Amos 4:6

6 "I was the one who brought famine to all your cities, yet you did not come back to me. ¹

Amos 4:6 Meaning and Commentary

Amos 4:6

And I also have given you cleanness of teeth in all your
cities
Meaning a famine, having no food to foul them with, or to stick in them. This was not the famine in Samaria, ( 2 Kings 6:25 ) ; for that was only in that city, and for a short time, while besieged; whereas this was in all the cities in Israel; rather therefore it designs the famine predicted by Elisha, which should be upon the land for seven years, ( 2 Kings 8:1 ) ; and want of bread in all your places:
this is the same with the former clause, and explains it, and still makes the famine more general, not only in their cities, but in all their places of abode, their towns and villages: yet have ye not returned unto me, saith the Lord;
this judgment had no influence upon them, to bring them to a sense of their evils, particularly their idolatry, and to repentance them, and to reclaim them from them, and return them to the Lord, and to his worship, as the Targum paraphrases it.

Amos 4:6 In-Context

4 The Sovereign Lord says, "People of Israel, go to the holy place in Bethel and sin, if you must! Go to Gilgal and sin with all your might! Go ahead and bring animals to be sacrificed morning after morning, and bring your tithes every third day.

5 Go on and offer your bread in thanksgiving to God, and brag about the extra offerings you bring! This is the kind of thing you love to do.

6 "I was the one who brought famine to all your cities, yet you did not come back to me.

7 I kept it from raining when your crops needed it most. I sent rain on one city, but not on another. Rain fell on one field, but another field dried up.

8 Weak with thirst, the people of several cities went to a city where they hoped to find water, but there was not enough to drink. Still you did not come back to me.

Cross References

• 1. +24.6Wisdom 12.2, 10.