John Gill Commentary Amos 1

The words of Amos
Not which he spoke of or for himself, but from the Lord; all the prophecies, visions, and revelations made to him, are intended: who was among the herdsmen of Tekoa ;
which was not in the tribe of Asher, as Kimchi; nor of Zebulun, as Pseudo-Epiphanius ^F9 ; but in the tribe of Judah, (2 Chronicles 11:5 2 Chronicles 11:6) (Jeremiah 6:1) . It lay to the south, and was six miles from Bethlehem. Mr. Maundrell ^F11 says it is nine miles distant, to the south of it; and, according to Jerom ^F12 , it was twelve miles from Jerusalem; though he elsewhere ^F13 says, Thecua, or Tekoa, is a village at this day, nine miles from Aelia or Jerusalem, of which place was Amos the prophet, and where his sepulchre is seen: either there is a mistake of the number, or of Aelia for Bethlehem; the former rather seems to be the case; according to Josephus ^F14 , it was not far from the castle of Herodium. The Misnic doctors ^F15 speak of it as famous for oil, where the best was to be had; near to it was a wilderness, called the wilderness of Tekoa; and Jerom ^F16 says, that beyond it there was no village, nor so much as huts and cottages, but a large wilderness, which reached to the Red sea, and to the borders of the Persians, Ethiopians, and Indians, and was full of shepherds, among whom Amos was;

whether he was a master herdsman, or a servant of one, is not said. The word is used of the king of Moab, who is said to be a "sheepmaster" (2 Kings 3:4); he traded in cattle and got riches. The Targum here renders it, 'who was lord or master of cattle;' and Kimchi interprets it, he was a great man among the herdsmen. This suggests it was an act of self-denial to leave his business and go to prophesying. But rather, he was a servant who kept cattle for others, which better agrees with (Amos 7:14), and thus expresses the grace of God in calling such a humble person to a high office. The word used signifies to mark; and shepherds were so called from marking their sheep to distinguish them, which seems to be the work of servants; and, in the Arabic language, a kind of sheep deformed, and of short feet, are so called:

which he saw concerning Israel ;
or, against Israel ^F17 , the ten tribes, to whom he was sent, and against whom he prophesied chiefly; for he says very little of Judah. Words are more properly said to be spoken or heard, but here they are said to be seen. This shows that not bare words are meant, but things which the prophet has revealed to him in a visionary way and he delivered; see (Isaiah 2:1);

in the days of Uzziah king of Judah ;
who was also called Azariah, (2 Kings 15:1) ; and in the days of Jeroboam the son of Joash king of Israel ;
so he is called to distinguish him from Jeroboam the son of Nebat; this king was the grandson of Jehu; he was, as Jerom says, before Sardanapalus reigned over the Assyrians, and Procas Sylvius over the Latines:

two years before the earthquake ;
which was well known in those times, and fresh in memory. Zechariah speaks of it many years after, from whom we learn it was in the days of Uzziah, (Zechariah 14:5) . The Jewish writers generally say that it was when Uzziah was smote with leprosy for invading the priest's office; and was in the year in which he died, when Isaiah had a vision of the glory of the Lord, and the posts of the house moved, (Isaiah 6:1Isaiah 6:4);

and with whom Josephus ^F18 agrees; who also relates, that the temple being rent by the earthquake, the bright light of the sun shone upon the king's face, and the leprosy immediately seized him; and, at a place before the city called Eroge, half part of a mountain towards the west was broken and rolled half a mile towards the eastern part, and there stood, and stopped up the ways, and the king's gardens;

but this cannot be true, as Theodoret observes; since, according to this account, Amos must begin to prophesy in the fiftieth year of Uzziah; for he reigned fifty two years, and he began his reign in the twenty seventh year of Jeroboam, (2 Kings 15:1) ; who reigned forty one years, (2 Kings 14:23) ; so that Uzziah and he were contemporary fourteen years only, and Jeroboam must have been dead thirty six years when it was the fiftieth of Uzziah; whereas they are here represented as contemporary when Amos began to prophesy, which was but two years before the earthquake; so that this earthquake must be in the former and not the latter part of Uzziah's reign, and consequently not when he was stricken with the leprosy.

