Hear this, O ye that swallow up the needy,.... Like a man that pants after a draught of water when thirsty; and, when he has got it, greedily swallows it down at one gulp; so these rich men swallowed up the poor, their labours, gains, and profits, and persons too; got all into their own hands, and made them bondsmen and slaves to them; see Am 2:7; these are called upon to hear this dreadful calamity threatened, and to consider what then would become of them and their ill gotten riches; and suggesting, that their oppression of the needy was one cause of this destruction of the land:even to make the poor of the land to fail; or "cease" ; to die for want of the necessaries of life, being obliged to such hard labour; so unmercifully used, their faces ground, and pinched with necessity; and so sadly paid for their work, that they could not live by it.
Bible Commentary
Amos 8:4
Amos 8:4
John Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible · John Gill (1697–1771) · Public Domain
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Amos 8 — OverviewAmos 8 · Matthew Henry's Commentary on the Whole BibleSinful 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…Amos 8 — OverviewAmos 8 · Treasury of Scripture KnowledgeAmos 8:1, By a basket of summer fruit is shown the approach of Israel’s end; Amos 8:4, Oppression is reproved; Amos 8:11, A famine of the word of God threatened.Amos 8 — OverviewAmos 8 · John Gill's Exposition of the Entire BibleIn 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; the rich…Amos 8:1-14Amos 8:1-14 · The Pulpit Commentary§ 5. In the fourth vision, the basket of summer fruit, the Lord shows that the people is ripe for judgment. Explaining this revelation, Amos denounces the oppression and greed of the chieftains (verses 4-10), and warns…Amos 8:4-10Amos 8:4-10 · Matthew Henry's Commentary on the Whole BibleGod is here contending with proud oppressors, and showing them,
I. The heinousness of the sin they were guilty of; in short, they had
the character of the unjust judge (Luke xviii. 2) that neither feared
God nor…Amos 8:4Amos 8:4 · The Pulpit CommentaryThe prophet, by admonishing the grandees of their iniquities, which they will not cast away, shows how ripe they are for judgment. That swallow up; better, that pant after (Amos 2:6, Amos 2:7), like a beast after its…