amos-1:1-5-nasb

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Amos 1:4

Ben-hadad - He was son and successor of Hazael. See the cruelties which they exercised upon the Israelites, 2 Kings 10:32 ; 2 Kings 13:7 , etc., and see especially 2 Kings 8:12 , where these cruelties are predicted. The fire threatened here is the war so successfully carried on against the Syrians by Jeroboam II., in which he took Damascus and Hamath, and reconquered all the ancient possessions of Israel. See 2 Kings 14:25 , 2 Kings 14:26 , 2 Kings 14:28 . read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Amos 1:5

The bar of Damascus - The gates, whose long traverse bars, running from wall to wall, were their strength. I will throw it open; and the gates were forced, and the city taken, as above. The plain of Aven - the house of Eden - These are names, says Bochart, of the valley of Damascus. The plain of Aven, or Birkath-Aven, Calmet says, is a city of Syria, at present called Baal-Bek, and by the Greeks Heliopolis; and is situated at the end of that long valley which extends from south to north,... read more

John Calvin

John Calvin's Commentary on the Bible - Amos 1:1

Verse 1 Amos boasts not here, in speaking of his own words, that he adduced anything as from himself, but avows himself to be only the minister of God; for he immediately adds that he received them by a vision. God himself raised up the Prophets and employed their labor; And, at the same time, guided them by his Spirit, that they might not announce anything but what had been received from him, but faithfully deliver what had proceeded from him alone. These two things then, well agree together,... read more

John Calvin

John Calvin's Commentary on the Bible - Amos 1:2

Verse 2 He employs here the same words which we explained yesterday in the Lecture on Joel; but for another purpose. By saying, ‘Jehovah from Zion shall roar,’ Joel intended to set forth the power of God, who had been for a time silent, as though he was not able to repel his enemies. As God was then despised by the ungodly, Joel declares that he had power, by which he could instantly break down and destroy all his enemies and defend his Church and chosen people. But now Amos, as he addresses... read more

John Calvin

John Calvin's Commentary on the Bible - Amos 1:3

Verse 3 It is singular that Amos said that his words were concerning Israel, and that he should now turn to speak of Damascus and the country of Syria. This seems inconsistent; for why does he not perform the office committed to him? why does he not reprove the Israelites? why does he not threaten them? why does he not show their sins? and why does he speak of the destruction then nigh to the people of Syria? But it is right here to consider what his design was. He shows briefly, in the last... read more

John Calvin

John Calvin's Commentary on the Bible - Amos 1:4

Verse 4 Now the Prophet subjoins, I will send fire unto the house of Hazael, which will devour the palaces of Ben-hadad. The Prophet speaks still of the kingdom of Syria; for we know that both Ben-hadad and Hazael were kings of Syria. But Jerome is much mistaken, who thinks that Ben-hadad was here put in the second place, as if he had been the successor of Hazael, (19) while sacred history relates that Hazael came to Elisha when Ben-hadad was ill in his bed, (2 Kings 8:9;) and he was sent to... read more

John Calvin

John Calvin's Commentary on the Bible - Amos 1:5

Verse 5 He then adds,I will break in pieces the bar of Damascus The Prophet confirms what he had already said; for Damascus, being strongly fortified, might have seemed unassailable. By bar, the Prophet, mentioning a part for the whole, meant strongholds and everything which could keep out enemies. Nothing, then, shall prevent enemies from taking possession of the city of Damascus. How so? Because the Lord will break in pieces its bars. It is then added, I will cut off, or destroy, the... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Amos 1:1

Heading. The words. So Jeremiah begins his prophecy ( Jeremiah 1:1 ), and the writer of Ecclesiastes ( Ecclesiastes 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 2 Kings 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 ( Amos 7:14 , ... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Amos 1:1

A voice from the sheepcotes. The Jewish nation is almost seven centuries old. A wayward nonage had passed into a maturity incorrigibly perverse. Alarmed by prophetic thunders, and riven by the lightning bolts of judgment ( Amos 4:6-11 ), Israel clung to its iniquities in spite of all ( Amos 2:4 ; Amos 5:11 ; Isaiah 1:5 ). Yet God had not cast off his people whom he foreknew. There were other arrows in his quiver still, and he would shoot them against national obduracy with a... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Amos 1:1

Amos the herdsman. There must be some special reason why this prophet putts upon record the employments in which he spent his earlier years, and from which he was called to assume the office of the Lord's messenger to Israel. On the barren hills to the south of Bethlehem, where there is no tillage, and where the population must always have been scanty, Amos tended flocks of sheep or of goats, and at certain seasons of the year gathered the fruit from the wild sycamore trees. I. RURAL ... read more

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Amos 1:4

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Amos 1:5

John Calvin's Commentary on the Bible - Amos 1:1

John Calvin's Commentary on the Bible - Amos 1:2

John Calvin's Commentary on the Bible - Amos 1:3

John Calvin's Commentary on the Bible - Amos 1:4

John Calvin's Commentary on the Bible - Amos 1:5

The Pulpit Commentary - Amos 1:1

The Pulpit Commentary - Amos 1:1

The Pulpit Commentary - Amos 1:1

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