Charles Ellicott Commentary Amos 8:3

"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." — Amos 8:3 (ASV)

Temple.— The word rendered this way (hêchal) also signifies “palace,” and this is probably the meaning in this passage. The “songs” have already been spoken of in Amos 6:5.

The construction of the following clauses in the original is somewhat doubtful. Some commentators would break up the sentence into abrupt ejaculations. Thus, Keil states: “corpses in multitude; in every place he has cast them forth: Hush!” For “he has cast,” some would read (with two Hebrew manuscripts) the imperative, “cast them forth.” However, it would be better, and more in keeping with the style of Amos, to connect the clauses together this way: There shall be many corpses in every place that one has cast away in hushed silence. These words describe the reign of death and doom, with none to bury or make lamentation—a full end.