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Abarbanel on Amos
Abarbanel on Amos — CC0 English partial community translation
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Abarbanel on Amos 1:3:1
1. "Thus said Hashem for the three sins of Damascus..." Amos the prophet was prophecising here about six non Jewish nations. Damascus was the head of the kingdom of Aram, Aza the head of the Phillistine kingdom, Tzur, Edom, Amon and Moab. Why aren't the other nations who also attacked and destroyed Israel mentioned here (eg Babylon, Egypt...). I see two possible reasons. The first is that Amos connected his prophecy to that of Yoel. Yoel's prophecy mentioned the two destructions of the Temple and their judgement ("I will gather the nations and bring them to the valley of judgement and there I will judge them regarding my lot, Israel, that they scattered among the nations and my people they divided" Yoel 4:2) and there it specifically mentions Egypt and Edom becoming a waste. Egypt there refers to the lands of the Ishmaelites who joined the Babylonians in destroying the first temple. Edom refers to Rome who destroyed the second temple. Amos therefore doesn't need to include these nations (Rome? Egypt? Babylon?) in his prophecy about the other nations. He includes nations that Yoel didn't speak of. Yosel does mention Tzur and Sidon and Amos also speaks of Tzur because Tzur was destroyed two times likes it says in Isiah. The first was through Nevudnezer who conquered Tzur and made a great slaughted there. The second conquering of Tzur was through Alexander (the Great?) who destroyed Tzur's army and walls and throughoughly destroyed it that no inhabitants were left there until this day. And Yoel spoke of the final great destruction of Tzur, whereas Amos's prophecy about Tzur referred to the first destruction that would take place through Nevuchadnezer. Also regarding Edom, Yoel said it would become a "desolate wilderness" and Amos also mentioned Edom in his prophecy. Yoel was referring to the Roman Empire and Amos was discusing the sins of Edom connected to Jerusaem and the burning of the south. This is the first reason why the prophet Amos doesn't bring up the other nations who attacked Israel. And the second reason is that the prophet is bring a proof and a reproof for Israel from their wicked neighbors. That if Gd punishes the nations who don't have a connection to Him and don't have the Torah for their sins, how could He also not punish His nation, Israel. And because they accepted the Torah they were more stricken by punishment than the other nations and therefore Amos only brought up examples of close by neighbors to Israel who were punished and not far out island nations (for example Rome). And now I will explain how the punishments are connected to these nations and to Judah together when Israel found themselves in a more serious judgement than the nations and therefore the other sins aren't mentioned only the sins that nations did that are connected to israel.
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Abarbanel on Amos 1:3:2
2. And what are the three sins that are mentioned about all the nations that Gd overlooked. Our Rabbis in Yom 86:2 say, "says Rabbi Yehuda son of Rabbi Yose, Edom did a sin one time and it was overlooked. He sinned a second time and it was overlooked. he sinned a third time and it was overlooked and the fourth time it was not overlooked. And from this we learned that it relates to man as well as a nation that a person who sins 2 or 3 times." On this, Rashi with his knowledge and intellect isn't able to understand that it is talking about the sins of the nations equally. And he therefore writes that if one contineus to increase his sin making what is small greater regarding the fourth sin, Gd will exact judgement from him on the fourth sin and even more so if he committed many sins. This raises the third question that I asked (why these specific nations). And the Ibin Ezra writes the reason they that the fourth sins is not overlooked is because they are warned and don't listen before this. And it could be it speaks about the fourth generation. If the whole generation is wicked and you see that there is no warning for the nations here or passing of generations mentioned here. Therefore I believe that the three sins mentioned here don't refer to just any sins or to generations of sinners but they refer to the three specific and heavy sins that are idolatry, immorality and murder that are found among these nations who don't have the the Torah to distance themselves from them. These three sins are specifically included in the 7 Noahide laws. And he says here that each of these nations is obligated to Gd for these three sins but when they add onto it to the fourth sin, their cup is filled and they are ready to recieve punishment immediately. And therefore "thus says Hashem for three sins of Damascus..." whic is the capital of Aram and had the three big sins (idolatry, immorality and murder) among them. And the fourth sins was a different sin that they attacked Israel. It seems surprising for Gd to not exact judgement for the first three sins. The word "ashivenu" which is translated as "revoking the sin" is the same word used in Hose 12:15 and Tehillim 7:17 and means to receive what is deserved from Gd according to the work of their hands. And the fourth sins is explain that Damascus threshed Gilad with iron threshing boards. And it is what is explained in Kings 10:33 that Hazael attacked all the borders of Israel. Meaning that he did a vengeful and disgraceful act to the inhabitants of Gilad by putting iron threshing boards on their bodies as if they were threshing th produce. And in Shmuel 12:31 it mentiones King David acting this way to the nation of Ammon. And via these three sins their cup was filled.
