amo 6:8). The word translated “excellency” is used nowhere else in this sense, but a warrant for the translation is found in 1Sa 15:29, where Jehovah is called “strength (literally, splendor) of Israel.” The common meaning of the word is “pride” (Amo 6:8, R.V. margin; Hos 5:5; Hos 7:10). If so here, the oath would be by the pride and arrogance of Israel. Jehovah sees this pride deeply ingrained in the very nature of the people; he knows it to be permanent and incurable, and for this reason he selects it in scorn as an object by which to swear.
Any of their works Of dishonesty and injustice. All will be remembered and punished (Hos 7:2).
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Amo 8:7. Hath sworn by the excellency of Jacob Or, “By those benefits by which he had conferred honour and distinguished privileges upon Jacob and his posterity.” In this place excellency is taken in a good sense; as if the Lord had said, “As I have caused the sons of Jacob to abound with glory and honour, so will I not forget their crimes.”
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
Amo 8:7 The LORD hath sworn by the excellency of Jacob, Surely I will never forget any of their works.
Ver. 7. The Lord hath sworn by the excellency of Jacob ] i.e. by himself, the matter of Jacob’s chief boasting, there being no God like unto their God (their enemies themselves being judges, Deu 32:31 ), neither any nation so great as to have God so nigh unto them as Israel had, in all things that they called upon him for, Deu 4:7 . So that this oath of God grates upon their ingratitude for such imparallel privileges, and it is uttered in great wrath, as appeareth by the following angry aposiopesis, a wherein the apodosis b is not set down but understood.
lf I ever forget any of their works
a A rhetorical artifice, in which the speaker comes to a sudden halt, as if unable or unwilling to proceed. D
b The concluding clause of a sentence, as contrasted with the introductory clause or protasis; now usually restricted to the consequent clause in a conditional sentence, as ‘If thine enemy hunger, feed him.’ D
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
NASB (UPDATED) TEXT: Amo 8:7-10
7The LORD has sworn by the pride of Jacob,
Indeed, I will never forget any of their deeds.
8Because 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.
9It 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.
10Then 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.
Amo 8:7 The LORD has sworn by the pride of Jacob In Amos YHWH swears several times as a way to show that His words are true:
1. The LORD God has sworn by His holiness, Amo 4:2
2. The LORD God has sworn by Himself, Amo 6:8
3. The LORD has sworn by the pride of Jacob, Amo 8:7
This phrase has several possibilities: (1) God’s glory in the descendants of Jacob (cf. 1Sa 15:29). The TEV translates this as The LORD, the God of Israel, has sworn ; (2) since no where else does God swear by another person, this may mean, the LORD, of whom Israel is so proud, has sworn (UBS, Handbook, p. 165); or (3) that the people of Jacob had become so permanently wicked that God could swear by their settled condition (cf. Amo 6:8).
I will never forget any of their deeds This is a very strong and emphatic statement.
1. a HYPOTHETICAL PARTICLE, ()
2. a Qal IMPERFECT VERB, to forget (BDB 1013, KB 1489)
3. the NOUN everlasting, perpetuity (BDB 664)
These exploitative merchants will answer for the crimes against both their covenant brothers and sisters and their covenant God!
Amo 8:8 This question expects a yes answer. This verse is apparently using the imagery of (1) an earthquake mentioned in Amo 1:1 or (2) the destruction caused by the annual flooding of the Nile River in Egypt (cf. Amo 9:5; Jer 46:7-8). Because this VERB (BDB 176, KB 204, Niphal PERFECT) is used to describe Jonah being driven from the presence of YHWH (cf. Jon 2:4), it may be a metaphor for exile from the Promised Land (cf. Amo 9:1-5). This same word was used of YHWH driving the Canaanites out of the Promised Land, but now Israel is being removed for her sins and idolatry!
Amo 8:9 This verse has been understood in several ways: (1) eschatological language like Isa 13:10; Joe 2:2; Joe 3:15; Mic 3:6; (2) a reference to the plagues on Egypt, which form the basis of the curses of Deuteronomy 27-29; or (3) a literal reference to an eclipse (cf. Amo 5:18-20).
In a sense the cosmic chaos of creation is recurring. The ideal setting of YHWH fellowshipping with mankind has again been disrupted. Nature is seen as being in chaos (cf. Rom 8:19-22).
It is ironic that water can be for destruction (i.e., flood) or a symbol of God’s blessing (cf. Amo 5:24). Mankind will experience one or the other! For an interesting discussion of the word sea see NIDOTTE, vol. 2, pp. 461-466.
make the earth dark in broad daylight This VERB (BDB 364, KB 361, Hiphil PERFECT) refers to God’s action. It may reflect the plague of darkness in Egypt (cf. Exo 10:21-22; Psa 105:28). Here it refers to God bringing darkness, both literal (cf. Amo 5:8) and figurative (cf. Amo 8:11-12). Israel’s light is darkened (cf. Jer 13:16).
