The city of Damascus was called under judgment because that nation "threshed Gilead with implements of iron" (Amos 1:3) or behaved with unnecessary cruelty against a conquered . He, having carried war against David, king of Judaea, and disputed with him in many battles, and that finally at the Euaphrates where he was defeated, had the character of a most eminent king for prowess and valor. Tyre is condemned for the same sin as Gazathe deportation and sale of whole communities (cf. Yahweh says, according to Amos, the he will not revoke the punishment such sins deserve. This historical account is followed by a description of Gods pronouncement of judgment on five pagan nationsSyria, Philistia, Phoenicia, Edom, and Ammon. Lest it should be thought that the words that Amos spoke were his own, and he spake them of himself, this and the following prophecies are prefaced in this manner; and he begins with the nations near to the people of Israel and Judah, who had greatly afflicted them, and for that reason would be punished; which is foretold, to let Israel see that those judgments on them did not come by chance; and lest they should promise themselves impunity from the prosperity of these sinful nations; and to awaken them to a sense of their sin and danger, who might expect the visitation of God for their transgressions; as also to take off all offence at the prophet, who began not with them, but with their enemies: for three transgressions of Damascus, and for four, I will not turn away the punishment thereof; Damascus was an ancient city; it was in the times of Abraham, Genesis 15:2. We have detected that you are using extensions to block ads. Taught by the face of creation around them, where the course of every tiny rivulet, as it burst from the rocks, was marked by a rich luxuriance, the Damascenes of old availed themselves of the continual supply from the snows of Hermon or the heights of Anti-libanus, with a systematic diligence, of which, in our northern clime, as we have no need, so we have no idea. Likewise, the unexamined life soon becomes useless for service in the kingdom. Not only would the kingdom of Aram fall, and its rulers have their authority crushed, its people would be conquered and taken into exile by its conquerors. Publication date: Jun 3, 2010. And you shall not strip your vineyard bare, neither shall you gather the fallen grapes of your vineyard. 2Kings 10:32-33.). 1:3, 6, 9, 11, 13; 2:1, 4, and 6). It is still the capital of modern Syria today. For their brutality, Syria is promised judgment. Randall. Thus saith the . He condemns violent aggression (perhaps even torture and wanton killing), enslavement of populations, and the slave trade. Hazael extended his conquests to Gath 2 Kings 12:17, intending probably to open a connecting line with Egypt. TheLordblessed him,Psalm 1:3 He is like a tree planted by streams of water that yields its fruit in its season, and its leaf does not wither. It is likely that the formula was used as a rhetorical device to emphasize the fact that the cities or nations committed crime after crime, thus deserving Gods judgment. And as he sowed, some seeds fell along the path, and the birds came and devoured them. Amos 1:3 NRSVUE - Thus says the LORD: For three - Bible Gateway So the Targum. Hazael not only took from Israel all east of Jordan 2 Kings 10:32-33, but made the whole open country unsafe for the Israelites to dwell in. The LORD says: I will not relent from punishing Damascus for three crimes, even four, because they threshed Gilead with iron sledges. The sons of Kenaz: Othniel and Seraiah; and the sons of Othniel: Hathath and Meonothai. Get Your Bible Minute in Your Inbox Every Morning. The moral majesty of a king is obviously greater than the rest. The rule then is; give without bounds; when that whole is fulfilled, still give. Again in that series of sayings in the book of Proverbs Proverbs 30:15-16. And he answered, Because I know the evil that thou wilt do unto the children of Israel: their strong holds wilt thou set on fire, and their young men wilt thou slay with the sword, and wilt dash their children, and rip up their women with child. Kings who entered treaties with each other typically thought of themselves as brothers (cf. 4 So I will send a fire on the house of Hazael, and it shall devour the strongholds of Ben-hadad. V On the words, O terque quaterque, Servius makes this remark, "Hoc est saepias; finitus numerous pro infinito." Extemplo Aeneae solvuntur frigore membra: Ingemit; et, duplicis tendens ad sidera palmas, Talia voce refert: O terque quaterque beatif, Queis ante ora patrum Trojae sub moenibus altis, "Struck with unusual