CURSE ON DAMASCUS.(3) Three transgressions . . .—This form of transgression, which occurs eight times in the prologue, is not an arithmetical, but a strongly idiomatic phrase, signifying “multiplied or repeated delinquencies” (Henderson).Turn away . . .—Rather, will not turn it back—i.e., the sore judgment I have purposed. (Comp. 2 Kings 10:32-33.) read more
The Prophet Amos Amos 1:1 To estimate the Prophets' message we must consider something of the times in which they lived and the circumstances under which they spoke. Let us do so in the case of the Prophet Amos, from whose writings our lessons for Today are taken. You will notice as you study the prophetical books of the Old Testament that in almost every case the writing opens with a short description of the writer and precise mention of the time during which his witness was given. I. The... read more
ATROCITIES AND ATROCITIESAmos 1:3 - Amos 2:1-16LIKE all the prophets of Israel, Amos receives oracles for foreign nations. Unlike them, however, he arranges these oracles not after, but before, his indictment of his own people, and so as to lead up to this. His reason is obvious and characteristic. If his aim be to enforce a religion independent of his people’s interests and privileges, how can he better do so than by exhibiting its principles at work outside his people, and then, with the... read more
Analysis and Annotations I. JUDGMENT ANNOUNCED AGAINST THE NATIONS, JUDAH, AND ISRAEL CHAPTER 1 1. The introduction (Amos 1:1-2 ) 2. Damascus (Amos 1:3-5 ) 3. Philistia (Amos 1:6-8 ) 4. Tyre (Amos 1:9-10 ) 5. Edom (Amos 1:11-12 ) 6. Ammon (Amos 1:13-15 ) Amos 1:1-2 . It has been pointed out that Amos does not say like so many of the other prophets, “the Word of the Lord which came unto me,” but he begins his prophecy with the statement “the words of Amos.” The fact of divine... read more
1:3 Thus saith the LORD; For {e} three transgressions of Damascus, and for four, I will not turn away [the punishment] thereof; because they have {f} threshed Gilead with threshing instruments of iron:(e) He shows first that all the people round about would be destroyed for their manifold sins: which are meant by three and four, which make seven, so that the Israelites would the more deeply consider God’s judgments toward them.(f) If the Syrians will not be spared for committing this cruelty... read more
AMOS GENERAL OVE RV IEW OF THE BOOK The opening verse shows that Amos, like Hosea, was a prophet sent to Israel, though his home, Tekoa, was in Judah. He was contemporary with Hosea for a while, though the latter prophesied longer than he. After the introduction (Amos 1:1-3 ) there follows a series of messages concerning Gentile nations (Amos 1:4 to Amos 2:3 ), each beginning with the words “For three transgressions.., and for four, I will not turn away the punishment,” an orientalism,... read more
Divine Judgments Amos 1:0 "The words of Amos, who was among the herd men of Tekoa, which he saw concerning Israel" ( Amo 1:1 ). Prophets persist in saying that they "saw" the word of God. It is more than a graphic expression; the explanation is not to be found in Hebrew poetry alone. Here is the expression of a deep conviction; here are men, be they whom they may, who shut out every other sight from their eyes, and had their vision fixed upon what they at least supposed to be the word of... read more
The Lord begins with Damascus, one of the most ancient enemies of Israel when in Canaan. The three or four transgressions means many and for every one of which the Lord will account with them, and a dreadful account it will be when it comes. All the palaces of their kings shall be destroyed, and the inhabitants of their cities shall be punished. And these things were literally accomplished, as we read 2 Kings 16:9 . If the Reader compares dates, he will find the distance between the prophecy... read more
Three---four. That is, for their many unrepented of crimes. (Challoner) --- three is the first number of which we can say "many or all." Four denotes excess. Thus God forgives many sins, yet punishes when they become excessive. (Worthington) --- Thus profane authors say, (Calmet) Terque quaterque pectus percussa decorum. (Virgil, 'c6neid iv.) --- Convert it. That is, I will not spare them, nor turn away the punishments I design to inflict upon them. (Challoner) --- My decree is absolute. --- ... read more
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John Dummelow's Commentary on the Bible - Amos 1:1-15
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