The prophet threatens Damascus, Gaza, Tyre, Edom, and Ammon with the judgments of God, for their obstinacy in sin.
In the reigne of Iozias in Iuda, and of Ieroboam in Israel, this prophet Amos, 3. threatneth Damascus, 6. Gaza, 8. Azotus, and other Philistians. 9. Tyre, 11. Idumea, 13. and Ammon, for their obstinacie in sinne, abusing his long patience.
1The words of Amos, who was among the herdsmen of Thecua: which he saw concerning Israel in the days of Ozias king of Juda, and in the days of Jeroboam the son of Joas king of Israel two years before the earthquake.Parole di Amos, che fu un pastore di Thecua, rivelate a lui intorno a Israele a tempo di Ozia re di Giuda, e a tempo di Geroboam figliuolo di Gioas, re d'Israele, due anni prima del tremuoto.THE wordes of Amos, who was among the pastours of Thecua: Which he saw vpon Israel in the dayes of Ozias the king of Iuda, and in the dayes af Iereboam the sonne of Ioas the king of Israel two yeares before the earthquake.Verba Amos, qui fuit in pastoribus de Thecue, quæ vidit super Israël in diebus Oziæ, regis Juda, et in diebus Jeroboam, filii Joas, regis Israël, ante duos annos terræmotus. 2And he said: The Lord will roar from Sion, and utter his voice from Jerusalem: and the beautiful places of the shepherds have mourned, and the top of Carmel is withered.Egli disse: Il Signore ruggirà da Sionne, e da Gerusalemme alzerà la sua voce, e saranno in lutto le più belle pasture, e secche le cime del Carmelo.And he sayd: Our Lord wil roare out of Sion, and out of Ierusalem he wil geue his voice: & the beautiful places of the pastours haue mourned and the toppe of Carmel is withered.Et dixit: Dominus de Sion rugiet, / et de Jerusalem dabit vocem suam; / et luxerunt speciosa pastorum, / et exsiccatus est vertex Carmeli. 3Thus saith the Lord: For three crimes of Damascus, and for four I will not convert it: because they have thrashed Galaad with iron wains.Queste cose dice il Signore: Dopo le tre scelleraggini di Damasco, e dopo le quattro io non la richiamerò perché ella ha infranti sotto le tregge ferrate quelli di Galaad.Thus sayth our Lord: Vpon three wickednesses of Damascus, and vpon foure I wil not conuert it: because they haue threshed Galaad with yron waynes.Hæc dicit Dominus: / Super tribus sceleribus Damasci, / et super quatuor non convertam eum, / eo quod trituraverint in plaustris ferreis Galaad. 4And I will send a fire into the house of Azael, and it shall devour the houses of Benadad.Or io metterò il fuoco alla casa di Azael, e saran divorate le case di Benadad.And I wil send fyre into the house of Azael, and it shal deuoure the houses of Benadad.Et mittam ignem in domum Azaël, / et devorabit domos Benadad. 5And I will break the bar of Damascus: and I will cut off the inhabitants from the plain of the idol, and him that holdeth the sceptre from the house of pleasure: and the people of Syria shall be carried away to Cyrene, saith the Lord.E spezzerò le porte di Damasco, e sperderò gli abitatori dalla campagna dell'idolo, e dalla casa di delizie colui, che ha in mano lo scettro, e il popolo della Siria sarà trasportato a Cirene, dice il Signore.And I wil breake the barre of Damascus: and I wil destroy the inhabitant out of the idol, and him that holdeth the scepter out of the house of pleasure: and the people of Syria shal be transported to Cyrene, saith our Lord.Et conteram vectem Damasci: / et disperdam habitatorem de campo idoli, / et tenentem sceptrum de domo voluptatis: / et transferetur populus Syriæ Cyrenen, / dicit Dominus.
6Thus saith the Lord: For three crimes of Gaza, and for four I will not convert it: because they have carried away a perfect captivity to shut them up in Edom.Queste cose dice il Signore: Dopo le tre scelleraggini di Gaza, e dopo le quattro io non la richiamerò, perchè hanno condotta schiava tutta la gente per rinchiuderla nell'Idumea.Thus saith our Lord: Vpon three wickednesses of Gaza, & vpon foure I wil not conuert it, because they haue transported a perfect captiuitie, to shut it vp in Idumea.Hæc dicit Dominus: / Super tribus sceleribus Gazæ, / et super quatuor non convertam eum, / eo quod transtulerint captivitatem perfectam, / ut concluderent eam in Idumæa. 7And I will send a fire on the wall of Gaza, and it shall devour the houses thereof.E io manderò fuoco contro le mura di Gaza, il quale ridurrà in cenere i suoi palazzi.And I wil send fyre on the wal of Gaza, and it shal deuoure the houses therof.Et mittam ignem in murum Gazæ, / et devorabit ædes ejus. 8And I will cut off the inhabitant from Azotus, and him that holdeth the sceptre from Ascalon: and I will turn my hand against Accaron, and the rest of the Philistines shall perish, saith the Lord God.E sterminerò gli abitatori di Azoto, e colui, che porta in mano lo scettro di Ascalone, e farò sentire ad Accaron il peso della mia mano, e farò perire gli avanzi de' Filistei, dice il Signore Dio,And I wil destroy the inhabitant out of Azotus, and him that holdeth the scepter out of Ascalon: and I wil turne my hand vpon Accaron, and the rest of the Philisthims shal perish, sayth our Lord God.Et disperdam habitatorem de Azoto, / et tenentem sceptrum de Ascalone: / et convertam manum meam super Accaron, / et peribunt reliqui Philisthinorum, / dicit Dominus Deus. 9Thus saith the Lord: For three crimes of Tyre, and for four I will not convert it: because they have shut up an entire captivity in Edom, and have not remembered the covenant of brethren.Queste cose dice il Signore: Dopo le tre scelleraggini di Tiro, e dopo le quattro io non la richiamerò, perchè ella ha rinchiusa in ischiavitù tutta quanta la gente nell'Idumea, e non ha avuta memoria dell'alleanza de' fratelli.Thus saith our Lord: Vpon the three wickednesses of Tyre, and vpon foure I wil not conuert it: because they haue shut vp a perfect captiuite in Idumea, and haue not remembred the league of brethren.Hæc dicit Dominus: / Super tribus sceleribus Tyri, / et super quatuor non convertam eum, / eo quod concluserint captivitatem perfectam in Idumæa, / et non sint recordati fœderis fratrum. 10And I will send a fire upon the wall of Tyre, and it shall devour the houses thereof.E io manderò fuoco contro le mura di Tiro, il quale ridurrà in cenere i suoi palazzi.And I wil send fyre vpon the wal of Tyre, it shal deuoure the houses therof.Et mittam ignem in murum Tyri, / et devorabit ædes ejus.
11Thus saith the Lord: For three crimes of Edom, and for four I will not convert him: because he hath pursued his brother with the sword, and hath cast off all pity, and hath carried on his fury, and hath kept his wrath to the end.Queste cose dice il Signore: Dopo le tre scelleraggini di Edom, e dopo le quattro io nol richiamerò, perchè egli ha investito colla spada alla mano il suo fratello, e ha negata a lui la dovuta pietà, ed ha covato pertinacemente il rancore, ed ha conservato l'odio insino al fine.Thus sayth our Lord: Vpon three wickednesses of Edom, and vpon foure I wil not conuert him: because he hath persecuted his brother with the sword, and hath violated his mercie, and hath held his furie longer, and hath kept his indignation euen to the end.Hæc dicit Dominus: / Super tribus sceleribus Edom, / et super quatuor non convertam eum, / eo quod persecutus sit in gladio fratrem suum, / et violaverit misericordiam ejus, / et tenuerit ultra furorem suum, / et indignationem suam servaverit usque in finem. 12I will send a fire into Theman: and it shall devour the houses of Bosra.Manderò fuoco contro di Theman, il quale ridurrà in cenere le case di Bosra.I wil send fyre into The man: and it shal deuoure the houses of Bosra.Mittam ignem in Theman, / et devorabit ædes Bosræ. 13Thus saith the Lord: For three crimes of the children of Ammon, and for four I will not convert him: because he hath ripped up the women with child of Galaad to enlarge his border.Queste cose dice il Signore: Dopo le tre scelleraggini de' figliuoli di Ammon, e dopo le quattro io non li richiamerò; perocché egli per dilatare i suoi confini ha sventrate le donne gravide di Galaad.Thus sayth our Lord: Vpon three wickednesses of the children of Ammon, and vpon foure I wil not conuert him: because he hath cut in sunder the wemen with childe of Galaad to dilate his limite.Hæc dicit Dominus: / Super tribus sceleribus filiorum Ammon, / et super quatuor non convertam eum, / eo quod dissecuerit prægnantes Galaad / ad dilatandum terminum suum. 14And I will kindle a fire in the wall of Rabba: and it shall devour the houses thereof with shouting in the day of battle, and with a whirlwind in the day of trouble.E metterò il fuoco alle mura di Rabba, il quale divorerà le sue case in mezzo alle strida nel tempo della battaglia, e in mezzo al tumulto nel giorno della distruzione.And I wil kindle a fyre in the wal of Rabba: & it shal deuoure the houses therof with howling in the day of battel, and with a whirlewind in the day of commotion.Et succendam ignem in muro Rabba, / et devorabit ædes ejus in ululatu in die belli, / et in turbine in die commotionis. 15And Melchom shall go into captivity, both he, and his princes together, saith the Lord.E Melchom anderà in ischiavitù, egli, e i suoi prìncipi insieme, dice il Signore.And Melchom shal goe into captiuitie, himself, and his princes together, sayth our Lord.Et ibit Melchom in captivitatem, / ipse et principes ejus simul, / dicit Dominus.
