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This Chapter Verse Commentaries:
Part I. APPROACHING JUDGMENT.
Verse 1-ch. 2:3
§ 1. The nations bordering on the Holy Land are solemnly summoned to judgment.
Amo_1:1, Amo_1:2
Heading of the book, with short summary of its contents.
Amo_1:1
Heading. The words. So Jeremiah begins his prophecy (Jer_1:1), and the writer of Ecclesiastes (Ecc_1:1). That the words am not those of Amos, but of Jehovah, is shown by the succeeding clause, "which he saw." Herdmen. The Hebrew word noked used here is found in 2Ki_3:4, applied to Mesha King of Moab, a great "sheepmaster;" hence some have considered that Amos was not a mere mercenary, but a rich possessor of flocks. His own words, however (Amo_7:14, Amo_7:15), decide his position as that of a poor labouring man. Tekoah. A small town of Judah (see above in the account of the author, Introduction, § II.). He saw, with inward intuition. Hence his "words" were inspired (comp. Isa_2:1; Hab_1:1). Concerning Israel chiefly, mention of Judah being introduced only incidentally and as connected with the destinies of Israel The Septuagint reads, by some mistake, "concerning Jerusalem." In the days. (For the date of the prophecy, see above, Introduction, § III.) Earthquake. No mention is made of this event in the historical books. It was remembered in after years (see Zec_14:5), and Amos alludes to it as a token of the judgment which he foretold, such catastrophes being regarded as signs of the majesty of God and his vengeance on sinners (comp. Exo_19:18 : Psa_68:8; Mic_1:4; Hab_3:6, Hab_3:10), Josephus ('Ant.' 9.10. 4) attributes this earthquake to God's displeasure at Uzziah's usurpation of the priest's office (2Ch_26:16).
Amo_1:2
And he said. This is the commencement of "the words" of Amos (verse 1); and herein the prophet gives a short summary of the judgment which he has to pronounce. The following clause is a repetition of Joe_3:16; and Amos thus connects his prophecy with that of his predscessor, to show the unity of prophetic mission, and to warn the Jews that God's punishments are not directed exclusively on heathen nations. To the nations denounced by Joel, Amos adds others of Israel's enemies, viz. Syria, Ammon, and Moab. Roar … voice. The thunder is the voice of God announcing his coming to judge. From Zion. Not from Dan and Bethel, the seats of idolatrous worship, but from Jerusalem, the abode of his presence. The habitations; better, the pastures. It is only natural that Amos, the shepherd, should use such terms to express the idea that the whole land, from Jerusalem on the south to Carmel on the north, should feel the vengeance of the Lord. Shall mourn; explained by the following term, shall wither; i.e. shall lose their verdure (comp. Jer_12:11; Hos_4:3). The top of Carmel. This is the Mount Carmel, which stretches boldly into the sea on the south of the Bay of Acre, and is remarkable for its extreme fertility, its rich pastures, its vines, olives, fruits, and flowers. Thomson, 'The Land and the Book;' writes thus about it: "The celebrated ridge, called in the Bible Merest Carmel, and by the Arabs Jebel Kurmul, or Mar Elyas, in honour of Elijah, is an extension of the hills of Samaria, in a northwesterly direction, for a distance of about eighteen miles, terminating in the bold promontory of Carmel, which descends almost literally into the sea. It is steep and lofty where it overhangs the Mediterranean above Haifa, and on that face which overlooks the Plain of Acre on the north, and that of Esdraelon towards the southeast. There is no special excellency in Carmel at the present day, whatever may be said of Sharon. Its name, Kurmul, or Kerm-el, signifies 'the vineyard of God;' but its vineyards have all disappeared. It was a glorious mountain, however, and a prominent landmark; according to Jeremiah (Jer_46:18), Carmel was a resort of herdsmen. Amos says, 'The habitations of the shepherds shall mourn, and the top of Carmel shall wither,' in the time of the threatened judgment, and this implies that its pastures were not ordinarily liable to wither. This may, in part, have been occasioned by the heavy dews which its lofty elevation, so near the sea, causes to distil nightly upon its thirsty head. I found it quite green and flowery in midsummer. It was a noble pasture field, and, in reference to that characteristic, Micah utters his sweet prayer, 'Feed thy people with thy rod, the flock of thine heritage, which dwell solitarily in the wood, in the midst of Carmel; let them feed in Bashan and Gilead, as in the days of old.'"
Amo_1:3-5
Before announcing the judgment on Israel, Amos proclaims the punishment on neighbouring heathen nations for their injurious treatment of the chosen people, thus showing God's care for his elect, and leading them to fear vengeance for their own greater sins towards him. The order observed in denouncing these nations is not geographical, but is regulated by the nature of each people's relation to Israel, and the degree in which they have sinned against her. The denunciation begins with Syria, her hitherto most oppressive enemy, and the least akin.
