Bible Strands
Amos 6:10
And when the relative who is to burn the bodies picks them up to remove them from the house, he will call to one inside, “Is anyone else with you?” “None,” that person will answer. “Silence,” the relative will retort, “for the name of the LORD must not be invoked.”
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — The prophet Amos addresses Israel, describing a moment when a relative removes bones from a house after ten men have just died. The scene depicts the immediate aftermath of a household's mortality, framed as a conditional warning rather than a completed event.
The words — The Hebrew terms דּוֹדוֹ (do.D/o, his loved one) and מְסָרְפּוֹ (me.sa.re.F/o, the one who burns him) identify the relative tasked with handling the dead. These words anchor the action to a specific kinship duty within the judgment scene.
The thread — The motif of unburied corpses and silenced mourning echoes in Amos 8:3, where temple songs turn to wailing over strewn bodies. The retrieval of dead warriors also parallels 1 Samuel 31:12, though Amos subverts the ritual by demanding silence instead of honor.
Why it lands — The text demands recognition that divine judgment renders even sacred rituals and communal mourning impossible. It asks the reader to confront the reality that covenant failure strips away all comfort, leaving only the stark command to cease invoking the divine name.
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
King James Version
And a man’s uncle shall take him up, and he that burneth him, to bring out the bones out of the house, and shall say unto him that is by the sides of the house, Is there yet any with thee? and he shall say, No. Then shall he say, Hold thy tongue: for we may not make mention of the name of the Lord.
Cross-references
- 1 Samuel 31:12 all their men of valor set out, journeyed all night, and retrieved the bodies of Saul and his sons from the wall of Beth-shan. When they arrived at Jabesh, they burned the bodies there.
- Amos 8:3 “In that day,” declares the Lord GOD, “the songs of the temple will turn to wailing. Many will be the corpses, strewn in silence everywhere!”
- Ezekiel 20:39 And as for you, O house of Israel, this is what the Lord GOD says: Go and serve your idols, every one of you. But afterward, you will surely listen to Me, and you will no longer defile My holy name with your gifts and idols.
- Amos 5:13 Therefore, the prudent keep silent in such times, for the days are evil.
- Numbers 17:12 Then the Israelites declared to Moses, “Look, we are perishing! We are lost; we are all lost!
- Jeremiah 16:6 “Both great and small will die in this land. They will not be buried or mourned, nor will anyone cut himself or shave his head for them.
- Jeremiah 44:26 Nevertheless, hear the word of the LORD, all you people of Judah living in Egypt: Behold, I have sworn by My great name, says the LORD, that never again will any man of Judah living in the land of Egypt invoke My name or say, ‘As surely as the Lord GOD lives.’
- Ezekiel 24:21 Tell the house of Israel that this is what the Lord GOD says: ‘I am about to desecrate My sanctuary, the pride of your power, the desire of your eyes, and the delight of your soul. And the sons and daughters you left behind will fall by the sword.’
- 2 Kings 6:33 While Elisha was still speaking with them, the messenger came down to him. And the king said, “This calamity is from the LORD. Why should I wait for the LORD any longer?”
- 2 Kings 23:16 And as Josiah turned, he saw the tombs there on the hillside, and he sent someone to take the bones out of the tombs, and he burned them on the altar to defile it, according to the word of the LORD proclaimed by the man of God who had foretold these things.