Of old it was said, the Chrysorrhoas (the Barada) is nearly expended in artificial channels.: Damascus is fertile through drinking up the Chrysorrhoas by irrigation. Fourteen names of its canals are still given; and while it has been common to select 7 or 8 chief canals, the whole have been counted up even to 70. Change), You are commenting using your Facebook account. You shall do likewise with your vineyard, and with your olive orchard.Leviticus 19:23-25 When you come into the land and plant any kind of tree for food, then you shall regard its fruit as forbidden. God also said He will cut off the inhabitant from the valley of Aven. W The brief notice, that through Naaman the Lord gave deliverance to Syria 2 Kings 5:1, probably refers to some signal check which Assyria received through him. It shall be for the sojourner, the fatherless, and the widow, that theLordyour God may bless you in all the work of your hands., Deuteronomy 22:9 You shall not sow your vineyard with two kinds of seed, lest the whole yield be forfeited, the crop that you have sown and the yield of the vineyard.Deuteronomy 28:1-68 And if you faithfully obey the voice of theLordyour God, being careful to do all his commandments that I command you today, theLordyour God will set you high above all the nations of the earth. Farming takes time. The expression one who holds the scepter is a figurative way of talking about someone who occupies a royal position. The waters of the Fijeh were carried by a great aqueduct tunnelled through the side of the perpendicular cliff. And as he sowed, some seeds fell along the path, and the birds came and devoured them. And you shall not strip your vineyard bare, neither shall you gather the fallen grapes of your vineyard. For we are Gods fellow workers. Benhadad and Hazael encouraged only marauding expeditions against Israel during the 14 years of Ahaziah and Jehoram. In the visitations of others, it was to read its own; and that, the more, the nearer God was to them. The course of the prophecy convicted them, as the things written in Holy Scripture for our ensamples convict Christians. Turn away . The identification of the sin becomes the key element of the oracle itself with its subsequent consequence. We are encouraged to Work Hard and keep ourselves busy. And this is the manner of the release: every creditor shall release what he has lent to his neighbor. He who plants and he who waters are one, and each will receive his wages according to his labor. Because they have threshed Gilead with threshing instruments of iron - The instrument, Jerome relates here, was a sort of wain, rolling on iron wheels beneath, set with teeth; so that it both threshed out the grain and bruised the straw and cut it in pieces, as food for the cattle, for lack of hay. A similar instrument, called by nearly the same name, is still in use in Syria and Egypt. It includes: Complete but concise outlines of every Old Testament book A . If God is for us, who can be against us? Mail (will not be published) __('(required)'). Proverbs 12:11 Whoever works his land will have plenty of bread, but he who follows worthless pursuits lacks sense.Proverbs 28:19 Whoever works his land will have plenty of bread, but he who follows worthless pursuits will have plenty of poverty.Deuteronomy 28:12 The LORD will open to you his good treasury, the heavens, to give the rain to your land in its season and to bless all the work of your hands. Thus saith the LORD; For three transgressions of Damascus, and for four, I will not turn away. And he humbled you and let you hunger and fed you with manna, which you did not know, nor did your fathers know, that he might make you know that man does not live by bread alone, but man lives by every word that comes from the mouth of theLord. 4 So I will send a fire on the house of Hazael, and it shall devour the strongholds of Ben-hadad. Here the LORD said He would break the bar to allow Damascuss enemies to enter. And you shall remember the whole way that theLordyour God has led you these forty years in the wilderness, that he might humble you, testing you to know what was in your heart, whether you would keep his commandments or not. N Amos used the imagery of threshing to convey the damage wrought by Damascus upon the inhabitants of Gilead. The punishment is first denounced upon their enemies, and that, for their sins, directly or indirectly, against themselves, and God in them. Matthew 13:18 Hear then the parable of the sower:Ruth 2:17 So she gleaned in the field until evening. Those who sow in tears shall reap with shouts of joy! American Standard Version Thus saith Jehovah: For three transgressions of Damascus, yea, for four, I will not turn away the punishment thereof; because they have threshed Gilead with threshing instruments of iron. Change but the name, the tale is told of thee, was a pagan saying which has almost passed into a proverb. Philistia removed Judeans who lived in the lush farmland of the Judean foothills to the desert regions of Edom (cf. even for four in chapters 12? perhaps more (cf. They enslaved local populationsprobably those located in the lowlands or Shephelah of Judah among others. 