Amo_1:3
For three transgressions of Damascus, and for four. This form of expression is repeated in each of the following strophes, and some critics have taken the terms literally, and have tried to identify that particular number of transgressions in each case; but this is trifling. The phrase and others similar to it are not uncommon, and are used to signify a great number, the last mentioned being supposed to fill up the measure and make it overflow. Thus Job_5:19, "He shall deliver thee in six troubles, yea, in seven there shall no evil touch thee" (comp. Job_33:29; Pro_30:15, Pro_30:18, Pro_30:21; Ecc_11:2). So Hom; 'Od.,' 5:306, Τρισμάκαρες Δαναοὶ καὶ τετράκις : and Virg; 'AEn.,' 1:94, "O terque quaterque beati;" comp. Hor; 'Carm,' 1:31, 13. Damascus had been an active enemy of Israel since the time that Rezon threw off his allegiance (1Ki_11:23, etc.), and seized Damascus, which had been tributary to David (2Sa_8:5). The history of the wars carried on by Syria against the Jews may be read in the sacred books (see 1Ki_15:19, etc.; 2Ch_16:2, etc.; 1Ki_20:1-43.; 22.; 2Ki_7:1-20.; 2Ki_9:14, etc.; 2Ki_10:32, etc.; 2Ki_12:18; 2Ki_13:5, 2Ki_13:25; 2Ch_24:23, etc.; 2Ki_14:28). I will not turn away the punishment thereof. So in the following strophes. Literally, I will not reverse it. Amos does not expressly say what; but he means the sentence or judgment (comp. Num_23:20, "I cannot reverse it," where the same word is used). The Latin Vulgate gives, Non convertam eum, i.e. Damascum, which Knabenbauer explains, "I will not avert its destruction, will not turn it aside from its downward course." The LXX. renders, Οὐκ ἀποστραφήσομαι αὐτόν , "I will not turn away from it," i.e; as explained by Theodoret, "I will no longer disregard its sins." Because they have threshed Gilead. This is the culminating offence of the Syrians. The word rendered "threshing instrument" (charutz) signifies a kind of corn drag made of heavy planks fastened together and armed beneath with sharp stones or iron points. This machine, weighted with the driver who sat or stood upon it, was drawn by oxen over the corn (comp. Isa_28:27; Isa_41:15). A representation of it is given by Smith, 'Dict. of Bible,' 1.31, and Kitto, 'Cyclop.,' 1:86. Such an instrument, set with sharp flints in rows, was to be seen in the Indian and Colonial Exhibition of the year 1886, in the Cyprus department. Another kind of instrmuent (moreg) is thus described by Jerome: "Est autem genus plaustri, quod rotis subter ferreis atque dentatis volvitur, ut excussis frumentis stipulam in areis conterat, et in cibos jumentorum propter foeni sterilitatem paleas comminuat." Such an implement was used in the infliction of capital punishment by David (2Sa_12:31; comp. Pro_20:26). Gilead is here put for all the country east of Jordan (Jos_22:9). The cruel treatment referred to in the text occurred in the time of Hazael during the reign of Jehu. The Septuagint has, "Because with iron saws they sawed asunder women with child." This is doubtless a reminiscence of Elisha's words to Hazael (2Ki_8:12).
Amo_1:4
Fire. Material fire, though elsewhere the term is used metaphorically for war and its evils (comp. Num_21:28; Psa_78:63; Jer_48:45). This passage of Amos, combined with verse 14, is quoted by Jeremiah (Jer_49:27), where he is pronouncing the doom of Damascus. House of Hazael … palaces of Benhadad. The two expressions are parallel, or they may signify the family of Hazael, and Damascus itself with its magnificent royal palaces. There were three kings of Syria named Benhadad. The first of the name made alliance with Asa, and fought successfully against Baasha (1Ki_15:20); Benhadad II. was the contemporary of Ahab, and carded on war for many years with the northern kingdom (1Ki_20:1-43). He was murdered either by Hazael or his servants (2Ki_8:15). Benhadad III; the son of Hazael, was a monarch of small ability, and Syria under his sway sank into insignificance (2Ki_13:4, etc.; 2Ki_14:27; 2Ki_15:17). All this happened before the time of Amos, who probably refers to all the kings of that name, Benhadad, "Son of the Sun," being the title of the dynasty.
Amo_1:5
The bar which secured the gate of the city (1Ki_4:13; Jer_51:30; Nah_3:13). Breaking the bar is equivalent to laying the place open to the enemy. From the plain of Avon; Vulgate, de campo idoli; Hebrew, bikath-Aven; Septuagint, ἐκ πεδίου Ων ; better, from the valley of Aven, or vanity, perhaps so called analogously with Hosea's naming Bethel, Bethaven, "House of God" and "House of vanity" (Hos_5:8). Robinson and Pusey refer the name to a valley between Lebanon and Antilibanus, a continuation of the Arabah, still called Bukaa, in the middle of which stood Baalbec, "the Temple of the sun of the valley," called Heliopolis by Greek and Roman writers (see 'Classical Museum,' 3:136). The LXX. Renders "On" in Gen_41:45 by "Heliopolis;" and On and Baal being both titles of the sun, and indeed synonymous, the introduction of "On" into this passage may be accounted for. Him that holdeth the sceptre. The king and princes, as Gen_41:8. From the house of Eden; Hebrew, Beth-Eden, "House of delight;" Vulgate, de domo voluptatis; Septuagint, ἐξ ἀνδρῶν Χαῤῥάν , "out of the men of Charran." This last rendering arises from considering that the reference was to the Eden of Gen_2:1-25; which the translators placed in the region of Haran. The place in the text Keil supposes to be the Paradisus of the Greeks, which Ptolemy (Gen_5:15, Gen_5:20) locates southeast of Laodicea. Schrader suggests a place on the banks of the middle Euphrates between Balis and Biredschich called Bit-Adini in inscriptions of Asurnasirhabal and Salmanassur II. But this seems to be a wrong locality. The passage means that all the inhabitants of valley and city, king and peasant, shall be cut off. Shall go into captivity. The word implies that the land shall be "stripped" or "bared" of its inhabitants. Wholesale deportation had not hitherto been common in these regions. Kir has been identified with the country on the banks of the river Kar, which flows into the Araxes on the southwest of the Caspian Sea. It forms part of the territory known as Transcaucasia. From this region the Syrians originally emigrated (Amo_9:7), and back to this land a large body were carried when Tiglath-Pileser, some fifty years later, killed Rezin and sacked Damascus, as related in 2Ki_16:9. Saith the Lord. This is the solemn confirmation of the prophet's announcement, and recurs in 2Ki_16:8, 2Ki_16:15 and Amo_2:3.
Amo_1:6-8
The judgment on Philistia.
Amo_1:6
Gaza is here used as the representative of the five cities of the Philistines. Three others are mentioned in Amo_1:8, Gath being omitted as having long lost its importance, if not already destroyed. Gaza, modern Guzzeh, was the most southern city of Philistia in the immediate neighbourhood of the desert. The whole captivity; Hebrew, "an entire captivity," the whole people, so that neither age nor sex was spared. A similar complaint is made in Joe_3:4, Joe_3:6. What the LXX. mean by their rendering here and Joe_3:9, αἰχμαλωσίαν τοῦ Σαλωμὼν , it is very hard to say. Probably they punctuated the word translated "perfect" (shelemah) shelomoh, making "Solomon" stand for his people Israel. Cyril supposes that the reference is to cities which Solomon established among neighbouring nations; these had now been destroyed or seized. The event referred to may be the invasion of Judah by Philistines and Arabians in the time of Joram, mentioned in 2Ch_21:16, etc; and in which it is possible that a compact was made that the captive Judaeans should be delivered to their bitterest enemies, the Edomites. One would rather have expected a reference to some evil inflicted on Israel (as in 2Ch_21:3) instead of an injury done to Judah.
