Amos

These are the words of Amos, one of the sheep herders of Tekoa. This is what he saw in visions about Israel, in the time when Uzziah was king of Judah and Jeroboam son of Joash was king of Israel, two years before the earthquake.

1The words of Amos, who was among the herdmen of Tekoa, which he saw concerning Israel in the days of Uzziah king of Judah, and in the days of Jeroboam the son of Joash king of Israel, two years before the earthquake.

NoteTekoa was a village in Judah, the southern kingdom, about ten miles south of Jerusalem. After Solomon's death the old kingdom had split in two: Judah in the south, ruled from Jerusalem, and Israel (also called the northern kingdom) in the north, ruled from Samaria. Amos is a southerner sent to speak against the north. Uzziah and Jeroboam II reigned at the same time in the two kingdoms, in the first half of the 700s BC. "Saw" is the ordinary Hebrew word for receiving a prophetic vision, the message came as something seen, not only heard. The earthquake was evidently large enough that people still dated events from it; it is mentioned again in Zechariah 14:5.

2He said: The LORD roars from Zion; he raises his voice from Jerusalem. The open pastures where shepherds keep their flocks dry up and mourn, and the green top of Mount Carmel withers.

2And he said, The LORD will roar from Zion, and utter his voice from Jerusalem; and the habitations of the shepherds shall mourn, and the top of Carmel shall wither.

NoteZion is the hill in Jerusalem on which the temple stood; "Zion" and "Jerusalem" here mean the same place. Mount Carmel is a wooded ridge on the Mediterranean coast in the far north, proverbially the lushest, best-watered land in the region, so its withering is the extreme case. The picture runs from one end of the land to the other: the LORD's voice is compared to a lion's roar.

3This is what the LORD says: For three sins of Damascus, and now a fourth, I will not hold back the punishment. They crushed the region of Gilead the way iron threshing sledges crush grain.

3Thus saith the LORD; For three transgressions of Damascus, and for four, I will not turn away the punishment thereof; because they have threshed Gilead with threshing instruments of iron:

Note"For three sins... and now a fourth" is a set Hebrew way of counting that means "more than enough, and now one too many": it is not a literal tally of four offenses. Amos repeats the formula for eight nations in turn. Damascus was the capital of Aram (Syria), Israel's powerful neighbor to the north-east. Gilead was Israelite territory east of the Jordan, the ground Aram and Israel repeatedly fought over. A threshing sledge was a heavy wooden board studded with iron or stone, dragged over harvested grain to tear the kernels loose from the stalks; here it describes what Aram's army did to the people of Gilead.

4So I will send fire on the royal house of Hazael, and it will burn up the strong fortresses of Ben-hadad.

4But I will send a fire into the house of Hazael, which shall devour the palaces of Benhadad.

Note"House of Hazael" means his royal line, not a building. Hazael seized the throne of Aram in about 842 BC and Ben-hadad was the name of several Aramean kings, including Hazael's son, so the two names together stand for the ruling dynasty. The word rendered "strong fortresses" refers to the fortified towers or citadels inside a walled city, where the ruling class lived and the treasury was kept.

5I will smash the heavy bar that locks the gate of Damascus. I will cut off the ruler who lives in the Valley of Aven, and the one who holds the royal staff in Beth-eden. The people of Syria will be taken away as prisoners to Kir, says the LORD.

5I will break also the bar of Damascus, and cut off the inhabitant from the plain of Aven, and him that holdeth the sceptre from the house of Eden: and the people of Syria shall go into captivity unto Kir, saith the LORD.

NoteAncient city gates were secured by a massive wooden or metal beam slid across the doors; breaking it meant the city was open to attack. The Valley of Aven and Beth-eden are places in Aramean territory (Beth-eden was a small kingdom on the upper Euphrates) and "Aven" also means "wickedness" in Hebrew, so the name may be a deliberate jab. The royal staff, or scepter, was the rod a king held as the sign of his authority. Kir was the region the Arameans were believed to have come from originally (Amos 9:7); being sent back there means being deported to where they started.

6This is what the LORD says: For three sins of Gaza, and now a fourth, I will not hold back the punishment. They captured whole communities of people and handed them over to Edom.

6Thus saith the LORD; For three transgressions of Gaza, and for four, I will not turn away the punishment thereof; because they carried away captive the whole captivity, to deliver them up to Edom:

NoteGaza was one of the five main Philistine cities on the coastal plain south-west of Judah, and sat on the trade route to Egypt. The charge is slave-trading: capturing entire settlements, civilians and all, and selling them on to Edom rather than taking prisoners in battle.

