John Calvin Commentary Amos 8:13-14

"In that day shall the fair virgins and the young men faint for thirst. They that swear by the sin of Samaria, and say, As thy god, O Dan, liveth; and, As the way of Beer-sheba liveth; they shall fall, and never rise up again." — Amos 8:13-14 (ASV)

The Prophet, having threatened spiritual famine, now adds that the people would in every respect be barren and destitute of every good. For I do not take thirst here in the same sense as before, but that they would be dried up through the lack of all things. It is indeed the worst deprivation when people are parched with thirst, and this is what the Prophet threatens here.

A country may suffer from lack of provision while there is water enough to drink; but when not even this remains, it is evidence of a heavier and almost the extreme curse of God. We now perceive what the Prophet meant: that when God would take away His word, by which the souls of people are nourished for eternal life, the Israelites would then also be in want of all blessings, so that they would not only be without bread but also without water.

And he mentions a circumstance that would greatly aggravate the evil: Faint, he says, shall the fair virgins and the youth in their vigor. It seems unnatural that those who are vigorous and can run to get supplies for their needs should faint. But the Prophet, as I have said, wished to show that there would be no escape, but that God would distress the strongest when He sent such a famine, and with it the lack also of drink.

He afterward mentions the reason why the Lord would inflict such punishments on His people: it was because they had prostituted themselves to wicked superstitions. They swear, he says, by the sin of Samaria; they say, Live does your God, Dan; Live does the way of Beersheba.

Some understand “sin” here metaphorically (as it is also taken in many other places) as meaning sin-offerings, which are called by the Hebrews אשמות, ashimut, and by the Latins piacula—expiations. But this exposition is too refined. The Prophet then speaks only of the idols of the Israelites, and they are called wickedness or sin because superstitious people, we know, delight in their own devices.

He therefore calls an idol sin by way of reproach, though they gave it the honorable name of a god. They swear, he says, in or by the sin of Samaria. He calls it the sin of Samaria because from there arose all their corruptions, it being the royal residence and the chief city of the whole country. Since then superstition proceeded from there, the Prophet does not without reason say that all the idolatry throughout the whole land was the sin of Samaria, for he regarded the source where impiety originated.

And he afterward explains himself by saying, Live does your God, Dan; and, Live does the way of Beersheba. For we know that temples were built both in Dan and in Beersheba. He then adds two forms of an oath, but for this purpose—to show the character of the sin of Samaria, which he mentions.

They swear then by the gods of Samaria, who were really detestable, for there is no greater atrocity in the sight of God than idolatry. But he afterward adds that they were gods who were worshipped at Dan and at Beersheba. What some say of the word דרך, darek, that it means pilgrimage or the way that leads there, is frivolous and childish, for the Prophet, no doubt, used a common expression.

He therefore calls custom “the way of Beersheba,” such as was then by common consent received and approved. They then who swear by these fictitious forms of worship shall be parched, or pine away, with thirst.

He then adds, They shall fall, and rise again no more. That is, their stroke will be incurable, for God has until now employed moderate punishments, which could not heal them, as they had been obstinate in their evils.

The Prophet then declares now that there would be no longer any prospect of a remedy for them, and that the wound which God would inflict would be fatal, without any hope of being healed. This is the meaning.