Abarbanel on Amos

Sefaria · Tanakh > Rishonim on Tanakh > Abarbanel > Prophets · 47 sections

1.3.1
1. "Thus said Hashem for the three sins of Damascus..." Amos the prophet was prophecising here about six non Jewish nations. Damascus was the head of the kingdom of Aram, Aza the head of the Phillistine kingdom, Tzur, Edom, Amon and Moab. Why aren't the other nations who also attacked and destroyed Israel mentioned here (eg Babylon, Egypt...). I see two possible reasons. The first is that Amos connected his prophecy to that of Yoel. Yoel's prophecy mentioned the two destructions of the Temple and their judgement ("I will gather the nations and bring them to the valley of judgement and there I will judge them regarding my lot, Israel, that they scattered among the nations and my people they divided" Yoel 4:2) and there it specifically mentions Egypt and Edom becoming a waste. Egypt there refers to the lands of the Ishmaelites who joined the Babylonians in destroying the first temple. Edom refers to Rome who destroyed the second temple. Amos therefore doesn't need to include these nations (Rome? Egypt? Babylon?) in his prophecy about the other nations. He includes nations that Yoel didn't speak of. Yosel does mention Tzur and Sidon and Amos also speaks of Tzur because Tzur was destroyed two times likes it says in Isiah. The first was through Nevudnezer who conquered Tzur and made a great slaughted there. The second conquering of Tzur was through Alexander (the Great?) who destroyed Tzur's army and walls and throughoughly destroyed it that no inhabitants were left there until this day. And Yoel spoke of the final great destruction of Tzur, whereas Amos's prophecy about Tzur referred to the first destruction that would take place through Nevuchadnezer. Also regarding Edom, Yoel said it would become a "desolate wilderness" and Amos also mentioned Edom in his prophecy. Yoel was referring to the Roman Empire and Amos was discusing the sins of Edom connected to Jerusaem and the burning of the south. This is the first reason why the prophet Amos doesn't bring up the other nations who attacked Israel. And the second reason is that the prophet is bring a proof and a reproof for Israel from their wicked neighbors. That if Gd punishes the nations who don't have a connection to Him and don't have the Torah for their sins, how could He also not punish His nation, Israel. And because they accepted the Torah they were more stricken by punishment than the other nations and therefore Amos only brought up examples of close by neighbors to Israel who were punished and not far out island nations (for example Rome). And now I will explain how the punishments are connected to these nations and to Judah together when Israel found themselves in a more serious judgement than the nations and therefore the other sins aren't mentioned only the sins that nations did that are connected to israel.
1.3.2
2. And what are the three sins that are mentioned about all the nations that Gd overlooked. Our Rabbis in Yom 86:2 say, "says Rabbi Yehuda son of Rabbi Yose, Edom did a sin one time and it was overlooked. He sinned a second time and it was overlooked. he sinned a third time and it was overlooked and the fourth time it was not overlooked. And from this we learned that it relates to man as well as a nation that a person who sins 2 or 3 times." On this, Rashi with his knowledge and intellect isn't able to understand that it is talking about the sins of the nations equally. And he therefore writes that if one contineus to increase his sin making what is small greater regarding the fourth sin, Gd will exact judgement from him on the fourth sin and even more so if he committed many sins. This raises the third question that I asked (why these specific nations). And the Ibin Ezra writes the reason they that the fourth sins is not overlooked is because they are warned and don't listen before this. And it could be it speaks about the fourth generation. If the whole generation is wicked and you see that there is no warning for the nations here or passing of generations mentioned here. Therefore I believe that the three sins mentioned here don't refer to just any sins or to generations of sinners but they refer to the three specific and heavy sins that are idolatry, immorality and murder that are found among these nations who don't have the the Torah to distance themselves from them. These three sins are specifically included in the 7 Noahide laws. And he says here that each of these nations is obligated to Gd for these three sins but when they add onto it to the fourth sin, their cup is filled and they are ready to recieve punishment immediately. And therefore "thus says Hashem for three sins of Damascus..." whic is the capital of Aram and had the three big sins (idolatry, immorality and murder) among them. And the fourth sins was a different sin that they attacked Israel. It seems surprising for Gd to not exact judgement for the first three sins. The word "ashivenu" which is translated as "revoking the sin" is the same word used in Hose 12:15 and Tehillim 7:17 and means to receive what is deserved from Gd according to the work of their hands. And the fourth sins is explain that Damascus threshed Gilad with iron threshing boards. And it is what is explained in Kings 10:33 that Hazael attacked all the borders of Israel. Meaning that he did a vengeful and disgraceful act to the inhabitants of Gilad by putting iron threshing boards on their bodies as if they were threshing th produce. And in Shmuel 12:31 it mentiones King David acting this way to the nation of Ammon. And via these three sins their cup was filled.
