Amos 8:12

12 And they will wander from sea to sea and from [the] north and to [the] east. They will roam about to seek the word of Yahweh, 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 And I will turn your feasts into mourning and all of your songs into lament, and I will put sackcloth on all loins and baldness on every head. And I will make it like the mourning for an only child, and its end like a bitter day.

11 Look, the days are coming," {declares} my Lord Yahweh, "when I will send a famine in the land, not a famine for bread and not a thirst for water, but {of hearing} the words of Yahweh!

12 And they will wander from sea to sea and from [the] north and to [the] east. They will roam about to seek the word of Yahweh, but they will not find [it]!

13 In that day the beautiful young women and the young men will faint because of thirst.

14 [These are] those who swear by the guilt of Samaria and say, 'By the life of your gods, O Dan,' and 'By the life of the way of Beersheba,' they will fall and they will not rise again."