ris3n's Apologetics Codex
Amos 1.6
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Passage

Amos 1.6

Book: Amos · NASB95

Immediate context (±2 verses)

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ASV

4. but I will send a fire into the house of Hazael, and it shall devour the palaces of Ben-hadad. 5. And I will break the bar of Damascus, and cut off the inhabitant from the valley of Aven, and him that holdeth the sceptre from the house of Eden; and the people of Syria shall go into captivity unto Kir, saith Jehovah.

6. Thus saith Jehovah: For three transgressions of Gaza, yea, for four, I will not turn away the punishment thereof; because they carried away captive the whole people, to deliver them up to Edom.

  1. But I will send a fire on the wall of Gaza, and it shall devour the palaces thereof. 8. And I will cut off the inhabitant from Ashdod, and him that holdeth the sceptre from Ashkelon; and I will turn my hand against Ekron; and the remnant of the Philistines shall perish, saith the Lord Jehovah. (Amos 1:4-8, ASV)
WEB

4. but I will send a fire into the house of Hazael, and it will devour the palaces of Ben Hadad. 5. I will break the bar of Damascus, and cut off the inhabitant from the valley of Aven, and him who holds the scepter from the house of Eden; and the people of Syria shall go into captivity to Kir,” says Yahweh.

6. Yahweh says: “For three transgressions of Gaza, yes, for four, I will not turn away its punishment; because they carried away captive the whole community, to deliver them up to Edom;

  1. but I will send a fire on the wall of Gaza, and it will devour its palaces. 8. I will cut off the inhabitant from Ashdod, and him who holds the scepter from Ashkelon; and I will turn my hand against Ekron; and the remnant of the Philistines will perish,” says the Lord Yahweh. (Amos 1:4-8, WEB)
KJV

4. But I will send a fire into the house of Hazael, which shall devour the palaces of Benhadad. 5. I will break also the bar of Damascus, and cut off the inhabitant from the plain of Aven, and him that holdeth the sceptre from the house of Eden: and the people of Syria shall go into captivity unto Kir, saith the LORD. the plain: or, Bikathaven the house: or, Betheden

6. 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: away captive: or, them away with an entire

  1. But I will send a fire on the wall of Gaza, which shall devour the palaces thereof: 8. And I will cut off the inhabitant from Ashdod, and him that holdeth the sceptre from Ashkelon, and I will turn mine hand against Ekron: and the remnant of the Philistines shall perish, saith the Lord GOD. (Amos 1:4-8, KJV)
YLT

4. And I have sent a fire against the house of Hazael, And it hath consumed the palaces of Ben-Hadad. 5. And I have broken the bar of Damascus, And cut off the inhabitant from Bikat-Aven, And a holder of a sceptre from Beth-Eden, And removed have been the people of Aram to Kir, said Jehovah.

6. Thus said Jehovah: For three transgressions of Gaza, And for four, I do not reverse it, Because of their removing a complete captivity, To deliver up to Edom,

  1. And I have sent a fire against the wall of Gaza, And it hath consumed her palaces; 8. And I have cut off the inhabitant from Ashdod, And a holder of a sceptre from Ashkelon, And have turned back My hand against Ekron, And perished have the remnant of the Philistines, Said the Lord Jehovah. (Amos 1:4-8, YLT)

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Setting

  • Speaker: Amos of Tekoa, a herdsman (noqed, sheep breeder) and tender of sycamore figs from Judah, speaking the word of the LORD. Here he pronounces the second of eight oracles against the nations (1:3-2:16).
  • Audience: Formally addressed to Gaza, the leading city of the Philistines, but spoken in the hearing of Israel, whose own indictment the series of oracles is building toward (Amos 2:6-16).
  • Location: Delivered in the northern kingdom, principally at Bethel, the royal sanctuary and state temple (Amos 7:13).
  • Time period: c. 760-750 BC, in the reigns of Uzziah of Judah and Jeroboam II of Israel, "two years before the earthquake" (Amos 1:1). Amos is generally reckoned the earliest of the writing prophets.

Theological reading

The formula. "For three transgressions of Gaza, yea, for four, I will not turn away the punishment thereof." The rising number, three and then four, signals a full measure of guilt. Only one crime is then named, the one that tips the scale. The same pattern opens every oracle from 1:3 to 2:6.

The crime: trafficking in whole populations. Gaza "carried away captive the whole people, to deliver them up to Edom." The charge is not warfare as such but the seizure of an entire population, evidently to be sold on as slaves. The victims are not named, and the verdict does not depend on their being Israelites. What is condemned is treating a people as merchandise. Joel brings the same kind of charge against Tyre, Sidon and Philistia, who "sold the children of Judah and the children of Jerusalem unto the sons of the Grecians" (Joel 3:4-6).

Accountable without Sinai. Gaza had no covenant with the LORD and no Torah, yet it is judged. The oracles against the nations assume a moral law that binds peoples outside Israel, what Paul calls "the work of the law written in their hearts" (Romans 2:15). The sentence follows at once: fire on the wall of Gaza, and the rest of Philistia cut off with it (1:7-8).

Key words

Theologically-loaded Greek or Hebrew words in this verse may have entries in the lexicon. Curated to roughly 100 contested terms across the corpus, not every word.

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Quoted in

Arguments and defeaters:

Concepts:

Notes

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Why these four translations

ris3n chose ASV, WEB, KJV, and YLT for two reasons together. They are the most literal English translations available (formal-equivalence: word-for-word renderings that preserve the Hebrew and Greek grammar rather than smoothing it into modern dynamic-equivalence idiom). And they are in the public domain in the United States, which means fair-use quotation at any length requires no publisher license. Modern licensed translations (NASB95, ESV, NIV) restrict volume of quotation under their copyright terms, so they are not used at stub-level coverage here. NASB95 appears only on hand-curated rich passage hubs under Lockman Foundation's fair-use allowance.

The four:

  • ASV (American Standard Version, 1901). The basis of the modern critical-text English tradition.
  • WEB (World English Bible, contemporary). Public-domain revision in the ASV line, in current English.
  • KJV (King James Version, 1611). Reformation-era, Textus Receptus base.
  • YLT (Young's Literal Translation, Robert Young, 1862). Hyper-literal preservation of Hebrew and Greek grammar; useful for word-study work even where English reads stiff.

See Bibles for the full per-translation history, translators, textual basis, strengths, and weaknesses.