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: = great nuntion? 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. “ó. Gyban mım: 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. p robur, opes, or from On the Egyptian title of the sun. See the learned 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 n walls. See ó. Ar. Syr. Chald. Gaza] Hezekiah smote it: 2 Kings xviii. 8. Pharaoh, King 8 9 10 11 And I will cut off the inhabitant from Ashdod; Thus saith Jehovah : For three transgressions of Tyrus, And for four, I will not turn away the punishment Because they delivered up a full † number of cap- And remembered not the league of brethren: For three transgressions of Edom, And for four, I will not turn away the punishment 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 thirten years, Ezek. xxvi. 7---14. Jos. contr. App. 1. 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, excepStis qui ad templum confugerant, omnes interfici, iguemque tectis injici, jubet 11. his brother] The two nations were descended from Jacob and Esan, 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 18 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, 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 Ixx and Ar. add ., in the land, to this clause, " And destroyed his damsels in the land." See Ch. Vulg. 6, and Judges v. 30. ---tare]" et asservavit. Syr. Recte, ut suadent sequentia. Cons. Ps. ciii. 9. At. 6. 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. Teman] A city of Idumca. Jer. xlix. 7, 20. Ezek. xxv. 13. 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. 14 15 1 divides the mountains of filiad (marginal Because they ripped up the women with child of Gilead, That they might enlarge their border: But I will kindle a fire on the wall of Rabbah; With a whirlwind in the day of tempest. CHAP. II. THUS saith Jehovah: For three transgressions of Moab, And for four, I will not turn away the punishment Because he burned the bones of the king of Edom + Hebr. And it. ---of Gilead] The historians of these times, transmitted down to us, are so concise, that we often want authority for the particular facts referred to. 14. a fire] The Ammonites were conquered by Nebuchadnezzar. Jer. xxvii. 3, 6. ---tempest] This image is naturally and sublimely introduced. So, Æneas nubem belli, dum detonet, omnem Sustinet. En. x. 809. 15. their king] Or, Malchom, their God. So Vulg. Syr 6. MS. Pachom. and Boch. Hieroz. ii. xxxiv. 358. See Jer. xlviii. 7. xlix. 3. 1 Kings xi. 33. he] "NT OF LIBELS autwy. 6. π [i. e. παντες] ιερεις το αυτό, apud Montf. Cum sacerdotibus ejus, Syr. Nec male, ut videtur ex Jer. xlix. 3." Secker. The reading may have been, 1, reading .כהניו ושרי or CHAP. II. 1. Moab] For the origin of this People, see Gen. xix. 37. Their country lay to the east of the dead sea. -burned the bones] Insulted his remains in a revengeful and savage manner. 2 3 4 5 6 But I will send a fire on Moab, Which shall devour the palaces of Kirioth: With shouting, with the sound of the trumpet. Thus saith Jehovah: For three transgressions of Judah, And for four, I will not turn away the punishment Because they have rejected the law of Jehovah, And their § false gods, have caused them to err, But I will send a fire on Judah, * Which shall devour the palaces of Jerusalem. For three transgressions of Israel, 2. Kirioth] A city of Moab. Jer. xlviii. 24, 41. Moab was conquered by Nebuchadnezzar, Jer. xxvii. 3, 6. 3. the judge] Probably the title of the chief magistrate. Thus the Carthaginians had their Suffetes. Houbigant reads .שריו and בקרבו 4. their false gods] Vulg. idola sua. The next line naturally refers to the idolatries of Judah, with accounts of which their history abounds. Compare Isai. xlv. 20. 5.---a fire] This refers to the burning of Jerusalem by Nebuzar-adan. 2 Kings xxv. 9. 6. Israel] Amos first prophesies against the Syrians, Philistines, Tyrians, Edomites, Amonites, and Moabites; who dwelt in the neighbourhood of the twelve tribes, and had occasionally become their enemies and oppressors. Having thus not only taught his countrymen that the providence of God extended to other nations, but conciliated attention to himself by such interesting predictions; he briefly mentions the idolatries and consequent destruction of Judah, and then passes on to his propor subject, which was to exhort and reprove the kingdom of Israel, and to denounce judgments against it. The reason why that kingdom was particularly addressed seems to have |