Behold, I am pressed under you, as a cart is pressed that is full of sheaves.

AMOS 2:13KJV
Know the Bible

Amos 2:13 (KJV)

What does Amos 2:13 mean?

Amos 2:13 uses the image of a cart loaded with sheaves to show how the people’s actions have weighed heavily on God, pressing Him down with their wrongdoing. The verse pictures God as being burdened or strained by the sins of Israel, just as a cart creaks and groans under a heavy harvest.

In this verse, the prophet Amos is speaking God’s words to the people of Israel, warning them about the consequences of their persistent injustice and disobedience. The image of the overloaded cart helps listeners feel the seriousness of their actions—God is not distant or unmoved, but deeply affected by the weight of their choices.

The Hebrew behind Amos 2:13

  • "pressed" (עָקַר, ʿāqar): This word is often understood as being weighed down or strained, not just physically but emotionally or spiritually. Here, it paints a vivid picture of God feeling the pressure of Israel’s wrongdoing.
  • "cart" (עֲגָלָה, ʿăgālāh): The cart is a simple, everyday object, making the image relatable. It’s not just any cart, but one used for carrying heavy loads during harvest, which would be familiar to Amos’s audience.
  • "full" (מָלֵא, mālē’): This word emphasizes that the cart isn’t just carrying a normal load, but is filled to capacity, almost to the point of breaking.
  • "sheaves" (עֲמִיר, ʿāmīr): Sheaves are bundles of harvested grain, a sign of abundance but also of weight. The use of sheaves highlights the idea of something good (a harvest) becoming a burden because of excess.

Why Amos 2:13 matters

  • Amos 2:13 clears up the idea that God is unaffected by human actions; instead, it shows God as personally impacted by injustice and sin.
  • The verse emphasizes that there is a limit to how much wrongdoing God will bear before responding, setting up the warnings and judgments that follow in Amos.
  • This image connects to the wider message of Amos, where everyday scenes from rural life are used to help ordinary people grasp the seriousness of their behavior and its effect on their relationship with God.

Where else these words appear

“sheaves” Hebrew H5995 · used in 4 verses

  • Jeremiah 9:22 Speak, Thus saith the LORD, Even the carcases of men shall fall as dung upon the open field, and as the handful after the harvestman, and none shall gather them.
  • Micah 4:12 But they know not the thoughts of the LORD, neither understand they his counsel: for he shall gather them as the sheaves into the floor.
  • Zechariah 12:6 In that day will I make the governors of Judah like an hearth of fire among the wood, and like a torch of fire in a sheaf; and they shall devour all the people round about, on the right hand and on the left: and Jerusalem shall be inhabited again in her own place, even in Jerusalem.

“cart” Hebrew H5699 · used in 20 verses

  • Genesis 45:19 Now thou art commanded, this do ye; take you wagons out of the land of Egypt for your little ones, and for your wives, and bring your father, and come.
  • Numbers 7:7 Two wagons and four oxen he gave unto the sons of Gershon, according to their service:
  • 1 Samuel 6:14 And the cart came into the field of Joshua, a Bethshemite, and stood there, where there was a great stone: and they clave the wood of the cart, and offered the kine a burnt offering unto the LORD.

“full” Hebrew H4392 · used in 64 verses

  • Genesis 23:9 That he may give me the cave of Machpelah, which he hath, which is in the end of his field; for as much money as it is worth he shall give it me for a possession of a buryingplace amongst you.
  • Numbers 7:67 His offering was one silver charger, the weight whereof was an hundred and thirty shekels, one silver bowl of seventy shekels, after the shekel of the sanctuary; both of them full of fine flour mingled with oil for a meat offering:
  • Proverbs 17:1 Better is a dry morsel, and quietness therewith, than an house full of sacrifices with strife.