1 A MO S. CHAP. I. THE words of Amos, who was among the shepherds of Tekoa, which * came unto him in a vision concerning Israel, in the days of Uzziah king of Judah, Hebr. he saw. 1. Amos] Though this prophet was of Tekoa, a city in the tribe of Judah, (see 2 Chron. xi. 5, 6. and Josh. xv, 20, 59 in the Greek,) yet he dwelt in Israel, (c. vii. 12,) and prophesied chiefly against that kingdom. See c. ii. 6, &c. He was a shepherd and herdsman, and a gatherer of sycamore fruit: c. i. 1. vii. 14. But rural imployments were general, and honourable, among his countrymen. However, in the words "I was no prophet, "Neither was I the son of a prophet," c. vii. 14, he seems to distinguish himself from those who were educated in the schools founded by Samuel. He borrows many images. from the scenes in which he had been engaged; but he introduces them with skill, and gives them force and dignity by the eloquence and grandeur of his manner. We shall find in him many affecting and pathetic, many elegant and sublime passages. No prophet has more magnificently described the Deity; or more gravely rebuked the luxurious; or reproved injustice and oppression with greater warmth and a more generous indignation. An eminent judge and master of style pronounces him nearly equal to the very first prophets in elevation of sentiments and loftiness of spirit; and scarcely inferior to any in splendour of diction and beauty of composition. De sacra poesi Hebr. præl. xxi. shepherds] Kimchi says that shepherds were called p, because some sheep were spotted: Gen. xxx. 32: Drusius, because a mark was stampt on them. Bochart derives the word from a corresponding Arabic one, which signifies an inferior kind of sheep or goats, and the shepherd of such; and hence a shepherd in general. Hieroz. i. 442. Ιερεσαλημ Israel]" 6. Scribitur abreviate 1AHM, et 1oganλ IHA,' Secker. Uzziah] He reigned over Judah from the year before Christ 809, to the year 758. and in the days of Jeroboam the son of Joash king 2 Israel, two years before the earthquake. And he said: Jehovah will roar from Sion, And from Jerusalem he will utter his voice: And the habitations of the shepherds shall mourn, Thus saith Jehovah: For three transgressions of Damascus, And for four, I will not turn away the punishment thereof; Because they threshed Gilead with threshing-wains of iron: Jeroboham] See on Jon. i. 1. ---earthquake] This earthquake is referred to Zech. xiv. 5; and probably, as Bishop Lowth thinks, Isai. v. 25. Josephus describes some of its effects; and attributes it to Uzziah's inva. sion of the priest's office, recorded 2 Chron. xxvi. 16. Ant, ix. x. 4. 2. Jehovah---voice] These two lines occur Joel iii. 16. See also Jer. xxv. 30. The meaning is, that God will soon spread terror, like beasts of prey when they roar: Amos iii. 8: in other words, that he will soon display his power in executing judgment. The particular judgment here threatened is a drought, See c. iv. 6. vi. 12. ---from Sion] His dwelling place; where he exhibits his glory between the Cherubim. See Jer. xxv. 30. ---Carmel] A very fruitful mountain in the tribe of Judah. Josh. xv. 55. Isai. xxxv. 2. 3. ---I will not turn away, &c.] For the multiplied transgressions of Damascus, the capital of Syria, I will not rescue it, sc. Dy the people, from punishment. See Ps. xxxv. 17, The lxx here translate the suffix by autov, v. 6. by aures. and v.9. by , referring it to the people, the inhabitants, the city. Or, I will not convert the people. Lament. v. 21. Jer. xxxi. 18. Or, I will not pardon it: sc. y the transgression. Or, I will not turn it back, or revoke it: sc. p my purpose, or My word, See Numb. xxiii, 19, 20; where 27 may be understood "For three transgressions of Damascus, "And for four, I will not restore it. Lowth's Prel. v. 2. p. 52. Est Litotes: Certissime puniam, et exequam illud decretur meum. Confer Num. xxiii. 20. Dathius. threshed] This alludes to the threshing-wain described 4 5 6 7 But I will send a fire on the house of Hazael, And I will cut off the inhabitant from the valley And him that holdeth the sceptre from ‡ Beth-Eden; And the people of § Syria shall go into captivity unto Kir, saith Jehovah. Thus saith Jehovah: For three transgressions of Gaza, And for four, I will not turn away the the punishment thereof: Because they led into captivity a full || number of captives, That they might deliver them up to Edom: But I will send a fire on the wall of Gaza, * Which shall devour the palaces thereof. Hebr. And it. Or, the house of Eden. § Aram. || captivity. * And it. Isai. xli. 15. It moved on serated wheels, and at once forced out the grain and cut the straw. See Pocock on Micah iv. 13. and Bishop Lowth on Isai. xxviii. 