Amos 1:1

The words of Amos,.... Not which he spoke of or for himself, but from the Lord; all the prophecies, visions, and revelations made unto him, are intended: who was among the herdsmen of Tekoa; which

The words of Amos, who was among the herdmen of Tekoa, which he saw concerning Israel in the days of Uzziah king of Judah, and in the days of Jeroboam the son of Joash king of Israel, two years before the earthquake.

AMOS CHAPTER 1 The time when Amos prophesied, Amos 1:1-2. He showeth God's judgments upon Syria, Amos 1:3-5; upon the Philistines, Amos 1:6-8 upon Tyre, Amos 1:9-10; upon Edom, Amos 1:11-12; upon Ammon Amos 1:13-15. The words: the Holy Ghost doth in this expression comprehensively take in all the sermons, visions, and predictions which Amos preached and published; all the exhortations to duty, the menaces against sins, the warnings of dangers coming, and the promises of mercy to them that hear and obey his words: see Haggai 1:12. And so what Jeremiah preached to his auditors are the words of Jeremiah, Amos 1:1; and the instructions and counsel of Solomon are the words of the Preacher, Ecclesiastes 1:1. Both the things spoken and the words wherein they are spoken are included. Amos: those who think this was father to the prophet Isaiah, either discern not the difference that is in the two Hebrew words, or pronounce hastily without considering what each is in the Hebrew, in which tongue these words have but two letters the same, i.e. M and O, the other are quite different; as also is the signification of each, for the one imports strength or might, the other imports a burden or heavy weight. Among the herdmen, or shepherds, but whether one of the meaner or one of the chief, whether a master herdman or a servant, the word imports the former, yet because the Scripture doth not say, we shall not inquire, since it conduceth little to our profiting, nor will it add to his authority, since it is God who sent him. Tekoa: whether it belonged to Zebulun, Asher, or Judah is not much material, though this last be most likely, for, 2 Chronicles 11:5,6, we read of Rehoboam's building fortresses in Judah, among which Tekoa is mentioned. It was situate on a hill on the north of Judah, as a learned pen describeth it. He saw; received by revelation: this tells us that the things as well as words were to be understood, when it is said that these were the words of Amos. Israel; the kingdom of the ten tribes, revolted from the house of David, and now under the government of Jehu's great-grandson. Uzziah; called also Azariah, who was smitten with a leprosy for intruding into the priest's office, 2 Chronicles 26:16,19. Judah; including the tribe of Benjamin, and such of the Levites as did adhere to the house of David, the kingdom of the house of David. Jeroboam; not son of Nebat, but grandson of Jehu. Joash; who had some successes against Syria, according to the prophecy of Elisha, by which successes Israel was raised from a declining to a thriving, prosperous state. The earthquake; of which only this text, and Zechariah 14:5, do make particular mention, and where somewhat is spoken of it; which see.

Amos 1:1 The words of Amos, who was among the herdmen of Tekoa, which he saw concerning Israel in the days of Uzziah king of Judah, and in the days of Jeroboam the son of Joash king of Israel, two years before the earthquake.Ver. 1. The words of Amos] Not of that Amos who was father to Isaiah (as some ancients, for want of Hebrew, mistook it), but a man of meaner rank; "rude in speech, but not in knowledge," 2 Corinthians 11:6, tam sensuum nomine quam simplicitate verborum clarus, as Jerome saith of Didymus. The Jews surname him ψελλος, the stammerer; as if he had been a man, not only of a low, but of a letsome language; one that had an impediment in his speech (μογιλαλος), as Mark 7:32, and this they gather from his name Amos, which signifieth a burden, as if this herdsman had had bovem in lingua, a clog upon his tongue; and could not utter himself freely (like Michael Balbus). But let this pass for a Jewish tradition. True it is, that Amos is by interpretation a burden; and no less true, that the words of Amos are onerosa prophetia, the burden of the word of the Lord to Israel by him, who is a vehement prophet, laden with reproofs and threatenings comminationibus ae reprehensionibus onustus (as Luther saith of him), such as the land was not able to bear, said that malcontent Amaziah, who had fel in aure, his gall in his ears, as they write of some creatures. But truth must be spoken, however it be taken: neither may God’ s ministers meddle with toothless truths only (as Balak did, Neither curse nor bless at all), but bind heavy burdens, if need be, upon the shoulders of obstinate sinners, that may cripple their iron sinews, and make them buckle under the sense of God’ s unsupportable displeasure. Who was among the herdmen of Tekoah] He was no prophet, neither was he a prophet’ s son; but a herdman, and a gatherer of sycomore fruit, Amos 7:14, and extraordinarily called to this high office by Him "who chooseth the foolish things of the world to confound the wise; and the weak things of the world to confound the mighty," 1 Corinthians 1:27, who enabled the dumb ass to forbid his master’ s madness, 2 Peter 2:16, and sent this downright neat herd to deal with a brutish people, worse than the ox and ass that have no understanding, Psalms 32:9 Isaiah 1:8 Job 10:4, and who had changed the glory of the uncorruptible God into a fourfooted calf and creeping things, Romans 1:28. Tekoah is said to be six miles from Bethlehem, twelve from Jerusalem, situated in the tribe of Judah, 2 Chronicles 11:6. Quinquius, that learned Hebrew, therefore, is utterly out in saying that Tekoah was a great town in the tribe of Asher. Which he saw concerning Israel] He not only heard these words, but saw them in a vision; he had them by revelation from God.

