The Meaning of Amos 8:14 Explained

Amos 8:14

KJV: They that swear by the sin of Samaria, and say, Thy god, O Dan, liveth; and, The manner of Beersheba liveth; even they shall fall, and never rise up again.

YLT: Those swearing by the guilt of Samaria, And have said, Live doth thy god, O Dan, And, Live doth the way of Beer-Sheba, And they have fallen -- and rise not again!'

Darby: they that swear by the sin of Samaria, and say, As thy god, O Dan, liveth! and, As the way of Beer-sheba liveth! even they shall fall, and never rise up again.

ASV: They that swear by the sin of Samaria, and say, As thy god, O Dan, liveth; and, As the way of Beer-sheba liveth; they shall fall, and never rise up again.

KJV Reverse Interlinear

They that swear  by the sin  of Samaria,  and say,  Thy god,  O Dan,  liveth;  and, The manner  of Beersheba  liveth;  even they shall fall,  and never rise up  again. 

What does Amos 8:14 Mean?

Verse Meaning

The apostate Israelites who swore in the name of their favorite pagan deities would fall never to rise again because their idols would not uplift them. Amos described the prominent idol in Samaria as Samaria"s guilt or shame. One of the idols they worshipped in Samaria was Ashimah (cf. 2 Kings 17:29-30), which Amos apparently alluded to here. From Dan to Beersheba, throughout the whole Promised Land, the Israelites would seek some word from Yahweh, but they would find none to meet their need. In view of other prophecies of Israel"s restoration, the prediction that the Israelites would fall and not rise again must have a limited scope. That generation as a whole would not survive the coming judgment, but presumably individuals could repent and escape.

Context Summary

Amos 8:1-14 - The Worst Famine Of All
What is more fragile than summer fruit! So beautiful, so refreshing, yet so readily corrupted and diseased. To Amos it was an emblem of the rapidity with which dissolution would overtake his rebellious nation. The end had arrived. The Great Husbandman could do no more. When the harvest has come, separation between good and bad is inevitable. See Isaiah 5:4; Matthew 13:30.
The crimes of the ruling class were enormous. Eager to increase their stores, they wearied of time given to religion. They grudged passing a day without opening their salesrooms. They did not scruple to make their measures (ephah) small, and to demand a greater weight of money (shekel) from their clients. These were crimes that could not be passed over. It is an awful sentence when God says, "I will never forget," Amos 8:7. Invasion would sweep the land like an inundation. Since the people would not heed the God-sent messengers, they would be withdrawn. There would be a famine of the Word of God, and those who had most despised it, because enamored with the fascinations of youth, would be smitten with an insatiable appetite for it. [source]

Chapter Summary: Amos 8

1  By a basket of summer fruit is shown the approach of Israel's end
4  Oppression is reproved
11  A famine of the word of God threatened

What do the individual words in Amos 8:14 mean?

Those who swear by the sin of Samaria and who say as lives your god Dan and as lives the way of Beersheba and they shall fall and never rise again -
הַנִּשְׁבָּעִים֙ בְּאַשְׁמַ֣ת שֹֽׁמְר֔וֹן וְאָמְר֗וּ חֵ֤י אֱלֹהֶ֙יךָ֙ דָּ֔ן וְחֵ֖י דֶּ֣רֶךְ בְּאֵֽר־ שָׁ֑בַע וְנָפְל֖וּ וְלֹא־ יָק֥וּמוּ עֽוֹד ס

הַנִּשְׁבָּעִים֙  Those  who  swear 
Parse: Article, Verb, Nifal, Participle, masculine plural
Root: שָׁבַע  
Sense: to swear, adjure.
בְּאַשְׁמַ֣ת  by  the  sin 
Parse: Preposition-b, Noun, feminine singular construct
Root: אַשְׁמָה  
Sense: guiltiness, guilt, offense, sin, wrong-doing.
שֹֽׁמְר֔וֹן  of  Samaria 
Parse: Proper Noun, feminine singular
Root: שֹׁמְרֹון  
Sense: the region of northern Palestine associated with the northern kingdom of the 0 tribes of Israel which split from the kingdom after the death of Solomon during the reign of his son Rehoboam and were ruled by Jeroboam.
וְאָמְר֗וּ  and  who  say 
Parse: Conjunctive waw, Verb, Qal, Conjunctive perfect, third person common plural
Root: אָמַר 
Sense: to say, speak, utter.
חֵ֤י  as  lives 
Parse: Noun, masculine singular construct
Root: חַי 
Sense: living, alive.
אֱלֹהֶ֙יךָ֙  your  god 
Parse: Noun, masculine plural construct, second person masculine singular
Root: אֱלֹהִים  
Sense: (plural).
דָּ֔ן  Dan 
Parse: Proper Noun, masculine singular
Root: דָּן 
Sense: the 5th son of Jacob, the st of Bilhah, Rachel’s handmaid.
וְחֵ֖י  and  as  lives 
Parse: Conjunctive waw, Noun, masculine singular construct
Root: חַי 
Sense: living, alive.
דֶּ֣רֶךְ  the  way 
Parse: Noun, common singular construct
Root: דֶּרֶךְ  
Sense: way, road, distance, journey, manner.
שָׁ֑בַע  Beersheba 
Parse: Proper Noun, feminine singular
Root: בְּאֵר 
Sense: a city at the south edge of Israel.
וְנָפְל֖וּ  and  they  shall  fall 
Parse: Conjunctive waw, Verb, Qal, Conjunctive perfect, third person common plural
Root: נָפַל  
Sense: to fall, lie, be cast down, fail.
וְלֹא־  and  never 
Parse: Conjunctive waw, Adverb, Negative particle
Root: הֲלֹא 
Sense: not, no.
יָק֥וּמוּ  rise 
Parse: Verb, Qal, Imperfect, third person masculine plural
Root: קוּם 
Sense: to rise, arise, stand, rise up, stand up.
עֽוֹד  again 
Parse: Adverb
Root: עֹוד  
Sense: a going round, continuance adv.
ס  - 
Parse: Punctuation