27. If we translate threshing instruments, we suggest a modern Idea. Gilead] The fact is recorded 2 Kings x. 32, 33. "6. ban: ut v. 13." Secker. 4. Benhadad] He was the son and successor of Hazael, King of Syria. 2 Kings xiii. 3, 24. 5. the bar] Perhaps the true reading is the bars. So 6. Syr. and the similar passages Jer. li. 30. Lam. ii. 9. Nahum iii. 13. ---the valley of On] This, says Bochart, Geogr. Sacr. ii. vi. 79, and Beth-Eden, the house of Eden, sedes voluptatis, are other names for the valley of Damascus. On, as we read in ó, may be derived from the Hebr. pe robur, opes, or from On the Egyptian title of the sun. See the leaned Mr. Bryant's mythology; i. 16. ed. 1, Kir] Probably a city of Elymais. Isai. xxii. 6. The completion of this prophecy is recorded 2 Kings xvi. 9. 6 ---captives.] This might happen at the time of such incursions as are mentioned 2 Chron. xxi. 16. 7. -wall] Perhaps the true reading here, and v. 10, 14, is on walls. See ó. Ar. Syr. Chald. Gaza] Hezekiah smote it: 2 Kings xviii. 8. Pharaoh, King 9 10 11 And I will cut off the inhabitant from Ashdod; And the residue of the Philistines shall perish, Thus saith Jehovah : For three transgressions of Tyrus, And for four, I will not turn away the punishment thereof: t Because they delivered up a full † number of cap- And remembered not the league of brethren; Thus saith Jehovah: For three transgressions of Edom, And for four, I will not turn away the punishment thereof: Because he pursued his brother with the sword, of Egypt, smote it: Jer. xlvii. 1. Alexander the Great took it: Quint. Curt. iv. vi. 8. Ashdod] Uzziah conquered it; 2 Chron. xxvi. 6. Ekron] See Zeph. ii. 4. All Syria was subdued by Pharaoh Necho; and again, as far as Pelusium, by Nebuchodonosor. Jos. Ant. x. vi. 1, Berosus also mentions that Nabuchodonosor conquered Syria and all Phenicia. Jos. contr. App. i. §. 19, 20. 9. league] 1 Kings v. 12. 10. a fire] Nebuchadnezzar took the city of Tyre after a siege of thirteen years. Ezek. xxvi. 7---14. Jos. contr. App. i. 20, 21. Otherwise, he could not have been represented as the conqueror of all Phenicia. It was also taken by Alexander: Q. Curt. iv. iv. 13: where the words are, "Alexander, exceptis qui ad templum confugerant, omnes interfici, ignemque tectis injici, jubet." 11. ---his brother] The two nations were descended from Jacob and Esau, who were brethren. It is probable that, before Amos wrote, the Edomites had often distressed Judah and Israel in times of calamity. That this was their custom, see 2 Chron. xxviii. 17. But the words may be spoken prophetically, of the 13 And § cast off his pity: And his anger tare for ever, And he kept his wrath perpetually : * Which shall devour the palaces of Bozrah. For three transgressions of the sons of Ammon, And for four, I will not turn away the punishment thereof: § Hebr. destroyed, or corrupted, his compassions. || his wrath, he kept it. And it. conduct which the Edomites would pursue at the taking of Jerusalem by the Babylonians. Obad. 11---14. Ez. xxv. 12. xxxv. 5. Ps. cxxxvii. 7. ---cast off] See лn Exek. xxviii. 17. The lxx and Ar, add ., in the land, to this clause, " And destroyed his damsels in the land." See Ch. Vulg. ó. and Judges v. 30. --tare]" et asservavit. Syr. Recte, ut suadent sequentia. Cons. Ps. ciii. 9. At. ó. Symm. Th. Ch. Vulg. ut Hebr.". Secker. ---for ever,] See Gen. xxvii. 41. Numb. xx. 20. 12. a fire] Nebuchadnezzar subdued the Edomites. Jer. XXV. 9, 21. xxvii. 3, 6. Judas Maccabeus obtained a great victory over the remains of them; 1 Macc. v, 3; probably after they had left the Nabatheans in consequence of a sedition, and had settled to the south of Judah. See Stabo xvi. p. 760. marg. ed. Amst. fol. 1707. For I suppose that the Babylonian conquests had compelled them to take refuge in that part of Arabia. Afterwards, Hyrcanus reduced them under subjection; and permitted them to remain in their country on condition. that they conformed to the Jewish laws. Jos. Ant. xiii. ix, 1, See on Obad. 2. 13. Teman] A city of Idumea. Jer. xlix. 7, 20. Ezek. xxv. Teman was the grandson of Esau. Gen. xxxvi. 10, 11: Bozrah] A city of Idumea. Isai. xxxiv. 6. lxiii. 1. Jer. xlix. 22. Bochart thinks that there was another Bozrah in the land of Moab Jer. xlviii. 24. Hieroz. ii. xlviii. p. 534: and Moab was famous for its flocks. 2 Kings iii. 4. Mic. ii. 12. 13. Ammon] From whom the Ammonites were descended. See Gen. xix. 38. Their country lay to the east of Jordan, in the neighbourhood of Gilead. Rabbah was its capital. Deut. iii. 11. 2 Sam. xi. 1. Jer. xlix. 2. |