1.3.3
1:4- And the matter came before Gd to send fire into the palace Hazael meaning in his descendants who cam from him. The fire here refers to the enemy who comes to destroy his palace and it here refers to the Assyrians who conquered Damascus and killed the general who was a descendant of Hazael. And because the palace of the king was in Damascus the prophet says that the palace of Ben Haddad was consumed. And other scholars say that the fire means the burning wrath of Gd that will not be requitted by any means. And this is also a possible explanation.
1.5.1
And after the prophet mentions that destruction of the kings and their palaces, he mentions the destruction of the land when he says "I will break the gates of Damascus..." The meaning of this is that even if its gates are big and strong, Gd will break them. Meaning that even the strongest gates will be unable to withstand the enemy. And Gd said, "I will remove the inhabitants from Bikat Aven and grasp the scepter from Beis Aden ." The commentaries generally define Bikas Aven and Beis Aden as large cities in Aram. But I will explain the truth of the matter that actually Bikas Aven is the valley next to Damascus and it is the most fertile and praiseworthy valley in the world full of fruits and produce. And in the valley in every vineyard and orchard and field there is a house and a tower and there they store the food for the inhabitants of Damascus. And the enemy will come and destroy the valley after the inhabitants flee from them. And because of the wickedness of the people of Damascus, it is called "Bikas Avon" (Avon meaning sin). And the meaning of Beis Aden is that it is a name for Damascus itself that it is a city that is "aden" pleasant and luxurious to no end. To the point that the Ishmaelites saw the city from afar on a mountaintop and they saw the valley of Aven also and they feared to enter it because they thought it was literally the Garden of Eden. And they thought if they entered the Garden of Eden on Earth they would give up their place in the Garden of Eden in heaven since a person can't merit two Gardens of Eden. And they therefore left and didn't enter Damascus. And then the Assyrian king came and attacked it and killed all the descendants of the king and destroyed the city and the valley. Therefore the prophet says "I will grasp the scepter from Beis Aven" because the king/ruler holds a scepter in his hand to rule over the people. And he will lose his leadership when the enemy attacks. And after mentioning killing the kings and the destruction of the land, the prophet expounds on the exile of the people by saying "all of Aram will be exiled to Kira" and Kira is a city in Assyria as we know from Malachim 2 16:9) where we told that the Assyrian King attacks Damascus and conquers it, exiles them to Kira and kills the leaders. And it is explained here that the sin that caused Damascus's cup to overflow was the wicked way they treated Israel when they shamed and humbled the residents of Gilad.
1.6.1
"Thus says Hashem, for three sins of Gaza..." This refers to Gaza, the capital of the Phillistines that was near Jerusalem and the Phillistines also committed the sins of idolatry, adultry and murder and then added a fourth sin when they harmed Israel and therefore were wholly deserving of Gd's recompense. What was the fourth sin? The prophet says that they exiled fully. Meaning they ensured the exile was complete, by standing on the pathways and catching the refugees who were escaping from Israel and returning them to their captives. And likewise did the people of Tzur. And I think, the Radak's explanation is more correct. That the refugees from the war in Israel ran by way of the land of the Phillistines, since it is nearby to them and they had a peace treaty with them. And the Phillistines took them and returned them to Edom. And the text explains about how they sent the Israelites into exile despite the peace treaty. Can this be referring to an event that took place during the destruction of the second temple then Edom would refer to the Roman army that captured the Israelite kings. And it means that the Edomites captured the Israelites becuase often in war, one wins a battle and then the next one wins a battle and when the Edomites captured Israel, the Israelites ran from them and came to the Philistines who were at peace with them and they trusted them. But the Philistines in their wickedness would return them immediately to the Edomites which is the opposite of the halacha in the Torah (Devarim 23:17) that one is forbidden to return a servant to his master. And this made it a complete exile in that they returned them to the exile.
1.7.1
1:7 Therefore Gd decreed to send the enemies fire in the walls of Aza that it would consume the fine palaces of theirs.
1.7.2
..
1.7.3
1: and therefore the nation that dwells in Ashdod will be destoryed and the rulership will be removed from Ashkelon. They they are all Philistine cities, Aza, Ashdod and Ashkelon and Akron. Gath is not mentioned here because it was a city of the the kingdom of Judah. And when the prophet says "I will destroy the remnant of the Philistines" you will see the truth of what I said because the prophecy of Amos came after the prophecy of Yoel, chronologically. And because Amos heard Yoel's prophecy about the destruction of Tzur and Sidon and the districts of the Philistines therefore Amos prophecy dealt with the other Philistine cities and that's what was mean by the "remnants of the Philistines."
