Yahweh says: “For three transgressions of Moab, yes, for four, I will not turn away its punishment; because he burned the bones of the king of Edom into lime;
but I will send a fire on Moab, and it will devour the palaces of Kerioth; and Moab will die with tumult, with shouting, and with the sound of the trumpet;
and I will cut off the judge from among them, and will kill all its princes with him,” says Yahweh.
Yahweh says: “For three transgressions of Judah, yes, for four, I will not turn away its punishment; because they have rejected Yahweh’s law, and have not kept his statutes, and their lies have led them astray, after which their fathers walked;
but I will send a fire on Judah, and it will devour the palaces of Jerusalem.”
Yahweh says: “For three transgressions of Israel, yes, for four, I will not turn away its punishment; because they have sold the righteous for silver, and the needy for a pair of sandals;
They trample on the dust of the earth on the head of the poor, and deny justice to the oppressed; and a man and his father use the same maiden, to profane my holy name;
and they lay themselves down beside every altar on clothes taken in pledge; and in the house of their God they drink the wine of those who have been fined.
Yet I destroyed the Amorite before them, whose height was like the height of the cedars, and he was strong as the oaks; yet I destroyed his fruit from above, and his roots from beneath.
Also I brought you up out of the land of Egypt, and led you forty years in the wilderness, to possess the land of the Amorite.
I raised up some of your sons for prophets, and some of your young men for Nazirites. Isn’t this true, you children of Israel?” says Yahweh.
“But you gave the Nazirites wine to drink, and commanded the prophets, saying, ‘Don’t prophesy!’
Behold, I will crush you in your place, as a cart crushes that is full of grain.
Flight will perish from the swift; and the strong won’t strengthen his force; neither shall the mighty deliver himself;
neither shall he stand who handles the bow; and he who is swift of foot won’t escape; neither shall he who rides the horse deliver himself;
and he who is courageous among the mighty will flee away naked on that day,” says Yahweh.
John Calvin 1540 · Public Domain On vv1–14 Now Amos prophesies here against the Moabites, and proclaims…
Now Amos prophesies here against the Moabites, and proclaims respecting them what we have noticed respecting the other nations, — that the Moabites were wholly perverse, that no repentance would be hoped for, as they had added crimes to crimes, and reached the highest pitch of wickedness; for, as we have said, the number, seven, imports this. The Prophet then charges the Moabites here with perverseness: and hence we learn that God’s vengeance did not come hastily upon them, for their wickedness was intolerable since they thus followed their crimes. But he mentions one thing in particular, — that they had burnt the bones of the king of Edom.
Some take bones here for courage, as though the Prophet had said, that the whole strength of Edom had been reduced into ashes: but this is a strained exposition; and its authors themselves confess that they are forced to it by necessity, when yet there is none. The comment given by the Rabbis does not please them, — that the body of a certain king had been burnt, and then that the Moabites had strangely applied the ashes for making a cement instead of lime. Thus the Rabbis trifle in their usual way; for when an obscure place occurs, they immediately invent some fable; though there be no history, yet they exercise their wit in fabulous glosses; and this I wholly dislike: but what need there is of running to allegory, when we may simply take what the Prophet says, that the body of the king of Edom had been burnt: for the Prophet, I doubt not, charges the Moabites with barbarous cruelty. To dig up the bodies of enemies, and to burn their bones, — this is an inhuman deed, and wholly barbarous. But it was more detestable in the Moabites, who had some connection with the people of Edom; for they descended from the same family; and the memory of that relationship ought to have continued, since Abraham brought up Lot, the father of the Moabites; and thus the Moabites were under an obligation to the Idumeans. If then any humanity existed in them, they ought to have restrained their passions, so as not to treat so cruelly their brethren. Now, when they exceeded all moderation in war, and raged against dead bodies, and burnt the bones of the dead, it was, as I have said, an extremely barbarous conduct. The meaning then is, that the Moabites could no longer be borne with; for in this one instance, they gave an example of savage cruelty. Had there been a drop of humanity in them, they would have treated more kindly their brethren, the Idumeans; but they burnt into lime, that is, into ashes, the bones of the king of Edom, and thereby proved that they had forgotten all humanity and justice. We now understand the Prophet’s meaning.
John Calvin's Commentaries (1540-1563) — public domain. Text from the Calvin Translation Society English edition (1840s-50s) via the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (ccel.org). Calvin's coverage is partial (roughly two-thirds of the Bible); uncommented books and verses are honest gaps, never fabricated. The 19th-century editor's footnotes and remarks are omitted so the notes are faithfully Calvin's own voice.
Geneva Bible translators 1599 · Public Domain On vv1, 4, 6, 7, 8, 9, 11, 13, 14 For the Moabites were so cruel against the king…
For the Moabites were so cruel against the king of Edom, that they burnt his bones after that he was dead: which declared their barbarous rage, seeing they would revenge themselves of the dead.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain On vv1–16 Amo 2:1 Thus saith the LORD; For three transgressions…
Amo 2:1 Thus saith the LORD; For three transgressions of Moab, and for four, I will not turn away [the punishment] thereof; because he burned the bones of the king of Edom into lime:
Ver. 1. For three transgressions, &c.] Or malicious wickedness with a high hand committed, and heaped up to that height. See Amo 1:3.
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Because he burnt the bones of the king of Edom] "A wicked man," but yet a man: and God (who is a lover of mankind, φιλανθρωπος) shows himself sensible of the injuries and indignities done but to his dead body; such an enemy he is to cruelty to his creatures. That Mesha, king of Moab, bore a special edge against the king of Edom, sought to break through the army to him, but could not, and afterwards sacrificed his son and heir, whom he had taken in that sally made upon the king of Edom’s quarters, we read, 2Ki 3:26-27. There are some that think that at another time, overcoming the Edomites, he dug up the bones of that king out of his sepulchre, he burnt them to lime, that is, prorsus, perfectissime et absolutissime, as some sense it (Targum), to ashes and cinders, as Isa 33:12, or (for greater revenge and contempt) he white-limed the walls of his palace therewith, as Gen 11:3 Psa 69:23 Isa 22:12. Thus, in that horrid massacre of Paris, they cut off the admiral’s head (whom before they had murdered) and presented it to the Queen’s mother; who, embalming it, sent it for a present to the Pope, who, thereupon, caused the massacre to be pictured in the Vatican hall; under one side is Colignii et sociorum caedes; Colignii and his allies slaugher, on the other, Rex Colignii caedem probat The King of the Coligni approves the slaughter. (II Mercurio Italico, 92). The king himself (viz. Charles IX) beholding the bloody bodies of those then massacred, and feeding his eye on so woeful a spectacle, breathed out this bloody speech, Quam bonus est odor hostis mortui: How sweet is the smell of a slain enemy. Another hell hag said upon a like occasion, that she never beheld so goodly a piece of tapestry as the faces of those butchered saints. This insulting over the dead is that piece of cruelty which the Church complaineth of, Psa 79:2. Cornelius a Lapide, upon this text, cries out of it as an inhuman and shameful thing, both because the honour of sepulchre is the last dues of the dead (τα νομιζομενα, iusta defunctorum); and also because this is to fight with dead carcases. Yet this hath been practised by one Pope against another, and by many of the Pope’s champions here in England, who unburied and burnt the bodies of Paulus Phagius, Peter Martyr’s wife, and many others. Cardinal Wolsey had a purpose (had he not been prevented by death) to have taken up King Henry’s body at Windsor, and to have burnt it. How much better Charles V (yet no friend to the Reformation, but a prudent prince), who, entering Wittenberg as a conqueror, and being importuned to dig up the dead bodies of Luther and other reformers, refused to violate their graves, and sent away Melancthon, Pomeran, and some other eminent preachers, unhurt, not so much as once forbidding them to publish openly the doctrine that they professed! Cambyses heareth ill among all men for his digging up the dead body of Amasis, king of Egypt, and causing it to be whipped and bricked; and Sulla, for the like cruelty to Gaius Marius. Of all fowl we most hate and detest the crows; and of all beasts the jackals (a kind of foxes in Barbary), because the one digs up the graves and devours the flesh, and the other picks out the eyes of the dead. Hinc moraliter disce, saith a Lapide: learn hence also what a baseness it is to tear and deface the good names of those that are dead; to secretly corrrupt their names is worse than to burn their bones to lime. And yet among many other men of mark that might be instanced, Melancthon mortuus tantum non ut blasphemus in Deum cruci affigitur, saith Zanchius; not Papists, but Lutherans laid blasphemy to his charge after his death, whom all Christendom worthily honoured for his learning and piety.
