The Meaning of Amos 4:9 Explained

Amos 4:9

KJV: I have smitten you with blasting and mildew: when your gardens and your vineyards and your fig trees and your olive trees increased, the palmerworm devoured them: yet have ye not returned unto me, saith the LORD.

YLT: I have smitten you with blasting and with mildew, The abundance of your gardens and of your vineyards, And of your figs, and of your olives, Eat doth the palmer-worm, And ye have not turned back unto Me, An affirmation of Jehovah.

Darby: I have smitten you with blasting and mildew; the palmer-worm hath devoured the multitude of your gardens, and your vineyards, and your fig-trees and your olive-trees: yet have ye not returned unto me, saith Jehovah.

ASV: I have smitten you with blasting and mildew: the multitude of your gardens and your vineyards and your fig-trees and your olive-trees hath the palmer-worm devoured: yet have ye not returned unto me, saith Jehovah.

KJV Reverse Interlinear

I have smitten  you with blasting  and mildew:  when your gardens  and your vineyards  and your fig trees  and your olive trees  increased,  the palmerworm  devoured  [them]: yet have ye not returned  unto me, saith  the LORD. 

What does Amos 4:9 Mean?

Verse Meaning

The Lord sent plant diseases and insects to blight their gardens, vineyards, and fruit trees. Yet the Israelites did not return to Him (cf. 1 Kings 8:37-39). These were also threatened judgments in the Mosaic Covenant ( Leviticus 26:20; Deuteronomy 28:18; Deuteronomy 28:22; Deuteronomy 28:30; Deuteronomy 28:38-40; Deuteronomy 28:42). "Many gardens" is another indication that the Israelites were affluent.

Context Summary

Amos 4:1-11 - Calamities Are God's Warnings
Speaking after the imagery of his vocation, Amos the herdsman compares the rich and powerful of Samaria, who were living in luxury and wantonness, to the kine of Bashan, a breed of cattle notorious for strength and stubbornness. They broke through hedges, threw down fences, trespassed on neighboring pastures, and gored lesser cattle. The judges and magistrates were in cruel collusion with the masters who oppressed the serfs, and were willing to condone breaches of the law for drink. Sacrifices and tithes were rigorously maintained, but the entire religious system was rotten.
Already heavy judgment had fallen upon the degenerate people. There had been famine, the intermission of the rainy seasons, blasting and mildew, pestilence and murrain-but all in vain. That God was behind these phenomena was obvious from the fact that rain showers had fallen in one place and not in another. There had been a method in God's dealings that indicated a personal agency. The worst cities had suffered the most. But the people had refused to lay it to heart. Note the sorrowful refrain-yet have ye not returned unto me, saith the Lord. It may be that some reader of these lines may find herein a clue to the mysterious succession of strokes that have befallen himself and his household. [source]

Chapter Summary: Amos 4

1  He reproves Israel for oppression,
4  for idolatry,
6  and for their incorrigibleness

What do the individual words in Amos 4:9 mean?

I blasted you with blight and mildew when increased your gardens and Your vineyards and Your fig trees and your olive trees devoured [them] the locust and yet not you have returned to Me says Yahweh -
הִכֵּ֣יתִי אֶתְכֶם֮ בַּשִּׁדָּפ֣וֹן וּבַיֵּרָקוֹן֒ הַרְבּ֨וֹת גַּנּוֹתֵיכֶ֧ם וְכַרְמֵיכֶ֛ם וּתְאֵנֵיכֶ֥ם וְזֵיתֵיכֶ֖ם יֹאכַ֣ל הַגָּזָ֑ם וְלֹֽא־ שַׁבְתֶּ֥ם עָדַ֖י נְאֻם־ יְהוָֽה ס

הִכֵּ֣יתִי  I  blasted 
Parse: Verb, Hifil, Perfect, first person common singular
Root: נָכָה  
Sense: to strike, smite, hit, beat, slay, kill.
בַּשִּׁדָּפ֣וֹן  with  blight 
Parse: Preposition-b, Article, Noun, masculine singular
Root: שְׁדֵפָה 
Sense: blighted or blasted thing, blighted, blasted.
וּבַיֵּרָקוֹן֒  and  mildew 
Parse: Conjunctive waw, Preposition-b, Article, Noun, masculine singular
Root: יֵרָקֹון  
Sense: mildew, paleness, lividness.
הַרְבּ֨וֹת  when  increased 
Parse: Verb, Hifil, Infinitive construct
Root: הַרְבָּה 
Sense: be or become great, be or become many, be or become much, be or become numerous.
גַּנּוֹתֵיכֶ֧ם  your  gardens 
Parse: Noun, feminine plural construct, second person masculine plural
Root: גַּנָּה  
Sense: garden, orchard.
וְכַרְמֵיכֶ֛ם  and  Your  vineyards 
Parse: Conjunctive waw, Noun, masculine plural construct, second person masculine plural
Root: כֶּרֶם 
Sense: vineyard.
וּתְאֵנֵיכֶ֥ם  and  Your  fig  trees 
Parse: Conjunctive waw, Noun, feminine plural construct, second person masculine plural
Root: תְּאֵנָה  
Sense: fig, fig tree.
וְזֵיתֵיכֶ֖ם  and  your  olive  trees 
Parse: Conjunctive waw, Noun, masculine plural construct, second person masculine plural
Root: זַיִת  
Sense: olive, olive tree.
יֹאכַ֣ל  devoured  [them] 
Parse: Verb, Qal, Imperfect, third person masculine singular
Root: אָכַל  
Sense: to eat, devour, burn up, feed.
הַגָּזָ֑ם  the  locust 
Parse: Article, Noun, masculine singular
Root: גָּזָם  
Sense: locusts.
וְלֹֽא־  and  yet  not 
Parse: Conjunctive waw, Adverb, Negative particle
Root: הֲלֹא 
Sense: not, no.
שַׁבְתֶּ֥ם  you  have  returned 
Parse: Verb, Qal, Perfect, second person masculine plural
Root: שׁוּב  
Sense: to return, turn back.
עָדַ֖י  to  Me 
Parse: Preposition, first person common singular
Root: עַד  
Sense: as far as, even to, until, up to, while, as far as.
נְאֻם־  says 
Parse: Noun, masculine singular construct
Root: נְאֻם  
Sense: (Qal) utterance, declaration (of prophet).
יְהוָֽה  Yahweh 
Parse: Proper Noun, masculine singular
Root: יהוה 
Sense: the proper name of the one true God.
ס  - 
Parse: Punctuation