The Meaning of Amos 5:23 Explained

Amos 5:23

KJV: Take thou away from me the noise of thy songs; for I will not hear the melody of thy viols.

YLT: Turn aside from Me the noise of thy songs, Yea, the praise of thy psaltery I hear not.

Darby: Take away from me the noise of thy songs, and I will not hear the melody of thy lutes;

ASV: Take thou away from me the noise of thy songs; for I will not hear the melody of thy viols.

Discover Amos 5:23

CONTEXT: What is the Context of Amos 5:23?

MEANING: What does Amos 5:23 Mean?

WORDS: What do the individual words in Amos 5:23 mean?

RELATIONS: What do the major concepts mean in Amos 5:23?

KJV Reverse Interlinear

Take thou away  from me the noise  of thy songs;  for I will not hear  the melody  of thy viols. 

What does Amos 5:23 Mean?

Verse Meaning

In Amos 5:23-24 the singular pronoun "your" appears indicating that the call is for individuals to repent. God told His people to take away the songs that they sang when they worshipped Him because they were only so much noise in His ears. He would not even listen to the musical accompaniment. He would shut His ears as well as His nostrils ( Amos 5:21, vivid anthropomorphisms).
"Today people will pay high prices for tickets to "Christian concerts," yet they won"t attend a free Bible study class or Bible conference in their own church. Christian music is big business today, but we wonder how much of it really glorifies the Lord. What we think is music may be nothing but noise to the Lord." [1]

Context Summary

Amos 5:16-27 - A Dark Day For Hypocrites
Mighty sins had been committed, and mighty judgments were at hand. The oppression of the poor, Amos 5:11; the erection of elegant dwellings from unrighteous exactions, Amos 5:11; the acceptance of bribes to betray the needy, Amos 5:12 all these must be reckoned with. But if the guilty nation would not seek God and establish judgment in the gate, where magistrates sat to dispense justice, the streets would be filled with wailing, and the husbandmen and vine-dressers would be equally affected by the widespread desolation as the dwellers in the cities.
Moreover, bad as Israel's present condition was, it would become infinitely worse, as though a man fleeing from a lion rushed into the arms of a bear, or, taking refuge in a house, was stung by a serpent that lay hid in a cranny of the wall. Of what avail are religious rites, when the heart is alienated from God, Amos 5:21, etc.? Let us heed well the exhortation of Amos 5:23-24. The martyr Stephen quoted Amos 5:25-27, which accuse the people of carrying about little shrines and pocket-idols, to serve as amulets averting disaster, Acts 7:43. But they might as well have built a bank of sand to arrest an overflowing flood! The one thing which is going to help us is repentance toward God and faith in our Savior Jesus Christ. [source]

Chapter Summary: Amos 5

1  A lamentation for Israel
4  An exhortation to repentance
21  God rejects their hypocritical service

What do the individual words in Amos 5:23 mean?

Take away from Me the noise of your songs for the melody of your stringed instruments not I will hear
הָסֵ֥ר מֵעָלַ֖י הֲמ֣וֹן שִׁרֶ֑יךָ וְזִמְרַ֥ת נְבָלֶ֖יךָ לֹ֥א אֶשְׁמָֽע

הָסֵ֥ר  Take  away 
Parse: Verb, Hifil, Imperative, masculine singular
Root: סוּר 
Sense: to turn aside, depart.
מֵעָלַ֖י  from  Me 
Parse: Preposition-m, first person common singular
Root: עַל 
Sense: upon, on the ground of, according to, on account of, on behalf of, concerning, beside, in addition to, together with, beyond, above, over, by, on to, towards, to, against.
הֲמ֣וֹן  the  noise 
Parse: Noun, masculine singular construct
Root: הָמֹון 
Sense: (Qal) murmur, roar, crowd, abundance, tumult, sound.
שִׁרֶ֑יךָ  of  your  songs 
Parse: Noun, masculine plural construct, second person masculine singular
Root: שִׁיר 
Sense: song.
וְזִמְרַ֥ת  for  the  melody 
Parse: Conjunctive waw, Noun, feminine singular construct
Root: זִמְרָה  
Sense: music, melody, song.
נְבָלֶ֖יךָ  of  your  stringed  instruments 
Parse: Noun, masculine plural construct, second person masculine singular
Root:  
Sense: a skin-bag, jar, pitcher.
אֶשְׁמָֽע  I  will  hear 
Parse: Verb, Qal, Imperfect, first person common singular
Root: שָׁמַע 
Sense: to hear, listen to, obey.

What are the major concepts related to Amos 5:23?

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Similar Scriptures for Amos 5:23

Amos 6:5 [5]
Amos 8:3 [4]
Amos 8:10 [3]