Amos 1:9
Ver. 9. Thus saith the Lord, for three transgressions of Tyrus,.... Or Tyre, a very ancient city in Palestine; of which See Gill on "Isa 23:1";
and for four, I will not turn away [the punishment] thereof;See Gill on "Am 1:3";because they delivered up the whole captivity to Edom: such of the Israelites that fell into their hands, or fled to them for shelter, they delivered up to the Edomites, their implacable adversaries, or sold them to them, as they did to the Grecians, Joe 3:6;and remembered not the brotherly covenant; either the covenant and agreement that should be among brethren, as the Jews and Edomites were which the Tyrians should have remembered, and persuaded them to live peaceably; and not have delivered the one into the hands of the other, to be used in a cruel manner as slaves: or else the covenant made between Hiram king of Tyre, and David king of Israel, and which was renewed between Hiram and Solomon, on account of which they called each other brethren, 2Sa 5:11. The Phoenicians, of whom, the Tyrians were the principal, are noted for being faithless and treacherous {f}. "Punica fides" {g} was the same as "French faith" now; the perfidy of Hannibal is well known {h}. Cicero {i} says the Carthaginians, which were a colony of the Tyrians, were a deceitful and lying people; and Virgil {k} calls the Tyrians themselves "Tyrios bilingues", "double tongued Tyrians", which, Servius interprets deceitful, as referring more to the mind than to the tongue; and observes from Livy the perfidy of the Phoenicians in general, that they have nothing true nor sacred among them; no fear of God, no regard to an oath, nor any religion; and which are the three or four transgressions for which they are said here they should be punished; for, besides their ill usage of the Jews, their idolatry no doubt came into the account: the god that was worshipped at Tyre was Hercules, by whom was meant the sun, as Macrobius {l} observes; and as there were several Heathen gods of this name, he whom the Tyrians worshipped is the fourth of the name with Cicero {m}; the same is the Melicarthus of Sanchoniatho {n}, which signifies the king of the city, by which Bochart {o} thinks Tyre is intended. To be a priest of Hercules was the second honour to that of king, as Justin {p} observes; and so careful were the Tyrians of this deity, that they used to chain him, that he might not depart from them; see Jer 10:4; and a most magnificent temple they had in honour of him, and which, they pretended, was exceeding ancient, as old as the city itself, the antiquity of which they speak extravagantly of Herodotus {q} says he saw this temple, and which was greatly ornamented, and particularly had two pillars, one of gold, and another of emerald; and inquiring of the priests, they told; him it was built when their city was, ten thousand three hundred years before that time; but according to their own historians {r}, Hiram, who lived in the days of Solomon, built the temple of Hercules, as well as that of Astarte; for though she is called the goddess of the Sidonians, she was also worshipped by the Tyrians; as he also ornamented the temple of Jupiter Olympius, and annexed it to the city, which deity also it seems had worship paid it in this place.{f} Alex. ab Alex. Genial Dier. l. 5. c. 10. {g} Vid. Reinesiura de Ling. Punic. c. 2. sect. 12. {h} Vid. Valer. Maxim. l. 9. c. 6. {i} Contra Rullum, Orat. 16. {k} Aeneid. l. 1. {l} Saturnal. l. 1. c. 20. {m} De Naturn Deorum, l. 3. {n} Apud Euseb. Praepar. Evangel. l. 2. p. 38. {o} Canaan, l. 2. col. 709. {p} E Trogo, l. 18. c. 4. {q} Euterp, sive l. 2. c. 44. {r} Meander & Dius apud Joseph. Antiqu. l. 8. c. 5. sect. 3. Amos 1:10Ver. 10. But I will send a fire on the wall of Tyrus,.... An enemy to destroy the walls of it: this was done either by Shalmaneser king of the Assyrians, in the times of Eulaeus king of the Tyrians, of whose expedition against it Josephus {s} makes mention: or by Nebuchadnezzar, who took it after thirteen years' siege of it, in the time of Ithobalus {t}: or by Alexander, by whom it was taken, as Curtius {u} relates, after it had been besieged seven months:which shall devour the palaces thereof; of the governor, the great men and merchants in it. Alexander ordered all to be slain but those that fled to the temples, and fire to be put to the houses; which made it a most desolate place, as the above historian has recorded.{s} Antiqu. l. 9. c. 14. sect. 2. {t} Hist. Phoenic. apud Joseph. contr. Apion. l. 1. c. 21. {u} Hist. l. 4. c. 4. Amos 1:11Ver. 11. Thus saith the Lord for three transgressions of Edom,.... Or the Edomites, the posterity of Esau, whose name was Edom, so called from the red pottage he sold his birthright for to his brother Jacob:and for four, I will not turn away [the punishment] thereof;See Gill on "Am 1:3". Among these three or four transgressions, not only what follows is included, but their idolatry; for that the Edomites had their idols is certain, though what they were cannot be said; see 2Ch 25:14;because he did pursue his brother with the sword: not Esau his brother Jacob; for though he purposed in his heart to slay him, which obliged him to flee; and frightened him, upon his return, by meeting him with four hundred men; yet he never pursued him with the sword; but his posterity, the Edomites, not only would not suffer the Israelites their brethren to pass by their borders, but came out against them with a large army, Nu 20:18; and in the times of Ahaz they came against Judah with the sword, and smote them, and carried