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Abarbanel on Amos 1:3:3
1:4- And the matter came before Gd to send fire into the palace Hazael meaning in his descendants who cam from him. The fire here refers to the enemy who comes to destroy his palace and it here refers to the Assyrians who conquered Damascus and killed the general who was a descendant of Hazael. And because the palace of the king was in Damascus the prophet says that the palace of Ben Haddad was consumed. And other scholars say that the fire means the burning wrath of Gd that will not be requitted by any means. And this is also a possible explanation.
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Abarbanel on Amos 1:5:1
And after the prophet mentions that destruction of the kings and their palaces, he mentions the destruction of the land when he says "I will break the gates of Damascus..." The meaning of this is that even if its gates are big and strong, Gd will break them. Meaning that even the strongest gates will be unable to withstand the enemy. And Gd said, "I will remove the inhabitants from Bikat Aven and grasp the scepter from Beis Aden ." The commentaries generally define Bikas Aven and Beis Aden as large cities in Aram. But I will explain the truth of the matter that actually Bikas Aven is the valley next to Damascus and it is the most fertile and praiseworthy valley in the world full of fruits and produce. And in the valley in every vineyard and orchard and field there is a house and a tower and there they store the food for the inhabitants of Damascus. And the enemy will come and destroy the valley after the inhabitants flee from them. And because of the wickedness of the people of Damascus, it is called "Bikas Avon" (Avon meaning sin). And the meaning of Beis Aden is that it is a name for Damascus itself that it is a city that is "aden" pleasant and luxurious to no end. To the point that the Ishmaelites saw the city from afar on a mountaintop and they saw the valley of Aven also and they feared to enter it because they thought it was literally the Garden of Eden. And they thought if they entered the Garden of Eden on Earth they would give up their place in the Garden of Eden in heaven since a person can't merit two Gardens of Eden. And they therefore left and didn't enter Damascus. And then the Assyrian king came and attacked it and killed all the descendants of the king and destroyed the city and the valley. Therefore the prophet says "I will grasp the scepter from Beis Aven" because the king/ruler holds a scepter in his hand to rule over the people. And he will lose his leadership when the enemy attacks. And after mentioning killing the kings and the destruction of the land, the prophet expounds on the exile of the people by saying "all of Aram will be exiled to Kira" and Kira is a city in Assyria as we know from Malachim 2 16:9) where we told that the Assyrian King attacks Damascus and conquers it, exiles them to Kira and kills the leaders. And it is explained here that the sin that caused Damascus's cup to overflow was the wicked way they treated Israel when they shamed and humbled the residents of Gilad.
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Abarbanel on Amos 1:6:1
"Thus says Hashem, for three sins of Gaza..." This refers to Gaza, the capital of the Phillistines that was near Jerusalem and the Phillistines also committed the sins of idolatry, adultry and murder and then added a fourth sin when they harmed Israel and therefore were wholly deserving of Gd's recompense. What was the fourth sin? The prophet says that they exiled fully. Meaning they ensured the exile was complete, by standing on the pathways and catching the refugees who were escaping from Israel and returning them to their captives. And likewise did the people of Tzur. And I think, the Radak's explanation is more correct. That the refugees from the war in Israel ran by way of the land of the Phillistines, since it is nearby to them and they had a peace treaty with them. And the Phillistines took them and returned them to Edom. And the text explains about how they sent the Israelites into exile despite the peace treaty. Can this be referring to an event that took place during the destruction of the second temple then Edom would refer to the Roman army that captured the Israelite kings. And it means that the Edomites captured the Israelites becuase often in war, one wins a battle and then the next one wins a battle and when the Edomites captured Israel, the Israelites ran from them and came to the Philistines who were at peace with them and they trusted them. But the Philistines in their wickedness would return them immediately to the Edomites which is the opposite of the halacha in the Torah (Devarim 23:17) that one is forbidden to return a servant to his master. And this made it a complete exile in that they returned them to the exile.
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Abarbanel on Amos 1:7:1
1:7 Therefore Gd decreed to send the enemies fire in the walls of Aza that it would consume the fine palaces of theirs.
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Abarbanel on Amos 1:7:2
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Abarbanel on Amos 1:7:3
1: and therefore the nation that dwells in Ashdod will be destoryed and the rulership will be removed from Ashkelon. They they are all Philistine cities, Aza, Ashdod and Ashkelon and Akron. Gath is not mentioned here because it was a city of the the kingdom of Judah. And when the prophet says "I will destroy the remnant of the Philistines" you will see the truth of what I said because the prophecy of Amos came after the prophecy of Yoel, chronologically. And because Amos heard Yoel's prophecy about the destruction of Tzur and Sidon and the districts of the Philistines therefore Amos prophecy dealt with the other Philistine cities and that's what was mean by the "remnants of the Philistines."
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Abarbanel on Amos 1:9:1
1:9 And the sin of Tzur is mentioned here when it says they made Israel have the complete exile meaning they sent the refugee israelites who were living peacefully amongst them to Edom. And they didn't remember the convenant that there was between Israel and Tzur. That was in the days of Chiram and Shlomo Hamelech like it says (Malachim 1 5:26) they made a covenant of peace. And they called each other brothers as you see from the pesukim "what are these cities you have given to me my brother?"