John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Matthew Poole 1685 · Public Domain On vv1–16 For three transgressions of Moab, and for four, I…
For three transgressions of Moab, and for four, I will not turn away the punishment thereof: in this form the prophet began, Amo 1:3, which see. Here he doth threaten a nation of some kin to Israel, &c., as was Ammon, and almost as much an enemy: they appeared early enemies to Israel, and took most wicked ways to ruin Israel; first hired Balaam to curse them, Num 22; Num 23; when this did not succeed, he next acts a vile part, and by lewd harlots draws Israel to sin, Num 25:1,2, &c., that so he might do against sinful Israel what could not be done against innocent Israel. Moab also was the second oppressor of Israel, who for their sins were delivered into the hands of Eglon king of Moab, who oppressed them eighteen years, Jdg 3:14; for which, and other hostile carriages, they are here threatened; yet their inhuman cruelty to Edom’s king is only expressed, the other hostilities to Israel are implied.
He; the king of Moab; who particularly this was is not here nor elsewhere mentioned, though some say it was Mesha, and refer this to 2Ki 3:4; yet it is not very likely that this was the king who acted such cruelty.
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Burned the bones; it had been barbarous to have burned the flesh and nerves of an enemy, but to make the fire so hot, and continue it so long, as to burn bones into ashes, is much more barbarous.
Of the king of Edom: this somewhat aggravates the cruelty, he was no common man, but a king, who was so used: his name, and the time when it was done, whether it were some king alive or dead, and his bones digged up, is not mentioned, but every way it was barbarous, though it were done to bones digged out of the grave, as some conjecture.
Into lime, or ashes, calcined the bones, reduced them by fire into fine dust, and (as others conjecture) used these ashes instead of lime to plaster the walls and roofs of his palace; and this was done in hatred and contempt of the king of Edom.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Matthew Henry 1710 · Public Domain On vv1, 9 Here is, I. The judgment of Moab, another of…
Here is, I. The judgment of Moab, another of the nations that bordered upon Israel. They are reckoned with and shall be punished for three transgressions and for four, as those before. Now, 1. Moab's fourth transgression, as theirs who were before set to the bar, was cruelty. The instance given refers not to the people of God, but to a heathen like themselves: The king of Moab burnt the bones of the king of Edom into lime. We find there was war between the Edomites and the Moabites, in which the king of Moab, in distress and rage, offered his own son for a burnt-offering, to appease his deity, Kg2 3:26, Kg2 3:27. And it should seem that afterwards he, or some of his successors, in revenge upon the Edomites for bringing him to that extremity, having an advantage against the king of Edom, seized him alive and burnt him to ashes, or slew him and burnt his body, or dug up the bones of their dead king, of that particularly who had so straitened him, and, in token of his rage and fury, burnt them to lime. and perhaps made use of the powder of his bones for the white-washing of the walls and ceilings of his palace, that he might please himself with the sight of that monument of his revenge. Est vindicta bonum vita jucundius ipsa - Revenge is sweeter than life itself. It is barbarous to abuse human bodies, for we ourselves also are in the body; it is senseless to abuse dead bodies, nay, it is impious, for we believe and look for their resurrection; and to abuse the dead bodies of kings (whose persons and names ought to be in a particular manner respected and had in veneration) is an affront to majesty; it is an argument of a base spirit for those to trample upon a dead lion who, were he alive, would tremble before him. 2. Moab's doom for this transgression is, (1.) A judgment of death. Those that deal cruelly shall be cruelly dealt with (Amo 2:2): Moab shall die; the Moabites shall be cut off with the sword of war, which kills with tumult, with shouting, and with sound of trumpet, circumstances that make it so much the more terrible, as the lion's roaring aggravates his tearing. Every battle of the warrior is with confused noise, Isa 9:5. (2.) It is a judgment upon their judge, who had passed the sentence upon the bones of the king of Edom that they should be burnt to lime: I will cut him off, says God (Amo 2:3); he shall know there is a judge that is higher than he. The king, the chief judge, and all the inferior judges and princes, shall be cut off together. If the people sometimes suffer for the sin of their princes, yet the princes themselves shall not escape, Jer 48:47. Thus far is the judgment of Moab.
II. Judah also is a near neighbour to Israel, and therefore, now that justice is riding the circuit, that shall not be passed by; that nation has made itself like the heathen and mingled with them, and therefore the indictment here runs against them in the same form in which it had run against all the rest: For these transgressions of Judah, and for four, I will not turn away the punishment thereof; their sins are as many as the sins of other nations, and we find them huddled up with them in the same character, Jer 9:26, "As for Egypt, and Judah, and Edom, jumble them together; they are all alike;" the sentence here also is the same (Amo 2:5): "I will send a fire upon Judah, though it is the land where God is known, and it shall devour the palaces of Jerusalem, though it is the holy city, and God has formerly been known in its palaces for a refuge," Psa 48:3. But the sin here charged upon Judah is different from all the rest. The other nations were reckoned with for injuries done to men, but Judah is reckoned with for indignities done to God, Amo 2:4. 1. They put contempt upon his statutes and persisted in disobedience to them: They have despised the law of the Lord, as if it were not worth taking notice of, nor had any thing in it valuable; and herein they despised the wisdom, justice, and goodness, as well as the authority and sovereignty, of the Lawmaker; this they did, in effect, when they kept not his commandments, made no conscience of them, took no care about them. 2. They put honour upon his rivals, their idols, here called their lies which caused them to err; for an image is a teacher of lies, Hab 2:18. And those that are led away into the error of idolatry are by that led into a multitude of other errors, Uno dato absurdo mille sequuntur - One absurdity draws after it a thousand. God is an infinite eternal Spirit; but, when the truth of God is by idolatry changed into a lie, all his other truths are in danger of being so changed likewise; thus their idols caused them to err, and God justly gave them up to strong delusions; nor was it any excuse for their sin that they were lies after which their father walked, for they should rather have taken warning than taken pattern by those that perished with these lies in their right hand.
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III. We now at length come to the words which Amos saw concerning Israel. The reproofs and threatenings having walked the round, here they centre, here they settle. He begins with them as with the rest: For three transgressions of Israel, and for four, I will not turn away the punishment thereof; it all these nations must be punished for their iniquities, shall Israel go unpunished? Observe here what their sins were, for which God would reckon with them. 1. Perverting justice. This was the sin of those who were entrusted with the administration of justice, the judges and magistrates, and all parties concerned. They made nothing of selling a righteous man, and his righteous cause when it came to be tried before them, for a piece of silver; sentence was passed, not according to the merits of the cause, but the bribe always turned the scale, and judgment was set to sale by auction to the highest bidder. They would sell the life and livelihood of a poor man for a pair of shoes, for the least advantage to themselves that could be proposed to them; give them but a pair of shoes, and the cause of a poor man, who could not give them as much as that, should be betrayed, and left at the mercy of those that will have no mercy. They will rather play at small game that sit out. For a piece of bread such a man will transgress. Note, Those who will wrong their consciences for any thing will come at length to do it for next to nothing; those who begin to sell justice for silver will in time be so sordid as to see it for a pair of shoes, for a pair of old shoes. 2. Oppressing the poor, and seeking to benefit themselves by doing them a mischief: They pant after the dust of the earth on the head of the poor; they swallow up the poor with the utmost greediness, and make a prey of those that are in sorrow with dust on their heads, poor orphans that are in mourning for their parents; they catch at them to get their estates into their hands; they never rest till they have got the heads of the poor in the dust, to be trodden on. Or, They pant after the dust of the earth, that is, silver and gold, white and yellow dust; they covet it earnestly, and levy it upon the head of the poor by their unjust exactions. Note, Men's seeking to enrich themselves by the impoverishing of others is a transgression which God will not long turn away the punishment of. This is turning aside the way of the meek, contriving to do injury to those who, they know, are mild and patient and will bear injury. They invade their rights, break their measures, and obstruct the course of justice in favour of them, not suffering them to go on with their righteous cause; this is turning aside their way. Note, The more patiently men bear injuries that are done them the greater is the sin of those that injure them, and the more occasion they have to expect that God will give them redress, and take vengeance for them. I, as a deaf man, heard not, and then thou wilt hear. 3. Abominable uncleanness, even incest itself, such as it not named among the Gentiles, that a man should have his father's wife (Co1 5:1), his father's concubine: A man and his father will go in unto the same young woman, as black an instance as any other of an unbounded promiscuous lust; and yet where the former iniquities of oppression and extortion are this also is found; for laws of modesty seldom hold those that have broken the bands of justice and cast away its cords from them. This wickedness is such a scandal to religion, and the profession of it, that those who are guilty of it are looked upon as designing thereby to profane God's holy name, and to render it odious among the heathen, as if he countenanced the villainies which those who pretend relation to him allow themselves in, and were altogether such a one as they. 4. Regaling themselves and yet pretending to honour their God with that which they had got by oppression and extortion, Amo 2:8. They add idolatry to their injustice, and then think to atone for their injustice with their idolatry. (1.) They make merry with that which they have unjustly squeezed from the poor. They lay themselves down at ease, and in state, and stretch themselves upon clothes laid to pledge, which they ought to have restored the same night, according to the law, Deu 24:12, Deu 24:13. And they drink the wine of the condemned, of such as they have fined and laid heavy mulcts upon, spending that in sensuality which they have got by injustice. (2.) They think to make atonement for this by feasting on the gains of oppression before their altars, and drinking this wine in the house of their God, in the temples where they worshipped their calves, as if they would make God a partner in their crimes by making him a partner of the profits of them - service good enough for false gods; but the true God will not thus be mocked; he has declared that he hates robbery for burnt-offerings, and cannot be served acceptably but with that which is got honestly.