The Prologue to the Prophecies of Amos consists of a series of denunciations of the surrounding peoples. The ground of the awful threatenings is the word of Jehovah made known to the prophet. The reason for the doom predicted on such high authority, is the resistance and cruelty that were offered by these nations to the theocratic people, and, still more, their own moral offences, condemned by universal conscience. The denunciations begin with a judgment upon Syria, the age-long enemy of Judah, sometimes confederate with Israel. Then he passes to Philistia, which had been a thorn in the side of Israel and Judah from the days of the Judges till his own. Then he directs his gaze upon Phœnician cities, the emporium of the most extensive commerce in the world, Next he passes in review other three tribes, or nations, more closely related to Israel in blood, language, and proximity, and which, nevertheless, had often manifested an undying hatred of the covenanted people. After this Judah, his own tribe, does not escape. Lastly, the prophet gathers up all his strength to denounce Israel, then at the height of prosperity and splendour. (1) See Introduction.

THE BOOK OF THE PROPHET AMOS Chronological Notes relative to this Book -Year from the Creation, according to Archbishop Usher, 3217. -Year of the Julian Period, 3927. -Year since the Flood, 1561. -Year from the foundation of Solomon's temple, 225. -Year since the division of Solomon's monarchy into the kingdoms of Israel and Judah, 188. -Year since the first Olympic games were celebrated in Elis by the Idaei Dactyli, 667. -Year since the restoration of the Olympic games at Elis by Lycurgus, Iphitus, and Cleosthenes, 97. -Year before the conquest of Coroebus at Olympia, vulgarly called the first Olympiad, 11. -Year before the building of Rome, according to the Varronian computation, 34. -Year before the birth of Christ, 783. -Year before the vulgar era of Christ's nativity, 787. -Cycle of the Sun, 7. -Cycle of the Moon, 13. -Twenty-eighth and last year of Caranus, the founder of the kingdom of Macedon. -Twenty-third year of Nicander, king of Lacedaemon, of the family of the Proclidae. -Twenty-seventh year of Alcamenes, king of Lacedaemon, of the family of the Eurysthenidae. -Eleventh year of Ardysus, king of Lydia. -Eleventh year of Agamestor, perpetual archon of the Athenians. -Tenth year of Amulius Sylvius, king of the Albans. -Fifth year of Telestus, monarch of Corinth. -Sixth year of Sosarmus, king of the Medes, according to some chronologers. -Thirty-ninth year of Jeroboam II., king of Israel. -Twenty-fourth year of Uzziah, king of Judah. CHAPTER I This chapter denounces judgments against the nations bordering on Palestine, enemies to the Jews, viz., the Syrians, 1-5; Philistines, 6-8; Tyrians, 9, 10; Edomites, 11, 12; and Ammonites, 13-15. The same judgments were predicted by other prophets, and fulfilled, partly by the kings of Assyria, and partly by those of Babylon; though, like many other prophecies, they had their accomplishment by degrees, and at different periods. The prophecy against the Syrians, whose capital was Damascus, was fulfilled by Tiglath-pileser, king of Assyria; see 2Kg 16:9. The prophecy against Gaza of the Philistines was accomplished by Hezekiah, 2Kg 18:8; by Pharaoh, Jeremiah 47:1; and by Alexander the Great; see Quintius Curtius, lib. iv. c. 6. The prophecy against Ashdod was fulfilled by Uzziah, 2 Chronicles 26:6; and that against Ashkelon by Pharaoh, Jeremiah 47:5. All Syria was also subdued by Pharaoh-necho; and again by Nebuchadnezzar, who also took Tyre, as did afterwards Alexander. Nebuchadnezzar also subdued the Edomites, Jeremiah 25:9; Jeremiah 25:21; Jeremiah 27:3; Jeremiah 27:6. Judas Maccabeus routed the remains of them, 1Macc 5:3; and Hyrcanus brought them under entire subjection. The Ammonites were likewise conquered by Nebuchadnezzar. The earthquake, which the prophet takes for his era, is perhaps referred to in Zechariah 14:5, and also in Isaiah 5:25. Josephus ascribes it to Uzziah's invasion of the priestly office; see 2 Chronicles 26:16. NOTES ON CHAP. I Verse 1. The words of Amos] This person and the father of Isaiah, though named alike in our translation, were as different in their names as in their persons. The father of Isaiah, אמוץ Amots; the prophet before us, עמוס Amos.