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Year of the World about 3224, Year before Christ 780.
Year of the World 3216, Year before Christ 788.
Calmet
Herdsmen. St. Jerome's manuscripts after Aquila, have "pastorals," (Haydock) pastoralibus. (Calmet)
Haydock
Theodotion retains Nokedim. Septuagint read Accarim, (Haydock) substituting r for d, (St. Jerome) and perhaps á for n. (Haydock)
St. Jerome
They have also "Jerusalem," for Israel, though the prophecy regard the latter. The country south of Thecua has no towns, and is solely for pasture. (St. Jerome)
Worthington
David was taken from the flocks to be king, and Amos to be a prophet. (Worthington)
Calmet
King. These two lived long in prosperity. (Calmet)
Challoner
Earthquake. Many understand this of a great earthquake, which, they say, was felt at the time that king Ozias attempted to offer incense in the temple. But the best chronologists prove that the earthquake here spoken of must have been before that time: because Jeroboam the second, under whom Amos prophesied, was dead long before that attempt of Ozias. (Challoner)
Calmet
This is asserted by Usher. Yet his arguments are not conclusive. If the attempt and earthquake happened in the 23d year of Ozias, Amos might commence the year of the world 3215, six years before the death of Jeroboam, 4 Kings 15:5., and Zacharias 11:15. (Calmet)
Worthington
Josephus ([Antiquities?] 9:1.) fixes upon the former period. Jeroboam, however, died inthe 38th of Ozias, who was deposed 14 years later. (Worthington)
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Calmet
Carmel. "God's vineyard," may denote any fruitful mountain. Amos refers to pastoral affairs. (Calmet)
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Challoner
Three---four. That is, for their many unrepented of crimes. (Challoner)
Worthington
Three is the first number of which we can say "many or all." Four denotes excess. Thus God forgives many sins, yet punishes when they become excessive. (Worthington)
Virgil
Thus profane authors say, (Calmet) Terque quaterque pectus percussa decorum. (Virgil, Aeneid iv.)
Challoner
Convert it. That is, I will not spare them, nor turn away the punishments I design to inflict upon them. (Challoner)
My decree is absolute.
St. Jerome
Wains, designed to make the corn come out, (Calmet) or to cut the straw. (St. Jerome)
Calmet
Such instruments were sometimes trailed over men. Septuagint, "they have sawed the pregnant women," etc. This circumstance is borrowed from 4 Kings viii. Damascus was often at war with Israel. But Jeroboam punished it as Theglathphalassar did afterwards, ver. 5., and 4 Kings 16:9. Amos might witness the ravages of the former. (Calmet)
Haydock
Azael, or Hazael, who slew his master, Benadad. (Haydock)
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Plain. The city "Bikhath-Aven," or the latter word, probably denotes Baal, as the Syrians style Baal-Bek, the city which the Greeks call Heliopolis. The valley between the two mountains extending northward, is still called Bucca.
Cyrene, not in Africa, but on the river Cyrus, in Albania, 4 Kings 15:29.
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St. Jerome
Edom. The Philistines and Tyrians (ver. 9.) exercised this inhumanity on the Idomeans, probably before they had thrown off the yoke of Juda, under Joram, (4 Kings 8:21.) as the Lord seems concerned for them; (Calmet) or they sold the captive Israelites to Edom, to increase their misery. (St. Jerome)
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Gaza. Ozias, Ezechias, and Psammetichus, ravaged the country, 2 Paralipomenon 26:6., 4 Kings 18:8., and Isaias 14:29. The Philistines recovered strength; but Nabuchodonosor, Alexander, and the Machabees conquered them again.
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Haydock
Brethren; for Edom and the Jews sprung from the same stock. Some think that he alludes to the alliance between the king of Tyre and David. But that had long ceased, and was not agreeable to the law; (Exodus 22:32., and 3 Kings 9:13.; Calmet) at least when it was attended with much danger. (Haydock)
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Thereof. Salmanasar besieged it five years (Menander) and Nabuchodonosor thirteen, when he destroyed Tyre, Ezechiel xxvi.
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Calmet
Sword. Edom was subdued by David, and remained tributary till Joram. It attempted to recover its liberty under Josaphat, though the Hebrew text have improperly Aram, 2 Paralipomenon 20:2, 23. The two nations were often at variance. (Calmet)
Cast off. Septuagint, "violated the womb, or the mother on the earth."
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St. Jerome
Houses, etc. Septuagint, "its foundations," (Haydock) or the fortified country. (St. Jerome)
Bosor lay towards Philadelphia, in the ancient territory of Edom. Their strong places were seized by Ozias, by the Chaldeans, and by the Machabees.
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Border. They pretended that Galaad belonged to them, Judges 11:12. David subdued Ammon; but after the division of the kingdom, they recovered their independence, and took occasion to commit these cruelties, while Israel had to contend with Syria. Jeremias (xlix. 1.) speaks of a later period.
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Calmet
Rabba, the capital, called also Philadelphia. Ozias and Joatham attacked the people with advantage. (Calmet)
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Challoner
Melchom, the god or idol of the Ammonites, otherwise called Moloch, and Melech; which, in Hebrew, signifies a king, or Melchom their king. (Challoner)
Haydock
He assumed the title of "their king," Judges 11:14., and Jeremias 49:3. (Haydock)
Calmet
Blind people, who could not see the vanity of such impotent gods! (Calmet)
Haydock
Both he. Septuagint, "and their priests." (Haydock)
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The earthquake.... Many understand this of a great earthquake, which they say was felt at the time that king Ozias attempted to offer incense in the temple. But the best chronologists prove that the earthquake here spoken of must have been before that time: because Jeroboam the second, under whom Amos prophesied, was dead long before that attempt of Ozias.
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For three crimes—and for four.... That is, for their many unrepented of crimes.—Ibid. I will not convert it.... That is, I will not spare them, nor turn away the punishments I design to inflict upon them.
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As Dauid was called from keping shepe, made a king, & a Prophet: so Amos being a shepheard o• hearde man was also made a Prophet.
Iosephus. li. 9. c. 1. Antiq. sayeth this earthquake happened when king Onias presumed to offer incense, but it must nedes be vnderstood of a former, in the dayes of Ieroboam, v. 1. who died in the 38. yeare of O•ias • Par. 26. at least 14. yeares before his deposition: for he reigned in al. 52.
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Concordance Ioel. 3. Zach. •4.
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Three signifie the multitude of their sinnes: for three is the first number that is called manie or may be called al.
and foure signifie excesse in multitude, so that, albeit God doth forgeue a multitude of sinnes, yet at last for so great excesse he hasteneth their punishment.
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The god of the Ammonites.
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St Jerome † AD 420 The Letters of St. Jerome 46.13
… We shall see Lazarus come forth bound with grave clothes, we shall look upon the waters of Jordan purified for the washing of the Lord. Thence we shall pass to the folds of the shepherds, we shall pray together in the mausoleum of David. We shall see the prophet, Amos,
St Jerome † AD 420 The Letters of St. Jerome 108.12
12. I linger long in the land of the midday sun for it was there and then that the spouse found her bridegroom at rest and Joseph drank wine with his brothers once more. I will return to Jerusalem and, passing through Tekoa the home of Amos,
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 City of God 18.27
… At the beginning of the book of the prophet Hosea, who is placed first of twelve, it is written, “The word of the Lord which came to Hosea in the days of Uzziah, Jothan, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, kings of Judah.” Amos also writes that he prophesied in the days of Uzziah, and adds the name of Jeroboam king of Israel, who lived at the same time.
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 On Christian Doctrine 4.7
… In this place, however, it is my duty to select a passage of such a kind that I shall not be compelled to explain the matter, but only to commend the style. And I shall do so, quoting principally from the book of that prophet who says that he was a shepherd or herdsman, and was called by God from that occupation, and sent to prophesy to the people of God.
John Cassian † AD 435 The Conferences of John Cassian 6.1
In the district of Palestine near the village of Tekoa which had the honour of producing the prophet Amos,
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St Irenaeus of Lyons † AD 202 Against Heresies 3.20.4
… “He will turn again, and will have compassion upon us: He will destroy our iniquities, and will cast our sins into the depths of the sea.” And again, specifying the place of His advent, he says: “The Lord hath spoken from Zion, and He has uttered His voice from Jerusalem.”
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 Sermons on Selected Lessons of the New Testament 1.34
… And forasmuch as sins are committed either by the mind, as in the will only, or by the works of the body also, and so visibly; therefore the Prophet Amos continually introduces God as threatening, and saying, “For three and four iniquities I will not turn away,” that is,” I will not dissemble My wrath.”
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St Jerome † AD 420 The Letters of St. Jerome 130.8
… As He says by the mouth of Amos: “for three transgressions of such and such a city and for four I will not turn away the punishment thereof.”
St Jerome † AD 420 The Letters of St. Jerome 147.3
… although so blunted is your wit that I am not disposed to allow that you can understand even language so simple. You may treat the words of prophets with contempt, but Amos will still make answer to you: “Thus saith the Lord, For three transgressions and for four shall I not turn away from him?”