away captives, 2Ch 28:17; and were at the taking and destruction of Jerusalem, and assisted and encouraged in it, Ps 137:7; though to these latter instances the prophet could have no respect, because they were after his time:and did cast off all pity; bowels of compassion, natural affection, such as ought to be between brethren, even all humanity: or "corrupted", or "destroyed all pity" {w}; showed none, but extinguished all sparks of it, as their behaviour to the Israelites showed, when upon their borders in the wilderness:and his anger did tear perpetually; it was deeply rooted in them; it began in their first father Esau, on account of the blessing and birthright Jacob got from him; and it descended from father to son in all generations, and was vented in a most cruel manner, like the ravening of a lion, or any other beast of prey:and kept his wrath for ever; reserved it in their breasts till they had an opportunity of showing it, as Esau their father proposed to do, Ge 27:41.{w} wymxr txv "corrupert misericordias suas", Pagninus, Montanus, Mercerus; "corrumpens miserationes suas", Junius & Tremellius; "corrupit", Piscator, Cocceius. Amos 1:12Ver. 12. But I will send a fire upon Teman,.... A principal city of Edom or Idumea, so called from Teman a grandson of Esau, Ge 36:11. Jerom {x} says there was in his time a village called Theman, five miles distant from the city Petra, and had a Roman garrison; and so says Eusebius {y}; who places it in Arabia Petraea; it is put for the whole country; it signifies the south. So the Targum renders it,"a fire in the south.''The "fire" signifies an enemy that should be sent into it, and destroy it: this was Nebuchadnezzar, who, as Josephus {z} says, five years after the destruction of Jerusalem led his army into Coelesyria, and took it; and fought against the Ammonites and Moabites, and very probably at the same time against the Edomites:which shall devour the palaces of Bozrah; another famous city of the Edomites; there was one of this name in Moab; either there were two cities so called, one in Edom, and another in Moab; or rather this city lay, as Jarchi says, between Edom and Moab; and so sometimes is placed to one, and sometimes to another, its it might belong to the one and to the other, according to the event of war. It is the same with Bezer in the wilderness, appointed a Levitical city, and a city of refuge, by Joshua, Jos 20:8; and belonged to the tribe of Reuben; but being on the borders of that tribe, and of Moab and Edom, it is ascribed to each, as they at different times made themselves masters of it. It is the same with Bostra, which Ptolemy {a} places in Arabia Petraea; and being on the confines of Arabia Deserts, and surrounded on all sides with wild deserts, it is commonly spoken of as situated in a wilderness, Jerom {b} speaks of it as a city of Arabia in the desert, to the south, looking to Damascus; and, according to the Persian {c} geographer, it is four days' journey southward from Damascus; and Eusebius places it at the distance of twenty four miles from Adraa or Edrei. The destruction of this place is prophesied of by Jeremiah, Jer 48:24; and perhaps these prophecies were accomplished when Nebuchadnezzar made war with the Ammonites and Edomites, as before observed; or however in the times of the Maccabees, when Judas Maccabeus took this city, put all the males to the sword, plundered it, and then set fire to it, which literally fulfilled this prophecy,"Hereupon Judas and his host turned suddenly by the way of the wilderness unto Bosora; and when he had won the city, he slew all the males with the edge of the sword, and took all their spoils, and burned the city with fire,'' (1 Maccabees 5:28)It was afterwards rebuilt, and became a considerable city; in the time of the above Persian geographer {d}, it had a very strong castle belonging to it, a gate twenty cubits high, and one of the largest basins or pools of water in all the east. In the fourth century there were bishops of this place, which assisted in the councils of Nice, Antioch, Ephesus, and Chalcedon, as Reland {e} observes; though he thinks that Bostra is not to be confounded with the Bezer of Reuben, or with the Bozra of Moab and Edom; though they seem to be all one and the same place.{x} De locis Hebr. fol. 95. B. {y} Onomast. ad vocem yaiman. {z} Antiqu. l. 10. c. 9. sect. 7. {a} Geograph. l. 5. c. 17. {b} De locis Hebr. in voce "Trachonitis", fol. 95. B. {c} Apud Calmet, Dictionary, on the word "Bosor". {d} Apud Calmet, ut supra. {e} Palestina Illustrata, tom. 2. l. 3. p. 666. Amos 1:13Ver. 13. Thus saith the Lord, for three transgressions of the children of Ammon,.... These are the descendants of Benammi, a son of Lots, by one of his daughters, Ge 19:38; are distinguished from the Ammonites, 2Ch 20:1; were near neighbours of the Jews, but great enemies to them, though akin:and for four, I will not turn away [the punishment] thereof;See Gill on "Am 1:3". Among these transgressions, for which God would punish these people, are to be reckoned, not only their ill treatment of the Gileadites after mentioned, but other sins, which are all included in this number, and particularly their idolatry; for idolaters they were, though the children of Lot; and originally might have had better instruction, from which they departed. Moloch or Milcom, which signifies a king, was the abomination or idol of the Ammonites, 1Ki 11:5. The image of this idol, according to the Jews, had seven chapels, and he was within them; and his face was the face of a calf or ox; and