Amo_1:7
A fire. Each guilty city is to have its own special punishment, though probably the calamity of each is common to all. Gaza was conquered by Sennacherib when he invaded Judea in the time of Hezekiah, by Pharaoh-Necho (Jer_47:1), and by Alexander the Great, who spent more than two months in its siege (Josephus, 'Ant.,' 11:8, 4; Arrian; 2:27; see note on Zep_2:4).
Amo_1:8
Ashdod, "the Waster," hod. Esdud, or Shdood (called Azotus in Act_8:40), and still a large village, lay about thirty-five miles north of Gaza, three miles from the sea. Ashkelon was situated between the two. "Askelon differs from the other celebrated cities of the Philistines, being seated on the sea, while Ekron, Garb, Jamnia, Ashdod, and Gaza are in the interior. It never could have had a harbour of any considerable size, however …. The topography of the place is peculiar. An abrupt ridge begins near the shore, runs up eastward, bends round to the south, then to the west, and finally northwest to the sea again, forming an irregular amphitheatre. On the top of this ridge ran the wall, which was defended at its salient angles by strong towers. The specimens which still exist show that it was very high and thick, built, however, of small stones, and bound together by broken columns of granite and marble. This clearly proves that it is patchwork, and not Askelon's original rampart …. The position is one of the fairest along this part of the Mediterranean coast; and when the interior of the amphitheatre was adorned with splendid temples and palaces, ascending, rank above rank, from the shore to the summit, the appearance from the sea must have been very imposing. Now the whole area is planted over with orchards of the various kinds of fruit which flourish in this region". In spite of its bad harbour, it carried on a lucrative foreign commerce, which was the chief cause of its power and importance (Ewald, 'Hist. of Israel,' 1:247, Eng. transl.). It was about fifty Roman miles from Jerusalem. In mediaeval times there were two cities of the name, one on the coast (Jer_47:7), the same as Herod's Ascalon, and one inland. In its palmiest days the former could never have had a real harbour. Ekron, hod. Akir, was twelve miles northeast of Ashdod, and some nine from the coast. Ashdod was taken by Uzziah (2Ch_26:6), by the tartan, or commander-in-chief, of Sargon (Isa_20:1), and by Psammetichus King of Egypt, when it sustained a siege of twenty-nine years (Herod; 2:157). Sennacherib, in a cuneiform inscription, records how he treated the two other cities: "Zedekiah King of Ashkelon," he says, "who had not submitted himself to my yoke, himself, the gods of the house of his fathers, his wife, his sons, his daughters, and his brothers, the seed of the house of his fathers, I removed, and I sent him to Assyria. I set over the men of Ashkelon, Sarludari, the son of Rukipti, their former king, and I imposed upon him the payment of tribute, and the homage due to my majesty, and he became a vassal.… I marched against the city of Ekron, and put to death the priests and the chief men who had committed the sin (of rebellion), and I hung up their bodies on stakes all round the city. The citizens who had done wrong and wickedness I counted as a spoil". I will turn mine hand; literally, will bring back my hand; visit again with punishment, or repeat the blow (Isa_1:25; Jer_6:9; see note on Zec_13:7). The remnant. All the Philistines who had as yet escaped destruction (comp. Amo_9:12; Jer_6:9).
Amo_1:9, Amo_1:10
The judgment on Tyre.
Amo_1:9
They delivered up the whole captivity (see note on Amo_1:6). The sin of Tyre, the great Phoenician merchant city, was committed in concert with the Philistines (comp. Psa_83:7), and was of the same character, except that she is not accused of carrying away the captives, but only of handing them over to the Edomites. It is probable that the Phoenicians had gotten into their hands, by purchase or some other means, Israelitish prisoners, whom they delivered over to the Edomites, forgetting the brotherly covenant made by their forefathers with David and Solomon (2Sa_5:11; 1Ki_5:1,1Ki_5:7-11; 1Ki_9:11-14; 2Ch_2:11). The cruel conduct of Tyre was quits unprovoked, as no Jewish king had made war against Phoenicia or its capital.
Amo_1:10
A fire, as Amo_1:7 : see Ezekiel's prophecy against Tyre (26). She had long been tributary to Assyria, but, revolting, was punished by Sargon, and later was attacked by Nebuchadnezzar, who besieged it for thirteen years, with what success is not known. The Assyrian monuments afford no account of its capture by this monarch (comp. Isa_23:1-18.; Jer_47:4; Arrian; Jer_2:16-24). (For its capture and destruction by Alexander the Great, see notes on Zec_9:2, Zec_9:4.)
Amo_1:11, Amo_1:12
The judgment on Edom.
Amo_1:11
His brother. The prophet proceeds to denounce the three nations cognate to Israel, of which the Edomites were the nearest and the most inimical. From the time of Esau until now they had been consistent in enmity, and it is this unbrotherly conduct rather than any specific outrages which Amos here condemns. Edom is accused of relentless persecution, inhumanity, savage fury, and persistent anger. (For the brotherhood of Edom, see Num_20:14; Deu_2:4, Deu_2:5, Deu_2:8; Deu_23:7, etc. For his hostility to Israel, see Num_20:18; 1Ki_11:14; 2Ki_8:20; 2Ch_20:10; 2Ch_25:11, 2Ch_25:12; 2Ch_28:17.) The prophecy of Obadiah is directed against Edom (comp. also Eze_25:12; Eze_35:5, Eze_35:15; Joe_3:19). Did cast off all pity; literally, corrupted his compassions; i.e. did violence to his natural feelings. So >Eze_28:17, "Thou hast corrupted thy wisdom," perverted it from its proper end. The LXX. gives, ἐλυμήνατο μητέρα ( μήτραν , Alex.) ἐπὶ γῆς , "did violence to the mother that bare them." On this Jerome remarks, "Pro misericordia Septuaginta vulvam transtulerant, ducti ambiguitate verborum, quia rehem et vulvam et misericordiam significat." Did tear, as a wild beast tears his prey. So in Job_16:9, where the same word is used, "He hath torn me in his wrath" (comp. Hos_6:1). And he kept his wrath forever; more literally, and its fury it (Edom) keeps forever. The quarrels of relations are proverbially bitter. Arist; 'Polit.,' 7.7, Ὅθεν εἴρηται χαλεποὶ γὰρ πόλεμοι ἀδελφῶν καὶ δί τοι πέρα στέρξαντες οἱ δὲ καὶ πέρα μισοῦσιν .