Matthew Henry's Commentary on the Whole Bible (1708–1710) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain On vv1–16 Thus saith the Lord, for three transgressions of Moab,....…
Thus saith the Lord, for three transgressions of Moab,.... Or the Moabites, who descended from the eldest son of Lot, by one of his daughters; and, though related, were great enemies to the Israelites; they sent for Balaam to curse them when on their borders, and greatly oppressed them in the times of the judges:
and for four, I will not turn away the punishment thereof; See Gill on Amo 1:3. Idolatry, as well as the sin next charged, must be one of these four transgressions: the idols of Moab were Chemosh and Baalpeor; of the former See Gill on Jer 48:7; and of the latter See Gill on Hos 9:10;
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because he burnt the bones of the king of Edom into lime; either like "to lime", or "for lime"; he burnt them thoroughly, till they came to powder as small and as white as lime, and used them instead of it to plaster the walls of his palace, by way of contempt, as the Targum; and so Jarchi and Kimchi: this is thought probable by Quinquarboreus (m), for which he is blamed by Sanctius, who observes, there is no foundation for it in Scripture; and that the ashes of the bones of one man would not be sufficient to plaster a wall; and, besides, could never be brought to such a consistence as to be fit for such a purpose; yet, if it only means bare burning them, so as that they became like lime, as the colour of it, it could not be thought so very barbarous and inhuman, since it was the usage of some nations, especially the Romans, to burn their dead: no doubt something shocking is intended, and which usage to the dead is resented by the Lord. Sir Paul Rycaut (n) relates a piece of barbarity similar to this, that the city of Philadelphia was built with the bones of the besieged, by the prince that took it by storm. Kimchi thinks, as other interpreters also do, that it refers to the history in Kg2 3:27; where the king of Moab is said to offer his eldest son that should have reigned in his stead for a burnt offering; which he understands, not of the king of Moab's son, but of the king of Edom's son, here called a king, because he was to have succeeded his father in the kingdom; but it seems rather to be the king of Moab's own son that he offered; nor is it likely that the king of Edom's son was in his lands; for he would have broke through into the king of Edom, but could not; and then did this rash action; not in wrath and fury, but in a religious way. The prophet here refers to some fact, notorious in those times, the truth of which is not to be questioned, though we have no other account of it in Scripture; very probably it was the same king of Moab that did it, and the same king of Edom that was so used, mentioned in the above history; the king of Moab being enraged at him for joining with the kings of Israel and Judah against him, who afterwards falling into his hands, he used him in this barbarous manner; or very likely being possessed of his country after his death, or however of his grave, he took him out of it, and burnt his bones to lime, in revenge of what he had done to him. This was a very cruel action thus to use a human body, and this not the body of a private person, but of a king; and was an act of impiety, as well as of inhumanity, to take the bones of the dead out of his grave, and burn them; and which though done to a Heathen prince. God, who is the Creator of all, and Governor of the whole world, and whose vicegerents princes are, resented; and therefore threatened the Moabites with utter destruction for it.
(m) Scholia in Targum in loc. (n) The Present State of the Greek Church, c. 2.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Wesley 1765 · Public Domain On vv1, 2, 3, 4, 6, 7, 8, 9, 11, 12, 13, 14 God's controversy with Moab, ver. 1-3. With Judah, ver.…
God's controversy with Moab, ver. 1-3. With Judah, ver. 4, 5. And with Israel, ver. 6-8. The aggravations of their sins, ver. 9-12. God complains of them, and threatens their ruin, ver. 13-16.
The bones - Or ashes, reduced them by fire into fine dust, and used these ashes instead of lime to plaister the walls and roofs of his palace, and this in hatred and contempt of the king of Edom.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain On vv1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16 The prophet goes on to declare the judgments of…
CHAPTER II
The prophet goes on to declare the judgments of God against
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Moab, 1-3;
against Judah, 4, 5;
and then against Israel, the particular object of his mission.
He enumerates some of their sins, 6-8,
aggravated by God's distinguishing regard to Israel, 9-12;
and they are in consequence threatened with dreadful
punishments, 13-16.
See 2Kg 15:19; 2Kg 17:6.
NOTES ON CHAP. II
Verse 1. For three transgressions of Moab and for four] See an explanation of this form Am 1:2. The land of the Moabites lay to the east of the Dead Sea. For the origin of this people, see Ge 19:37.
He burned the bones on the king of Edom into lime] Possibly referring to some brutality; such as opening the grave of one of the Idumean kings, and calcining his bones. It is supposed by some to refer to the fact mentioned 2Kg 3:26, when the kings of Judah, Israel, and Idumea, joined together to destroy Moab. The king of it, despairing to save his city, took seven hundred men, and made a desperate sortie on the quarter where the king of Edom was; and, though not successful, took prisoner the son of the king of Edom; and, on their return into the city, offered him as a burnt-offering upon the wall, so as to terrify the besieging armies, and cause them to raise the siege. Others understand the son that was sacrificed to be the king of Moab's own son.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Joseph Benson 1811 · Public Domain On vv1, 4, 6, 8, 9, 11, 13 Amo 2:1-3. For three transgressions of Moab — Moab…
Amo 2:1-3. For three transgressions of Moab — Moab and Ammon being nearly related, (see Gen 19:37,) and bordering upon each other, they are usually joined together in the threatenings of the prophets. Because he burned the bones of the king of Edom to lime — To plaster the walls of his house with it, as the Chaldee paraphrase explains the text, which was most ungenerously and cruelly insulting over the dead. A like story is told by Sir Paul Rycaut (Present State of the Greek Church, chap. 2.) of the walls of the city Philadelphia, made of the bones of the besieged, by the prince that took it by storm. I will send a fire upon Moab — Moab was conquered by Nebuchadnezzar, Jer 27:3; Jer 27:6. It shall devour the palaces of Kirioth — A principal city of this country. And Moab shall die with tumult — The Moabites shall be destroyed in the tumult of war. And I will cut off the judge in the midst thereof — Probably the chief magistrate or king is intended.
Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Albert Barnes 1834 · Public Domain On vv1–14 Moab - The relation of Moab to Israel is…
Moab - The relation of Moab to Israel is only accidentally different from that of Ammon. One spirit actuated both, venting itself in one and the same way, as occasion served, and mostly together (see the note at Amo 1:13). Beside those more formal invasions, the history of Elisha mentions one probably of many in-roads of “bands of the Moabites.” It seems as though, when “the year entered in,” and with it the harvest, “the bands of the Moabites entered in” too, like “the Midianites and Amalekites and the children of the east” Jdg 6:3-4, Jdg 6:11 in the time of Gideon, or their successors the Bedouins, now. This their continual hostility is related in the few words of a parenthesis. There was no occasion to relate at length an uniform hostility, which was as regular as the seasons of the year, and the year’s produce, and the temptation to the cupidity of Moab, when Israel was weakened by Hazael.
Because he burned the bones of the king of Edom - The deed here condemned, is unknown. Doubtless it was connected with that same hatred of Edom, which the king of Moab showed, when besieged by Israel. People are often more enraged against a friend or ally who has made terms with one whom they hate or fear, than with the enemy himself. Certainly, “when the king of Moab saw that the battle was too sore for him” 2Ki 3:26-27, his fury was directed personally against the king of Edom. He “took with him” 700 chosen men “to cut through to the king of Edom, and they could not.” Escape was not their object. They sought not “to cut through” the Edomite contingent into the desert, but “to the king of Edom.” Then “he took his oldest son,” that is, probably the oldest son of the king of Edom whom he captured, “and offered him up as a burnt offering on the wall.”
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Such is the simplest structure of the words; He “strove to cut through to the king of Edom, and they could not, and he took his oldest son, etc., and there was great indignation against Israel.” That “indignation” too on the part of Edom (for there was no other to be indignant “against Israel”) is best accounted for, if this expedition, undertaken because Moab had rebelled against Israel, had occasioned the sacrifice of the son of the king of Edom, who took part in it only as a tributary of Judah. Edom would have had no special occasion to be indignant with Israel, if on occasion of an ordinary siege, the king of Moab had, in a shocking way, performed the national idolatry of child-sacrifice. That hatred the king of Moab carried beyond the grave, hatred which the pagan too held to be unnatural in its implacableness and unsatiableness. The soul being, after death, beyond man’s reach, the hatred, vented upon his remains, is a sort of impotent grasping at eternal vengeance.
