CHAPTER 2
. CHARGES AGAINST
MOAB, JUDAH,
AND LASTLY ISRAEL,
THE CHIEF SUBJECT
OF AMOS'
PROPHECIES.
1. burned . . . bones of . . . king
of Edom into lime—When Jehoram of Israel, Jehoshaphat of Judah,
and the king of Edom, combined against Mesha king of Moab, the latter
failing in battle to break through to the king of Edom, took the
oldest son of the latter and offered him as a burnt offering on the
wall (2 Kings 3:27) [MICHAELIS].
Thus, "king of Edom" is taken as the heir to the
throne of Edom. But "his son" is rather the king of
Moab's own son, whom the father offered to Molech [JOSEPHUS,
Antiquities, 9.3]. Thus the reference here in Amos is not to
that fact, but to the revenge which probably the king of Moab took on
the king of Edom, when the forces of Israel and Judah had retired
after their successful campaign against Moab, leaving Edom without
allies. The Hebrew tradition is that Moab in revenge tore from their
grave and burned the bones of the king of Edom, the ally of Jehoram
and Jehoshaphat, who was already buried. Probably the "burning
of the bones" means, "he burned the king of Edom alive,
reducing his very bones to lime" [MAURER].
2. Kirioth—the chief city of
Moab, called also Kir-Moab (). The form is plural here, as including both the
acropolis and town itself (see Jeremiah 48:24;
Jeremiah 48:41, Margin).
die with tumult—that
is, amid the tumult of battle (Jeremiah 48:41).
3. the judge—the chief
magistrate, the supreme source of justice. "King" not being
used, it seems likely a change of government had before this time
substituted for kings, supreme judges.
4. From foreign kingdoms he
passes to Judah and Israel, lest it should be said, he was strenuous
in denouncing sins abroad, but connived at those of his own nation.
Judah's guilt differs from that of all the others, in that it was
directly against God, not merely against man. Also because Judah's
sin was wilful and wittingly against light and knowledge.
law—the Mosaic code in
general.
commandments—or
statutes, the ceremonies and civil laws.
their lies—their lying
idols (Psalms 40:4; Jeremiah 16:19),
from which they drew false hopes. The order is to be observed. The
Jews first cast off the divine law, then fall into lying
errors; God thus visiting them with a righteous retribution
(Romans 1:25; Romans 1:26;
Romans 1:28; 2 Thessalonians 2:11;
2 Thessalonians 2:12). The pretext of a good
intention is hereby refuted: the "lies" that mislead
them are "their (own) lies" [CALVIN].
after . . . which their
fathers . . . walked—We are not to follow the fathers in error,
but must follow the word of God alone. It was an aggravation of the
Jews' sin that it was not confined to preceding generations; the sins
of the sons rivalled those of their fathers (Matthew 23:32;
Acts 7:51) [CALVIN].
5. a fire—Nebuchadnezzar.
6. Israel—the ten tribes, the
main subject of Amos' prophecies.
sold the righteous—Israel's
judges for a bribe are induced to condemn in judgment him who has a
righteous cause; in violation of .
the poor for a pair of
shoes—literally, "sandals" of wood, secured on the
foot by leather straps; less valuable than shoes. Compare the same
phrase, for "the most paltry bribe," Amos 8:6;
Ezekiel 13:19; Joel 3:3.
They were not driven by poverty to such a sin; beginning with
suffering themselves to be tempted by a large bribe, they at last are
so reckless of all shame as to prostitute justice for the merest
trifle. Amos convicts them of injustice, incestuous unchastity, and
oppression first, as these were so notorious that they could not deny
them, before he proceeds to reprove their contempt of God, which they
would have denied on the ground that they worshipped God in the form
of the calves.
7. pant after . . . dust of . . .
earth on . . . head of . . . poor—that is, eagerly thirst for
this object, by their oppression to prostrate the poor so as to cast
the dust on their heads in mourning on the earth (compare 2 Samuel 1:2;
Job 2:12; Ezekiel 27:30).
turn aside . . . way of . . .
meek—pervert their cause (Amos 5:12;
Job 24:4 [GROTIUS];
Isaiah 10:2).
a man and his father—a
crime "not so much as named among the Gentiles" (Isaiah 10:2). When God's people sin in the face of light, they often fall
lower than even those who know not God.
go in unto the same maid—from
Amos 2:8 it seems likely "the
damsel" meant is one of the prostitutes attached to the idol
Astarte's temple: prostitution being part of her filthy worship.
to profane my . . .
name—Israel in such abominations, as it were, designedly
seeks to insult God.