Amo 8:10 This is a series of mourning rites (i.e., funeral songs, sackcloth, baldness) over God’s judgments of Israel’s worship times. Their worship will be turned to bitter mourning, like the death of an only son (cf. Jer 6:26; Zec 12:10).
baldness Because of Israel’s connection with the Canaanite fertility cults, this could refer to shaving (cf. Moab, Isa 15:2; Jer 48:37; Philistia, Jer 47:5; and Phoenicia, Eze 27:31), all of which had cultic connotations (cf. Lev 21:5).
But it could also refer to the pulling out of the hair of the head as a sign of mourning (cf. Mic 1:16; Eze 7:18). See Special Topic: Grieving Rites .
a bitter day This word (BDB 600) is used at the grief over a death (cf. Amo 5:16-17). They were expecting just the opposite (cf. Amo 5:18-20)! This is a veiled reference to that day, the day of the LORD. See note at Amo 2:16.
Fuente: You Can Understand the Bible: Study Guide Commentary Series by Bob Utley
hath sworn, &c. See note on Amo 6:8.
the Excellency of Jacob: i.e. by Himself, as in Amo 6:8. Reference to Pentateuch (Exo 15:7). App-92. Compare Amo 4:2; Amo 6:8. Hos 5:5; Hos 7:10.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
Amo 8:7-10
DESCRIPTION OF JUDGMENTS PROPHESIED-
BITTER MOURNING
TEXT: Amo 8:7-10
The Lords judgment upon the unmitigated sin and rebellion of Israel will be very severe. The Lord is going to overwhelm the land with a flood of judgment. He is going to turn everything upside down.
Amo 8:7-8 JEHOVAH HATH SWORN . . . THE LAND TREMBLE . . . IT SHALL RISE UP . . . LIKE THE RIVER . . . AND . . . BE TROUBLED AND SINK AGAIN . . . The scene changes. The worm is turned. From a description of the sinful state of Israel, we are brought abruptly to a description of the Lords terrible judgment. Jehovah is the pride of Jacob (Israel), (cf. 1Sa 15:29). Jehovah is the One in whom Israel gloried. And, as surely as Jehovah is the glory of Israel He is also her Judge. He must judge her sins. Leaving Israels sins unpunished would be denying His glory. Amos paints, with figurative language, a terrifying picture of Gods judgment. The nation will tremble with fear as the judgment of the Lord floods over it. The nation shall be troubled and rage within like the torrents of the flooding Nile River swelling over her banks, inundating and destroying everything in its path. Then Israel, subdued, will sink down. Some commentators think Amos is likening the behaviour of the earths surface during earthquakes which God sent in judgment upon Israel to the rising and falling of the Nile. It would seem to us that what is to happen to Israel here is to cover the entire length and breadth, or the whole population, and thus too extensive for a literal earthquake, We take his language to be figurative.
Zerr: Amo 8:7. Excellency is also rendered by “pride” and “arrogance,” so we may rightly conclude that it is used in an unfavorable sense. The Lord would not have something favorable as a basis for an oath, hence the sense of the verse is that God made an oath in view’ of the pride of Jacob, or the people of Israel. Their works refers to the unrighteous practices of the leaders in Israel, and the Lord was never to forget or never io overlook it. Because of such an oath it meant that something very serious was going to come upon the unfaithful nation. Amo 8:8. The antecedent of this is the chastisement threatened In the preceding verse. Well might the land (Its people) tremble at thought of the wrath of God that was prophesied to come upon it. Floods and waters are used figuratively in the Bible to signify some overwhelming condition, and the particular application in this case is to the national calamity to come by the agency of the Assyrians or Babylonians. The specific reason for connecting Egypt with the figure is that the original word for flood means any large body of water, and the Nile River in Egypt is such a body.
Amo 8:9-10 . . . I WILL CAUSE THE SUN TO GO DOWN AT NOON . . . TURN YOUR FEASTS INTO MOURNING . . . BRING . . . BALDNESS UPON EVERY HEAD . . . AS A BITTER DAY. Since this would be such an extraordinary phenomenon if it happened literally, we would expect it to be historically noted by the prophet. Inasmuch as it it not we take it to be figurative. K & D say, . . . 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. Jesus said, We must work the works of him that sent me, while it is day: the night cometh, when no man can work (Joh 9:4). Israel, at ease in Samaria and Bethel, riding on a wave of material and political well-being, was at the midday of her existence. It is doubtful that she enjoyed such prosperity even in the days of David and Solomon. But, when Israel thought it was noontime, God knew that her sun had set. God was about to turn this superficial brightness into what it really was, darkness, judgment, bitterness. Indeed, instead of the air of festivity and gaiety Jehovah was about to bring mourning, lamentation and bitterness. Their religious and social festivals would cease and their gay, suggestive, idle songs would be turned into doleful, sorrowful wailing. We have seen this happen in our own generation. The Great Third Reich of Adolph Hitler was turned from the bright sunlight of its midday into the blackness of utter defeat and destruction. The gay, martial songs and festivities of the early days of the Third Reich were turned into wailing and tears. Sackcloth was the dress of mourning. Baldness produced by shaving the head was done as a mark of mourning for the dead (cf. Lev 21:5; Isa 15:2; Isa 22:12; Mic 1:16). Grief and mourning was to be so widespread as to be almost total. It would be very deep grief, like the grief of mother and father mourning the death of an only son. Gods judgment would be long and bitter.
