Amos 8 · Verse 5

Amos 8:5

Saying, When will the new moon be gone, that we may sell corn? and the sabbath, that we may set forth wheat, making the ephah small, and the shekel great, and falsifying the balances by deceit?
Amos 8:5, King James Version

Amos 8:5 in other translations

BSBasking, “When will the New Moon be over, that we may sell grain? When will the Sabbath end, that we may market wheat? Let us reduce the ephah and increase the shekel; let us cheat with dishonest scales.
WEBsaying, ‘When will the new moon be gone, that we may sell grain? And the Sabbath, that we may market wheat, making the ephah small, and the shekel large, and dealing falsely with balances of deceit;
ASVsaying, When will the new moon be gone, that we may sell grain? and the sabbath, that we may set forth wheat, making the ephah small, and the shekel great, and dealing falsely with balances of deceit;
YLTSaying, When doth the new moon pass, And we sell ground corn? And the sabbath, and we open out pure corn? To make little the ephah, And to make great the shekel, And to use perversely balances of deceit.
DARBYsaying, When will the new moon be gone, that we may sell corn? and the sabbath, that we may set forth wheat? making the ephah small and the shekel great, and falsifying the balances for deceit:
BBESaying, When will the new moon be gone, so that we may do trade in grain? and the Sabbath, so that we may put out in the market the produce of our fields? making the measure small and the price great, and trading falsely with scales of deceit;
WebsterSaying, When will the new moon be gone, that we may sell corn? and the sabbath, that we may set forth wheat, making the ephah small, and the shekel great, and falsifying the balances by deceit?

What does Amos 8:5 mean?

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown
5. So greedy are they of unjust gain that they cannot spare a single day, however sacred, from pursuing it. They are strangers to God and enemies to themselves, who love market days better than sabbath days; and they who have lost piety will not long keep honesty. The new moons (Nu 10:10) and sabbaths were to be kept without working or trading (Ne 10:31). set forth wheat--literally, "open out" stores of wheat for sale. ephah--containing three seahs, or above three pecks. making ... small--making it below the just weight to purchasers. shekel great--taking from purchasers a greater weight of money than was due. Shekels used to be weighed out in payments (Ge 23:16). Thus they committed a double fraud against the law (De 25:13, 14).

Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown, 1871 · public domain

Adam Clarke's Commentary
Verse 5 When will the new moon be gone - This was kept as a kind of holy day, not by Divine command, but by custom. The Sabbath was strictly holy; and yet so covetous were they that they grudged to give to God and their own souls this seventh portion of time! But bad and execrable as they were, they neither set forth their corn, nor their wheat, nor any other kind of merchandise, on the Sabbath. They were saints then, when compared to multitudes called Christians, who keep their shops either partially or entirely open on the Lord's day, and buy and sell without any scruples of conscience. Conscience! alas! they have none; it is seared as with a hot iron. The strong man armed, in them, is quiet, for all his goods are in peace. Making the ephah small, and the shekel great - Giving short measure, and taking full price; or, buying with a heavy weight, and selling with one that was light. Falsifying the balances - Having one scale light, and the other weighty; one end of the beam long, and the other short. A few months ago I detected a knave with such balances; with a slip of his finger along the beam he altered the center, which made three ounces short weight in every pound. He did it so dexterously, that though I knew he was cheating, or, as the prophet expresses it, was falsifying the balances by deceit, it was some time before I could detect the fraud, and not till I had been several times cheated by this accomplished knave. So we find that though the knaves of ancient Israel are dead, they have left their successors behind them.

Adam Clarke, 1831 · public domain

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary on Amos 8:4-10

The rich and powerful of the land were the most guilty of oppression, as well as the foremost in idolatry. They were weary of the restraints of the sabbaths and the new moons, and wished them over, because no common work might be done therein. This is the character of many who are called Christians. The sabbath day and sabbath work are a burden to carnal hearts. It will either be profaned or be accounted a dull day…

Read the full comment on Amos 8:4-10 →

Amos 8:5 in the original Hebrew

Word-by-word with transliteration, English gloss and Strong's number. Tap a number for the full definition and every place the word is used.

לֵאמֹ֗רle.Mor<to> sayingH559
מָתַ֞יma.Taiwhen?H4970
יַעֲבֹ֤רya.'a.Vorwill it passH5674
הַחֹ֙דֶשׁ֙ha.Cho.deshthe new moonH2320
וְנַשְׁבִּ֣ירָהve.nash.Bi.rahso we may sell grainH7666
שֶּׁ֔בֶרShe.vergrainH7668
וְהַשַּׁבָּ֖תve.hash.sha.Batand the sabbathH7676
וְנִפְתְּחָה\־ve.nif.te.chah-so we may openH6605
בָּ֑רBargrainH1250
לְהַקְטִ֤יןle.hak.Tinto make smallH6994
אֵיפָה֙'ei.Fahan ephahH374
וּלְהַגְדִּ֣ילu.le.hag.Diland to make greatH1431
שֶׁ֔קֶלShe.kela shekelH8255
וּלְעַוֵּ֖תu.le.'a.Vetand to falsifyH5791
מֹאזְנֵ֥יmoz.Neibalances ofH3976
מִרְמָֽה\׃mir.MahdeceitH4820

Source: STEPBible TAHOT/TAGNT (Tyndale House, CC BY 4.0).

