7“I also have withheld the rain from you, when there were yet three months to the harvest; and I caused it to rain on one city, and caused it not to rain on another city. One place was rained on, and the piece where it didn’t rain withered.
8So two or three cities staggered to one city to drink water, and were not satisfied: yet you haven’t returned to me,” says Yahweh.
9“I struck you with blight and mildew many times in your gardens and your vineyards; and the swarming locusts have devoured your fig trees and your olive trees; yet you haven’t returned to me,” says Yahweh.
7 “I also have withheld the rain from you, when there were yet three months to the harvest; and I caused it to rain on one city, and caused it not to rain on another city. One place was rained on, and the piece where it didn’t rain withered.
8 So two or three cities staggered to one city to drink water, and were not satisfied: yet you haven’t returned to me,” says Yahweh.
9 “I struck you with blight and mildew many times in your gardens and your vineyards; and the swarming locusts have devoured your fig trees and your olive trees; yet you haven’t returned to me,” says Yahweh.
KJVKing James Version
7 And also I have withholden the rain from you, when there were yet three months to the harvest: and I caused it to rain upon one city, and caused it not to rain upon another city: one piece was rained upon, and the piece whereupon it rained not withered.
8 So two or three cities wandered unto one city, to drink water; but they were not satisfied: yet have ye not returned unto me, saith the LORD.
9 I have smitten you with blasting and mildew: when your gardens and your vineyards and your fig trees and your olive trees increased, the palmerworm devoured them: yet have ye not returned unto me, saith the LORD.
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JPSJPS Tanakh (1917)
7 And I also have withholden the rain from you, when there were yet three months to the harvest; and I caused it to rain upon one city, and caused it not to rain upon another city; one piece was rained upon, and the piece whereupon it rained not withered.
8 So two or three cities wandered unto one city to drink water, and were not satisfied; yet have ye not returned unto Me, saith the LORD.
9 I have smitten you with blasting and mildew; the multitude of your gardens and your vineyards and your fig-trees and your olive-trees hath the palmer-worm devoured; yet have ye not returned unto Me, saith the LORD.
Exodus 9:26(v7)Only in the land of Goshen, where the children of Israel were, there was no hail.
Deuteronomy 28:22(v9)Yahweh will strike you with consumption, with fever, with inflammation, with fiery heat, with the sword, with blight, and with mildew. They…
Jeremiah 3:3(v7)Therefore the showers have been withheld and there has been no latter rain; yet you have had a prostitute’s forehead and you refused to be…
Haggai 2:17(v9)I struck you with blight, mildew, and hail in all the work of your hands; yet you didn’t turn to me,’ says Yahweh.
Joel 1:4(v9)What the swarming locust has left, the great locust has eaten. What the great locust has left, the grasshopper has eaten. What the…
Show all 51 cross-references
Amos 4:6(vv8–9)“I also have given you cleanness of teeth in all your cities, and lack of bread in every town; yet you haven’t returned to me,” says Yahweh.
Exodus 9:4(v7)Yahweh will make a distinction between the livestock of Israel and the livestock of Egypt; and nothing shall die of all that belongs to the…
Exodus 10:23(v7)They didn’t see one another, and nobody rose from his place for three days; but all the children of Israel had light in their dwellings.
2 Chronicles 7:13-14(v7)“If I shut up the sky so that there is no rain, or if I command the locust to devour the land, or if I send pestilence among my people; if…
Isaiah 5:6(v7)I will lay it a wasteland. It won’t be pruned or hoed, but it will grow briers and thorns. I will also command the clouds that they rain no…
Leviticus 26:18-21(v7)“ ‘If you in spite of these things will not listen to me, then I will chastise you seven times more for your sins. I will break the pride…
Leviticus 26:23-24(v7)“ ‘If by these things you won’t be turned back to me, but will walk contrary to me, then I will also walk contrary to you; and I will…
Leviticus 26:27-28(v7)“ ‘If you in spite of this won’t listen to me, but walk contrary to me, then I will walk contrary to you in wrath. I will also chastise you…
Deuteronomy 11:17(v7)and Yahweh’s anger be kindled against you, and he shut up the sky so that there is no rain, and the land doesn’t yield its fruit; and you…
Judges 6:37-40(v7)behold, I will put a fleece of wool on the threshing floor. If there is dew on the fleece only, and it is dry on all the ground, then I’ll…
1 Kings 8:35-36(v7)“When the sky is shut up, and there is no rain, because they have sinned against you; if they pray toward this place, and confess your…
1 Kings 18:5(v8)Ahab said to Obadiah, “Go through the land, to all the springs of water, and to all the brooks. Perhaps we may find grass and save the…
Joel 2:23(v7)“Be glad then, you children of Zion, and rejoice in Yahweh, your God; for he gives you the early rain in just measure, and he causes the…
Amos 7:1-2(v9)Thus the Lord Yahweh showed me: and behold, he formed locusts in the beginning of the shooting up of the latter growth; and behold, it was…
Haggai 1:6(v8)You have sown much, and bring in little. You eat, but you don’t have enough. You drink, but you aren’t filled with drink. You clothe…
James 5:17(v7)Elijah was a man with a nature like ours, and he prayed earnestly that it might not rain, and it didn’t rain on the earth for three years…
Exodus 8:22(v7)I will set apart in that day the land of Goshen, in which my people dwell, that no swarms of flies shall be there, to the end you may know…
Deuteronomy 28:23-24(v7)Your sky that is over your head will be bronze, and the earth that is under you will be iron. Yahweh will make the rain of your land powder…
Deuteronomy 28:42(v9)Locusts will consume all of your trees and the fruit of your ground.
1 Kings 8:37(v9)“If there is famine in the land, if there is pestilence, if there is blight, mildew, locust or caterpillar; if their enemy besieges them in…
2 Chronicles 6:28(v9)“If there is famine in the land, if there is pestilence, if there is blight or mildew, locust or caterpillar; if their enemies besiege them…
Job 36:8-13(v9)If they are bound in fetters, and are taken in the cords of afflictions, then he shows them their work, and their transgressions, that they…
Isaiah 1:5(v9)Why should you be beaten more, that you revolt more and more? The whole head is sick, and the whole heart faint.
