Amos 8:13

Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary - Amos 8:11-14

In these verses is threatened, I. A general judgment of spiritual famine coming upon the whole land, a famine of the word of God, the failing of oracles and the scarcity of good preaching. This is spoken of as a thing at some distance: The days come, they will come hereafter, when another kind of darkness shall come upon that land of light. When Amos prophesied, and for a considerable time after, they had great plenty of prophets, abundant opportunities of hearing the word of God, in season... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Amos 8:13

In that day shall the fair virgins and young men faint for thirst. After the word, for want of that grain and wine, which make young men and maids cheerful, Zechariah 9:17 ; but, being destitute of them, should be covered with sorrow, overwhelmed with grief, and ready to sink and die away. These, according to some, design the congregation of Israel; who are like to beautiful virgins, as the Targum paraphrases it; and the principal men of it, the masters of the assemblies: or, as others,... read more

John Calvin

John Calvin's Commentary on the Bible - Amos 8:13

Verse 13 The Prophet, having threatened spiritual famine, now adds, that the people would in every respect be barren and destitute of every good: for I take not thirst here in the same sense as before; but that they should be dried up through the want of all things. It is indeed the worst deprivation when men are parched up with thirst; and this is what the Prophet threatens here. A country may suffer from want of provision, while there is water enough to drink; but when not even this remains,... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Amos 8:1-14

§ 5. In the fourth vision, the basket of summer fruit, the Lord shows that the people is ripe for judgment. Explaining this revelation, Amos denounces the oppression and greed of the chieftains (verses 4-10), and warns them that those who despise the Word of God shall some day suffer from a famine of the Word (verses 11-14). read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Amos 8:11-13

Soul famine. "Behold, the days come, saith the Lord God, that I will send a famine in the land, not a famine of bread, nor a thirst for water, but of hearing the words of the Lord," etc. The Israelites now despised the message of the prophets, and by a just retribution, in addition to all their other calamities, they should experience a total withdrawal of all prophetic communications. In whatever direction they might proceed, and whatever efforts they might make to obtain information... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Amos 8:11-14

The scarcity that swallows the residue of good. To waste is to want, in things temporal and spiritual alike. Abuse is inevitably followed by deprivation, and the prodigal is one who is purveying for himself a suit of rags. God caps our "will not" with his "shall not," and the rude hand of change soon spills the cup of good we have refused to taste. Under the operation of this law the nation of Israel would now come. They had wasted the Word of God, neglecting it, despising it, and at last... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Amos 8:13

This verse is parallel to the preceding. The thirst, spiritual and physical, shall affect the fair virgins and young men —those in all the freshness, beauty, and vigour of youth. Shall faint; literally, shall be veiled, covered, expressive of the feeling of faintness, when the sight grows dim and a mantle of darkness drops over one ( Jonah 4:8 ). If the strongest thus fail, much more will the rest succumb to the threatened calamity. read more

Albert Barnes

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Whole Bible - Amos 8:13

In this hopelessness as to all relief, those too shall fail and sink under their sufferings, in whom life is freshest and strongest and hope most buoyant. Hope mitigates any sufferings. When hope is gone, the powers of life, which it sustains, give way. “They shall faint for thirst,” literally, “shall be mantled over, covered” , as, in fact, one fainting seems to feel as if a veil came over his brow and eyes. “Thirst,” as it is an intenser suffering than bodily hunger, includes sufferings of... read more

Joseph Benson

Joseph Benson's Commentary of the Old and New Testaments - Amos 8:12-13

Amos 8:12-13. And they shall wander from sea to sea From the sea of Tiberias to the great sea, from one border of the country to another. And from the north even to the east The prophet omits naming the south, because the idolaters, to whom he directs his discourse, would choose to inquire anywhere rather than of the true prophets of the Lord, who dwelt in the tribe of Judah, which was situated to the south of the ten tribes. They shall run to and fro, to seek the word of the Lord To... 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

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