Amos 1:1. The Heading The words of] The same title as Jeremiah 1:1; Ecclesiastes 1:1; Proverbs 30:1; Proverbs 31:1; Nehemiah 1:1. among] i.e. one of, of: see (in the Heb.) 1 Kings 2:7; Proverbs 22:26. herdmen] naḳ ?ad-keepers. The word (nτḳ ?ηd) is a peculiar one: its meaning appears from the Arabic. In Arabic naḳ ?ad denotes a species of sheep, found especially in the province of Baḥ ?reyn, small and stunted in growth, with short legs and ill-formed faces (whence an Arabic proverb, “Viler than a naḳ ?ad”), but esteemed on account of their choice wool (see Bochart, Hierozoicon ii. xliv., p. 442 f., who cites the saying, “The best of wool is that of the naḳ ?ad”; or Lane’s Arabic Lexicon, p. 2837). In Arabic naḳ ?ḳ ?βd is a shepherd who tends sheep of this kind; and the Heb. nτḳ ?ηd is a word of similar import. It may be inferred from this passage that there was a settlement of such naḳ ?ad-keepers at Tekoa: the occupation was perhaps hereditary in particular families (comp. the families following hereditary trades in 1 Chronicles 2:55; 1 Chronicles 4:21; 1 Chronicles 4:23). The word occurs once besides, of Mesha, king of Moab, 2 Kings 3:4. Tekoa] now Teḳ ?ϋ‘a, on the high ground of Judah, 12 miles S. of Jerusalem, and 6 miles S. of Bethlehem, from which, as Jerome (Comm. on Jeremiah 6:1) remarks, it is visible (“Thecuam quoque viculum in monte situm … quotidie oculis cernimus”). The ruins—dating principally from early Christian times—lie on an elevated hill, not steep, but broad on the top, and cover some four or five acres. South, west, and north the view is blocked by limestone hills; but on the east the prospect is open, though desolate; the land slopes away for nearly 18 miles to the Dead Sea, lying some 4,000 feet beneath, dropping first “by broken rocks to slopes spotted with bushes of ‘retem,’ the broom of the desert, and patches of poor wheat,” then to “a maze of low hills and shallow dales,” clad with a thin covering of verdure, the Wilderness or Pasture-land of Tekoa (2 Chronicles 20:22; 1Ma 9:33), afterwards to a “chaos of hills,” with steep and rugged sides, leading down rapidly to the shore of the Dead Sea (G. A. Smith, The Book of the Twelve Prophets, p. 74 f.). The northern half of this sea is visible from Tekoa, the level mountains of Moab forming the horizon beyond. Jerome (Pref. to Amos) speaks of Tekoa as abounding in shepherds with their flocks, the soil being too dry and sandy to be cultivated for grain. It was the home of the ‘wise woman,’ whom Joab employed to intercede with David on Absalom’s behalf (2 Samuel 14:2; 2 Samuel 14:4; 2 Samuel 14:9). saw] beheld: not the ordinary Hebrew word for seeing (rβ’βh), but ḥ ?βzβh, a word which is sometimes merely a poetical synonym of rβ’βh (e.g.

The words of Amos, who was among the herdmen - “Amos begins by setting forth his own nothingness, and withal the great grace of his Teacher and Instructor, the Holy Spirit, referring all to His

1. Title. Each prophetic book has a title, sometimes brief (Obadiah 1:1), sometimes running through several verses (Jeremiah 1:1 ff.).