= Amos 2 * Please see [[nsv:license|License]] for Copyright notice and Licensing information. * [ [[Amos_1|Previous]] | [[Amos_3|Next]] ] == Amos 2 1 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: 2 But I will send a fire upon Moab, and it shall devour the palaces of Kirioth: and Moab shall die with tumult, with shouting, and with the sound of the trumpet: 3 And I will cut off the judge from the midst thereof, and will slay all the princes thereof with him, saith the Lord. 4 Thus saith the Lord; For three transgressions of Judah, and for four, I will not turn away the punishment thereof; because they have despised the law of the Lord, and have not kept his commandments, and their lies caused them to err, after the which their fathers have walked: 5 But I will send a fire upon Judah, and it shall devour the palaces of Jerusalem. 6 Thus saith the Lord; For three transgressions of Israel, and for four, I will not turn away the punishment thereof; because they sold the righteous for silver, and the poor for a pair of shoes; 7 That pant after the dust of the earth on the head of the poor, and turn aside the way of the meek: and a man and his father will go in unto the same maid, to profane my holy name: 8 And they lay themselves down upon clothes laid to pledge by every altar, and they drink the wine of the condemned in the house of their god. 9 Yet destroyed I the Amorite before them, whose height was like the height of the cedars, and he was strong as the oaks; yet I destroyed his fruit from above, and his roots from beneath. 10 Also I brought you up from the land of Egypt, and led you forty years through the wilderness, to possess the land of the Amorite. 11 And I raised up of your sons for prophets, and of your young men for Nazarites. Is it not even thus, O ye children of Israel? saith the Lord. 12 But ye gave the Nazarites wine to drink; and commanded the prophets, saying, Prophesy not. 13 Behold, I am pressed under you, as a cart is pressed that is full of sheaves. 14 Therefore the flight shall perish from the swift, and the strong shall not strengthen his force, neither shall the mighty deliver himself: 15 Neither shall he stand that handleth the bow; and he that is swift of foot shall not deliver himself: neither shall he that rideth the horse deliver himself. 16 And he that is courageous among the mighty shall flee away naked in that day, saith the Lord. == Notes == Cross Reference == Commentary == Rashi ==== Verse 1 For he burnt the bones etc.—Once the king of Edom fell into the hands of the king of Moab, and they burned his bones and plastered them on the walls of the house, and the Holy One, blessed be He, requited the injustice inflicted upon the king, for they treated him with disgrace. ==== Verse 2 Kerioth—A place name, as it is stated: (Jer. 48:24) “And to Kerioth and to Bozrah.” amidst the tumult—The sound of the stirring of battle. ==== Verse 6 for selling an innocent man for money—The judges would sell the one who was innocent according to the law, with money; i.e, with the bribes they would receive from his opponent. and a poor man in order to lock [the fields] Heb. נַעֲלָיִם. Jonathan renders in two places [here and below 8:6]: in order to inherit. And I say that this is its explanation. They pervert the judgment of the poor man so that he will be compelled to sell his field that he had between the fields of the judges, and this one seeks an opportunity and takes it for a cheap price in order to fence in and lock all his fields together, and it should not intervene between them. ==== Verse 7 Who aspire on the dust of the earth—On the dust of the earth, when they walk on it, all their aspiration and all their thoughts are concerning the head of the poor, how they will rob them and take their property. שְׁאִיפָה is goloser in O.F., aspiring. and they pervert the way of the humble etc.—The weak turn away from their way and go on a tortuous way because of fear of them, as Scripture says: (Job 24:4) “They turn the poor from the way.” to the maid—I.e, a betrothed maid. ==== Verse 8 And they recline on pledged garments—Jonathan renders: On couches of a pledge they dine. They settle [the charge as] a loan upon the poor. and they take a pledge from them, and make their garments into couches and recline on them at the time of their meal. they recline—An expression of dining, for all their meals were eaten while leaning, for he would lean on his left side. and the wine of the fined ones—from whom they would exact money for fines and drink wine with it. in the house of their god—In the house of the idol that they had beside the altar. ==== Verse 9 as oaks Heb. אַלוֹנִים, kesnes (chenes) in French. his fruit from above—I.e, the celestial princes. [from Midrash Tanchuma, Devarim 4; Tanchuma Buber, Addendum to Devarim 8] and his roots from below—I. e, the earthly princes. Another explanation: the wasp would blind their eyes from above and castrate them from below. [from Sotah 36a] ==== Verse 11 as Nazirites—Jonathan renders: as teachers. For they were separated from the ways of the people of the land and were engaged in the Torah. The expression נְזִירָה is everywhere only an expression of separation. Is this not so?—This is a rhetorical question. I.e, can you deny this? ==== Verse 12 And you gave the Nazirites to drink wine—lest they instruct you, for a drunken man is forbidden to instruct. And you gave the Nazirites to drink wine—Jonathan renders: And you misled your teachers with wine. “Do not prophesy.”—Amaziah the priest of Bethel commanded Amos in this manner: (Amos 7:12) “Seer, go, flee to the land of Judah.” ==== Verse 13 Behold I will oppress Heb. מֵעִיק, the Aramaic translation of מֵצִיק, your dwelling place Heb. תַּחְתֵּיכֶם. Your camping place as a wagon... is oppressed from the weight of the burden that is upon it. ==== Verse 15 and the fleet-footed shall not deliver—himself. ==== Verse 16 shall flee naked—Naked without weapons.