It wreaks on what it knows to be insensible, the hatred with which it would pursue, if it could, the living being who is beyond it. Its impotence evinces its fierceness, since, having no power to wreak any real revenge, it has no object but to show its hatred. Hatred, which death cannot extinguish, is the beginning of the eternal hate in hell. With this hatred Moab hated the king of Edom, seemingly because he had been, though probably against this will, on the side of the people of God. It was then sin against the love of God, and directed against God Himself. The single instance, which we know, of any feud between Moab and Edom was, when Edom was engaged in a constrained service of God. At least there are no indications of any conquest of each other. The Bozrah of Moab, being in the Mishor, “the plain” Jer 48:21, Jer 48:24, is certainly distinct from the Bozrah of Edom, which Jeremiah speaks of at the same time, as belonging to Edom Jer 49:13. Each kingdom, Edom and Moab, had its own strong city, Bozrah, at one and the same time. And if “the rock,” which Isaiah speaks of as the strong hold of Moab Isa 16:1, was indeed the Petra of Edom, (and the mere name, in that country of rock-fortresses is not strong, yet is the only, proof,) they won it from Judah who had taken it from Edom, and in whose hands it remained in the time of Amos (2Ki 14:7; see above the note at Amo 1:12), not from Edom itself. Or, again, the tribute “may” have been only sent through Petra, as the great center of commerce. Edom’s half-service gained it no good, but evil; Moab’s malice was its destruction.
The proverb, “speak good only of the dead,” shows what reverence human nature dictates, not to condemn those who have been before their Judge, unless He have already openly condemned them. “Death,” says Athanasius in relating the death of Arius on his perjury, “is the common end of all people, and we ought not to insult the dead, though he be an enemy, for it is uncertain whether the same event may not happen to ourselves before evening.”
Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary 1859 · Public Domain On vv1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 11, 13, 14, 15 Ashes. Some think that he alludes to 4 Kings…
Ashes. Some think that he alludes to 4 Kings iii. 27., or rather to some war, the ashes of the dead were disturbed. (Calmet) --- Both these acts of inhumanity deserved severe punishment. (Worthington)
George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown 1871 · Public Domain On vv2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 16 Kirioth--the chief city of Moab, called also Kir-Moab (Isa…
Kirioth--the chief city of Moab, called also Kir-Moab (Isa 15:1). The form is plural here, as including both the acropolis and town itself (see Jer 48:24, Jer 48:41, Margin).
die with tumult--that is, amid the tumult of battle (Hos 10:14).
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
Daniel D. Whedon 1874 · Public Domain On vv1, 4, 6, 9, 13, 14 1-3. The sin and punishment of Moab.
1-3. The sin and punishment of Moab.
Moab — The third nation east of the Jordan closely related to the Hebrews (Amo_1:11; Amo_1:13). The territory of the Moabites was to the south of Ammon, on the uplands east of the Dead Sea. It was well adapted to agriculture, for it contained many broad valleys and well-watered fields. As a result the Moabites became at a very early period a settled people with large cities. War was waged between Israel and Moab from an early time (Jdg_3:16; 1Sa_14:47; 2Sa_8:2; but compare Rth_1:4; 1Sa_22:3). After the division Moab seems to have secured its independence, for Omri was compelled to conquer it (2Ki_3:4; compare Moabite Stone, ll. 4, 5). Subsequently King Mesha revolted and secured his independence (2Ki_3:5 ff.; compare Moabite Stone, ll. 5ff.), which was never again lost to Israel.
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Burned the bones of the king of Edom into lime — The exact nature of this crime is uncertain. Was the king burned alive, or after he had died but before he had been buried, or was his body taken from the tomb and burned? To burn the king alive would be extreme cruelty, but to prevent proper burial by burning a corpse or to desecrate a tomb by removing the corpse would also be considered a heinous crime; for, according to ancient Semitic conception, the departed who received no proper burial (Jer_36:30) or whose resting place was disturbed found no rest in Sheol. Many sepulchral inscriptions contain awful curses upon disturbers of the resting places of the departed. Eshmunazar of Sidon, for example, prays that he who desecrates his tomb “may have no root beneath, or fruit above, or any beauty among the living under the sun.” Amos’ sentiments are not due to any heathenish superstition; he is aroused by the spirit of hatred and vindictiveness that manifests itself in the crime. The fact that Moab is condemned not for sins committed against Israel but against the very enemies of the Hebrews is another indication of the high ethical standards of Amos.
Of the crime mentioned nothing is known otherwise; it may have been committed after the joint attack upon Moab by Judah, Israel, and Edom (about 850 B.C.). According to 2Ki_3:26, the king of Moab seems to have harbored special hatred against the king of Edom. Perhaps he was unable to avenge himself while the king was alive, and therefore pursued him even after death.
Fire — A sin \:4.
Kirioth — R.V., “Kerioth.” Since it represents the whole country, it must have been a city of prominence. It is mentioned again in Jer_48:41, and on the Moabite Stone, 50.13. Its location is not certain. Some identify it with Kir (or Ar) of Moab (Isa_15:1), chiefly because of the similarity of the names and the fact that wherever Ar or Kir is mentioned no mention is made of Kirioth. Another name for the same locality is thought to be Kir-hareseth or Kir-heres (Isa_16:7; Isa_16:11). This, on the testimony of the Targum, is identified with the modern Kerak, about eleven miles east of the southern bay of the Dead Sea, eighteen miles south of the Arnon. Others think that Kerioth may be identified with the modern Kureiyat, north of the Arnon, which it has been customary to identify with the ancient Kiriathaim.
With tumult — The noise and confusion of battle. Jeremiah calls the Moabites “sons of tumult” (Jer_48:45; compare Num_24:17) There is no warrant for Hoffmann’s suggestion that the Hebrew translated “tumult” is the name of the acropolis of Ar, and that the preposition should be rendered “in,” the name of the acropolis being used instead of the name of the city, as Zion is used sometimes in the place of Jerusalem.
With shouting — See on Amo_1:14.
Sound of the trumpet — Or, horn (see on Hos_5:8). The sound is the signal to advance.
Judge — Since Moab was governed by kings, the use of judge has been explained by assuming that Moab at the time of Amos had no independent king, that judge is equivalent to governor or viceroy, and that Jeroboam II had deposed the king and placed a governor upon the throne of Moab. However, 2Ki_14:25, is not a sufficient basis for this assumption, the verse does not prove even that Moab was subject to Jeroboam (see on Amo_6:14); besides, Mesha, who was a vassal of Omri, is called “king” (2Ki_3:4). It is better to interpret judge as equivalent to king (compare Mic_5:1). The title is appropriate since one of the chief functions of the ancient king was the administration of justice (2Sa_8:15; 2Sa_15:2; 1Ki_7:7, etc.).
When this prophecy found its fulfillment it is impossible to say. The kings of Moab are mentioned as tributaries in the Assyrian inscriptions from the time of Tiglath-pileser III onward. Isaiah 15, 16; Jeremiah 48; Ezekiel 25 contain announcements of judgment and disaster upon Moab (compare also Zep_2:8-10).
Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain On vv1–16 1. because he burnt the bones of the king…
1. 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 shocking indignity (cf. 2Ki_23:16). The reverence with which, in ancient times, the tomb was regarded, is well known: and ancient sepulchral inscriptions often invoke terrible maledictions upon those who disturb the remains deposited within[141]. The prophet displays a high-souled superiority to distinctions of race: he reprobates an indignity offered to Israel’s rival not less sternly than one offered to Israel itself. In illustration of the fact, Wellhausen quotes the Kitâb al-’Aghâni xii. 21, 11; Ibn Athir v. 178. 12, 203. 23; Maç. v. 471. Nothing further is known of the deed referred to: it may be conjectured to have been one of recent occurrence which sent a thrill of horror through all who heard of it. The Edomites were neighbours of Moab not less than of Judah; and perhaps similar rivalries were prevalent between them. On the occasion of the joint expedition undertaken by Jehoram, Jehoshaphat, and the king of Edom, for the purpose of coercing the Moabites to obedience, after their revolt under Mesha, the Moabite king is represented (2Ki_3:26) as actuated by a peculiar animosity against the king of Edom. According to Jerome, it was a Hebrew tradition that this was the king whose bones, after burial, were treated for vengeance in this manner.
[141] Comp. the quotation in the note on v.9; and see also the inscription from el ‘Olâ (S.E. of Edom) translated in Studia Biblica, vol. i. p. 212 (= Euting, Nabatäische Inschriften, 1885. No. 2: see also Nos. 3, 4).
