The prophet threatens Damascus, Gaza, Tyre, Edom, and Ammon with the judgments of God, for their obstinacy in sin.

¹ The words of Amos, who was among the shepherds of Tekoa, which he saw about Israel in the days of Uzziah king of Judah, and in the days of Jeroboam the son of Joash king of Israel, two years before the earthquake.¹²

1. 1:1The way this is phrased in the Latin leaves open the possibility that Amos was not himself so much a shepherd as a shepherd’s helper. He was ‘among’ or ‘with’ the shepherds of Tekoa.(Conte)
2. 1:1The 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)

² And he said: The Lord will roar from Zion, and from Jerusalem he will utter his voice. And the beautiful pastures have mourned, and the top of Carmel has become dry.

³ Thus says the Lord: For three wicked deeds of Damascus, and for four, I will not convert it, in so far as they have threshed Gilead into iron wagons.¹²³

1. 1:3The word ‘trituraverint’ means to thresh grain during a harvest. They have threshed or harvested the people of Gilead into iron wagons, i.e. they have harvested them and contained them (implying harshness and some form of captivity or restraint).(Conte)
2. 1:3For three crimes--and for four: That is, for their many unrepented of crimes.(Challoner)
3. 1:3I will not convert it: That is, I will not spare them, nor turn away the punishments I design to inflict upon them.(Challoner)

⁴ And I will send fire onto the house of Hazael, and it will devour the houses of Ben-hadad.

⁵ And I will shatter the crowbar of Damascus, and I will destroy the inhabitants of the camp of the idol and the holder of the scepter of the house of pleasure; and the people of Syria will be transferred to Cyrene, says the Lord.¹

1. 1:5The word ‘disperdam’ means ‘to destroy’ or ‘to utterly ruin’ or ‘to cause great loss.’(Conte)

⁶ Thus says the Lord: For three wicked deeds of Gaza, and for four, I will not convert it, in so far as they have carried out an excellent captivity, so as to enclose them in Idumea.¹

1. 1:6This phrase can be rendered as ‘an excellent captivity,’ or ‘a complete captivity,’ or even ‘a perfect captivity.’ Note that the word ‘sceleribus’ has a strong meaning, perhaps better translated as ‘wicked deeds,’ than as merely ‘crimes.’ It also has the connotation, especially in this context, of sinfulness.(Conte)

⁷ And I will send a fire onto the wall of Gaza, and it will devour its buildings.

⁸ And I will destroy the inhabitant from Ashdod, and the holder of the scepter of Ashkelon. And I will turn my hand against Ekron, and the remainder of the Philistines will perish, says the Lord God.

⁹ Thus says the Lord: For three wicked deeds of Tyre, and for four, I will not convert it, in so far as they have completed an excellent captivity in Idumea and have not considered the bond among brothers.¹

1. 1:9Literally, this last phrase says, ‘and they have not been thinking of the pact of brothers.’ But, from the context, this is not a formal written agreement; it refers to the unspoken alliance or bond among those who are of the same family, or the same nation, or one and the same human race.(Conte)

¹⁰ And I will send a fire onto the wall of Tyre, and it will devour its buildings.

¹¹ Thus says the Lord: For three wicked deeds of Edom, and for four, I will not convert him, in so far as he has been pursuing his brother with the sword and has outraged his brother’s compassion, and he has gone beyond his anger and has held onto his indignation until the end.¹²

1. 1:11In the Latin, you can see that ‘suum’ refers to Edom, but ‘ejus’ refers to his brother. This would not be apparent in English unless ‘ejus’ is translated loosely as ‘his brother,’ rather than as merely ‘his.’(Conte)
2. 1:11Literally, ‘tenuerit ultra furorem suum’ is ‘he has kept beyond his anger.’ But in this context it refers to going beyond the limits of one’s anger. Notice how this plays into the next verse, ‘usque in finem.’ He goes beyond the limits of his anger and he holds onto his anger until the limit.(Conte)

¹² I will send a fire onto Teman, and it will devour the buildings of Bozrah.

¹³ Thus says the Lord: For three wicked deeds of the sons of Ammon, and for four, I will not convert him, in so far as he has cut up the pregnant women of Gilead, so as to expand his limits.

¹⁴ And I will ignite a fire on the wall of Rabbah. And it will devour its buildings, with wailing on the day of war, and with a whirlwind on the day of commotion.

¹⁵ And Melchom will go into captivity, he and his leaders together, says the Lord.¹

1. 1:15Melchom: The god or idol of the Ammonites, otherwise called Moloch, and Melech: which in Hebrew signifies a king, and Melchom their king.(Challoner)