1.9.1
1:9 And the sin of Tzur is mentioned here when it says they made Israel have the complete exile meaning they sent the refugee israelites who were living peacefully amongst them to Edom. And they didn't remember the convenant that there was between Israel and Tzur. That was in the days of Chiram and Shlomo Hamelech like it says (Malachim 1 5:26) they made a covenant of peace. And they called each other brothers as you see from the pesukim "what are these cities you have given to me my brother?"
1.9.3
1:10 And therefore Hashem decreed to send fire to the walls of Tzur. This refers to Nevudnezer who destroyed Tzur and its palaces. And it is explained that Tzur and Aza joined in committing the fourth sin just like they joined the other nations in committing the other three sins.
1.11.1
The prophet then goes on to decree regarding Edom. I already explain the meaning of the three sins of Edom. The first was that in the days of Esau, he pursued Jacob his brother. The second sin was in the days of Moshe Rabbeinu when the Israelites sought to pass in Edom's land they didn't allow them to pass through and threatened (Bamidbar 20:18) lest a sword come to greet you. The third sin occured during the destruction of the first Temple (Psalsm 137:10) as it says "Gd remembers regarding the sons of Edom, the day of Jerusalem that they said Aru, aru" and the fourth sin was that the Edomite descendants, who were the Romans destroyed the second Temple and spilled the blood of the Judeans like water around Jerusalem. And the prophet Amos says about this "for the three sins of Edom..." The explanation is that the prophet says "he pursued his brother with a sword" this refers to the first sin of Esau pursuing Jacob to do evil to him because even though he wasn't able to harm him, his intention was murder. The second sin is referenced by Amos's statement "he curbed his mercy". The third sin is referenced by "his anger raged unceasing" and refers to the destruction of the first temple and possibly here the word "l'ad" or "unceasing/forever" comes from the same root as in (Breishis 49:27) where the word "ad" means the spoils of the war, and during the destruction of the first temple, Edom came to Jerusalem to take the spoils. And regarding the destruction of the second Temple and the extended exile and the all the tragedies that Judah has borne from the nation of Edom, the prophet says "his fury lasted forever" and the word "netzach/forever" references the length of the exile. But, I also gave a different explanation that can be correct where the three sins that are overlooked refer to the three more serious trangressions which are idolatry, immorality and murder and the fourth references their persecution of Israel. In which case they were certainly deserving of punishment for the first three sins alone but were only punished for the fourth. And the fourth sin is mentioned in the pesukim. The prophet says "he pursued his brother with the sword" this was when Israel passed them in the desert and Edom came out to meet them and Moshe Rabbenu sent them word of peace "thus said your brother Israel" and Edom in their cruelty, curbed their compassion and their brotherly feelings and chase them with the sword. And they continued to display rage and animosity towards the nation of Israel that lasted eternally even after Israel settle in their land Edom continually acted as an enemy. And therefore, Gd decreed that midah k'neged midah, deservingly, since their animosity towards Israel was everlasting, Gd would also harbor animosity towards them eternally.
1.11.3
1:12- And I will sent a fire in Teiman (which is in the land of Edom) near Israel. Gd harbored anger towards Edom until the end of days when He will consume the palaces of their major city Betzarah. I explained in sefer Yeshaya that if the Romans came from the land of the Greeks they were connected to Edom because Edom settled there and the first kings were from Edom. And I gave proofs for this there from the book of chronicles for officers. And I explained that ifMoab had had a city called Betzarah, the Romans' would have called it by it's original name and it was a strong and powerful city. And I also wrote above that the prophet Amos spoke here about the destruction of the land of Edom that is near Jerusalem and i fso he prophesized about the destruction of the large Roman cities that were specifically Edomite. But Yoel already prophecized about the whole kingdom of Edom and the rest of the land of Edom.