fright, the Trojan chief. . Of old it was said, the Chrysorrhoas (the Barada) is nearly expended in artificial channels.: Damascus is fertile through drinking up the Chrysorrhoas by irrigation. Fourteen names of its canals are still given; and while it has been common to select 7 or 8 chief canals, the whole have been counted up even to 70. Almeida Atualizada (Portuguese) for Ams 1:3, La Biblia de las Amricas (Espaol) for Ams 1:3, Common English Bible w/ Apocrypha for Amos 1:3, Holman Christian Standard Bible for Amos 1:3, Giovanni Diodati 1649 (Italian) for Amos 1:3, Good News Translation w/ Apocrypha for Amos 1:3, King James Version w/ Apocrypha for Amos 1:3, Septuagint Bible w/ Apocrypha for Amos 1:3, New International Reader's Version for Amos 1:3, New Revised Standard w/ Apocrypha for Amos 1:3, Revised Standard Version w/ Apocrypha for Amos 1:3, La Biblia Reina-Valera (Espaol) for Ams 1:3, Sagradas Escrituras (1569) (Espaol) for Ams 1:3, Third Millennium Bible w/ Apocrypha for Amos 1:3, The Latin Vulgate w/ Apocrypha for Amos 1:3, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible, Matthew Henry Commentary on the Whole Bible (Complete). In similar fashion, Damascus had threshed Gilead with their instruments of war. Some believe that the Syrians used threshing tools with iron teeth to torture or kill prisoners, pregnant women and children. The last grace of God, whether sealing up the former graces of those who use them, or vouchsafed to those who have wasted them, is the crowning act of His love or forbearance. Gods mercy holds back the punishment long, allowing only some slight tokens of His displeasure to show themselves, that the sinful soul or people may not be unwarned. On the west and north its plain lay sheltered under the range of Anti-libanus; on the east, it was protected by the great desert which intervened between its oasis-territory and the Euphrates. And you shall lend to many nations, but you shall not borrow.Deuteronomy 28:8 The LORD will command the blessing on you in your barns and in all that you undertake. The consequences, however, are essentially the samefire will burn destroy the cities/citadels (1:7, 10, 12). a aq as _ \\ \ \ \ ss ce ake i arthur s. phelps his booke god give him grace. Isaiah 7:8 For the head of Syria is Damascus, and the head of Damascus is Rezin; and within threescore and five years shall Ephraim be broken, that it be not a people. What is Threshing? Philistia removed Judeans who lived in the lush farmland of the Judean foothills to the desert regions of Edom (cf. He shall not exact it of his neighbor, his brother, because theLords release has been proclaimed. I will break the gate-bar of Damascus, and cut off the inhabitants from the Valley of Aven, and him who holds the scepter from Beth-eden; and the people of Syria shall go into exile to Kir, says the Lord. Its whole plain was intersected with canals, and tunneled below. Behold, Damascus is taken away from being a city, and it shall be a ruinous heap. 3 Thus says the Lord: For three transgressions of Damascus, and for four, I will not revoke the punishment; because they have threshed Gilead with threshing sledges of iron. Here in Amos, we see that the people of Damascus rebelled against the LORD because they threshed Gilead with implements of sharp iron. This was apparently a common practice in that region (cf. 1:93. , Deuteronomy 28:8 TheLordwill command the blessing on you in your barns and in all that you undertake. Although God delegated authority to human governments to execute justice (Romans 13:4), He is still the ultimate judge. All Scripture quotations, unless otherwise indicated, are taken from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. Threshing Sledge | His Threshing Floor Isaiah 21:10 vii., c. 6: ; "Those men shall be thrice and four times happy.". Amos 1:3 - LIT - So says Jehovah: For three transgressions of Damascus I All the blood of all the prophets and servants of God under the Old Testament came upon that generation. THE HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL And great crowds gathered about him, so that he got into a boat and sat down. You shall not sow your field or prune your vineyard. This was usually done by spreading the stalks of grain several inches deep on a smooth flat area that was on a high piece of ground open to the wind. The work has to be done. 2 Kings 8:12 And Hazael said, Why weepeth my lord? Does a young lion cry out from his den, if he has taken nothing? Proverbs 20:4 says, The lazy man does not plow when the winter [planting] season arrives; So he begs at the [next] harvest and has nothing [to reap]. Likewise, Proverbs 21:5 