8. lay themselves . . . upon clothes
laid to pledge—the outer garment, which ordered to be restored to the poor man before sunset, as
being his only covering. It aggravated the crime that they lay on
these clothes in an idol temple.
by every altar—They
partook in a recumbent posture of their idolatrous feasts; the
ancients being in the habit of reclining at full length in eating,
the upper part of the body resting on the left elbow, not sitting as
we do.
drink . . . wine of the
condemned—that is, wine bought with the money of those whom
they unjustly fined.
10. brought you up from . . .
Egypt—"brought up" is the phrase, as Egypt was low
and flat, and Canaan hilly.
to possess the land of the
Amorite—The Amorites strictly occupied both sides of the Jordan
and the mountains afterward possessed by Judah; but they here, as in
Amos 2:9, stand for all the
Canaanites. God kept Israel forty years in the wilderness, which
tended to discipline them in His statutes, so as to be the better
fitted for entering on the possession of Canaan.
11. Additional obligations under
which Israel lay to God; the prophets and Nazarites,
appointed by Him, to furnish religious instruction and examples of
holy self-restraint.
of your young men—It
was a specimen of Israel's highly favored state, that, of the class
most addicted to pleasures, God chose those who by a solemn vow bound
themselves to abstinence from all produce of the vine, and from all
ceremonial and moral defilement. The Nazarite was not to shave (, &c.). God left nothing undone to secure the purity of
their worship and their faithfulness to it (). The same comes from a Hebrew root, nazar, "to
set apart." Samson, Samuel, and John the Baptist were Nazarites.
Is it not even thus—Will
any of you dare to deny it is so?
13. I am pressed under you—so
CALVIN (Compare ). The Margin translates actively, "I will
depress your place," that is, "I will make it narrow,"
a metaphor for afflicting a people; the opposite of enlarging,
that is, relieving (Psalms 4:1;
Proverbs 4:12). MAURER
translates, "I will press you down" (not as Margin,
"your place"; so the Hebrew, Proverbs 4:12; or Amos 2:7 in Hebrew
text). Amos, as a shepherd, appropriately draws his similes from
rustic scenes.
14. flight shall perish from . . .
swift—Even the swift shall not be able to escape.
strong shall not strengthen
his force—that is, shall not be able to use his strength.
himself—literally, "his
life."
16. flee . . . naked—If any
escape, it must be with the loss of accoutrements, and all that would
impede rapid flight. They must be content with saving their life
alone.
CHAPTER 2
. CHARGES AGAINST MOAB, JUDAH, AND LASTLY ISRAEL, THE CHIEF SUBJECT OF AMOS' PROPHECIES.
1. burned . . . bones of . . . king of Edom into lime—When Jehoram of Israel, Jehoshaphat of Judah, and the king of Edom, combined against Mesha king of Moab, the latter failing in battle to break through to the king of Edom, took the oldest son of the latter and offered him as a burnt offering on the wall (2 Kings 3:27) [MICHAELIS]. Thus, "king of Edom" is taken as the heir to the throne of Edom. But "his son" is rather the king of Moab's own son, whom the father offered to Molech [JOSEPHUS, Antiquities, 9.3]. Thus the reference here in Amos is not to that fact, but to the revenge which probably the king of Moab took on the king of Edom, when the forces of Israel and Judah had retired after their successful campaign against Moab, leaving Edom without allies. The Hebrew tradition is that Moab in revenge tore from their grave and burned the bones of the king of Edom, the ally of Jehoram and Jehoshaphat, who was already buried. Probably the "burning of the bones" means, "he burned the king of Edom alive, reducing his very bones to lime" [MAURER].
2. Kirioth—the chief city of Moab, called also Kir-Moab (). The form is plural here, as including both the acropolis and town itself (see Jeremiah 48:24; Jeremiah 48:41, Margin).
die with tumult—that is, amid the tumult of battle (Jeremiah 48:41).
3. the judge—the chief magistrate, the supreme source of justice. "King" not being used, it seems likely a change of government had before this time substituted for kings, supreme judges.
4. From foreign kingdoms he passes to Judah and Israel, lest it should be said, he was strenuous in denouncing sins abroad, but connived at those of his own nation. Judah's guilt differs from that of all the others, in that it was directly against God, not merely against man. Also because Judah's sin was wilful and wittingly against light and knowledge.
law—the Mosaic code in general.
commandments—or statutes, the ceremonies and civil laws.
their lies—their lying idols (Psalms 40:4; Jeremiah 16:19), from which they drew false hopes. The order is to be observed. The Jews first cast off the divine law, then fall into lying errors; God thus visiting them with a righteous retribution (Romans 1:25; Romans 1:26; Romans 1:28; 2 Thessalonians 2:11; 2 Thessalonians 2:12). The pretext of a good intention is hereby refuted: the "lies" that mislead them are "their (own) lies" [CALVIN].
after . . . which their fathers . . . walked—We are not to follow the fathers in error, but must follow the word of God alone. It was an aggravation of the Jews' sin that it was not confined to preceding generations; the sins of the sons rivalled those of their fathers (Matthew 23:32; Acts 7:51) [CALVIN].
