The Meaning of Amos 5:20 Explained

Amos 5:20

KJV: Shall not the day of the LORD be darkness, and not light? even very dark, and no brightness in it?

YLT: Is not the day of Jehovah darkness and not light, Even thick darkness that hath no brightness?

Darby: Shall not the day of Jehovah be darkness, and not light? even very dark, and no brightness in it?

ASV: Shall not the day of Jehovah be darkness, and not light? even very dark, and no brightness in it?

KJV Reverse Interlinear

[Shall] not the day  of the LORD  [be] darkness,  and not light?  even very dark,  and no brightness  in it? 

What does Amos 5:20 Mean?

Verse Meaning

Rhetorically Amos stated that the coming day of the Lord would be a day characterized by darkness and gloom (despair) rather than by bright light (joy; cf. Joel 2:1-2; Joel 2:10-11; Zephaniah 1:14-15).
A brighter day of the Lord was also coming (cf. Amos 9:11-15; Jeremiah 30:8-11; Hosea 2:16-23; Micah 4:6-7; Zephaniah 3:11-20), but first a dark one would appear. The Israelites wanted to hasten the good day of the Lord, but they wanted to forget about the bad one. This prophecy found fulfillment when the Assyrians overran Israel and took most of the people into exile in722 B.C. The later Tribulation period for Israel, which will precede her millennial day of blessing, will be similar to what Amos predicted here, but I think it was not what God was foretelling here.

Context Summary

Amos 5:16-27 - A Dark Day For Hypocrites
Mighty sins had been committed, and mighty judgments were at hand. The oppression of the poor, Amos 5:11; the erection of elegant dwellings from unrighteous exactions, Amos 5:11; the acceptance of bribes to betray the needy, Amos 5:12 all these must be reckoned with. But if the guilty nation would not seek God and establish judgment in the gate, where magistrates sat to dispense justice, the streets would be filled with wailing, and the husbandmen and vine-dressers would be equally affected by the widespread desolation as the dwellers in the cities.
Moreover, bad as Israel's present condition was, it would become infinitely worse, as though a man fleeing from a lion rushed into the arms of a bear, or, taking refuge in a house, was stung by a serpent that lay hid in a cranny of the wall. Of what avail are religious rites, when the heart is alienated from God, Amos 5:21, etc.? Let us heed well the exhortation of Amos 5:23-24. The martyr Stephen quoted Amos 5:25-27, which accuse the people of carrying about little shrines and pocket-idols, to serve as amulets averting disaster, Acts 7:43. But they might as well have built a bank of sand to arrest an overflowing flood! The one thing which is going to help us is repentance toward God and faith in our Savior Jesus Christ. [source]

Chapter Summary: Amos 5

1  A lamentation for Israel
4  An exhortation to repentance
21  God rejects their hypocritical service

What do the individual words in Amos 5:20 mean?

[Is] not darkness the day of Yahweh and not light and [Is it not] very dark and no with brightness in it
הֲלֹא־ חֹ֛שֶׁךְ י֥וֹם יְהוָ֖ה וְלֹא־ ؟ א֑וֹר וְאָפֵ֖ל וְלֹא־ נֹ֥גַֽהּ לֽוֹ

הֲלֹא־  [Is]  not 
Parse: Adverb, Negative particle
Root: הֲלֹא 
Sense: not, no.
חֹ֛שֶׁךְ  darkness 
Parse: Noun, masculine singular
Root: חֹשֶׁךְ  
Sense: darkness, obscurity.
י֥וֹם  the  day 
Parse: Noun, masculine singular construct
Root: יׄום 
Sense: day, time, year.
יְהוָ֖ה  of  Yahweh 
Parse: Proper Noun, masculine singular
Root: יהוה 
Sense: the proper name of the one true God.
וְלֹא־  and  not 
Parse: Conjunctive waw, Adverb, Negative particle
Root: הֲלֹא 
Sense: not, no.
؟ א֑וֹר  light 
Parse: Noun, common singular
Root: אֹור  
Sense: light.
וְאָפֵ֖ל  and  [Is  it  not]  very  dark 
Parse: Conjunctive waw, Adjective, masculine singular
Root: אָפֵל  
Sense: gloomy, dark.
וְלֹא־  and  no 
Parse: Conjunctive waw, Adverb, Negative particle
Root: הֲלֹא 
Sense: not, no.
נֹ֥גַֽהּ  with  brightness 
Parse: Noun, feminine singular
Root: נׄגַהּ  
Sense: brightness.
לֽוֹ  in  it 
Parse: Preposition, third person masculine singular