Amos 2:1
in Amos 2This is what the LORD says: “For three transgressions of Moab, even four, I will not revoke My judgment, because he burned to lime the bones of Edom’s king.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
Thus saith Jehovah: For three transgressions of Moab, yea, for four, I will not turn away the punishment thereof; because he burned the bones of the king of Edom into lime.
KJV
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:
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This verse in Amos 2
Commentary
6 notes on this verseThus saith the Lord, for three transgressions of Moab,.... Or the Moabites, who descended from the eldest son of Lot, by one of his daughters; and, though related, were great enemies to the Israelites; they sent for Balaam to curse them when on their borders, and greatly oppressed them in the times of the judges: and for four, I will not turn away the punishment thereof; See Gill on Amo 1:
This site's exposition
he burned the bones of the king of Edom into lime
on Amos 2:1-3
Moab's crime closes the ring of surrounding nations and it is an atrocity against the dead rather than the living, burning a defeated king's bones to lime, an act the bench connects to the war recorded at 2 Kings 3, where an extremity of that campaign is remembered by the nations even where Israel's own record passes over it lightly. The oracle judges a sin against no covenant people and no treaty partner, only against the plain dignity owed even an enemy's corpse, which the commentators read as proof the whole ring of judgments rests on a moral law wider than Israel's own election. Fire on Moab, the judge and the princes cut off, ends the section exactly as each nation before it ended.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers1 voice
(Chapter 2, Verse 1 and following) Thus says the Lord: Concerning the three sins of Moab, and concerning four, I will not revoke my punishment, because he burned the bones of the king of Edom to ashes. And I will send fire upon Moab, and it shall devour the palaces of Kerioth, and Moab shall die with tumult, with shouting, and with the sound of the trumpet. And I will cut off the judge from the midst of her, and will slay all her princes with him, says the Lord.
The Nineteenth Century3 voices
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
The Hebrew tradition is that Moab in revenge tore from their grave and burned the bones of the king of Edom, the ally of Jehoram and Jehoshaphat, who was already buried. Probably the "burning of the bones" means, "he burned the king of Edom alive, reducing his very bones to lime" [MAURER].
For three transgressions of Moab and for four - See an explanation of this form Amo 1:2. The land of the Moabites lay to the east of the Dead Sea. For the origin of this people, see Gen 19:37. He burned the bones on the king of Edom into lime - Possibly referring to some brutality; such as opening the grave of one of the Idumean kings, and calcining his bones. It is supposed by some to refer to the fact mentioned 2Ki 3:26, when the kings of Judah, Israel, and Idumea, joined together to destroy Moab. The king of it, despairing to save his city, took seven hundred men, and made a desperate sortie on the quarter where the king of Edom was; and, though not successful, took prisoner the son of the king of Edom; and, on their return into the city, offered him as a burnt-offering upon the wall, so as to terrify the besieging armies, and cause them to raise the siege. Others understand the son that was sacrificed to be the king of Moab’s own son.
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
Moab - The relation of Moab to Israel is only accidentally different from that of Ammon. One spirit actuated both, venting itself in one and the same way, as occasion served, and mostly together (see the note at Amo 1:13).
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| כֹּ֚ה | koh | thus | H3541 → | 577 times |
| אָמַ֣ר | ʾamar | he says | H559 → | 5305 times |
| יְהוָ֔ה | yahweh | Yahweh | H3068 → | 6520 times |
| עַל־ | ʾal- | on | H5921 → | 5755 times |
| שְׁלֹשָׁה֙ | sheloshah | three | H7969 → | 432 times |
| פִּשְׁעֵ֣י | pishei | <the> transgressions of | H6588 → | 93 times |
| מוֹאָ֔ב | moav | Moab | H4124 → | 181 times |
| וְעַל־ | veal- | and on | H5921 → | 5755 times |
| אַרְבָּעָ֖ה | ʾarbaah | four | H702 → | 318 times |
| לֹ֣א | lo' | not | H3808 → | 5168 times |
| אֲשִׁיבֶ֑נּוּ | ʾashivenu | I will revoke it | H7725 → | 1056 times |
| עַל־ | ʾal- | because | H5921 → | 5755 times |
| שָׂרְפ֛וֹ | sarefo | burned he | H8313 → | |
| עַצְמ֥וֹת | atzmot | [the] bones of | H6106 → | |
| מֶֽלֶךְ־ | melekh- | [the] king of | H4428 → | 2525 times |
| אֱד֖וֹם | ʾedom | Edom | H123 → | 99 times |
| לַשִּֽׂיד׃ | lasid | into <the> lime | H7875 → |
כֹּ֚הthus
kohH3541 →577 times
אָמַ֣רhe says
ʾamarH559 →5305 times
יְהוָ֔הYahweh
yahwehH3068 →6520 times
עַל־on
ʾal-H5921 →5755 times
שְׁלֹשָׁה֙three
sheloshahH7969 →432 times
פִּשְׁעֵ֣י<the> transgressions of
pisheiH6588 →93 times
מוֹאָ֔בMoab
moavH4124 →181 times
וְעַל־and on
veal-H5921 →5755 times
אַרְבָּעָ֖הfour
ʾarbaahH702 →318 times
לֹ֣אnot
lo'H3808 →5168 times
אֲשִׁיבֶ֑נּוּI will revoke it
ʾashivenuH7725 →1056 times
עַל־because
ʾal-H5921 →5755 times
שָׂרְפ֛וֹburned he
sarefoH8313 →
עַצְמ֥וֹת[the] bones of
atzmotH6106 →
מֶֽלֶךְ־[the] king of
melekh-H4428 →2525 times
אֱד֖וֹםEdom
ʾedomH123 →99 times
לַשִּֽׂיד׃into <the> lime
lasidH7875 →
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
Amos 1:3This is what the LORD says: “For three transgressions of Damascus, even four, I will not revoke My judgment, because they threshed Gilead with sledges of iron.
it leads to
- Amos 1:9
This is what the LORD says: “For three transgressions of Tyre, even four, I will not revoke My judgment, because they delivered up a whole congregation of exiles to Edom and broke a covenant…
- Isaiah 8:4
For before the boy knows how to cry ‘Father’ or ‘Mother,’ the wealth of Damascus and the plunder of Samaria will be carried off by the king of Assyria.”
- 2 Kings 8:12
“Why is my lord weeping?” asked Hazael. “Because I know the evil you will do to the Israelites,” Elisha replied. “You will set fire to their fortresses, kill their young men with the sword,…
- 2 Kings 10:32–33
In those days the LORD began to reduce the size of Israel. Hazael defeated the Israelites throughout their territory
- Amos 2:6
This is what the LORD says: “For three transgressions of Israel, even four, I will not revoke My judgment, because they sell the righteous for silver and the needy for a pair of sandals.
- Amos 1:9
Through
Isaiah 25:10For the hand of the LORD will rest on this mountain. But Moab will be trampled in his place as straw is trodden into the dung pile.
it leads to
- Zephaniah 3:15–17
The LORD has taken away your punishment; He has turned back your enemy. Israel’s King, the LORD, is among you; no longer will you fear any harm.
- Isaiah 26:6
Feet trample it down—the feet of the oppressed, the steps of the poor.
- Amos 2:1–3
This is what the LORD says: “For three transgressions of Moab, even four, I will not revoke My judgment, because he burned to lime the bones of Edom’s king.
- Zephaniah 3:15–17
Where this verse is studied
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1 name in this verse with a page on the site.
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 and John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763).