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Amo_2:1-3. Moab. The Moabites inhabited the elevated and fertile table-land (Heb. Mîshôr, “level plain,” Deu_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 arrival on the east of Jordan, Sihon, king of the Amorites, had forced the Moabites to retire from their possessions north of the Arnon; and the Israelites, defeating Sihon, occupied his territory, which was afterwards allotted to the pastoral tribe of Reuben (Num_21:24-25; Num_32:37 f.). Reuben, however, was not strong enough to retain possession of the region thus assigned to it; and hence many of the cities mentioned in Jos_13:15-21, as belonging to Reuben, are alluded to by Isaiah (ch. 15, 16), and other later writers, as in the occupation of Moab. Moab, like the Ammonites, was subdued by David (2Sa_8:1-2), though it must have recovered its independence, probably at the division of the kingdom. From the Inscription of Mesha (2Ki_3:4), found in 1869 at Dibon, and known commonly as the ‘Moabite Stone,’ we learn that Omri re-subjugated Moab, but that during the reign of his son Ahab it revolted, and regained its independence (cf. 2Ki_1:1; 2Ki_3:5). The Inscription states particulars of the revolt: Mesha, for instance, expelled the men of Gad from ‘Aṭârôth, took Nìbo by storm, and rebuilt (or fortified) the principal cities of Moab (see a translation of the Inscription in R.P[139][140] ii.194 ff., or in the present writer’s Notes on the Hebrew Text of the Books of Samuel, p. lxxxv ff.). The language of Moab differed only dialectically from Hebrew. From the allusions in the O.T. the Moabites appear to have been a wealthy and prosperous people, hardly inferior in civilization to Israel itself. The abundant vineyards of Moab are noticed by Isaiah (Isa_16:8-10): the fertility of its pastures may be inferred from the large tribute of wool paid annually to Israel before its revolt (2Ki_3:4; cf. Isa_16:1). The prophets allude to the independent, encroaching temper shewn by Moab in its relations with Israel (Isa_16:6; Zep_2:10; Jer_48:29; Jer_48:42): no doubt attempts were frequently made by the Moabites to gain possession of the cities claimed by Reuben or Gad.
[139] .P. … Records of the Past, first and second series, respectively.
[140] … Records of the Past, first and second series, respectively.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers 1878 · Public Domain On vv1, 2, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 13, 14, 15 (1) Comp. Isaiah 15, 16, Isa_25:10-12, and Jeremiah 48…
II.
CURSE ON MOAB.
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(1) Comp. Isaiah 15, 16, Isa_25:10-12, and Jeremiah 48 Translate “burned to lime the bones of the king of Edom.” The historical reference is obscure. (See 2Ki_3:26-27.) Whether Moab was guilty of desecrating royal tombs, or offering the heir of the king of Edom in sacrifice, cannot be determined. When Moab took revenge upon Edom, the latter was subject to Jehoram.
A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain On vv1–16 Vers. 1-3. Judgment on Moab.
Vers. 1-3. Judgment on Moab.
Moab. The prophet now denounces the other nation connected by ties of blood with Israel. (see on Amo_1:13) Moab"s hostility had been shown in the hiring of Balsam to curse the Israelites, and in seducing them to idolatry. (Nu 22-25:3) He was their oppressor in the time of the Judges; (Jud_1:3:12) and David had to take most stringent measures against him. (2Sa_8:2) The Moabites joined in a league against Jehoshaphat, (2Ch_20:22) and later against Jehoiakim, (2Ki_24:2) and, as we see by the inscription on the Moabite Stone, were always ready to profit by the disasters or weakness of the chosen people. "I erected this stone," says Mesha, "to Chemosh at Kirkha, a stone of salvation, for he saved me from all despoilers, and made me see my desire upon all mine enemies, even upon Omri, King of Israel." And then he goes on to recount his victories. He burned the bones of the King of Edom into lime. This profanation of the corpse of the King of Edom (see 2Ki_23:16; Jer_8:1, Jer_8:2) is not mentioned in the historical books. Some of the older commentators, as Tirinus and Corn. a Lapide, think that the prophet wishes to show that the sympathy of God extends beyond the covenant people, and that he punishes wrongs inflicted even on heathen nations. But as in the case of the other nations, Amos reproves only crimes committed against Israel or Judah, so the present outrage must have the same connection. The reference to the King of Moab"s sacrifice of "his eldest son," even if we suppose (which is improbable) the son of the King of Edom to be meant, is plainly inapplicable, (2Ki_3:27) as the offence regarded the king himself, and not his son, and the expression, "burned into lime," can hardly be thought to refer to a human sacrifice. The act mentioned probably occurred during the time that the Edomites joined Jehoram and Jehoshaphat in the league against Mesha, the King of Moab, (2Ki_3:7, 2Ki_3:9) the author of the inscription on the celebrated stone erected by him at Dibon. Unfortunately, the last lines of that inscription, describing the war against the Edomites, are lost. The paragraph that remains is this: "And Chemosh said to me, Go down, make war against Horonaim i.e. the men of Edom, and take Chemosh in my days. Wherefore I made year and I" The Jewish tradition, quoted by Jerome, tells that after this war the Moabites, in revenge for the assistance which the King of Edom had given to the Israelites, dug up and dishonoured his bones. Edom was then in vassalage to Israel, but regained its independence some ten years later. (2Ki_8:20) The sacrilegious act was meant to redound to the disgrace of Israel
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Vers. 1-3.
The woe against Moab.
Much that has been said of Ammon applies equally to Moab. The two nations had close relations and affinities, and in Scripture are generally mentioned together. Both were mildly treated by Israel (Deu_2:9, Deu_2:19) as long as such treatment was possible. Yet were they at one in an implacable hatred of her, and a national policy of outrage towards her. A spring raid into Hebrew territory seems to have been an established Moabitish institution. (2Ki_13:20, literally, "were wont to come Again, Moab adopted the novel and unlikely expedient of employing a prophet of God to curse his own people. (Num_23:7) Of the comprehensive and thorough character of the national hatred, which these doings reveal, we have evidence in the passage before us.
I THE NATIONAL HATES OF MOAB WERE DETERMINED BY ITS HATE OF ISRAEL. "It has burned the bones of the King of Edom." The particular occasion referred to here is not known. But the events that led up to it are briefly recorded. Moab was for some time tributary to Israel, and rebelled against it in the reign of Jehoram. (2Ki_3:1, 2Ki_3:4, 2Ki_3:5) In the repressive war that followed, Jehoram was joined by the King of Judah and the King of Edom, then probably a tributary of Judah. (2Ki_8:20) This war, the only one in which Edom and Moab came into conflict, exasperated Moab against it even more fiercely than against Israel itself. (2Ki_3:26, 2Ki_3:27) The horrible sacrifice of the King of Edom"s son by the King of Moab, and the subsequent burning of the King of Edom"s bones by the Moabites, were both expressions of this wild and savage resentment. Moab"s hatred of Edom was hatred of her as Israel"s ally, and therefore at bottom was hatred of Israel itself. So the ungodly hate things from the standpoint of their connection with religion. They hate believers for Christ"s sake, (Mat_10:22) and the friends of believers for believers" sakes. The compensation for this is that for Christ"s sake also Christians love each other and the ungodly as well, and God for his own sake loves them all.
II MOAB"S WAS A HATE THAT EVEN DEATH COULD NOT APPEASE. This fact illustrates its insatiability. "The soul being after death beyond man"s reach, the hatred vented upon his remains is a sort of impotent grasping at eternal vengeance. It wreaks on what it knows to be insensible the hatred with which it would pursue, if it could, the living being who is beyond it" (Pusey). The employment of the burnt bones as lime is a circumstance which, like the ripping of pregnant women by Ammon, reveals the savage debasement of the people, and that contemptuous disregard of the human body which is generated by a career of blood and lust. There is a sacredness about death. It introduces an unseen factor, marks off a territory into which we may not intrude. There is a sacredness, too, about the human body. It is for a temple of the Holy Ghost, and to be treated as holy. (1Co_6:19, 1Co_6:20) Its members are to be members of Christ, and to be treated as consecrated things. (1Co_6:15-18) The best guarantee against intemperance, uncleanness, violence, and every abuse of the body is respect for it as the home and instrument of God.
III THE CIRCUMSTANCE THAT MAKES MOAB THE ENEMY OF EDOM MAKES GOD HER FRIEND. Edom"s alliance with Israel had results in two directions, it embroiled her with Israel"s enemies, and commended her to Israel"s friends. And primarily it commended her to Israel"s God. His favour to his people includes, to certain intents, their friends. Members of the families of Noah and Lot were spared for their fathers" sake. A mixed multitude of foreigners were fed miraculously in the desert, because they were servants to the Israelites. Even the Egyptians were favoured because they for a time had given Israel a home (Deu_23:7) So with Edom. He was a brother by blood, (Deu_23:7) and had been an ally against Moab, and so his cause is championed by God in this exactly as the cause of Israel is in the other woes. So with more spiritual relations. The virgin companions of the bride, the Church, are brought, as her companions, to the King. (Psa_45:14) The final judgment apart, service rendered to God"s people will not go unrewarded. (Mat_10:40-42) No investment brings in surer return than help and kindness shown to the saints of God.
IV MOAB"S DOOM WAS ONE THAT MATCHED ITS LIFE. "Shall die with tumult." The Moabites were "sons of tumult" (Num_24:17; Jer_48:45) and as in tumult they lived, so in tumult they should die (see Pusey). This is providential, the punishment being made appropriate to the crime. It is also natural, violence provoking violence, and so fixing the character of its own punishment. Moab had probably lost its kings before the prophecy was fulfilled, but the judges and princes who had headed the nation in its violence fitly head it in its destruction also.
HOMILIES BY J.R. THOMSON Vers. 1-3.
Moab"s brutality avenged.
