Amos 8:9 Komentář

Sinful times are here attended with sorrowful times, so necessary is the connexion between them; it is threatened here again and again that the laughter shall be turned into mourning. I. By the vision of "basket of summer-fruit" is signified the hastening on of the ruin threatened (Amo 8:1-3) and that shall change their note. II. Oppressors are here called to an account for their abusing the poor; and their destruction is foretold, which will set them a mourning (Amo 8:4-10). III. A famine of the word of God is here made the punishment of a people that go a whoring after other gods (Amo 8:11-14); yet for this, which is the most mournful judgment of all, they are not here brought in mourning.

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, Amo 8:1; the rich are reproved for their oppression of the poor, their covetousness and earthly mindedness, Amo 8:4; for which they are threatened with entire ruin, sudden calamities, and very mournful times, instead of light, joy, and gladness, Amo 8:7; and particularly with a famine of hearing the word of God, Amo 8:11; 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, Amo 8:13.

And it shall come to pass in that day, saith the Lord God,.... When this deluge and desolation of the land shall be, now spoken of: that I will cause the sun to go down at noon: or to he so dark as if it was set; as at the time of our Lord's crucifixion, to which many of the ancient fathers refer this prophecy, though it has respect to other times and things. Jarchi interprets it of the kingdom of the house of David. It doubtless designs the kingdom of Israel, their whole policy, civil and ecclesiastic, and the destruction of it; particularly their king, princes, and nobles, that should be in great adversity, and that suddenly and unexpectedly; it being a fine sunshine morning with them, and they in great prosperity, and yet by noon their sun would be set, and they in the utmost darkness and distress; and I will darken the earth in a clear day; the land of Israel, the people of it, the common people, who should have their share, in this calamity and affliction; and though it had been a clear day with them, and they promised themselves much and long felicity, yet on a sudden their light would be turned into darkness, and their joy into sadness and sorrow.

(Verse 9, 10.) And it shall come to pass on that day, says the Lord (Vulgate adds God): The sun will be darkened at noon, and I will make the earth go dark in the midst of light. I will turn your feasts into mourning, and all your songs into lamentation. I will bring sackcloth upon every waist, and baldness upon every head. I will make it like the mourning for an only son, and the end of it like a bitter day. LXX: And it shall come to pass on that day, says the Lord God: the sun will be darkened at noon, and darkness will come over the earth in the midst of light. I will turn your festivals into mourning, and all your songs into lamentation. I will bring sackcloth upon every loins, and baldness upon every head. I will make it like the mourning for a beloved one, and those who are with him like a day of sorrow. That day, which is called the day of captivity, signifies the day when both peoples will be led into Assyria and Chaldea, where the sun will set at noon due to the magnitude of sadness, and clear light will fill everything, while darkness will envelop all. On that day, their festivities and all their songs will be turned into mourning and lamentation. And they will wear sackcloth on their backs or loins, and according to the custom of ancient mourners, they will have baldness on their heads, which we also read that Job did for the deaths of his children (Job 1). And so great will be the magnitude of mourning and sadness, that it will overcome the grief of a mother and a most beloved only son dying: and all things will be filled with lamentation and bitterness. We can understand this place also in the Passion of the Lord, when the sun withdrew its rays at the sixth hour, and the one not daring to look at his hanging Lord on the cross. (Luke 23): when darkness filled all things, and their festivities and songs, surpassing Vespasian and Titus, were transformed into mourning and sorrow: when all things were filled with tears, penitence, and sackcloth, and they had bald heads, who previously adorned their hair in the Nazarene style, nourished for the Lord. Then the firstborn Son of God, the people of Israel, who had extended their hand to the Only Begotten and true Son of God, was handed over to eternal mourning: and his last moments, along with those who were with him, were filled with bitterness. Now, those who rejected the sun of justice are left in darkness: we, who were sitting in the shadow of death, have seen a great light (Isaiah 9), and all their festivities have been transferred to the mysteries of the Church, so that, while they weep, we may sing praises to the Lord. They are girded with ropes and cilices: for us it is said with the apostles: Let your loins be girded ((or girt)), and lamps burning in your hands (Luke 12:35). We are girded with the truth of Christ, fulfilling that which is written: Stand fast therefore in the truth, girding your loins with truth (Ephesians 6:14). But they, on the other hand, are surrounded by the lie of the devil for the sake of truth. Our head, of whom the Savior speaks: But the very hairs of your head are all numbered (Matthew 10:30), has perpetual hair, and in our head, which is Christ, we possess strength to slay the lion. But they slept in the concubine's synagogue, and their hair was cut off by the devil, losing the power of their heads, losing their eyes with their strength, about whom it is written in Ecclesiastes: The eyes of the wise are in their head; but the fool walks in darkness. Their companions are in mourning, our companions are clothed in garments of joy.