1:1). He who plants and he who waters are one, and each will receive his wages according to his labor. As good people, by the grace of God, do, through each act done by aid of that grace, gain an addition to their everlasting reward, so the wicked, by each added sin, add to their damnation. Whom hate devoured, and fraud, hard pressing on, And so the ancient oracle quoted by Pausanias Achaic., lib. The work is never done. Meonothai fathered Ophrah; and Seraiah fathered Joab, the father of Ge-harashim, so-called because they were craftsmen. Literally, the text says they shut up the whole into captivity. The Philistines assaulted surrounding communities. , Deuteronomy 11:1-32 You shall therefore love theLordyour God and keep his charge, his statutes, his rules, and his commandments always. Future Assyrian campaigns will do just that in the 740s-720s BCE. It was on the route by which Abraham himself came at Gods command from Haran (Charrae of the Greeks) whether over Tiphsaeh (the passage, Thapsacus) or anymore northern passage over the Euphrates. And he said: The Lord roars from Zion and utters his voice from Jerusalem; the pastures of the shepherds mourn, and the top of Carmel withers. Thus says the Lord: For three transgressions of Damascus, and for four, I will not revoke the punishment, because they have threshed Gilead with threshing sledges of iron. Sin in full bloom. The word, yea, denotes, that the seventh is some heavier trouble, beyond all the rest, which would seem likely to break endurance. These things - Job says, worketh God twice and thrice with man, to bring back his soul from the pit Job 33:29. So each individual sinner, who dies impenitent, will be punished for all which, in his whole life, he did or became, contrary to the law of God. If this promise was fulfilled, Ramoth-Gilead must have been lost to Syria at an earlier period, since, three years afterward, Ahab perished in an attempt, by aid of Jehoshaphat, against the counsels of God, to recover it 2 Kings 7:6. Am). It was at that time probably a subordinate power, whether on the ground of the personal eminence of Hadadezer king of Zobah, or any other. Chedorlaomer and the four kings with him, doubtless, came that way, since the first whom they smote were at Ashteroth Karnaim Genesis 14:5-6 in Jaulan or Gaulonitis, and thence they swept on southward, along the west side of Jordan, smiting, as they went, first the Zuzim, (probably the same as the Zamzummim Deuteronomy 2:2 O) in Ammonitis; then the Emim in the plain of Kiriathaim in Moab Genesis 14:15. We need only look at the history of nations, including the United States, to know that these kinds of atrocities have happened over and over. And God said, Let there be light, and there was light. Here in Amos, we see that the people of Damascus rebelled against the LORD because they threshed Gilead with implements of sharp iron. The city of Damascus was called under judgment because that nation threshed Gilead with implements of iron (Amos 1:3) or behaved with unnecessary cruelty against a conquered people. You shall not let your cattle breed with a different kind. Kimchi thinks that this respects four particular seasons, in which Damascus, or the Syrians, evilly treated and distressed the people of Israel; first in the times of Baasha; then in the times of Ahab; a third time in the days of Jehoahaz the son of Jehu; and the fourth in the times of Ahaz; and then they were punished for them all: because they have threshed Gilead with threshing instruments of iron; that is. . These, registered by name, came in the days of Hezekiah, king of Judah, and destroyed their tents and the Meunites who were found there, and marked them for destruction to this day, and settled in their place, because there was pasture there for their flocks., Deuteronomy 8:1-20 The whole commandment that I command you today you shall be careful to do, that you may live and multiply, and go in and possess the land that theLordswore to give to your fathers. Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers, Keil and Delitzsch Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament. Its whole plain was intersected with canals, and tunneled below. By Gods help they were twice defeated; the second time, when they directly challenged the power of God 1 Kings 20:22-25, 1 Kings 20:28, so signally that, had not Ahab been flattered by the appeal to his mercy 1 Kings 20:31-32, Syria would no more have been in a condition to oppress Israel. Israel, having lost the help of Judah, became the easier prey. And God saw that it was good. 5 I will break the gate bars of Damascus, and cut off the inhabitants from the Valley of Aven, 3. Nevertheless, among those that chew the cud or part the hoof, you shall not eat these: The camel, because it chews the cud but does not part the hoof, is unclean to you. They journeyed to the entrance of Gedor, to the east side of the valley, to seek pasture for their flocks, where they found rich, good pasture, and the land was very broad, quiet, and peaceful, for the former inhabitants there belonged to Ham. As a result of God breaking the gate bar of Damascus, the people of Aram would go exiled to Kir. Hazael extended his conquests to Gath 2 Kings 12:17, intending probably to open a connecting line with Egypt. because they have threshed m Gilead . You shall not plow with an ox and a donkey together. I will not turn away the punishment thereof. Then in the third year sow and reap and plant vineyards, and eat their fruit.Matthew 13:1-58 That same day Jesus went out of the house and sat beside the sea. A threshing sledge was made of wooden boards embedded with sharp stones or iron teeth. 