Amos 8:8-9

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers - Amos 8:8

(8) Shall not the land . . .?—The rendering should be, The whole of it rises as the Nile, surges and subsides (or sinks) as the Egyptian Nile. The solid land shall rise up in earthquake, like the Nile that ascends twenty feet in the time of its inundation, and then subsides. read more

Charles John Ellicott

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers - Amos 8:9

(9) Darken the earth.—The darkening of the sun at noon-day gives an image of confusion and terror (comp. Amos 5:20). The eclipse of the sun that is here alluded to (see Excursus C), like the earthquake in the preceding verse, is employed as a powerful image of national calamity, the extinction of the royal house, and perhaps the final overthrow of Israel. (Comp. Jeremiah 15:9; Ezekiel 32:7-10.)EXCURSUS C (Amos 8:9).That an eclipse is here referred to, and employed as a figure to express the... read more

William Nicoll

Expositor's Bible Commentary - Amos 8:4-9

DOOM OR DISCIPLINE?Amos 8:4-9WE now enter the Third Section of the Book of Amos: chapters 7-9. As we have already treated the first part of it-the group of four visions, which probably formed the prophet’s discourse at Bethel, with the interlude of his adventure there (Amos 7:1-17 - Amos 8:3) -we may pass at once to what remains: from Amos 8:4 to the end of the book. This portion consists of groups of oracles more obscure in their relations to each other than any we have yet studied, and... read more

William Nicoll

Expositor's Bible Commentary - Amos 8:4-14

1. EARTHQUAKE, ECLIPSE, AND FAMINEAmos 8:4-14"Hear this, ye who trample the needy, and would put an end to the lowly of the land, saying, When will the New-Moon be over, that we may sell grain, and the Sabbath, that we may open corn (by making small the measure, but large the weight, and falsifying the fraudulent balances; buying the wretched for silver, and the, needy for a pair of shoes!), and that we may sell as grain the refuse of the corn!" The parenthesis puzzles, but is not impossible:... read more

William Nicoll

Expositor's Bible Commentary - Amos 8:8

-8COMMON SENSE AND THE REIGN OF LAWAmos 3:3-8; Amos 4:6-13; Amos 5:8-9; Amos 6:12; Amos 8:8; Amos 9:5; Amos 8:4-6FOOLS, when they face facts, which is seldom, face them one by one, and, as a consequence, either in ignorant contempt or in panic. With this inordinate folly Amos charged the religion of his day. The superstitious people, careful of every point of ritual and very greedy of omens, would not ponder real facts nor set cause-to effect. Amos recalled them to common life. "Does a bird... read more

Arno Clemens Gaebelein

Arno Gaebelein's Annotated Bible - Amos 8:1-14

CHAPTER 8 The Fourth Vision: The Basket With Summer Fruit 1. The vision (Amos 8:1-3 ) 2. Israel ripe for judgment (Amos 8:4-10 ) 3. The coming days of famine (Amos 8:11-14 ) Amos 8:1-3 . In his fourth vision the prophet beholds a basket of summer fruit. The Hebrew shows that it was a basket filled with ripe fruit. The ripe fruit is a symbol that Israel was ripe for the harvest of judgment. The message of the Lord to the prophet is, “The end is come upon My people Israel; I will not again... read more

John Calvin

Geneva Study Bible - Amos 8:8

8:8 Shall not the land tremble for this, and every one mourn that dwelleth therein? and it shall rise up wholly as a flood; and it shall be cast out and {f} drowned, as [by] the flood of Egypt.(f) That is, the inhabitants of the land will be drowned, as the Nile drowns many when it overflows. read more

John Calvin

Geneva Study Bible - Amos 8:9

8:9 And it shall come to pass in that day, saith the Lord GOD, that I will cause the {g} sun to go down at noon, and I will darken the earth in the clear day:(g) In the midst of their prosperity, I will send great affliction. read more

James Gray

James Gray's Concise Bible Commentary - Amos 8:1-14

AMOS GENERAL OVE RV IEW OF THE BOOK The opening verse shows that Amos, like Hosea, was a prophet sent to Israel, though his home, Tekoa, was in Judah. He was contemporary with Hosea for a while, though the latter prophesied longer than he. After the introduction (Amos 1:1-3 ) there follows a series of messages concerning Gentile nations (Amos 1:4 to Amos 2:3 ), each beginning with the words “For three transgressions.., and for four, I will not turn away the punishment,” an orientalism,... read more

Joseph Parker

The People's Bible by Joseph Parker - Amos 8:1-14

"a Basket of Summer Fruit." Amos 8:0 "Amos, what seest thou? And I said, A basket of summer fruit" ( Amo 8:2 ). Amos continued his visions notwithstanding the rude and mendacious interruption of the false priest Amaziah who sent a lie to Jeroboam. Amos confronted the false priest, as we have just seen, boldly and destructively. You cannot reply to a thunderstorm. Anything that a man may say after a whirlwind is very feeble. We have heard the great speech of Amos, as it rolled round and round... read more

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