Literal Commentary on Amos

Literal Commentary on Amos — Dionysius bar Salibi Again, a literal commentary on Amos. In the time of Hosea and Joel, Amos appeared and rebuked concerning the captivity of the ten tribes by the Assyrians and also concerning the captivity of the two tribes by the Babylonians. And at Bethel he rebuked, where the idols were worshipped, where his prophecy was completed for the people and the nations together. Others say: Because of this, at Bethel he rebuked, as if for the shame of the calf which Jeroboam had seized, because the prophecy was from Jerusalem to Bethel, the house of idols, for the covering of the calf. The first of his words, Amos calls the words "to the Geliyatha," because he was speaking with them in Galilee. Again, the word "prophecy." He who was rebuking calls the rebuke "the head of the monastery," or "the head of the works and thoughts." Tekoa was a village, for from there Joab came to the Tekoite woman. It was from the tribe of Judah. Bar Joash: in the book of Kings it is written "bar Jehoash," and it is the same as that which was translated from Hebrew into Syriac. Before the earthquake, some say that in the days of Uzziah the prophets began to prophesy: Isaiah and the rest. But when Uzziah wanted to place incense and did not, one of the prophets was restrained from prophecy. Amos remained while rebuking at Bethel. The nations rejoiced and began to say that because they saw the prophets standing, their words were silent before God. But God, as if for the covering of the nations, commanded that Amos rebuke. Others say: that which is written, that among the prophets in the days of Uzziah, not one of them was restrained from prophecy.

ing the ten tribes. This is because the earthquake began in the days of Uzziah, and Amos began his prophecy two years before the earthquake. It is not known whether the earthquake occurred before his sin or after his sin; he lived fifty-five years. Some say that at the time when he was a leper and placed in isolation, the earthquake occurred. The Lord roared from Zion, for the Lord was not silent to the nations according to their hopes. But from Zion he speaks. For the Lord did not hope that from the idols of Bethel he would receive prophecy, but from that which dwells in Jerusalem. And the inhabitants sit in mourning when, like a lion, the Lord roars in his wrath from Zion. Then the thoughts of the kings of the nations were rightly seated in mourning over the evils that they had prepared for themselves. The monasteries call to the cities. Carmel to the land of the kingdom. The head of Carmel is Jerusalem, just as it is equally with the nations that surround it and are subdued. Chapter 2. Concerning the three sins of hers, by means of three he reproves the multitude of sins. By means of four, moreover, concerning the seventy and the extension of their iniquity, concerning that which he shut in the baskets when Hazael of Damascus approached with the people and they began to kill them. When they saw that they would not die quickly, they placed their swords in the baskets of iron that were in the wagons and the shields that were pressing the people and killing them. And concerning this, his wrath did not turn from them to the house of Hazael, the mountain of war sent to the destruction of his kingdom. And the merchants of hers, the garments and the great houses that were theirs, and the glory of the king who stood before Hazael was taken away. And the people of Aram were subdued to the river because from the river they came and settled there. And he says that they were subdued to the land that is theirs now.

and they turned from the beginning of the earthquake. Where they had first sinned, they then transgressed against the son of Aram. Against the three, he fights against the Philistines after this. And Gaza is a metropolis, that is, the mother of cities. Concerning the captivity they took, the cause of their war against them shows that with all their sins, even the captives from the days of David and Solomon, who had been circumcised for the people, fled and taught them to turn their land. They did not remember the covenant of brotherhood. Thus began the Tyrians, who did not remember the covenant of brotherhood, nor the love of Hiram their king, who was with David and Solomon. Against the three, he again complains against the Edomites, because three kingdoms were standing: one in Damascus, another in Edom, and another in Bozrah of Teman, the city of Edom. The Philistines had five kingdoms: one in Gaza, another in Ashdod, and in Ashkelon, and Gath, and in Ekron. Concerning him who pursued his brother with the sword and destroyed, he speaks against the Edomites, saying, "The sons of Esau," when destruction to destruction, natural destruction, he says, "like those who err in the quarter from which they came out." Because from one quarter they were born: Esau and Jacob. He sent the mountain of war of the Babylonians. Burn Teman, the chief city of the Edomites. The suburbs of Bozrah, the city of Job. Concerning those who broke the covenant, he complains against the Ammonites, who are with Gilead. Over all the land of the Jordan, he hints in this that it is near the house of Lot, and says that the cities of Israel that were near them took from them and added to their border.