1.13.1
And here the decree that Hashem put on the Amonites is mentioned including the three sins of idolatry, immorality and murder that the Amonites did and the fourth sin that was regarding Israel. For all these, Gd will not overlook and will truthfully repay them according their deeds. And the fourth sin was ripping open the "haros" of Gilead in order to expand their boundary. And the word "haros" comes from the word "harim" mountains and it's the feminine form of the word. And this means that since they were neighbors with Gilead, they would break open the mountains that they were neighbors to to expand their borders and since we know "cursed is the one who encroaches on his fellow man's borders" and Jeremiah (49:1) said "to the sons of Amon thus said Hashem, 'has Israel no sons to inherit taht you inherited their land of Gad and dwelled in their cities" . Jeremiah mentions Gad because it is capitol of Gilead nad has access to crossing the Jordan. And rashi provides another explanation for the word "haros" and says it refers to pregnant women. The Amonites were so unmerciful in their quest to destroy every remnant of Israel that is why the prophet says "has Israel no children to inherit"
1.13.3
And their sins is given here that the fire will come in their palace in their largest city "Rabat". And consume their palaces on the day of war that they are fighting agains tthe enemy. ANd it says it will come suddently and quickly like a storm on clear day like Shlomo Hamelech said "when terror descends upon you destructively and calamity like a whirlwind" (Mishlei 1:27).
1.13.5
And the prophet says that not only will the land be defeated but also it's kings and officers will jointly go into exile because their fate was sealed due to their theft and wanton cruelty
2.1.1
And the decree regarding Moab is mentioned here when the prophet says "for three trangressions of Moab I will overlook and for the fourth I will not overlook. Because they burned the bones of the Edomite king to lime" And with the other nations mentioned above, Damascus, Aza, Tzur, Edom and Amon their fourth sin was regarding Israel, but Moab's sin we don't understand why it was listed here when he acted against Edom who is the enemy of Gd. And Rashi write about a time when the king of Edom fell and they burnt his bones and ground them into the walls of the house. And Gd decreed regarding the humiliation and afflictation of this king. And anothe commentary says that burning the bones of the king of Edom was a humiliation and Edom is still the child of Yitzchak. But these are not the true answers. In my opinion the prophecies are in a specific order beginning with Damascus who fought in Gilead in a humiliating way. Then it discusses Aza and Tzur who both were punished for rebellion and breaking the peace treaty between them and Israel to send them to Edom. And afterwards the prophet discusses Edom to tell us about the war between Edom and Israel during which the Philistines, Tzur and Aza gave over the refugees. And it discusses the wickedness of Edom who curbed their compassion.
2.1.2
And after discussing the wars in Damascus and Edom the prophet returns to the rebellion of Aza and Tzur and says what their reason was in these two wars. The Damascus used the iron furrows on the residents of Gilead in order to do the same thing that Amon tried to do and to increase their borders. The men of Damascus learned from Amon. Then the prophet discusses the factors behind the hatred and war between Edom and Israel. They were allies with Israel and Judah and went to fight Moab. The king of Moab during that fight took the King Adom and brought him up on the wall and burned him as an offering to his god. And the "offering" was completely burned up to "lime" meaning until the bones were soft as dust. And this created animosity between the Edomites and the Israelites because Israel brought them into a war that ended up with the crown prince getting burned. And from them on the animosity between Israle and Edom increased and they were in a constant state of war between them until the point when the Philistines gave the Israelite refugees to Edom. So Moab was the cuase of the animosity between Israel and Edom and the cause of the war
2.1.4
2:2 and therefore his punishment was that Gd sent the fire of the enemy into Moab and it consumed his palaces and capital cities and the king died in a catastrophic manner to the sound of the shofar from the war.
2.1.6
2:3 And therefore the judges are cut off from inside it that this is regarding the king and officers from that city that were killed in it.
2.4.1
And after speaking of the nations, the destruction of Judah is mentioned because they were also guilty of the sins of the idolatry, immorality and murder. And their fourth sin was their rejection of the Torah and its laws. It wasn't that they merely served idols but they also did not serve Gd and therefore they rejected the Torah and did not keep it's lawas and they followed the falsehoods of their fathers, meaing the Baal that they served and the false prophets that they obeyed. And therefore Gd decreed that a fire would come to Judah and that is the sword of Nevuchadnezer who defeated them and exiled them. And the simple meaning of the fire is that which burned the palaces of Jerusalem and the fire that burned the Beis Hamikdash.
2.4.2
And I will explain what the 3 sins that are mentioned 8 times in Amos propechies that refer to idolatry, immorality and murder. That every nation committed these with reprecussions only being punished for their actions regarding Israel. The reason these six nations are mentioned is because they are close to Jerusalem and other nations who acted wickedly towards each other aren't mentioend here becasue they did cause Israel harm . And Judah who is mentioend here also implicates Israel through its actions and is therefore mentioned before the prophecy about Israel. And this answers the 3, 4, and 5 questions.