This chapter begins with a fourth vision denoting the certainty and nearness of the destruction of Israel, Amo 8:1-3. The prophet then proceeds to reprove their oppression and injustice, Amo 8:4-7. Strong and beautiful figures, by which is represented the complete dissolution of the Israelitish polity, Amo 8:8-10. The people threatened with a most awful judgment; a Famine of the word of God, Amo 8:11-14.

I will cause the sun to go down at noon - This may either refer to that darkness which often precedes and accompanies earthquakes, or to an eclipse. Abp. Usher has shown that about eleven years after Amos prophesied there were two great eclipses of the sun; one at the feast of tabernacles, and the other some time before the passover. The prophet may refer to the darkness occasioned by those eclipses; yet I rather think the whole may refer to the earthquake.

VISION OF A BASKET OF SUMMER FRUIT SYMBOLICAL OF ISRAEL'S END. RESUMING THE SERIES OF SYMBOLS INTERRUPTED BY AMAZIAH, AMOS ADDS A FOURTH. THE AVARICE OF THE OPPRESSORS OF THE POOR: THE OVERTHROW OF THE NATION: THE WISH FOR THE MEANS OF RELIGIOUS COUNSEL, WHEN THERE SHALL BE A FAMINE OF THE WORD. (Amo 8:1-14) summer fruit--Hebrew, kitz. In Amo 8:2 "end" is in Hebrew, keetz. The similarity of sounds implies that, as the summer is the end of the year and the time of the ripeness of fruits, so Israel is ripe for her last punishment, ending her national existence. As the fruit is plucked when ripe from the tree, so Israel from her land.

"Darkness" made to rise "at noon" is the emblem of great calamities (Jer 15:9; Eze 32:7-10).

The Ripeness of Israel for Judgment - Amo 8:1-14 Under the symbol of a basket filled with ripe fruit, the Lord shows the prophet that Israel is ripe for judgment (Amo 8:1-3); whereupon Amos, explaining the meaning of this vision, announces to the unrighteous magnates of the nation the changing of their joyful feasts into days of mourning, as the punishment from God for their unrighteousness (Amo 8:4-10), and sets before them a time when those who now despise the word of God will sigh in vain in their extremity for a word of the Lord (Amo 8:11-14).

"And it will come to pass on that day, is the saying of the Lord Jehovah, I cause the sun to set at noon, and make it dark to the earth in clear day. Amo 8:10. And turn your feasts into mourning, and all your songs into lamentation: and bring mourning clothes upon all loins, and baldness upon every head; and make it like mourning for an only one, and the end thereof like a bitter day." The effect of the divine judgment upon the Israelites is depicted here. Just as the wicked overturn the moral order of the universe, so will the Lord, with His judgment, break through the order of nature, cause the sun to go down at noon, and envelope the earth in darkness in clear day. The words of the ninth verse are not founded upon the idea of an eclipse of the sun, though Michaelis and Hitzig not only assume that they are, but actually attempt to determine the time of its occurrence. An eclipse of the sun is not the setting of the sun (כּוא). But to any man the sun sets at noon, when he is suddenly snatched away by death, in the very midst of his life. And this also applies to a nation when it is suddenly destroyed in the midst of its earthly prosperity. But it has a still wider application. When the Lord shall come to judgment, at a time when the world, in its self-security, looketh not for Him (cf. Mat 24:37.), this earth's sun will set at noon, and the earth be covered with darkness in bright daylight. And every judgment that falls upon an ungodly people or kingdom, as the ages roll away, is a harbinger of the approach of the final judgment. Amo 8:10. When the judgment shall burst upon Israel, then will all the joyous feasts give way to mourning and lamentation (compare Amo 8:3 and Amo 5:16; Hos 2:13). On the shaving of a bald place as a sign of mourning, see Isa 3:24. This mourning will be very deep, like the mourning for the death of an only son (cf. Jer 6:26 and Zac 12:10). The suffix in שׂמתּיה (I make it) does not refer to אבל (mourning), but to all that has been previously mentioned as done upon that day, to their weeping and lamenting (Hitzig). אחריתהּ, the end thereof, namely, of this mourning and lamentation, will be a bitter day (כ is caph verit.; see at Joe 1:15). This implies that the judgment will not be a passing one, but will continue.