John Calvin Commentary Amos 2:1-3

"Thus saith Jehovah: For three transgressions of Moab, yea, for four, I will not turn away the punishment thereof; because he burned the bones of the king of Edom into lime: but I will send a fire upon Moab, and it shall devour the palaces of Kerioth; and Moab shall die with tumult, with shouting, and with the sound of the trumpet; and I will cut off the judge from the midst thereof, and will slay all the princes thereof with him, saith Jehovah." — Amos 2:1-3 (ASV)

Now Amos prophesies here against the Moabites and proclaims concerning them what we have noticed concerning the other nations—that the Moabites were completely perverse, that no repentance could be hoped for, as they had added crimes to crimes and reached the height of wickedness. For, as we have said, the number seven signifies this.

The Prophet then charges the Moabites here with perverseness. From this we learn that God’s vengeance did not come quickly upon them, for their wickedness was intolerable, since they persisted in their crimes. But he mentions one thing in particular—that they had burnt the bones of the king of Edom.

Some take "bones" here to mean courage, as if the Prophet had said that the whole strength of Edom had been reduced to ashes. But this is a strained exposition, and its authors themselves confess that they are forced to it by necessity, even though there is no such necessity. The interpretation given by the Rabbis does not satisfy them—that the body of a certain king had been burnt, and then that the Moabites had strangely used the ashes to make a cement instead of lime.

Thus the Rabbis trifle in their usual manner; for when an obscure passage occurs, they immediately invent some fable. Even if there is no historical basis, they exercise their ingenuity in fanciful interpretations, and this I completely dislike. But what need is there to resort to allegory when we can simply take what the Prophet says: that the body of the king of Edom had been burnt? For the Prophet, I do not doubt, charges the Moabites with barbarous cruelty.

To dig up the bodies of enemies and burn their bones—this is an inhuman and completely barbarous deed. But it was more detestable in the Moabites, who had some connection with the Edomites, for they descended from the same family. The memory of that relationship should have continued, since Abraham raised Lot, the father of the Moabites, and thus the Moabites had an obligation to the Edomites.

If, then, any humanity existed in them, they should have restrained their passions so as not to treat their brethren so cruelly. Now, when they exceeded all restraint in war, raged against dead bodies, and burned the bones of the dead, it was, as I have said, extremely barbarous conduct.

The meaning, then, is that the Moabites could no longer be tolerated, for in this one instance, they provided an example of savage cruelty. If there had been a drop of humanity in them, they would have treated their brethren, the Edomites, more kindly.

But they burned into lime, that is, into ashes, the bones of the king of Edom, thereby proving they had forgotten all humanity and justice. We now understand the Prophet’s meaning.

He therefore adds a threat: I will send a fire on Moab, which shall devour the palaces of קריות, Koriut. We have stated that what the Prophet means by these expressions is that God would consume the Moabites by a violent punishment, as if by a burning fire; that fortified places could not prevent Him from executing His vengeance; and that though they were proud of their palaces, these would be of no avail to them.

He further adds, Moab shall die with tumult, with noise, with the sound of the trumpet. That is, God will send strong enemies who will come and make no peace with the Moabites, but will take possession of every place and fortified city by force and by the sword. For what the Prophet means by tumult, shouting, and the sound of the trumpet is that the Moabites would not fall under the power of their enemies through agreements or treaties, as happens when a voluntary surrender is made, which usually lessens the hostile rage of enemies. No, he says, it will not be so, for their enemies will take not only their wealth but also their lives.

Finally, he adds, And I will cut off the judge from the midst of her, and will slay her princes, saith Jehovah. God here declares that the kingdom of the Moabites and its people will cease to exist, for we know that people cannot exist as a community without some form of civil government.

Wherever, then, there is an assembly of people, there must be rulers to govern them. Hence, when God declares that there will no longer be a judge among the Moabites, it is the same as if He had said that their name would be blotted out.

For if the people of Moab had continued, some rulers must necessarily, as we have said, have remained among them. When rulers, then, are destroyed, the people must also perish, for there is no security for them.

The Prophet, then, does not announce here a temporary punishment on the Moabites, but utter ruin, from which they were never to recover. This is the meaning.