3.9.1
Make it heard in the palaces.... Now the prophet returns to telling us of the punishment of the kings of Israel specifically according to their since. And since he says "Gd speaks who can not prophecy" it was a call to the prophets to listen and not withhold their prophecy from fear of the people but rather make the word of Gd known in the palaces of Ashdod, in the land of the Philistines. And in the palaces of Egypt meaning tell the leadersa nd kings who dwell in palaces to gather against the Mountain of Shomron to destroy it. This refers to the mountains of Shomron and those around it. Meaning that Gd gave them permission to enter the land and wreak judgement against them. And to see great upheavals in it, referring to the upheavals of the enemeis that come against it and this is the inhabitants of Shomron who would fight and steal from their enemies. And when the pasuk says "they are incapable of doing right" it means that the inhabitants of Shomron were filled with violeance and lawlessness and didn't act according to the straight and narrow and rather filled their palaces with violence and lawlessness. This is what most commentaries explain these pesukim as. But I have a different explanation because the destruction of the 10 tribes did not orccur through Egypt and Ashdod, but rather through the king of Assyria
3.9.2
And therefore I will explain these pesukim in one of two ways. The first way is that this doesn't speak of the enemies coming rather that it will be heard in the palaces of Ashdod that if they are in bands of theives and rebels and the palaces of Egypt that are filled with idols and adultery. It will be said to them to gather on Mt Shomron to see their deeds and their idols and they will without a doubt see the great upheavals in it from these sins and lying, murdering, stealing, adultry and they will see that they are also involved in these as it says "the land is filled with violence" (10) and the inhabitants of Shomron will know that the upheavals have only come as a result of them committing violence and lawlessness in their palaces and the sinners in Ashdod and Egypt will be shocked from the violence in Shomron that all the bad that occured to them and it will be like the pasuk in Jeremiah (2:10) "Just cross over to the isles of the Kittim and look, Send to Kedar and observe carefully; See if aught like this has ever happened:" This is the first explanation for these pesukim. THe second one is...Ashdod is mentioned because the word Ashdod has the word "shod" in it and Egypt because Mitzrayim has the word "tzara" and "metzor" the preophet says let it be heard in their palaces that the Israelites will hear about the "shod" destruction coming to them and the times of "tzara" trouble. And it says about these enemies that htye will gather on Har Shomron to see the upheavals and then they will know that the inhabitantso f Shomron are deserving of these and that Hasehm has decreed this measure for measure on the palaces of Shomron because they were involved in "shod" they will be punished with "shod"
3.12.1
about the nation and tribes and what will be with them, Gd says "just like the shephard saves from the lion only two hindlegs or a piece of an ear, meaning the shephard is only able to rescue the ear piece as a witness that the lion. Similar to the piece needed as witness in (Shemot 22:12). And that matter that only a small piece is saved from the lion and he wasn't able to consume it, to that extent the Israelites who live in Shomron will be saved. Not the warriors and mighty men but rather the sick ones who are bedridden from their illness in the corner of the bed. And from the trouble of the enemy there will remain a small corner of the bed. The meaning of those "dameshek arish" (the piece of the couch) according to the Radak is the prophet repeating himself in different words. The word "damashek" means "corner" and "arish" is a "bed" as you see in other pesukim in the Torah (Yeshaya 33:4). And the two phrases used for the corner of the bed refer to the sick man who is lying in the corner of the bed unable to move (peat hamitah) and the sick man who can't rest because of his pain who is "mesheck" moving and rolling around from side to side of the bed (damashek arish). Rashi says this is referring to what is says about the end of the King of Aram in King Yehoyachaz ben Yehu and Jerobam ben Joash when they were rescued only a remnant (Malachim 2 14:27) and Hashem did not say to destroy the name of Israel and to save them through Jeroban ben Joash." and Hashem return the borders of Israel. THis is the meaning of the corner of the bed. The corner of the bedi n the corner of the house is the strength of the house and therefore refers to the stregnth of Jerobams reign and Amos lived and prophesized during this time. And he prophesized that they would end up reliant on the King of Aram like they were in the days of the King Pekach ben Remalliyahu who joined with them. This is the meanin of "demeshek arish" that their main source of reliance was on Damascus/demeshek.
3.12.2
And our Rabbis explain in Seder Olam, Rabbi Nehorai in the name of Rabbi Yehoshua say this is the 10 tribes who relied on Chizkiyahu the king of Judah and remained among them during the days of Assyria conquest. The meaninf of the corner of the bed means that only 1 in 8 Israelites remained and the rest of the remnant was in Damascus (arish demeshek) that is says "I will exile them from here to Damascus" and we see from this that even though the word "damashek" is written with letter "sin" and usually has a "shin" when meaning Damascus I am writing according to the words of our rabbis that even in the correct writings that we have in Spain it has a "sin"
4.1.1
The second prophecy begins with the pasuk "listen you cows of Bashan" and goes until "Gd showed me the locusts He was creating... (Amos 7:1). And it has 8 sections to it. The first is "listen cows of Bashan" (Amos 4:1). The second is "therefore I will do thus to you" (Amos 4:12). The third is "listen to this matter that I am bringing upon you as a dirge" (Amos 5:1). The fourth is "because thus said Gd to the house of Israel" (Amos 5:4). The fifth is "thus said Gd the Host of Legions" (Amos 5:16). The sixth is "Woe to those who wish for the day of the Lord" (Amos 5:18). The seventh is "Those who are at ease in Zion" (Amos 6:1). The eight is "For the Lord will command" (Amos 6:11). And about these I have six questions. ...
