The Pulpit Commentary on Amos 8:9

The Pulpit Commentary · Joseph S. Exell and contributors · Public domain

I will cause the sun to go down at noon. This is probably to be taken metaphorically of a sudden calamity occurring in the very height of seeming prosperity, such as the fate of Israel in Pekah's time, and Pekah's own murder (2 Kings 15:29, 2 Kings 15:30; see also 2 Kings 17:1-6).

A like metaphor is common enough; e.g. Joel 2:2 : Joel 3:15; Micah 3:6; Job 5:14; Isaiah 13:10; Jeremiah 15:9. Hind calculates that there were two solar eclipses visible in Palestine in Amos's time, viz.

June 15, B.C. 763, and February 9, B.C. 784. Some have suggested that the prophet here predicts the latter in the year of Jeroboam's death; but this, it is discovered, would have been so partial as hardly to be noticeable at Samaria.

And it is improbable that such natural phenomena, unconnected with God's moral government, should be the subject of the prophet's prediction (Pusey). Doubtless a sudden reverse is signified (comp. Matthew 24:29, etc.

), expressed in terms rendered particularly appropriate by some late and well remembered eclipse. The Fathers note here how the earth was darkened at the Passion of our Lord.

More for Amos 8:9

Continue with other commentaries and DiscipleDeck content connected to this verse, chapter, or topic.

Other commentaries

The Pulpit Commentary on 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…Matthew Henry on Amos 8:4-10Amos 8:4-10 · Matthew Henry Concise CommentaryThe rich and powerful of the land were the most guilty of oppression, as well as the foremost in idolatry. They were weary of the restraints of the sabbaths and the new moons, and wished them over, because no common wor…The Sin and Doom of Oppressors. (b. c. 785.)Amos 8:4-10 · Matthew Henry's Commentary on the Whole BibleTHE SIN AND DOOM OF OPPRESSORS. (B. C. 785.) God 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…The Pulpit Commentary on Amos 8:4-10Amos 8:4-10 · The Pulpit CommentaryAvarice. "Hear this, O ye that swallow up the needy, even to make the poor of the land. to fail," etc. The prophet here resumes his denunciatory discourse to the avaricious oppressors of the people. The verses may be ta…The Pulpit Commentary on Amos 8:8-10Amos 8:8-10 · The Pulpit CommentaryCarried away as with a flood. A man in earnest is always graphic. If he be also inspired he can afford to be explicit. In this passage Amos is both. The words were spoken before the convulsions they foretell, and writte…The Pulpit Commentary on Amos 8:9Amos 8:9 · The Pulpit CommentaryA sunset at noon. This language is at once prophetic and figurative. It predicts an event in the moral world under the figure of an analogous event in the physical world. The symbolical event is not an eclipse of the su…

commentaryThe Pulpit Commentary on Amos 8:1-14§ 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…Joseph S. Exell and contributors commentaryMatthew Henry on Amos 8:4-10The rich and powerful of the land were the most guilty of oppression, as well as the foremost in idolatry. They were weary of the restraints of the sabbaths and the new moons, and wished them over, because no common wor…Matthew Henry commentaryThe Sin and Doom of Oppressors. (b. c. 785.)THE SIN AND DOOM OF OPPRESSORS. (B. C. 785.) God 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…Matthew Henry commentaryThe Pulpit Commentary on Amos 8:4-10Avarice. "Hear this, O ye that swallow up the needy, even to make the poor of the land. to fail," etc. The prophet here resumes his denunciatory discourse to the avaricious oppressors of the people. The verses may be ta…Joseph S. Exell and contributors commentaryThe Pulpit Commentary on Amos 8:8-10Carried away as with a flood. A man in earnest is always graphic. If he be also inspired he can afford to be explicit. In this passage Amos is both. The words were spoken before the convulsions they foretell, and writte…Joseph S. Exell and contributors commentaryThe Pulpit Commentary on Amos 8:9A sunset at noon. This language is at once prophetic and figurative. It predicts an event in the moral world under the figure of an analogous event in the physical world. The symbolical event is not an eclipse of the su…Joseph S. Exell and contributors