It is natural for the mind to lay hold upon and to retain in memory some one out of many characteristics of a nation, some one out of many incidents of a war. The one thing that is remembered is representative of many things that are forgotten. So is it with Amos"s treatment of the sins of the surrounding nations. Several of these are characterized by some special quality. In the case before us in this passage an incident of malignant brutality is mentioned, not as standing alone, but evidently as a sample of the conduct of which the children of Lot had been guilty, and which was about to bring down upon them the wrath of Heaven.
I IRREVERENCE AND INSULT OFFERED TO THE DEAD INDICATE A BASE AND ABANDONED DISPOSITION. We know nothing of the circumstance here referred to. The Moabites had made war upon the Edomites; had conquered them, had captured their king, and had slain him, and then consumed his bones with fire. This last action must be judged by the standard of the habits and feelings of the time. In some nations and at some periods cremation has been regarded as an honourable mode of disposing of dead bodies. In the time of the prophet, and among the Hebrews and their neighbors, it was held in detestation. No greater insult, no more horrible evidence of brutality, was possible. The dead are always considered, by civilized and religious communities, as entitled to tender and reverential treatment. Especially those who believe in a future life are bound to support their creed by treating a dead body as something better than a carcase. The instance of irreverence here recorded was aggravated by the fact that it was a king whose body was thus treated. War is in itself bad enough; but savage brutality renders war still worse.
II DIVINE PROVIDENCE VISITS BRUTALITY WITH APPROPRIATE RETRIBUTION.
1. War, with all its accompanying horrors, is the doom of the savageslaughterers. They that take the sword perish by the sword. The measure they mete is measured to them again.
2. In this retribution the great suffer equally with the multitude. They whoinsult their neighbours" kings may suffer in the person of their own mighty ones. Fire devours the palaces as welt as the cottages, and the judges and princes are cut off and slain along with the meanest of the subjects. The Lord is King and Judge, and he will not allow those nations always to prosper which violate his Law and defy his authority. T.
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Biblical Illustrator 1887 · Public Domain On vv1, 4, 6, 9, 11, 13, 14 Because he burned the bones of the king of…
Amo_2:1
Because he burned the bones of the king of Edom into lime.
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Burning the bones of the dead
Amos says that the Moabites were wholly perverse, that no repentance would be hoped for, as they had added crimes to crimes, and reached the highest pitch of wickedness. He mentions one thing in particular--that they had burnt the bones of the king of Edom. Some take bones here for courage, as though the prophet had said, that the whole strength of Edom had been reduced to ashes: but this is a strained exposition; and its authors themselves confess that they are forced into it by necessity, when yet there is none. The comment given by the rabbins does not please them,--that the body of a certain king had been burnt, and then that the Moabites had strangely applied the ashes for making a cement instead of lime. Thus the rabbins trifle in their usual way, for when an obscure place occurs, immediately they invent some fable; though there be no history, yet they exercise their wit in fabulous glosses. What need is there of running to allegory, when we may simply take what the prophet says--that the body of the king of Edom had been burnt: for the prophet simply charges the Moabites with barbarous cruelty. To dig up the bodies of enemies, and to burn their hones,--this is an inhuman deed, and wholly barbarous. But it was more detestable in the Moabites, who had some connection with the people of Edom. If any humanity existed in them, they ought to have restrained their passions, so as not to treat so cruelly their brethren. When they exceeded all moderation in war, and raged against dead bodies, and burnt the bones of the dead, it was extremely barbarous conduct. The meaning of the sentence is this: The Moabites could no longer be borne with, for, in this one instance, they gave an example of savage cruelty. Their treatment of their brethren, the Idumaeans, proved that they had forgotten all humanity and justice. (John Calvin.)
Amo_1:13-15; Amo_2:1-8
I will not turn away the punishment thereof.
Gods dealing with nations
I. The opportunity for repentance which all possess. The punishment of the six heathen nations, as of Judah and Israel, opens with a picture of the forbearance of God which had preceded this hour of wrath. For three transgressions of--, and for four, I will not turn away the punishment thereof. The cup of iniquity was not full till the fourth transgression. Gods dealing with individuals is such--Who hath hardened himself against Him, and hath prospered? (Pro_29:1.)
II. Persistence in course of sin has only one end. I will not turn away the punishment thereof. Men may put far away the evil day, but all history, all prophecy, all strivings of conscience point to the certainty of ruin.
III. The causes of the divine indignation vary according to human light. In the fate of Tyrus, for instance (Amo_1:9), we see that a brotherly covenant (the league of Hiram with David and Solomon) formed no barrier to the grasping spirit of the mercantile nation. Edom (Amo_1:11) did pursue his brother with the sword, and cast off all pity. The heathen nations were to suffer because they had offended against those eternal principles of compassion and of truth which are written on the hearts of all men alike. Judah (Amo_2:4) and Israel (Amo_1:6-8) were judged by a higher standard, for the light had been greater. In Judah is God known; His name is great in Israel.
IV. The vindication of Gods ways to men which these pictures of national sin furnish is complete. The preservation of truth and purity is of far higher moment than the fate of one nation, for human society can only be founded on the eternal principles of right and wrong. The detail of Israels sin makes us shrink back with horror. Their law gave no power to sell an insolvent debtor, but they were ready to sell the righteous man (one in trouble through no fault of his own) for silver; and the poor (whom there was none to succour), to provide for themselves a pair of luxurious sandals. They panted after the very dust which the poor spread on their head in token of mourning, and by the vilest sin they profaned the name of God which was called on them as His people. Even their altars witnessed their extortions (Amo_1:8; Deu_24:12-13) and banquetings. Application--The prophet would have the people clearly understand the equity of the judgments which he foretold. Men can be impartial in estimating the sin of others (David and Nathans parable). To study Gods dealings with others will often open our eyes to our own future. (J. Telford, B. A.)
Great sufferings following great sins
This passage illustrates three truths.
1. That the sins of all the people on the earth, whatever the peculiarities of their character or conduct, are under the cognisance of God.
2. That of all the sins of the people, that of persecution is peculiarly abhorrent to the Divine nature.
I. Great sins entail great sufferings. The calamities threatened to these different tribes of different lands are of the most terrible description. But they are all such as to match their crimes.
1. The connection between great sins and great sufferings is inevitable. The Moral Governor of the world has so arranged matters that every sin brings with its own punishment, and it is only when the sin is destroyed the suffering ceases. Thank God this sin can be destroyed through faith in the mediation of Him who came to put away sin by faith in the sacrifice of Himself.
2. Tim connection between great sins and great sufferings is universal. All these sinful peoples had to realise it from their own bitter experience. It does not matter where, when, or how a man lives, his sins will find him out.
II. Great sins often entail great sufferings upon people who are not the actual offenders. The fire, which is here the instrument of Gods retribution to us sinners, would not only scathe the persons and consume the property of the actual offenders, but others. The fact is patent in all history and in all experience, that men here suffer for the sins of others. Two facts may reconcile our consciences to this.
1. That few, if any, suffer more than their consciences tell them they deserve.
2. That there is to come a period when the whole will appear to be in accord with the justice and goodness of God. (Homilist.)
The atrocities of barbarism and the sins of civilisation
The sins Amos condemns in the heathen are at first sight very different from those which he exposes within Israel. Not only are they sins of foreign relations, of treaty and war, while Israels are all civic and domestic; but they are what we call the atrocities of barbarism--wanton war, massacre and sacrilege; while Israels are rather the sins of civilisation--the pressure of the rich upon the poor, the bribery of justice, the seduction of the innocent, personal impurity, and other evils of luxury. So great is this difference that a critic more gifted with ingenuity than insight, might plausibly distinguish, in the section before us, two prophets with two very different views of national sin--a ruder prophet, and of course an earlier, who judged nations only by the flagrant drunkenness of their war; and a more subtle prophet, and of course a later, who exposed the masked corruptions of their religion and their peace. Such a theory would be as false as it would be plausible. For not only is the diversity of the objects of the prophets judgment explained by this, that Amos had no familiarity with the interior life of other nations, and could only arraign their conduct at those points where it broke into light in their foreign relations, while Israels civic life he knew to the very core. But Amos had besides a strong and a deliberate aim in placing the sins of civilisation as the climax of a list of the atrocities of barbarism. He would recall what men are always forgetting, that the former are really more cruel and criminal than the latter; that luxury, bribery, and intolerance, the oppression of the poor, the corruption of the innocent and the silencing of the prophet--what Christ calls offences against His little ones--are even more awful atrocities than the wanton horrors of barbarian warfare. (Geo. Adam Smith, D. D.)