4.1.2
The first questions is that when listing the troubles that will come upon the nation, the famine is listed two times. First it says "I will give you cleanness of teeth in all your cities and lack of bread in all your places yet you did not return to Me" (Amos 4:6). And after this, the propeht says "and I will also withhold from you the rain..." (Amos 4:7) And these are both telling us about the terrible famine and if so why is it told two times using the words "and I will also" like it is new thing.
4.1.3
The second question is that in the rebuke, the prophet says 5 times that you did not return to Hashem. Why does he need to repeat this so many times. Wouldn't one or two times be enough. He doesn't use this phrase anywhere else in his prophecy.
4.1.4
The third question is not printed here because it's missing from this copy. But we will be able to understand the question from the Abarbenel's answer.
4.1.5
The fourth question is the phrase "She has fallen and will rise no more, virgin of Israel" (Amos 5:2). This makes it seem that the tribes won't return from their exile. Which is in direct contradiction to many other prophecies including Isiah who described the ingathering of the exiles of Israel and the scattered ones of Judah as it says (Isaiah 11:13) "and Efraim will not be jealous of Judah..." and this concept of the ingathering of Israel is repeated in detail and explained in Ezekiel (Ezekiel 37:19) "I am going to take the stick of Joseph—which is in the hand of Ephraim—and of the tribes of Israel associated with him, and I will place the stick of Judah upon it and make them into one stick; they shall be joined in My Hand" and then says "And I will make them into one nation in the land in the hills of Israel and they will have one king and will not longer be two nations or divided into two kingdoms again. And in the end of the book the prophet discusses the division of the land of Israel to each and every tribe. So how could these prophecies be accurate if the tribes of Israel were not be returned.
4.1.6
The fifth question is one the pasuk "don't seek Beitel and the Gilgal don't come to and Beersheva don't pass through, because the Gilgal will go into exile and Beitel will be for sin" (Amos 5:3). And this is difficult to understand why the prophet designated Beersehva not to pass through. If this was for idolatry, then why doesn't it say don't seek or enter it like with Beitel and Gilgas. And why are the punishments of Gilgal and Beitel mentioned but nothing about Beersheva if they were also involved in the same sin of idolatry.
4.1.7
The sixth question in this parsha is about hte phrase "those who desire the day of Gd". How is possible that the sinners desired the day of Gd when He would destroy their idols? And this prophet and other prophets have generally used the phrase "day of Gd" to refer to a future time that will come among them and will be a day of trouble and rebuke so why are they looking forward to it at all. And Gd says "I hate and am disgusted..." about the sacrifices. Can this indeed refer to the kingdom of Israel who weren't oleh regel to Jerusalem and did not bring sacrifices there? And how can the prophet say "Did you bring sacrifices to Me in the desert"? I will now explain the pesukim according to these questions.
4.1.8
The overarching intention of the prophecy is to rebuke and make known the sin of the children of Efraim individually and the sin of the Judeans individually. The prophecy begins with the wicked deeds of the kingdom of Efraim, specifying the women of Shomrom who were the reason for the perversion of their husbands. And the prophecy makes known their punishment for these deeds, which is exile. And he also rebukes the men who rebelled against Gd by turned to idolatry and giving the sacrifices normally reserved for the house of Gd to idolatry. And Gd warns them of five specific punishments that He will bring to them. Three involve famine: famine caused by the enemy taking their wealth and produce, famine caused by the lack of rain and famine caused by the locusts. All three are types of famine. And the fourth warning is the plague. And the fifth warning is the enemy who will destroy the land with the first exile. And because htey would not listen the prophet declared a lament for the total destruction of Shomron and the rest of the tribes. Therefore the prophet advised them to sek Gd and not the baal idols because if Gd could arragne the stars and create day and night, He is also capable of destroying them if they don't do teshuva with a devastating destruction that the moans will be heard in all neighborhoods of Shomron. Afterwards, he prophecized about the Judeans who were desiring the destruction of the Kingdom of Israel. He rebuked them saying, "Gd doesn't desire your offerings, rather for you to do justice and walk humbly with Gd." And because they were also idolaters among them, he reveleaed to them that they would be placed in the hands of Damascus and Phillistines because they didn't take the prophet's warning seriously about the troubles that would come to them and they turned to satisfy their desires. And therefore their punishment would be great with blood and swords. And afterwards, he prophecized about the two kingdoms together like I will explain when explaining the pesukim.