On the day of the curse, he calls the army that went with the chariots of the captives, and he speaks of the sins of Moab against the Moabites. He burned his bones by the hand of the king of Edom, the assistance of the Moabites who, with the people, knew and did not complete the city of the king of Edom. God sought from them because the king of Edom was sacrificed and became with the people, and he went up with Joram and Jehoshaphat, and they fought with the Moabites, and the Moabites shut in the Edomites, and they burned their king who was sacrificed to their idols. He calls it a curse when it is overturned while being mixed with all the distress of the physicians. The sins of Judah are after the peoples. He speaks of the sons of Judah who were hired for the sins of the peoples who erred with the people. He seeks one, as he seeks the heart of Judah in which they erred. Concerning the sacrifice of the righteous, he calls the righteous one to the place where the wealth of the righteous stands. He frees from the oppressors who sacrifice to him in this, that they mount accusations against him and take his wealth and give it to those who persecute him, and even to the point of the foolish judge, they were taking bribes, and because of this they were freeing the guilty and the poor, and the man and his father, these did because they despised the laws and were not hidden from the heavens that were called upon them. And concerning the garments, they were found hard on the side of the altar of the demons which they set up on the mountain, when they were holding them with ropes firmly so that they would not be moved, in that they were remaining for many days in their sacrifices. Its height is over the greatness and strength of the Babylonians, which is equal to their sign.

The height of the cedars, the height of the cedar is high, all the trees are like that, and the men of the people. He calls his fruits to his armies. He uproots his walls and his horsemen. As a heifer is pressed, so he says to you, a great burden of the rebellions of Moab and the Moabites, under them in the likeness of a heifer full of burden and the logs of the paths that are bound to her. The third section: Lest they go, he says that he is not able to drive two together on the road to complete the deeds of the interior, unless they are prepared beforehand for each other and reveal one to the other concerning the deeds of his companion. Thus also the enemies of the side of man are not left, that God has come upon you. Lest the lion roar, the lion's voice is not heard except when it is ready to break. Thus also God roars and moves the prophets to rebuke. Otherwise he was ready to break the people and the nations by the coming of enemies. Or the sea, the net jumps, he says that the net then jumps from the earth when the bird is freed in it. Thus also you, by your iniquity, you are cut off upon yourselves by the hands of enemies. The lion and the hunt he calls God. The legs and the leaves of the tree for the nets in which, because of the necessity of the need, they leave the captives. As also the lion in the den, with legs and trees, when there is no flesh in them, they are cut off from their cities. The desire of them all is taken away. And the fruits fall to the earth, because their iniquity and their wickedness are abolished. The fourth section: Hear this word of the Lord. The measures are fought against the women, teachers of wickedness to their masters.

The measures, he fights against the measures, the teachings, the wickedness of their masters. The measures, the oxen, he says. Because it is evil, because the oxen are not subdued by the yoke, and the beasts, he says, and by this he indicates their bestiality and their lack of discipline, because they do not wish to be placed under the yoke of the law of God, in the manner of the fattened oxen that are in the land where they are, in the grass. And your end, in the sanctuary, he says, because he calls them measures. That is, when the hunters make snares for the measures that are hunted from the mountains, he says that it becomes for them from the hands of the enemies, who like flesh in the sanctuary are inflamed against them with afflictions. The mountains, the mountain of Armenia under the dominion of the Assyrians exists. They went up to Bethel and to Gilgal, and they brought in troops and tithes, and they offered sacrifices to the idols there. They were there in the morning. And the third, this is that for three days they were separated for them in the latter Tishri, from the law, to bring their tithes, because thus was their love. Is this not their love, that in Bethel and in Gilgal they sacrifice to idols? Bitterness, he says, when a man eats something sour. And deficiency, and scarcity, and lack of bread. In all the regions. I sent among you death, he says, in the wolf, when I was traveling on the road to the face of Egypt, on the certain hope that their help would come to you from hunger and war by the sword and death. To all of you I added with your horses. That which you said, that upon the crown he mounted and fled. And you were like a firebrand, he says, thus I burned the inhabitants of your land with the wolf, with the sword of the enemies, as if with a small fire I consumed all of you, except for those who escaped from you like firebrands from a furnace.