Isaiah 41:17-18(v8)The poor and needy seek water, and there is none. Their tongue fails for thirst. I, Yahweh, will answer them. I, the God of Israel, will…
Isaiah 42:24-25(v9)Who gave Jacob as plunder, and Israel to the robbers? Didn’t Yahweh, he against whom we have sinned? For they would not walk in his ways,…
Jeremiah 3:7(v8)I said after she had done all these things, ‘She will return to me;’ but she didn’t return, and her treacherous sister Judah saw it.
Jeremiah 3:10(v9)Yet for all this her treacherous sister, Judah, has not returned to me with her whole heart, but only in pretense,” says Yahweh.
Jeremiah 5:3(v9)O Yahweh, don’t your eyes look on truth? You have stricken them, but they were not grieved. You have consumed them, but they have refused…
Jeremiah 5:24-25(v7)They don’t say in their heart, ‘Let’s now fear Yahweh our God, who gives rain, both the former and the latter, in its season, who preserves…
Jeremiah 14:3-4(v8)Their nobles send their little ones to the waters. They come to the cisterns, and find no water. They return with their vessels empty. They…
Jeremiah 14:4(v7)Because of the ground which is cracked, because no rain has been in the land, the plowmen are disappointed. They cover their heads.
Jeremiah 14:22(v7)Are there any among the vanities of the nations that can cause rain? Or can the sky give showers? Aren’t you he, Yahweh our God? Therefore…
Jeremiah 23:14(v8)In the prophets of Jerusalem I have also seen a horrible thing: they commit adultery and walk in lies. They strengthen the hands of…
Ezekiel 4:16-17(v8)Moreover he said to me, “Son of man, behold, I will break the staff of bread in Jerusalem. They will eat bread by weight, and with…
Hosea 7:10(v8)The pride of Israel testifies to his face; yet they haven’t returned to Yahweh their God, nor sought him, for all this.
Joel 1:7(v9)He has laid my vine waste, and stripped my fig tree. He has stripped its bark, and thrown it away. Its branches are made white.
Joel 1:10-18(v7)The field is laid waste. The land mourns, for the grain is destroyed, The new wine has dried up, and the oil languishes. Be confounded, you…
Joel 2:25(v9)I will restore to you the years that the swarming locust has eaten, the great locust, the grasshopper, and the caterpillar, my great army,…
Amos 4:8(v9)So two or three cities staggered to one city to drink water, and were not satisfied: yet you haven’t returned to me,” says Yahweh.
Amos 4:9-11(v8)“I struck you with blight and mildew many times in your gardens and your vineyards; and the swarming locusts have devoured your fig trees…
Micah 6:14(v8)You shall eat, but not be satisfied. Your humiliation will be within you. You will store up, but not save; and that which you save I will…
Haggai 1:10-11(v7)Therefore for your sake the heavens withhold the dew, and the earth withholds its fruit. I called for a drought on the land, on the…
Zechariah 14:17(v7)It will be, that whoever of all the families of the earth doesn’t go up to Jerusalem to worship the King, Yahweh of Armies, on them there…
John 4:35(v7)Don’t you say, ‘There are yet four months until the harvest?’ Behold, I tell you, lift up your eyes and look at the fields, that they are…
Revelation 11:6(v7)These have the power to shut up the sky, that it may not rain during the days of their prophecy. They have power over the waters, to turn…
1 Corinthians 4:7(v7)For who makes you different? And what do you have that you didn’t receive? But if you did receive it, why do you boast as if you had not…
51 distinct cross-references across this passage (52 total citations).
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
Explain this passage (15 sources)
Historical commentary, presented as a primary source — not an endorsement.
John Calvin1540 · Public DomainOn vv7–9I have said that another kind of punishment is…
I have said that another kind of punishment is here recorded by the Prophet; it is not, however, wholly different: for whence comes the want we have noticed, except through drought? For when God intends to deprive men of support, he shuts up heaven and makes it iron, so that it hears not the earth, according to what we have noticed elsewhere. Yet these words of the Prophet are not superfluous; for God would have the punishment he inflicts on men to be more attentively considered. When men are reduced to want, they will indeed acknowledge it to be the curse of God, except they be very stupid; but when a drought precedes, when the earth disappoints its cultivators, and then a want of food follows, more time is given to men to think of God’s displeasure. This is the reason why the Prophet now distinctly speaks of rain being withheld, after having said that the people had been before visited with a deficiency of provisions; as though he said “Ye ought to have returned, at least after a long course of time, to a sound mind. If God had been offended with you only for one day, and had given tokens of his displeasure, the shortness of time might have been some excuse for you: but as the earth had become dry; as God had restrained rain, and as hence sterility followed, and afterwards there came want, how great was your stupidity not to attend to so many and so successive tokens of God’s wrath?” We now perceive why the Prophet here connects drought with want of food, the cause with the effect: it was, that the stupidity of the people might hence be more evident.
But he says that God had withheld rain from them, when three months still remained to the harvest. When it rains not for a whole month, the earth becomes dry, and men become anxious, for it is an ill omen: but when two months pass without rain, men begin to be filled with apprehension and even dread; but if continual dryness lasts to the end of the third month, it is a sign of some great evil. The Prophet, then, here shows that the Israelites had not been in an ordinary way chastised, and that they were very stupid, as they did not, during the whole three months, apply their minds to consider their sins, though God urged them, and though his wrath had been manifested for so long a time. We now then see that the hardness of the people is amplified by the consideration of time, inasmuch as they were not awakened by a sign so portentous, When there were yet three months, he says, to the harvests I withheld rain from you.
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Another circumstance follows, “God rained on one city, on another he did not rain; one part was watered, and no drop of rain fell on another This difference could not be ascribed to chance: except men resolved to be willfully mad, and to reject all reason, they must surely have been constrained to confess these to have been manifest signs of God’s wrath. How came it, that one place was rained upon, and another remained dry? that two neighboring cities were treated so differently? Whence was this, except that God appeared angry from heaven? The Prophet then does here again condemn the obstinacy of the people: they did not see in this difference the wrath of God, which was yet so very conspicuous. The import of the whole is, that God shows that he had to do with a people past recovery; for they were refractory and obstinate in their wickedness, and could bear the application of no remedy. It follows —
John Calvin's Commentaries (1540-1563) — public domain. Text from the Calvin Translation Society English edition (1840s-50s) via the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (ccel.org). Calvin's coverage is partial (roughly two-thirds of the Bible); uncommented books and verses are honest gaps, never fabricated. The 19th-century editor's footnotes and remarks are omitted so the notes are faithfully Calvin's own voice.