4.1.9
"Listen to this matter cows of Bashan..." Because the women of Shomron were used to luxury and were fat from the luxury and ruled their husbands and they caused their husbands to pervert justice and steal from the poor in order to sustain their desires for luxury and good foods and fancy dress, therefore, the prophet spoke about them. They are called cows of Bashan becase Bashan is a place where the fruits are ripe and good and fat, and therefore the wives of the kings and officers in Shomron who were fat and beautiful are called cows of Bashan. And the explanation of this is about those who were in the mountain of Shomron who perverted the justice towards the destitute and afflicted the poor. The explanation is not that they would beat and afflict the poor themsleves rather they would tell their husbands to bring them to drink wine. And in order to fulfill their desires for wine they would abuse the poor who didn't have the ability to fight back in order to bring their wives the money so it's like the wives themselves abused them. (pasuk beis)- And because of this Hashem promised by His Holiness- this means that He made a decree according to His Heavenly Wisdom to bring bad days upon the luxurious cows and to bring an exile of the enemy and a siege that is mentioned in the above text that they would end up in the fishing boats. The word Tzinah according to commentaries means shield, like in the psasuk in Tehillim (Psalms 91:4) meaning the warriors bring their war equipment to protect them and it's in the form of a shield. And thus did Targum Yonasan translate. But the Abarbenel questions why they would carry away the woman on their shields? And then they end up in the fishing boats and fishing nets. So it seems to be referring to a small boat. And the word "achariso" means the children as it is used in (Daniel 11:4) "but not for any of his posterity, nor with dominion like that which he had; for his kingdom will be uprooted and belong to others beside these.". And no that their children will be brought in fishing boats like Rashi said. Rather what Yonasan explains that the Tzinus were names of the ships because they shielded the smaller ships. And we have ships today that are in the form of shields. When he prophecies that the bad days will come and the exile and the enemy will take them at will in large shield like ships and their virgin daughters who are thier "acharisan" will be taken in smaller fishing boats called "sirot" and it will be a disgrace for honorable, officials women to be taken in fishing boats like prostitues. This is the eplanation of the Even Kaspi.
4.1.10
But in my opinion, the pasuk can be translated in a more simple way. The word "tzinah" means "cold" in the pasuk in Mishlei (Proverbs 25:13) (tangentially, the Abarbenel suggests the that the word "tzinah" meaning cold maybe whyit means shields and armor since these shade a person from the sun keeping him cold). The word "acharischen" means the end of a person as it is used in Job (Job 8:7). The word "sirot" is from the word "sir" meaning a pot of meat. So altogether the pasuk means that the women will go into exile and will be exiled through cold and snow, despite having lived in warmed palaces (as the pasuk states they had winter and summer palaces) and now will be forced into the cold winter night. And in Shomron they ate delicacies of meat, bread and many other foods and royal wine, but in their exile they will have a bad end since they will only be able to eat pots of fish. We know from the Israelites complaint in the desert that "we remember the fish we ate in Egypt" that slaves are generally given the free cheap fish to eat.
4.7.1
The second warning is that "I will cause the rain to cease". And this especially during the three month harvest season when rain is most needed. Because if the rains ceased at the beginning of the year there would be no planting (due to the drought) and at least the seeds wouldn't be lost and they would still have food. But now, it will not be the case. The year will start with rain, in order to encourage planting and then Gd will stop the rain for three months during the harvest in order for the seed that you planted to be lost and not produce a harvest. And so that you don't assume it is a natural occurance, the ceasure of rain will take place in a wonderous wonder that it will affect city by city with one experiencing rain and another not. And not just that it will rain in one city and not another, even more so, it will rain on parts of a city and My curse will dry out your portion. (8)-until two-three cities will gather in one place, because Gd will provide water but not enough to satisfy. And I have no doubt that the places that will experience the rain are through the merit of the people living there or through their teshuva. Gd says about them, even though you were incuded in the warning and judged for famine and thirst and didn't return to Me. About this Isaiah says (Isaiah 9:18) "the nation will be a like a fiery knife" meaning that when the rain stops the sun will strike the land with eat and because of the trouble caused by the famine and drought, man will not help his fellow and in the end you will not return to Me, although My Hand is outstretched. This makes it clear that a second warning doesn't have the power of a first warning. And it answers the first question
9.7.1
The final prophecy begins in this pasuk and goes until the end of Sefer Amos. And it has two parts to it. The first "you are unto Me like the Cushite" and the second "behold days are coming". I have six questions.
