Amos 4:8
in Amos 4People staggered from city to city for water to drink, but they were not satisfied; yet you did not return to Me,” declares the LORD.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
So two or three cities wandered unto one city to drink water, and were not satisfied: yet have ye not returned unto me, saith Jehovah.
KJV
So two or three cities wandered unto one city, to drink water; but they were not satisfied: yet have ye not returned unto me, saith the Lord.
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This verse in Amos 4
Commentary
8 notes on this verseA commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
Two or three cities wandered into one city - Those then who were punished, were more than those who were reprieved. The word “wandered” literally, “trembled,” expresses the unsteady reeling gate of those exhausted, in quest of food . They staggered through weakness, and uncertain, amid the general drought, whither to betake themselves. This was done, not in punishment but to heal. God paused, in order to give them opportunity to repent; in deed, His long-suffering only showed to themselves and to others, that they would not; “and ye returned not not Me; saith the Lord.”
This site's exposition
cleanness of teeth
on Amos 4:6-8
The first two of five disciplines begin here, each closing on the same refrain: cleanness of teeth, famine so complete there is nothing left to chew, and want of bread in every place, then withheld rain measured out city by city, one field watered and its neighbor left to wither. The bench reads the selective drought as deliberate proof against any claim of accident, since a rain that stops at a boundary line argues a hand rather than a season. Yet have ye not returned unto me: the refrain the chapter turns on, each plague a summons refused.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers1 voice
(Verse 7 onwards) I have also withheld rain from you, when there were still three months until the harvest. I caused it to rain on one city and not on another. One part was rained upon, while the part on which it did not rain became dry. So two or three cities went to another city to drink water, but were not satisfied. Yet you did not return to me, says the Lord. LXX: And I have withheld rain from you three months before the harvest. I have caused it to rain on one city and not on another city.
The Puritans and the Awakening3 voices
2 ), and yet, after all, they will not return to God, will not incline their ear to him in whom they might have satisfaction. The preaching of the gospel is as rain; God sometimes blesses one place with it more than another; some countries, some cities, are, like Gideon's fleece, wet with this dew, while the ground about is dry; all withers where this rain is wanting.
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — leading-citation-number+unbalanced-parens
So two or three cities wandered unto one city, to drink water,....
They are invited yet at length to humble themselves before God, since it is impossible for them to make their part good against him,
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
proposed
three cities wandered--that is, the inhabitants of three cities (compare Jer 14:1-6). GROTIUS explains this verse and Am 4:7, "The rain fell on neighboring countries, but not on Israel, which marked the drought to be, not accidental, but the special judgment of God." The Israelites were obliged to leave their cities and homes to seek water at a distance [CALVIN].
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — starts-lowercase
1 more voice on this verse
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
proposed
Ho 7:10); the monotonous repetition of the same burden marking their pitiable obstinacy. cleanness of teeth--explained by the parallel, "want of bread." The famine alluded to is that mentioned in 2Ki 8:1 [GROTIUS]. Where there is no food to masticate, the teeth are free from uncleanness, but it is the cleanness of want.
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — unbalanced-parens
The words behind it
16 Hebrew wordsEvery Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וְנָע֡וּ | venau | and they staggered | H5128 → | 40 times |
| שְׁתַּיִם֩ | shetayim | two | H8147 → | 768 times |
| שָׁלֹ֨שׁ | shalosh | three | H7969 → | 432 times |
| עָרִ֜ים | ʾarim | cities | H5892 → | 1090 times |
| אֶל־ | ʾel- | to | H413 → | 5510 times |
| עִ֥יר | ʾir | a city | H5892 → | 1090 times |
| אַחַ֛ת | ʾachat | one | H259 → | 971 times |
| לִשְׁתּ֥וֹת | lishtot | to drink | H8354 → | 217 times |
| מַ֖יִם | mayim | water | H4325 → | 581 times |
| וְלֹ֣א | velo' | and not | H3808 → | 5168 times |
| יִשְׂבָּ֑עוּ | yisbau | they were satisfied | H7646 → | |
| וְלֹֽא־ | velo'- | and not | H3808 → | 5168 times |
| שַׁבְתֶּ֥ם | shavtem | you returned | H7725 → | 1056 times |
| עָדַ֖י | ʾadai | to me | H5704 → | 1261 times |
| נְאֻם־ | neum- | [the] utterance of | H5002 → | 376 times |
| יְהוָֽה׃ | yahweh | Yahweh | H3068 → | 6520 times |
וְנָע֡וּand they staggered
venauH5128 →40 times
שְׁתַּיִם֩two
shetayimH8147 →768 times
שָׁלֹ֨שׁthree
shaloshH7969 →432 times
עָרִ֜יםcities
ʾarimH5892 →1090 times
אֶל־to
ʾel-H413 →5510 times
עִ֥ירa city
ʾirH5892 →1090 times
אַחַ֛תone
ʾachatH259 →971 times
לִשְׁתּ֥וֹתto drink
lishtotH8354 →217 times
מַ֖יִםwater
mayimH4325 →581 times
וְלֹ֣אand not
velo'H3808 →5168 times
יִשְׂבָּ֑עוּthey were satisfied
yisbauH7646 →
וְלֹֽא־and not
velo'-H3808 →5168 times
שַׁבְתֶּ֥םyou returned
shavtemH7725 →1056 times
עָדַ֖יto me
ʾadaiH5704 →1261 times
נְאֻם־[the] utterance of
neum-H5002 →376 times
יְהוָֽה׃Yahweh
yahwehH3068 →6520 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
Haggai 1:6You have planted much but harvested little. You eat but never have enough. You drink but never have your fill. You put on clothes but never get warm. You earn wages to put into…
it leads to
- Haggai 1:9
You expected much, but behold, it amounted to little. And what you brought home, I blew away. Why? declares the LORD of Hosts. Because My house still lies in ruins, while each of you…
- Hosea 4:10
They will eat but not be satisfied; they will be promiscuous but not multiply. For they have stopped obeying the LORD.
- Deuteronomy 28:38–40
You will sow much seed in the field but harvest little, because the locusts will consume it.
- Haggai 2:16
from that time, when one came expecting a heap of twenty ephahs of grain, there were but ten. When one came to the winepress to draw out fifty baths, there were but twenty.
- Malachi 3:9–11
You are cursed with a curse, yet you—the whole nation—are still robbing Me.
- Haggai 1:9
Through
Amos 4:6“I beset all your cities with cleanness of teeth and all your towns with lack of bread, yet you did not return to Me,” declares the LORD.
it leads to
- Haggai 2:17
I struck you—all the work of your hands—with blight, mildew, and hail, but you did not turn to Me, declares the LORD.
- Jeremiah 5:3
O LORD, do not Your eyes look for truth? You struck them, but they felt no pain. You finished them off, but they refused to accept discipline. They have made their faces harder than…
- Isaiah 9:13
But the people did not return to Him who struck them; they did not seek the LORD of Hosts.
- Haggai 2:17
About Amos
This page draws on Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Albert Barnes, Notes on the Old Testament; Edward Bouverie Pusey, The Minor Prophets: A Commentary; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; Jerome, Commentary on Amos; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763) and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.