a piece of wood that is bent and not entirely straight. Thus I will do to you in the end, he says, a little mixed with the interpretation, because all these things were not completed. This is set for me, that I may do to you in the end, after the captivity, to change all that is yours in the time of the interpretation, he does well, he teaches concerning their change towards goodness. He, God, first, to the beauty of your being in it, he changes the depth of the afflictions. And he turns the depth of the captivity by means of the interpretation that he gives to you: and he treads upon the height of the land, that is, of the kingdom, by means of the Assyrian, when he destroys it and immediately lowers the height of the land of the Assyrians and Babylonians and destroys the enemies. That they heard after the heart. Again he fights against them, that I may take and bring upon you a lamentation, he shows how bitterly they burn in the fire of the captivity. That they turn the judgment, that is, they turn bitterness and righteousness by means of bribery and afflictions, and they embitter the spirit of the poor: and righteousness, even righteousness they do so that it may be renewed in the land and be hidden by means of bribery. Leave, then, that which made the climate, that is, here their wickedness. Leave, then, that which created the climate and the signs and the constellations of the stars, and worship the idols. These seven stars are the climate. The signs are after the climate, their course and likeness to the sign of a camel or to the line upon the form of a letter. He calls to the waters of the sea, he says that he who to the waters of the sea, by means of clouds, ascends to the height and afterwards pours them upon the earth, he also now calls to you, to the Assyrian, and by the multitude of his armies he overwhelms your land.

you, O righteous ones, he calls the judges, because through bribery they were taking, not only were they acting against the truth, but also in oppression they were casting down those of wealth who were suffering. They sought good, they loved good things and distanced themselves from evil things, so that you might go and come with petition. And it was thus: this is how, as if in a furnace, he said to her, thus it was with you and with you, and he helps you, as you came to him, and they say to one another, you came and you acted. The rest, the remainder of Joseph, he calls the ten tribes, when at that time from them many were taken captive with Tiglath-Pileser. Woe, woe! And woe to the generations, because that which is said in this is not true, they used to say to the prophets, if something that is said to you is true, how is it not plausible? The day of the Lord, he calls the day on which it is completed, because his will is fulfilled in it. Dark, it darkens and dims over you by the afflictions that surround you. Support, because his will is not fulfilled in it. And not long, I will not pass over, a voice, remain with the praises of the hymns, as to the watcher of the standing one, they complete the ... for the sacrifices are considered by me all your hymns, that when there are sacrifices and offerings, they did not offer sacrifices to him, and now you have been saved from Egypt. Nor again, because their sacrifices they spread out for them good things in the desert. But you have taken the skin of Milcom and Kemosh, instead of my own skin, for the skin of Milcom, the idol, you have made, that which was with you, it was strong and it loosened. Milcom and Kemosh are named after Kronos.

the star of the work of Aphrodite, he said, he calls thus the other prostitutes instead of the pillar of the night, they hasten to you. The worship of you to the star you were offering, but now he calls the star that rises in the morning which is called Ozi and Aphrodite, and woe to the judges who are silent. They rely on the idols that they set up in the mountains of Samaria. The Pharisees to the heads, the oppressors to the heads, and it was right for you to be baptized. For as God gave you power in the beginning, and thirty-one kings with the heads of the priests, you divided and delivered them to the sword. And now by the wickedness of your deeds, which were revealed from your land, they are worthy of the day, that evil day and the Sabbath of plunder, he says to the sacrifice in which the land was anointed to be evil and to plunder the poor, and especially on the day of the Sabbath and of idleness, they were empty of wickedness. And if ten remained, he says, for their tens were not coming. And if not, where does he say afterwards that they took his gold, or when it approached him and they went out? But he says this, that this authority was by the sword, as if to destroy from the house, many in wickedness remained in it, ten men while the rest died, or already in the house to the village he calls and took his gold in the house, these ten men said, one to his companion, that there is still with you a man in the house from that one who does not go out, and he says that there is not, because they were all bound and buried in these, he goes out upon the sword of the city to them in every place. And that also in the houses they were being shut in.

