Amos 1:12 - Exposition

Teman is the region of Idumaea, of which Bozrah is the capital. Both Jerome and Eusebius ('Onomast.') speak of a city so called not far from Petra; but in the Old Testament the name is applied to a district; and as the word in Hebrew means "south," it is probably the southern portion of the land of Edom. Bozrah ( hod . Busaireh ) was the old capital of Edom, situated on a hill south of the Dead Sea (see Genesis 36:33 ; Isaiah 34:6 ). Jeremiah ( Jeremiah 49:17 ) predicts the punishment of Edom, and Ezekiel ( Ezekiel 25:12-14 ) does likewise. The monologue of Obadiah has been already referred to. The instrument of vengeance in the present ease was Nebuchadnezzar, though it suffered much at the hands of other enemies, as the Nabathaeans and Maccabees.