says, The plans of the diligent lead to profit as surely as haste leads to poverty. Furthermore, Ecclesiastes 11:6 says, Sow your seed in the morning, and at evening let your hands not be idle, for you do not know which will succeed, whether this or that, or whether both will do equally well. The Bible talks against laziness. And you shall remember the whole way that theLordyour God has led you these forty years in the wilderness, that he might humble you, testing you to know what was in your heart, whether you would keep his commandments or not. You shall not let your cattle breed with a different kind. These are the men of Recah. This is what the LORD says: "For three sins of Damascus, even for four, I will not relent. It was no part of the territory assigned to Israel, nor was it molested by them. American Standard Version Thus saith Jehovah: For three transgressions of Damascus, yea, for four, I will not turn away the punishment thereof; because they have threshed Gilead with threshing instruments of iron. The house of Hazael referred to any of the descendants of Hazael, including Ben-hadad. Whatever parts the hoof and is cloven-footed and chews the cud, among the animals, you may eat. Its native historian admits that the Damascenes were, in the time of David, and continued to be, the aggressors, while he veils over their repeated defeats, and represents their kings, as having reigned successively from father to son, for ten generations, a thing unknown probably in any monarchy. He indeed bears fruit and yields, in one case a hundredfold, in another sixty, and in another thirty., Genesis 37:7 Behold, we were binding sheaves in the field, and behold, my sheaf arose and stood upright. Joel 2:24 speaks of that abundance as a sign of God's blessing if the people repent: "The threshing floors will be filled with grain. The earth was without form and void, and darkness was over the face of the deep. Why Did God Use Adams Rib to Create Eve? So Seneca in Hippolyt., Act. Nature takes its own time. What Does It Mean That There Is No One Holy Like God? " You shall thresh the mountains and crush them, and you shall make the hills like chaff. , Matthew 13:1-10 That same day Jesus went out of the house and sat beside the sea. Does a snare spring up from the ground, when it has taken nothing? Thus says the LORD, "For three transgressions of Damascus and for four (multiplied delinquencies) I shall not reverse its punishment or revoke My word concerning it, Because they have threshed Gilead This is what the LORD says: "The people of Damascus have sinned again and again, and I will not let them go unpunished! They are a good reminder of what is required from us every day of our own lives. The third, having gained the greatest power of all, seeking to repair the defeat of his grandfather, warring against the Jews, wasted what is now callcd Samaritis. They could not brook a defeat, which they had brought upon themselves. Amos 1:3 in Other Translations - Bible Study Tools I will break the gate-bar of Damascus, and cut off the inhabitants from . The names Hazael and Ben-hadad, two kings of Aram, are also known from 2 Kings 8. The power and strength of Damascus would be broken. At this time, Damascus was probably, like ourselves, a rich, commercial, as well as warlike, but not as yet a manufacturing (see the note at Amos 3:12) nation. Amos 1:3-2:5 NRSV - Thus says the LORD: For three - Bible Gateway On the schism of the ten tribes, the hostility of Damascus was concentrated against Israel who lay next to them. Chedorlaomer and the four kings with him, doubtless, came that way, since the first whom they smote were at Ashteroth Karnaim Genesis 14:5-6 in Jaulan or Gaulonitis, and thence they swept on southward, along the west side of Jordan, smiting, as they went, first the Zuzim, (probably the same as the Zamzummim Deuteronomy 2:2 O) in Ammonitis; then the Emim in the plain of Kiriathaim in Moab Genesis 14:15. Will you? Thus says the Lord: "For three transgressions of Damascus, and for four, I will not revoke the punishment, because they have threshed Gilead with threshing sledges of iron. Not naming it, he leaves it the rather to be conceived of by the mind, as something which had been of old coming upon them to overwhelm them, which God had long stayed back, but which, since He would now stay it no longer, would burst in, with the more terrific and overwhelming might, because it had been restrained before. In this case, God Himself is making the judgement. At the time of our era, the name of Abraham was still held in honor in the country of Damascus; a village was named from him Abrahams dwelling; and a native historian