What Does Amos 4:8 Mean in the King James?
So two or three cities wandered unto one city, to drink water; but they were not satisfied: yet have ye not returned unto me, saith the LORD.
The analysis reads the King James wording.
King James Version The King James Version, first published in 1611. Selah Verse shows the standard text.
THE KEY
Amos sets movement toward water against the deeper movement of returning to the LORD.
THE MEANING
Communities travel toward water, yet their thirst remains unsatisfied, and the people remain unreturned to the LORD. The verse holds seeking relief and returning to God as two different movements. It speaks to the space between reaching for help and turning back to its source.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
It undoes the belief that searching urgently for relief is the same as returning to the LORD: outward movement and return are different acts.
THE ROOT
שַׁבְתֶּם
shavtem
GROWS FROM
שׁוּב
shuv
to turn back, return
“returned” in this verse is shavtem. The verse contrasts cities moving toward water with people who do not turn back to the LORD. This root also describes restoration, so return carries the possibility of being brought back into relation, not merely changing location.
ALSO GROWS
shav: Returned; turned back.
שָׁב
This form makes clear that the root names a change of direction, not simply movement from one place to another.
yeshovev: Restores; turns back.
יְשׁוֹבֵב
Psalm 23:3 uses this form for the LORD restoring the living soul, revealing return as a movement that can restore.
וְנָעוּ
ve-na'u
GROWS FROM
נוּעַ
nua
to move to and fro, waver, or totter
“wandered” in this verse is ve-na'u. The word carries a sense of being in motion, even wavering, as the cities seek water. Beside שׁוּב (shuv, “return”), it sharpens the difference between traveling in search of relief and turning back to the LORD.
ALSO GROWS
na: Moving or wavering.
נָע
This form preserves the sense of motion without implying that the movement has reached its destination.
tenu'ah: Motion; movement.
תְּנוּעָה
This related word shows the broader movement carried by the root, which Amos contrasts with the specific turning back expressed by “returned.”
יִשְׂבָּעוּ
yisba'u
GROWS FROM
שׂבע
śavaʿ
to be full or sated
“Satisfied” translates the fullness these travelers hope water will bring. The verse pairs their unmet physical need with an unmade return to the LORD: seeking what fills does not, by itself, complete that turning.
ALSO GROWS
sova: Fullness; satiety.
שֹׂבַע
This noun names the state the cities seek but do not reach.
masbia: Satisfies; fills.
מַשְׂבִּיעַ
Psalm 145:16 uses this form for God satisfying every living thing, giving a contrast to the unfulfilled thirst in Amos.
THE PATTERN
Need can send people toward provision while leaving the deeper return unresolved.
For my people have committed two evils; they have forsaken me the fountain of living waters, and hewed them out cisterns, broken cisterns, that can hold no water.Ho, every one that thirsteth, come ye to the waters, and he that hath no money; come ye, buy, and eat; yea, come, buy wine and milk without money and without price. Wherefore do ye spend money for that which is not bread? and your labour for that which satisfieth not? hearken diligently unto me, and eat ye that which is good, and let your soul delight itself in fatness.But whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst; but the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life.THE THREAD
He restoreth my soul: he leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name’s sake.In Psalm 23, “restoreth” translates יְשׁוֹבֵב (yeshovev, “restores/turns back”), a form of שׁוּב (shuv, “return”), the root behind “returned” in Amos. Amos names the people’s missing return; the psalm shows the same root as the LORD’s restoring movement.
Read the SDV Bible.
Every verse has a Deep Dive in the app.
The iPhone Bible app with the Selah Decoded Version.
Does something in this reading look wrong? Tell us