Amos 4:6

Famine.

And I also i.e. And I on my part [153] in return for your zeal in the observance of a merely external formalism.

[153] For this use of alsocomp. Genesis 20:6; Judges 2:3; Jdg 2:21; 2 Samuel 12:13; Psalms 52:5. &c.; and see the Heb. Lexiconpublished by the Clarendon Press, s.v. נם, 4.

cleanness of teeth An expressive description of a famine. Famines are often mentioned as a dreaded occurrence, or contingency, in Palestine: Genesis 12:10; Gen 26:1; 2 Samuel 21:1; 2 Samuel 24:13; 1Ki 8:37; 1 Kings 18:2; 2Ki 4:38; 2 Kings 8:1; Ruth 1:1.

in all your cities The famine had been felt in every part of the land.

returned unto me The idea of -returning to God" is very common in the Old Testament. Man has alienated himself from God: and the aim of God's visitations, whether of mercy or judgement, as well as of the exhortations and admonitions of His prophets, is to effect his return to Him who is the source of his true good. See e.g.Hosea 6:1; Hosea 14:1-2; Isaiah 10:21; Isaiah 31:6; Deuteronomy 4:30; Deuteronomy 30:2; Isaiah 55:7. In the N.T. ἐπιστρέφειν, Acts 3:19; Acts 9:35; Acts 11:21; Acts 14:15; Acts 15:19; 1 Thessalonians 1:9; and elsewhere. These and similar passages, in a later stage of theological thought, gave rise to the idea of "conversion."