Nicolas said, that he reigned in Damascus on his way from the country beyond Babylon to Canaan. It was at that time probably a subordinate power, whether on the ground of the personal eminence of Hadadezer king of Zobah, or any other. Tagged: Amos, Amos 1:3-5, Amos 1:6-8, Amos 1:9-10, Ethics, Nations, Violence. In all that he does, he prospers.Hosea 6:3 Let us know; let us press on to know theLord; his going out is sure as the dawn; he will come to us as the showers, as the spring rains that water the earth.Isaiah 5:24 Therefore, as the tongue of fire devours the stubble, and as dry grass sinks down in the flame, so their root will be as rottenness, and their blossom go up like dust; for they have rejected the law of theLordof hosts, and have despised the word of the Holy One of Israel., Luke 12:18 And he said, I will do this: I will tear down my barns and build larger ones, and there I will store all my grain and my goods.Hosea 12:11 If there is iniquity in Gilead, they shall surely come to nothing: in Gilgal they sacrifice bulls; their altars also are like stone heaps on the furrows of the field.2 Corinthians 9:6 The point is this: whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows bountifully will also reap bountifully.Isaiah 32:2 Each will be like a hiding place from the wind, a shelter from the storm, like streams of water in a dry place, like the shade of a great rock in a weary land., Ruth 2:15 When she rose to glean, Boaz instructed his young men, saying, Let her glean even among the sheaves, and do not reproach her.Jeremiah 4:11 At that time it will be said to this people and to Jerusalem, A hot wind from the bare heights in the desert toward the daughter of my people, not to winnow or cleanse,Jeremiah 9:22 Speak: Thus declares theLord, The dead bodies of men shall fall like dung upon the open field, like sheaves after the reaper, and none shall gather them.Isaiah 30:25 And on every lofty mountain and every high hill there will be brooks running with water, in the day of the great slaughter, when the towers fall., Job 29:23 They waited for me as for the rain, and they opened their mouths as for the spring rain.Leviticus 25:1-7 TheLordspoke to Moses on Mount Sinai, saying, Speak to the people of Israel and say to them, When you come into the land that I give you, the land shall keep a Sabbath to theLord. The LORD pronounces judgment on the inhabitants of Damascus because they slaughtered the people of Gilead. Joel 3:4-8). The punishment is first denounced upon their enemies, and that, for their sins, directly or indirectly, against themselves, and God in them. Vv. If you go into your neighbors standing grain, you may pluck the ears with your hand, but you shall not put a sickle to your neighbors standing grain., Micah 4:12 But they do not know the thoughts of theLord; they do not understand his plan, that he has gathered them as sheaves to the threshing floor.Amos 1:3 Thus says theLord: For three transgressions of Damascus, and for four, I will not revoke the punishment, because they have threshed Gilead with threshing sledges of iron.Leviticus 19:9-10 When you reap the harvest of your land, you shall not reap your field right up to its edge, neither shall you gather the gleanings after your harvest. Beginning with Damascus, Amos stated, Thus says theLord, Forthree transgressions ofDamascus and for four, I will notrevoke itspunishment. As mentioned earlier, the statement thus says the LORD tells the reader that the message of Amos originated from God. Amos 1:3-10 - Amos Addresses Damascus, Gaza and Tyre Am I? So neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything, but only God who gives the growth. Silence is often more emphatic than words. Its white buildings, embedded in the deep green of its engirdling orchards, were like diamonds encircled by emeralds. Strongs LIT Online Bible Project : Amos 1:3 Thus saith the LORD; For The oracles against the nations are intricately structured. Sin and punishment are by a great law of God bound together. Abijam was in league with the father of Benhadad 1 Kings 15:19. LORD -- the proper name of the God of Israel, Verb - Qal - Perfect - third person masculine singular, Verb - Hifil - Imperfect - first person common singular | third person masculine singular, Verb - Qal - Infinitive construct | third person masculine plural, Article | Noun - proper - feminine singular, Gilead -- a region in Palestine, also the name of several Israelites, Preposition-b, Article | Noun - masculine plural construct, Incised, incisive, a trench, gold, a threshing-sledge, determination, eager, Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers, OT Prophets: