Amos 4:7

“I also withheld the rain from you when the harvest was three months away. I sent rain on one city but withheld it from another. One field received rain; another without rain withered.

Berean Standard Bible

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Study note

Setting — The Lord speaks to Israel through the prophet Amos during a series of divine judgments designed to provoke repentance. This declaration follows warnings of famine and precedes a report of widespread thirst, framing the rain withholding as part of a deliberate corrective sequence.

The words — מָנַ֨עְתִּי (ma.Na'.ti) translates literally as “I withheld,” and בְּ/ע֨וֹד (be./'od) carries the sense of “in yet” or “while still.” These terms anchor the verse in a specific timeframe, marking the intervention as occurring three months before the harvest.

The thread — The motif of withheld rain appears in Exodus 9:26 during the Egyptian plagues and Jeremiah 3:3 as a sign of covenant judgment. These references establish a pattern where controlled precipitation functions as a direct response to national behavior.

Why it lands — The text demands recognition that divine control over agriculture targets spiritual stubbornness rather than mere physical survival. It requires the reader to acknowledge that withheld provision is intended to force a return to God, not merely to inflict hardship.

Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.

The Hebrew words

וְגַ֣םve./Gamand/ also אָנֹכִי֩'a.no.KhiI מָנַ֨עְתִּיma.Na'.tiI withheldמִכֶּ֜םmi./Kemfrom/ youאֶת־'et-<obj.>הַגֶּ֗שֶׁםha./Ge.shemthe/ rain בְּע֨וֹדbe./'odin/ yet שְׁלֹשָׁ֤הshe.lo.Shahthree חֳדָשִׁים֙cho.da.Shimmonths לַקָּצִ֔ירla./ka.Tzir[were] to the/ harvest וְהִמְטַרְתִּי֙ve./him.tar.Tiand/ I sent rain עַל־'al-on עִ֣יר'ira city אֶחָ֔ת'e.Chatone וְעַל־ve./'al-and/ on עִ֥יר'ira city אַחַ֖ת'a.Chatone לֹ֣אlo'not אַמְטִ֑יר'am.TirI sent rain חֶלְקָ֤הchel.Kaha portion of ground אַחַת֙'a.Chatone תִּמָּטֵ֔רti.ma.Terit was rained on וְחֶלְקָ֛הve./chel.Kahand/ a portion of ground אֲשֶֽׁר־'a.Sher-which לֹֽא־lo'-not תַמְטִ֥ירtam.Tirit sent rain עָלֶ֖יהָ'a.Lei./haon/ it תִּיבָֽשׁ׃ti.Vashit dried up

King James Version

And also I have withholden the rain from you, when there were yet three months to the harvest: and I caused it to rain upon one city, and caused it not to rain upon another city: one piece was rained upon, and the piece whereupon it rained not withered.

Cross-references

Exodus 9:26 The only place where it did not hail was in the land of Goshen, where the Israelites lived.
Jeremiah 3:3 Therefore the showers have been withheld, and no spring rains have fallen. Yet you have the brazen look of a prostitute; you refuse to be ashamed.
Exodus 9:4 But the LORD will make a distinction between the livestock of Israel and the livestock of Egypt, so that no animal belonging to the Israelites will die.’”
Exodus 10:23 No one could see anyone else, and for three days no one left his place. Yet all the Israelites had light in their dwellings.
2 Chronicles 7:13 If I close the sky so there is no rain, or if I command the locust to devour the land, or if I send a plague among My people,
Isaiah 5:6 I will make it a wasteland, neither pruned nor cultivated, and thorns and briers will grow up. I will command the clouds that rain shall not fall on it.”
Leviticus 26:18 And if after all this you will not obey Me, I will proceed to punish you sevenfold for your sins.
Leviticus 26:23 And if in spite of these things you do not accept My discipline, but continue to walk in hostility toward Me,
Leviticus 26:27 But if in spite of all this you do not obey Me, but continue to walk in hostility toward Me,
Deuteronomy 11:17 or the anger of the LORD will be kindled against you. He will shut the heavens so that there will be no rain, nor will the land yield its produce, and you will soon perish from the good land that the LORD is giving you.