That they might enlarge their borders.--
Enlarging our borders
The message that comes from the old Hebrew prophet is the injunction to make our lives broader, larger, richer than they already are. Men are enlarged by travel, but the best part of that enlargement comes from intercourse with other human beings. The world of physical nature can do much to enlarge a man, but the world of human minds and hearts can do more. A man is like a planet; he is in the field of two forces, the centrifugal and the centripetal. As he grows, two methods are open to him. His idea of perfect manhood may be reached by pruning away excrescences. This is the conventional way: it produces a Chesterfield. The other is the educating of all his faculties to their full limit: this produces a Gladstone or a Browning. It exhibits many faults in a man; but it enlarges his borders, and gives magnitude and grandeur. Every one of us desires, or thinks he desires, breadth of thought, range of sympathy. Yet at our best we are never full, rounded circles. We may openly resent any imputation of narrowness, but in our hearts we must plead guilty. Let us learn to measure ourselves. How intolerant is youth of the methods of age! Let youth learn to enlarge its borders, and include the thoughts and feelings and methods of age. Every man, if he devotes himself earnestly to his lifes calling, must be, in some degree, narrowed by it. At least, he must give so much time to it that but little remains, and but little strength, for other things. This in itself is not an evil; but it frequently happens that such a man becomes wilfully narrow, and underrates or despises pursuits and faculties which are quite as high as his own. Enlarge your borders, is the command of our text. Broaden your sympathies! Extend your range of observation and understanding! Pierce through to the realities of things, and do not be deceived by externals! We all sadly need this injunction. Herein lies much of the inefficiency of our modern charitable work. The visitor and visited are not in touch, and never can be until both shall have their borders enlarged. In another field our text finds ready application. It is the field of theology, Men of broad religions views are so rare in our time, that the Sodom of our modern denominational life hardly seems worthy to be saved. There is a want of intellectual capacity to see the other side of things. There is such a radical difference in the very texture of mens minds, that the same facts, especially in art, in poetry, and in religion, will lead equally good and able men to widely different conclusions. Many are the forces which serve to enlarge our borders, as often without our consciousness as with it. Whatever opens up the minds and hearts of men to each other, whether it be joy or sorrow, is a blessing to them. The lessons which God teaches us through the varied experiences of life are, many of them, hard and bitter, but the wayward human heart needs deep probing. But the grandest enlargement of life is that which comes through the thought of God. It can enlarge your life by putting into your hand the key of love and compassion, which can open the doors of human hearts as can nothing else on this broad earth. A consciousness of God is the greatest broadening and deepening power which can come into any life. (Bradley Gilman.)
The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Preacher's Complete Homiletical Commentary 1892 · Public Domain On vv1, 6 CRITICAL NOTES.] Bones] An act of cruelty revenged; others,…
CRITICAL NOTES.] Bones] An act of cruelty revenged; others, an insult to the remains of a dead king, probably the king joined in alliance with Jehoshaphat and Jehoram (2Ki_3:9).
Amo_2:2. Kir.] A principal city of Moab, the plural form indicates the acropolis and town (cf. Jer_48:24; Jer_48:41). Tumult] These expressions describe the city taken by storm. Trumpet] The signal for assault.
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Amo_2:3. Judge] Supreme magistrate (Deu_17:9).
Amo_2:4. Judah] condemned for idolatry and despising the law, i.e. the instructions and revelations given by God to his people. Command.] Separate precepts. Lies] Their idols, which not only deceive, “but as fabrications and nonentities, having no reality in themselves, and therefore quite unable to perform what was expected of them” [Keil]. Fathers] Forefathers generally.
HOMILETICS
THE JUDGMENT ON MOAB.—Amo_2:1-3
I. The punishment of Moab. Moab was to be laid waste by the fire of war, and its palaces to be destroyed.
1. A tumultuous destruction. “Moab shall die with tumult.” The sound of the trumpet would stir up the assailants. Noise and commotion would be heard in the streets, and as they had raised tumults themselves so they would perish by tumults. “Every battle of the warrior is with confused noise.”
2. An entire destruction. God will cut off its rulers. The chief magistrate, the princes and the rulers of all ranks, shall be taken. Those who are high in rank and authority are bound to do justice to the people. Judges should learn that there is one above them, from whose judgment they cannot escape.
II. The reason of this punishment. “Because he burned the bones of the king of Edom into lime.” The king of Moab, either when he sought to avenge himself on Edom (after the raising of the siege, 2Ki_3:27), or at some other time, let out his fury on the very dead. The malice which vents itself on the insensible corpse is the vindictive rage of one, that would never cease to hurt if possible. “Hatred which death cannot extinguish,” says Pusey, “is the beginning of the eternal hate of hell.” To rage against the living, or to express malignant spite against the remains of the dead, is odious to God. He is Lord of the living and the dead. His dominion and providence extend beyond the grave, and he will avenge insults to heathen or Christian.
THE JUDGMENT ON JUDAH.—Amo_2:4-5
I. The charge against Judah. The guilt here is not as in other cases. Other nations were judged for injuries done to man; but Judah for insults to God. They despised the law, deceived themselves and one another with false excuses and the customs of progenitors. Disregard to God is manifested in two chief forms.
1. Contempt for the law of God. “They have despised the law of the Lord, and have not kept his commandments.” The law as a rule of life and the commandments in their special bearing were treated with contempt. The wisdom of God was despised by the pride of man. They first neglected, then set aside, the law. If men have no regard for the law, and make no conscience of its authority, they will soon resist it. If we do not keep we virtually despise God’s law.
2. Worship of idols. Man will either worship God or love a lie. If he tries to explain away the claims of God and to justify his sins, he will “err” by his lies and soon lose power to discriminate between good and evil. (a) Idolatry is a lie. The idols themselves are lies. They can do nothing, but lie and deceive. “For an idol is nothing in the world” (1Co_8:4). The pretences under which men worship them are lies; snares to mislead and cause “to err.” (b) Lies lead men astray. “Their lies caused them to err.” God’s law is the truth, but when the truth is changed into a lie, there is danger of sin becoming hereditary. The word points the way to temporal and eternal safety; but if despised, men wander into darkness and idolatry. (c) Lies are sometimes defended by custom. “After the which their fathers have walked.” Men get accustomed to evils that are common. These evils acquire prominence and authority. “The popular error of one generation becomes the axiom of the next. Human opinion is as dogmatic as revelation. The second generation of error demands as implicit submission as God’s truth. The transmission of error against himself, God says, aggravates its evil, and does not excuse it.” Thus children walk in the steps and fill up the measure of the guilt of their fathers. Human opinion must not be exalted above God’s word. Scripture, and Scripture alone, is the law of truth, and the rule of life. False doctrines, delusive rites and idolatries, violate the word of God, perpetuate human tradition in the Church, and cause one generation after another to err from the truth.
II. The calamities upon Judah. In few words and little detail, the destruction by fire is said to extend not only to the cities of Judah, but to the palaces of Jerusalem. Jerusalem was burnt with fire by the Chaldæans (2Ki_25:9; 2Ch_36:19), and afterwards by the Romans. Two centuries elapsed before the first fire destroyed the city, but God sent it. Let us beware of treating the word with contempt, of thinking because long delayed the judgment will never come. God’s anger will consume dead members in the Church, and purify it from all idolatry and abominations. “Then will I kindle a fire in the gates thereof, and it shall devour the palaces of Jerusalem, and it shall not be quenched.”
HOMILETIC HINTS AND OUTLINES
1. A visible Church which does not keep up communion with God, nor improve her spiritual advantages, may fall into provocations nothing inferior in number and heinousness to the iniquities of nations about her.
2. And if God does not spare heathens without law and with but little knowledge of God, far less will he spare his people who are lewd as they [Hutcheson]. “Man first in act despises God’s law (and whoso does not keep it, despises it), and then he must needs be deceived by some idol of his own, which becomes his god. He first chooses wilfully his own lie, i.e. whatever he chooses out of God, and then his own lie deceives him. So, morally, liars at last believe themselves” [Pusey].
Judgments of God compared to fire.
1. Fire consumes (Psa_18:8; Jer_15:14).
2. Fire breaks out suddenly. The destruction of these cities is certain and inevitable.
3. Fire is violent. Sodom and the great fire in London.
4. Fire refines. The judgments of God are intended to try men, to purify churches and nations. “The Lord’s fire is in Zion, and his furnace in Jerusalem” (Isa_31:9; Zec_13:9).
ILLUSTRATIONS TO CHAPTER 2
Amo_2:1-3. Bones burned. “The wickedness appears to have consisted in a wanton violation of the sanctity of the tomb, by the disinterment and burning of the royal remains. It was indicative of an enmity which was not satisfied with inflicting every possible injury upon its victim while living, but pursued him even into the regions of the dead.” To exhume, burn, and disperse the bones of the dead, has often been adopted as a way of showing indignity. The bones of Wycliffe were disinterred and burnt, and Cromwell’s remains were most indignantly treated.
Amo_2:4-5. Evil examples. As companions are the objects of choice, admiration, and affection, the repulsiveness of vice is lost sight of amidst so much that is attractive. In short, though the vices of a companion be gross and palpable to others, yet, as Shakspeare says, “a friendly eye cannot see such faults” [Brewer].
Evil examples are like pestilential diseases—
The virtuous son is ill at ease
When the lewd father gave the dire disease. [Pope.]
The Preacher's Complete Homiletical Commentary (gen. ed. Joseph S. Exell; Funk & Wagnalls, c. 1892) — public domain (pre-1929). A full-Bible homiletical/sermon-outline anthology covering 65 of 66 books (2 John is absent from the source module). Text from a community e-Sword module.