FOOTNOTES:

• F9: De Vita Prophet. c. 12.
• F11: Journey from Aleppo to Jerusalem, p. 88.
• F12: Proem. in Amos & Comment. in Jer. vi. 1.
• F13: De locis Hebr. in voce Elthei, fol. 91. B.
• F14: De Bello Jud. l. 4. c. 9. sect. 5.
• F15: Misn. Menachot, c. 8. sect. 3.
• F16: Proem. in Amos.
• F17: (larvy le) "contra Israelem", so some in Drusius.
• F18: Antiqu. l. 9. c. 10. sect. 4.

And he said That is, the Prophet Amos, before described; he, being under divine inspiration, said as follows: the Lord will roar from Zion, and utter his voice from Jerusalem; not from Samaria, nor from Dan and Bethel, but from Zion and Jerusalem, where the temple of the Lord stood; and out of the holy of holies in it, where was the seat of the divine Majesty; and his voice being compared to the roaring of a lion, denotes his wrath and vengeance; and is expressive of some terrible threatening prophecy he would send from hence, by one or other of his prophets; perhaps Amos may mean himself; and who, having been a shepherd or herdsman in the wilderness, had often heard the terrible roaring of the lion, to which he compares his prophecy concerning the judgments of God on nations.

Some think reference is had to the earthquake, as Aben Ezra; and which might be attended with thunder and lightning, the voice of God:

and the habitations of the shepherds shall mourn; that is, the huts or cottages they dwell in, erected for the more convenient care of their flocks; these, by a figure, are said to mourn, because exposed to the violent heat of the sun in this time of drought; or because forsaken by the shepherds; or it may design the shepherds themselves that dwelled in them, that should mourn because there was no pasture for their flocks, the grass being dried up, and withered away:

and indeed it may be rendered, "the pastures of the shepherds shall mourn" ^F19; being destroyed by the drought, as the cattle upon them are said to mourn and groan, (Joel 1:18); and the top of Carmel shall wither; a fruitful mountain in the land of Israel; there were two of this name, one in the tribe of Judah, near which Nabal dwelt, (1 Samuel 25:2); another in the tribe of Asher, near to Ptolemais or Aco; some think the former is meant, as being nearer Tekoa, and more known to Amos; others the latter, because Israel or the ten tribes are prophesied against; though Carmel may be taken for any and all fruitful places in the land; and the top or chief of it withering may signify the destruction of everything pleasant and useful.

Some think Amos speaks figuratively in the language of a herdsman or shepherd, as artificers and mechanics do in their own way ^F20; and so by "shepherds" he means kings and princes; and, by their "habitations", their kingdoms, cities, towns, and palaces; and, by "Carmel", their wealth, riches, and precious things, which should all be destroyed; and to this agrees the Targum, ``the habitations of kings shall become desolate, and the strength of their fortresses shall be made a desert.''

FOOTNOTES:

• F19: (Myerh twan) "pascua pastorum", Vatablus, Piscator, Grotius, Burkius.
• F20: "Navita de ventis, de tauris narrat arator, Enumerat miles vulnera, pastor oves". Propert. I. 2. Eleg. 1.

Thus says the Lord
Lest it should be thought that the words that Amos spoke were his own, and he spoke them of himself, this and the following prophecies are prefaced in this manner; and he begins with the nations near to the people of Israel and Judah, who had greatly afflicted them, and for that reason would be punished; which is foretold, to let Israel see that those judgments on them did not come by chance; and lest they should promise themselves impunity from the prosperity of these sinful nations; and to awaken them to a sense of their sin and danger, who might expect the visitation of God for their transgressions; as also to take off all offence at the prophet, who began not with them, but with their enemies: for three transgressions of Damascus, and for four, I will not turn
away [the punishment] thereof ;
Damascus was an ancient city; it was in the times of Abraham, (Genesis 15:2) . It was the "metropolis" of Syria, (Isaiah 7:8) ; and so Pliny calls it, "Damascus of Syria" ^F21 . Of the situation of this place, and the delightfulness of it, (See Gill on Jeremiah 49:25); and of its founder, and the signification of its name, (See Gill on Acts 9:2); to which may be added, that though Justin ^F23 says it had its name from Damascus, a king of it before Abraham and Israel, whom he also makes kings of it; and Josephus^F24

would have Uz the son of Aram the founder of it, to which Bochart^F25 agrees; yet the Arabic writers ascribe the building of it to others; for the Arabs have a tradition, as Schultens ^F26 says, that there were Canaanites anciently in Syria; for they talk of Dimashc the son of Canaan, who built the famous city of Damascus, and so it should seem to be called after his name; and Abulpharagius ^F1 says, that Murkus or Murphus, as others call him, king of Palestine, built the city of Damascus twenty years before the birth of Abraham: from this place many things have their names, which continue with us to this day, as the "damask" rose, and the "damascene" plum, transplanted from the gardens that were about it, for which it was famous; and very probably the invention of the silk and linen called "damasks" owes its rise from hence.

