Amos 8:10 - Joseph Benson's Commentary of the Old and New Testaments - Bible Study & Commentary

Verse 10

Amos 8:10. I will turn your feasts into mourning God commanded the Jews to celebrate their festivals with joy and gladness; but this it would be impossible for them to do under such melancholy circumstances and manifestations of the divine displeasure. And all your songs into lamentation The particular psalms and hymns which used to be sung at the great festivals are here alluded to. And I will bring up sackcloth upon all loins All sorts of persons shall put on mourning. And baldness upon every head Shaving the head and beard was a sign of the greatest sadness. I will make it as the mourning, rather, as in the mourning of [or for ] an only son That is, a most heavy mourning; for the death of an only son generally occasions the severest grief; and the end thereof as a bitter day A sorrowful day, which you shall wish you had never seen, shall succeed your dark night. In other words, the calamities shall increase more and more; so that the last part of these grievous times shall be far more distressing than any that had preceded. This undoubtedly was the case, as the carrying them into captivity would occasion a separation of friends from friends, children from parents, wives from husbands, than which it is not easy to conceive any thing more deplorable.

Joseph Benson's Commentary of the Old and New Testaments

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Joseph Benson

Joseph Benson's Commentary of the Old and New Testaments

One of the most eminent of the early Methodist ministers in England, Joseph Benson was born at Melmerby, in Cumberland, Jan. 25, 1748. At sixteen he became a Methodist and was converted. In 1766 Mr. Wesley appointed him classical master at Kingswood School. He devoted himself closely to philosophy and theology, studying constantly and zealously.Joseph Benson became a Methodist circuit rider in 1771. A close associate of Wesley, he was chosen to be a member of the Legal One Hundred who governed the Conference at Wesley's death and he was president of the Conference two times. As one of post-Wesley Methodism's most popular preachers, he sometimes addressed crowds of over twenty thousand. Wesley established an extensive organization, including the circuit riding system and a media or press to showcase books, pamphlets, and a monthly magazine. After the death of John Wesley, Joseph Benson took over the Methodist/Wesleyan movement and the organization that Wesley created.During the Bristol dispute of 1794 he led the conservative Church Methodists and was against moves which suggested that the Methodists were breaking ties with the Church of England; he was one of the last leaders to contend for the methods and philosophy of eighteenth-century Wesleyan Methodism. The circulation of The Methodist Magazine rose from ten thousand to twenty-four thousand per issue on his watch, and it was one of the most widely read periodicals in pre-Victorian England. He was an able writer, serving as apologist against Joseph Priestley, as biographer of John Fletcher, and as author of a multi-volume commentary on the Bible.Benson was influential in Methodism, and through the press, especially the magazine, he was able to extend his influence to non-Methodists as well. He and other Methodist leaders, through preaching and publication, disseminated their conservative social and political credo and may be credited in part with creating a climate in which the seeds of Victorianism could thrive.... Show more

One of the most eminent of the early Methodist ministers in England, Joseph Benson was born at Melmerby, in Cumberland, Jan. 25, 1748. At sixteen he became a Methodist and was converted. In 1766 Mr. Wesley appointed him classical master at Kingswood School. He devoted himself closely to philosophy and theology, studying constantly and zealously.... Show more

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