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Abarbanel on Amos 1:9:3
1:10 And therefore Hashem decreed to send fire to the walls of Tzur. This refers to Nevudnezer who destroyed Tzur and its palaces. And it is explained that Tzur and Aza joined in committing the fourth sin just like they joined the other nations in committing the other three sins.
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Abarbanel on Amos 1:11:1
The prophet then goes on to decree regarding Edom. I already explain the meaning of the three sins of Edom. The first was that in the days of Esau, he pursued Jacob his brother. The second sin was in the days of Moshe Rabbeinu when the Israelites sought to pass in Edom's land they didn't allow them to pass through and threatened (Bamidbar 20:18) lest a sword come to greet you. The third sin occured during the destruction of the first Temple (Psalsm 137:10) as it says "Gd remembers regarding the sons of Edom, the day of Jerusalem that they said Aru, aru" and the fourth sin was that the Edomite descendants, who were the Romans destroyed the second Temple and spilled the blood of the Judeans like water around Jerusalem. And the prophet Amos says about this "for the three sins of Edom..." The explanation is that the prophet says "he pursued his brother with a sword" this refers to the first sin of Esau pursuing Jacob to do evil to him because even though he wasn't able to harm him, his intention was murder. The second sin is referenced by Amos's statement "he curbed his mercy". The third sin is referenced by "his anger raged unceasing" and refers to the destruction of the first temple and possibly here the word "l'ad" or "unceasing/forever" comes from the same root as in (Breishis 49:27) where the word "ad" means the spoils of the war, and during the destruction of the first temple, Edom came to Jerusalem to take the spoils. And regarding the destruction of the second Temple and the extended exile and the all the tragedies that Judah has borne from the nation of Edom, the prophet says "his fury lasted forever" and the word "netzach/forever" references the length of the exile. But, I also gave a different explanation that can be correct where the three sins that are overlooked refer to the three more serious trangressions which are idolatry, immorality and murder and the fourth references their persecution of Israel. In which case they were certainly deserving of punishment for the first three sins alone but were only punished for the fourth. And the fourth sin is mentioned in the pesukim. The prophet says "he pursued his brother with the sword" this was when Israel passed them in the desert and Edom came out to meet them and Moshe Rabbenu sent them word of peace "thus said your brother Israel" and Edom in their cruelty, curbed their compassion and their brotherly feelings and chase them with the sword. And they continued to display rage and animosity towards the nation of Israel that lasted eternally even after Israel settle in their land Edom continually acted as an enemy. And therefore, Gd decreed that midah k'neged midah, deservingly, since their animosity towards Israel was everlasting, Gd would also harbor animosity towards them eternally.
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Abarbanel on Amos 1:11:3
1:12- And I will sent a fire in Teiman (which is in the land of Edom) near Israel. Gd harbored anger towards Edom until the end of days when He will consume the palaces of their major city Betzarah. I explained in sefer Yeshaya that if the Romans came from the land of the Greeks they were connected to Edom because Edom settled there and the first kings were from Edom. And I gave proofs for this there from the book of chronicles for officers. And I explained that ifMoab had had a city called Betzarah, the Romans' would have called it by it's original name and it was a strong and powerful city. And I also wrote above that the prophet Amos spoke here about the destruction of the land of Edom that is near Jerusalem and i fso he prophesized about the destruction of the large Roman cities that were specifically Edomite. But Yoel already prophecized about the whole kingdom of Edom and the rest of the land of Edom.
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Abarbanel on Amos 1:13:1
And here the decree that Hashem put on the Amonites is mentioned including the three sins of idolatry, immorality and murder that the Amonites did and the fourth sin that was regarding Israel. For all these, Gd will not overlook and will truthfully repay them according their deeds. And the fourth sin was ripping open the "haros" of Gilead in order to expand their boundary. And the word "haros" comes from the word "harim" mountains and it's the feminine form of the word. And this means that since they were neighbors with Gilead, they would break open the mountains that they were neighbors to to expand their borders and since we know "cursed is the one who encroaches on his fellow man's borders" and Jeremiah (49:1) said "to the sons of Amon thus said Hashem, 'has Israel no sons to inherit taht you inherited their land of Gad and dwelled in their cities" . Jeremiah mentions Gad because it is capitol of Gilead nad has access to crossing the Jordan. And rashi provides another explanation for the word "haros" and says it refers to pregnant women. The Amonites were so unmerciful in their quest to destroy every remnant of Israel that is why the prophet says "has Israel no children to inherit"
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Abarbanel on Amos 1:13:3
And their sins is given here that the fire will come in their palace in their largest city "Rabat". And consume their palaces on the day of war that they are fighting agains tthe enemy. ANd it says it will come suddently and quickly like a storm on clear day like Shlomo Hamelech said "when terror descends upon you destructively and calamity like a whirlwind" (Mishlei 1:27).
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Abarbanel on Amos 1:13:5
And the prophet says that not only will the land be defeated but also it's kings and officers will jointly go into exile because their fate was sealed due to their theft and wanton cruelty
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