It is here put for the whole country of Syria, and the inhabitants of it, for whose numerous transgressions, signified by "three" and "four", the Lord would not turn away his fury from them, justly raised by their sins; or the decree which he has passed in his own mind, and now made a declaration of, he would not revoke; or not inflict the punishment they had deserved, and he had threatened. The sense is, that he would not spare them, or have mercy on them, or defer the execution of punishment any longer; he would not forgive their transgressions. So the Targum, ``I will not pardon them.''

De Dieu refers it to the earthquake before mentioned, that God would not turn away that, but cause it to come, as he had foretold, for the transgressions of these, and other nations after spoken of; but rather it refers to Damascus; and so some render it, "I will not turn", or "convert it" ^F2 ; to repentance, and so to my mercy; but leave it in its sins, and to my just judgments.

Kimchi thinks that this respects four particular seasons, in which Damascus, or the Syrians, evilly treated and distressed the people of Israel; first in the times of Baasha; then in the times of Ahab; a third time in the days of Jehoahaz the son of Jehu; and the fourth in the times of Ahaz; and then they were punished for them all:

because they have threshed Gilead with threshing instruments of iron ; that is, ``the inhabitants of the land of Gilead,'' as the Targum; this country lay beyond Jordan, and was inhabited by the Reubenites and Gadites and the half tribe of Manasseh; who were used in a very cruel manner, by Hazael king of Syria, as was foretold by Elisha, (2 Kings 7:12) ; not literally, as in (2 Samuel 12:31) ; but by him they were beat, oppressed, and crushed, as the grain of the threshingfloor; which used to be threshed out by means of a wooden instrument stuck with iron teeth, the top of which was filled with stones to press it down, and so drawn to and fro over the sheaves of corn, by which means it was beaten out, to which the allusion is here; (See Gill on 1 Corinthians 9:9). This was done by Hazael king of Syria, who is said to destroy the people, and make them "like the dust by threshing", (2 Kings 10:32 2 Kings 10:33) (2 Kings 13:3 2 Kings 13:7) .

FOOTNOTES:

• F21: Nat. Hist. l. 36. c. 8.
• F23: E Trogo, l. 36. c. 2.
• F24: Antiqu. l. 1. c. 6. sect. 4.
• F25: Phaleg. l. 2. c. 8.
• F26: Apud Universal History, vol. 2. p. 280.
• F1: Hist. Dynast. p. 13.
• F2: (wnbyva al) "non convertam eam", Montanus, Vatablus, Drusius.

But I will send a fire into the house of Hazael
For so doing; into his family, his sons' sons, one of whom perhaps was Rezin, that Tiglathpileser king of Assyria slew, as Aben Ezra observes. This denotes the judgments of God upon his posterity for his cruel usage of the Israelites; and designs an enemy that should come into his country, and war made in the midst of it, by which it should be depopulated; and this being by the permission and providence of God, and according to his will, is said to be sent by him: which shall devour the palaces of Benhadad ;
a name frequently given to the kings of Syria; there was one of this name the immediate predecessor of Hazael, whose servant he was; and he left a son of the same name that succeeded him, (2 Kings 7:7 2 Kings 7:15) (13:24) ; these may denote the royal palaces of the kings of Syria, which should not be spared in this time of desolation;

though rather by them may be intended the temples, which he and Hazael are said by Josephus ^F3 to build in the city of Damascus, whereby they greatly adorned it; and for these and other acts of beneficence they were deified by the Syrians, and worshipped as gods; and even to the times of Josephus, he says, their statues were carried in pomp every day in honour of them; and so, the house of Hazael, in the preceding clause, may signify a temple that was either built by him, or for the worship of him, since he was deified as well as Benhadad; and it may be observed, that as Adad was a common name of the kings of Syria; for, according to Nicholas of Damascus ^F4 , ten kings that reigned in Damascus were all called Adad; so this is a name of the god they worshipped. Pliny speaks of a god worshipped by the Syrians, whose name must be Adad; since, according to him; the gem "adadunephros" has its name from him ^F5 ; and Macrobius ^F6 is express for it, that the chief god of the Assyrians was called Adad, which signifies one; (See Gill on Isaiah 66:17).