lest the chariot run upon the shaft, as it is not possible for the chariots to run upon the shaft, so also the enemies would not have come upon you. If you had not been the cause through your sins, and as the shaft is not subjected to the sword of iron, so also you would not have fallen under the sword of the Assyrian, if your injustice had not been the cause. For you turned your straight words of the poor; you turned your straight words of the poor; you turned to injustice when you struck and rebelled against him through your tyranny. For behold, this one stands upon the faces of these dead, this one stands against you with enemies and will crush you with the wrath of the furnace, and until this one stands, I will bring down upon you enemies and into the places of your hands with the peoples, and will crush you with captivity, so that you will not again enter within your border. For they are violently uprooted in captivity. — The locust of the creation seeks to interpret his word by revelation. I have seen that the locust was being broken by the ear of grain. And it comes at the beginning of the season of that last seed which knows after it is cut once. For it calls the last one the old one. The locust is the thirteenth. The first before the locust was cut once; after the thirteenth, the Lord turned it. In this the prophet showed that he was not heard when the word of God was spoken to him.

...that this which you sought from me should not happen, that I should turn you and pass over you the evil of death, but to their evil, and behold, he calls to the city in fire. The other revelation is revealed and makes known in it that the Lord has not prepared the call and the sign for the surrounding of that which is like a mountain. To the border, that is, the border of the ten tribes. And the half of the two tribes and the half of the region of the Jordan. The others to the half of the tribe of Judah he calls. He stands upon the place of Adamas, that is, the third revelation. Adamas is a stone which is firm, and all of them with good faces are cut and set in it, and it is white within it, but not like a solid crystal, but its interior is deep. And the prophets said that it is Almas. He placed, that is, Adamas, that he did not add to pass it over you, but from now on again it becomes for it for a habitation. But he placed at the head a foundation. That the dead are firm like Adamas, that is, upon them. And their temples of their idols are sanctified. And he established upon it, that is, he completed it for the kingdom of the ten, that also the Assyrians in the time of what after Jeroboam came upon them. And he sent Amaziah, that is, he placed again the prophet in the midst of the envy that was stirred up against him from the priest of Beth-El on account of the temple of the idols. The prophet was commanded to prophesy as they heard, also the people for his prophecy. Amaziah, the priest of that which was of the time, was considered to be remaining there with Amos, turning the people towards God and not coming to the worship of idols. And with this also Amaziah is troubled, and thus he sent letters to the king against the prophet, that either they kill him or they expel him. The king, however, feared that it would be evil for the prophet. Amaziah, however, when he was despising, called him thus.

Flee, go, go you to the place where your words are received, and eat there, and you will be moved in the wages of your prophecy. Because the sons of Judah are accustomed to the words of the prophets. Expect, O Amos, that because of your silence, behold, you are called Amos. I was not a prophet for the priest of demons, or was I not like the people who learned prophecy? Were my fathers prophets? No, I was a shepherd; at the time of goats, I was shepherding with lambs, and at the time of the land, I was working, digging trees, planting, and watering. For what are the fruits of the forest but thorns? I was moved to speak concerning all the trees. After these things, the prophet contended with the priest and was called, and he said, "Behold, the end of the matter is something that is depicted before the eyes of the prophet, who examines the truth concerning the end that is determined with God, like that which came to an end and does not delay." The entrails of the hunt, the hunter says, "The end has come; that is the conclusion that was cut off and determined with me to come upon them, for there are seven who, when it reaches them, for their confusion, for their elevation, that it not come as until now." The praises of the temple, he says, concerning the temple of idols that is in Beth-El, or concerning the destruction of the temple of God that was with the Babylonians. At that time, the sacrifices and praises that used to ascend to God with the people also ceased. They say, "When will the month pass?" He desires to know about their evil towards the poor. They say, "Why does the silver coin tremble? For when will this month pass and another come, or will this year pass, through sacrifices, offerings, and merchandise?" He shakes the evil causes.

