ציטירנדיקער פּירוש אויף עמוס 4:12

The second prophecy begins with the pasuk "listen you cows of Bashan" and goes until "Gd showed me the locusts He was creating... (Amos 7:1). And it has 8 sections to it. The first is "listen cows of Bashan" (Amos 4:1). The second is "therefore I will do thus to you" (Amos 4:12). The third is "listen to this matter that I am bringing upon you as a dirge" (Amos 5:1). The fourth is "because thus said Gd to the house of Israel" (Amos 5:4). The fifth is "thus said Gd the Host of Legions" (Amos 5:16). The sixth is "Woe to those who wish for the day of the Lord" (Amos 5:18). The seventh is "Those who are at ease in Zion" (Amos 6:1). The eight is "For the Lord will command" (Amos 6:11). And about these I have six questions. ...

המול, an infinitive in the passive conjugation נפעל, meaning that the subject about whom the Torah speaks, the Jewish nation, is "to have each male circumcised." The root of the verb is נמל, it is parallel to such roots as שקל, הנדף, עשן, (compare Psalms 68,3). According to my opinion the word הנדף in that erse is a noun, as I have explained in my book שער הדקדוק. In accordance with that theory the word המול is also a noun with an additional letter ה, such as we find it when fully spelled out as הנמול, "the circumcised one," parallel to הנדף, "the dispersed one." Alternatively, the root of the verb is מול as in Amos 4,12 הכון, from the root כון.

At the time of prayer, they would dress and cover, etc. It was not so that the heart not see nakedness, as behold they were covered with sand, as Rashi explained. Rather it was for the sake of, "prepare to greet your God, etc." (Amos 4:12), as we say in the first chapter (Shabbat 10a). And it is easy to understand.