Amos 1:14
in Amos 1So I will kindle a fire in the walls of Rabbah to consume its citadels amid war cries on the day of battle and a violent wind on the day of tempest.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
But I will kindle a fire in the wall of Rabbah, and it shall devour the palaces thereof, with shouting in the day of battle, with a tempest in the day of the whirlwind;
KJV
But I will kindle a fire in the wall of Rabbah, and it shall devour the palaces thereof, with shouting in the day of battle, with a tempest in the day of the whirlwind:
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This verse in Amos 1
Commentary
8 notes on this verse(Verse 14, 15) Thus says the Lord: For three transgressions of the Ammonites, and for four, I will not revoke the punishment, because they have ripped open pregnant women in Gilead, that they might enlarge their border. So I will kindle a fire in the wall of Rabbah, and it shall devour her strongholds, with shouting on the day of battle, with a tempest in the day of the whirlwind; and their king shall go into exile, he and his princes together, says the Lord.
This site's exposition
For three transgressions of the children of Ammon
on Amos 1:13-15
Ammon's crime closes the ring of neighbor nations at its most brutal, ripping up the women with child of Gilead simply that they might enlarge their border, an atrocity against the unborn committed for real estate rather than for revenge or survival. Fire falls in the wall of Rabbah with shouting in the day of battle, and their king shall go into captivity, he and his princes together, a sentence the bench notes reads almost like an epitaph for the whole Ammonite royal house. With Ammon judged the oracle has circled Israel's entire border, Aramean, Philistine, Phoenician, Edomite and Ammonite, before the next chapter turns the same measure on Judah and then Israel herself.
The record, by era
The Puritans and the Awakening3 voices
But I will kindle a fire in the wall of Rabbah,.... Which was the metropolis of the children of Ammon, and their royal city, 2Sa 12:
That which was foretold by them was to him as certain as if he had seen it with his bodily eyes. It intimates how strong he was in that faith which is the evidence of things not seen. The person by whom this prophecy was sent-- Amos, who was among the herdmen of Tekoa, and was one of them.
It is particularly threatened that their king and his princes shall go together into captivity, carried away by the king of Babylon, not long after Judah was. See what changes God's providence often makes with men, or rather their own sin; kings become captives, and princes prisoners.
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
With shouting in the day of battle - They shall be totally subdued. This was done by Nebuchadnezzar. See Jer 27:3, Jer 27:6.
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
Rabbah--the capital of Ammon: meaning "the Great." Distinct from Rabbah of Moab. Called Philadelphia, afterwards, from Ptolemy Philadelphus. tempest--that is, with an onset swift, sudden, and resistless as a hurricane. day of the whirlwind--parallel to "the day of battle"; therefore meaning "the day of the foe's tumultuous assault."
1 more voice on this verse
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
I will kindle afire in the wall of Rabbah - Rabbah, literally, “the great,” called by Moses “Rabbah of the children of Ammon” Deu 3:11, and by later Greeks, “Rabathammana” , was a strong city with a yet stronger citadel. Ruins still exist, some of which probably date back to these times. The lower city “lay in a valley bordered on both sides by barren hills of flint,” at 12 an hour from its entrance. It lay on a stream, still called by its name Moyet or Nahr Amman, “waters” or “river of Ammon,” which ultimately falls into the Zurka (the Jabbok) . “On the top of the highest of the northern hills,” where at the divergence of two valleys it abuts upon the ruins of the town, “stands the castle of Ammon, a very extensive rectangular building,” following the shape of the hill and wholly occupying its crest. “Its walls are thick, and denote a remote antiquity; large blocks of stone are piled up without cement, and still hold together as well as if they had been recently placed; the greater part of the wall is entire. Within the castle are several deep cisterns.” There are remains of foundations of a wall of the lower city at its eastern extremity . This lower city, as lying on a river in a waterless district, was called the “city of waters” 2Sa 12:27, which Joab had taken when he sent to David to come and besiege the Upper City. In later times, that Upper City was resolutely defended against Antiochus the Great, and taken, not by force but by thirst . On a conspicuous place on this castle-hill, stood a large temple, some of its broken columns 3 12 feet in diameter , probably the Grecian successor of the temple of its idol Milchom. […]
How the passage was read
What the Jewish commentators add
On the verses either side of this one
they ripped up the pregnant woman of Gilead —They destroyed it and also ripped up their pregnant women so that no heir would remain who would contest the inheritance. And so does Scripture state: (Jer.:1) “Concerning the children of Ammon. So said the Lord: Has Israel no sons?
This section is reception history: how the passage was read and kept in the Jewish tradition. Where a reading parts from an essential of the Christian faith, the section says so at that point.
