Amo 1:3-5 | TNotes | STEP | Summary for Amos 1:3-2:16: 1:3–2:16 The eight judgments of this prophecy proceed from the most obvious enemy, Damascus, to the least obvious, Israel itself. The sequence would have engaged Israel’s attention as they heard God’s judgment against their enemies, but Amos eventually confronted the people with God’s judgment on them. Summary for Amos 1:3-5: 1:3-5 Damascus , the capital of Aram , was brutal in its treatment of the people of Gilead , Israel’s territory east of the Jordan. By the time Ahab died (853 BC ), Damascus had captured Ramoth in Gilead (1 Kgs 22:3 ). Around 801 BC , Assyria captured Damascus, and the city never again held the power it had wielded in its prime. 1:3 have sinned again and again: Literally have committed three sins, even four. This expression is used for a repeated act of rebellion against the natural order established by God. The Hebrew phrase does not denote a strict count but a pattern of repeated violations. • beat down my people: Threshing grain involved separating the heads of the grain from their hulls by pulling wooden sledges with sharp teeth over the cut grain (Isa 41:15 ; see Mic 4:13 ). This description provides a graphic picture of the brutality of the people of Damascus.

Summary for Amos 1:3-2:16: 1:3–2:16 ^a The eight judgments of this prophecy proceed from the most obvious enemy, Damascus, to the least obvious, Israel itself. The sequence would have engaged Israel’s attention as they heard God’s judgment against their enemies, but Amos eventually confronted the people with God’s judgment on them.
Summary for Amos 1:3-5: 1:3-5 ^b Damascus, the capital of Aram, was brutal in its treatment of the people of Gilead, Israel’s territory east of the Jordan. By the time Ahab died (853 BC), Damascus had captured Ramoth in Gilead (1 Kgs 22:3 ^c). Around 801 BC, Assyria captured Damascus, and the city never again held the power it had wielded in its prime. 1:3 ^d have sinned again and again: Literally have committed three sins, even four. This expression is used for a repeated act of rebellion against the natural order established by God. The Hebrew phrase does not denote a strict count but a pattern of repeated violations.

• beat down my people: Threshing grain involved separating the heads of the grain from their hulls by pulling wooden sledges with sharp teeth over the cut grain (Isa 41:15 ^e; see Mic 4:13 ^f). This description provides a graphic picture of the brutality of the people of Damascus.
1:4 ^g I will send down fire: In ancient times conquered cities were burned by invading armies (see also 1:7 ^h, 10 ⁱ, 12 ^j, 14 ^k; 2:2 ^l, 5 ^m). The conquest of Damascus would be God’s judgment on them.

• Hazael reigned as king of Damascus (about 843–802 BC) after he seized the throne by assassination. Ben-hadad was Hazael’s son and successor (about 802–792 BC).
1:5 ⁿ Aven and Beth-eden were both connected with Aram and Damascus. Aven (meaning evil, wickedness) refers to the valley between the Lebanon and Anti-Lebanon mountains or the plain of Damascus. The city-state Beth-eden was north of Aram, elsewhere simply called Eden (2 Kgs 19:12 ^o; Ezek 27:23 ^p).

• The Arameans originally came from Kir (Amos 9:7 ^q), probably in southern Babylonia; Kir was where Assyria deported them when Damascus fell (2 Kgs 16:9 ^r). Just as Egypt was a symbol of captivity for Israel (see Deut 28:68 ^s), Kir represented captivity for Aram.