Amos 1:5
in Amos 1I will break down the gates of Damascus; I will cut off the ruler of the Valley of Aven and the one who wields the scepter in Beth-eden. The people of Aram will be exiled to Kir,” says the LORD.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
And I will break the bar of Damascus, and cut off the inhabitant from the valley of Aven, and him that holdeth the sceptre from the house of Eden; and the people of Syria shall go into captivity unto Kir, saith Jehovah.
KJV
I will break also the bar of Damascus, and cut off the inhabitant from the plain of Aven, and him that holdeth the sceptre from the house of Eden: and the people of Syria shall go into captivity unto Kir, saith the Lord.
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This verse in Amos 1
Commentary
9 notes on this verse(Verse 5) Holding the scepter from the house of pleasure, and the people of Syria will be transferred to Cyrene, says the Lord. LXX: And I will cut off the tribe from men from Haran, and the captive people of Syria will be led, says the Lord. So that it is understood, I will crush and destroy, and the people of Syria will be transferred to the farthest borders of Egypt.
This site's exposition
For three transgressions of Damascus
on Amos 1:3-5
The formula that structures the whole opening section appears first here and the bench reads it once for all eight oracles: three transgressions, and for four is not a literal count but a Hebrew idiom for a full and overflowing measure of guilt, the last straw named while the pile beneath it is assumed. Damascus is charged with threshing Gilead with iron implements, a war crime against Israel's own territory east of Jordan under the Hazael-Ben-hadad dynasty of 2 Kings 13:7. The sentence, captivity unto Kir, reverses the very place Amos 9:7 says Syria came from, and Keil and the historians alike set its fulfilment under Tiglath-pileser III at 2 Kings 16:9.
The record, by era
The Puritans and the Awakening4 voices
The bar - Literally the bar with which the city gates were shut, and fastened. Of Eden - Some royal seat, of the kings of Syria. Kir - Kir of Media, Isaiah xxii, 6, thither did Tiglath-Pilneser carry the conquered Syrians, 2 Kings xvi, 9, and placed them captives in that barren mountainous country, about fifteen years after it was foretold by Amos.
23 ), were worshipped in valleys; as the idols of Israel were worshipped on the hills; him also that holdeth the sceptre of power, some petty king or other that used to boast of the sceptre he held from Beth-Eden, the house of pleasure.
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — leading-citation-number+unbalanced-parens
I will break also the bar of Damascus,.... Or bars, the singular for the plural, by which the gates of the city were barred; and, being broken, the gates would be easily opened, and way made for the enemy to pass into the city and spoil it; or it may signify the whole strength and all the fortifications of it. So the Targum, "I will break the strength of Damascus:'' and cut off the inhabitant from the plain of Aven; or, "of an idol", as the Vulgate Latin version.
Sin stirs up the fire of his jealousy, and that kindles other fires. Let us see what is mentioned, both by way of charge and by way of sentence, that is peculiar to each of them, that every one may take his portion. Concerning Damascus, the head-city of Syria, a kingdom that was often vexatious to Israel.
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
I will also break the bar of Damascus - In the East, every city was fortified; the gates of the stronger cities were cased in iron, that they might not be set on fire by the enemy; they were fastened within with bars of brass 1Ki 4:13 or iron (Psa 107:16; Isa 45:2; compare Isa 48:14; Jer 51:3 O). They were flanked with towers, and built over, so that what was naturally the weakest point and the readiest access to an enemy became the strongest defense.
2 more voices on this verse
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
proposed
As JOSEPHUS ABASSUS is a doubtful authority, perhaps the reference may be rather to the valley between Lebanon and Anti-Lebanon, called El-Bekaa, where are the ruins of the Baal-bek temple of the sun; so the Septuagint renders it On, the same name as the city in Egypt bears, dedicated to the sun-worship (Ge 41:45; Heliopolis, "the city of the sun," Eze 30:17, Margin).
The bar of Damascus - The gates, whose long traverse bars, running from wall to wall, were their strength. I will throw it open; and the gates were forced, and the city taken, as above. The plain of Aven - the house of Eden - These are names, says Bochart, of the valley of Damascus. The plain of Aven, or Birkath-Aven, Calmet says, is a city of Syria, at present called Baal-Bek, and by the Greeks Heliopolis; and is situated at the end of that long valley which extends from south to north, between Libanus and Anti-Libanus. The people of Syria shall go into captivity unto Kir - Kir is supposed to be the country of Cyrene in Albania, on the river Cyrus, which empties itself into the Caspian Sea. The fulfilment of this prophecy may be seen in 2Ki 16:1-9.
