Amos 5:21

21 "I hate, I ¹reject your festivals, Nor do I ²delight in your solemn assemblies.

Amos 5:21 Meaning and Commentary

Amos 5:21

I hate, I despise your feast days
Kimchi thinks this is said, and what follows, with respect to the kingdom of the house of Judah, which kept the feast the Lord commanded; but it is not necessary so to understand it; for doubtless the ten tribes imitated the worship at Jerusalem, and kept the feasts as the Jews did there, in the observance of which they trusted; but the Lord rejects their vain confidence, and lets them know that these were no ways acceptable to him; and were so far from atoning for their sins, that they were hated, abhorred, and despised by him, being observed in such a manner and with such a view as they were; and I will not smell in your solemn assemblies;
a sweet savour of rest, as in ( Genesis 8:21 ) ; take no pleasure in their duties and services performed, in their solemn assemblies convened together for religious purposes, nor accept of them; but, on the contrary, dislike and abhor them; see ( Isaiah 1:11-14 ) .

Amos 5:21 In-Context

19 As when a man flees from a lion And a bear meets him, Or goes home, leans his hand against the wall And a snake bites him.

20 Will not the day of the LORD be darkness instead of light, Even gloom with no brightness in it?

21 "I hate, I reject your festivals, Nor do I delight in your solemn assemblies.

22 "Even though you offer up to Me burnt offerings and your grain offerings, I will not accept them; And I will not even look at the peace offerings of your fatlings.

23 "Take away from Me the noise of your songs; I will not even listen to the sound of your harps.

Cross References

• 1. Isaiah 1:11-16; Isaiah 66:3; Amos 4:4, 5; Amos 8:10
• 2. Leviticus 26:31; Jeremiah 14:12; Hosea 5:6

Footnotes

• [a] Lit "like to smell"