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Pope St Gregory I the Great † AD 604 The Book of Pastoral Rule 3.24
… and, in order to extort for themselves from the unskilful multitude a name for knowledge, they strive mightily both to upset the right views of others and to confirm their own perverse views. Hence it is well said by the prophet, They have ripped up the women with child of Gilead, that they might enlarge their border (
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1. AMONG THE SHEPHERDS. — Thus read the Roman, Chaldean, Symmachus and the Old Edition, meaning that Amos was one of the shepherds of Tekoa. Less correctly Aquila reads ἐν ποιμνικτερόφοις, that is in pastoral places (and thus read the Plantin Bibles and the text of St. Jerome in his Commentary), because then one would need to understand and supply a substantive such as places or pastures. The Septuagint retains the Hebrew name, as if a proper place name, and translates: "Who were made in Accarim," because for נקדים nokedim, they read נקרים naccarim. Whence in the Septuagint for Accarim it seems naccarim should be read. Wherefore Theodoret and others read incorrectly Cariathiarim; the Complutensian edition reads Accarpi. Some think that Amos was not a shepherd, but a merchant rich in flocks, who had under him many shepherds of his own flocks, such as Abraham, Job, and Mesa king of Moab, IV Kings III, 4, who in Hebrew is called noked, just as Amos is called by this name in this place. But Amos himself refutes this very thing in chapter VII, 14, saying: "I am a herdsman, and a gatherer of sycamore fruit, and the Lord took me when I followed the flock;" therefore Amos was a cowherd, or, as St. Jerome says, a shepherd. Both are called in Hebrew noked (whence nekoda, chapter II, 48, of Ezra, that is Nicodemus, says Marinus in the Lexicon), that is a marker, a brander, that is a herdsman and shepherd, who brands his cattle with his own marks, points or spots, so that he may distinguish them from those of others, and it may be clear to all that they are his. For the root נקד nakod signifies a point, a mark, a spot, which is branded or impressed upon cattle. Whence St. Isidore in the Life of Amos: "Amos," he says, "a shepherd and a rustic," etc. our infirmity is made perfect, I Corinthians XII, 9. For the Holy Spirit is so powerful that He raises the poor, the ignorant and the wretched to the highest knowledge, dignity and rank. Hear St. Gregory, homily 30 on the Gospel: "Behold," he says, "I consider David, Amos, Daniel, Peter, Paul, Matthew, and I wish to consider what kind of craftsman this Holy Spirit is; but in my very consideration I fail. For He fills a boy who plays the harp, and makes him a psalmist. He fills a shepherd, a herdsman gathering sycamore fruit, and makes him a Prophet. He fills an abstinent boy, and makes him a judge of elders. He fills a fisherman, and makes him a preacher. He fills a persecutor, and makes him a teacher of the Gentiles. He fills a publican, and makes him an Evangelist. O what a craftsman is this Spirit! No delay in learning is imposed in whatever He wishes. For as soon as He touches the mind, He teaches; and to have touched is to have taught. For He suddenly illuminates the human soul and changes it: it suddenly denies what it was, and suddenly has what it was not." salem, which was ruled by the tribe of Judah, but he preaches to Israel and in Samaria." The same is evident from chapter VII, 10, where it is said: "Amaziah the priest of Bethel sent to Jeroboam king of Israel, saying: Amos hath rebelled against thee in the midst of the house of Israel, the land is not able to bear all his words. For thus saith Amos: Jeroboam shall die by the sword, and Israel shall be led away captive out of their land. And Amaziah said to Amos: Thou that seest, go, flee away into the land of Juda, and eat bread there, and prophesy there, and prophesy no more at Bethel." Yet incidentally Amos also prophesies concerning other nations, and concerning Judah as it were by way of contention and opposition: for he compares, arranges and opposes Israel with them. as one who died in the year 14, or rather 27 of Ozias, as I showed a little before. Lyra responds that that vision of Isaiah happened in the year in which Ozias died by death, not natural, but civil, namely when struck with leprosy on account of usurping the priestly office, he was cast out from the temple, and from the company of men and from the kingdom, and his son Joathan took over the administration of the kingdom in his place. Whence the Chaldean translates: In the year in which Ozias was struck. But to die, according to the letter, signifies natural death, not civil, as all other Interpreters teach; who therefore commonly hold that that vision of Isaiah was shown in the year 52 and the last year of Ozias. the year 52 in which he died, and his son Jotham succeeded him, who was then 25 years old. Whence it follows that Jotham was born in the same year 27 in which his father Ozias was struck with leprosy. Wherefore it is necessary to say that Ozias thereafter administered the kingdom through the nobles, until Jotham grew up and ruled; because we read this nowhere, hence some doubt the whole of this matter, and think that this earthquake does not pertain to the sin and leprosy of Ozias, but happened at another time and for another cause, especially because Josephus in the place cited hints that Ozias was leprous for only a short time. For he says: "And when he had lived deprived outside the city for some time, with his son Jotham administering the commonwealth, at length worn out by grief he died in the sixty-third year of his age, the fifty-second of his reign." Finally Amos, as by his name (for Amos in Hebrew is the same as people torn away, as I said), so also by this earthquake signifies the motion of the souls of Israel, by which he himself, tearing himself away from God and from the kingdom of David, made schism and division, setting up and worshipping golden calves; and for that reason, then, as also often at other times, God sent this earthquake, so that he might threaten both the earth and the people, and portend their exile and destruction. Thus in the year of the Lord 458, Antioch, when it embraced the schism and heresy of Nestorius, was shaken by a great earthquake, as Baronius relates from Marcellinus. In the same year the Pontic region was shaken on account of the heresy of Eutyches in the year of the Lord 499, as the same relates from Theodore Collectan., lib. II. On account of the same heresy in the year of the Lord 518 in Dardania by continuous earthquake twenty-four fortresses collapsed in one moment, and from them two with all, others with many inhabitants were submerged; and a little later in the same year the Emperor Anastasius, an Eutychian, was struck by lightning from God and perished. Thus Marcellinus in his Chronicle. Thus when St. John Chrysostom was driven into exile, Constantinople trembled with an earthquake, by which part of the imperial bedchamber collapsed. Whence the Emperor, terrified, sending a notary, recalled him so that it was plainly established that "on account of his just man the Lord moved the earth," says Palladius in Dial., and Theodoret lib. V, cap. XXXIII. Thus far the title of the Prophet; now he begins his prophecy, and says:
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2. FROM SION HE SHALL ROAR, — as if to say: The true God, whose temple, throne and oracle from the mercy seat sustained by the Cherubim is in Sion (not, however, in Dan and Bethel, as you, O Israelites, or rather idolaters, falsely presume), He, I say, the mighty God and avenger of His temple, worship and holiness, through me and through Osee, Isaiah and other Prophets sent by Him from Sion and Judea, shall roar like a lion, when He shall utter and proclaim through us a terrible sentence of devastation and destruction against the impious Israelites and other neighboring nations, on account of their various crimes. In a similar sense Isaiah says, chapter XXXI, 4: "As the lion roareth and the lion's whelp over his prey, etc., so shall the Lord of hosts come down to fight upon mount Sion." And verse 9: "The Lord hath said to me, Whose fire is in Sion, and His furnace in Jerusalem," as if to say: God who dwelleth in Sion, and is there worshipped with sacred fire and sacrifices, thence shall leap forth like a roaring lion, a severe avenger against His enemies, namely against the impious who have violated His worship and divinity either by idolatry or by other crimes. Thus St. Jerome. THE TOP OF CARMEL IS DRIED UP. — "There are, says St. Jerome, two mountains by this name. One, in which dwelt Nabal Carmelus, the husband of Abigail, toward the southern region, I Kings, XXV. The other near Ptolemais, which was formerly called Acho, overlooking the sea, on which the prophet Elias, bending his knees, obtained rains. If therefore he speaks of Carmel in which Nabal dwelt, it is more fitting for shepherds' flocks, because it is near the wilderness. But if of that which is near the shore, it pertains to kings and to the pride of the kingdom of Israel, whom, with captivity impending, he says are to be laid waste like desert mountains." Either Carmel, therefore, can be taken here, and both have become proverbial, and is a symbol of fertility, abundance and joy. Whence in the Punic or Arabic tongue, which is near to Hebrew, even to this day in Boetica, the most pleasant and beautiful villages are called Carmenes, says Delrio, adage 980. Yet it is more fitting to take it of the former, which was of pastures and shepherds; for from it Amos, being a shepherd, drew the likeness of shepherding. The sense therefore is, as if to say: The Carmel of Israel and of neighboring nations, that is the villages, fields, vineyards, pastures, riches, abundance and joy shall be destroyed by the Chaldeans. Again, in the word "top" are noted kings and the strongholds of kings, palaces, gardens and villages; and symbolically the power, dominion and glory to be destroyed by the Babylonians. Whence the Chaldean translator renders it: The dwellings of kings shall be desolate, and the stronghold of their fortresses shall become a desert. Theodoretus agrees, who by "top" understood both Jerusalem, which was the head and top of Judea, and Samaria, which was the top of Israel, or of the ten tribes, Isaiah VII, 8 and 9. Finally, Albert and Hugh think that here is literally foretold dryness, barrenness and famine to be sent and inflicted upon Israel and impious nations by God. Furthermore, Carmel here denotes not only the fields and riches of Judea, but also of other nations; for every field and place fertile, rich and beautiful is proverbially called Carmel. That this is so is evident from what follows; for this proposition: "The Lord shall roar from Sion, etc., and the beautiful things of the shepherds have mourned, and the top of Carmel is dried up," proposed as a theme at the beginning, he thus explains in what follows concerning Damascus, verse 4, saying: "And I will send a fire into the house of Azael, and it shall devour the houses of Benadad." The beautiful things of the shepherds, therefore, and the top of Carmel of Damascus, are the houses of Azael and Benadad. And concerning Gaza, verse 7: "I will send a fire into the wall of Gaza, and it shall devour the houses thereof." The beautiful things of the shepherds, therefore, and the top of Carmel of Gaza, are its wall and houses. And concerning Tyre, verse 10: "I will send a fire into the wall of Tyre, and it shall devour the houses thereof." The beautiful things and Carmel of Tyre, therefore, are its wall and houses. He says the same of Idumea, verse 12, and of Ammon, verse 14, and of Moab, chapter II, 2, and of Juda, chapter II, 5, and of Israel, chapter II, 6, 13 and 15. let him judge. "If, indeed, they do these things in the green wood, what shall be done in the dry?" says Christ, Luke chapter XXIII, 31. Others say the same thing in various places. The Seraphim cry out three times "Holy, holy, holy," Isaiah cap. VI. There are three theological virtues by which we worship God: faith, hope, charity. Three parts of penance by which we reconcile ourselves to Him: contrition, confession, satisfaction. Three good works by which we merit from Him: prayer, fasting, almsgiving. Arithmetic teaches that the ternary is found in every thing. For the world is threefold: namely, angelic, corporeal, human. The soul has three powers: intellect, memory, will. There are three hierarchies of angels, and in each three orders. Three are their offices: to purge, to illuminate, to perfect. Threefold is their knowledge: matutinal, which is in the Word; vespertinal, which is of things in themselves; meridian, which is the open vision of God. Chastity is threefold: virginal, widowed, conjugal. Heaven is threefold: empyrean, sidereal, aerial. In the sun there are three things: substance, ray and light; thus in God, who is the uncreated Sun, there are three Persons, Father, Son and Holy Spirit. In every thing there are three: essence, virtue, operation; or entity, species, order. In composites there is matter, form and union. Three are the regions of air: lowest, middle, highest. In tree and plant there are three: leaves, flowers, fruit. Thus in all things the Holy Trinity has placed its vestiges, by which we might know and contemplate it. Three in man are spirits: animal, vital, natural. Three operations of the vegetative soul: nutrition, growth, generation. Good is threefold: useful, delightful, honest. Three are the orders of things: nature, grace, glory. Three principal parts of the body: belly, heart, brain. Three artificial causes and artificers: efficient, formal, final. Philosophy is threefold: ethical, physical, mathematical. Syllogisms have three propositions: major, minor, conclusion. Law is threefold: of nature, of Moses, of Christ. Three are the differences and parts of time: past, present, future. Place is threefold: highest, middle, lowest. A triangle has three angles, as well as lines. Angles are three: right, acute, obtuse. The quantity of body is threefold: length, breadth, thickness. Finally, God created and disposed all things in the ternary, namely in measure, number and weight, Wisdom cap. XI, 21. These and more Peter Bongus in his book On the Mysteries of Numbers, concerning the ternary. For these reasons therefore the ternary is a symbol of multitude, fullness, perfection, universality. many things. But when unity is added to the ternary, so that it becomes quaternary, then the greatest multitude, which exceeds the common and ordinary, is signified. Thus Virgil: And so the sense of this place is, says St. Jerome, as if to say: "I have waited a long time for the Damascenes to do penance for their crimes, and therefore I was unwilling to punish the sinners, so that being converted at some time they might receive healing; but because they do the same things a third and fourth time, I am forced to change my mind, and to correct the delinquents with plagues." Thus also Theodoret: "That indeed, he says, over three and over four, signifies multitude, that is, as he adds, infinite iniquities." Thus also Ribera, Delrio adage 971, and others cited above. This sense would be fitting and plainly genuine, if the Prophet had said (over three and four crimes); for thus we say: "O thrice and four times blessed." But because he does not join four to three, but rather separates and disjoins four from three, saying: "And over four;" hence the sense which I indicated in Question I seems more genuine, namely that four be taken for the fourth, and the sense be: Because Damascus perpetrated three, that is many, crimes, and not content with these added a fourth, conspicuous and enormous beyond all others, for this reason it is plainly unworthy of pardon, and therefore I will not spare, but will punish it. Or as Castro says, as if to say: Since I have spared the Damascenes once, a second and third time, the fourth enormous crime, which they added to the others, I will by no means spare, but will punish. This fourth crime is what he adds: "Because they have threshed in iron wagons Galaad." For why among so many crimes does the Prophet express and add this one alone, unless because this was the fourth, and enormous? He does the same, and likewise names and censures as the fourth crime of Gaza, Tyre, Edom, Ammon and Moab verses 6, 9, 11, 13, and cap. II. For when after four, that is the fourth crime, he subjoin this one alone, he plainly signifies that it itself is the fourth. For altogether enormous and surpassing all others was this crime, that with unheard of cruelty they would thresh the Israelites in iron wagons, namely the Galaadites. sin, they are ruined, that is to say, Upon three wickednesses I will convert them, but upon the fourth I will not convert them; but I will abandon them to themselves and to their wickednesses and to their voluntary custom. This is likewise tropological, not literal, as they themselves judge. to them sufficient aid for repenting: whereby it comes to pass that they cannot repent and be converted. But this happens when he has filled up the measure of sins determined by God, from which they take that passage from Matthew, chapter XXIII, 32: "And you fill up the measure of your fathers." But this is true concerning copious and efficacious aid; concerning sufficient aid it is false; for thus the sinner would no longer be a wayfarer, but with the damned as it were damned, being deprived of aid necessary for salvation, without which it is impossible for him to be saved, and he must necessarily be damned. and their young men thou shalt slay with the sword, and thou shalt dash their little ones, and rip up their women with child," IV Kings, chapter VIII, 12; and so it is plain that it was done there, chapter XIII, 4: "The king of Syria had beaten them," it says; and verse 7: "The king of Syria had slain them, and had made them like dust by threshing in the floor." Whence it is clear, says Theodoret, "that the Damascenes, casting Israelite women into a certain threshing floor, were cruelly threshing them with iron wheels as if they were grain." to be cut off. Thus Eutropius. This was the utterance of the same man: "Remember that all things are lawful for me against all." Vitellius, after slaying Otho with his followers, when his adherents abhorred the corruption of the corpses, said, "it smells excellently, a slain enemy, and better a citizen." But he at last, with his hands bound behind his back, a noose cast about his neck, his garment torn, half-naked was dragged into the forum amid mockery, and finally at the Gemonian stairs was flayed to death with countless blows and finished off, and from there was dragged by a hook into the Tiber. Thus Fulgentius, book IX, chapter XI. Thus miserably did he perish, God avenging, or rather Nero killed himself. Thus also miserably perished Caligula, Maximian, Diocletian, Hannibal, Herod. Truly Thales of Miletus, when asked what he had ever seen difficult, answered: An aged tyrant. Wherefore Phalaris the tyrant was wont to say: "I who have experienced both, would rather be subject to tyranny than to exercise it. For a subject, secure from other evils, fears one tyrant: but a tyrant fears both those who lie in wait from without, and those by whom he is served." Thus Stobaeus, sermon 47. A certain man wishing for a tyrannicide, wrote beneath the statue of Brutus: "Would that thou wert alive!" because by the deeds of Brutus Tarquin was driven from the city. And beneath the statue of Caesar they wrote these verses: defeated in battle by the Goths, fleeing with his horse he fell into a marsh, by which he was swallowed up and never appeared thereafter. But Valerian he delivered captive to Sapor, king of the Persians, who, about to mount his horse, used him as a footstool. Finally those seven Maccabean brothers, cruelly tortured and roasted by Antiochus, assailed him like lions, and threatened him with a death equally cruel as if they were Prophets, II Maccabees VII, among whom the youngest, verse 31: "But thou," he says, "who hast been the inventor of all malice against the Hebrews, shalt not escape the hand of God." And soon after: "But thou, O wicked one, and of all men most shameful, be not lifted up in vain with vain hopes, inflamed against his servants. For thou hast not yet escaped the judgment of the Almighty God, who seeth all things. For my brothers, having endured a short pain, are now under the covenant of eternal life: but thou shalt pay the just penalties of thy pride by the judgment of God." He was a true prophet: for Antiochus shortly after, tortured by a most severe pain of his bowels, and by an intolerable stench, gnawed by worms, breathed out his blasphemous soul to a demon, II Maccabees IX. already I have said. 5. AND I WILL BREAK THE BAR OF DAMASCUS. — "Bar," that is, gates: for these are accustomed to be barred with bars. Again "bar," that is, strength, as the Chaldean translator renders it (for the strength of gates consists in bars: hence a bar is a type of strength), namely leaders, soldiers, arms, courage, fortifications, provisions, by which, as it were by bars, the Damascenes had fortified themselves and thought themselves invincible: but none of these things could resist God, attacking them through the Assyrians, indeed all things were crushed by him and immediately collapsed and fell. AND I WILL DESTROY THE INHABITANT FROM THE PLAIN OF THE IDOL. — Damascus, and the plain adjacent to it, is called here a plain, and that "of the idol;" because abounding in idols and most devoted to them, says St. Jerome and Theodoret. The Zurich and Arias editions translate: From the valley of vanity. And such was Damascus: which, devoted to vanity, and therefore, God punishing, cut off and vanishing, gave to the whole world a mirror of vanity. The Septuagint and Theodotion retain the Hebrew word, and translate, from the house of On; Symmachus and the Old Edition, from the house of iniquity; Aquila, from the house of the useless. The same Damascus is soon called the house of pleasure, that is, abounding in delights: in which King Rezin held the scepter, when it, with him slain, was overthrown by the Assyrians. For pleasure in Hebrew is עדן eden: whence the Greek iden, that is, pleasure. Hence for eden the Septuagint are accustomed to translate isovi, yet in this place they translate, Charran: because Eden was a region, in which the earthly paradise was situated, was in Mesopotamia and neighboring places, in which are Charrae, a city of the Parthians, where the Roman Crassus was slain, as I showed in Genesis cap. II, 8. Moreover Theodoret explains the same thing thus, as if to say: Not only Damascus, but also all the neighbors, and those who migrated from Charran to dwell there, I will make captives. The Complutensian edition retains Eden, but reads corruptly Adam; or, as Villalpando in cap. XXVII of Ezekiel 23, reads Adam, because Eden was the place of Adam; for he himself was placed by God in Eden. Hence also the Syriac translator renders, in the house of Adon. Moreover the region and dominion of Damascus is not far from Mesopotamia, in which were Eden and the earthly paradise. Again, Damascus itself, the city and region, is pleasant and fertile: wherefore it also had its own Eden, a city or region, to which Amos here alludes. Whence concerning this Damascene Eden, Marinus in the Lexicon, and some others, think Ezekiel speaks in cap. XXVII, 23, and Isaiah in cap. XXXVII, 11. Amos therefore alludes to the Eden of paradise, and to Adam, whom some think was created by God in the Damascene field, from red earth, and thence called Adam. For Adam, or Edom, in Hebrew is the same as red or ruddy, concerning which I spoke in Genesis cap. II, 7, as if to say: Just as I expelled Adam on account of sins from the Eden of paradise, so I will expel the Damascenes on account of their crimes from their Eden, that is, from a place of pleasure. Others add that Abel was slain in Damascus by Cain, and thence the name was received: for Damascus in Hebrew is the same as drinking blood (says St. Jerome in cap. XXVII of Ezekiel), namely of Abel. Thus Sanchez. So even now God expels nations from their regions, and private persons from their rich dominions, and gardens, and delightful paradises on account of their crimes, especially those committed in those very places, as we have seen in Belgium. Finally the Arabic translator renders: And I will cut down the pride (haughtiness) from the strength (power) of it. Gaza is said in Hebrew to be עזה hazza, or Gaza (for Hebrew ain, because it is guttural, indeed pectoral, is often accustomed to be rendered by g, as is evident in Gomor, Gomorrah, Phegor, in which for g, in Hebrew there is ain), that is, strong from fortification. Thus St. Jerome and others. Pomponius Mela therefore errs, lib. I De Situ orbis, cap. XI, when he says that this city was given a Persian name, and is called Gaza, that is, treasury; for gaza in Persian signifies money and riches, because Cambyses, he says, when he invaded and plundered Egypt, brought the resources of war into Gaza. For in the time of Amos, indeed of Moses and Abraham, who long preceded Cambyses, this city was called Gaza, as is evident from Genesis cap. X, 19, and Deuteronomy cap. II, 23. That etymology of Gaza, therefore, which Mela brings forward, can be true of Gaza of Media (for this was neighboring to Persia), concerning which Ptolemy lib. VI, cap. II, or of Ethiopia, concerning which Ptolemy lib. IV, cap. VII, not of Palestine, as he himself has it. Gaza was afterwards called Gazara.
