Amos 4:9

“I struck you with blight and mildew in your growing gardens and vineyards; the locust devoured your fig and olive trees, yet you did not return to Me,” declares the LORD.

Berean Standard Bible

Follow its threads on the canvas →

Study note

Setting — The LORD addresses Israel through the prophet Amos, recounting agricultural judgments intended to provoke repentance. This declaration follows a warning about water scarcity and precedes a description of plague and military defeat.

The words — The Hebrew verb הִכֵּ֣יתִי (hi.Kei.ti) literally means "I struck," while בַּ/שִּׁדָּפ֣וֹן (ba./shi.da.Fon) and וּ/בַ/יֵּרָקוֹן֒ (u./vai./ye.ra.kOn) denote agricultural blight and mildew. These terms specify the precise divine actions against Israel's crops.

The thread — The judgment motif appears in Deuteronomy 28:22 regarding blight and disease, Haggai 2:17 where God strikes crops with blight and mildew, and Joel 1:4 describing locust devastation. Each passage uses similar agricultural plagues to illustrate divine discipline.

Why it lands — The text demands recognition that physical devastation is a direct divine action, not mere bad luck. The repeated refrain "yet you did not return to Me" functions as a literary refrain highlighting Israel's persistent refusal to respond to warning.

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

הִכֵּ֣יתִיhi.Kei.tiI struck אֶתְכֶם֮'et./Khem<obj.>/ you בַּשִּׁדָּפ֣וֹןba./shi.da.Fonwith <the>/ blight וּבַיֵּרָקוֹן֒u./vai./ye.ra.kOnand/ with <the>/ mildew הַרְבּ֨וֹתhar.Botto make many גַּנּוֹתֵיכֶ֧םga.no.tei./Khemgardens/ your וְכַרְמֵיכֶ֛םve./khar.mei./Khemand/ vineyards/ your וּתְאֵנֵיכֶ֥םu./te.'e.nei./Khemand/ fig trees/ your וְזֵיתֵיכֶ֖םve./zei.tei./Khemand/ olive trees/ your יֹאכַ֣לyo.Khalit ate הַגָּזָ֑םha./ga.Zamthe/ locust וְלֹֽא־ve./lo'-and/ not שַׁבְתֶּ֥םshav.Temyou returned עָדַ֖י'a.Da/ito/ me נְאֻם־ne.'um-[the] utterance of יְהוָֽה׃ סYah.wehYahweh

King James Version

I have smitten you with blasting and mildew: when your gardens and your vineyards and your fig trees and your olive trees increased, the palmerworm devoured them: yet have ye not returned unto me, saith the Lord.

Cross-references

Deuteronomy 28:22 The LORD will strike you with wasting disease, with fever and inflammation, with scorching heat and drought, and with blight and mildew; these will pursue you until you perish.
Haggai 2:17 I struck you—all the work of your hands—with blight, mildew, and hail, but you did not turn to Me, declares the LORD.
Joel 1:4 What the devouring locust has left, the swarming locust has eaten; what the swarming locust has left, the young locust has eaten; and what the young locust has left, the destroying locust has eaten.
Amos 4:6 “I afflicted all your cities with cleanness of teeth and all your towns with lack of bread, yet you did not return to Me,” declares the LORD.
Amos 7:1 This is what the Lord GOD showed me: He was preparing swarms of locusts just after the king’s harvest, as the late spring crop was coming up.
Deuteronomy 28:42 Swarms of locusts will consume all your trees and the produce of your land.
1 Kings 8:37 When famine or plague comes upon the land, or blight or mildew or locusts or grasshoppers, or when their enemy besieges them in their cities, whatever plague or sickness may come,
2 Chronicles 6:28 When famine or plague comes upon the land, or blight or mildew or locusts or grasshoppers, or when their enemies besiege them in their cities, whatever plague or sickness may come,
Job 36:8 And if men are bound with chains, caught in cords of affliction,
Isaiah 1:5 Why do you want more beatings? Why do you keep rebelling? Your head has a massive wound, and your whole heart is afflicted.