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Amos 8:10

Old Testament Minor Prophet ASV (1901)

What does Amos 8:10 say?

The American Standard Version records this verse as: “And I will turn your feasts into mourning, and all your songs into lamentation; and I will bring sackcloth upon all loins, and baldness upon every head; and I will make it as the mourning for an only son, and the end thereof as a bitter day.” Read the surrounding verses and the named sources below before drawing broader conclusions.

The verse

And I will turn your feasts into mourning, and all your songs into lamentation; and I will bring sackcloth upon all loins, and baldness upon every head; and I will make it as the mourning for an only son, and the end thereof as a bitter day.
Amos 8:10 — American Standard Version

Context — Amos 8

American Standard Version (1901) — public domain. Click any verse for its study page.
7Jehovah hath sworn by the excellency of Jacob, Surely I will never forget any of their works.
8Shall not the land tremble for this, and every one mourn that dwelleth therein? yea, it shall rise up wholly like the River; and it shall be troubled and sink again, like the River of Egypt.
9And it shall come to pass in that day, saith the Lord Jehovah, that I will cause the sun to go down at noon, and I will darken the earth in the clear day.
10And I will turn your feasts into mourning, and all your songs into lamentation; and I will bring sackcloth upon all loins, and baldness upon every head; and I will make it as the mourning for an only son, and the end thereof as a bitter day.
11Behold, the days come, saith the Lord Jehovah, that I will send a famine in the land, not a famine of bread, nor a thirst for water, but of hearing the words of Jehovah.
12And they shall wander from sea to sea, and from the north even to the east; they shall run to and fro to seek the word of Jehovah, and shall not find it.
13In that day shall the fair virgins and the young men faint for thirst.
← Amos 8:9Amos 8:11 →
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What do historical commentaries say?

John Gill's Exposition
John Gill (1697–1771) · Exposition of the Old and New Testament · 18th-century historical commentary
“And I will turn your feasts into mourning, and all your songs into lamentation, etc.] Either their religious feasts, the feasts of pentecost, tabernacles, and passover; at which three feasts there were eclipses of the sun, a few years after this prophecy of Amos, as Bishop Usherf232 observes: the first was an eclipse of the sun about ten digits, in the year 3213 A.M. or 791 B.C., June twenty fourth, at the feast of pentecost; the next was almost twelve digits, about eleven years after, on November eighth, 780 B.C., at the feast of the tabernacles; and the third was more than eleven digits in the following year, 779 B.C., on May fifth, at the feast of the passover; which the prophecy may…”
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Jamieson, Fausset & Brown
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown · Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible · 19th-century historical commentary
“baldness--a sign of mourning (Isa 15:2; Jer 48:37; Eze 7:18). I will make it as . . . mourning of an only son--"it," that is, "the earth" (Amo 8:9). I will reduce the land to such a state that there shall be the same occasion for mourning as when parents mourn for an only son (Jer 6:26; Zac 12:10).”
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Barnes' Notes
Albert Barnes (1798–1870) · Notes on the Whole Bible · 19th-century historical commentary
“I will turn your feasts into mourning - He recurs to the sentence which he had pronounced Amos 8:3, before he described the avarice and oppression which brought it down. Hosea too had foretold, “I will cause all her mirth to cease, her feast-days, etc” Hosea 2:11. So Jeremiah describes, “the joy of our heart is ceased; our dance is turned into mourning” Lamentations 5:15. The Book of Tobit bears witness how these sayings of Amos lived in the hearts of the captive Israelites. The word of God seems oftentimes to fail, yet it finds those who are His. “I remembered,” he said, “that prophecy of Amos, your feasts shall be turned into mourning” (Tobit 2:6). The correspondence of these words with…”
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Wesley's Explanatory Notes
John Wesley (1703–1791) · Explanatory Notes upon the New Testament and Old Testament notes · 18th-century historical commentary
“Upon all loins - All sorts of persons shall put on mourning. Baldness - Shaving the head and beard was a sign of the greatest sadness. A bitter day - A bitter day, which you shall wish you had never seen, shall succeed your dark night. Amos 8:12”
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Treasury of Scriptural Knowledge
R. A. Torrey and contributors · The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge · Cross-reference reference work
“I will turn: Amo 8:3, Amo 5:23, Amo 6:4-7; Deu 16:14; Sa1 25:36-38; Sa2 13:28-31; Job 20:23; Isa 21:3, Isa 21:4, Isa 22:12-14; Dan 5:4-6; Hos 2:11; Nah 1:10 sackcloth: Isa 15:2, Isa 15:3; Jer 48:37; Eze 7:18, Eze 27:30, Eze 27:31 as the: Jer 6:26; Zac 12:10; Luk 7:12, Luk 7:13 a bitter: Job 3:5 \*marg. Amos 8:11”
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Related study paths

Read Amos 8 in contextBrowse Hebrew word studiesOpen this verse in the study reader

Sources and verification