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7. AND I WILL SEND FIRE UPON THE WALL OF GAZA. — "Fire," that is, destruction and slaughter, or even fire properly so called. He threatens Gaza and the Philistines with destruction through Nebuchadnezzar. For he laid waste the Philistines as is evident from Jeremiah cap. XXV, 20, and cap. XXVII, vers. 4. See the things said in those places.
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11. CONCERNING THREE CRIMES OF EDOM. — He passes from the Tyrians to the Idumeans, and in them he condemns and punishes the same crime of persecution of the Jews. For this enmity began from Esau himself, who, because his birthright was taken from him by Jacob, pursued him with deadly hatred: whence it came to pass, as St. Jerome says, that the hatred of the brothers was preserved in their descendants; for they propagated it with their seed, not so much he himself as his descendants in posterity: which was so bitter and continuous that in Psalm 137:7; Numbers 20:18, and elsewhere, the Prophets complain bitterly of it. Moreover, how much this crime displeased God, he himself declares here, saying: "That he persecuted his brother with the sword (he alludes to Genesis 27:41, and more to Numbers 20:18, where the Idumeans armed prohibited the Israelites coming from Egypt to Chanaan from passing through), and violated his mercy;" the Zurich edition: "He corrupted the bowels of his compassion, by which namely he ought to have followed his brother, and to have pitied him in his affliction." The Septuagint, that he violated μήτραν, that is the womb, or the vulva of the mother (for the Hebrew רחם rechem signifies both vulva and mercy, as St. Jerome says) in the lands. For Jacob and Esau were twins, and from the same womb of Rebecca they came forth at the same time: whence being at variance with each other, they seem to have violated the womb of the mother, and the mother herself. Wherefore the Roman edition of the Septuagint has that he violated μητέρα, that is the mother; and Symmachus: That he violated his own bowels, so as to forget his kinship, and to harden the bowels of mercy, and not to know that he was a brother, and to despise the womb of Rebecca, which had brought forth twins in one birth, as St. Jerome says. And soon tropologically he says the Idumeans, that is the earthly and bloodthirsty, are the Jews, who persecuted the brothers, that is Christ, the Apostles and Christians. "For these violated mercy and the rights of nature, forgetting their mother Rebecca, which is interpreted patience, and she brought them forth together in Christ, and so long as they kill us, they wish to be burned in fire." Finally the Arabic version translates: And they made the anxious to hunger in their land, and they secretly snatched away the testimony owed to their souls. because he persecuted his brother Isaac, by the command of God cast out from the house of Abraham and disinherited: "Ishmael," says St. Augustine in book I On One Baptism, and it is found dist. 56, Can. Ishmael, "either was separated from the people of God, the handmaid mother Hagar did not harm; but fraternal discord." Pygmalion king of Tyre, because he killed Sichaeus his kinsman, so as to gain possession of his wealth, was the reproach of the world, of whom Virgil, book I of the Aeneid: they would provoke the idol with injuries; and when the idol was moved by no injury, he said: "Brothers, behold we are seven; if therefore you wish to remain together, so that we may gain the profit of souls, let this idol be to us as an example, lest, when anyone is injured, he become angry; lest, when pardon is asked of him, he glory or exalt himself: but if you do not wish it thus, let each one go where he wishes." Excellently St. Jerome, book I on Lamentations chapter 3: "He truly and not in part is perfect, who both in the desert endures the squalor of solitude, and in the monastery the infirmities of brothers with equal magnanimity." The concord therefore of brothers and sisters produces the sweetest harmony in the ears of God and men, and so concordant sisters are like the Muses. For on account of benevolence and love of sisterhood, the Muses are called as it were ὁμοῦ οὖσαι, that is always dwelling together, as Plutarch says in the place cited. and he kept his fury unto victory, that is, as St. Jerome reads, unto eternity; for in Hebrew לנצח lanetsach, that is unto victory, is the same as unto the end, as is evident in the inscription of Psalm 4, 5, 6, 8. The Complutensian edition reads εἰς μάχος that is unto contention, for εἰς νῖκαν, that is unto victory. Again for לעד laad, that is beyond, or unto the ages, as the Syrian translates; or unto eternity, the Septuagint and Arabic read לעד laed, that is unto testimony. Our translator excellently rendered עברתו, held; because to seize beyond his fury, is the same to the Hebrews as to keep and retain it, namely to seize from fury, to rage and lacerate the prey, or the enemy; or to seize fury beyond the bounds of humanity, and to rage inhumanely. Whence Marinus in the Lexicon translates: In that he lacerated in eternity with his fury. Finally the Hebrew אפו appo signifies both fury, as our translator renders it, and horror, as the Septuagint renders it; and עברתו ebra denotes both indignation, as our translator renders it, and impulse, as the Septuagint renders it. Thus St. Jerome. should be born, who would occupy the land; but, with heirs and inhabitants failing, they themselves would invade and occupy their land. Whence it follows: "To enlarge their borders." The same crime of avarice, and desire of enlarging their borders, Jeremiah objects to the Ammonites, cap. XLIX, 1: "Are not," says he, "the children of Israel? or is there no heir to him? Why therefore hath Melchom possessed Gad in inheritance: and his people dwelt in the cities thereof?" Thus Theodoret, Remigius, Hugo and Lyra, and St. Jerome, who holds that the Ammonites ripped up the pregnant women of Israel at that time when Saul reigned, namely when Naas king of Ammon laid waste Jabes Galaad, I Reg. XI; although there is no mention made there of the ripping up of pregnant women. Note: For pregnant women the Hebrew is הרות harot; which if you derive from הרה hara, that is, conceived, it signifies pregnant women; if from הר har, that is, mountain, it signifies mountains. Whence Arias, Vatable and Pagninus translate: Because they ripped up the mountains of Galaad, namely so that they might join the transmontane dominion of the Galadites to their own; but the Septuagint, the Chaldean, the Vulgate, the Zurich Bible and the others already cited translate, pregnant women. For this is the fourth enormous crime, on account of which the Ammonites are destined by God for destruction. But to divide mountains is not an enormous crime; but to divide, or rip up, pregnant women, as Azael king of Syria did to the Israelites with child, IV Reg. cap. XV, 16.
Machine translation from the Latin, not reviewed.
