Read & Study the Bible Online - Bible Portal
Matthew Henry

Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary - Amos 8:4-10

God is here contending with proud oppressors, and showing them, I. The heinousness of the sin they were guilty of; in short, they had the character of the unjust judge (Luke 18:2) that neither feared God nor regarded man. 1. Observe them in their devotions, and you will say, ?They had no reverence for God.? Bad as they are, they do indeed keep up a show and form of godliness; they observe the sabbath and the new moon; they put some difference between those days and other days, but they were... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Amos 8:7

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 Amos 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... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Amos 8:8

Shall not the land tremble for this ,.... For this wickedness committed, in using the poor with so much inhumanity? may not an earthquake be expected? and which happened two years after Amos began to prophesy, Amos 1:1 ; or that the earth should gape and swallow up these men alive, guilty of such enormities? or shall not the inhabitants of the land tremble at such judgments, which the Lord hath sworn he will bring upon it? and everyone mourn that dwelleth therein ? at the hearing of... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Amos 8:9

And it shall come to pass in that day, saith the Lord God ,.... When this deluge and desolation of the land shall be, now spoken of: that I will cause the sun to go down at noon : or to he so dark as if it was set; as at the time of our Lord's crucifixion, to which many of the ancient fathers refer this prophecy, though it has respect to other times and things. Jarchi interprets it of the kingdom of the house of David. It doubtless designs the kingdom of Israel, their whole policy, civil... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Amos 8:10

And I will turn your feasts into mourning, and all your songs into lamentation ,.... Either their religious feasts, the feasts of pentecost, tabernacles, and passover; at which three feasts there were eclipses of the sun, a few years after this prophecy of Amos, as Bishop Usher F17 Annales Vet. Test. ad A. M. 3213. observes: the first was an eclipse of the sun about ten digits, in the year 3213 A.M. or 791 B.C., June twenty fourth, at the feast of pentecost; the next was almost twelve... read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Amos 8:7

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." read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Amos 8:8

Shall not the land tremble for this - It is supposed that an earthquake is here intended, and that the rising up and subsiding as a flood refers to that heaving motion that takes place in an earthquake, and which the prophet here compares to the overflowing and subsiding of the waters of the Nile. But it may refer to commotions among the people. read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Amos 8:9

I will cause the sun to go down at noon - This may either refer to that darkness which often precedes and accompanies earthquakes, or to an eclipse. Abp. Usher has shown that about eleven years after Amos prophesied there were two great eclipses of the sun; one at the feast of tabernacles, and the other some time before the passover. The prophet may refer to the darkness occasioned by those eclipses; yet I rather think the whole may refer to the earthquake. read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Amos 8:10

I will turn your feasts into mourning - See on Amos 8:3 ; (note). A bitter day - A time of grievous calamity. read more

John Calvin

John Calvin's Commentary on the Bible - Amos 8:7

Verse 7 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... read more

Group of Brands