Amo_1:12
Teman is the region of Idumaea, of which Bozrah is the capital. Both Jerome and Eusebius ('Onomast.') speak of a city so called not far from Petra; but in the Old Testament the name is applied to a district; and as the word in Hebrew means "south," it is probably the southern portion of the land of Edom. Bozrah (hod. Busaireh) was the old capital of Edom, situated on a hill south of the Dead Sea (see Gen_36:33; Isa_34:6). Jeremiah (Jer_49:17) predicts the punishment of Edom, and Ezekiel (Eze_25:12-14) does likewise. The monologue of Obadiah has been already referred to. The instrument of vengeance in the present ease was Nebuchadnezzar, though it suffered much at the hands of other enemies, as the Nabathaeans and Maccabees.
Amo_1:13-15
The judgment on Ammon.
Amo_1:13
Ammon was connected with Israel as being sprung from Lot, and together with Moab, which had the same origin, retained the stamp of its incestuous birth in habits, character, and worship (Gen_19:30, etc.). The Ammonites seem to have been a predatory and roving nation, though the abundance of rains in the district shows that they possessed fixed abodes; but Rabbah was the only city of importance in their territory (2Sa_11:1). Their hostility to Israel was first shown in their participation with Moab in the affair of Balsam (Deu_23:4). Other instances are seen in their treatment of Jabesh-Gilead (1Sa_11:1-3) and of David's messengers, and in hiring the Syrians to make war on David (2Sa_10:1-6). We have no historical account of the atrocious outrage on the Gileadites mentioned in the text, but it is quite in character with the ferocity of their disposition, and was doubtless intended to depopulate the territory which they wished to acquire. This barbarity is spoken of in connection with Hazael (2Ki_8:12), in concert with whom probably the Ammonites acted. Another rendering would refer the clause to the removing of landmarks, and yet a third to the storming of lofty fortresses. But the Authorized Version is undoubtedly correct. That they might enlarge their border. The Ammonites laid claim to the territory which the Israelites had wrested from Sihon, lying between the Araon and Jabbok, and made an attempt upon it in the time of Jephthah (Jdg_11:1-40.), and in later years seized on the possessions of Gad—a proceeding which brought upon them the denunciation of Jeremiah (Jer_49:2-6).
Amo_1:14
Rabbah, "the Great," or Rabbath-Ammon, the capital of Ammon, was situated on the southern arm of the Jabbok, and was a place of remarkable strength (see Deu_3:11; 2Sa_11:1; 2Sa_12:26, etc.; 1Ch_20:1-3). "For picturesqueness of situation, I know of no ruins to compare with Ammon. The most striking feature is the citadel, which formerly contained not merely the garrison, but an upper town, and covered an extensive area. The lofty plateau on which it was situated is triangular in shape; two sides are formed by the valleys which diverge from the apex, where they are divided by a low neck, and thence separating, fall into the valley of the Jabbok, which forms the base of the triangle, and contained the lower town. Climbing up the citadel, we can trace the remains of the moat, and, crossing it, find ourselves in a maze of ruins. The massive walls—the lower parts of which still remain, and which, rising from the precipitous sides of the cliff, rendered any attempt at scaling impossible—were evidently Ammonite. As I leant over them and looked sheer down about three hundred feet into one wady, and four hundred feet into the other, I did not wonder at its having occurred to King David that the leader of a forlorn hope against these ramparts would meet with certain death, and consequently assigning the position to Uriah.… Joab afterwards took the lower city, which he called 'the city of waters,' indicating very probably that the Jabbok was dammed into a lake near the lower city, to which the conformation of the valley would lend itself". There is a sketch of the citadel hill in the 'Dictionary of the Bible,' 2:985. The city was taken by Nebuchadnezzar (Jer_27:3, Jer_27:6; Jer_49:2, Jer_49:3), either at the time of the destruction of Jerusalem, or in the course of his Egyptian campaign (Josephus, 'Ant.,' 10.9. 7). The expression, I will kindle a fire (not "send," as elsewhere), possibly implies, as Pusey suggests, a conflagration from within. The shouting is the battle cry of the opposing host, which adds to the horror of the scene (Job_39:25). With a tempest. The idea is that the walls should fall before the invaders, as if they were teats swept away in a whirlwind.
Amo_1:15
Their king; Septuagint, οἱ βασιλεῖς αὐτῆς . So Keil, Trochon, and others consider that the King of the Ammonites is meant. The Vulgate, with Aquila, Symmachus, the Syriac, and Jerome, retrains the word Melchous, or Melcham, which is the same as Molech, their god. This interpretation is favoured by passages in Jeremiah, of which one is evidently quoted from Amos, "For Malcam shall go into captivity, his priests and his princes together" (Jer_49:3); and the other (Jer_48:7) is similar, with the substitution of "Chemosh," the god of Moab, for "Maleam." That the localized deity should share the fortunes of his worshippers is quite in accordance with the ideas of the time (comp. Isa_46:1, Isa_46:2). Probably Amos meant to include both notions—their "Malcam," whether king or god. should be carried into captivity, accompanied by the princes, all the chiefs, military and sacerdotal, so that no one should he left to head a future revolt.
I. THE SEER. An idol priest supplies the title (Amo_7:12), but it is suitable and endures. A prophet sees, where other men are blind, the meaning of what is and the nature of what shall be.
1. His name. Amos signifies "Bearer," or "Burden," or "Heavy." And it was prophetically significant of the owner's work. His words were weighty (Amo_7:10), the burden of dram was weightier still (Amo_6:1), and weightiest of all was the Divine authority with which they came (verse 3).
2. His extraction. "From among the shepherds." These were probably small sheep owners, who tended their own flocks (Keil, Lange, etc.). They were in the lower ranks of life, the rank from which God has called, and calls the majority of his servants (1Co_1:27, 1Co_1:28). The poor man depends for all his well being on spiritual good (Luk_6:24). He therefore chooses it more readily (Mar_12:37), advances in it more easily (Mat_13:22), rejoices in it more entirely (Isa_29:19), and is chosen to it rather than the rich (Jas_2:5). "Poverty is the sister of a sound mind," was a heathen maxim embodying a kindred truth.
