Amos 1:14 — meaning, Hebrew and Greek word study, commentary
Amos 1:14
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:
to burn or set on fire · conjunction + verb, hiphil sequential perfect, 1st person common singular
fire
אֵשׁ֙'esh
H784
fire (literally or figuratively) · noun, common both genders singular absolute
wall
בְּחוֹמַ֣תbe.cho.Mat
H2346
a wall of protection · preposition + noun, common feminine singular construct
Rabbah
רַבָּ֔הra.Bah
H7237
Rabbah · proper noun, a place name
devour
וְאָכְלָ֖הve.'a.khe.Lah
H398
to eat (literally or figuratively) · conjunction + verb, qal sequential perfect, 3rd person feminine singular
palaces
אַרְמְנוֹתֶ֑יהָ'ar.me.no.Tei.ha
H759
a citadel (from its height) · noun, common feminine plural construct + pronominal suffix, 3rd person feminine singular
shouting
בִּתְרוּעָה֙bit.ru.'Ah
H8643
clamor · preposition + noun, common feminine singular absolute
day
בְּי֣וֹםbe.Yom
H3117
a day (as the warm hours) · preposition + noun, common masculine singular construct
battle
מִלְחָמָ֔הmil.cha.Mah
H4421
a battle (i.e. the engagement) · noun, common feminine singular absolute
tempest
בְּסַ֖עַרbe.Sa.'ar
H5591
a hurricane · preposition + noun, common masculine singular absolute
day
בְּי֥וֹםbe.Yom
H3117
a day (as the warm hours) · preposition + noun, common masculine singular construct
whirlwind
סוּפָֽהsu.Fah
H5492
a hurricane · noun, common feminine singular absolute
Strong's Exhaustive Concordance (James Strong, 1890/1894), public domain; digitized by Open Scriptures (CC BY-SA). KJV word tagging: eBible.org (public domain). Original-language text, parsing and brief lexicon: STEPBible.org data from Tyndale House, Cambridge (CC BY 4.0).
Cross-references
Deuteronomy 3:11 For only Og king of Bashan remained of the remnant of giants; behold, his bedstead was a bedstead of iron; is it not in Rabbath of the child…
Jeremiah 49:2 Therefore, behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that I will cause an alarm of war to be heard in Rabbah of the Ammonites; and it shall be…
Amos 2:2 But I will send a fire upon Moab, and it shall devour the palaces of Kerioth: and Moab shall die with tumult, with shouting, and with the so…
2 Samuel 12:26 And Joab fought against Rabbah of the children of Ammon, and took the royal city.
Isaiah 30:30 And the LORD shall cause his glorious voice to be heard, and shall shew the lighting down of his arm, with the indignation of his anger, and…
Job 39:25 He saith among the trumpets, Ha, ha; and he smelleth the battle afar off, the thunder of the captains, and the shouting.
Psalms 83:15 So persecute them with thy tempest, and make them afraid with thy storm.
Isaiah 9:5 For every battle of the warrior is with confused noise, and garments rolled in blood; but this shall be with burning and fuel of fire.
Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).
Commentary
Matthew Henry on Amos 1:3–end
What the Lord says here may be explained by what he says Jer 12:14, Thus said the Lord, against all my evil neighbours that touch the inheritance of my people Israel, Behold, I will pluck them out. Damascus was a near neighbour to Israel on the north, Tyre and Gaza on the west, Edom on the south, Ammon and (in the next chapter) Moab on the east; and all of them had been, one time, one way, or other, pricking briers and grieving thorns to Israel, evil neighbours to them; and, because God espouses his people's cause, he there calls them his evil neighbours, and here comes forth to reckon with them. The method is taken in dealing with each of them is, in part, the same, and therefore we put the…
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."
Adam Clarke on Amos 1:14
With shouting in the day of battle - They shall be totally subdued. This was done by Nebuchadnezzar. See Jer 27:3, Jer 27:6.