Geneva Bible translators1599 · Public DomainOn vv7–8I stayed the rain till the fruits of the…
I stayed the rain till the fruits of the earth were destroyed with drought, and yet you would not consider it to return to me by repentance.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp1656 · Public DomainOn vv7–9Amo 4:7 And also I have withholden the rain…
Amo 4:7 And also I have withholden the rain from you, when [there were] yet three months to the harvest: and I caused it to rain upon one city, and caused it not to rain upon another city: one piece was rained upon, and the piece whereupon it rained not withered.
Ver. 7. And also I have withholden the rain from you, &c.] And so have punished you with thirst and drought, as well as with dearth and famine: and because I have found you wells without the water of piety, 2Pe 2:17, therefore I have refused to rain upon you, as I threatened, Deu 28:23-24.
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“ En quia iam vobis sunt ferrea pectora, reddit
Coelum etiam vobis durius aere, Deus. ”
When there were yet three months, &c.] When you could worst of all want it {See Trapp on "Joe 2:23"} for the watering of the seed and opening of the earth.
And I caused it to rain upon one city] It rains not then by haphazard; neither are the seasons of the year (whether barren or fruitful) ruled by the course of nature or influence of the stars, but by God, Act 14:17. It is he that giveth rain from heaven, and fruitful seasons. He covereth the heaven with clouds, he prepareth rain for the earth, he maketh grass to grow upon the mountains, and standing corn in the fields, Psa 147:8. He weighs these waters by measure; so that not a drop falls in vain, or in a wrong place, but by Divine decree, Job 28:26, for the fattening of the earth, allaying the heat, nourishing the herb and tree, Deu 32:2 Isa 63:14, producing unto us "the appointed weeks of harvest," Jer 5:24, "that it may give seed to the sower, and bread to the eater," Isa 55:10. This the poor Pagans ascribed to their god Jupiter, whom they therefore styled Nεφεληγερετης. Him they confessed the greatest of all, calling him υπατος, the overseer of their trading; hence αγαραιος, the keeper of their houses, hence Jupiter Herceus, from ερκος, a wall, or hedge. This they did, to the great shame of many atheists among us, who hold that all things come either by benign nature or blind chance.
One piece] sc. Of the same field, was rained upon, and fructified (this was near to a miracle; as when Gideon’s fleece was wet and no place else; and again, every place else, and not Gideon’s fleece, Jdg 6:37).
And the piece whereupon it rained not] It, that is, the cloud, but by God’s appointment; for he it is that filleth those bottles of the sky, and emptieth them again, where and when he pleaseth, either in mercy, as Joe 2:23 Zec 10:1 Lev 26:4, or for a judgment, as Joe 1:17 Gen 17:11-12 1Sa 12:18-19. In the year of grace 1551 a great multitude of men and cattle in Germany were drowned and destroyed; decidentibus subito nubibus, ac effusis certatim aquis, saith Bartholinus; by excessive showers and immoderate waters, pouring down upon people as by spouts. This was the very finger of God, who will one day rain upon the wicked snares, fire and brimstone, and a horrible tempest, Psa 11:6, Heb. a burning tempest; like as now out of those very clouds where hence he raineth, he doth again scatter sudden fires unto all parts of the earth, astonishing the world with the fearful noise of that eruption.
Withered] It must needs do so; and so must God’s own vineyard, the Church, when he shall command the clouds that they rain no rain upon it, Isa 5:6, that is, his ministers, that they drop no doctrine upon it, Deu 32:2 Eze 21:2 Amo 7:16, fitly resembled to rain in regard, 1. of cooling heat; 2. quenching thirst; 3. cleansing the air; 4. allaying the winds; 5. mollifying and mellowing the parched and heat hardened earth; 6. causing all things to grow and fructify. This rain of righteousness goes sometimes by coasts, as here: God tying up the tongues of his most faithful labourers, and withholding their showers, though they be clouds thick, and full, and likely enough to drop down in abundance; see Eze 3:26-27 Hos 9:7 Pro 16:1. Pray, therefore, oh pray earnestly, both ministers, for ability and liberty to "drop their word toward the holy places, and prophesy," Eze 21:2, and people, that he would fill their ministers as full of good matter as ever Elihu was, Job 32:18, and then be with their mouths, Exo 4:12, yea, stretch out his holy hand, and touch them, Jer 1:9, performing that piece of midwifery, Pro 16:1, that they may freely utter their conceptions, "and come to their hearers in the fulness of the blessing of the gospel of peace," Rom 15:29. In the Island of St Thomas, on the back side of Africa, in the midst of it, is a hill; and over that a continual cloud, wherewith the whole island is watered. This is our happiness for present. Oh that we knew but this gift of God, Joh 4:10, and were answerably thankful and fruitful! Oh, how cursed a generation are those that repine at it, saying, Never was merry world, since so much preaching, &c. How shall such miscreants one day wish to have but one drop fall from these full clouds to cool the heat and horrors of their consciences, but shall not obtain it.
John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Matthew Poole1685 · Public DomainOn vv7–9I also have withholden the rain from you; your…
I also have withholden the rain from you; your vanities could not, and because ye did so greatly sin against me I would not, give you rain; I forbade the clouds from above, and they, thus prohibited, did withhold their rain, as I threatened, Deu 28:23,24.
When there were yet three months to the harvest; at a season when your country most usually had, and as then it ever did most need, rain: see Joe 2:23. Three months drought then, as it was unusual in the course of nature, so it was an extraordinary curse and punishment on them. That you might see my hand in it and be instructed, I gave rain to one city, and withheld rain from the next neighbour city; nay, one part of a field, the same field, was watered and flourished, another part dry and withered. All this to convince and turn you.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
John Gill1763 · Public DomainOn vv7–9And also I have withholden the rain from you,....…
And also I have withholden the rain from you,.... As he did for the space of three years successively in the days of Ahab, as predicted by Elijah, Kg1 17:1; the consequences of which are very bad to men and beast, and bring on a scarcity of food for both, and a famine if long withheld:
when there were yet three months to the harvest; that is, three months before the harvest, as Jarchi; when, as Kimchi observes, there was need of rain: this was the latter rain which was usually given and expected about this time, and on which the goodness of the crop, and so of the harvest, greatly depended; these three months before barley harvest were December, January, and February, that being in March; and before the wheat harvest, February, March, and April, that being in May usually:
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and I caused it to rain upon one city, and caused it not to rain upon another city; so that it might appear to be not by the course of nature, or through the influence of the planets, or by chance; but was according to the direction of divine Providence, the hand of God was manifestly in it: yea,
one piece was rained upon, and the piece whereupon it rained not withered; one piece of ground or field had a plentiful shower on it, whereby it became fruitful; and another field or close on the other side of the hedge or partition had none, whereby what did spring up withered away and came to nothing: or "one inheritance" (u), or farm, as some render it; one man's estate was well watered with rain from heaven, and brought forth much fruit; and another man's estate, for want of it, was barren, and brought forth nothing: thus God was pleased to do in his providence, to show his sovereignty, and to chastise men for their sins; and in such a manner as that they might, if not blind easily perceive his hand in it.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Wesley1765 · Public DomainOn vv7–9When - At a season when your country most…
When - At a season when your country most needed it. Upon one city - That you might see my hand in it, I gave rain to one city, and withheld it from the next; nay one part of the same field was watered and flourished: another part, dry and withered.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke1810 · Public DomainOn vv7, 9Verse 7. When there were yet three months to…
Verse 7. When there were yet three months to the harvest] St. Jerome says, from the end of April, when the latter rain falls, until harvest, there are three months, May, June, and July, in which no rain falls in Judea. The rain, therefore, that God had withheld from them, was that which was usual in the spring months, particularly in April.