3. His calling. "A herdsman and gatherer of sycamores." This occupation would be no mean preparation for his prophetic office. A true prophet must be tender of human life, even when he denounces death; and if from the love of man we may rise to the love of God (1Jn_4:20), why not from the love of plant and animal to the love of man?
"He prayeth best, who loveth best
All things both great and small;
For the dear God who loveth us
Hath made and loveth all."
4. His home. Tekoah, a city south of Bethlehem, in the land of Judah. Thence he went to Bethel, in the land of Israel, to prophesy. That he may not be "without honour," and corresponding influence, he goes from his own to a neighbouring country (Mat_13:57). Then, like Elijah and John the Baptist, he goes to the pampered and dissolute town dwellers, that with the healthy tastes and simple habits and strong pure life of a dweller in the fields, he might put their laxity and luxury to shame (Amo_6:1-6).
II. THE VISION. The term does not occur in Amos, but the equivalent of it does, and it is common elsewhere in Scripture (Isa_1:1; Hab_2:2).
1. It was what "he saw." Of the way in which God revealed truth to inspired men we know nothing. It is above reason and outside revelation. It was not with the bodily eye, nor in the natural sense, that the vision was seen; but the revelation was adequate, and the result was knowledge (Act_4:20). Their cognizance of matters was at once sure and clear (1Jn_1:1), and comparable in both respects to that of Christ himself (Joh_3:11).
2. It was "words." A word is the body of a thought. A thought is the spirit of a word. It is only by words, or something answering to words, that thoughts can be conveyed from man to man. Analogy would suggest that the same method is employed by God. If, as some hold, we think in words, the hypothesis would be greatly strengthened. In any ease, what Amos got was not simply thoughts, but words, and the words of Scripture are, in some real and important sense, "words which the Holy Ghost teacheth" (1Co_2:13; 2Sa_23:2).
III. THE SPEAKING OF THE VISION. Coming from his simple shepherd life into a luxurious city, and with the burden of his heavy tidings on his heart, the prophet's speech is:
1. Deeply serious. A grave character and a grave message make a prophetic utterance a solemn thing. Amos had to tell of a cup of iniquity full, of a Divine patience exhausted, of a dispensation of forbearance expired, and of a national ruin ready to fall; and he tells it as one weighted down with the piteous tiding, which yet he cannot choose but speak (Amo_3:1; Amo_4:1; Amo_5:1; Amo_6:1).
2. Blunt. Amos is outspoken and honest, names the condemned, and unequivocally denounces their impending doom. He may not mince his tidings who is the messenger of death (Mat_3:10; Luk_13:3; Rom_1:18). Suppression would be murder, and even euphemy would be cruel. Life and death hang on his lips, and all sentiment apart he must speak out.
"The power to bind and loose to truth is given;
The mouth that speaks it is the mouth of Heaven."
3. Characteristic. His style is bold and clear and tender, like his own nature (Amo_4:4, Amo_4:12, Amo_4:13; Amo_9:5, Amo_9:6; Amo_6:9, Amo_6:10); and his imagery is racy of the mountains and fields in which his character was formed (verse 2; Amo_2:9,Amo_2:13; Amo_3:4, Amo_3:5; Amo_5:19). The word of God in one sense, it is in another, and no less really, the word of Amos. The Divine Spirit supplies the breath and the fingering, and determines and directs the time, but the human instrument gives forth its own characteristic sound.
IV. THE WRITING OF THE VISION. Scripture contains matters that were written at the Divine dictation, and first promulgated in their written form. But it also contains much that was spoken first and written afterwards, for preservation. Such is the Book of Amos. The writing of it was:
1. Some years after the speaking. He spoke years before an earthquake, after which he wrote his book. This earthquake he had foretold in his oral prophecy (Amo_8:8; Amo_9:5), and he thus puts on record the fulfilment of his own prediction. "After fulfilling his mission, he probably returned to Judah, his native land, where his prophecies were most likely first committed to writing" (Keil).
2. In a different form from the speaking. Amaziah (Amo_7:10, Amo_7:11) refers to, and gives a summary of "words" that are not recorded. The book is a resume of the essential contents of the oral prophecies (Keil, Lange). Accordingly, it does not contain them in the very form, nor necessarily in the exact order, in which they were spoken.
3. With a widened purpose. The oral prophecies were for those whom they directly concerned. The written prophecies were for the sages and the ages that were to follow. They were the flower of the prophecies that went before (Joe_3:16, Joe_3:18), and the bud of those that came after (Hos_8:14; Hos_9:3; Jer_49:3, Jer_49:13-27; Jer_46:6; Jer_25:30; see Lange). They also contain truths essentially important and requisite for the perfecting of the man of God in all ages (Amo_3:3, Amo_3:6, Amo_3:7; Amo_5:4-6, Amo_5:14, Amo_5:15; Amo_7:2, Amo_7:3).
4. Under the same Divine guidance. The contents of the book lie between the expressions, "thus saith the Lord" (Amo_1:3), and "saith the Lord thy God" (Amo_9:15). These formulae cover both the oral and the written prophecy, each being the subject of a distinct inspiration for its own special purpose. So Paul takes an inspired utterance of David, and, under inspiration, charges it with a new lesson (comp. Psa_40:6 with Heb_10:5; also Isa_60:1 with Eph_5:14).
V. THE SUBJECT OF THE VISION. It is brief, but it covers much ground.
1. The Jews. Judah and Israel are mentioned separately, having been distinct kingdoms for above a century (Amo_2:4, Amo_2:6). The entire Hebrew people are also grouped together as forming the family of Israel which God redeemed from Egypt (Amo_3:1). It is as earthly kingdoms that destruction is denounced on both (Amo_2:4, Amo_2:6), but it is as one covenant people that they survive in a remnant, and are restored (Amo_9:11-15).
2. Their oppressors. God had made the neighbouring nations "the rod of his anger" (Amo_3:11; Amo_5:27; Isa_10:4) to smite Israel. They accomplished his purpose unconsciously, and impelled by evil motives of their own (verses 3, 6, 9, 13; Isa_10:7). Accordingly, their wars and oppressions, inflicted on Israel, were essentially wicked, and deserving punishment in turn. It is thus that the wrath of man, which he punishes at last, God makes meanwhile to praise him by the unwitting execution of his will.