12:19; 2 Kgs. Benhadad promised to restore the cities which his father had taken from Israel, and to make an Israel-quarter in Damascus 1 Kings 20:34. With a small company of men he defeated a large army of Judah 2 Chronicles 24:23-24. Extemplo Aeneae solvuntur frigore membra: Ingemit; et, duplicis tendens ad sidera palmas, Talia voce refert: O terque quaterque beatif, Queis ante ora patrum Trojae sub moenibus altis, "Struck with unusual fright, the Trojan chief. nothing big cus i Still hate to write. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site. Others believe the threshing is a metaphor for Israels defeat at the hands of Syria (cf. Therefore pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest.Leviticus 11:1-47 And theLordspoke to Moses and Aaron, saying to them, Speak to the people of Israel, saying, These are the living things that you may eat among all the animals that are on the earth. Then our mouth was filled with laughter, and our tongue with shouts of joy; then they said among the nations, TheLordhas done great things for them. TheLordhas done great things for us; we are glad. 2 Chronicles 21:16-17)and removed them to Edom (which is located southeast of Judah). Chapter Parallel. Amos 1:3 - Thus says the Lord: "For three transgressions of Damascus, and for four, I will not revoke the punishment, because they have threshed Gilead with threshing sledges of iron." Leviticus 19:9-10 - " When you reap the harvest of your land, you shall not reap your field right up to its edge, neither shall you gather the . Joel 3:4-8; Ezekiel 27:13). The moral majesty of a king is obviously greater than the rest. Likewise, patience is a needed virtue for life. Damascus (Syria, also called Aram) threshed Gilead. Why Did God Use Adams Rib to Create Eve? If Amoss preaching bears witness to his insistence that nations need to acknowledge their sin, should not our preaching do the same? VERSION, NIV Copyright 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica. Deuteronomy 4:24 says that God is a consuming fire. f tribe of Manasseh returned to go into the country of Gilead, to the land of their possessions Joshua 22:9. Again, There be three things which go well; yea, four are comely in going Proverbs 30:29-31. And behold, your sheaves gathered around it and bowed down to my sheaf.1 Kings 5:11 While Solomon gave Hiram 20,000 cors of wheat as food for his household, and 20,000 cors of beaten oil. The name of his servant Eliezer my God is help, implies that at this time too the servant was a worshiper of the One God. They are a good reminder of what is required from us every day of our own lives. Only one sin is identified even though many others are presumed (three, even four). The authority of Aram will end here as well. with threshing sledges of iron. 4 n So I will send a fire upon the house of o Hazael, and it shall devour the strongholds of o Ben-hadad. 5 I will break down the gate of Damascus; I will destroy the king who is in the Valley of Avenand the . For three transgressions of Damascus, and for four. All time was measured by seven. All rights reserved. They cover an area at last 25 (or 30) miles in circuit, and make the environs an earthly Paradise. Whence the Arabs said, If there is a garden of Eden on earth, it is Damascus; and if in heaven, Damascus is like it on earth. But this its beauty was also its strength. 2. Amos 1:3 - Thus says the Lord: "For three transgressions of Damascus, and for four, I will not revoke the punishment, because they have threshed Gilead with threshing sledges of iron." Leviticus 19:9-10 - " When you reap the harvest of your land, you shall not reap your field right up to its edge, neither shall you gather the . Amos condemns raiding communities and capturing those populations in order to sell them in the international slave trade. because they have threshed Gilead with threshing sledges of iron. You shall not sow your field or prune your vineyard. And consider today (since I am not speaking to your children who have not known or seen it), consider the discipline of theLordyour God, his greatness, his mighty hand and his outstretched arm, his signs and his deeds that he did in Egypt to Pharaoh the king of Egypt and to all his land, and what he did to the army of Egypt, to their horses and to their chariots, how he made the water of the Red Sea flow over them as they pursued after you, and how theLordhas destroyed them to this day, and what he did to you in the wilderness, until you came to this place, , 1 Chronicles 4:38-41 These mentioned by name were princes in their clans, and their fathers houses increased greatly. The vats will overflow with new wine and olive oil.". You shall leave them for the poor and for the sojourner: I am theLordyour God., Genesis 26:12 And Isaac sowed in that land and reaped in the same year a hundredfold. In like way Joshua relates, that the children of Reuben and the children of Gad and the ha! So I will send a fire upon the house of Hazael, and it shall devour the strongholds of Ben-hadad. Three years it shall be forbidden to you; it must not be eaten. His mothers name was Zibiah of Beersheba. And God saw that the light was good. Here, Damascus represents the entire nation of Aram (or Syria). 