I caused it to rain upon one city] To prove to them that this rain did not come fortuitously or of necessity, God was pleased to make these most evident distinctions. One city had rain, and could fill all its tanks or cisterns, while a neighbouring city had none. One farm or field was well watered, and abundant in its crops, while one contiguous to it had not a shower. In these instances a particular providence was most evident. "And yet, they did not return to the Lord."
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Albert Barnes1834 · Public DomainOn vv7–9And I, I too have withholden the rain -…
And I, I too have withholden the rain - Jerome, dwelling in Palestine, says, that “this rain, when “three months yet remained until harvest,” was the “latter rain,” of the very greatest necessity for the fields of Palestine and the thirsty ground, lest, when the blade is swelling into the crop, and gendering the wheat, it should dry up through lack of moisture. The time intended is the spring, at the end of April, whence, to the wheat-harvest, there remain three months, May, June, July.” “God withheld the rain that they might endure, not only lack of bread, but burning thirst and penury of drink also. For in these places, where we now live, all the water, except small fountains, is of cisterns; and if the wrath of God should withhold the rain, there is greater peril of thirst than of hunger, such its Scripture relates to have endured for three years and six months in the days of the prophet Elijah. And lest they should think that this had befallen their cities and people, by a law of nature, or the influence of the stars, or the variety of the seasons, He says, that He rained upon one city and its fields, and from another withheld the rain.”
This was a second visitation of God. First, a general famine, “in all their cities;” secondly, a discriminating visitation. “Nature” possesses no discrimination or power over her supplies. Seeming waste is one of the mysteries of God in nature, “to cause it to rain on the earth” Job 38:26 where “no man” is; on “the wilderness wherein” there, “is no man.” Ordinarily too, God “maketh His sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust” Mat 5:45. But God does not enslave Himself, (as people would have it) to His own laws. Amos appeals to them, that God had dealt with them, not according to His ordinary laws; that not only God had given to one city the rain which he had withheld from another, but that He had made the same difference as to smaller “pieces” of ground, the inherited “portions” of individuals . Some such variations have been observed in Palestine now. But this would have been no indication of God’s Providence, had not the consciences of people responded to the prophet’s appeal, and recognized that the rain had been given or withheld according to the penitence or impenitence, the deeper or more mitigated idolatry, the greater or less sinfulness of the people. We have. then, in these few words a law of God’s dealing with Israel. God, in His word, reveals to us the meaning of His daily variations in the workings of nature; yet, hardly even in such instances, as people can scarcely elude, do they think of God the Creator, rather than of nature, His creation.
Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary1859 · Public DomainOn vv7, 9Months. The latter rain falls in April. See Deuteronomy…
Months. The latter rain falls in April. See Deuteronomy xi. 14. (Calmet) --- Harvest. Septuagint have as usual, "vintage." But this is less accurate, as it never rains in the preceding summer months. (St. Jerome)
George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown1871 · Public DomainOn vv7–9withholden . . . rain . . . three…
withholden . . . rain . . . three months to . . . harvest--the time when rain was most needed, and when usually "the latter rain" fell, namely, in spring, the latter half of February, and the whole of March and April (Hos 6:3; Joe 2:23). The drought meant is that mentioned in Kg1 17:1 [GROTIUS].
rain upon one city . . . not . . . upon another--My rain that fell was only partial.
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
Daniel D. Whedon1874 · Public DomainOn v77, 8. Drought.
7, 8. Drought.
The rain — Hebrews geshem (see on Joe_2:23), here rain in general.
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When there were yet three months to the harvest — Since the harvest is in April and May, the drought must have set in during January or February. A drought at that time would be disastrous, and might completely destroy the prospects of harvest. A similar phenomenon occurred in Palestine in the winter of 1894-95. “After raining several times quite heavily in December, especially on the coast, the weather has been since before Christmas pleasant and mild, and if no more rain falls there will be great suffering, for up till now (February 16) no one has filled his cisterns.”
Caused it to rain — The tenses in Amo_4:7-8 are frequentatives. Jehovah did the things mentioned again and again. To the ancients the phenomenon of a partial drought would be an even stronger proof of the presence of the supernatural than a universal withholding of rain. Partial rainfall such as is described here has been experienced in Palestine in more modern times. “There has been a smart shower here (Tiberias), while at Samakh the ground was baked hard, and the grain drooping sadly. The same was true on a former occasion when I came up the Jordan valley. The ground in the Ghor was like a parched desert. There had not been sufficient rain to bring up the grain,… while here at Tiberias the whole country was a paradise of herbs and flowers.” And again, “It was literally so about Samakh and ‘Abadiyeh, while their nearest neighbors were rejoicing in abundant showers” (Thomson, ii, p. 66).
Piece — Field (Rth_2:3; Rth_4:3).
Two or three cities — That had suffered from the drought. For the ascending enumeration see on Amo_1:3.
Wandered — Literally, tottered, or, staggered. The people were so weak from thirst that they could not walk with a firm step.
One city — One favored with rain. With reference to this passage Thomson says (on the same page): “A fact often repeated in this country. No longer ago than last autumn it had its exemplification complete in Belad Besharah, the ancient inheritance of Naphtali.” Since there are few springs throughout Palestine, people are dependent largely upon rain water stored in cisterns; when the rainfall is irregular the water supply soon becomes exhausted.
