The Meaning of Amos 8:3 Explained

Amos 8:3

KJV: And the songs of the temple shall be howlings in that day, saith the Lord GOD: there shall be many dead bodies in every place; they shall cast them forth with silence.

YLT: And howled have songstresses of a palace in that day, An affirmation of the Lord Jehovah, Many are the carcases, into any place throw -- hush!

Darby: And the songs of the palace shall be howlings in that day, saith the Lord Jehovah. The dead bodies shall be many; in every place they shall be cast forth. Silence!

ASV: And the songs of the temple shall be wailings in that day, saith the Lord Jehovah: the dead bodies shall be many: in every place shall they cast them forth with silence.

KJV Reverse Interlinear

And the songs  of the temple  shall be howlings  in that day,  saith  the Lord  GOD:  [there shall be] many  dead bodies  in every place;  they shall cast [them] forth  with silence. 

What does Amos 8:3 Mean?

Verse Meaning

When judgment came, the singing in the royal palace would turn to wailing and lamenting. There would be many dead bodies lying around from the enemy"s slaughter, and those people who remained alive would dispose of them in silence because it would be such a terrible sight. Like so much rotten fruit, the dead Israelites would be thrown out.

Context Summary

Amos 8:1-14 - The Worst Famine Of All
What is more fragile than summer fruit! So beautiful, so refreshing, yet so readily corrupted and diseased. To Amos it was an emblem of the rapidity with which dissolution would overtake his rebellious nation. The end had arrived. The Great Husbandman could do no more. When the harvest has come, separation between good and bad is inevitable. See Isaiah 5:4; Matthew 13:30.
The crimes of the ruling class were enormous. Eager to increase their stores, they wearied of time given to religion. They grudged passing a day without opening their salesrooms. They did not scruple to make their measures (ephah) small, and to demand a greater weight of money (shekel) from their clients. These were crimes that could not be passed over. It is an awful sentence when God says, "I will never forget," Amos 8:7. Invasion would sweep the land like an inundation. Since the people would not heed the God-sent messengers, they would be withdrawn. There would be a famine of the Word of God, and those who had most despised it, because enamored with the fascinations of youth, would be smitten with an insatiable appetite for it. [source]

Chapter Summary: Amos 8

1  By a basket of summer fruit is shown the approach of Israel's end
4  Oppression is reproved
11  A famine of the word of God threatened

What do the individual words in Amos 8:3 mean?

And shall be wailing the songs of the temple in day that says the Lord GOD Many dead bodies everywhere everywhere they shall be thrown out in silence -
וְהֵילִ֜ילוּ שִׁיר֤וֹת הֵיכָל֙ בַּיּ֣וֹם הַה֔וּא נְאֻ֖ם אֲדֹנָ֣י יְהוִ֑ה רַ֣ב הַפֶּ֔גֶר בְּכָל־ מָק֖וֹם הִשְׁלִ֥יךְ הָֽס פ

וְהֵילִ֜ילוּ  And  shall  be  wailing 
Parse: Conjunctive waw, Verb, Hifil, Conjunctive perfect, third person common plural
Root: יָלַל  
Sense: (Hiphil) to howl, wail, make a howling.
שִׁיר֤וֹת  the  songs 
Parse: Noun, feminine plural construct
Root: שִׁיר 
Sense: song.
הֵיכָל֙  of  the  temple 
Parse: Noun, masculine singular
Root: הֵיכָל  
Sense: palace, temple, nave, sanctuary.
בַּיּ֣וֹם  in  day 
Parse: Preposition-b, Article, Noun, masculine singular
Root: יׄום 
Sense: day, time, year.
הַה֔וּא  that 
Parse: Article, Pronoun, third person masculine singular
Root: הוּא 
Sense: he, she, it.
נְאֻ֖ם  says 
Parse: Noun, masculine singular construct
Root: נְאֻם  
Sense: (Qal) utterance, declaration (of prophet).
אֲדֹנָ֣י  the  Lord 
Parse: Proper Noun, masculine singular
Root: אֲדֹנָי  
Sense: my lord, lord.
יְהוִ֑ה  GOD 
Parse: Proper Noun, masculine singular
Root: יהוה 
Sense: the proper name of the one true God.
רַ֣ב  Many 
Parse: Adjective, masculine singular
Root: רַב 
Sense: much, many, great.
הַפֶּ֔גֶר  dead  bodies 
Parse: Article, Noun, masculine singular
Root: פֶּגֶר  
Sense: corpse, carcass, monument, stela.
בְּכָל־  everywhere 
Parse: Preposition-b, Noun, masculine singular construct
Root: כֹּל  
Sense: all, the whole.
מָק֖וֹם  everywhere 
Parse: Noun, masculine singular
Root: מָקֹום  
Sense: standing place, place.
הִשְׁלִ֥יךְ  they  shall  be  thrown  out 
Parse: Verb, Hifil, Perfect, third person masculine singular
Root: שָׁלַךְ  
Sense: to throw, cast, hurl, fling.
הָֽס  in  silence 
Parse: Interjection
Root: הַס 
Sense: (Piel) hush, keep silence, be silent, hold peace, hold tongue, still v.
פ  - 
Parse: Punctuation