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Inscriptio 4, 4 « Verba Amos, qui fuit in pestoribus de Thecue, quae vidit super Israel in diebus Oziae regis Iuda et in. diebus Ieroboam [ilii Ioas regis Israel, ante duos annos terrae iiotus » ; — cf. Proleg. ; quae vidit non carnis oculis sed mentis intuitu (Hier.) ; « Deus quippe prophetis una cum revelationibus res manifestas et tantum non praesentes facit, ut videre sibi videantur sermones, antequam fiant, concurrente fortassis eventuum futurorum visu cum his quae Deus dixerit » (Cyr. sim. Rup.). Ceterum notum est, 2'^23 non solum verba, sed. res dicere ; super Israel !, ex parte scil. maiore facit denominationem, cum pleraque ad Israel spectent et luda non nisi obiter tangatur. Insuper quae de Iuda 1. LXX perperam : zip 'Ieoova x? ; reli ui testes omues rite legunt super Israel. dicuntur, apte propter Israel introducuntur (cf. 2, 4) et ipsa instaurationis annuntiatio (9, 41), qua tabernaculum David resuscitatum iri dicitur, intime quoque ad Israel pertinet, quia Israelitae, etsi a domo David recesserint, tamen aequo iure promissionum messianicarum sunt participes et in illa instauratione Deus utrumque populum sacra unione coniungere voluit (cf. Mich. 5, 3. Ier. 3, 18. Ez. 3, 19). — Rex theocraticus ex domo David legitima iuremerito nominatur, idque priore loco; nam solus ille pleno iure « sedet in throno regni Iahve super Israel » (cf. 4 Par. 28, 3; 29, 23- 2 Reg. 1, 26. 1 Par. 171, 29. 24). Cur etiam Ieroboam regis Irael mentio fiat, lege quae ad Os. 1, 1 adnotavi. Tempus accurate determinat ante duos annos terrae motus, quamvis nos quando is fuerit nesciamus. Ita vera vaticinia se edidisse ante eventum aequalibus in mentem revocat, et multa se praedixisse ostendit longo tempore antequam evenirent. Terrae motum autem commemorat, ut Ps. Ruf. adnotat, tamquam « indicem venturae calamitatis » praeeuntem ; terrae enim concussione Dei maiestas singulari ratione exhibetur; terrae concussione Dei legislatoris dignitas (cf. Ex. 19, 18. Iud. 5, 4. Ps. 61, 8), iudicis terror (cf. Mich. 4, 4. Hab. 3, 8. Ps. 96, 4 etc.) indicatur et cum statim a Ioele vaticinandi initium depromat, haud immerito censebimus, etiam illud Ioelis : « et movebuntur coeli et terra » (3, 16) illi terrae commotioni sacrum quendam horrorem addidisse, quasi figurae ac praeformationi venturae calamitatis et iudicii imminentis praesagio ; quare illam et Amos in libro suo recondit et ingens illius periculum et terrorem post plura saecula Zacharias denuo profert tamquam summae calamitatis symbolum (Zach. 14, 5). Vaticiniorum summam statim quasi titulum libri in medium profert (cf. Cyr.) :
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v. 2 « et dixit: Dominus de Sion rugiet et de lerusalem dabit vocem suam ; et luxerunt speciosa pastorum et exsiccatus est vertex Carmeli ». — Verba haec ex Ioele (3, 16) explicantur; postquam enim Ioel diem Domini et Dei iudicium clare indicavit, Dominum exhibet qui tamquam leo fortis ex sede throni sui contra oppugnatores et hostes insurgit eosque prosternit. Quare verba haec in contextu apud Ioelem propriam sedem facilemque habent explanationem, praesertim cum Sionis tamquam sedis throni et regni Dei ibidem saepius iam mentio inciderit (cf. Ioel 2, 32; 3, 1) ; unde Ioelis oraculum h. |. supponi vel potius ut notum et a Ioele explicatum eodem sensu afferri, omnino suadetur. Et sane iudiciorum Dei annuntiationem et aptissime et valde efficaciter depromit Amos ab oraculo iam noto, ut desiderantibus diem Domini, qui oracula edita propter diuturnitatem et moram impletionis spernunt (cf. 5, 18), illa iudicia nihilominus imminere et suo tempore fore complenda ipsis illis verbis indicet. Ita simul nexus qui adsit inter prophetas et vaticinia bene illustratur et munus propheticum etiam in eo situm esse demonstratur, ut norma Dei iam proposita denuo populo exhibeatur atque pro temporum conditione iterum atque iterum declaretur. — Ait igitur : Dominus qui in Sion, in templo hierosolymitano quasi in throno suo residet, brevi inde rugict et instar leonis in hostes suos idololatras exsiliet, gravis ultor iniuriae sibi illatae (cf. Hier. Lap. Tir. Men. Trochon). Hane Dei ultionem sentiet tota regio : agri campique et montes, regio meridionalis et septemtrionalis : campi pastorum et Carmeli cacumen. Simul enim cum homine terra affligitur et vastatione plectitur. Carmelus « mons est iuxta Ptolemaidem, quae prius vocabatur Acho ; mari imminens, in quo Elias propheta flexis genibus pluvias impetravit (3 Reg. 18) » (Hier.), pascuis, silvis et aquarum scaturiginibus abundans ; quare eius ezs?ccatio tremendi iudicii est index ; « hic mons proverbiali specie pro loco sumitur amoenitatis eximiae et cuius vastitate et luctu luctus significatur et vastitas totius provinciae. lta Hier. ad iMlud Is. 16, 10 « et auferetur laetitia et exsultatio de Carmelo » : idioma est Scripturarum, quod semper Carmelum montem opimum atque nemorosum... fertilitati et abundantiae. comparet ac per hoc significet omnem laetitiam ac fertilitatem de uberrimis quondam urbibus auferendam » (Sanct.). Non sine arte psychologica sacer vates antequam ipsis Israelitis iudicia, minas, reprehensionem peccatorum ingerit, populis extraneis et cognatis, qui sunt in circuitu Israel, punitionem Dei praedicit. Quam si Israelitae iuste iis fieri fatentur et si forte de illorum interitu gaudent, iam ex sua ipsorum de aliis sententia merito ipsi quoque plectuntur ; nam se illorum socios esse in peccatis patrandis cum negare non possint, quomodo se immunes fore a castigatione Dei censebunt ? Praeterea ex iis iudiciis, quae in hostes exercentur, plane discunt, quantopere ipsi cordi sint Deo et quantam eorum curam gerens iniurias ipsis illatas ulciscatur (cf. Theod. Theod. M. Lap.), discunt, Dominum esse Deum omnium, qui omnes suo tempore iusta afflictione puniat, postquam scelera illorum diu ac longanimiter pertulerit ( cf. Ps. Ruf.), sed simul ex gentium poena sibi magis timeant suamque maiorem fore arguant, si in perversitate permanserint, aliorumque exemplo ac castigatione ad salutarem resipiscentiam se ipsos exstimulent (Alb. Rib. Lap.). Hisce igitur de causis magno quodam artificio Amos oracula sua ab extraneorum punitione exorditur. Et primum septemtrionem versus minas intentat:
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v. 9 « Haec dicit Dominus : super tribus sceleribus Damasci et super quattuor non convertam eum, eo quod trituraverint in plaustris ferreis Galaad » ; — i. e. propter multa Syrorum scelera, quibus saepenumero ac diu peccarant, Deus jam non interitum avertet, verum urbem populumque quasi ruentem in praecipitium non convertet, non retinebit, non a via proclivi avertet ac reducet. In modo illo loquendi super tribus sceleribus et quattuor plerique aliquam multitudinem (uti alias in numero septenario) exprimi censent ( cf. Ephr.'Ps. Ruf. Cyr. Theod.), idque iure, quia eadem locutio saepius occurrit, quare de certo ac definito numero peccatorum fieri mentionem omnino improbabile est, nisi gratuito dixeris, omnes hostes eundem praecise numerum commississe, vel tria ! tibi finxeris ad libitum, quibus omnes fuerint impliciti. — Crimen illud quod trituraverint commissum est sub Hazael 4 Reg. 10, 32. 33 cf. 13, 1; 8, 12; i. e. captivi ex Galaad plaustris ferreis sunt crudelem in modum discissi atque dissecti, quod erat atrox mortis genus (cf. 2 Reg. 12, 91). Plaustra ita describit S. Hier.: « est autem genus plaustri, quod ro- Hebr. 333*ww: Nb plerique vertunt : non avertam id' scil. quod in subsequentibus mina- tis subter ferreis atque dentatis volvitur, ut excussis frumentis stipulam in areis conterat et in cibos iumentorum propter foeni sterilitatem paleas comminuat ». Quare crudelitatem Deus puniet : v 4 « et mittam ignem in domum Azael et devorabit domos Benadad