They were not satisfied — The water was not sufficient to supply the needs of all. This judgment also was in vain.
9a. Blasting and mildew. 9b. Locusts.
You — Your fields and crops.
Blasting and mildew — The two words are frequently joined (Deu_28:22; 1Ki_8:37; Hag_2:17). The former, from a verb to burn, describes the disastrous effects of the scorching east wind or Sirocco (see on Hos_12:1); the latter, literally, greenness, is “a blight in which the ears turn untimely a pale yellow, and have no grain.”
One word in the Hebrew makes the rest of Amo_4:9 awkward. With a very slight change, favored by most modern commentators, it may be translated, “I laid waste your gardens and your vineyards; and your fig trees and your olive trees hath the palmerworm devoured.”
I laid waste — By some blow not specified by the prophet.
Fig trees — See on Joe_1:7.
Olive trees — See on Hos_14:6; Joe_1:10.
Palmer-worm — See on Joe_1:4, where reference is made to the frequency with which locusts visit Palestine.
Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges1878 · Public DomainOn vv7–97–8. Drought.
7–8. Drought.
And I also have withholden the winter-rain from you, when there were &c.]. The Heb. is not mâṭâr, but géshem, i.e. a burst of rain: the heavy rains of winter, which continue as a rule from the end of October to the end of February and are then followed by the ‘latter rain,’ or showers of March and April, which refresh and advance the ripening ears (see on Joe_2:23), had ceased prematurely; the crops were consequently deficient in fulness and strength, and the harvest (which comes in May) was seriously damaged. Something of the same sort happened in the winter of 1895; there had been hardly any rain since the Christmas of 1894, and in a report, dated Feb. 16, it was stated that unless rain fell shortly there would be great deficiency of water, as no houses had their cisterns full (G. A. Smith, p. 161). Géshem, though a general term for an abundant rain (as 1Ki_17:14; 1Ki_18:41; 1Ki_18:44-45), is used specially of the heavy rains of winter in Son_2:11; comp. Lev_26:4, Eze_34:26, Joe_2:23 (see note).
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I caused it to rain &c.] would cause it to rain … would be rained upon … would wither. The tenses, both here and to the end of the verse, are frequentative, indicating what had happened repeatedly.
piece] i.e. plot of land, or portion belonging to a particular proprietor (Rth_2:3; Rth_4:3; 2Sa_14:30). The same partial character of the rain-fall is still sometimes observable in Palestine.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers1878 · Public DomainOn vv7, 9(7, 8) Three months to the harvest.—The withdrawal of…
(7, 8) Three months to the harvest.—The withdrawal of rain at this period (February and March) is at the present day most calamitous to the crops in Palestine.
Caused it to rain . . .—The tenses should be regarded as expressing repetition of the act, and might be, with advantage, rendered as present cause it to rain . . . is rained upon, &c. The inhabitants of the most suffering districts wander, distracted and weary, to a more favoured city, and find no sufficiency. Comp. the graphic description in Jer_14:1-6. Moreover, the specialties of affliction, in particular localities. reveal the purpose of God rather than the operation of universal laws.
A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Pulpit Commentary1880 · Public DomainOn vv7–9The second punishment is drought, as predicted (Lev_26:19, etc.;…
The second punishment is drought, as predicted (Lev_26:19, etc.; Deu_28:23) When there were yet three months to the harvest, and when rain was most necessary to swell the grain. The season meant is in February and March, when what was called "the latter rain" fell. In the south of Palestine the harvest commenced at the end of April, but in the northern parts it was some weeks later, so that it might be said in round numbers that it took place three months after the latter rain. I caused it to rain upon one city. That they might not attribute this drought to the blind laws of nature, God caused it to be of a partial character, giving rain to one city while he withheld it from another. One piece. The portion of ground belonging to an individual is so called. (Rth_2:3 Rth_4:3)
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
unfoldingWord translationNotes2017 · CC BY-SA 4.0On v8Two or three cities staggered
Two or three cities staggered
Here "cities" represents the people of those cities. AT: "The people of two or three cities staggered" (See: Metonymy)
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I afflicted you with blight and mildew
Here "afflicted you" represents afflicting their crops. AT: "I afflicted your crops with blight and mildew" or "I destroyed your crops with blight and mildew" (See: Metonymy)
blight
This is a disease that dries and kills plants. It is caused by the hot wind from the desert.
mildew
This is another disease that kills plants.
you have not returned to me
Returning to God represents submitting again to him. See how you translated this in Amos 4:6. AT: "you have not submitted again to me" (See: Metaphor)
this is Yahweh's declaration
Yahweh speaks of himself by name to express the certainty of what he is declaring. See how you translated these words in Amos 2:11. AT: "this is what Yahweh has declared" or "this is what I, Yahweh, have declared" (See: First, Second, or Third Person)
John Calvin 1540 · Public Domain On vv7–9 I have said that another kind of punishment is…
I have said that another kind of punishment is here recorded by the Prophet; it is not, however, wholly different: for whence comes the want we have noticed, except through drought? For when God intends to deprive men of support, he shuts up heaven and makes it iron, so that it hears not the earth, according to what we have noticed elsewhere. Yet these words of the Prophet are not superfluous; for God would have the punishment he inflicts on men to be more attentively considered. When men are reduced to want, they will indeed acknowledge it to be the curse of God, except they be very stupid; but when a drought precedes, when the earth disappoints its cultivators, and then a want of food follows, more time is given to men to think of God’s displeasure. This is the reason why the Prophet now distinctly speaks of rain being withheld, after having said that the people had been before visited with a deficiency of provisions; as though he said “Ye ought to have returned, at least after a long course of time, to a sound mind. If God had been offended with you only for one day, and had given tokens of his displeasure, the shortness of time might have been some excuse for you: but as the earth had become dry; as God had restrained rain, and as hence sterility followed, and afterwards there came want, how great was your stupidity not to attend to so many and so successive tokens of God’s wrath?” We now perceive why the Prophet here connects drought with want of food, the cause with the effect: it was, that the stupidity of the people might hence be more evident.