J. R. Dummelow 1909 · Public Domain On v6 Israel's Sins and Ingratitude
Israel's Sins and Ingratitude
6-8. Israel is now threatened in the same form as the rest, but Amo_2:6-16 were not spoken by Amos at Bethel; they form the conclusion of the preface which he wrote after his return home.
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6. The unrighteous judges condemn the innocent for the sake of a bribe. A pair of shoes would have been too paltry a present, but for the fact that the shoe was a symbol of property (Rth_4:7; Psa_60:10). To hand over the shoes was equivalent to our delivery of title-deeds.
7. They begrudge the very dust, a sign of mourning, which a poor man has sprinkled on his head: they hinder the man who is in a lowly position from attaining his modest purpose. To profane.. name] The religion of many of the nations of antiquity sanctioned unchastity and even adopted it as part of the worship of the gods, but if Jehovah's worshippers are morally unclean they pollute His Holy Name.
8. The poor in the East sleep in their day-clothes. Garments taken in pledge should therefore be restored ere nightfall (Exo_22:25; Deu_24:12); but these creditors, undeterred by their supposed nearness to their god, treat the needy man's clothes as if they belonged to themselves. Possibly, however, Amos wrote, 'And they stretch out beside every altar clothes taken in pledge,' meaning that they hung them up as a votive offering in honour of their god.
They drink the wine of the condemned in the house of their god] that is to say, at their sacrificial banquets they drank wine obtained by unjust fines, and whilst they imagined themselves to be worshipping the God of Israel He disclaimed them: they were really worshipping an idol of their own imagination.
9-16. The ingratitude thus evinced and the judgment which it provokes.
9. We may exhibit the emphasis designed by Amos by rendering thus: 'Yet it was I who destroyed.. and it was I who brought you up,' etc. The Amorite here is a name for all the earlier inhabitants of the Holy Land. Instead of fruit from above, etc., we say 'root and branch.' But the Canaanites were not utterly extirpated (Jos_13:13; Jos_16:10; Jdg_1:19-36; 2Sa_5:7).
11. The accounts we have of Samuel, Elijah, Elisha, and the 'schools of the prophets,' show that prophets, declaring God's will by word of mouth, had been more numerous in the northern than in the southern kingdom. The 'Nazirites' (RV) showed their obedience to His will by self-control, austerities, renunciations of pleasant things (Numbers 6). God's most precious gift to His people consisted in true men, and, above all, in inspired prophets.
12. It was exceedingly base to tempt the Nazirite to break his vow. For the silencing of the prophets see 1Ki_1:22; Isa_30:10-11; Mic_2:6, Mic_2:11.
13. The v. may be understood in two ways. First, as in AV, which represents Israel as a burden on God (Isa_1:14; Isa_7:13 etc.). Secondly, and better, as in RV, 'Behold, I will press you in your place, as a cart presseth that is full of sheaves.' As the ground reels under the loaded wagon so shall they under God's heavy hand (Psa_32:4; Job_33:2).
16. The stress lies on the word naked. In headlong flight the long, outer garment would be cast away as a hindrance.
Here, and at Amo_3:13, Amo_3:15; Amo_4:3, Amo_4:5-6, Amo_4:8-9, Amo_4:10-11; Amo_6:8; Amo_8:11; Amo_9:7-8, Amo_9:12-13, the expression rendered saith the Lord is a kind of exclamation, thrown in parenthetically to call attention to the gravity of what is said. Utterance of Jehovah! the prophet cries.
J. R. Dummelow, A Commentary on the Holy Bible (Macmillan, 1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
C. I. Scofield 1917 · Public Domain On v4 For three
For three
The judgments on Judah and Israel were fulfilled as to Judah in the 70 years’ captivity; as to Israel (the northern kingdom) in the world-wide dispersion which still continues.
The Scofield Reference Bible (1917 edition), notes by C. I. Scofield — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Arno C. Gaebelein 1922 · Public Domain On v1 1. Moab (Amo 2:1-3)
CHAPTER 2
1. Moab (Amo 2:1-3)
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2. Judah (Amo 2:4-5)
3. Israel (Amo 2:6-16)
Amo 2:1-3. So fierce was the hatred of Moab that they dishonored the bones of the king of Edom. “Moab burned the bones of the king of Edom into lime” (see 2Ki 3:26-27). The fire or judgment came upon Moab and her glory, too, departed like the glory of the other nations.
Amo 2:4-5. While the measure was full of these nations, who had heaped transgressions upon transgressions, Judah and Israel were as guilty, yea, even more guilty, than these nations. The same significant phrase “for three transgressions and four” is used in connection with both. If the punishment of the nations could not be held back, but had to come, so Judah and Israel could not escape. Judah’s sin was the rejection of the law of the Lord; instead of listening to the voice of the Lord and to His prophets, they harkened to the false prophets, who, with their lies, caused them to err, and the children walked in the evil footsteps of their fathers. The sin of Judah was apostasy. That is the great sin today among the professing people of God, Christendom. Fire was to devour the cities and palaces of the nations and fire was to come upon Judah and the palaces of Jerusalem. Nebuchadnezzar fulfilled this prophecy.
Amo 2:6-16. Inasmuch as Amos was sent to Israel the indictment and judgment of them occupies more space than the rest. Amo 2:6-8 give a description of their sins. The poor suffered through their covetousness, they lived in unspeakable vileness, they were idolatrous. Those who were condemned by judges and paid their fines furnished the money to the judges to buy wine for their heathenish orgies.
Then the Lord reminds them of all His mercies and loving kindness in the past. He destroyed the Amorite; He led them through the wilderness to possess the land. He instituted the Nazarite. In spite of all these manifold mercies they continued in their evil ways, grinding the poor, defying God and His law and in their moral depravity.
Behold, I will press you down As the full cart presses the sheaves. Then shall flight be lost to the swift, And the strong shall not confirm his strength, And the hero shall not save his life. He that beareth the bow shall not stand, And the swift-footed shall not save, And the rider of the horse shall not save his life.
Arno C. Gaebelein, The Annotated Bible (1913–1922) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Paul E. Kretzmann 1924 · Public Domain On vv1, 6 Against Moab and Judah
Against Moab and Judah
v. 1. Thus saith the Lord, For three transgressions of Moab, the nation occupying the country east of the Dead Sea, and for four, I will not turn away the punishment thereof, being fully determined upon His way of punishing the Moabites, because he burned the bones of the king of Edom into lime, taking vengeance upon the dead by burning his body to powder, a crime showing an almost unbelievable vindictiveness;
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v. 2. but I will send a fire upon Moab, and it shall devour the palaces of Kirioth, the capital in the valley of the Arnon; and Moab shall die, be overthrown in battle, with tumult, with shouting, and with the sound of the trumpet, in a victorious attack on the part of the enemies;
v. 3. and I will cut off the judge, all the magistrates, from the midst thereof and will slay all the princes thereof with him, saith the Lord, so that Moab would cease to exist as a nation. This came to pass at the time of the Babylonian and Chaldean conquests.
v. 4. Thus saith the Lord, For three transgressions of Judah, and for four, the southern kingdom being named here in order to have a full list of the countries adjoining Israel, I will not turn away the punishment thereof, refusing also here to change His decision, because they have despised the Law of the Lord and have not kept His commandments, the complaint which is voiced by practically all prophets, and their lies caused them to err, their idols leading them into every kind of foolishness and sin, after the which their fathers have walked, for idolatry had been practiced in the country almost continually, secretly, if not openly;
v. 5. but I will send a fire upon Judah, and it shall devour the palaces of Jerusalem. Here it was true, as the maxim has it, that a person is rightly judged by the company he keeps and may be obliged to share the lot of his friends.
Paul E. Kretzmann, Popular Commentary of the Bible (1921–1924) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
unfoldingWord translationNotes 2017 · CC BY-SA 4.0 On vv1, 2, 4, 6, 7, 9, 11, 13, 15 For three sins of ... even for four
For three sins of ... even for four
This is a poetic device. It does not mean that a specific number of sins had been committed, but indicates that many sins had led to God's judgment. See how you translated these words in Amos 1:3.
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Moab
This represents the Moabite people. AT: "the people of Moab" (See: Metonymy)
I will not turn away punishment
Yahweh uses two negatives here to emphasize that he would punish them. See how you translated these words in Amos 1:3. (See: Litotes)
he burned the bones
The word "he" refers to Moab. AT: "the people of Moab burned the bones"
to lime
"to ashes"
translationWords
Yahweh
sin
Moab
punish
king
Edom
unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.
Tyndale Open Study Notes 2022 · CC BY-SA 4.0 On vv1, 2, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 11, 14, 15, 16 2:1 desecrated the bones: In some past skirmish, the…
2:1 desecrated the bones: In some past skirmish, the Moabites had captured Edom’s king. Cremation was considered a form of desecration; if the ashes (literally lime) of the king were used in plaster, the insult would be compounded.
Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.