Amos 8:12Meaning & Commentary from the Church Fathers

Therefore, he remarks that when Samaria faces devastation and the Babylonians set fire to its cities, even if someone seeks to understand God’s will and the actions or words that may grant them forgiveness and deliverance from wrath, none shall be found. He declares, I will impose upon them a famine for the word of God, so that no prophet will be discerned, even as they traverse from west to east and from south to north (Ezek. 3:26). For those who once disregarded the Lord’s word, if they later hunger for it, will not acquire it rightly (Ezek. 3:3). The tumultuous waters signify the vast multitude of the Jews who fell into disarray, resembling the waves agitated by winds. Furthermore, when Christ was crucified, the unfortunate Jews experienced a hunger for the word of God, lacking a prophet or true guide to clarify the complexities of the Mosaic law and reveal the mysteries concealed in the scriptures. They rejected Christ, who declared, ‘I am the living bread which came down from heaven, and gives life to the world’ (John 6:51, 33). Additionally, they heard Him, as spoken through Isaiah, declare: ‘Behold, the hungry shall eat, and you shall drink, behold, the thirsty shall drink’ (Isaiah 65:13). It is also affirmed that ‘the Lord will not allow a righteous soul to perish by fire, but will cause the end of the wicked’ (Proverbs 10:3), without sending the divine word that cultivates a yearning for virtue; for as the Saviour said, ‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God’ (Matthew 4:4).

The Septuagint states: Behold, the days are coming, says the Lord God, and I will send a famine upon the land, not of bread, nor of water, but of hearing the word of the Lord. They shall roam from sea to sea and shall wander from the north to the east, searching for the word of the Lord and shall not find it. On that day, the beautiful maidens and the elect, who swear by the purity of Samaria, saying, “Your God lives,” will feel thirst. “Your God lives, Bathsheba!” They shall fall and shall rise no more. The term for ‘water’ is absent in the Hebrew text but is replaced with ‘purification,’ translated from ‘asamath,’ which signifies ‘idol’—the root of sins.

The ancient histories of the Latins, Greeks, and various nations demonstrate that nothing is more torturous than hunger, which can drive the hungry to cannibalism, revealing extreme cruelty against human nature, leading parents to neglect their small children and husbands to harm their wives, whom they once cherished. If such despair arises from physical hunger, what may be said about spiritual famine? This hunger, coupled with an intense thirst, afflicted the Jews at the Resurrection of the Lord, who lacked the heavenly bread and the living water that flowed from the womb of Jesus. The law has been removed from them, and the prophets remain silent; they traverse the earth from sea to sea, from the British to the Atlantic, wandering through the world without discovering the word of God.

We might ask the Jews what day this speaks of when they will crave the word of the Lord, especially as they possess the Scriptures and adhere to their literal content. I would suggest that this foretells a famine of spiritual discernment, through which it is essential to perceive Christ and acknowledge His suffering and Resurrection. They roam the world in search of the word of the Lord but find it not because they have rejected the word of the Lord that was delivered by all the prophets, which indeed was with the Father from the beginning and became flesh and dwelt among us (John 1).

In that time, the pure souls, described by the apostle as undefiled, of whom he desires to present a chaste virgin to Christ, will become scarce. He writes to the Corinthians: “For I betrothed you to one husband, so that to Christ I might present you as a pure virgin. But I am afraid that, as the serpent deceived Eve by his cunning, your thoughts will be led astray from a sincere and pure devotion to Christ” (2 Corinthians 11:2-3). If every virgin were beautiful or righteous, it would never declare, “the good virgins will fade away”; rather, this distinction contrasts the faithful virgins with the foolish ones without oil for their lamps (Matthew 25).

The good and beautiful virgins are those adorned with virtues who enter the bridegroom's celebration. However, these virgins will be impoverished because they will not discover the word of the Lord. Thus, we observe that where there is no teaching in the churches, virtue diminishes, purity is lost, and all good qualities vanish, as they fail to partake of the word of the Lord. However, those who partake of this heavenly food will grasp the words of Solomon: “The righteous eats to the satisfying of his soul, but the stomach of the wicked shall be in want” (Proverbs 13:25). And King David expressed in his old age, “I have been young, and now am old; yet I have not seen the righteous forsaken, nor his descendants begging bread” (Psalms 37:25). Yet, how many martyrs perished in famine during persecutions, longing for bread and physical nourishment!

This indeed refers to the bread that comes down from heaven—whoever tastes this will not experience hunger or thirst. However, when the virgins are hungry, the once victorious young men will also feel that hunger, for they swear by the idol of Samaria, viewed as symbolic of heretics, as indicated by the prophet: “Woe to those who are at ease in Zion, and trust in the mountain of Samaria” (Amos 6:1). Heretics disdain the church of God, relying on false doctrines, opposing the knowledge of God, and causing division among His people by declaring, “We have no part in David, nor inheritance in the son of Jesse” (2 Samuel 20:1). Therefore, anyone who swears by the sin of Samaria, stating, “Your God lives, Dan, and the way to Bathsheba lives!” shall perish and shall be unable to rise again.

The tribe of Dan was unable to secure an inheritance in the furthest reaches of Israel, as recounted in the book of Judges (chapter 18). ‘Dan’ signifies ‘judgment,’ while ‘Bathsheba’ can be interpreted as “the well of oaths” or “the well of satiation.” Thus, heretics wander in the furthest corners of Scripture, longing for that judgment from God, as they strive for the way to Bathsheba, located in the tribe of Judah, attempting to replicate the many ordinances of the Church while claiming to be nourished and satisfied. They are admonished by the apostle Paul, who states, “Indeed, you are full, you are rich” (1 Corinthians 4:8). They invoke the name of the Lord; once they stumble, they cannot rise because they acknowledge idol gods as their own. Yet, those willing to repent and refrain from declaring, “Your God lives, Dan, and the way to Bathsheba lives!” will heed the words of Jeremiah: “As for the fallen, they shall not rise; nor shall one who turns away be brought back” (Jeremiah 8:4).