1Také mi ukázal Panovník Hospodin, a aj, byl koš ovoce letního. 2A řekl: Co ty vidíš, Amose? I řekl jsem: Koš ovoce letního. Opět mi řekl Hospodin: Přišeltě konec lidu mému Izraelskému, nebuduť již více promíjeti jemu. 3Pročež kvíliti budou zpěvové chrámoví v ten den, praví Panovník Hospodin. Množství mrtvých, mlče, namece na všelijaké místo. 4Slyštež to vy, kteříž sehlcujete chudého, abyste vyhladili nuzné z země, 5Říkajíce: Skoro-liž pomine novměsíce, abychom prodávali obilé, a sobota, abychom otevřeli obilnice, abychom ujímali efi, a přivětšovali váhy, a faleš provodili vážkami falešnými, 6Kupujíce za peníze nuzné, a chudého za pár střevíců, nadto abychom plevy obilné prodávali? 7Přisáhl Hospodin skrze důstojnost Jákobovu: Žeť se nezapomenu na věky na všecky skutky jejich. 8Nad tím-liž by se netřásla i země, a nekvílil by každý, kdož přebývá na ní? Proto-liž by neměla vystoupiti všecka jako potok, a zachvácena i zatopena býti jako potokem Egyptským? 9Anobrž stane se v ten den, praví Panovník Hospodin, učiním, že slunce zajde o poledni, a uvedu tmy na zemi v jasný den. 10A proměním svátky vaše v kvílení, a všecky zpěvy vaše v naříkání, a způsobím to, že bude na každých bedrách žíně, a na každé hlavě lysina, a bude v zemi této kvílení jako nad jednorozeným, a poslední věci její jako den hořkosti. 11Aj, dnové jdou, dí Panovník Hospodin, že pošli hlad na zemi, ne hlad chleba, ani žízeň vody, ale slyšení slov Hospodinových, 12Tak že toulati se budou od moře až k moři, a od půlnoci až na východ běhati, hledajíce slova Hospodinova, však nenajdou. 13V ten čas umdlévati budou panny krásné, ano i mládenci tou žízní, 14Kteříž přisahají skrze ohavnost Samařskou, a říkají: Živť jest Bůh tvůj, ó Dan, a živa jest cesta Bersabé. I padnou, a nepovstanou více.
Jamieson Fausset Brown Bible Commentary 1 VISION OF A BASKET OF SUMMER FRUIT SYMBOLICAL OF ISRAEL'S END. RESUMING THE SERIES OF SYMBOLS INTERRUPTED BY AMAZIAH, AMOS ADDS A FOURTH. THE AVARICE OF THE OPPRESSORS OF THE POOR: THE OVERTHROW OF THE NATION: THE WISH FOR THE MEANS OF RELIGIOUS COUNSEL, WHEN THERE SHALL BE A FAMINE OF THE WORD. (
Amos 8:1-
Amos 8:14)
summer fruit--Hebrew, kitz. In
Amos 8:2 "end" is in Hebrew, keetz. The similarity of sounds implies that, as the summer is the end of the year and the time of the ripeness of fruits, so Israel is ripe for her last punishment, ending her national existence. As the fruit is plucked when ripe from the tree, so Israel from her land.
2 end-- (
Ezek 7:2,
Ezek 7:6).
3 songs of . . . temple-- (
Amos 5:23). The joyous hymns in the temple of Judah (or rather, in the Beth-el "royal temple,"
Amos 7:13; for the allusion is to Israel, not Judah, throughout this chapter) shall be changed into "howlings." GROTIUS translates, "palace"; compare
Amos 6:5, as to the songs there. But
Amos 5:23, and
Amos 7:13, favor English Version.
they shall cast them forth with silence--not as the Margin, "be silent." It is an adverb, "silently." There shall be such great slaughter as even to prevent the bodies being buried [CALVIN]. There shall be none of the usual professional mourners (
Amos 5:16), but the bodies will be cast out in silence. Perhaps also is meant that terror, both of God (compare
Amos 6:10) and of the foe, shall close their lips.
4 Hear--The nobles needed to be urged thus, as hating to hear reproof.
swallow up the needy--or, "gape after," that is, pant for their goods; so the word is used,
Job 7:2, Margin.
to make the poor . . . to fail--"that they (themselves) may be placed alone in the midst of the earth" (
Isa 5:8).
