Amos 8:1-11

1 Thus hath Adonoi Hashem showed unto me: and hinei a basket of kayitz (summer fruit).
2 And Hashem said, Amos, what seest thou? And I said, A basket of kayitz (summer fruit). Then said Hashem unto me, The ketz (end) is come upon My people Yisroel; I will not again pass by them [and spare them] anymore.
3 And the shirot of the heikhal shall turn to wailings in that Yom, saith Adonoi Hashem; there shall be many dead bodies in every place; they shall cast them forth. Silence!
4 Hear this, O ye that swallow up the needy, even to make the anivvei aretz (poor of the land) to fail,
5 Saying, When will the Rosh Chodesh be over, that we may sell grain? And Shabbos, that we may market wheat, making the eifah (bushel) small, and the shekel great, and falsifying the balances by mirmah (deceit)?
6 That we may buy the poor for kesef, and the needy for a pair of sandals; yea, and sell the sweepings with the wheat?
7 Hashem hath sworn by the ga’on Ya’akov, Surely I will never forget any of their ma’asim.
8 Shall not ha’aretz (the land) tremble for this, and every one mourn that dwelleth therein? And the whole land shall rise like the Nile; and heave and sink, as by the Nile of Mitzrayim.
9 And it shall come to pass in that Yom, saith Adonoi Hashem, that I will cause the shemesh to go down at noon, and I will darken ha’aretz in the yom ohr (day light);
10 And I will turn your chagim into mourning, and all your shirot into lamentation; and I will bring up sackcloth upon all loins, and baldness upon every rosh; and I will make it as the mourning of a yachid (only son), and the end thereof as a yom mar (bitter day).
11 Hinei, the yamim come, saith Adonoi Hashem, that I will send a ra’av (famine) in the land, not a ra’av (famine) of lechem, nor a thirst for mayim, but of hearing the Divrei Hashem;

Amos 8:1-11 Meaning and Commentary

INTRODUCTION TO AMOS 8

In this chapter a fourth vision is delivered, the vision of a "basket of summer fruit"; signifying the destruction of the ten tribes, for which they were ripe, and which would quickly come upon them, Am 8:1-3; the rich are reproved for their oppression of the poor, their covetousness and earthly mindedness, Am 8:4-6; for which they are threatened with entire ruin, sudden calamities, and very mournful times, instead of light, joy, and gladness, Am 8:7-10; and particularly with a famine of hearing the word of God, Am 8:11,12; the consequence of which would be, a fainting of the young men and virgins for thirst, and the utter and irrecoverable ruin of all idolaters, Am 8:13,14.

The Orthodox Jewish Bible fourth edition, OJB. Copyright 2002,2003,2008,2010, 2011 by Artists for Israel International. All rights reserved.