3. Those who resemble either. God acts on the same principles in all ages. He afflicts the Church for the sins of its members. To the insincere his judgments mean punishment only (Rom_1:18). To the sincere but faulty they mean discipline also (2Co_4:17). To the Church as a whole they mean separation between tares and wheat (Mat_13:29, Mat_13:30). To the outside wicked, through whom they often come, they mean more sin now, and a heavier punishment at last (Luk_18:7).
VI. THE TIME OF THE VISION. On this point we have information the most explicit.
1. Generally it was in the days of Uzziah and Jeroboam. During those reigns Judah and Israel were in the zenith of their career. It was, therefore, a vision of adversity when prosperity was at its height, of disastrous war when peace by conquest had been obtained with neighbouring powers, of both these as punishment when idolatry and corruption were at their worst. This proves its genuineness, as it could not have been suggested by the observed shadows of coming events. At the same time, it accounts for its comparative failure as a warning, the future predicted being so utterly unlike the present.
2. Specially it was "before the earthquake." "The presumption is natural that these words indicate not only the period but the motive of the composition" (Lange). The approach of the earthquake was the occasion of the oral prophecy, and the occurrence of it the occasion of the written one. That the latter should contain a record of the fulfilment of the former (Amo_8:8; Amo_9:5) is proof that in addition to being genuine the vision is authentic.
Amo_1:2
I. DIVINE INTERVENTION. This is to end a period of quiescence. It is:
1. Intervention. "Utters his voice." The silence of God is often treated as equivalent to inaction (Psa_28:1; Psa_50:21). So his speech would mean his becoming active, whether for good or for evil. Here the breaking silence is for evil. God bears long with his open enemies, and longer still with his seeming friends. But inactivity does not show indifference nor inattention. It is simply forbearance, that will not strike till it must. Action delayed is no less certain, and will be no less vigorous for the delay.
2. Angry intervention. Shall "roar," like a lion ready to devour. Not till his anger burneth sore does God break the silence. But when he breaks it he does so emphatically. He thunders with his voice. His roar expresses wrath, and preludes a stroke; and is thus power and light in one (Job_37:5; Job_40:9).
3. Forcible intervention. God's speech is followed by action. It is more; it is accompanied by action. It is more still; it is itself action. Creative power, preserving power, redeeming power, each goes forth in a word (Psa_33:6, Psa_33:9; Mat_9:2). Christ says, "Be clean," "Come forth;" and the sick are whole, and the dead live at his word. In speaking, God acts. The thunder of his voice is loaded with the electricity of his power. The vehicle of the Divine active energy is, in fact, a word.
II. GOD'S BASIS OF OPERATIONS. God intervenes in character, and along established lines. He operates:
1. From Jerusalem. This is God's own city, the metropolis of his earthly kingdom. Nothing could be more appropriate. Going forth to war, the king marches from his capital. There he has his magazine, his arsenal, and his headquarters. From thence he can bear down resistlessly on foes from whatever side, with all the resources of his kingdom.
2. From Zion. God's seat and citadel within his city. The place he loves and chooses and honours above all others (Psa_87:2; Psa_132:13; Psa_48:12, Psa_48:13). Here he has made his dwelling place (Psa_68:16; Psa_132:14). The place out of which go forth salvation and destruction. The place out of which the things that come are perfect after their kind. If they be blessings, there are no others so sweet; if curses, no others so stern. Zion is the beating heart of the spiritual world, which sends forth pure or poisoned blood to each greatest and least extremity.
3. From the temple. This is not mentioned, but it is necessarily implied. The glory of Jerusalem was Zion, and the glory of Zion (using the word in its broad sense) was God's house. This was his sanctuary. There he dwelt in symbolic presence. There he revealed himself in symbolic portraiture. There he operated in unparalleled energy. Thence accordingly we might expect his activity to issue (Psa_20:2). There, too, was his mercy seat, from which judgment never came till every merciful expedient had been tried, but would come then with the fury of outraged goodness. Now, Jerusalem and Zion and God's house are each a type, and their common anti-type is the Church of Christ. And this is God's base of spiritual operations through all time (Isa_2:3; Luk_24:47). He dwells in it (Act_7:38; Eph_1:23), speaks by it (Eph_3:10), operates through it (Dan_2:44), and conquers in it (Dan_7:13, Dan_7:22).
III. AFTER THE CAMPAIGN. God makes no fruitless expedition. The armies of his judgments leave desolation in their track.
1. The pastures wither. God's voice, as a figure for meteorological phenomena, is often spoken of as changing the surface of the earth (Psa_29:3-9). Here it stands for many agencies, including these, and especially drought. Nature is one, and if any part suffers the other parts suffer with it (Jer_25:36). Amos, as a herdsman, thinks naturally first of the calamity as it would affect the pastures by which he made his living. God's judgments strike each man in his special interest. It is as menacing this interest chiefly that they are feared.
2. The head of Carmel is dried up. Carmel was in the north, and the pastures in the prophet's mind were in the south. The enumeration, therefore, points to the withering as prevailing over the entire land. Carmel was one of the richest and best-watered spots in Palestine. When it was withered, all other places must have been scorched. God's judgments come seldom, and with tardy foot; but they are thorough, and make an end of their work (1Sa_3:12 : Isa_60:12). Nor was this a passing visitation. It remains in its leading characteristics till the present day. Carmel, as its name implies, was rich in vineyards. Now there is only scrub, and the debris of ruined walls. The "head" is dried up, that might once have been said to "drop down new wine."
Verse 3-ch. 2:3
I. IN EVERY CASE JUDGMENT IS THE ACT OF GOD. "I will send;" "I will kindle" (Amo_2:4, Amo_2:7, Amo_2:10, Amo_2:12). It is not fate, whose "winged shaft" is but a phantasy. It is not chance, which is but another name for inscrutable direction. It is not idols, the guesswork likenesses of imaginary things. It is not natural laws, which am simply forces put into things by their Maker. It is God—God in intelligence of device and energy of execution, who "creates evil" (Isa_45:7)—the evil of calamitous events.
