Gaza. Now Ghuzzeh, in- Philistia. the whole captivity = a wholesale captivity. captivity = captives. Put by Figure of speech Metonymy (of Adjunct), App-6 , for a whole body of captives. See Jeremiah 13:19 . Compare Jeremiah 47:1 . 2Ch 21:16 , 2 Chronicles 21:17 ; 2 Chronicles 28:17 . read more
"Thus saith Jehovah: For three transgressions of Gaza, yea, for four, I will not turn away the punishment thereof; because they carried away captive the whole people, to deliver them up to Edom.Note that the whole of a nation was represented by one of its principal cities, Syria by Damascus, (Amos 1:3), and here, Philistia by Gaza. "It is evident that Gaza is simply regarded as a representative of Philistia,"[25] as proved by the fact that in the announcement of the punishment, some of the... read more
Amos 1:6. For three transgressions of Gaza— Houbigant renders this in the same manner as the third verse; and so throughout the chapter. Instead of the whole captivity, we may read, a peaceable captivity; that is to say, a captivity not taken in war, but by sleight and deceit; or a perfect captivity; that is, not to be recovered. See Amos 1:9. read more
6. Gaza—the southernmost of the five capitals of the five divisions of Philistia, and the key to Palestine on the south: hence put for the whole Philistine nation. Uzziah commenced the fulfilment of this prophecy (see :-). because they carried away . . . the whole captivity—that is, they left none. Compare with the phrase here, Jeremiah 13:19, "Judah . . . carried captive all of it . . . wholly carried away." Under Jehoram already the Philistines had carried away all the substance of the king... read more
II. PROPHETIC MESSAGES THAT AMOS DELIVERED 1:3-6:14The Book of Amos consists of words (oracles, Amos 1:3 to Amos 6:14) and visions (chs. 7-9), though these sections also contain short sub-sections of other types of material. read more
A. Oracles against nations 1:3-2:16An oracle is a message of judgment. Amos proceeded to deliver eight of these, seven against Israel’s neighbors, including Judah (Amos 1:3 to Amos 2:5), and one against Israel (Amos 2:6 to Amos 6:14). The order is significant. The nations mentioned first were foreign, but those mentioned next were the blood relatives of the Israelites, and Judah was its closest kin. Upon hearing this list the Israelites would have felt "a noose of judgment about to tighten... read more
Gaza was the chief city of Philistia, as Damascus was of Aram. The particular sin for which God would judge the Philistines was their capture and deportation of whole communities (or people at peace, Heb. shelema), possibly Israelites and or Judahites, to Edom as slaves (cf. Joel 3:4-8). During the reign of Israel’s King Jehoram (852-841 B.C.) Philistines and Arabs had carried off the royal household (2 Chronicles 21:16-17), plundered the temple (Joel 3:5), and sold the people into slavery... read more
2. An oracle against Philistia 1:6-8 read more
The Sins of Israel's Neighbours and the Punishments which Should Follow1. We may paraphrase the main part of the sentence thus: 'The words of Amos, describing what he saw in prophetic vision.'Herdmen] or rather, 'keepers of a peculiar breed of sheep called naqad.' There must have been a number of these sheepowners in and near Tekoa. Mesha, king of Moab, is called by the same name noqed (2Ki 3:4), where our English Bible uses the word 'sheep-master.' Tekoa] 5 m. S. of Bethlehem, on a hill 2,788... read more
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Bridgeway Bible Commentary - Amos 1:1-15
1:1-2:16 JUDGMENTS ON VARIOUS NATIONSIt seems that Amos announced most, if not all, of his message in Bethel, an important religious and commercial centre near Israel’s southern border (see 7:10). He gained the attention of his audience by first announcing God’s judgment on Israel’s neighbours. This news no doubt pleased his hearers, but for Amos it was part of his build-up to the climax, which announced God’s judgment on Israel.The first three nations that Amos condemned were foreign nations... read more