But he says that God had withheld rain from them, when three months still remained to the harvest. When it rains not for a whole month, the earth becomes dry, and men become anxious, for it is an ill omen: but when two months pass without rain, men begin to be filled with apprehension and even dread; but if continual dryness lasts to the end of the third month, it is a sign of some great evil. The Prophet, then, here shows that the Israelites had not been in an ordinary way chastised, and that they were very stupid, as they did not, during the whole three months, apply their minds to consider their sins, though God urged them, and though his wrath had been manifested for so long a time. We now then see that the hardness of the people is amplified by the consideration of time, inasmuch as they were not awakened by a sign so portentous, When there were yet three months, he says, to the harvests I withheld rain from you.
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Another circumstance follows, “God rained on one city, on another he did not rain; one part was watered, and no drop of rain fell on another This difference could not be ascribed to chance: except men resolved to be willfully mad, and to reject all reason, they must surely have been constrained to confess these to have been manifest signs of God’s wrath. How came it, that one place was rained upon, and another remained dry? that two neighboring cities were treated so differently? Whence was this, except that God appeared angry from heaven? The Prophet then does here again condemn the obstinacy of the people: they did not see in this difference the wrath of God, which was yet so very conspicuous. The import of the whole is, that God shows that he had to do with a people past recovery; for they were refractory and obstinate in their wickedness, and could bear the application of no remedy. It follows —
John Calvin's Commentaries (1540-1563) — public domain. Text from the Calvin Translation Society English edition (1840s-50s) via the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (ccel.org). Calvin's coverage is partial (roughly two-thirds of the Bible); uncommented books and verses are honest gaps, never fabricated. The 19th-century editor's footnotes and remarks are omitted so the notes are faithfully Calvin's own voice.
Geneva Bible translators 1599 · Public Domain On vv7–8 I stayed the rain till the fruits of the…
I stayed the rain till the fruits of the earth were destroyed with drought, and yet you would not consider it to return to me by repentance.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain On vv7–9 Amo 4:7 And also I have withholden the rain…
Amo 4:7 And also I have withholden the rain from you, when [there were] yet three months to the harvest: and I caused it to rain upon one city, and caused it not to rain upon another city: one piece was rained upon, and the piece whereupon it rained not withered.
Ver. 7. And also I have withholden the rain from you, &c.] And so have punished you with thirst and drought, as well as with dearth and famine: and because I have found you wells without the water of piety, 2Pe 2:17, therefore I have refused to rain upon you, as I threatened, Deu 28:23-24.
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“ En quia iam vobis sunt ferrea pectora, reddit
Coelum etiam vobis durius aere, Deus. ”
When there were yet three months, &c.] When you could worst of all want it {See Trapp on "Joe 2:23"} for the watering of the seed and opening of the earth.
And I caused it to rain upon one city] It rains not then by haphazard; neither are the seasons of the year (whether barren or fruitful) ruled by the course of nature or influence of the stars, but by God, Act 14:17. It is he that giveth rain from heaven, and fruitful seasons. He covereth the heaven with clouds, he prepareth rain for the earth, he maketh grass to grow upon the mountains, and standing corn in the fields, Psa 147:8. He weighs these waters by measure; so that not a drop falls in vain, or in a wrong place, but by Divine decree, Job 28:26, for the fattening of the earth, allaying the heat, nourishing the herb and tree, Deu 32:2 Isa 63:14, producing unto us "the appointed weeks of harvest," Jer 5:24, "that it may give seed to the sower, and bread to the eater," Isa 55:10. This the poor Pagans ascribed to their god Jupiter, whom they therefore styled Nεφεληγερετης. Him they confessed the greatest of all, calling him υπατος, the overseer of their trading; hence αγαραιος, the keeper of their houses, hence Jupiter Herceus, from ερκος, a wall, or hedge. This they did, to the great shame of many atheists among us, who hold that all things come either by benign nature or blind chance.
One piece] sc. Of the same field, was rained upon, and fructified (this was near to a miracle; as when Gideon’s fleece was wet and no place else; and again, every place else, and not Gideon’s fleece, Jdg 6:37).
And the piece whereupon it rained not] It, that is, the cloud, but by God’s appointment; for he it is that filleth those bottles of the sky, and emptieth them again, where and when he pleaseth, either in mercy, as Joe 2:23 Zec 10:1 Lev 26:4, or for a judgment, as Joe 1:17 Gen 17:11-12 1Sa 12:18-19. In the year of grace 1551 a great multitude of men and cattle in Germany were drowned and destroyed; decidentibus subito nubibus, ac effusis certatim aquis, saith Bartholinus; by excessive showers and immoderate waters, pouring down upon people as by spouts. This was the very finger of God, who will one day rain upon the wicked snares, fire and brimstone, and a horrible tempest, Psa 11:6, Heb. a burning tempest; like as now out of those very clouds where hence he raineth, he doth again scatter sudden fires unto all parts of the earth, astonishing the world with the fearful noise of that eruption.
Withered] It must needs do so; and so must God’s own vineyard, the Church, when he shall command the clouds that they rain no rain upon it, Isa 5:6, that is, his ministers, that they drop no doctrine upon it, Deu 32:2 Eze 21:2 Amo 7:16, fitly resembled to rain in regard, 1. of cooling heat; 2. quenching thirst; 3. cleansing the air; 4. allaying the winds; 5. mollifying and mellowing the parched and heat hardened earth; 6. causing all things to grow and fructify. This rain of righteousness goes sometimes by coasts, as here: God tying up the tongues of his most faithful labourers, and withholding their showers, though they be clouds thick, and full, and likely enough to drop down in abundance; see Eze 3:26-27 Hos 9:7 Pro 16:1. Pray, therefore, oh pray earnestly, both ministers, for ability and liberty to "drop their word toward the holy places, and prophesy," Eze 21:2, and people, that he would fill their ministers as full of good matter as ever Elihu was, Job 32:18, and then be with their mouths, Exo 4:12, yea, stretch out his holy hand, and touch them, Jer 1:9, performing that piece of midwifery, Pro 16:1, that they may freely utter their conceptions, "and come to their hearers in the fulness of the blessing of the gospel of peace," Rom 15:29. In the Island of St Thomas, on the back side of Africa, in the midst of it, is a hill; and over that a continual cloud, wherewith the whole island is watered. This is our happiness for present. Oh that we knew but this gift of God, Joh 4:10, and were answerably thankful and fruitful! Oh, how cursed a generation are those that repine at it, saying, Never was merry world, since so much preaching, &c. How shall such miscreants one day wish to have but one drop fall from these full clouds to cool the heat and horrors of their consciences, but shall not obtain it.