Cross references for Amos 8:5

  • Nehemiah 13:15-21

    In those days saw I in Judah some treading wine presses on the sabbath, and bringing in sheaves, and lading asses; as also wine, grapes, and figs, and all manner of burdens, which they brought into Jerusalem on the sabbath day: and I testified against them in the day wherein they sold victuals. There dwelt men of Tyre also therein, which brought fish, and all manner of ware, and sold on the sabbath unto the children of Judah, and in Jerusalem. Then I contended with the nobles of Judah, and said unto them, What evil thing is this that ye do, and profane the sabbath day? Did not your fathers thus, and did not our God bring all this evil upon us, and upon this city? yet ye bring more wrath upon Israel by profaning the sabbath. …

  • Micah 6:10-11

    Are there yet the treasures of wickedness in the house of the wicked, and the scant measure that is abominable? Shall I count them pure with the wicked balances, and with the bag of deceitful weights?

  • Hosea 12:7

    He is a merchant, the balances of deceit are in his hand: he loveth to oppress.

  • Deuteronomy 25:13-16

    Thou shalt not have in thy bag divers weights, a great and a small. Thou shalt not have in thine house divers measures, a great and a small. But thou shalt have a perfect and just weight, a perfect and just measure shalt thou have: that thy days may be lengthened in the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee. For all that do such things, and all that do unrighteously, are an abomination unto the Lord thy God.

  • Leviticus 19:36

    Just balances, just weights, a just ephah, and a just hin, shall ye have: I am the Lord your God, which brought you out of the land of Egypt.

  • Proverbs 11:1

    A false balance is abomination to the Lord: but a just weight is his delight.

  • Isaiah 1:13

    Bring no more vain oblations; incense is an abomination unto me; the new moons and sabbaths, the calling of assemblies, I cannot away with; it is iniquity, even the solemn meeting.

  • Exodus 20:8-10

    Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days shalt thou labour, and do all thy work: But the seventh day is the sabbath of the Lord thy God: in it thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates:

  • Proverbs 16:11

    A just weight and balance are the Lord’s: all the weights of the bag are his work.

  • Proverbs 20:23

    Divers weights are an abomination unto the Lord; and a false balance is not good.

  • Psalms 81:3-4

    Blow up the trumpet in the new moon, in the time appointed, on our solemn feast day. For this was a statute for Israel, and a law of the God of Jacob.

  • Numbers 10:10

    Also in the day of your gladness, and in your solemn days, and in the beginnings of your months, ye shall blow with the trumpets over your burnt offerings, and over the sacrifices of your peace offerings; that they may be to you for a memorial before your God: I am the Lord your God.

Ranked by reader votes · OpenBible.info cross references (CC BY).

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
When.
Nu 10:10; 28:11-15; 2Ki 4:23; Ps 81:3,4; Isa 1:13; Col 2:16
new moon. or, month. be gone.
Mal 1:13
and the.
Ex 20:8-10; Ne 13:15-21; Isa 58:13; Ro 8:6,7
set forth. Heb. open. making.
Le 19:36; De 25:13-16; Pr 11:1; 16:11; 20:23; Eze 45:10-12
Mic 6:10,11
falsifying the balances by deceit. Heb. perverting thebalances of deceit.
Ho 12:7

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (Samuel Bagster, c. 1836) · public domain

Context

  • Amos 8:4

    Hear this, O ye that swallow up the needy, even to make the poor of the land to fail,

  • Amos 8:5

    Saying, When will the new moon be gone, that we may sell corn? and the sabbath, that we may set forth wheat, making the ephah small, and the shekel great, and falsifying the balances by deceit?

  • Amos 8:6

    That we may buy the poor for silver, and the needy for a pair of shoes; yea, and sell the refuse of the wheat?

Read all of Amos 8

Amos 8:5 in other languages

Spanish
Reina-Valera 1909		Diciendo: ¿Cuándo pasará el mes, y venderemos el trigo; y la semana, y abriremos los alfolíes del pan, y achicaremos la medida, y engrandeceremos el precio, y falsearemos el peso engañoso;
French
Bible J.N. Darby 1885		disant: Quand sera passée la nouvelle lune, pour que nous vendions du blé? et le sabbat, pour que nous ouvrions nos greniers? faisant l’épha petit et le sicle grand, et falsifiant la balance pour frauder;
German
Elberfelder 1871		und sprechet: Wann ist der Neumond vorüber, daß wir Getreide verkaufen, und der Sabbath, daß wir die Kornspeicher auftun; um das Epha zu verkleinern und den Sekel zu vergrößern und die Waage des Betrugs zu fälschen;
Latin
Clementine Vulgate		dicentes: Quando transibit mensis, et venundabimus merces? et sabbatum, et aperiemus frumentum, ut imminuamus mensuram, et augeamus siclum, et supponamus stateras dolosas,