II. IN EVERY CASE GOD'S JUDGMENT IS THE COMPLEMENT OF MAN'S SIN. "Because they have threshed;" "Because they carried away." The connection between human sin and human suffering is original, constant, and necessary. They came together, dwell together, and will die together. And just as our common suffering is the abiding result of our common sinfulness, so special suffering connects itself somewhere with special sin. Its relation to the sin, whether as a punishment, a deterrent, or a chastisement, is often obscure. The particular sin, or even the particular sinner, can seldom be pointed to with certainty. There is a warning against judging harshly of the specially afflicted (Luk_13:4, Luk_13:5). Yet the plain teaching of Scripture and experience and reason is that sin has "brought death into the world, and all our woe" (Rom_5:12; Job_4:7, Job_4:8).
III. IN EVERY CASE THE SIN SELECTED FOR PUNISHMENT IS THAT COMMITTED AGAINST GOD'S PEOPLE. In five cases out of the six the sin was committed directly against Israel, and in the sixth case it was committed against their ally. God loves the world as a whole, but he loves his people best (Joh_3:16; Joh_14:23). He gives to the wicked "life and breath and all things," but he gives to his saints the wicked, and all they have (1Co_3:21, 1Co_3:22; Eph_1:22). He avenges the ill done even to the sinner, but he avenges more sternly, because he personally feels, the ill done to his people (Zec_2:8, Zec_2:9). Their persons are more sacred than those of others (Mat_10:30), and their lives more precious in his sight (Psa_72:14; Psa_116:15). Accordingly, the worst form of murder is martyrdom (Luk_18:7, Luk_18:8), and the worst form of theft is sacrilege (Ma Amo_3:8).
IV. JUDGMENT IS PRECIPITATED BY PERSEVERANCE IN SIN. "For three, transgressions and for four" is the invariable formula. The expression (see Pro_30:15, Pro_30:18, Pro_30:21; Job_5:19; Ecc_11:2) means lot many transgressions, culminating in a final one. Persistent sin means cumulative guilt. Drop is added to drop till at last the cup is full. The tendency toward sin God warns; the first sin he rebukes; the second he threatens; the third he menaces with uplifted hand; the fourth he smites. God bears long with the wicked, but they may sin once too often. Your past offences have escaped, your next one may endanger the Divine forbearance, "Sin no more, lest a worse thing come upon you."
V. IN EVERY CASE THE EXTREME OF GUILT INVOLVES THE EXTREME OF PUNISHMENT OR ENTIRE DESTRUCTION. This is inflicted by fire, the most destructive element in each case. God employed fire in many of his most startling miracles (Gen_19:24; Exo_9:23; Num_11:1; Num_16:35; Le Num_10:2; 2Ki_1:10, 2Ki_1:12). In the language of figure it is the ideal destructive agent (Isa_4:4; Isa_9:5). In prophecy, too, fire is or symbolizes the agent that destroys the beast, the false prophet, and all the wicked (Dan_7:11; Rev_19:20; Rev_20:15). To the impenitent, fire will be a destroying, not a cleansing power. It points onward to the vengeance of eternal fire, which will be the fitting retribution of sin at last.
Amo_1:3-5
I. THE CRIMINAL. Damascus stands by metonymy for Syria, judging of whom by her representative we see that:
1. Riches do not prevent rapacity. Damascus was noted for wealth, the fertile neighbourhood being irrigated by numerous canals, and the city itself lying in the highway of commerce. Yet greed instigated the barbarous treatment described. The wars waged against Israel were wars of rapine and annexation. "The eye that loveth silver shall not be satisfied with silver." Rather does the lust of gain grow by what it feeds on. Whether it be culture, or power, or pleasure, or wealth, men tend to make a god of the thing they abound in. It was when Israel was richest that her oppression of the poor was most extreme. It was by her richest neighbours that she herself was most rapaciously despoiled. It is thus that the conditions leading men to sin are the guarantee of its punishment in kind.
2. Beautiful surroundings do not humanize. Writers speak in glowing terms of the unrivalled beauty of this ancient city. "Its white buildings, embedded in the deep green of its engirdling orchards, were like diamonds encircled by emeralds" (Pusey). Yet here, in scenes of ideal beauty, grew up the monsters of barbarity who took the women and children of Gilead, and, "casting them as into a sort of threshing floor, savagely threshed them out like ears of corn with saw-armed wheels" (see 2Ki_13:7). Physical scenery and moral character have no necessary connection. The fairest lands have often produced the coarsest and most cruel men. The determining element is the presence or absence of the gospel of Christ. It is not aesthetics, but Christianity, we must look to for the moral elevation of men.
3. The possession of strength is a temptation to violence. The beauty of Damascus was also its strength. The miles on miles of walled orchards in which it was set formed an admirable defence against an advancing enemy (see Pusey), and, thus entrenched, the legions of Syria were strong beyond their seeming. Now, just as the subtle choose diplomacy and the rich subsidy in the settlement of disputed matters, so do the strong choose force. It is the readiest and most effective weapon within their reach. How many wars, how much bloodshed and desolation and misery, are directly traceable to "the strong man glorying in his strength"!
II. THE CRIME. Gilead, meaning the whole land given to the two tribes and a half is here put by metonymy for the inhabitants. The horrible and atrocious outrages on the people described by Amos suggest that:
1. The obverse of ungodliness is inhumanity. The relation to God is the fundamental one. If it be wrong, all others are awry. Morality has its basis in religion. There is no duty to men apart from a God and a revelation of his will. There is no good will toward men apart from his gracious influence (Tit_3:3). The mere animal nature is selfish, and regardless of all life but its own. It will kill for the most trifling advantage, and sometimes in the lust of blood for no advantage at all. Heathen hearts are "hateful and hating one another," and a heathen home is "a habitation of cruelty."
2. Bloodthirsty men make war even with the implements of peace. There is a time coming when warlike weapons will be converted into farming implements (Isa_51:4; Mic_4:3). This will be when the gospel shall universally prevail. Meanwhile a readier ear is leant to Joel (Joe_3:10) than to Micah, and the converse process goes on instead. The threshing instrument was not made, but only pressed into service, for the occasion. Fallen man is at heart a savage, and, under excitation, his inner nature will break out through the artificial habits of peace. So little is there between work and war, between lawful industry and lawless murder, in the godless life.