John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Matthew Poole 1685 · Public Domain On vv7–9 I also have withholden the rain from you; your…
I also have withholden the rain from you; your vanities could not, and because ye did so greatly sin against me I would not, give you rain; I forbade the clouds from above, and they, thus prohibited, did withhold their rain, as I threatened, Deu 28:23,24.
When there were yet three months to the harvest; at a season when your country most usually had, and as then it ever did most need, rain: see Joe 2:23. Three months drought then, as it was unusual in the course of nature, so it was an extraordinary curse and punishment on them. That you might see my hand in it and be instructed, I gave rain to one city, and withheld rain from the next neighbour city; nay, one part of a field, the same field, was watered and flourished, another part dry and withered. All this to convince and turn you.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain On vv7–9 And also I have withholden the rain from you,....…
And also I have withholden the rain from you,.... As he did for the space of three years successively in the days of Ahab, as predicted by Elijah, Kg1 17:1; the consequences of which are very bad to men and beast, and bring on a scarcity of food for both, and a famine if long withheld:
when there were yet three months to the harvest; that is, three months before the harvest, as Jarchi; when, as Kimchi observes, there was need of rain: this was the latter rain which was usually given and expected about this time, and on which the goodness of the crop, and so of the harvest, greatly depended; these three months before barley harvest were December, January, and February, that being in March; and before the wheat harvest, February, March, and April, that being in May usually:
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and I caused it to rain upon one city, and caused it not to rain upon another city; so that it might appear to be not by the course of nature, or through the influence of the planets, or by chance; but was according to the direction of divine Providence, the hand of God was manifestly in it: yea,
one piece was rained upon, and the piece whereupon it rained not withered; one piece of ground or field had a plentiful shower on it, whereby it became fruitful; and another field or close on the other side of the hedge or partition had none, whereby what did spring up withered away and came to nothing: or "one inheritance" (u), or farm, as some render it; one man's estate was well watered with rain from heaven, and brought forth much fruit; and another man's estate, for want of it, was barren, and brought forth nothing: thus God was pleased to do in his providence, to show his sovereignty, and to chastise men for their sins; and in such a manner as that they might, if not blind easily perceive his hand in it.
(u) "fundus", Mercerus, Vatablus; "hereditas", Targum.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Wesley 1765 · Public Domain On vv7–9 When - At a season when your country most…
When - At a season when your country most needed it. Upon one city - That you might see my hand in it, I gave rain to one city, and withheld it from the next; nay one part of the same field was watered and flourished: another part, dry and withered.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain On vv7, 9 Verse 7. When there were yet three months to…
Verse 7. When there were yet three months to the harvest] St. Jerome says, from the end of April, when the latter rain falls, until harvest, there are three months, May, June, and July, in which no rain falls in Judea. The rain, therefore, that God had withheld from them, was that which was usual in the spring months, particularly in April.
I caused it to rain upon one city] To prove to them that this rain did not come fortuitously or of necessity, God was pleased to make these most evident distinctions. One city had rain, and could fill all its tanks or cisterns, while a neighbouring city had none. One farm or field was well watered, and abundant in its crops, while one contiguous to it had not a shower. In these instances a particular providence was most evident. "And yet, they did not return to the Lord."
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Albert Barnes 1834 · Public Domain On vv7–9 And I, I too have withholden the rain -…
And I, I too have withholden the rain - Jerome, dwelling in Palestine, says, that “this rain, when “three months yet remained until harvest,” was the “latter rain,” of the very greatest necessity for the fields of Palestine and the thirsty ground, lest, when the blade is swelling into the crop, and gendering the wheat, it should dry up through lack of moisture. The time intended is the spring, at the end of April, whence, to the wheat-harvest, there remain three months, May, June, July.” “God withheld the rain that they might endure, not only lack of bread, but burning thirst and penury of drink also. For in these places, where we now live, all the water, except small fountains, is of cisterns; and if the wrath of God should withhold the rain, there is greater peril of thirst than of hunger, such its Scripture relates to have endured for three years and six months in the days of the prophet Elijah. And lest they should think that this had befallen their cities and people, by a law of nature, or the influence of the stars, or the variety of the seasons, He says, that He rained upon one city and its fields, and from another withheld the rain.”
This was a second visitation of God. First, a general famine, “in all their cities;” secondly, a discriminating visitation. “Nature” possesses no discrimination or power over her supplies. Seeming waste is one of the mysteries of God in nature, “to cause it to rain on the earth” Job 38:26 where “no man” is; on “the wilderness wherein” there, “is no man.” Ordinarily too, God “maketh His sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust” Mat 5:45. But God does not enslave Himself, (as people would have it) to His own laws. Amos appeals to them, that God had dealt with them, not according to His ordinary laws; that not only God had given to one city the rain which he had withheld from another, but that He had made the same difference as to smaller “pieces” of ground, the inherited “portions” of individuals . Some such variations have been observed in Palestine now. But this would have been no indication of God’s Providence, had not the consciences of people responded to the prophet’s appeal, and recognized that the rain had been given or withheld according to the penitence or impenitence, the deeper or more mitigated idolatry, the greater or less sinfulness of the people. We have. then, in these few words a law of God’s dealing with Israel. God, in His word, reveals to us the meaning of His daily variations in the workings of nature; yet, hardly even in such instances, as people can scarcely elude, do they think of God the Creator, rather than of nature, His creation.
Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary 1859 · Public Domain On vv7, 9 Months. The latter rain falls in April. See Deuteronomy…
Months. The latter rain falls in April. See Deuteronomy xi. 14. (Calmet) --- Harvest. Septuagint have as usual, "vintage." But this is less accurate, as it never rains in the preceding summer months. (St. Jerome)
George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown 1871 · Public Domain On vv7–9 withholden . . . rain . . . three…
withholden . . . rain . . . three months to . . . harvest--the time when rain was most needed, and when usually "the latter rain" fell, namely, in spring, the latter half of February, and the whole of March and April (Hos 6:3; Joe 2:23). The drought meant is that mentioned in Kg1 17:1 [GROTIUS].
rain upon one city . . . not . . . upon another--My rain that fell was only partial.
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
Daniel D. Whedon 1874 · Public Domain On v7 7, 8. Drought.
7, 8. Drought.
The rain — Hebrews geshem (see on Joe_2:23), here rain in general.
