Amos 1:9-11

Amos 1:9 f. On Tyre. Possibly an exilic or post-exilic insertion. The mention of the Phœ nicians would not evoke such hostile feelings, but they too had repeatedly perpetrated crimes that called aloud for punishment. The whole land is here represented by its chief city, Tyre. Tyre is charged with committing a sin similar to that of Gaza. But the Tyrians simply deliver up (or over) the captives to Edom (or to Aram; see on Amos 1:7). It is added that they did not remember the covenant of (between) brothers, possibly the league between Hiram and Solomon (1 Kings 5:12; 1 Kings 9:13 f.), but more probably some later alliance formed with other Phœ nician towns.

Amos 1:11 f. Edom. Edom in later times was regarded as a bitter foe. In the time of Amos it was hardly a name to strike terror. Still, certain acts of cruelty may well have given it a bad name. The Edomites, after the migration from Mesopotamia, inhabited originally the mountainous region extending from the SE. shore of the Dead Sea to the Gulf of Akabah. Here (Amos 1:11) Edom is accused of having pursued his brother with the sword and of having stifled (lit. destroyed) his compassion (or pity). His anger tore perpetually and his wrath raged for ever (see below). The statements hardly seem to fit any period before the Exile. The hostility of the Edomites became marked and effective at the destruction of Jerusalem in 586 B.C. (Psalms 137:7; Lamentations 4:21 f.), Amos 1:11 f. may therefore be an exilic or post-exilic addition. Teman seems to have been a district, and apparently Bozrah was a city of some importance.

Amos 1:11. Translate, and his anger did tear perpetually, and his wrath rage for ever.