9.7.2
The first questions is on the words "Did I not take Israel up from the land of Egypt and the Philistines from Caftor and Aram from Kir" If the purpose of this statement is to tell about the kindness that Gd did for Israel when He took them from Egypt and then mentions that He acted similarly for the other nations, does this decrease the degree of kindness for Israel.
9.7.3
THe second question is about that the Philistines and Caftor are brothers which we know from the geneology of the seventy nations in Breishit 10:14 and Jeremiah 47:4 mentions the PHilistins and Caftor in the same verse. If they are indeed one nation, how did Hashem take the Philistines out of Caftor as if the Caftors had exiled the PHilistines there.
9.7.4
The third questions about Aram and Kir. When this prophecy was given, Aram had not yet been exiled because they were exiled in the days Achaz by the king of Assyria to Kir (Kings 2 16:9), so this was in fact a prophecy about the exile of Aram as well. And the Philistine exile was during Tzidkiyahu days more than 130 years later so how come it is told in past tense like it already happened.
9.7.5
The fourth question, "Behold Gd's Eyes are on the sinful kingdom and I will destroy them" if this is about the Kingdom of Efraim, like the commentaries say, why is told right afterwards "but I will not destroy the house of Jacob" when the kingdom of Efraim was from the house of Jacob. Doesn't one phrase contridict the other.
9.7.6
The fifth quesion "I will shake the house of Israel among the nations like one shakes a sieve and not a pebble falls to the ground" makes it seem like not one will be lost or dead. And immediately after it is contradicted by saying "and all the sinners in My nation will die".
9.7.7
The sixth question "the sinners of My nation will die" is followed by "I will restore the fallen sukkah of Dovid" is switching from telling about bad and teling about good. How can they take place at the same time. I will now explain everything according to these questions.
9.7.8
The overarching theme of the prophecy is to tell us that the children of Israel are all from the seed of Jacob and are servants of Gd and His aquirement and children of His house and therefore He took them from Egypt to be His servants and has not done this to other nations to attach Himself to any other nation from the nations of the world and to single out His actions towards them. Therefore when a nation corrupts its ways it brings total destruction. This was not done to Israel that even though they sinned, He did reject them completely but rather brought them to a wandering exile for many years. And then the end of the exile is mentioned and the time of the ingathering of the exiles that throughout the many wanderings the sinners and the rebellious died. And afterwards, He will restore the fallen sukkah of Dovid and gather the scattered of Israel and Judah from the four corners of the land and appoint on them a king from house of Dovid and they will inherit the remainder of Edom and the nations that had destroyed them. And they will be blessed wth the produce of the land as they had previously and be returned to their land with no further exiles until the end of the world like these pesukim explain.
9.7.9
"Are you not like the Kushim... until the end o the sefer. The commentaries explain this prophecy as a rebuke to the kings of Israel. But I see that there are inconsistencies in their explanations. I will choose and explain in a different way sometimes using the commentaries and sometimes not. But always first quoting the commentries. And in my opnion, this prophecy is actually is a comfort to Bnei Israel and Bnei Judah against the bad tidings that are delivered above. The meaning of Bnei Cushim is that Hashem tells His nation that they are like the Cush son of Ham who was cursed to be slaves to their masters eternally and likewise Israel is slaves to Me eternally which was decided when I took you from Egypt and acquired you with My Strong Hand. And if you say that I also took out the PHilistines and Aram and other nations that had ruled them for extended times and did not make them My servants, well the Philistines dwell in Azah and the Avim and Caftorim came to them and destoryed them like it says Devarim 2:23 prior to the Exodus and this is a parable to the past. The prophet gives a parable in the future of Aaram using the future tense, since Aram was exiled by the king o Assyria and they came out of the exile. And if this is the normal way of the world that one nation has power over another and rules it for a time and afterwards is released from that nations hand. therefore what significance does Israle have to Hashem. therfore in the next pasuk, Hashem answers the question about PHilistines and Aram and says that "behold Hashem's Eyes are on on this sinful kingdom" and this is not about the kingsom of Efraim but rather to differentiate Israel from the nations that are distinguished by Hahsme's love to them and His guarding them in an extra way. Meaning that typically a nation sins beore Him and He destroys them utterly, because Gd's Eyes are on a sinful kingdom that corrupts its ways and Hashem takes notices and destoys it from the earth. