Amos 1:6

Thus saith the LORD; For three transgressions of Gaza, and for four, I will not turn away the punishment thereof; because they carried away captive the whole captivity, to deliver them up to Edom: FOR THREE TRANSGRESSIONS OF GAZA - the southernmost of the five capitals of the five divisions of Philistia, and the key to Palestine on the south: hence, put for the whole Philistine nation. Uzziah commenced the fulfillment of this prophecy (see ). BECAUSE THEY CARRIED AWAY CAPTIVE THE WHOLE CAPTIVITY - i:e., they left none. Compare with the phrase here , "Judah shall be carried away captive all of it, it shall be wholly carried away." Under Jehoram already the Philistines had carried away all the substance of the King of Judah, and his wives and his sons,...

Amos directs here his discourse against Gaza, which the Philistine occupied. It was situated in the tribe of Judah, towards the sea; but as the Anakims were its inhabitants, the Philistine kept possession of it. Then the Jews had these enemies as ακτωρηκους, _(guardians of the shore), _who had a greater opportunity of doing harm from being so near: and we may learn from the Prophet’s words, that the Philistines, who dwelt at Gaza, when they saw the Israelites oppressed by their enemies, joined their forces to foreign allies, and that the Jews did the same. God then now denounces punishment on them. As to the word, Gaza, some think that it was given to the city, because Cambyses, when warring with the Egyptians, had deposited there his money and valuable furniture; and because the Persian call a treasure, _gaza; _but this is frivolous. We indeed know that the Greek translators ever put γ...

Verse Amos 1:6. _THEY CARRIED AWAY CAPTIVE_] Gaza is well known to have been one of the five lordships of the Philistines; it lay on the coast of the Mediterranean Sea, near to Egypt. Erkon, Ashdod, and Askelon, were other signories of the same people, which are here equally threatened with Gaza. The _captivity_ mentioned here may refer to _inroads_ and _incursions_ made by the Philistines in times of peace. See 2 Chronicles 21:16. The _margin_ reads, _an entire captivity_. They took _all_ away; none of them afterwards returned....

GAZA - Was the southernmost city of the Philistines, as it was indeed of Canaan Genesis 10:19 of old, the last inhabited place at the beginning of the desert, on the way from Phoenicia to Egypt . Its situation was wonderfully chosen, so that, often as a Gaza has been destroyed, a new city has, if even after long intervals, risen up again in the same immediate neighborhood . The fragments of the earlier city became materials for the later. It was first Canaanite Genesis 10:19; then Philistine; then, at least after Alexander, Edomite ; after Alexander Janneus, Greek ; conquered by Abubekr the first Khalif, it became Arabian; it was desolated in their civil wars, until the Crusaders rebuilt its fort ; then again, Muslim. In the earliest times, before the destruction of Sodom and

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

THUS SAITH THE LORD, FOR THREE TRANSGRESSIONS OF GAZA,.... The chief city of the Philistines, and put for the whole country, and designs the inhabitants of it: AND FOR FOUR, I WILL NOT TURN AWAY [THE PUNISHMENT] THEREOF; Amos 1:3; BECAUSE THEY CARRIED AWAY CAPTIVE THE WHOLE CAPTIVITY; which cannot be understood of the captivity of the whole nation, either of Israel or Judah, who were never carried captive by the Philistines; but of their carrying away all the substance of the house of Jehoram king of Judah, and of all his sons and his wives, and left him not one son but the youngest, 2 Chronicles 21:17; TO DELIVER [THEM] UP TO EDOM: or, "to shut them up in Edom" o; which country also revolted from Jehoram, when he and the captains of

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

PHILISTIA. Philistia was another name to strike terror. The country is well represented by Gaza (Amos 1:6), the southernmost and largest city of the Philistines (p. 28), an emporium of trade and the centre of the slave-traffic. A typical instance of brutality is found in the carrying away of a whole deportation to deliver it (or them) over to Edom The reference may be to some raid in which the Philistines procured slaves for the Edomites to sell again. But Edom may, as elsewhere, be a mistake for Aram, and the reference may be to some episode in Hazael's campaign (2 Kings 12:18; so Orelli). Three more Philistine cities (p. 28) are mentioned (Amos 1:7 f.) as representatives of Philistia: Ashdod, Gr. Azotus, a strong fortress-city 21 miles NN

GAZA. Now Ghuzzeh, in- Philistia. THE WHOLE CAPTIVITY. a wholesale captivity. CAPTIVITY. captives. Put by Figure of speech Metonymy (of Adjunct), App-6, for. whole body of captives. See Jeremiah 13:19. Compare Jeremiah 47:1. 2Ch 21:16, 2 Chronicles 21:17; 2 Chronicles 28:17....

_For three transgressions of Gaza, and for four_&c. The form of expression as in Amos 1:3, where see note. Gaza was the southernmost city of the Philistines: it lay on and about a hill, rising 100 feet out of the plain, at three miles distance from the sea, and some 50 miles S.W. of Jerusalem. "Fifteen wells of fresh water burst from the sandy soil, and render possible the broad gardens, and large population," which is said to number now about 18,000 souls. Gaza owed its importance to its position. It was a fertile spot on the edge of a great desert; and it commanded the route between Egypt and Syria. It became in consequence not only important strategically: it was also "an emporium of trade on the border of the desert, with roads and regular caravans," on the one hand, to Jerusalem, Damascus, Tyre, &c., on the other hand, to "Petra and Elath on the gulf of Akabah, both of them places i...