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v. 8 et conteram vectem Damasci et disperdam habitatorem de campo idoli et tenentem sceptrum de domo voluptetis et transferetur populus Syriae Cyrenen, dicit Dominus » ; — i. e. palatia regia, ad quae magnifice exstruenda plures reges operam insumpserant, igne destruentur, arx vel acropolis Damasci urbis principalis confracta hostium cedet potestati ; homines et plebeii et primates ex tota regione (sive in campis et vallibus habitent sive in palatiis voluptatum ac deliciarum plenis) misere vel interibunt vel in regionem Kir (hebr.) captivi et exsules abducentur: Notat Calm. : « esse non potest Kir Cvrenaica vel provincia Cyrenes Aegypto vicina... sermo est de regione Kir in Albania ad Cyrum amnem, qui in Caspium mare devolvitur » (cf. Schegg). Sed iuremerito dubitari potest, num Assyrii eo tempore usque in regiones caucasias imperio valuerint, quare alii regionem Mediae australis quam Kopf,» Ptolemaeus vocat, intelligunt ! (cf. Winer, s. v. kir; Ges.). Ea facta esse legimus 4 Reg. 16, 9: « ascendit rex Assyriorum in Damascum et vastavit eam et transtulit habitatores eius Cyrenen » (Kir). Benadad. nomen est complurium regum Damasci cf. 3 Reg. 13, 18. 90 ; 20, 4 et seq. 4 Reg. 6, 24; 8, 1; 13,3. Benadad 1I occisus est ab Hazael et post Hazael regnavit Benadad III filius eius in Syria; uterque feliciter pugnavit contra Israel ( & Reg. 6, 24; 13, 3). Utrum propheta intellexerit, forte frustra quaeritur; cum enim donos, palatia, aedificia magnifica dicat, probabile est, eum loqui de omnibus regibus Benadad simul, qui urbem regiam exornaverint palatiis. urbem et regionem Eden vocari (i. e. voluptatem) ob amoenitatem et delicias. Recentiores Eden quaerunt vel in hodierno vico Ehden prope Libanon, itinere diei unius distante a Baalbek (Heliopoli in Coelesvria), vel in hodierno vico Beit el Dschanne (Beit Jenn) (domus paradisi) in angusto saltu orientalis partis montis Hermon non ita procul a Damasco, vel in IIapaésícw, cuius meminit Ptolemaeus (V, 15, 20), nonlonge a Ribleh, ubi ruinae exstant hodie viculi Gusieh el Kadimeh (Jusieh) ; cf. Smith, Dictionary of the Bible ; R. Riess, Bibl. Geogr. ; Schenkel, Bibellex. I p. 423. Poterit sceptrufn intelligi insigne dignitatis et officii vel urbis praefecti vel iudicis. — Ceterum notum est regionem damascenam amoenitate longe praestare eamque esse celebratissimam. : Dein meridiem versus regna Philisthaeorum interitui iri devotum vaticinatur
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v. 6 « haec dicit Dominus : super tribus sceleribus Gazae et super quattuor non convertam eum, eo quod transtulerint captivitatem perfectam, ut concluderent eam in Idumaea » ; — eiusdem criminis accusat ac Ioel 3, 3 (Cyr.). Captivitas perfecta vel completa i. e. ut nullus remanserit captivorum, qui non sit traditus ! Idumaeis (Hier.), hostibus scil. acerrimis Israelitarum. Ad multa et varia crimina tamquam culmen accessit iniuria in Dei populum, cum captivos traderent acerbissimis eorum inimicis divexàndos (Sanct.). Qua occasione id factum sit, accurate definiri nequit; aliqui remittunt ad 2 Par. 91, 16. 1'1 (cf. Keil, Trochon). Sed iniuriam /Israelitis illatam hoc loco potius exspectaveris, uti v. 3. Declarat poenam v. "l « et mitiam ignem in murum Gazae et devorabit aedes eius ;
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v. 8 et disperdam habitatorem de Azoto et tenentem sceptrum de Ascalone et convertam manum meam super Accaron, et peribunt reliqui Philisthinorum, dicit Dominus Deus » ; — excepto Gath omnes urbes principales Philisthinorum enumerantur (cf. Ios. 13, 3); urbium excidium, regum et incolarum interitum hac enumeratione ita declarat, ut suam cuique urbi poenam propriam denuntiet et addat : si qui hanc effugerint, illos reliquos alia clade iri peremptum. Excidium scil. maximum minatur. Deus qui manu extenta reliquas urbes percutit, manum percutientem etiam super Accaron adducet. — Minae similes in eos proferuntur ab aliis cf. Is. 14, 28. Ier. 25, 20; 47, 2-'1. Soph. 2, 4. 5, varieque bello vexati sunt Philisthini (2 Par. 26, 6. 4 Reg. 18, 6). Deinde potestati illi minatur, quae in mari occidentali dominatur
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v. 9 « haec dicit Dominus : super tribus sceleribus Tyri et super quattuor non convertam eum, eo quod concluserint captivitatem perfectam 1n Idumaea et. non. sint recordati foederis fratrum » ;, — i. e. captivos ex populo Dei omnes, quotquot in eorum manus inciderunt, inimicis eorum acerrimis, Edomitis, tradiderunt (cf. Ioel 3, 3). Ita animum hostilem in Dei populum gesserunt, obliti foederis et amicitiae vinculi, ! quo olim sub Davide et Salomone cum illis erant coniuncti (cf. 2 Reg. 5,11. 3 Reg. 5, 12; 9, 11. Hier. Theod. Theod. M. Alb.). Quare
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v. 10 « et mittam. ignem in. murum Tyri et devorabit aedes eius » ; — cf. Is. 93, Ex tribubus cognatis primum Edomitas percellit vates perpetuis inimiciuis atque odiis in populum Dei flagrantes
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v. 14 « Haec dicit Dominus : super tribus sceleribus Edom et super quattuornon convertam eum, eo quod persecutus sit in gladio fratrem suum et violaverit m Isericordiam eius et tenuerit ultra. furorem suum et indignationem suam servaverit usque tn finem»; — infensos Edomitarum animos ita describit vates, ut haud obscure alludat ad persecutionem Iacobo ab Esau intentam et odium illud et dissidium fraternum (Gen. 2, 44 — cf. Hier. Cyr. Theod. Theod. M. Rup. Alb. Sanct. Lap. Calm.) ; multa sunt odii documenta, quae Edomitae ediderunt cf. Num. 20, 45; 91, 4. Iud. 11, 171. 3 Reg. 414, 14. 4 Reg. 8, 20. Ioel 3, 19 ; violavit misericordiam ei scil. debitam (Men. Sa, Tir.) utpote tribui cognatae — vel « sic universos germanitatis naturales occlusos tenuit affectus, ut crudelior contra illum nulla esset ex cunctis gentibus et ceterarum gentium roboraret manus, persecutionis et odii primus auctor et praevius » (Rup.) — violavit misericordiam, qua naturali vinculo ei adstrictus fuerat (Alb.) vel, ut alii hebr. explicant : corrupit, suppressit viscera miserationis suae, omnem quasi affectum humanum abiecit et exuit ? (cf. apud Lap. Hitz. Keil), neque unquam ab innato illo odio cessarunt Edomitae ; hebr. e: diripit (dilacerat) semper furor eius ; i. e. « odium monstrat antiquum, quod nunquam sibi pace iuncti sunt. Unde poenam pro sceleribus comminatur » (Hier.)
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v. 19 «mittam. ignem in. Theman et devorabit aedes Bosrae »; « Idumaeorum regio est et vergit ad australem plagam » (S. Her.); eiusdem nominis urbem exstitisse testis est idem S. Hier. : « sed et usque hodie est villa nomine Theman, distans ab urbe Petra quinque millibus » (Onomast. — idem Eusebius Onom. s. v. Ozzy). Verum recentiorum plerique regionem Idumaeae, nullibi urbem in libris sacris designari censent (cf. Winer s. v. Hitz. Keil). Sed certe urbs est atque una ex principalioribus Idumaeae JBosra, quae urbs tamen non cum multis in Auranitide, in Bostra Arabiae Romanorum quaeri debet (cf. Ges. Thes. s. v.), sed in parte meridionali a mari mortuo, ubi hodiedum viculus est el Buseireh ruinis antiquae magnitudinis insignis ( cf. Winer s. v. Keil, Schegg, Trochon, Schenkel, Bibellexicon s. v.). De poena cf.Ier. 49, 11. Ez. 23, 19 - 44 et Abdiae vaticinium. Post populum ex Esau posteris oriundum sacer vates se convertit ad tribus et gentes ex Loth cum Abraham cognatione Israelitis propinquas : Ammon et Moab. Incipit a parte septemtrionali v.13 « haec dicit Dominus : super tribus sceleribus filiorum Ammon et super quattuor non convertam eum, eo quod. dissecuerit praegnantes Galaad ad. dilatandum terminum suum » ; — erat Galaad regio fertilis et praeclara, pascuis abundans (cf. Cant. 4, 1; 6, 4. Ier. 50, 19; 8, 22; 46, 11. Num. 32, 1); quare non mirum est ÀAmmonitas bello cum omni ferocitatis et crudelitatis genere gesto campos illos usurpare voluisse et praeter alios ipsos etiam infantes nondum natos trucidasse, quo magis incolas Israelitas interimerent et perderent et futuros iniuriae ultores in ipso vitae limine exstirparent. Quando id crimen commiserint, incertum est ; forte terram occupare tentarunt eo tempore, quo Hazael Syrus Israelitis bellum inferebat, uti simile quid iam conati erant tempore Iephte (Iud. 11, 12 seq.) et postmodum iterato (cf. ler. 49, 1. Soph. 2, 8). De crudelitate in praegnantes cf. 4 Reg. 8, 12. Poenam annuntiat bellico tumultu ac terrore futuram ;
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v. 44 « et succendam ignei in muro Rabba, et devorabit aedes eius in ululatu in die belli et in turbine in die commotionis ;
