Amos 8:5, Amos 8:6 KJV

Joseph Benson's Commentary of the Old and New Testaments - Amos 8:4-6

Amos 8:4-6. Hear, O ye that swallow up the needy That greedily and cruelly devour such as would have been objects of your compassion, had you been just and merciful as well as rich and great. He alludes to the greater fish swallowing up the lesser. To make the poor of the land to fail Either to root them out or to enslave them. Saying, When will the new- moon be gone This was one of their solemn feasts, the use of which they retained with their idolatrous worship; that we may sell... read more

Donald C. Fleming

Bridgeway Bible Commentary - Amos 8:1-14

Israel nears its end (8:1-14)Just as the harvest comes to an end and the fruit is gathered into baskets, so Israel has come to its end and will be punished. Celebration will be turned to mourning, and hope will be replaced by despair. When the enemy attacks, the slaughter will be so extensive that bodies will lie unburied in the streets and fields for days (8:1-3).Amos returns to conditions in Israel to indicate that one reason for the nation’s downfall is the upper classes’ exploitation of the... read more

E.W. Bullinger

E.W. Bullinger's Companion Bible Notes - Amos 8:5

the new moon. Reference to Pentateuch (Numbers 10:10 , &c.) the sabbath. Ref to Pentateuch (Exodus 20:10 ). App-92 . Stopping their business for a day. set forth wheat. Hebrew = wheat market: "wheat" being put by Figure of speech Metonymy (of Adjunct), App-6 , for the place where it is kept = open granaries, or sell grain. hp ephah. Measuring the goods. See App-51 . shekel. Weighing the money. See App-51 . read more

James Burton Coffman

Coffman Commentaries on the Bible - Amos 8:5

"Saying, When will the new moon be gone, that we may sell grain? and the sabbath, that we may set forth wheat, making the ephah small, and the shekel great, and dealing falsely with balances of deceit?"The heartless traders grudged even the sabbaths and feast days as interruptions in their business, which was simply that of cheating in every way possible. There had already come to its fruition in the Northern Kingdom, the diabolical sin that eventually culminated in the Jerusalem temple,... read more

Thomas Coke

Thomas Coke Commentary on the Holy Bible - Amos 8:5

Amos 8:5. The new moon, &c.— Of that month wherein the fruits of the year were used first to be sold. By the sabbath the Chaldee understands the sabbatical year; for, as Grotius observes, that year being past, they who had not money enough to provide for themselves before the year, were compelled to buy the necessaries of life at a very high price from those who had laid up stores. read more

Robert Jamieson; A. R. Fausset; David Brown

Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible - Amos 8:5

5. So greedy are they of unjust gain that they cannot spare a single day, however sacred, from pursuing it. They are strangers to God and enemies to themselves, who love market days better than sabbath days; and they who have lost piety will not long keep honesty. The new moons ( :-) and sabbaths were to be kept without working or trading (Nehemiah 10:31). set forth wheat—literally, "open out" stores of wheat for sale. ephah—containing three seahs, or above three pecks. making . . .... read more

Thomas Constable

Expository Notes of Dr. Thomas Constable - Amos 8:4-6

The sins of the people 8:4-6Non-visionary material followed the third vision (Amos 7:7-9), and non-visionary material follows the fourth vision (Amos 8:1-3). read more

Thomas Constable

Expository Notes of Dr. Thomas Constable - Amos 8:5-6

These oppressors were eager for the monthly festivals and the weekly Sabbaths to end so they could get back to work cheating their fellow countrymen to make big profits. These holidays were days of rest and worship, but the Israelite workaholics did not enjoy them, though they observed them as good religious people. They were anxious to enslave the needy in their debt so they could control them and use them for their own selfish ends (cf. Amos 2:6). Archaeologists have found at Tirzah the... read more

John Dummelow

John Dummelow's Commentary on the Bible - Amos 8:1-14

The Vision of the Ripe Fruit, followed by a Fifth Address1-3. The vision. 4-14. The address, denouncing dishonest traders (Amos 8:4-6), threatening earthquakes, eclipse, mourning, a painful sense of abandonment by God, an utter destruction of the superstitious (Amos 8:7-14).1-3. Notwithstanding the interference of Amaziah, the prophet finishes the recital of his visions.1, 2. Another play on words—qayits is the word for ripe fruit, and qçts for end. We might represent it by, ’A basket of ripe... read more

Charles John Ellicott

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers - Amos 8:5

(5) When . . . gone.—They desired that the festivals of the New Moon and Sabbath should be over, when they might not only return to their secular employments, but pursue their search for ill-gotten gains—a proof that these festivals were observed in the northern nation, even if they were disliked.Set forth wheat.—The original signifies the opening of the sacks, or granaries, where the wheat was stored. The greedy mercantile class is referred to. The ephah, which was a dry measure (= three... read more