Zerr: Amo 8:9. Sun to go down at noon is a figure of speech and indicates that the national sun (power) was to cease to shine prematurely. Had Israel been faithful to God the nation would have remained in power through the entire Jewish dispensation. Instead, that power was cut off many centuries before that age ceased. Darken the earth in the clear day fias the same meaning as the preceding figure. Amo 8:10. The thought running through this verse is that ail conditions were to be reversed, changing from favorable to unfavorable. On occasions of feasts there was usually great enjoyment, but it was to be turned into mourning. Songs were expressions of cheer, but they were to be changed into those of lamentation. In their prosperity they wore gay clothing, but it was to be replaced with the coarse material called sacking. Smiths Bible Dictionary says that artificial baldness was a sign of mourning, and so it is predicted that the distress to come upon them would cause them to shave off the hair in their mourning. The comparison as to that for an only son is to indicate how profound will be the grief when the nation has been humiliated by invaders.
Questions
1. Why does the title, the excellency of Jacob, mean that Jehovah must judge Israel for her sins?
2. Why is the language to be interpreted figuratively which speaks of the land rising like the River . . .?
3. What is the meaning of the figure, the sun to go down at noon . . . etc.?
4. What parallel to Amo 8:10 have we witnessed in our own generation?
Fuente: Old and New Testaments Restoration Commentary
sworn: Amo 6:8, Deu 33:26-29, Psa 47:4, Psa 68:34, Luk 2:32
I will: Exo 17:16, 1Sa 15:2, 1Sa 15:3, Psa 10:11, Isa 43:25, Jer 17:1, Jer 31:34, Hos 7:2, Hos 8:13, Hos 9:9
Reciprocal: Gen 8:1 – God remembered Job 24:23 – yet his eyes Job 34:25 – he knoweth Psa 50:21 – set Psa 89:35 – Once Psa 109:15 – before Isa 14:24 – Lord Jer 2:22 – yet thine iniquity Jer 22:5 – I Jer 44:21 – did Jer 44:26 – I have sworn Eze 5:11 – as I live Eze 44:12 – therefore
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Amo 8:7. Excellency is also rendered by “pride” and “arrogance,” so we may rightly conclude that it is used in an unfavorable sense. The Lord would not have something favorable as a basis for an oath, hence the sense of the verse is that God made an oath in view’ of the pride of Jacob, or the people of Israel. Their works refers to the unrighteous practices of the leaders in Israel, and the Lord was never to forget or never io overlook it. Because of such an oath it meant that something very serious was going to come upon the unfaithful nation.
Fuente: Combined Bible Commentary
Amo 8:7. The Lord hath sworn by the excellency of Jacob That is, by himself; Surely I will never forget any of their works God is said to remember mens sins when he punishes them. We may learn by this passage, and many others in Scripture, that however slightly men may think of it, God takes particular notice of, and will certainly punish, all extortions and over-reachings in trade, and more particularly when they are used in regard of the poor. They shall have judgment without mercy, who have showed no mercy. It is to be wished that persons would always consider themselves as the fathers of the poor, when they deal with them; and rather give them measure pressed down and running over, than mete to them with a scanty hand.
Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
The wailing of the sufferers 8:7-10
The following two passages (Amo 8:7-14) describe more fully the two results of God’s judgment mentioned earlier, namely, wailing and silence (cf. Amo 8:3).
Fuente: Expository Notes of Dr. Constable (Old and New Testaments)
For the third time in this book Amos said that Yahweh took an oath (cf. Amo 4:2; Amo 6:8). This time He swore by the pride of Jacob. This may be a reference to Samaria (cf. Amo 6:8) or to Israel’s arrogant attitude. [Note: Chisholm, Handbook on . . ., p. 400.] Some interpreters take it as a reference to God Himself (cf. 1Sa 15:29). [Note: See Thomas J. Finley, Joel, Amos, Obadiah, pp. 302-3.] The NIV capitalized "Pride" as a title of God. In this case, God vowed never to forget any of the sinful Israelites’ unrighteous deeds.