Amos 5:8

[Seek him] that maketh the seven stars,.... Which some connect with the preceding words, without a supplement, "they leave righteousness on the ground, who maketh the seven stars"; understanding it

Seek him that maketh the seven stars and Orion, and turneth the shadow of death into the morning, and maketh the day dark with night: that calleth for the waters of the sea, and poureth them out upon

Seek him; though this be not in the Hebrew, it is well supplied by our interpreters. That maketh the seven stars; a famous constellation, and whose rising about September was usually accompanied with rains and sweet showers, which, as , had been withholden, whence want of water and bread; now the prophet adviseth to seek the Lord, who can give them rain and corn by the kindly influences of that watery constellation, which as he made, so he guides and manageth. This I take to be the most natural meaning of the place. Orion; which rising about November brings usually cold rains and frosts, intermixed with much uncertainty, but very seasonable for the earth, to make it fruitful; this mentioned to persuade these people to repent, who were afflicted with such barrenness and unfruitfulness as brought famine with it. Turneth the shadow of death into the morning; proverbially, that turneth greatest adversity, which is here called the shadow of death, into as great prosperity, here called the morning, . Maketh the day dark with night; metaphorically this expresseth a change of prosperity into adversity. Ye house of Israel, think well of it, you are in a dangerous state; be advised to seek him who can turn your morning into night, or your night into morning; who can on a sudden remove all evil from you, and bring all good upon you; seek him therefore, and seek not idols. Calleth for the waters of the sea; either to raise them to terrible swellings and rage, or rather calls up waters out of the sea, by commanding the vapour to ascend, which he turneth into rain; and poureth them out upon the face of the earth; and then poureth out from the clouds to make the earth fruitful. The Lord is his name; he only is God and the Lord. Who doth thus seek him?

Amos 5:8 [Seek him] that maketh the seven stars and Orion, and turneth the shadow of death into the morning, and maketh the day dark with night: that calleth for the waters of the sea, and poureth them out upon the face of the earth: The LORD [is] his name:Ver. 8. Seek him that maketh the seven stars] Once again, "Seek him"; that is, Return to him by true repentance; and by faith take hold of his strength, that ye may make peace, and ye shall make peace with him, Isaiah 27:5. To stand out it boots not; since it is he that made Bootes and Orion, &c., that is, of infinite power; and doeth whatsoever he will in heaven and earth, "who only doeth wondrous things," Psalms 72:18. See Amos 4:12-13. Chimah and Chesil, that is, Pleiades and Orion, are twice mentioned together in Job. Noted stars they are, and known to shepherds and such like. Amos, likely, was but such an astronomer as herdsmen use to be. Those who write of these stars tell us, that Chimah comes of Chamah, to love ardently; because of the fellowship and working together that appears in them. They be seven stars that have all one name; because they all help one another in their work, which is to bring the spring; and like seven sisters or lovers, so are they joined together in one constellation, and in one company. We see (saith one) that God will have the sweetest works in nature to be performed by mutual help. The best time of the year cometh with these seven stars (hence we read of their sweet influence, Job 38:31), and the best time of our life cometh when we enter into true love and fellowship. As for Orion, it is the star (saith the same author) that brings winter; and his bonds cannot be loosed. It binds the earth with frost and cold, that the fruits thereof might be seasoned and made kindly against the spring: neither can the spring come till Orion have prepared the way. God will have us suffer before we reign. The word Chesil here used signifies, in the Chaldee, to perfect; because by suffering and offering violence to ourselves we enter into perfection, Luke 13:32. If we would have a pleasant spring of graces in our hearts, we must first have a nipping winter: the spirit of mortification must be like the cold star Orion, to nip our quick motions in the head, and to bind all our unclean desires and burning lusts, that they stir not in us; and unless we do thus, the seven stars of comfort shall never appear to us. And turneth the shadow of death,] that is, the thickest darkness ( tenebras ferales et letales, Psalms 23:4), into the morning] Into "the shining light, that shineth more and more unto the perfect day," Proverbs 4:18.

(8) Connected by E.V. with Amos 5:6 through the verb “seek ye,” so that it may thus be linked to Amos 5:7. To regard it as a solemn assertion “There is one who maketh, &c.,” is not satisfactory. We prefer to render, As for him who made the Pleiades . . . Jehovah is his name, i.e., The God of the Hebrews is the supreme universal Lord (comp. Amos 4:13). This is profoundly impressive, since the prophets were surrounded by the pompous nature-worship of the East. The Heb. word for the Pleiades (seven stars) means properly “heap” or “cluster,” and that for Orion signifies “stout, strong one.” The appearance of the Pleiades indicated the “sweet influences” of spring, that of Orion the winter solstice. Observe that Amos the herdsman, and Job the Arabian Emir, accustomed to the naked sky of the desert, make these special references to astronomical facts. The death-shadow suggests the darkest experiences of human life. Jehovah pours His light upon the deepest gloom of our lot. He, too, can make the day dark with night, covering the noonday sky with funereal pall, as at the Crucifixion. God is also made the perennial source of the rain, that “river of God which is full of water,” and which is ever rising at His command from the great sea.

Verse 8. That maketh the seven stars and Orion] Or, Hyades and Arcturus, Kimah and Kesil. See Clarke on Job 9:9; "Job 38:32", where the subject of this verse is largely considered. Turneth the shadow of death into the morning] Who makes day and night, light and darkness. Calleth for the waters of the sea] Raising them up by evaporation, and collecting them into clouds. And poureth them out] Causing them to drop down in showers upon the face of the earth. Who has done this? JEHOVAH is his name.

4–10. Proof that Israel merits the fate which has just been pronounced against it: it has sought Jehovah by a ritual which He does not value, and it has spurned the virtues which He really prizes. Seek ye me, and ye shall live] The Heb. is more forcible and concise: ‘Seek ye me, and live’: cf. Genesis 42:18 ‘This do, and live.’ To seek God was a standing expression for consulting Him by a prophet, or an oracle, even on purely secular matters (cf. Genesis 25:22; Exodus 18:15; 1 Samuel 9:9; 2 Kings 3:11; 2 Kings 8:8; 2 Kings 22:13; 2 Kings 22:18; Jeremiah 37:7; Ezekiel 14:3; Ezekiel 20:1; Ezekiel 20:3); but it is also used of seeking or caring for (Jeremiah 30:14) Him more generally, by paying regard to His revealed will, and studying to please Him by the practice of a righteous and holy life, Hosea 10:12; Isaiah 9:13; Jeremiah 10:21; Zephaniah 1:6; Isaiah 55:6; Isaiah 58:2; Isaiah 65:10; Psalms 9:10; Psalms 24:6; Psalms 34:10; Psalms 78:34, &c. The latter is the sense, which the expression has here. Seek ye me, says the prophet, in Jehovah’s name, by the means that I approve, and you will live, i.e. escape the threatened destruction.

Seek Him that maketh the seven stars - Misbelief effaces the thought of God as He Is. It retains the name God, but means something quite different from the One True God.

8. The seven stars — R.V., “Pleiades”; literally, a cluster, that is, of stars.