his hands were stretched out as a man stretches out his hands to receive anything of his friend; and they set it on fire within, for it was hollow; and everyone according to his offering went into these chapels; he that offered a fowl went into the first chapel; he that offered a sheep, into the second chapel; if a lamb, into the third; a calf, into the fourth; a bullock, into the fifth; an ox, into the sixth; but he that offered his son, they brought him into the seventh; and they put, the child before Moloch, and kindled a fire in the inside of him, until his hands were like fire; and then they took the child, and put him within its arms; and beat upon tabrets or drums, that the cry of the child might not be heard by the father {f}. Benjamin of Tudela {g} reports, that in his time, at Gibal, the border of the children of Ammon, a day's journey from Tripoli, was found the remains of a temple of the children of Ammon; and an idol of theirs sitting upon a throne; and it was made of stone, and covered with gold; and there were two women sitting, one on its right hand, and the other on its left; and before it an altar, on which they used to sacrifice and burn incense to it, as in the times of the children of Ammon. Chemosh also was worshipped by the Ammonites, Jud 11:24; which was also the god of the Moabites; of which See Gill on "Jer 48:7";because they have ripped up the women with child of Gilead, that they might enlarge their border; this Hazael king of Syria did, according to Elisha's prophecy; and very likely the children of Ammon might join with him, inasmuch as they bordered on the countries which he smote, 2Ki 8:12. This was an instance of shocking cruelty and inhumanity, to destroy at once the innocent and the impotent, though frequently done by enemies, 2Ki 15:16. The reason of it was not only that they might possess their land, but keep it when they had got it; there being no heir to claim it, or molest them in the possession of it; see Jer 49:1; though some read the words, "because they divided, or cleaved the mountain of Gilead" {h}; so Aben Ezra and Kimchi, though they mention the other sense: this they did to get into the land of Gilead, as Hannibal cut through the Alps; or rather to remove the borders of it, and lay it even with their own, and so enlarge theirs; which, as Kimchi says, was a very great iniquity, being one of the curses written in the law, De 27:17; thus one sin leads on to another. Some by "mountains" understand towers or fortified cities as Kimchi and Ben Melech observe; such as were built on mountains, which sense is approved by Gussetius {i}.{f} Yelammedenu apud Yalkut Simeoni in Jer. vii. 31. fol. 61. 4. {g} Itinerarium, p. 33. {h} twrh Meqb "eo quod sciderint montes", Pagninus; so some in Drusius. {i} Ebr. Comment. p. 216. Amos 1:14Ver. 14. But I will kindle a fire in the wall of Rabbah,.... Which was the metropolis of the children of Ammon, and their royal city, 2Sa 12:26. This is to be understood of an enemy that should destroy it, perhaps Nebuchadnezzar; or of war being kindled and raised in their country; this place being put for the whole; See Gill on "Jer 49:2";and it shall devour the palaces thereof; the palaces of the king, and his nobles:with shouting in the day of battle; with the noise of soldiers when they make their onset, or have gained the victory; see Jer 49:2;with a tempest in the day of the whirlwind; denoting that this judgment should come suddenly, and at an unawares, with great force, irresistibly; and a tempest added to fire, if literally taken, must spread the desolation more abundantly, and make it more terrible. Amos 1:15Ver. 15. And their king shall go into captivity,.... Not only the common people that are left of the sword shall be carried captive, but their king also. This was, Baalis their last king, who was accessary to the murder of Gedaliah, Jer 40:14; whom the king of Babylon had set over the remnant of the Jews left in Judea; which might provoke him to send Nebuzaradan his general against him, who put his country to fire and sword, destroyed his chief city Rabbah, and carried him and his nobles into captivity. Some understand this of Milchom, or Moloch, the god of the children of Ammon, who should be so far from saving them, that he himself should be taken and carried off; it being usual with the conquerors to carry away with them the gods of the nations they conquered; see Jer 48:7. So Ptolemy Euergetes king of Egypt, having conquered Callinicus king of Syria, carried captive into Egypt the gods he then took, Da 11:8; and it was usual with the Romans to carry the gods of the nations captive which they conquered, and to carry them in their triumphs as such; so Marcellus was blamed for rendering the city of Rome envied and hated by other nations, because not men only, but the gods also, were carried in pomp as captives: and of Paulus Aemylius it is said, that the first day of his triumph was scarce sufficient for the passing along of the captive statues, pictures, and colosses, which were drawn on two hundred and fifty chariots {k}:he and his princes together, saith the Lord: which is repeated, and especially the last words added, for the confirmation of it. The Septuagint, Syriac, and Arabic versions, read, "their priests and their princes", as in Jer 49:3. This was fulfilled five years after the destruction of Jerusalem, as Josephus {l} relates.{k} Vid. Plutarch. in Vita Marcelli & Aemylii. {l} Antiqu. l. 10. c. 9. sect. 7. Vid. Judith i. 12.
John Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible.