Amos 1:9-10

9, 10. The sin and punishment of Phoenicia. Tyrus [“Tyre”] The most important of the cities of Phoenicia, representing here the entire nation (see on Joel 3:4; Zechariah 9:2). The crime condemned is similar to that of Philistia.

They delivered up the whole captivity [“people”] See on Amos 1:6. If the last clause of Amos 1:9 is a condemnation of a second crime, independent of the slave trade, it may be correct to say that “the Phoenicians are not charged with taking captives, as are the Philistines (Amos 1:6), but with delivering them, that is, acting as agents for those who actually took them.” However, the last clause of Amos 1:9 may be a circumstantial clause, “without remembering the brotherly covenant.” If so, the two are brought into closer relation, and the crime condemned is most probably the taking and selling of slaves in violation of some sacred agreement.

The brotherly covenant Literally, and margin, “the covenant of brethren.” This is commonly interpreted of the covenant between Solomon and Hiram of Tyre (1 Kings 5:1 ff.; compare Amos 9:13). Against this interpretation Driver urges with some justice, “It is scarcely likely that the crowning offense of Tyre should be forgetfulness of a treaty entered into nearly three hundred years previously.” If the two clauses are connected, the breaking of the covenant and the taking or delivering of slaves sustain some relation to each other; when the slave raids were undertaken the breaking of a covenant was involved. It is nowhere stated that the slaves were Hebrews, or that the covenant was a covenant with Israel. Amos 2:1, makes it certain that Amos’s denunciations were not limited to sins against the chosen nation. Hence it is not unreasonable to suppose that the slaves were taken from other Phoenician or from Canaanitish communities with which the Tyrians sustained treaty relations, the breaking of which constituted the breach of the “brotherly covenant.” Tyre, being a commercial city, would find it advantageous to maintain friendly relations with its neighbors, which might be sealed by treaties, as in the case of Israel. For selfish purposes these sacred treaties were broken, and this treachery called forth the severe denunciation of the prophet. It is mere assumption to say that the covenant between Hiram and Solomon “had an especial provision against selling them (that is, captured Jews) away from their own land.”

Other prophets agree with Amos in foretelling the doom of Tyre (Isaiah 23:0; Jeremiah 25:22; Ezekiel 26-28; Joel 3:4; Zechariah 9:3-4); but it was a long time before the ruin of Tyre was accomplished. The Tyrian policy, to purchase peace by the payment of heavy tribute rather than to encounter the Assyrian armies, postponed the disaster for centuries. This policy had its origin even before the time of Amos. Ashur-nasir-pal of Assyria (885-860) received tribute from Tyre and other Phoenician cities. Shalmaneser II (in 842, 839) and Tiglath-pileser III (in 734) also received tribute. Shalmaneser IV is said to have attacked the city; he was defeated on sea and a siege from the land side, after having been maintained for five years, had to be raised. Sennacherib and Esar-haddon appear to have been no more successful; but in 664 Ashur-banapal took the city by storm. It soon regained its prestige, and at a later time Nebuchadnezzar besieged the city; the siege continued for thirteen years, and its outcome is in doubt (Ezekiel 29:18). The heaviest blow fell in 332, when, after a siege of seven months, the city fell before Alexander the Great. In the taking of the city six thousand are said to have perished by the sword, two thousand to have been crucified, and thirty thousand women, children, and slaves to have been sold. It recovered rapidly and played an important role until 1291 A.D., when it fell permanently into the hands of the Saracens. Now its site is covered by an insignificant Arab village. “After having been the mother of colonies and the mistress of the seas, bearing her merchandise into otherwise unvisited lands and adjusting the supply and demand of the world, Tyre is now content, at the close of her career, to be a stagnant village in stagnant Turkey.” On the authenticity of this oracle see pp. 220ff.