Amos 2:1 . MOAB. The Moabites inhabited the elevated and fertile table-land (Heb. _Mîshôr_, "level plain," Deuteronomy 3:10 &c.), on the east of the Dead Sea. By the Israelites, the deep chasm formed by the torrent Arnon was regarded as the northern boundary of Moab: for shortly before Israel's arri... [ Continue Reading ]
_because he burnt the bones of the king of Edom into lime_ A mark of unrelenting hate and vindictiveness: the Moabites pursued their fallen adversary even into the rest of the grave; they not only violated the sanctity of his tomb, but even removed his bones, and treated them with an unwonted and sh... [ Continue Reading ]
_the palaces of Kerioth_ more exactly ḲERIYYOTH: named here and Jeremiah 48:41 (cf. Jeremiah 48:24) as a representative city of Moab, and hence evidently a considerable place, if not the capital of Moab. Mesha, also, in a passage of his Inscription (lines 10 13), sufficiently interesting to extract... [ Continue Reading ]
_the judge_ Why is the _judge_mentioned rather than, as would naturally be expected, the king? One answer is that Moab was at this time subject to Jeroboam II., and hence there was no -king" of Moab, but only an Israelitish deputy or governor. The terms of 2 Kings 14:25 (which describes how Jeroboam... [ Continue Reading ]
_despised_ R.V. REJECTED, as 1 Samuel 15:23; 1 Samuel 15:26; Isaiah 7:15-16 shew, the better rendering of the Hebrew word used (_mâ"as_): comp. Isaiah 5:24; Jeremiah 6:19. _the law of the Lord_ the DIRECTION _of_ JEHOVAH. See further, on this expression, the Additional Note, p. 230. The reference,... [ Continue Reading ]
JUDAH. The prophet now comes nearer home; and passes sentence on the Southern kingdom.... [ Continue Reading ]
_But I will send a fire upon Judah_, &c. hence, with verbal variations, Jeremiah 17:27 _b._In the case of Judah, Amos's threat did not take effect for more than a century and a half: the -fire" did not -devour the palaces of Jerusalem" until it was taken by the Chaldaeans in b.c. 586 (2 Kings 25:9).... [ Continue Reading ]
_sold the righteous for sliver_ The venal Israelitish judges, for a bribe, pronounced the innocent guilty, i.e. -sold" them for a consideration to any one whose advantage it might be to have them condemned: in a civil case, by giving judgement in favour of the party really in the wrong, in a crimina... [ Continue Reading ]
Amos 2:6. The sin of Israel, and its punishment 6 16. At last Amos comes to Israel. The Israelites might listen with equanimity, or even with satisfaction, whilst their neighbours" faults were being exposed: but they now find that precisely the same standard is to be applied to themselves. The stere... [ Continue Reading ]
_That pant after the dust of the earth on the head of the poor_ The expression is a singular one; but, if the text be sound, the meaning is probably (Hitzig, Pusey, Duhm), "who are so avaricious that they are eager even to secure the dust strewn upon their heads by the poor, in token of their distre... [ Continue Reading ]
The self-indulgence, practised by the worldly-minded Israelites in the name of religion, and at the expense of the poor. _upon clothes laid to pledge by every altar_ R.V. BESIDE _every altar upon clothes_ TAKEN IN PLEDGE. To be understood in connexion with the last clause: the carnally-minded Israel... [ Continue Reading ]
_Yet destroyed I_ The pron. is emphatic: -Yet _I_(whom you thus requite) destroyed the Amorites, that mighty and seemingly invincible nation, from before you, and settled you in their land." _Destroyed before_(lit. _from before_) you: the same expression in Joshua 24:8 a passage belonging to the Hex... [ Continue Reading ]
The ingratitude shewn by Israel, in thus dishonouring its Lord and Benefactor.... [ Continue Reading ]
_Also I brought you up_, &c. as before, "And _I_(emph.)" &c. The providential guidance in the wilderness is instanced as a further motive to obedience, the appeal to it being made the more forcible and direct, by the change from the 1st to the 2nd person. Comp. the same motive, Deuteronomy 6:12; Hos... [ Continue Reading ]
_raised up_ Cf. Deuteronomy 18:15; Jeremiah 6:17: similarly of judges, Judges 2:16; Judges 2:18; deliverers (_ib_. Judges 3:9; Judges 3:15); a priest, 1 Samuel 2:35; kings or other rulers, 2 Samuel 7:8; Jeremiah 23:4-5 [ Continue Reading ]
Further marks of God's favour. He had not only bestowed on them material blessings; He had provided also for their moral and spiritual needs: He had raised up among them prophets to declare His will, and Nazirites to be examples of abstemious and godly living. But they had refused to listen to eithe... [ Continue Reading ]
But the Israelites had refused to respect either. They had tempted the Nazirites to break their vow; and had striven to silence the prophets. YE SHALL NOT PROPHESY] Cf. 1 Kings 22:13-28 (Micaiah); Amos 7:13; Amos 7:16; Hosea 9:8; Isaiah 30:10-11; Micah 2:6; Jeremiah 11:21; Jeremiah 20:7-10. [ Continue Reading ]
_Behold, I am pressed under you, as a cart is pressed_&c. The intransitive sense of the _Hifil_conjugation העיק (properly, to _shew pressure_, or _constraint_), though just possible, cannot be said to be probable; and _Behold_(with the ptcp.) strongly supports the view that the verse introduces the... [ Continue Reading ]
The retribution.... [ Continue Reading ]
A disaster, in which neither the swiftest nor the best equipped warrior will be able to escape, brings the kingdom of Israel to its end. _Therefore_ simply AND (as R.V.). _the flight shall perish from the swift_ rather PLACE OF FLIGHT, REFUGE; for _perish from_we should say _fail_(R.V. _marg_.). T... [ Continue Reading ]
_stand_ i.e. _keep his place_, or _halt in the flight:_so Nahum 2:8; Jeremiah 46:21. _swift of foot_ For this virtue of a warrior cf. 2 Samuel 1:23; 2 Samuel 2:18 (the same expression as here), 1 Chronicles 12:8. _deliver_himself] As the text stands, _himself_must be understood from the next claus... [ Continue Reading ]
_courageous_ lit. _strong_(cognate with _strengthen, Amos 2:14) of his heart:_cf. Psalms 27:14; Psalms 31:24 ("Be firm; and let thy (your) heart shew strength," i.e. let it take courage). _Mighty_, as Amos 2:14. _naked_ having thrown off everything, whether weapon, or armour, or article of dress, w... [ Continue Reading ]