FOOTNOTES:

• F3: Antiqu. l. 9. c. 4. sect. 6.
• F4: Apud Joseph. Antiqu. l. 7. c. 5. sect. 8.
• F5: Nat. Hist. l. 27. c. 11.
• F6: Saturnal. l. 1. c. 23.

I will break also the bar of Damascus
Or bars, the singular for the plural, by which the gates of the city were barred; and, being broken, the gates would be easily opened, and way made for the enemy to pass into the city and spoil it; or it may signify the whole strength and all the fortifications of it. So the Targum, ``I will break the strength of Damascus:''

and cut off the inhabitant from the plain of Aven ;
or, "of an idol", as the Vulgate Latin version. It is thought to be some place where idols were worshipped by the Syrians; their gods were the gods of the valleys, which they denied the God of Israel to be, (1 Kings 20:23) . Mr. Maundrell ^F7 says, that near Damascus there is a plain still called the valley of Bocat, and which he thinks is the same with this Bicataven, as it is in the Hebrew text; and which lies between Libanus and Antilibanus, near to the city, of Heliopolis and the Septuagint and Arabic versions here call this valley the plain of On, which Theodoret interprets of an idol called On. Father Calmet ^F8 takes it to be the same with Heliopolis, now called Balbec, or Baalbeck, the valley of Baal; where was a famous temple dedicated to the sun, the magnificent remains of which are still at this day visible. Balbec is mentioned by the Arabians as the wonder of Syria; and one of their lexicographers says it is three days' journey from Damascus, where are wonderful foundations, and magnificent vestiges of antiquity, and palaces with marble columns, such as in the whole world are nowhere else to be seen; and such of our European travellers as have visited it are so charmed with what they beheld there, that they are at a loss how to express their admiration. On the southwest of the town, which stands in a "delightful plain" on the west foot of Antilibanus, is a Heathen temple, with the remains of some other edifices, and, among the rest, of a magnificent palace ^F9 : Some late travellers ^F11 into these parts tell us, that ``upon a rising ground near the northeast extremity of this "plain", and immediately under Antilibanus, is pleasantly situated the city of Balbec, between Tripoli of Syria, and Damascus, and about sixteen hours distant from each.----This plain of Bocat (they say) might by a little care be made one of the richest and most fertile spots in Syria; for it is more fertile than the celebrated vale of Damascus, and better watered than the rich plains of Esdraelon and Rama. In its present neglected state it produces grain, some good grapes, but very little wood.--It extends in length from Balbec almost to the sea; its direction is from northeast by north, to southwest by south; and its breadth from Libanus to Antilibanus is guessed to be in few places more than twelve miles, or less than six.'' It seems to be the same with Bicatlebanon, or the valley of Lebanon, (Joshua 11:17) ; and with that which Strabo ^F12 calls the hollow plain; the breadth of which to the sea (he says) is twenty five miles, and the length from the sea to the midland is double that:

and him that holdeth the sceptre from the house of Eden ;
that is, the king from his pleasure house; or it may be understood to be the name of some place in Syria, where the kings of it used sometimes to be, and had their palace there, called Betheden; and it seems there is still a place near Damascus, on Mount Libanus, called Eden, as the above traveller says; and Calmet ^F13 takes it to be the same that is here spoken of:

and the people of Syria shall go into captivity unto Kir, saith the
Lord ;
which last clause is added for the certainty of it, and accordingly it was punctually fulfilled; for in the times of Rezin, which was about fifty years after this prophecy of Amos, though Kimchi says but twenty five, Tiglathpileser king of Assyria came up against Damascus, took it, and carried the people captive to Kir, (2 Kings 16:9) . The Targum and Vulgate Latin version call it Cyrene, which some understand as Cyrene in Egypt; see (Acts 2:10) ; but this cannot be, since it was in the hands of the king of Assyria; but rather Kir in Media is meant; see (Isaiah 22:6) ; which was under his dominion; and so Josephus says ^F14 , that he carried captive the inhabitants of Damascus into Upper Media.

FOOTNOTES:

• F7: Journey from Aleppo to Jerusalem, p. 119, 120. Ed. 7.
• F8: Dictionary, in the word "Heliopolis".
• F9: Universal History, vol. 2. p. 266.
• F11: Authors of "The Ruins of Balbec".
• F12: Geograph. l. 16. p. 519.
• F13: Dictionary, in the word "Eden".
• F14: Antiqu. l. 9. c. 12. sect. 3.