Amos 1:5

I will break also the bar of Damascus, and cut off the inhabitant from the plain of Aven, and him that holdeth the sceptre from the house of Eden: and the people of Syria shall go into captivity unto Kir, saith the LORD. I WILL BREAK ALSO THE BAR OF DAMASCUS - i:e., the bar of its gates (cf. Jeremiah 51:30, "her (Babylon's) bars are broken"). AND CUT OFF THE INHABITANT - singular for plural, 'inhabitants.' Henderson, because of the parallel, HIM THAT HOLDETH THE SCEPTRE, translates, 'the ruler.' But the parallelism is that of one clause complementing the other, "the inhabitant" or subject here answering to "him that holdeth the sceptre" or ruler there, both ruler and subject alike being cut off. FROM THE PLAIN OF AVEN - the same as Oon or Un, a delightful valley, fo...

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 inhabitant from Bikoth Aven, _or from the plain of Aven. It is uncertain whether this was the proper name of a place or not, though this is probable; and yet it means a plain, derived from a verb, which signifies to cut into two, or divide, because a plain or a valley divides or separates mountains; hence a valley or plain is called in Hebrew a division. Now, we know that there were most delightful plains i...

Verse 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, between Libanus and Anti-Libanus. _THE PEOPLE OF SYRIA SHALL GO INTO CAPTIVITY UNTO KIR_] KIR is supposed to be the country of _Cyrene_ in Albania, on the river _Cyrus_, which empties itself into the Caspian Sea. The fulfilment of this prophecy may be seen in...

I WILL ALSO BREAK THE BAR OF DAMASCUS - In the East, every city was fortified; the gates of the stronger cities were cased in iron, that they might not be set on fire by the enemy; they were fastened within with bars of brass 1 Kings 4:13 or iron (Psalms 107:16; Isaiah 45:2; compare Isaiah 48:14; Jeremiah 51:3 O). They were flanked with towers, and built over, so that what was naturally the weakest point and the readiest access to an enemy became the strongest defense. In Hauran the huge doors and gates of a single stone 9 a

EXPOSITION VERSE 1-CH. 2:16 PART I. APPROACHING JUDGMENT. VERSE 1-CH. 2:3 _§ 1. The nations bordering on the Holy Land are solemnly summoned to judgment._ AMOS 1:1, AMOS 1:2 Heading of the book, with short summary of its contents. 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 thos

I WILL BREAK ALSO THE BAR OF DAMASCUS,.... Or bars, the singular for the plural, by which the gates of the city were barred; and, being broken, the gates would be easily opened, and way made for the enemy to pass into the city and spoil it; or it may signify the whole strength and all the fortifications of it. So the Targum, "I will break the strength of Damascus:'' AND CUT OFF THE INHABITANT FROM THE PLAIN OF AVEN; or, "of an idol", as the Vulgate Latin version. It is thought to be some place where idols were worshipped by the Syrians; their gods were the gods of the valleys, which they denied the God of Israel to be, 1 Kings 20:23. Mr. Maundrell g says, that near Damascus there is a plain still called the valley of Bocat, and which he thinks is the same with this Bicataven, as it is in the Hebrew text; and which lies between Libanus and Antilibanus, near

ANALYSIS AND ANNOTATIONS I. JUDGMENT ANNOUNCED AGAINST THE NATIONS, JUDAH, AND ISRAEL CHAPTER 1 _ 1. The introduction (Amos 1:1) _ 2. Damascus (Amos 1:3) 3. Philistia (Amos 1:6) 4. Tyre (Amos 1:9) 5. Edom (Amos 1:11) 6. Ammon (Amos 1:13) Amos 1:1. It has been pointed out that Amos does not say like so many of the other prophets, “the Word of the Lord which came un

DAMASCUS. It is Yahweh who speaks by the mouth of the prophets. The mention of Damascus, the capital of the Aramaean or Syrian kingdom, would at once arrest attention, for until recently Israel had been engaged in a severe struggle (p. 69) with this kingdom (Damascus stands here for the whole region). Damascus, then, had committed sins (lit. rebellions) not once or twice or thrice, but again and again (three, yea, four). It might look as though an earlier threat of punishment had been forgotten by Yahweh and the sentence of doom revoked. But such was not the case (I will not turn it back, a formula repeated in Amos 1:6; Amos 1:9; Amos 1:11; Amos 1:13;...

THE BAR. Note the Figure of speech _Metalepsis_ (App-6), by which "bar" is put by Figure of speech _Metalepsis_, App-6, for the gates, and then the gates put for defence of the city. Compare Deuteronomy 3:5; 1 Kings 4:13.Jeremiah 51:30; Lamentations 2:9. THE INHABITANT: or, him that is seated: i.e. the ruler, corresponding with the next line. AVON. Same. Beth-aven, east of Beth-el, belonging to Benjamin. Compare Hosea 4:15; Hosea 5:8;

Amos 1:3 TO AMOS 2:5. The sins of Israel's neighbours 3 5. DAMASCUS. The first denunciation lights upon the Syrian kingdom of Damascus, the best-organized and most formidable of Israel's neighbours, with whom, shortly before, during the 80 years of the -Syrian wars" (_c_. 880 800 b.c.), the dynasties of Omri and Jehu had had many a severe struggle. The specific sin with which the Syrians are taxed is the cruelty practised by them in their wars with the trans-Jordanic Israelites. Damascus is situated in the midst of a broad and fertile plain, which stretches from the foot of Hermon far off towards Palmyra: it lies picturesquely embosomed in the deep green of encircling orchards and cornfields, fertilized by the cool waters of the Barada (the Pharpar of...