Amos 8
Irwin1 summer fruit. i.e., fruit fully ripe, which soon rots; representing Israel as ripe for judgement: cp. Rev. xiv. 15, 18.
2 the end. This word in the original nearly resembles that for summer fruit (gayitz, qetz). Such play upon words is not uncommon in the prophets.
pass by them. i.e., “pardon them.”
3 the temple. Rather, “palace” (R.V. marg.). with silence. Without the usual wailings, either for fear of the enemy, or because none were left to mourn.
5 making the ephah small, and the shekel great. By diminishing the measure they gave, and at the same time increasing the weight by which the money was reckoned, they were guilty of a double fraud. The spirit of covetousness leads men to rob both God and man. Like other Old Testament rebukes, this language might be used as a description of many in the twentieth century.
6. That we may buy the poor. i.e., reduce them to bondage. See note on ii. 6.
7 the excellency of Jacob. God Himself.
8 it shall be cast out and drowned, etc. Or, “and shall subside, as the river of Egypt does,” when its flood is exhausted.
9. I will cause the sun to go down at noon. Your prosperity shall be suddenly eclipsed by the deepest and darkest sorrow (10): cp. Jer. xv. 9.
11 a famine . . . of hearing the words of the Lord. Those who despise God’s faithful messengers shall have none to guide and comfort them in perplexity and distress.
12 from sea to sea. The Dead Sea lay south, and the Great Sea west, of the kingdom of Israel; and the north and east are added in the next line. In no quarter shall they find Divine help and guidance.
14 the sin of Samaria. This peculiar designation of the golden calf, founded on the words of Deut. ix. 21, shows the aggravation of their crime, as being a repetition of that which had brought upon their ancestors severe punishment.
Thy god, O Dan, liveth. i.e., “As thy god, O Dan, liveth” (R.V.); a formula of swearing (see 1 Sam. xx. 3). “The manner (way) of Beersheba” is an elliptical phrase for the idol whose worship was practised there: see v. 5.