John Gill on Amos 1:14
But I will kindle a fire in the wall of Rabbah,.... Which was the metropolis of the children of Ammon, and their royal city, 2 Samuel 12:26. This is to be understood of an enemy that should destroy it, perhaps Nebuchadnezzar; or of war being kindled and raised in their country; this place being put for the whole; See Gill on Jeremiah 49:2;
and it shall devour the palaces thereof; the palaces of the king, and his nobles:
with shouting in the day of battle; with the noise of soldiers when they make their onset, or have gained the victory; see Jeremiah 49:2;
with a tempest in the day of the whirlwind; denoting that this judgment should come suddenly, and at an unawares, with great force, irr…
(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. LXX: Thus says the Lord: For three transgressions of the Ammonites, and for four, I will not turn away its punishment, because they ripped open the women with child in Gilead, that they might enlarge their borders. So I will kindle a fire in the walls of Rabbah, and it shall devour its palaces, with shouting in the day of battle, with a tempest in the day of the whirlwind. Their king shall go into captivity, he and his priests and his princes together, says the Lord. The divine message captures the sons of Ammon, who are descendants of Lot, and who dwell in Arabia, where Philadelphia now stands. They question why, during the reign of Saul, the king of Judah, Naash, the prince of the Ammonites, ravaged Jabesh-gilead and mutilated its pregnant women in order to expand his territory and subdue all of Gilead with his empire (1 Samuel 11). Therefore, God threatens to kindle a fire on the walls of Rabbah, the capital city of the Ammonites, so that its houses may be devoured amidst the clamor and wailing of the conquering army. This will happen on a day of turmoil and whirlwind, when its captives are led away as captives by Nebuchadnezzar. The idol of the Ammonites, called Molech or their king, will be carried off to Assyria, and its princes or priests will also be taken captive. Priests are not recognized in Hebrew, but rather princes. So the Seventy priests were added, so that if you want to know who those princes are, you will listen to the priests. However, there is a difference between the cruelty of Damascus and the sons of Ammon, because they shattered the pregnant women of Gilead in iron carts or in iron saws: but these (priests) dismembered the pregnant women of Gilead in order to expand their territory. In Damascus, those who drink blood are deemed heretics, who have not only plundered the people of God from the Church but have also shattered them and chewed them with iron teeth, about whom it is…
The Church Fathers: public-domain translations (Ante-Nicene and Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers), verse-indexed by SermonIndex (CC BY 4.0).
Dictionary and topics
Ammonite — The usual name of the descendants of Ammon, the son of Lot (Gen. 19:38). From the very beginning (Deut. 2:16-20) of their history till they are lost sight of (Judg. 5:2), this tribe is closely…
Ammonites, The · Predictions respecting: Punishment for oppressive cruelty — Predictions respecting: Punishment for oppressive cruelty
Rabbah · .Possessed again by the Ammonites; prophesied against — .Possessed again by the Ammonites; prophesied against
Dictionary: Easton's (1897) and Smith's (1863), public domain. Topics: Nave's Topical Bible (1896) and Torrey's Topical Textbook (1897), public domain. Both as parsed by NEUU (CC BY 4.0).
John Calvin on Amos 1:13–end
Amos 1:13-15
13. Thus saith the Lord; For three transgressions of the children of Ammon, and for four, I will not turn away the punishment thereof; because they have ripped up the women with child of Gilead, that they might enlarge their border:
13. Sic dicit Jehova, Super tribus sceleribus filiorum Ammon, et super quatuor non ero ei propitius; quia secuerunt gravidas (praegnantes) Gilead, ut propagarent suum terminum:
14. 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:
14. Et accendam ignem in muro Rabbah, qui vorabit palatia ejus in clamore (vel, jubilo) in die proel…
Ammon. - Amo 1:13. "Thus saith Jehovah: For three transgressions of the sons of Ammon, and for four, I shall not reverse it, because they have ripped up the pregnant women of Gilead, to widen their border, Amo 1:14. I kindle fire in the wall of Rabbah, and it will devour its palaces, with the war-cry on the day of slaughter, in the storm on the day of the tempest. Amo 1:15. And their king shall go into captivity, he and his princes all at once, saith Jehovah." The occasion on which the Ammonites were guilty of such cruelty towards the Israelites as is here condemned, is not recorded in the historical books of the Old Testament; possibly during the wars of Hazael with Israel, when they availe…
Rabbah was the chief city of the Ammonites (2 Sam 12:26). • Ammon (Amos 1:13) was crushed by the Assyrians in the 800s BC, then attacked and depopulated by the Babylonians in the 700s.
Rashi on Amos 1:13
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. 49:1) “Concerning the children of Ammon. So said the Lord: Has Israel no sons? Has he no heir? Why has Malcam taken possession of Gad?”