Amos 1:3 Thus says Yahweh: For three transgressions (Amo. And its never done for us. The difference is that Amos adds a further comment on the transgression: they did not remember the covenant of brotherhood.. The sense is, that he would not spare them, or have mercy on them, or defer the execution of punishment any longer; he would not forgive their transgressions. document.getElementById( "ak_js_1" ).setAttribute( "value", ( new Date() ).getTime() ). And consider today (since I am not speaking to your children who have not known or seen it), consider the discipline of theLordyour God, his greatness, his mighty hand and his outstretched arm, his signs and his deeds that he did in Egypt to Pharaoh the king of Egypt and to all his land, and what he did to the army of Egypt, to their horses and to their chariots, how he made the water of the Red Sea flow over them as they pursued after you, and how theLordhas destroyed them to this day, and what he did to you in the wilderness, until you came to this place, , 1 Chronicles 4:38-41 These mentioned by name were princes in their clans, and their fathers houses increased greatly. Here are the oxen for the burnt offering and the threshing sledges and the yokes of the oxen for the wood. The word transgression refers to acts of rebellion committed against someone in authority, such as when Israel rebelled against the house of David (1 Kgs. And there was evening and there was morning, the first day. Gaza represents the alliance of Philistine citiesAshdod, Ashkelon, and Ekron [Gath is not named here]in southwestern Palestine. P Here, Damascus represents the entire nation of Aram (or Syria). Publisher: OpenBible.info. Get our Question of the Week delivered right to your inbox! Please support us by disabling these ads blocker. Eshton fathered Beth-rapha, Paseah, and Tehinnah, the father of Ir-nahash. Amos condemns raiding communities and capturing those populations in order to sell them in the international slave trade. The fact that his chief and confidential servant whom he entrusted to seek a wife for Isaac, and who was, at one time, his heir, was a Damascene Genesis 15:2-3, implies some intimate connection of Abraham with Damascus. Damascus (Syria, also called Aram) "threshed" Gilead. We need only look at the history of nations, including the United States, to know that these kinds of atrocities have happened over and over. Humanity continues to witness these atrocities at the hands of those who rule the nations. Success in life requires hard work. And he will bless you in the land that the LORD your God is giving you., Genesis 1:29 And God said, Behold, I have given you every plant yielding seed that is on the face of all the earth, and every tree with seed in its fruit. Because she threshed Gilead with sledges having iron teeth, This is what the LORD says: 'For three offenses of Damascus, and for four, I will not revoke its. 16:9). Luke 9:23 says, Then he said to them all: Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow me. As Christians, we have to be loving, faithful, prayerful, diligent, patient, forgiving, and merciful at all times. It shall be a year of solemn rest for the land. Then, as to those enemies themselves, the order is not of place or time, but of their relation to Gods people. Many people were farmers or at least very familiar with farming. Isaiah 17:1 The burden of Damascus. Not until God gave Israel a saviour, could they dwell in their tents as beforetime 2 Kings 13:5. When He no longer withholds it, the law of His moral government holds its course. The threshing sledge is also an allegory. It is here put for the whole country of Syria, and the inhabitants of it, for whose numerous transgressions, signified by "three" and "four", the Lord would not turn away his fury from them, justly raised by their sins; or the decree which he had passed in his own mind, and now made a declaration of, he would not revoke; or not inflict the punishment they had deserved, and he had threatened. You shall have them for food.Proverbs 20:4 The sluggard does not plow in the autumn; he will seek at harvest and have nothing.Proverbs 21:5 The plans of the diligent lead surely to abundance, but everyone who is hasty comes only to poverty.Ecclesiastes 11:6 In the morning sow your seed, and at evening withhold not your hand, for you do not know which will prosper, this or that, or whether both alike will be good.Matthew 13:1-10 That same day Jesus went out of the house and sat beside the sea. 3 Thus says Yahweh, "For three transgressions of Damascus and for four I will not revoke the punishment, because they threshed Gilead with threshing sledges of iron! And as