Amos 9:12

That they may possess the remnant or Edom, and of all the Heathen, which are called by my name,.... Or that these may be possessed; that is, by David or Christ, who shall have the Heathen given him

That they may possess the remnant of Edom, and of all the heathen, which are called by my name, saith the LORD that doeth this.

That they; literally and historically the Jews, or they of the two tribes, and with them such of the ten tribes as did unite to them, and returned to Jerusalem. May possess, both the lands of Edom, and some of the posterity of Edom; these as servants, the other as their propriety. The remnant, left by Nebuchadnezzar, or that fled out of his reach and lived privately where they could find a hiding-place till Israel’ s return. Of Edom; the posterity of Esau, wasted by Nebuchadnezzar, and ruined so that they never did recover to be a kingdom, but who remained of them did shelter themselves as retainers to other nations, and among these some did betake themselves to the Jews, and lived under them. Though formerly they had been desperate enemies to the Jews, Edomites, who cried, Rase, rase, , shall now assist as servants in laying the foundations, and building Jerusalem. All the heathen, i.e. round about, as Moabites, Ammonites, &c., by usual phrase called all the heathen. Which are called by my name: these words either must refer to heathen and Edomites proselyted, or they are by a trajection laid here, but in construction are to be joined with the foregoing words thus. That they which are called by my name may possess, & c. Saith the Lord; this immutably confirms the promise. That doeth this; who saith and doth, who willeth and effecteth, whose command is almighty. That this is a prophecy of setting up the kingdom of the Messiah, and bringing in the Gentiles, is very certain, but appertains to the mystic sense, not to the literal, which is our work.

Amos 9:12 That they may possess the remnant of Edom, and of all the heathen, which are called by my name, saith the LORD that doeth this.Ver. 12. That they may possess the remnant of Edom] "That they" which are called by my name, which are called Christians, viz. the apostles and their successors to the end of the world, "may possess," together with Christ (to whom the Father hath given the heathen for his inheritance, and the uttermost parts of the earth for his possession), "the remnant of Edom"; those few of them that receive the faith, who are but as a remnant to the whole piece, a handful to a houseful. And not of the Edomites only, those inveterate and hereditary enemies to the Israel of God, but of all the heathen which are called by name, Psalms 2:8, who beseech and are baptized into Christ’ s name, being content to receive his mark and to profess his religion, which formerly they were perfect strangers to. These and those first preachers of the gospel, and planters of Churches (being Israelites by birth), are said to possess by inheritance, because Christ was pleased to make use of their ministry; and upon these his white horses to ride abroad the world, "conquering, and to conquer," Revelation 6:1-2. In a like sense it is promised, Isaiah 14:2, that the house of Israel shall possess their proselytes in the land of the Lord for servants and for handmaids, and take them captives whose captives they were, and rule over their oppressors. Such a change shall the gospel make. Saith the Lord that doeth this] For indeed none else could have done it. Effectual conversion is his work alone. God persuaded Japhet. Noah may speak persuasively, but God only can persuade. Rebecca may cook the venison, but Isaac only can give the blessing. "Paul may plant," &c. Deus potest facere, nec solet fallere.

(11, 12) These verses present some difficulties, as the quotation of the passage in Acts 15:15-17 is a free reproduction by St. James of the rendering of the LXX. The apostle uses it to show that there was a prophetic promise that after the dispersion of Israel the power and throne of David should be so re-established that it might be a rallying-place of the rest of the nations, “that the residue of men should seek after the Lord” (LXX. “me”). The clause which is quoted shows that the LXX. made their translation from a different Hebrew text from ours, and probably an inferior one. The word for “men” (âdâm) was read in place of Edom in the Masoretic text. The rendering “seek” can also be accounted for by a slight modification of the Hebrew characters. The remarks of Dr. Stanley Leathes (Old Testament Prophecy, p. 70) upon this passage are worthy of attention:—“The Greek text, which the apostle did not make, but found, lent itself even more forcibly than the Hebrew to the peculiar circumstances of the time . . . That he was not speaking critically we are willing to admit, but are we sure that he was bound to do so? At all events, our criticism will best display itself in judging his words according to his standard, and not according to one which, it is plain, he did not follow.”

Verse 12. That they may possess the remnant of Edom] Bp. Newcome translates this clause as follows: "That the residue of men may seek Jehovah, and all the heathen who are called by my name." Here, instead of אדום Edom, he reads אדם Adam, men or mankind, which is the reading of the Arabic, and some MSS. of the Syriac, and of Ac 15:17. The Pachomian MS. of the Septuagint adds here, ὁπωςεκζητησωσιμε, that they may seek me. And the Arabic has [Arabic] the Lord; and in stead of יירשו yireshu, "they shall possess," the learned bishop seems to have read ידרשו yidreshu, "they may seek;" and thus the text resembles the quotation by St. James, Acts 15:17, "That the residue of men might seek after the Lord." It is strange that not one of the MSS. collated by Kennicott and De Rossi, nor any of my own, favours or countenances any of these alterations. I am of opinion, therefore, that we must dismiss all these conjectural emendations, and take the Hebrew text as we find it. That it speaks of the conversion of the Jews in Gospel times, we have the authority of the New Testament as above to prove; and if we cannot make the words, as they stand there, entirely to agree with the words here, the subject is not affected by it. The Jews shall be converted and restored, and this text in both covenants is a proof of it.