The words behind it
17 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וְשָֽׁבַרְתִּי֙ | veshavarti | and I will break | H7665 → | |
| בְּרִ֣יחַ | beriach | [the] bar of | H1280 → | |
| דַּמֶּ֔שֶׂק | damesek | Damascus | H1834 → | 45 times |
| וְהִכְרַתִּ֤י | vehikhrati | and I will cut off | H3772 → | 288 times |
| יוֹשֵׁב֙ | yoshev | inhabitant[s] | H3427 → | 1079 times |
| מִבִּקְעַת־ | mibikat- | from [the] Valley of | H1237 → | |
| אָ֔וֶן | ʾaven | Aven | H206 → | |
| וְתוֹמֵ֥ךְ | vetomekh | and a holder of | H8551 → | |
| שֵׁ֖בֶט | shevet | a scepter | H7626 → | |
| מִבֵּ֣ית | mibeit | from Beth | H1040 → | |
| עֶ֑דֶן | ʾeden | Eden | H1040 → | |
| וְגָל֧וּ | vegalu | and they will go into exile | H1540 → | 186 times |
| עַם־ | ʾam- | [the] people of | H5971 → | 1873 times |
| אֲרָ֛ם | ʾaram | Aram | H758 → | |
| קִ֖ירָה | kirah | Kir towards | H7024 → | |
| אָמַ֥ר | ʾamar | he says | H559 → | 5305 times |
| יְהוָֽה׃ פ | yahweh | Yahweh | H3068 → | 6520 times |
וְשָֽׁבַרְתִּי֙and I will break
veshavartiH7665 →
בְּרִ֣יחַ[the] bar of
beriachH1280 →
דַּמֶּ֔שֶׂקDamascus
damesekH1834 →45 times
וְהִכְרַתִּ֤יand I will cut off
vehikhratiH3772 →288 times
יוֹשֵׁב֙inhabitant[s]
yoshevH3427 →1079 times
מִבִּקְעַת־from [the] Valley of
mibikat-H1237 →
אָ֔וֶןAven
ʾavenH206 →
וְתוֹמֵ֥ךְand a holder of
vetomekhH8551 →
שֵׁ֖בֶטa scepter
shevetH7626 →
מִבֵּ֣יתfrom Beth
mibeitH1040 →
עֶ֑דֶןEden
ʾedenH1040 →
וְגָל֧וּand they will go into exile
vegaluH1540 →186 times
עַם־[the] people of
ʾam-H5971 →1873 times
אֲרָ֛םAram
ʾaramH758 →
קִ֖ירָהKir towards
kirahH7024 →
אָמַ֥רhe says
ʾamarH559 →5305 times
יְהוָֽה׃ פYahweh
yahwehH3068 →6520 times
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 51:30The warriors of Babylon have stopped fighting; they sit in their strongholds. Their strength is exhausted; they have become like women. Babylon’s homes have been set ablaze, the bars of her gates are broken.
it leads to
- Nahum 3:13
Look at your troops—they are like your women! The gates of your land are wide open to your enemies; fire consumes their bars.
- Jeremiah 50:36–37
A sword is against her false prophets, and they will become fools. A sword is against her warriors, and they will be filled with terror.
- Isaiah 19:16
In that day the Egyptians will be like women. They will tremble with fear beneath the uplifted hand of the LORD of Hosts, when He brandishes it against them.
- Lamentations 2:9
Her gates have sunk into the ground; He has destroyed and shattered their bars. Her king and her princes are exiled among the nations, the law is no more, and even her prophets find…
- Isaiah 13:7–8
Therefore all hands will fall limp, and every man’s heart will melt.
- Nahum 3:13
Through
Lamentations 2:9Her gates have sunk into the ground; He has destroyed and shattered their bars. Her king and her princes are exiled among the nations, the law is no more, and even her prophets find…
it leads to
- Ezekiel 7:26
Disaster upon disaster will come, and rumor after rumor. Then they will seek a vision from a prophet, but instruction from the priests will perish, as will counsel from the elders.
- Ezekiel 7:26
Through
Amos 9:7“Are you not like the Cushites to Me, O children of Israel?” declares the LORD. “Did I not bring Israel up from the land of Egypt, the Philistines from Caphtor, and the Arameans from…
it leads to
- Jeremiah 47:4
For the day has come to destroy all the Philistines, to cut off from Tyre and Sidon every remaining ally. Indeed, the LORD is about to destroy the Philistines, the remnant from the coasts…
- 2 Kings 16:9
So the king of Assyria responded to him, marched up to Damascus, and captured it. He took its people to Kir as captives and put Rezin to death.
- Jeremiah 47:4
Where this verse is studied
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About Amos
Who and where
1 name in this verse with a page on the site.
This page draws on 9 works. Open the list of works
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes on the Old Testament; 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; Jerome, Commentary on Amos; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.