The Meaning of Amos 5:4 Explained

Amos 5:4

KJV: For thus saith the LORD unto the house of Israel, Seek ye me, and ye shall live:

YLT: For thus said Jehovah to the house of Israel: Seek ye Me, and live,

Darby: For thus saith Jehovah unto the house of Israel: Seek ye me, and ye shall live.

ASV: For thus saith Jehovah unto the house of Israel, Seek ye me, and ye shall live;

KJV Reverse Interlinear

For thus saith  the LORD  unto the house  of Israel,  Seek  ye me, and ye shall live: 

What does Amos 5:4 Mean?

Context Summary

Amos 5:1-15 - "prepare To Meet Thy God"
Worse judgments than those mentioned in the previous verses were in store but before they are inflicted, the entire nation is summoned to the divine bar. Whether we choose or not, "we must all appear before the judgment seat of God." Prepare, my soul, to meet Him! Note the sublimity of that last verse of Amos 4:1-13. How great is God, who made the mountains! How mysterious, who made the wind! How sublime, who calls to the dawn! How mighty, to whom mountains and peaks are stepping-stones!
But great and holy though God is, we are invited to seek Him. He desires to bless, but He must be sought. Were we more diligent in seeking, as the miner for gold, or the scientific man for nature's secrets, we should be marvelously repaid. "Eye hath not seen," etc. Amos speaks as nature's child. Often as he had tended his flocks, he had watched the Pleiades with their gentle radiance, and Orion, the herald of storm. He had listened to God calling across the waters, and had drawn life from Him. "Seek and live!" O soul, what a God is thine! Thy springs and storms await His word of command. He can turn thy darkness into the morning. Be of good cheer! [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 5:4 mean?

For thus says Yahweh to the house of Israel Seek Me and live
כִּ֣י כֹ֥ה אָמַ֛ר יְהוָ֖ה לְבֵ֣ית יִשְׂרָאֵ֑ל דִּרְשׁ֖וּנִי וִֽחְיֽוּ

כֹ֥ה  thus 
Parse: Adverb
Root: כֹּה  
Sense: thus, here, in this manner.
אָמַ֛ר  says 
Parse: Verb, Qal, Perfect, third person masculine singular
Root: אָמַר 
Sense: to say, speak, utter.
יְהוָ֖ה  Yahweh 
Parse: Proper Noun, masculine singular
Root: יהוה 
Sense: the proper name of the one true God.
לְבֵ֣ית  to  the  house 
Parse: Preposition-l, Noun, masculine singular construct
Root: בַּיִת 
Sense: house.
יִשְׂרָאֵ֑ל  of  Israel 
Parse: Proper Noun, masculine singular
Root: יִשְׂרָאֵל  
Sense: the second name for Jacob given to him by God after his wrestling with the angel at Peniel.
דִּרְשׁ֖וּנִי  Seek  Me 
Parse: Verb, Qal, Imperative, masculine plural, first person common singular
Root: דַּרְיׄושׁ 
Sense: to resort to, seek, seek with care, enquire, require.
וִֽחְיֽוּ  and  live 
Parse: Conjunctive waw, Verb, Qal, Imperative, masculine plural
Root: חָיָה  
Sense: to live, have life, remain alive, sustain life, live prosperously, live for ever, be quickened, be alive, be restored to life or health.