Amos 2

Am 2:1-16.

CHARGES AGAINST

MOAB,

JUDAH, AND

LASTLY

ISRAEL, THE

CHIEF

SUBJECT OF

AMOS'

PROPHECIES.

1. burned . . . bones of . . . king of Edom into

lime--When Jehoram of Israel, Jehoshaphat of Judah, and the king of

Edom, combined against Mesha king of Moab, the latter failing in battle

to break through to the king of Edom, took the oldest son of the latter

and offered him as a burnt offering on the wall

(2Ki 3:27)

[MICHAELIS]. Thus, "king of Edom" is taken

as the heir to the throne of Edom. But "his son" is rather the

king of Moab's own son, whom the father offered to Molech

[JOSEPHUS, Antiquities, 9.3]. Thus the

reference here in Amos is not to that fact, but to the revenge which

probably the king of Moab took on the king of Edom, when the forces of

Israel and Judah had retired after their successful campaign against

Moab, leaving Edom without allies. The Hebrew tradition is that Moab in

revenge tore from their grave and burned the bones of the king of Edom,

the ally of Jehoram and Jehoshaphat, who was already buried. Probably

the "burning of the bones" means, "he burned the king of Edom alive,

reducing his very bones to lime" [MAURER].

2. Kirioth--the chief city of Moab, called also Kir-Moab

(Isa 15:1).

The form is plural here, as including both the acropolis and

town itself (see

Jer 48:24, 41,

Margin).

die with tumult--that is, amid the tumult of battle

(Ho 10:14).

3. the judge--the chief magistrate, the supreme source of justice.

"King" not being used, it seems likely a change of government had before

this time substituted for kings, supreme judges.

4. From foreign kingdoms he passes to Judah and Israel, lest it should

be said, he was strenuous in denouncing sins abroad, but connived at

those of his own nation. Judah's guilt differs from that of all the

others, in that it was directly against God, not merely against man.

Also because Judah's sin was wilful and wittingly against light and

knowledge.

law--the Mosaic code in general.

commandments--or statutes, the ceremonies and civil laws.

their lies--their lying idols

(Ps 40:4;

Jer 16:19),

from which they drew false hopes. The order is to be observed. The Jews

first cast off the divine law, then fall into lying

errors; God thus visiting them with a righteous retribution

(Ro 1:25, 26, 28;

2Th 2:11, 12).

The pretext of a good intention is hereby refuted: the "lies"

that mislead them are "their (own) lies" [CALVIN].

after . . . which their fathers . . . walked--We are not to follow the

fathers in error, but must follow the word of God alone. It was an

aggravation of the Jews' sin that it was not confined to preceding

generations; the sins of the sons rivalled those of their fathers

(Mt 23:32;

Ac 7:51)

[CALVIN].

5. a fire--Nebuchadnezzar.

6. Israel--the ten tribes, the main subject of Amos' prophecies.

sold the righteous--Israel's judges for a bribe are induced to condemn

in judgment him who has a righteous cause; in violation of

De 16:19.

the poor for a pair of shoes--literally, "sandals" of wood, secured on

the foot by leather straps; less valuable than shoes. Compare the same

phrase, for "the most paltry bribe,"

Am 8:6;

Eze 13:19;

Joe 3:3.

They were not driven by poverty to such a sin; beginning with suffering

themselves to be tempted by a large bribe, they at last are so reckless

of all shame as to prostitute justice for the merest trifle. Amos

convicts them of injustice, incestuous unchastity, and oppression

first, as these were so notorious that they could not deny them, before

he proceeds to reprove their contempt of God, which they would have

denied on the ground that they worshipped God in the form of the

calves.

7. pant after . . . dust of . . . earth on . . . head of . . . poor--that is, eagerly thirst for this object, by their oppression to

prostrate the poor so as to cast the dust on their heads in mourning on

the earth (compare

2Sa 1:2;

Job 2:12;

Eze 27:30).

turn aside . . . way of . . . meek--pervert their cause

(Am 5:12;

Job 24:4

[GROTIUS];

Isa 10:2).

a man and his father--a crime "not so much as named among the

Gentiles"

(1Co 5:1).

When God's people sin in the face of light, they often fall lower than

even those who know not God.

go in unto the same maid--from

Am 2:8

it seems likely "the damsel" meant is one of the prostitutes attached

to the idol Astarte's temple: prostitution being part of her filthy

worship.

to profane my . . . name--Israel in such abominations, as it were,

designedly seeks to insult God.

8. lay themselves . . . upon clothes laid to pledge--the

outer garment, which

Ex 22:25-27

ordered to be restored to the poor man before sunset, as being his only

covering. It aggravated the crime that they lay on these clothes in an

idol temple.

feasts; the ancients being in the habit of reclining at full length in

eating, the upper part of the body resting on the left elbow, not

sitting as we do.

drink . . . wine of the condemned--that is, wine bought with the money

of those whom they unjustly fined.

9. Yet--My former benefits to you heighten your ingratitude.

the Amorite--the most powerful of all the Canaanite nations, and

therefore put for them all

(Ge 15:16; 48:22;

De 1:20;

Jos 7:7).

height . . . like . . . cedars--

(Nu 13:32, 33).

destroyed his fruit . . . above . . . roots . . . beneath--that is,

destroyed him utterly

(Job 18:16;

Eze 17:9;

Mal 4:1).

10. brought you up from . . . Egypt--"brought up" is the phrase, as

Egypt was low and flat, and Canaan hilly.

to possess the land of the Amorite--The Amorites strictly

occupied both sides of the Jordan and the mountains afterward possessed

Am 2:9,

stand for all the Canaanites. God kept Israel forty years in the

wilderness, which tended to discipline them in His statutes, so as to

be the better fitted for entering on the possession of Canaan.

11. Additional obligations under which Israel lay to God; the

prophets and Nazarites, appointed by Him, to furnish religious

instruction and examples of holy self-restraint.

of your young men--It was a specimen of Israel's highly favored state,

that, of the class most addicted to pleasures, God chose those who by a

solemn vow bound themselves to abstinence from all produce of the vine,

and from all ceremonial and moral defilement. The Nazarite was not to

shave

(Nu 6:2,

&c.). God left nothing undone to secure the purity of their worship and

their faithfulness to it

(La 4:7).

The same comes from a Hebrew root, nazar, "to set apart."

Samson, Samuel, and John the Baptist were Nazarites.

Is it not even thus--Will any of you dare to deny it is so?

12. Ye so despised these My favors, as to tempt the Nazarite to break

his vow; and forbade the prophets prophesying

(Isa 30:10).

So Amaziah forbade Amos

(Am 7:12, 13, 14).

13. I am pressed under you--so

CALVIN (Compare

Isa 1:14).

The Margin translates actively, "I will depress your place,"

that is, "I will make it narrow," a metaphor for afflicting a

people; the opposite of enlarging, that is, relieving

(Ps 4:1;

Pr 4:12).

MAURER translates, "I will press you down"

(not as Margin, "your place"; so the Hebrew,

Job 40:12;

or

Am 2:7

in Hebrew text). Amos, as a shepherd, appropriately draws his

similes from rustic scenes.

14. flight shall perish from . . . swift--Even the swift shall not be

able to escape.

strong shall not strengthen his force--that is, shall not be able to

use his strength.

himself--literally, "his life."

16. flee . . . naked--If any escape, it must be with the loss of

accoutrements, and all that would impede rapid flight. They must be

content with saving their life alone.