7So I will send fire on the walls of Gaza, and it will burn up its strong fortresses.

7But I will send a fire on the wall of Gaza, which shall devour the palaces thereof:

8I will cut off the ruler who lives in Ashdod, and the one who holds the royal staff in Ashkelon. I will turn my hand against Ekron, and the Philistines who are left will die, says the Lord GOD.

8And I will cut off the inhabitant from Ashdod, and him that holdeth the sceptre from Ashkelon, and I will turn mine hand against Ekron: and the remnant of the Philistines shall perish, saith the Lord GOD.

NoteAshdod, Ashkelon and Ekron are three more of the five Philistine cities (Gath, the fifth, is not named). "Turn my hand against" is a Hebrew idiom for striking a blow. The Philistines were a people settled along the southern coast since roughly 1200 BC, long-standing enemies of Israel.

9This is what the LORD says: For three sins of Tyre, and now a fourth, I will not hold back the punishment. They handed over whole communities of prisoners to Edom, and they broke the agreement they had made as brothers.

9Thus saith the LORD; For three transgressions of Tyrus, and for four, I will not turn away the punishment thereof; because they delivered up the whole captivity to Edom, and remembered not the brotherly covenant:

NoteTyre was a wealthy Phoenician port city on the Lebanese coast, the great sea-trading power of the region. The "agreement made as brothers" refers to a treaty: kings who made a formal alliance called each other brothers, and Tyre and Israel had exactly such a treaty in the days of Hiram, Solomon and later Ahab. The charge is that Tyre sold on people it was bound by treaty to protect.

10So I will send fire on the walls of Tyre, and it will burn up its strong fortresses.

10But I will send a fire on the wall of Tyrus, which shall devour the palaces thereof.

11This is what the LORD says: For three sins of Edom, and now a fourth, I will not hold back the punishment. Edom chased his own brother with the sword and refused to show any pity. His anger tore at them without stopping, and he held on to his rage forever.

11Thus saith the LORD; For three transgressions of Edom, and for four, I will not turn away the punishment thereof; because he did pursue his brother with the sword, and did cast off all pity, and his anger did tear perpetually, and he kept his wrath for ever:

NoteEdom was the nation south-east of Judah, traditionally descended from Esau, the twin brother of Jacob (Israel), which is why Amos calls Israel Edom's "brother" and treats the attack as a family betrayal. The last clause is difficult in Hebrew and is read two ways: that Edom kept his fury burning without end, or that he kept it stored up, nursing the grudge; the rendering leaves both open.

12So I will send fire on Teman, and it will burn up the strong fortresses of Bozrah.

12But I will send a fire upon Teman, which shall devour the palaces of Bozrah.

NoteTeman and Bozrah were major Edomite centers; naming them is a way of naming Edom as a whole. Teman was also a byword for wisdom in the region.

13This is what the LORD says: For three sins of the Ammonites, and now a fourth, I will not hold back the punishment. They cut open pregnant women in Gilead, so they could make their own territory bigger.

13Thus saith the LORD; For three transgressions of the children of Ammon, and for four, I will not turn away the punishment thereof; because they have ripped up the women with child of Gilead, that they might enlarge their border:

NoteThe Ammonites lived east of the Jordan, north of Moab, around modern Amman. Killing pregnant women was a recognized atrocity of ancient warfare, aimed at wiping out the next generation so the land could be permanently annexed, which is exactly the motive Amos names: expanding their border into Gilead.

14So I will set fire to the walls of Rabbah, and it will burn up its fortresses. It will come with war cries on the day of battle, and with a violent wind on the day of the storm.

14But I will kindle a fire in the wall of Rabbah, and it shall devour the palaces thereof, with shouting in the day of battle, with a tempest in the day of the whirlwind:

NoteRabbah was the capital city of Ammon. The war cry was the shout raised by an army as it charged. The storm imagery is standard language for a divine attack sweeping in.

15And their king will be taken away as a prisoner, he and his officials together, says the LORD.

15And their king shall go into captivity, he and his princes together, saith the LORD.

NoteThe Hebrew word for "their king" is *malkam*, which can also be read as Milcom, the national god of Ammon, in which case the image is of the god himself going into exile alongside his priests, as captured idols literally were carried off. Ancient versions split on which reading is meant.