Amos 8:5

Saying, When will the new moon be gone, that we may sell corn? and the sabbath, that we may set forth wheat, making the ephah small, and the shekel great, and falsifying the balances by deceit?

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Word by word — the Hebrew

Word	Hebrew	Strong’s	Meaning
Saying	לֵאמֹ֗ר le.Mor	H559	to say (used with great latitude) · preposition + verb, qal infinitive construct
moon	הַחֹ֙דֶשׁ֙ ha.Cho.desh	H2320	the new moon · definite article + noun, common masculine singular absolute
gone	יַעֲבֹ֤ר ya.'a.Vor	H5674	to cross over · verb, qal imperfect, 3rd person masculine singular
sell	וְנַשְׁבִּ֣ירָה ve.nash.Bi.rah	H7666	to deal in grain · conjunction + verb, hiphil infinitive construct, 1st person common plural
corn	שֶּׁ֔בֶר She.ver	H7668	grain (as if broken into kernels) · noun, common masculine singular absolute
sabbath	וְהַשַּׁבָּ֖ת ve.hash.sha.Bat	H7676	intermission · conjunction + definite article + noun, common feminine singular absolute
forth	וְנִפְתְּחָה ve.nif.te.chah-	H6605	to open wide (literally or figuratively) · conjunction + verb, qal infinitive construct, 1st person common plural
wheat	בָּ֑ר Bar	H1250	grain of any kind (even while standing in the field) · noun, common masculine singular absolute
ephah	אֵיפָה֙ 'ei.Fah	H374	an ephah or measure for grain · noun, common feminine singular absolute
small	לְהַקְטִ֤ין le.hak.Tin	H6994	to diminish · preposition + verb, hiphil infinitive construct
shekel	שֶׁ֔קֶל She.kel	H8255	probably a weight · noun, common masculine singular absolute
great	וּלְהַגְדִּ֣יל u.le.hag.Dil	H1431	to be (causatively make) large (in various senses · conjunction + preposition + verb, hiphil infinitive construct
falsifying	וּלְעַוֵּ֖ת u.le.'a.Vet	H5791	to wrest · conjunction + preposition + verb, piel infinitive construct
balances	מֹאזְנֵ֥י moz.Nei	H3976	(only in the dual) a pair of scales · noun, common masculine dual construct
deceit	מִרְמָֽה mir.Mah	H4820	fraud · noun, common feminine singular absolute

Strong's Exhaustive Concordance (James Strong, 1890/1894), public domain; digitized by Open Scriptures (CC BY-SA). KJV word tagging: eBible.org (public domain). Original-language text, parsing and brief lexicon: STEPBible.org data from Tyndale House, Cambridge (CC BY 4.0).

Cross-references

Nehemiah 13:15-21 In those days saw I in Judah some treading wine presses on the sabbath, and bringing in sheaves, and lading asses; as also wine, grapes, and…
Hosea 12:7 He is a merchant, the balances of deceit are in his hand: he loveth to oppress.
Micah 6:10-11 Are there yet the treasures of wickedness in the house of the wicked, and the scant measure that is abominable?
Leviticus 19:36 Just balances, just weights, a just ephah, and a just hin, shall ye have: I am the LORD your God, which brought you out of the land of Egypt…
Deuteronomy 25:13-16 Thou shalt not have in thy bag divers weights, a great and a small.
Exodus 20:8-10 Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy.
Proverbs 11:1 A false balance is abomination to the LORD: but a just weight is his delight.
Proverbs 16:11 A just weight and balance are the LORD’s: all the weights of the bag are his work.

Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Amos 8:4-10

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 (Luk 18:2) that neither feared God nor regarded man. 1. Observe them in their devotions, and you will say, "They had no reverence for God." Bad as they are, they do indeed keep up a show and form of godliness; they observe the sabbath and the new moon; they put some difference between those days and other days, but they were soon weary of them, and had no affection at all to them, for their hearts were wholly set upon the world and the things of it. It is a sad character which this gives of them, that they said, When will the…

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Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Amos 8:5

So greedy are they of unjust gain that they cannot spare a single day, however sacred, from pursuing it. They are strangers to God and enemies to themselves, who love market days better than sabbath days; and they who have lost piety will not long keep honesty. The new-2moons (Num 10:10) and sabbaths were to be kept without working or trading (Neh 10:31). set forth wheat--literally, "open out" stores of wheat for sale. ephah--containing three seahs, or above three pecks. making . . . small--making it below the just weight to purchasers. shekel great--taking from purchasers a greater weight of money than was due. Shekels used to be weighed out in payments (Gen 23:16). Thus they commit…

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Adam Clarke on Amos 8:5

When will the new moon be gone - This was kept as a kind of holy day, not by Divine command, but by custom. The Sabbath was strictly holy; and yet so covetous were they that they grudged to give to God and their own souls this seventh portion of time! But bad and execrable as they were, they neither set forth their corn, nor their wheat, nor any other kind of merchandise, on the Sabbath. They were saints then, when compared to multitudes called Christians, who keep their shops either partially or entirely open on the Lord's day, and buy and sell without any scruples of conscience. Conscience! alas! they have none; it is seared as with a hot iron. The strong man armed, in them, is quiet, for…

Dictionary and topics

Corn — The word so rendered (dagan) in Gen. 27:28, 37, Num. 18:27, Deut. 28:51, Lam. 2:12, is a general term representing all the commodities we usually describe by the words corn, grain, seeds, peas,…
New Moon — The first day of the lunar month was observed as a holy day. In addition to the daily sacrifice there were offered two young bullocks, a ram and seven lambs of the first year as a burnt offering,…
Balances · False balance used — False balance used
Dishonesty · General scriptures concerning — General scriptures concerning
Feast Of The New Moon, The · Disliked by the ungodly — Disliked by the ungodly
Injustice · Punishment of — Punishment of
Measure · about a bushel and a half — about a bushel and a half
Money · Va — Va
Moon · .Traffic at the time of, prohibited — .Traffic at the time of, prohibited
New Moon · Traffic at time of, suspen — Traffic at time of, suspen
Oppression · 23:15,16;24:14,15; — 23:15,16;24:14,15;
Poor, The · The wicked: Defraud — The wicked: Defraud
Sabbath · 9:13,14;10:31;13:15-22; — 9:13,14;10:31;13:15-22;

Amos 8:5

Word by word — the Hebrew

Cross-references

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Amos 8:4-10

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Amos 8:5

Adam Clarke on Amos 8:5

Dictionary and topics

Amos 8:5

Word by word — the Hebrew

Cross-references

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Amos 8:4-10

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Amos 8:5

Adam Clarke on Amos 8:5

Dictionary and topics

John Gill on Amos 8:5

John Calvin on Amos 8:5

Keil & Delitzsch on Amos 8:4-6

Tyndale Open Study Notes on Amos 8:5

Rashi on Amos 8:5