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v. 48 et ibit Melchom in captivitatem, ipse et princtpes cius simul, dicit. Dominus » ; — Rabba 1. e. magna scil. urbs, generatim Rabbath filiorum Ammon urbs erat principalis Ammonitarum (cf. Deut. 3, 11. Ios. 13, 93. 2 Reg. 11,1; 12, 206. 4 Par. 20, 1) ; minae augentur horrore et clamore bellico ; vastatio imagine turbinis, tempestatis vehementissimae, qua omnia concutiuntur et subvertuntur, non sine emphaosi effertur ; urbe destructa numen et principes in captivitatem abductum iri, Ammonitas proinde et cultu proprio et regimine privatum et tamquam populum destructum iri clare vaticinatur (cf. ler. 25, 21 ; 49, 1-6. Ez. 21, 28-32 ; 25, 2-1. Soph. 9, 8. 9). Melchom vel Milcom, Malcom numen est praecipuum Ammonitarum (cf. 3 Reg. 11, 5. 33; 4 Reg. 23, 43. Ier. 49, 1. 3) probabiliter idem ac Moloch !. Rite h. l. cum vulg. legi Melchom neque textum mas. rex eorum cum LXX et Chald. esse sequendum, testis antiquissimus est ipse Ieremias 49, 3, qui vaticinia prisca more suo repetens et innovans scribit : « quoniam Melchom in transmigrationem ducetur, sacerdotes eius ct principes eius simul » ; item Malchom h. l. exprimunt Aq. Sym. Syrus etex graecis Theod. Theod. M. Atque apte quidem numinis mentio infertur ?. Gentes enim sua facinora diis attribuebant, quare si populus victor exstitit, numen vicisse dicebatur, si victus, ipsum numen esse victum, ab altiore superatum et in captivitatem abductum (cf. Jud. 11, 24. Is. 46, 1. 2. Ier. 48, 1. 13). Neque obstat, quod principes eius et non sacerdotes eius nominentur ( — utrumque nomen. et LXX h. l. Syrusque habent et Ier. 49, 3—); nam cum numen tamquam parens ct dominus totius gentis consideretur et institutionibus omnibus et civilibus et religiosis praesideat, iure principes et magistratus principes numinis dicuntur, quippe qui numinis nomine, auctoritate res et causam numinis ipsi quoque administrent. Ita Dominus loquitur de populo so, de sanctificatis suis, de principibus sanctis etc. (cf. Is. 13, 3; 43, 928) et solium regis luda vocatur solium Domini (4 Par. 29, 93. 98, 4. 5). Demum Moabitae percelluntur 2, 4 « haec dicit Dominus : super tribus sceleribus Moab et super quattuor non convertam eum, eo quod incenderit ossa regis Idumaeae usque ad. cinerem » ; — sepuleri profanatio reprehenditur, qua ad ultionem capiendam ipsis ossibus concrematione et destructione opprobrium intulerint (cf. 4 Reg. 23, 16. Ier. 8, 1.2). De hoc autem Moabitarum facinore nihil notum est. Verum tale fuisse debet, quod licet in regem Idumaeae exercitum sit, tamen in opprobrium Israelitarum et contemptum redundaret. Nam in omnibus istis reprehensionibus crimen in Israelitas profertur, quare interpretes plerique? id etiam hoc loco fieri concludunt. Ita iam v. g. S. Cyr. : «quid igitur scelus hoc? odium et inhumanitas et indomita feritas contra eos qui sunt 1. Uti vulg. saepius hebr. nibo, n5 reddit. Alii distinguunt (cf. Movers, Phoen. I p. 334) ; alii negant ullam inter Moloch et Melchom distinctionem (cf. Winer s. v. Milcom ; Schenkel, Bibellexicon s. v. Moloch). 2. Quare Trochon immerito censet esse recedendum^a vulg. cim Keil aliisque. . ex Israel ; combusta enim esse memorati regis ossa non ob aliud quispiam affirmarit, quam ob Israelitas tantum. Notam historiam paucis narrabo... — rem summatim refert ex 4 Reg. 3, '1seq. —. Irati igitur Moabitae Israelitis, a quibus olim victi essent, Edom rege ipsis opem ferente, quoniam laedere iam mortuos nequibant, alia ratione peccarunt in reliquias, igne eas absumentes et neque ossibus parcentes atque ita Israelitis funditus a se deletis etiam ipsorum aliquando socium adiecerunt ». Ad idem factum ab Hebraeis id referri tradit S. Hier. : « tradunt Hebraei, ossa regis Idumaeae iam sepulti, qui cum Ioram rege Israel et Iosaphat rege Iuda ascenderat adversum Moab, in ultionem doloris a Moabitis postea convulsa atque succensa », et id plerique sequuntur (cf. Sa, Rib. Sanct. Lap. Men. Keil, Trochon ). Consueto modo poena declaratur
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… silver and the precious vessels of the Temple (II Kings 14, 13-14). King Azariah (782) attends to the restoration of the walls, furnishing with towers "the corner gate and the valley gate" (II Chron. 26, 9), but an earthquake once again devastates J. (Am. 1, 1; Zech. 14, 15) and the desolation would have been complete had not Jotham (738) attended to the fortifications, already begun by his father, especially in the region of Ophel (II Kings …
… The neghebh was ceded to Simeon (Josh. 19:2-7). A fertile territory, famous for its vineyards (Num. 13:13, 25; Song 1:13; II Chron. 26:10; cf. Gen. 49:11 ff.), for its extensive pastures and numerous flocks (I Sam. 25:2; Am. 1:1 ff.). …
Thecua (Heb. Tēqōā; Septuagint Θεκώ and Θεκούς)
… Tēqōā; Septuagint Θεκώ and Θεκούς). - A city of Palestine in the tribe of Judah (Josh. 16:60 Gk.; 1 Chron. 2:24; 4:5) situated toward the desert of Engedi (2 Chron. 20:20), fortified by Rehoboam (ibid. 11:6), birthplace of the prophet Amos (Am. 1:1). Repopulated after the exile, it collaborated in the restoration of the walls of Jerusalem (Neh. 3:5, 27). In the desert of T. near the spring of Asphar (Hirbet ez-Zafan), Jonathan …
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… persecuted (Am. 9:2-3) and with its slopes clothed in rich vegetation, the C. is often recalled in Sacred Scripture as a symbol of grace and prosperity for its fruitfulness, or as a symbol of desolation for its deforestation (Is. 33:9; Jer. 4:26; 50:19; Am. 1:2).
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Hazael (Hebrew: Ḥāzā'ēl and Ḥāzā'ēl, «God sees»; Akkadian: Ḥaza'ilu; Septuagint: A'āyā)
… He had already defended Ramoth-gilead, wounding Joram (842; 2 Kings 8:28 ff.; 9:14 ff.); now, while Jehu reigned, he defeated the Israelites everywhere, occupied all of Transjordan as far as the Arnon (2 Kings 10:32 ff.; Am. 1:3 ff.); he dominated Israel: he left Jehoahaz a garrison of 10,000 foot soldiers, 50 horsemen and 10 chariots (2 Kings 13:3-22). In the south, he took Gath (798), attacked Jerusalem and …
… for this alliance with the Assyrians: he not only harassed the kingdom of Samaria with continual raids, but also tore from it all the country beyond the Jordan, and left for a long time a terrible memory of his wartime atrocities (cf. II Kings 8:12; Am. 1:3). J. died after 28 years of reign, leaving the country drained of strength and with a third of it occupied by the Syrians.
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1) a region on the Euphrates, east of Aleppo (II Kings 19:12; Is. 37:12; Ez. 27:23; Am. 1:5): it is the Bīt-Adini of the Assyrian monuments; 2) a Levite descended from Gershon, from the time of King Hezekiah (II Chron. 29:12; 31:15).
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… 8, 26; 12, 4; Ezek. 24, 2; in a special way Jer. 36) and to set forth only what God wills (Deut. 18, 15-22; Jer. 23, 16; 20, 7-9, 15, 19; 14, 14; Ezek. 13, 3-17; Mic. 3, 5-8; Zech. 7, 12; cf. II Sam. 7, 1 ff.), declares divine (Hos. 4, 1; Joel 1, 1; Am. 1, 6, 9, 11, 13; 2, 1 etc.; Obad. 1; Jon. 1, 1; 3, 1; Mic. 1, 1; 3, 5; 6, 1; Nah. 1, 12; Zeph. 1, 1; Hag. 1, 1; 2, 1, 11, 21; Zech. 1, 1; 7, 1 ff.) what he has written; reports visions, …
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Accaron (Hebrew Egrān; Assyrian Amqarrāna)
The Prophets name A. together with Gaza, Ashkelon and Ashdod, foretelling its ruin (Am. 1:8; Jer. 25:20; Zeph. 2:4; Zech. 9:5-7). In 147 Alexander Balas, king of Syria, gave A. with its district to Jonathan Maccabeus (I Macc. 10:89).
1:9
II. SLAVERY IN THE BIBLE. - Among the ancient Hebrews, as among other peoples, prisoners of war fed the slave market in a particular way (I Sam. 30:3; Am. 1:9; Ez. 27:13; I Mach. 3:41). Moreover, all the children of a slave were considered the property of the master (Ex. 21:4). An Israelite could not be sold as a slave to foreigners; indeed, …
Tyre (Heb.-Phoenician Şor, Şor; cf. Şor « fortress »; Gr. Τύρος; Mod. Şūr)
trade of slaves, which unfortunately were not lacking among the Phoenician categories of export (Am. 1:9-10; Joel 4:4-5); prophetic judgment on the mournful end of the proud city (Is. 23; Ez. 26-28). Ezekiel gives a splendid description of the magnificence of T., of its commerce, of …
1:12
… Bošrah) in Arabia Petraea (Gen. 36:33; 1 Chron. 1:44; Amos 1:12), perhaps the present-day el-Bušejreh, south-southeast of the Dead Sea. It sometimes stands for Edom (Jer. 49:13, 22; cf. Isa. 34:6; 63:1), of which it also takes on the meaning of …
… In the era of the kings of Judah the existence of an eastern E. is certain, which comprised the stretch between the Wādi el-Ḥesā and the Gulf of 'Aqabah with the slopes of Gebal (Eusebius and St. Jerome consider Gebalene = Idumea) and of Sera; Bosra (v.) was the capital (Am. 1, 12; Is. 34, 6; 63, 1; Jer. 49, 13, 22); Jer. and Obad. in their invectives against E. allude to the holes of Petra (Sela) and the eagles' nests, which formed its jagged crests. …
1:13
… They boasted of their fertile valleys (Jer. 49:4). But they were idolaters and were distinguished for their cruelty (Am. 1:13-15). Their religion centered on the cult, exercised by influential priests (Jer. 49:3), of the national god Milcom, whose image at Rabbāh was covered with gold and gems (1 Chron. 20:2 [Septuagint
Douay-Rheims (Challoner) · Vulgata Clementina · original Douay-Rheims (Douay 1609-10), transcription by EEBO-TCP (CC0) · La Sacra Bibbia, tradotta dalla Volgata da Antonio Martini (1769-1781) (LaParola (laparola.net), Martini OSIS text, Public domain (LaParola's electronic edition marks it 'Dominio pubblico')). Public domain.