he sowed, some seeds fell along the path, and the birds came and devoured them. The name Damascus probably betokened the strenuous, energetic character of its founder. Restore our fortunes, OLord, like streams in the Negeb! The city of Damascus was called under judgment because that nation threshed Gilead with implements of iron (Amos 1:3) or behaved with unnecessary cruelty against a conquered people. He condemns forcibly removing populations from their homeland. Through studying this beautiful exposition on each of these eight books, you will gain understanding of the historical events and the countless precious spiritual applications and prophetic utterances that apply to the church today. See how the farmer waits for the precious fruit of the earth, being patient about it, until it receives the early and the late rains.Deuteronomy 11:13-15 And if you will indeed obey my commandments that I command you today, to love theLordyour God, and to serve him with all your heart and with all your soul, he will give the rain for your land in its season, the early rain and the later rain, that you may gather in your grain and your wine and your oil. All rights reserved. "O thrice and four times, that is, very often, a finite number for an infinite." They each follow the same rhetorical pattern. Contact me: openbibleinfo (at) gmail.com. Hazael was the king of Damascus in the second half of the ninth century BC, while Ben-hadad was his son and successor (2 Kgs. As such, it attracted the Arameans who were one of the most frequent enemies of Israel. (LogOut/ even for four in chapters 12? The community or people to which Amos refers is Judah. 2:694. You shall not reap what grows of itself in your harvest, or gather the grapes of your undressed vine. Animals have to be fed, crops have to be watered and fertilized, and it doesnt matter how the farmer feels on that particular day. Copyright 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. No wonder Jesus talked so much about farming. Throughout that whole beautiful tract, including 2 12 degrees of latitude, Hazael had carried on his war of extermination into every peaceful village and home, sparing neither the living nor the unborn. Before this, Scripture speaks of the people only of Damascus, not of their kings. The LORD your God will bless you in the land he is giving you.. instead of the traditional point of view because of our westernization of the good news. Isaiah 8:4 For before the child shall have knowledge to cry, My father, and my mother, the riches of Damascus and the spoil of Samaria shall be taken away before the king of Assyria. I will break the gate-bar of Damascus, and cut off the inhabitants from . Any crime committed against human beings is ultimately against the LORD because He is the sole creator. And he told them many things in parables, saying: A sower went out to sow. Threshing-sledges with iron (or basalt) are large boards (73 feet usually) pulled by oxen to separate the grain from the chaff. You shall leave them for the poor and for the sojourner: I am theLordyour God., Proverbs 3:10 Then your barns will be filled with plenty, and your vats will be bursting with wine.Genesis 9:20 Noah began to be a man of the soil, and he planted a vineyard.Deuteronomy 23:24-25 If you go into your neighbors vineyard, you may eat your fill of grapes, as many as you wish, but you shall not put any in your bag. (LogOut/ God authorized human government in Genesis, where He said, Whoever sheds mans blood, by man his blood shall be shed, forin the image of God He made man (Genesis 9:6). The vats will overflow with new wine and olive oil.". And behold, your sheaves gathered around it and bowed down to my sheaf.1 Kings 5:11 While Solomon gave Hiram 20,000 cors of wheat as food for his household, and 20,000 cors of beaten oil. Blog, A because they have threshed Gilead with threshing sledges of iron. Weeds grow everywhere and all of the time. Fire is used symbolically for Gods judgment, which would fall on the house of Hazael and the citadels of Ben-hadad. With a small company of men he defeated a large army of Judah 2 Chronicles 24:23-24. Their commercial interests included the slave trade, even selling Judeans to Greeks far from their homeland (Joel 3:6). They beat down my people in Gilead as grain is threshed with iron sledges. In that the prophet says, not, for the fourth, but for three transgressions and for four, he expresses at once, that God did not punish until the last sin, by which the iniquity of the sinful nation became full Genesis 15:16, and that, then, He punished for all, for the whole mass of sin described by the three, and for the fourth also.