and he sells for silver. The stores he sells for silver, which are mixed with oil from the vats and the stores, with the oils of the christs, and he drinks the stores. They were selling to the merchants. The christs are the remainder of the must that is peeled from the trees of the vats and the stores and mixed with mortar and with grain. That is, something that is in the side of the vat and something that is held in the vat, of the stores with grain. And he drinks the stores of the lees that fall with the grain. The earth of the lees that is mixed with the grain, which is in the wife of the store, he sells in the months of famine and in the weeks of distress. The life of your god, that is, life, and he gives life, is that idol which is in their houses. And life, that is, of life, cannot, when he goes on the path of the son of seven, to go to hunt the idols that are placed there. They fell upon those who loved the idols, and in their days they fell by the sword of the Assyrians and did not rise. The vision of the Lord, that he was standing over the house of Judah, was revealed. His vision was upon the side of the altar in Jerusalem, with a circle upon the pinnacle of the temple, a sign because also circles and palm trees were carved on the doors of the temple. He struck, that is, he was struck, and the temple fell with its pinnacle at the coming of the Babylonians. And the foundations were uprooted with the bases like the shaking of the thresholds. And all of them, the vengeance of all of them was placed upon the head of all of them, who called to the earth, and thus the Lord of Hosts decreed upon them, he who shakes the earth of the kingdom, and they sit in mourning with its inhabitants. And its end came, the Assyrian, in whose hands the end concerning it is fulfilled.

like the pattern of the Egyptians, he is mingled with their land to make their land desolate for the rest of them, for he scrapes and descends with them. Behold, like the sons of Cush, you have become equal in your tyranny against me with those of the Chaldeans to my household. Behold, the Philistines who went up with the Cappadocians from their region, and the Aramaeans with the Cyrenians, and they mingled with them and became one people. And he says that also in my deeds, men have become equal with those who are not of their kind, but they have been occupied with the wonders in their own discourses as in yours. You came to this land with forces and signs, and you did not allow that you be mingled with other peoples as the Philistines and the Aramaeans. So then, see that I did not do with other peoples what I did to you. And you did not appear good to the doer of your good deeds. Behold, the eyes of the Lord are upon the faces of these; behold, my eyes are upon the sinful kingdom of the house of Ephraim, and he destroyed it with the land of dominion by the hand of the Assyrians. However, he did not destroy them thus as he made them equal, completely destroying you, but when he remembered, he returned to my idleness, that in which from the beginning you were careful to preserve your own, he returned to the rest of them for the good cause of the interior. And their uprightness did not fall upon the land; the rest of them is that which is like the sand of a sieve, which falls with the sieve. He did not allow that it fall upon the land and be swallowed and be completely destroyed, because the rest of Edom came after the dispersion and also stood for the rest of Edom, and all the peoples around them were ruled by them and they enslaved you.

And what are these things that are stirred up in the mouth of the wonders of the peoples? They have turned to the fear of God. The peace of Amos, the pride of Amos, has passed from me. The voice of your song, which the sacrifices and festivals have forgotten, he also forgot that song which was at the festivals. Why have you offered sacrifices and oblations to me in the desert? In this he showed that it was not because their sacrifices were many that good things came to them in the desert. But rather, you took the anointing of your kingdom, like them. But instead of your being taken as on the wings of an eagle with the cloud that was taken from the skin of a sacrifice, instead of my own skin, you made for yourselves the skin of Croesus. The star which you made for yourselves a god, but instead of the pillar of fire, you worshipped the star Aphrodite Uzzi. I will leave you until Damascus, for your trust was in Damascus. He said, "I will leave you until Damascus," because your trust was in Damascus. Again, with the pride of Amos, Amos became proud in the days of Uzziah over Israel and over the peoples around them who rejoiced that his pride was fulfilled in the days of Uzziah. And they were saying that because they saw prophets whose words did not come true, they themselves kept silent. And from Jerusalem, a proud answer to the house of El, a foundation in violence because of the sin of Uzziah. But a response because of the breaking of the people and the nations. A response to the people of Damascus and to the nations that came. He reminds of the acts of God towards Israel. And to Solomon, because of whom they are avenged.

