Amos 8:12

12 People will stagger from sea to sea and from north to east, running back and forth, seeking the word of ADONAI; but they will not find it.

Amos 8:12 Meaning and Commentary

Amos 8:12

And they shall wander from sea to sea
From the sea of Tiberias, or Galilee; or from the Dead sea, the lake Asphaltites; or from the Red sea, which was to the south of the land of Israel, to the great sea, which is to the west, as Aben Ezra: so the Targum,

``from the sea to the west;''

that is, to the Mediterranean sea: and from the north even to the east;
proceeding from the south to the west, they shall turn from thence to the north, and so to the east, which describes the borders of the land of Canaan, ( Numbers 34:3-12 ) ; and the sense is, that they shall go to and fro;
throughout the whole land, and all over it, to seek the word of the Lord;
not the written word, but the interpretation of it; doctrine from before the Lord, as the Targum; the preaching of the word, or ministers to instruct them in it; or the word of prophecy, and prophets to tell them when it would be better times, and how long their present distress should last: and shall not find [it];
there should be no ministry, no preaching, no prophesying; as never since among the ten tribes, so it has been the case of the Jews, the two tribes, upon the rejection of the Messiah; the Gospel was taken from them; no tidings could they hear of the Messiah, though they ran to and fro to find him, it being told them Lo, here, and Lo, there; see ( John 7:34-36 ) ( Luke 17:22 ) .

Amos 8:12 In-Context

10 I will turn your festivals into mourning and all your songs into wailing; I will make you all put sackcloth around your waists and shave your heads bald in grief. I will make it like mourning for an only son and its end like a bitter day.

11 "The time is coming," says Adonai ELOHIM, "when I will send famine over the land, not a famine of bread or a thirst for water, but of hearing the words of ADONAI.

12 People will stagger from sea to sea and from north to east, running back and forth, seeking the word of ADONAI; but they will not find it.

13 When that time comes, young women and men will faint from thirst.

14 Those who swear by the sin of Shomron, who say, 'As your god, Dan, lives,' and, 'As the way of Be'er-Sheva lives' - they will fall and never get up again."