THE BOOK OF THE PROPHET AMOS _Chronological Notes relative to this Book_ -Year from the Creation, according to Archbishop Usher, 3217. -Year of the Julian Period, 3927. -Year since the Flood, 1561. -Year from the foundation of Solomon's temple, 225. -Year since the division of Solomon's monarc... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Amos 1:2. _THE LORD WILL ROAR FROM ZION_] It is a pity that our translators had not followed the hemistich form of the Hebrew: - Jehovah from Zion shall roar, And from Jerusalem shall give forth his voice; And the pleasant dwellings of the shepherds shall mourn, And the top of mount Carmel... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Amos 1:3. _FOR THREE TRANSGRESSIONS OF DAMASCUS, AND FOR FOUR_] These expressions of _three_ and _four_, so often repeated in this chapter, mean _repetition, abundance_, and any thing that goes towards _excess_. _Very, very exceedingly_; and so it was used among the ancient Greek and Latin poe... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Amos 1:4. _BEN-HADAD._] He was son and successor of Hazael. See the cruelties which they exercised upon the Israelites, 2 Kings 10:32; 2 Kings 13:7, c., and see especially 2 Kings 8:12, where these cruelties are predicted. The _fire_ threatened here is the _war_ so successfully carried on ag... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Amos 1:5. _THE BAR OF DAMASCUS_] The _gates_, whose long traverse bars, running from wall to wall, were their strength. I will throw it open; and the _gates_ were forced, and the city taken, as above. _THE PLAIN OF AVEN - THE HOUSE OF EDEN_] These are names, says _Bochart_, of the _valley of... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Amos 1:6. _THEY CARRIED AWAY CAPTIVE_] Gaza is well known to have been one of the five lordships of the Philistines; it lay on the coast of the Mediterranean Sea, near to Egypt. Erkon, Ashdod, and Askelon, were other signories of the same people, which are here equally threatened with Gaza. Th... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Amos 1:9. _TYRUS_] See an ample description of this place, and of its desolation and final ruin, in the notes on Ezekiel 26:1. _THE BROTHERLY COVENANT_] This possibly refers to the very friendly league made between Solomon and Hiram, king of Tyre, 1 Kings 5:12; but some contend that the broth... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Amos 1:10. _I WILL SEND A FIRE ON THE WALL OF TYRUS_] The destructive _fire_ or _siege_ by Nebuchadnezzar, which lasted _thirteen_ years, and ended in the destruction of this ancient city; see on Ezekiel, Ezekiel 26:7, as above. It was finally ruined by _Alexander_, and is now only a place for... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Amos 1:11. _FOR THREE TRANSGRESSIONS OF EDOM_] That the _Edomites_ (notwithstanding what _Calmet_ observes above of the _brotherly_ _covenant_) were always implacable enemies of the Jews, is well known; but most probably that which the prophet has in view was the part they took in distressing... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Amos 1:12. _TEMAN-BOZRAH._] Principal cities of Idumea.... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Amos 1:13. _THE CHILDREN OF AMMON_] The country of the Ammonites lay to the east of Jordan, in the neighbourhood of Gilead. _Rabbah_ was its capital. _BECAUSE THEY HAVE RIPPED UP_] This refers to some barbarous transaction well known in the time of this prophet, but of which we have no distin... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Amos 1:14. _WITH SHOUTING IN THE DAY OF BATTLE_] They shall be totally subdued. This was done by Nebuchadnezzar. See Jeremiah 27:3; Jeremiah 27:6.... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Amos 1:15. _THEIR KING SHALL GO INTO CAPTIVITY_] Probably מלכם _malcham_ should be _Milcom_, who was a chief god of the Ammonites; and the following words, _he and his princes_, may refer to the _body_ _of his priesthood_. See 1 Kings 11:33, and the notes there. All these countries were subdue... [ Continue Reading ]