What Does Amos 6:10 Mean?
And a man's uncle will lift him up, and the one who burns him, to carry the bones out of the house. And he will say to the one at the flanks of the house, Is there yet anyone with you? And he will say, None. Then he will say, Hush, for we must not make mention of the name of the LORD.
Key words are shown with the Hebrew or Greek and what each word meant.
Selah Decoded Version The Selah Decoded Version renders what the Hebrew and Greek words meant to the people who first heard them.
King James wording
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.THE KEY
A house emptied by death ends not in a prayer but in a command to silence the very naming of the LORD.
THE MEANING
A kinsman carries the dead from the house, asks whether anyone is left, and hears, “No.” The answer becomes “Hold thy tongue,” because the LORD’s name cannot be spoken here. The verse lets that silence stand without explaining it.
THE ROOT
הַזְכִּיר
hazkir
GROWS FROM
זכר
Remember, recall, bring to mind.
“Make mention” comes from zakar, the root of remembering: the speech would bring the LORD’s שֵׁם (shem, name as nature) into memory. So the hush reaches beyond a sound; even speaking the LORD’s nature is stopped in this emptied house.
ALSO GROWS
zeker: Remembrance, memorial.
זֵכֶר
The same root makes mention an act of remembrance, not only the utterance of a word.
zikkaron: Memorial, remembrance.
זִכָּרוֹן
This branch shows how recalling can make something present in memory, deepening what it means here to refrain from naming the LORD.
דּוֹדוֹ
dodo
GROWS FROM
דוד
Uncle; beloved or lover.
“uncle” in this verse is dodo. English makes this a bare family title, while דוד (dod) can also mean “beloved” or “lover.” The one who gathers the bones is kin, and the Hebrew word carries an echo of affection into this scene of loss.
ALSO GROWS
dodim: Loves, beloved intimacies.
דּוֹדִים
The related word carries the affectionate sense also present in dod, the uncle in this verse.
Dawid: David; beloved.
דָּוִד
David’s name shares the דוד root-family, echoing the beloved meaning within the kinship word.
THE PATTERN
When the LORD’s presence or judgment overtakes a scene, human speech falls silent.
Therefore the one who sees shall close the mouth in that time, for the time is evil.But the LORD is in his set-apart temple. Hush before his face, all the earth.And when he opens the seventh seal, there is silence in heaven for about half an hour.THE THREAD
Some lean their full weight on chariots, and some on horses; but we remember in the nature of the LORD our God.Both verses use זכר (zakar, remember or make mention) with the LORD’s name. Psalm 20 speaks of remembering that name in trust; Amos shows the same root at the edge of speech, where people tell one another to hold their tongues.
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