5. a fire—Nebuchadnezzar.
6. Israel—the ten tribes, the main subject of Amos' prophecies.
sold the righteous—Israel's judges for a bribe are induced to condemn in judgment him who has a righteous cause; in violation of .
the poor for a pair of shoes—literally, "sandals" of wood, secured on the foot by leather straps; less valuable than shoes. Compare the same phrase, for "the most paltry bribe," Amos 8:6; Ezekiel 13:19; Joel 3:3. They were not driven by poverty to such a sin; beginning with suffering themselves to be tempted by a large bribe, they at last are so reckless of all shame as to prostitute justice for the merest trifle. Amos convicts them of injustice, incestuous unchastity, and oppression first, as these were so notorious that they could not deny them, before he proceeds to reprove their contempt of God, which they would have denied on the ground that they worshipped God in the form of the calves.
7. pant after . . . dust of . . . earth on . . . head of . . . poor—that is, eagerly thirst for this object, by their oppression to prostrate the poor so as to cast the dust on their heads in mourning on the earth (compare 2 Samuel 1:2; Job 2:12; Ezekiel 27:30).
turn aside . . . way of . . . meek—pervert their cause (Amos 5:12; Job 24:4 [GROTIUS]; Isaiah 10:2).
a man and his father—a crime "not so much as named among the Gentiles" (Isaiah 10:2). When God's people sin in the face of light, they often fall lower than even those who know not God.
go in unto the same maid—from Amos 2:8 it seems likely "the damsel" meant is one of the prostitutes attached to the idol Astarte's temple: prostitution being part of her filthy worship.
to profane my . . . name—Israel in such abominations, as it were, designedly seeks to insult God.
8. lay themselves . . . upon clothes laid to pledge—the outer garment, which ordered to be restored to the poor man before sunset, as being his only covering. It aggravated the crime that they lay on these clothes in an idol temple.
by every altar—They partook in a recumbent posture of their idolatrous feasts; the ancients being in the habit of reclining at full length in eating, the upper part of the body resting on the left elbow, not sitting as we do.
drink . . . wine of the condemned—that is, wine bought with the money of those whom they unjustly fined.
9. Yet—My former benefits to you heighten your ingratitude.
the Amorite—the most powerful of all the Canaanite nations, and therefore put for them all (Genesis 15:16; Genesis 48:22; Deuteronomy 1:20; Joshua 7:7).
height . . . like . . . cedars— (Numbers 13:32; Numbers 13:33).
destroyed his fruit . . . above . . . roots . . . beneath—that is, destroyed him utterly (Job 18:16; Ezekiel 17:9; Malachi 4:1).
10. brought you up from . . . Egypt—"brought up" is the phrase, as Egypt was low and flat, and Canaan hilly.
to possess the land of the Amorite—The Amorites strictly occupied both sides of the Jordan and the mountains afterward possessed by Judah; but they here, as in Amos 2:9, stand for all the Canaanites. God kept Israel forty years in the wilderness, which tended to discipline them in His statutes, so as to be the better fitted for entering on the possession of Canaan.
11. Additional obligations under which Israel lay to God; the prophets and Nazarites, appointed by Him, to furnish religious instruction and examples of holy self-restraint.
of your young men—It was a specimen of Israel's highly favored state, that, of the class most addicted to pleasures, God chose those who by a solemn vow bound themselves to abstinence from all produce of the vine, and from all ceremonial and moral defilement. The Nazarite was not to shave (, &c.). God left nothing undone to secure the purity of their worship and their faithfulness to it (). The same comes from a Hebrew root, nazar, "to set apart." Samson, Samuel, and John the Baptist were Nazarites.
Is it not even thus—Will any of you dare to deny it is so?
12. Ye so despised these My favors, as to tempt the Nazarite to break his vow; and forbade the prophets prophesying (Isaiah 30:10). So Amaziah forbade Amos (Amos 7:12; Amos 7:13; Amos 7:14).
13. I am pressed under you—so CALVIN (Compare ). The Margin translates actively, "I will depress your place," that is, "I will make it narrow," a metaphor for afflicting a people; the opposite of enlarging, that is, relieving (Psalms 4:1; Proverbs 4:12). MAURER translates, "I will press you down" (not as Margin, "your place"; so the Hebrew, Proverbs 4:12; or Amos 2:7 in Hebrew text). Amos, as a shepherd, appropriately draws his similes from rustic scenes.
14. flight shall perish from . . . swift—Even the swift shall not be able to escape.
strong shall not strengthen his force—that is, shall not be able to use his strength.
himself—literally, "his life."
16. flee . . . naked—If any escape, it must be with the loss of accoutrements, and all that would impede rapid flight. They must be content with saving their life alone.