covers evil tongues and cuts off hunger. He leads Israel, which is troubled because of covering and the bitterness of the things that have happened, and he cuts off the generations of those who, in their lack of faith, said that if it were true, it would be a sign. The care of festivals and sacrifices and the rest, and the afflictions that came upon them because they worshipped the god of Rafa to the Cross. And the persecutions and captivity and the placing of a head that came upon them. What of their own children and the evils they suffered? And because of the pain. The abomination because of those who believe in Christ. What is the thirst of the lion that destroys the evil ones? The fire that is sent upon those Assyrians, who burned their bones upon the altar of Moab for the bones of the king of Edom. For the idol of Gebal, made with lime in the vanity of that which was upon his bones, this living thing proclaims the dead. And he enters into Judah and into Israel his people because they worshipped idols. Nebuchadnezzar sent fire and destroyed the markets of Jerusalem. Because they sacrificed to those for whom, because of hunger, they had sacrificed to them. And again, as they used to give the children of Tyre as payment for oil and wine, so the Hebrews used to sell their children for the wages of their houses, while their garments were stripped from them. They were not left because they plundered in captivity. And they said, "What are your hearts troubled because of need?" The shepherd is my Lord, who removes from the mouth of the lion the accuser. Two knees and a leaf of the hand are the work of the inner and outer head, and the obedience of the Gospel. Those whom Christ removed when he was announced from the mouth of the accuser. The ointments of the Lord are the healing medicines.

On the gate of Damascus, he is upon the truth, and he cuts the generation that says the truth. Again, Damascus, in the middle, was established: that is the Messiah and his Gospel. And by these he shows them. The king of the Amorites, however, says to Amos, who goes to the house of the Jews, that he might honor the prophets. And these he says, while he is distressed and troubled over him, placing a beginning. He caused the sun to be obscured at noon, that is, in the crucifixion of Jesus, over whom these things were completed and known, because he abolished festivals and priesthoods and made them mourners, because of these things. And he sent famine upon the peoples who were eager to hear at all times the word of the Lord, which, like prophecy, while running from here to there, they are not able to attain the word of the Lord, nor indeed the teaching that is known. For when the trumpet was called in the city, or that evil thing in the city, he calls evil to captivities, rebellions, jaundice, and fever, these things as they are for you. Mountains are churches. Sweetness is teaching. The Lord of lords speaks through the prophets. The cords of evil are the fattened cows, he calls to their shepherds. The hardness of the hours came upon those who eat good things and do not give to those who have not. The withholding of your rain came early, three months, that is, the harvest, its end is that of the world. Three months for the sacrifice after the crucifixion, he calls, because no rain of prophecy and teaching fell upon the congregation. He struck the great house, that is, Sheol. And the small house is sin. The weak rules over the strong, that is, over the house of Hezekiah over the Assyrians. And the weak, Adam, ruled over the slanderer. The houses of idolatry, in whose midst they are, do not enter into them, that is, because they were not blessed in the thresholds of the tabernacles.

One who is perfected in the time of that silence, that question: when he is able and seeks, he finds himself in repentance and seeks his standing in righteousness. And woe to the steps of the day of the Lord, that of wrath and captivity. For Gath of the Philistines is Caesarea. As David considered the entrails, and as David who was sanctified in spirit considered the entrails of the song of their creation, they sang in them. They drank wine from a filter, until they were brought to the point of being met, and they did not cease from the captivity of Joseph. Again, those who drank wine from a filter are those who perceive the power of divine interpretations and did not cease from the breaking of the people. And the anointed heads anoint spiritual understandings, knowing and teaching, and they do not make an end to captivity. The end of the prophecy of Amos.