12. That they may possess the remnant of Edom &c.] i.e. that the empire of David may be restored to its former limits. The allusion is to the nations—the Philistines, Moab, Ammon, Aram of Zobah, Damascus, Edom, &c.—which, though they had been conquered by David (2 Samuel 8, &c.), had afterwards revolted: these, Amos promises, should again be incorporated in the restored empire of David. the remnant of Edom] No doubt Edom is named specially on account of the ancient rivalry subsisting between it and Israel; in the happy future which the prophet here anticipates, he pictures it as reduced to a mere remnant (cf. Amos 1:12; Obadiah 1:18-21). This seems better than to suppose an allusion to recent defeats, whether the victory of Amaziah (2 Kings 14:7),—which, however, must have taken place some 30 years previously,—or the subjugation by Uzziah, which appears to be presupposed by 2 Kings 14:22 (cf. 2 Kings 16:6 R.V. marg.). and all the nations, over whom my name has been called] viz. in token of conquest, or ownership. The reference is to the nations which, as just stated, had been conquered by David: in virtue of their subjugation by him, they had passed under the dominion of Jehovah. The sense of the expression, over whom my name was called, appears clearly from 2 Samuel 12:28, where Joab, while besieging Rabbah of the Ammonites, invites David to come and take it himself “lest I (emph.) take the city, and my name be called over it,” i.e. lest I get the credit of having captured it, and it be counted as my conquest. The phrase expresses thus the fact of ownership—whether acquired by actual conquest or otherwise (cf. Isaiah 4:1). It is used especially of the people of Israel, Jerusalem, or the temple, as owned by Jehovah: see Deuteronomy 28:10; Jeremiah 7:10-11; Jeremiah 7:14; Jeremiah 7:30; Jeremiah 14:9; Jeremiah 15:16 (of Jeremiah himself), Jeremiah 25:29, Jeremiah 32:34, Jeremiah 34:15; 1 Kings 8:43 (= 2 Chronicles 6:33); Isaiah 63:19; 2 Chronicles 7:14; Daniel 9:18-19; and the newly-recovered Hebrew text of Sir 47:18. In A.V., R.V., the phrase is often, unfortunately, represented by the obscure paraphrase, “called by my name”; but the literal rendering, which is both clearer and more forcible than the paraphrase, is sometimes added in the margin of R.V. (e.g. 1 Kings 8:43). that doeth this] An epithet confirmatory of the preceding promise; cf. Jeremiah 33:2. Amos 9:11-12 stands in the LXX. (cod. B) thus: ἐντῇἡμέρᾳἐκείνῃἀναστήσωτὴνσκηνὴνΔαυεὶδτὴνπεπτωκυῖαν, καὶἀνοικοδομήσωτὰπεπτωκότααὐτῆς, καὶτὰκατεσκαμμένα (AbQ* κατεστραμμένα) αὐτῆςἀναστήσω, καὶἀνοικοδομήσωαὐτὴνκαθὼςαἱἡμέραιτοῦαἰῶνος, 12ὅπως (A+ἂν) ἐκζητήσωσινοἱκατάλοιποιτῶνἀνθρώπων (A+τὸνΚύριον), καὶπάντατὰἔθνηἐφʼ ? οὒςἐπικέκληταιτὸὄνομάμουἐπʼ ? αὐτούς, λέγειΚύριοςὁποιῶνταῦτα. In Acts 15:17 the verses are quoted by St James—or by St Luke in his report of St James’ speech—in this form (μετὰταῦταἀναστρέψωκαὶἀνοικοδομήσωτὴνσκηνὴνΔαυεὶδτὴνπεπτωκυῖαν, καὶτὰκατεστραμμένααὐτῆςἀνοικοδομήσω, καὶἀνορθώσωαὐτήν, ὅπωςἂνἐκζητήσωσινοἱκατάλοιποιτῶνἀνθρώπωντὸνΚύριον, καὶπάντατὰἔθνηἐφʼ ? οὒςἐπικέκληταιτὸὄνομάμουἐπʼ ? αὐτούς, λέγειΚύριοςποιῶνταῦταγνωστὰἀπʼ ? αἰῶνος), for the purpose of shewing that God’s having visited the Gentiles “to take out of them a people to his name” was in accordance with the teaching of the prophets. The passage illustrates the freedom which New Testament writers allow themselves in quoting from the Old Testament.

That they may possess - rather, “inherit The remnant of Edom - The restoration was not to be for themselves alone. No gifts of God end in the immediate object of His bounty and love.

12. The restoration of the dynasty is needed in order that the splendor of the kingdom may be re-established. The new kingdom will be harassed no longer by its neighbors, but will triumph over all.