Amos 8:4

To make the poor of the land to fail] i.e. to exterminate those who are in lowly circumstances. 'They make a solitude and call it peace.'

5. The new moon was originally a more important festival than the sabbath. For points in its observance see 1 Samuel 20:6; 2 Kings 4:23; Isaiah 1:13; Hosea 2:13, and cp. the Levitical ritual in Numbers 28:11.

The ephah] the measure by which they sold, was fraudulently small; the weight by which they tested the money paid them was as dishonestly great. Money was not coined, but was weighed on every business occasion (Genesis 23:16). The ephah contained about 65 Imp. pts.; the shekel of 252 grs. would be worth about £21s. of our money.

7. Jehovah Himself is the Excellency, the Pride and Boast of His people.

8. The movements of the land shaken by the earthquake, or whatever other calamity was divinely inflicted, are compared to those of the Nile: 'Yea, it shall rise up wholly like the River; and it shall be troubled and sink again, like the River of Egypt' (RV). The word for 'river' is regularly employed of the Nile.

9. The eclipse of June 15th, 763 b.c., may have impressed his imagination powerfully.