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When there were yet three months to the harvest — Since the harvest is in April and May, the drought must have set in during January or February. A drought at that time would be disastrous, and might completely destroy the prospects of harvest. A similar phenomenon occurred in Palestine in the winter of 1894-95. “After raining several times quite heavily in December, especially on the coast, the weather has been since before Christmas pleasant and mild, and if no more rain falls there will be great suffering, for up till now (February 16) no one has filled his cisterns.”
Caused it to rain — The tenses in Amo_4:7-8 are frequentatives. Jehovah did the things mentioned again and again. To the ancients the phenomenon of a partial drought would be an even stronger proof of the presence of the supernatural than a universal withholding of rain. Partial rainfall such as is described here has been experienced in Palestine in more modern times. “There has been a smart shower here (Tiberias), while at Samakh the ground was baked hard, and the grain drooping sadly. The same was true on a former occasion when I came up the Jordan valley. The ground in the Ghor was like a parched desert. There had not been sufficient rain to bring up the grain,… while here at Tiberias the whole country was a paradise of herbs and flowers.” And again, “It was literally so about Samakh and ‘Abadiyeh, while their nearest neighbors were rejoicing in abundant showers” (Thomson, ii, p. 66).
Piece — Field (Rth_2:3; Rth_4:3).
Two or three cities — That had suffered from the drought. For the ascending enumeration see on Amo_1:3.
Wandered — Literally, tottered, or, staggered. The people were so weak from thirst that they could not walk with a firm step.
One city — One favored with rain. With reference to this passage Thomson says (on the same page): “A fact often repeated in this country. No longer ago than last autumn it had its exemplification complete in Belad Besharah, the ancient inheritance of Naphtali.” Since there are few springs throughout Palestine, people are dependent largely upon rain water stored in cisterns; when the rainfall is irregular the water supply soon becomes exhausted.
They were not satisfied — The water was not sufficient to supply the needs of all. This judgment also was in vain.
9a. Blasting and mildew. 9b. Locusts.
You — Your fields and crops.
Blasting and mildew — The two words are frequently joined (Deu_28:22; 1Ki_8:37; Hag_2:17). The former, from a verb to burn, describes the disastrous effects of the scorching east wind or Sirocco (see on Hos_12:1); the latter, literally, greenness, is “a blight in which the ears turn untimely a pale yellow, and have no grain.”
One word in the Hebrew makes the rest of Amo_4:9 awkward. With a very slight change, favored by most modern commentators, it may be translated, “I laid waste your gardens and your vineyards; and your fig trees and your olive trees hath the palmerworm devoured.”
I laid waste — By some blow not specified by the prophet.
Fig trees — See on Joe_1:7.
Olive trees — See on Hos_14:6; Joe_1:10.
Palmer-worm — See on Joe_1:4, where reference is made to the frequency with which locusts visit Palestine.
Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain On vv7–9 7–8. Drought.
7–8. Drought.
And I also have withholden the winter-rain from you, when there were &c.]. The Heb. is not mâṭâr, but géshem, i.e. a burst of rain: the heavy rains of winter, which continue as a rule from the end of October to the end of February and are then followed by the ‘latter rain,’ or showers of March and April, which refresh and advance the ripening ears (see on Joe_2:23), had ceased prematurely; the crops were consequently deficient in fulness and strength, and the harvest (which comes in May) was seriously damaged. Something of the same sort happened in the winter of 1895; there had been hardly any rain since the Christmas of 1894, and in a report, dated Feb. 16, it was stated that unless rain fell shortly there would be great deficiency of water, as no houses had their cisterns full (G. A. Smith, p. 161). Géshem, though a general term for an abundant rain (as 1Ki_17:14; 1Ki_18:41; 1Ki_18:44-45), is used specially of the heavy rains of winter in Son_2:11; comp. Lev_26:4, Eze_34:26, Joe_2:23 (see note).
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I caused it to rain &c.] would cause it to rain … would be rained upon … would wither. The tenses, both here and to the end of the verse, are frequentative, indicating what had happened repeatedly.
piece] i.e. plot of land, or portion belonging to a particular proprietor (Rth_2:3; Rth_4:3; 2Sa_14:30). The same partial character of the rain-fall is still sometimes observable in Palestine.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers 1878 · Public Domain On vv7, 9 (7, 8) Three months to the harvest.—The withdrawal of…
(7, 8) Three months to the harvest.—The withdrawal of rain at this period (February and March) is at the present day most calamitous to the crops in Palestine.
Caused it to rain . . .—The tenses should be regarded as expressing repetition of the act, and might be, with advantage, rendered as present cause it to rain . . . is rained upon, &c. The inhabitants of the most suffering districts wander, distracted and weary, to a more favoured city, and find no sufficiency. Comp. the graphic description in Jer_14:1-6. Moreover, the specialties of affliction, in particular localities. reveal the purpose of God rather than the operation of universal laws.
A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain On vv7–9 The second punishment is drought, as predicted (Lev_26:19, etc.;…
The second punishment is drought, as predicted (Lev_26:19, etc.; Deu_28:23) When there were yet three months to the harvest, and when rain was most necessary to swell the grain. The season meant is in February and March, when what was called "the latter rain" fell. In the south of Palestine the harvest commenced at the end of April, but in the northern parts it was some weeks later, so that it might be said in round numbers that it took place three months after the latter rain. I caused it to rain upon one city. That they might not attribute this drought to the blind laws of nature, God caused it to be of a partial character, giving rain to one city while he withheld it from another. One piece. The portion of ground belonging to an individual is so called. (Rth_2:3 Rth_4:3)
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
unfoldingWord translationNotes 2017 · CC BY-SA 4.0 On v8 Two or three cities staggered
Two or three cities staggered
Here "cities" represents the people of those cities. AT: "The people of two or three cities staggered" (See: Metonymy)
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I afflicted you with blight and mildew
Here "afflicted you" represents afflicting their crops. AT: "I afflicted your crops with blight and mildew" or "I destroyed your crops with blight and mildew" (See: Metonymy)
blight
This is a disease that dries and kills plants. It is caused by the hot wind from the desert.
mildew
This is another disease that kills plants.
you have not returned to me
Returning to God represents submitting again to him. See how you translated this in Amos 4:6. AT: "you have not submitted again to me" (See: Metaphor)
this is Yahweh's declaration
Yahweh speaks of himself by name to express the certainty of what he is declaring. See how you translated these words in Amos 2:11. AT: "this is what Yahweh has declared" or "this is what I, Yahweh, have declared" (See: First, Second, or Third Person)
translationWords
afflicted
vineyard
fig
olive
locust
unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.