1:93. Its native historian admits that the Damascenes were, in the time of David, and continued to be, the aggressors, while he veils over their repeated defeats, and represents their kings, as having reigned successively from father to son, for ten generations, a thing unknown probably in any monarchy. See how the farmer waits for the precious fruit of the earth, being patient about it, until it receives the early and the late rains.Deuteronomy 11:13-15 And if you will indeed obey my commandments that I command you today, to love theLordyour God, and to serve him with all your heart and with all your soul, he will give the rain for your land in its season, the early rain and the later rain, that you may gather in your grain and your wine and your oil. : A native, Adad, having gained great power, became king of Damascus and the rest of Syria, except Phoenicia. As the sledge was pulled over the threshing floor the stones or iron teeth would separate the grain from the stalks. Holman Old Testament Commentary: Hosea, Joel, Amos, Obadiah, Jonah, Micah by Trent Butler. Chelub, the brother of Shuhah, fathered Mehir, who fathered Eshton. Amos specifically notes one defining cultural sin. Of a foreigner you may exact it, but whatever of yours is with your brother your hand shall release. vii., c. 6: ; "Those men shall be thrice and four times happy.". Benhadad was, according to Assyrian inscriptions defeated thrice, Hazael twice, by Shalmanubar king of Assyria. The stream thus collected is led off to a lower level, where it comes to the surface. And he gathered the priests and the Levites and said to them, Go out to the cities of Judah and gather from all Israel money to repair the house of your God from year to year, and see that you act quickly. But the Levites did not act quickly. The city named Damascus was the capital of the nation of Aram during the 10th through 8th centuries BC. Randall. These orchards are a most exceeding defense; for from the density of the trees and the narrowness of the ways, it seemed difficult and almost impossible to approach the city on that side. Even to this day it is said, The true defense of Damascus consists in its gardens, which, forming a forest of fruit-trees and a labyrinth of hedges, walls and ditches, for more than 7 leagues in circumference, would present no small impediment to a Mussulman enemy.. At the time of our era, the name of Abraham was still held in honor in the country of Damascus; a village was named from him Abrahams dwelling; and a native historian Nicolas said, that he reigned in Damascus on his way from the country beyond Babylon to Canaan. Of the situation of this place, and the delightfulness of it; see Gill on Jeremiah 49:25; and of its founder, and the signification of its name; see Gill on Acts 9:2; to which may be added, that though Justin says it had its name from Damascus, a king of it before Abraham and Israel, whom he also makes kings of it; and Josephus would have Uz the son of Aram the founder of it, to which Bochart agrees; yet the Arabic writers ascribe the building of it to others; for the Arabs have a tradition, as Schultens says, that there were Canaanites anciently in Syria; for they talk of Dimashc the son of Canaan, who built the famous city of Damascus, and so it should seem to be called after his name; and Abulpharagius says, that Murkus or Murphus, as others call him, king of Palestine, built the city of Damascus twenty years before the birth of Abraham: from this place many things have their names, which continue with us to this day, as the "damask" rose, and the "damascene" plum, transplanted from the gardens that were about it, for which it was famous; and very probably the invention of the silk and linen called "damasks" owes its rise from hence. The difference is that Amos adds a further comment on the transgression: they did not remember the covenant of brotherhood.. Benhadad at once broke his league with Baasha at the request of Asa in his later mistrustful days 1 Chronicles 16:2-7, and turned against Baasha (1 Chronicles 16:2-7 and 1 Kings 15:20). And its never done for us. Although God delegated authority to human governments to execute justice (Romans 13:4), He is still the ultimate judge. This is Judahs traditional enemy on its southwest border. I will break the gate-bar of Damascus, and cut off the inhabitants from . All these nations fall under the divine judgment because each has committed offenses against the holy God. Thus said the LORD; For three transgressions of Damascus, and for four, I will not turn away the punishment thereof; because they have threshed Gilead with threshing instruments of iron: Amos 1:6,9,11,13 Thus saith the LORD; For three transgressions of Gaza, and for four, I will not turn away the punishment thereof; because they carried away captive the whole captivity, to deliver them up to Edom: , Amos 2:1,4,6 Thus saith the LORD; For three transgressions of Moab, and for four, I will not turn away the punishment thereof; because he burned the bones of the king of Edom into lime: . Its wealth, as a great emporium of transit-commerce, (as it is now) furnished it with sinews for war. When the Jews killed the Son, there, came on them all the righteous bloodshed upon the earth, from the blood of righteous Abel unto the blood of Zacharias, son of Barachias Matthew 23:35-36; Luke 11:50-51. Genesis 1:11 says, Then God said, Let the land produce vegetation:seed-bearing plants and trees on the land that bear fruit with seed in it, according to their various kinds. And it was so. The threshing sledge is also an allegory. Many factors can control the time it takes for the crop to ripen. Amos 1:6,9-2:16 Thus saith the LORD; For three transgressions of Gaza, and for four, I will not turn away the punishment thereof; because they carried away captive the whole captivity, to deliver them up to Edom: . I Throughout that whole beautiful tract, including 2 12 degrees of latitude, Hazael had carried on his war of extermination into every peaceful village and home, sparing neither the living nor the unborn.