3. Ideal cruelty is utterly indiscriminate. Elisha's prophecy to Hazael (2Ki_8:12), of which this horrid butchery was the fulfilment, mentions women and children as the chief victims of the outrage. There is a bloodhound instinct in wicked men which is aroused to fury by the taste of blood. The horrors of the French Revolution and of the Spanish Inquisition reveal it in the infidel and the fanatic respectively. It knows no distinction of age, or condition, or sex. It simply wants to "slay, and slay, and slay." It is a humiliating thought about our species, but it is a fact that must be faced by all who would humanize the race. The tie of blood is perhaps a natural one, and respected more or less by even heathen peoples, as it is by the very beasts that perish. But even this scarcely operates beyond the filial relation and the period of childhood. And then, as for friendship and philanthropy, they have no place in the sphere of mere nature. The question, "Is man utterly selfish?" is rather a nice one than practical. He has shown himself sufficiently selfish to make unsafe the life of any human being whom he could gain by killing.
III. THE SENTENCE. This is severe, detailed, and striking.
1. It falls on the things in which the nation was pre-eminent. "I will break also the bar of Damascus." The bar or bolt which secured the gate was an essential part of the city defence. To break it would be to throw open the city to the enemy. By this figure is meant the breaking of the national strength and means of resistance, and leaving the nation helpless before its enemies. Thus God declares himself omnipotent. Those who glory in their strength are broken, and those who trust in their riches are impoverished (Isa_2:11; Isa_13:11; Psa_52:7). Punishment adjusted so is more effectual for its purpose, whether of mercy or of judgment, for it brings the criminal to his knees at once. The niceness of the adjustment is, moreover, a revelation of the Divine directing hand in the whole event, and so a lesson in itself.
2. It strikes at the national sin. The "vale of Aven," whose inhabitant was to be cut off, was remarkable as containing Baalbec, or Heliopolis, the seat and centre of the Syrian sun worship. There were observed idolatrous orgies, in which men and women abandoned themselves to shameless profligacy; and there, where their "offence smells rank to Heaven," the hottest bolts of Heaven's vengeance fall. Others would be carried into captivity, but the inhabitants of Aven would be utterly cut off. The flies of God's judgment alight upon the sores of our idol sins. He strikes the covetous in his pocket, and the self-indulgent m his power of enjoyment. And so in every other ease. The practice that provokes his judgment is the one on which its first and heaviest effects fall.
3. It includes the royal house. The king is in a sense the figurehead of the nation. His policy embodies the national sentiment, if it does not inspire it. Accordingly, national guilt culminates in him. It would be an anomaly if the people were to perish and he escape. Then the destruction that includes king and people is utter and irretrievable. There could be no restoration, no resurrection. When only ashes remain, the rekindling of the fire of national existence has become impossible.
4. It denounces on all poetic justice. "Shall go into captivity to Kir." "From Kir the forefathers of the Syrians had, of their own will, been brought by the good all-disposing providence of God. Now, softened as they were by luxury, they were to be transported back to the austere though healthy climate whence they had come" (Pusey). The family of Ne'er-do-well fall into the mud out of which they were raised at first, and find it has got deeper in the interval. The last state of the misuser of good, in the nature of the case, is worse than the first.
IV. THE EXECUTION. The woe fell half a century later, in the time of Tiglath-Pileser, who slew Rezin the king, and carried the Syrians away captive. Thus the event was fifty years after the prediction. Prophecy by the Spirit of God is as easy to the prophet a millennium before the event as an hour. But if it has not been forgotten in the mean time, it is the more impressive and striking, the longer the interval between the utterance and the fulfilment. Then the evil prophesied was one previously unheard of, and antecedently most unlikely. "The transportation of whole populations was not, so far as we know, any part of Eastern policy at the time of the prophet" (Pussy). There are unfulfilled predictions, loaded with the world's weal or ill, whose fulfilment is even more distant and more unlikely. But the "sure Word of prophecy" overrides both time and chance, and lifts remotest events above the horizon, and into the light of decisive certitude. For all we fear and hope this is the guarantee, "Hath he said it, and shall he not do it? Hath he spoken, and shall he not make it good!"
Amo_1:6-8
I. THE CROWNING ACT OF A LONG SERIES. Israel and Philistia were hereditary foes. In the history of their feud were many bloody acts, which culminated in this wholesale deportation. In the judgment provoked by it, however, these acts would all be punished. So the murders of the prophets, throughout a series of ages, remained unavenged till they culminated in the death of Christ, and then it and they were all avenged together (Luk_11:49-51). Thus vicarious is much of human suffering. God visits the iniquities of the fathers upon the children generally (Exo_20:5), and specially on those like minded with the fathers (Mat_23:1-39 :84-36). The sufferings of each age are largely an inheritance from the ages before.
II. AN ACT OF WHOLESALE DESTRUCTION. "Because they carried away captives in full number." This cruelty was gratuitous, as many captives could have given their captors no offence; and it was senseless as well, for many would be utterly worthless as slaves. It indicated deep and indiscriminating hate of the entire people, and a fixed purpose to root out and utterly exterminate them. Such hatred, directed doubtless against Israel in their character as the people of God, is specially criminal, and calls for special punishment (see Mat_10:40, Mat_10:41).
III. AN ACT OF AGGRAVATED CRUELTY. Not satisfied with the suffering they could inflict themselves, they called in the help of Israel's bitterest foe. They sold the people to the Edomites, and so became responsible for the intolerable cruelties to which they were handed over. We are in God's sight as guilty of the crime we procure as of the crime we commit. The Church's mediaeval device of condemning heretics, and handing them over to the civil power to be executed, was as vain as the washing of Pilate's hands. The blood shed at our instigation, and with our connivance or through our indifference, is blood that will be required of us in the great day (Eze_3:18-20).
IV. A PUNISHMENT IN WHICH THE CAPITAL CITIES ARE SPECIALLY PROMINENT. Of the five capitals of Philistia, four are mentioned by name, and the fifth is included under the word "remnant" Capitals are centres of opinion, and are largely responsible for the moulding of the national sentiment. They are centres of power, and take the lead in determining the national policy. They were in this case centres of commerce, and so took a prominent part in the work of bartering Israel to the Edomites. Moreover Gaza, the one singled out and emphasized, was through its character and position the chief sinner in