Amos 8:3
Translations
King James Version (KJV)
And the songs of the temple shall be howlings in that day, said the Lord GOD: there shall be many dead bodies in every place; they shall cast them forth with silence.
American King James Version (AKJV)
And the songs of the temple shall be howlings in that day, said the Lord GOD: there shall be many dead bodies in every place; they shall cast them forth with silence.
American Standard Version (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.
Basic English Translation (BBE)
And the songs of the king's house will be cries of pain in that day, says the Lord God: great will be the number of the dead bodies, and everywhere they will put them out without a word.
Webster's Revision
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.
World English Bible
The songs of the temple will be wailings in that day," says the Lord Yahweh. "The dead bodies will be many. In every place they will throw them out with silence.
English Revised Version (ERV)
And the songs of the temple shall be howlings in that day, saith the Lord GOD: the dead bodies shall be many; in every place shall they cast them forth with silence.
Definitions for Amos 8:3
Clarke's Amos 8:3 Bible Commentary
The songs of the temple - Instead of שירות shiroth, songs, Houbigant reads שורות shoroth, the singing women; and Newcome follows him: "And the singing women of the palace shall howl in that day." Instead of joyous songs, they shall have nothing but lamentation.
They shall cast them forth with silence - Every place shall be filled with the dead, and a dreadful silence shall reign universally; the few that remain being afraid either to speak or complain, or even to chant a funeral dirge for the most respectable of the dead.
Barnes's Amos 8:3 Bible Commentary
The songs of the temple shall be howlings - Literally, "shall howl." It shall be, as when mirthful music is suddenly broken in upon, and, through the sudden agony of the singer, ends in a shriek or yell of misery. When sounds of joy are turned into wailing, all must be complete sorrow. They are not hushed only, but are turned into their opposite. Since Amos is speaking to, and of, Israel, "the temple" is, doubtless, here the great idol-temple at Bethel, and "the songs" were the choral music, with which they counterfeited the temple-music, as arranged by David, praising (they could not make up their minds which,) Nature or "the God of nature," but, in truth, worshiping the creature. The temple was often strongly built and on a height, and, whether from a vague hope of help from God, (as in the siege of Jerusalem by the Romans,) or from some human trust, that the temple might be respected, or from confidence in its strength, or from all together, was the last refuge of the all-but-captive people. Their last retreat was often the scene of the last reeling strife, the battle-cry of the assailants, the shrieks of the defenseless, the groans of the wounded, the agonized cry of unyielding despair. Some such scene the prophet probably had before his mind's eye, for he adds;
There shall be "many dead bodies," literally, "Many the corpse in every place." He sees it, not as future, but before him. The whole city, now so thronged with life, "the oppressor's wrong, the proud man's contumely," lies before him as one scene of death; every place thronged with corpses; none exempt; at home, abroad, or, which he had just spoken of, the temple; no time, no place for honorable burial. "They," literally, "he casts forth, hush!" Each casts forth those dear to him, as "dung on the face of the earth" (Jeremiah 8:2, etc.). Grief is too strong for words. Living and dead are hushed as the grave. "Large cities are large solitudes," for want of mutual love; in God's retribution, all their din and hum becomes anew a solitude.
Wesley's Amos 8:3 Bible Commentary
8:3 With silence - So great will be the cruelty of the enemy, that they dare not bury them, or if they do, it must be undiscerned.