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-2moons (
Num 10:10) and sabbaths were to be kept without working or trading (
Neh 10:31).
set forth wheat--literally, "open out" stores of wheat for sale.
ephah--containing three seahs, or above three pecks.
making . . . small--making it below the just weight to purchasers.
shekel great--taking from purchasers a greater weight of money than was due. Shekels used to be weighed out in payments (
Gen 23:16). Thus they committed a double fraud against the law (
Deut 25:13-
Deut 25:14).
6 buy . . . poor for silver . . . pair of shoes--that is, that we may compel the needy for money, or any other thing of however little worth, to sell themselves to us as bondmen, in defiance of
Lev 25:39; the very thing which brings down God's judgment (
Amos 2:6).
sell the refuse of . . . wheat--which contains no nutriment, but which the poor eat at a low price, being unable to pay for flour.
7 Lord hath sworn by the excellency of Jacob--that is by Himself, in whom Jacob's seed glory [MAURER]. Rather, by the spiritual privileges of Israel, the adoption as His peculiar people [CALVIN], the temple, and its Shekinah symbol of His presence. Compare
Amos 6:8, where it means Jehovah's temple (compare
Amos 4:2).
never forget--not pass by without punishing (
Amos 8:2;
Hos 8:13;
Hos 9:9).
8 the land . . . rise up wholly as a flood--The land will, as it were, be wholly turned into a flooding river (a flood being the image of overwhelming calamity,
Dan 9:26).
cast out and drowned, &c.--swept away and overwhelmed, as the land adjoining the Nile is by it, when flooding (
Amos 9:5). The Nile rises generally twenty feet. The waters then "cast out" mire and dirt (
Isa 57:20).
9 "Darkness" made to rise "at noon" is the emblem of great calamities (
Jer 15:9;
Ezek 32:7-
Ezek 32:10).
10 baldness--a sign of mourning (
Isa 15:2;
Jer 48:37;
Ezek 7:18).
I will make it as . . . mourning of an only son--"it," that is, "the earth" (
Amos 8:9). I will reduce the land to such a state that there shall be the same occasion for mourning as when parents mourn for an only son (
Jer 6:26;
Zech 12:10).
11 famine of . . . hearing the words of the Lord--a just retribution on those who now will not hear the Lord's prophets, nay even try to drive them away, as Amaziah did (
Amos 7:12); they shall look in vain, in their distress, for divine counsel, such as the prophets now offer (
Ezek 7:26;
Mic 3:7). Compare as to the Jews' rejection of Messiah, and their consequent rejection by Him (
Matt 21:43); and their desire for Messiah too late (
Luke 17:22;
John 7:34;
John 8:21). So, the prodigal when he had sojourned awhile in the "far-off country, began to be in want" in the "mighty famine" which arose (
Luke 15:14; compare
1Sam 3:1;
1Sam 7:2). It is remarkable that the Jews' religion is almost the only one that could be abolished against the will of the people themselves, on account of its being dependent on a particular place, namely, the temple. When that was destroyed, the Mosaic ritual, which could not exist without it, necessarily ceased. Providence designed it, that, as the law gave way to the Gospel, so all men should perceive it was so, in spite of the Jews' obstinate rejection of the Gospel.
12 they shall wander from sea to sea--that is, from the Dead Sea to the Mediterranean, from east to west.
from . . . north . . . to . . . east--where we might expect "from north to south." But so alienated was Israel from Judah, that no Israelite even then would think of repairing southward, that is, to Jerusalem for religious information. The circuit is traced as in
Num 34:3, &c., except that the south is omitted. Their "seeking the word of the Lord" would not be from a sincere desire to obey God, but under the pressure of punishment.
13 faint for thirst--namely, thirst for hearing the words of the Lord, being destitute of all other comfort. If even the young and strong faint, how much more the infirm (
Isa 40:30-
Isa 40:31)!
14 swear by the sin of Samaria--namely, the calves (
Deut 9:21;
Hos 4:15). "Swear by" means to worship (
Ps 63:11).
The manner--that is, as "the way" is used (
Ps 139:24;
Acts 9:2), the mode of worship.
Thy god, O Dan--the other golden calf at Dan (
1Kgs 22:26-30).
liveth . . . liveth--rather, "May thy god . . . live . . . may the manner . . . live." Or, "As (surely as) thy god, O Dan, liveth." This is their formula when they swear; not "May Jehovah live!" or, "As Jehovah liveth!"