Texts and citation data: Sefaria; each excerpt follows its version’s licence. 5 further sources are cited on this chapter that carry no English text this site may quote or only restate the verse.
The words behind it
12 Hebrew wordsEvery Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וְהִצַּ֤תִּי | vehitzati | and I will kindle | H3341 → | |
| אֵשׁ֙ | ʾesh | a fire | H784 → | 378 times |
| בְּחוֹמַ֣ת | bechomat | on [the] wall of | H2346 → | 133 times |
| רַבָּ֔ה | rabah | Rabbah | H7237 → | |
| וְאָכְלָ֖ה | veakhelah | and it will consume | H398 → | 810 times |
| אַרְמְנוֹתֶ֑יהָ | ʾarmenoteiha | fortresses its | H759 → | 32 times |
| בִּתְרוּעָה֙ | bitruah | with a shout of alarm | H8643 → | |
| בְּי֣וֹם | beyom | on [the] day of | H3117 → | 2304 times |
| מִלְחָמָ֔ה | milchamah | battle | H4421 → | |
| בְּסַ֖עַר | besaar | with a storm | H5591 → | |
| בְּי֥וֹם | beyom | on [the] day of | H3117 → | 2304 times |
| סוּפָֽה | sufah | a storm-wind | H5492 → |
וְהִצַּ֤תִּיand I will kindle
vehitzatiH3341 →
אֵשׁ֙a fire
ʾeshH784 →378 times
בְּחוֹמַ֣תon [the] wall of
bechomatH2346 →133 times
רַבָּ֔הRabbah
rabahH7237 →
וְאָכְלָ֖הand it will consume
veakhelahH398 →810 times
אַרְמְנוֹתֶ֑יהָfortresses its
ʾarmenoteihaH759 →32 times
בִּתְרוּעָה֙with a shout of alarm
bitruahH8643 →
בְּי֣וֹםon [the] day of
beyomH3117 →2304 times
מִלְחָמָ֔הbattle
milchamahH4421 →
בְּסַ֖עַרwith a storm
besaarH5591 →
בְּי֥וֹםon [the] day of
beyomH3117 →2304 times
סוּפָֽהa storm-wind
sufahH5492 →
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
Jeremiah 49:2Therefore, behold, the days are coming, declares the LORD, when I will sound the battle cry against Rabbah of the Ammonites. It will become a heap of ruins, and its villages will be burned.…
it leads to
- Deuteronomy 3:11
(For only Og king of Bashan had remained of the remnant of the Rephaim. His bed of iron, nine cubits long and four cubits wide, is still in Rabbah of the Ammonites.)
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Jeremiah 4:19
My anguish, my anguish! I writhe in pain! Oh, the pain in my chest! My heart pounds within me; I cannot be silent. For I have heard the sound of the horn, the alarm…
- Deuteronomy 3:11
Through
Isaiah 30:30And the LORD will cause His majestic voice to be heard and His mighty arm to be revealed, striking in angry wrath with a flame of consuming fire, and with cloudburst, storm, and hailstones.
it leads to
- Isaiah 29:6
you will be visited by the LORD of Hosts with thunder and earthquake and loud noise, with windstorm and tempest and consuming flame of fire.
- Psalms 18:13–14
The LORD thundered from heaven; the voice of the Most High resounded— hailstones and coals of fire.
- Joshua 10:11
As they fled before Israel along the descent from Beth-horon to Azekah, the LORD cast down on them large hailstones from the sky, and more of them were killed by the hailstones than by…
- Isaiah 29:6
Through
Amos 2:2So I will send fire against Moab to consume the citadels of Kerioth. Moab will die in tumult, amid war cries and the sound of the ram’s horn.
it leads to
- Jeremiah 48:24
upon Kerioth, Bozrah, and all the towns of Moab, those far and near.
- Jeremiah 48:41
Kirioth has been taken, and the strongholds seized. In that day the heart of Moab’s warriors will be like the heart of a woman in labor.
- Jeremiah 48:24
Through
Deuteronomy 3:11(For only Og king of Bashan had remained of the remnant of the Rephaim. His bed of iron, nine cubits long and four cubits wide, is still in Rabbah of the Ammonites.)
it leads to
- Genesis 14:5
In the fourteenth year, Chedorlaomer and the kings allied with him went out and defeated the Rephaites in Ashteroth-karnaim, the Zuzites in Ham, the Emites in Shaveh-kiriathaim,
- Genesis 14:5
Where this verse is studied
On this page
Studies2
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About Amos
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Carl Friedrich Keil, The Twelve Minor Prophets; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; Jamieson, Fausset and Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; Jerome, Commentary on Amos; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763) and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.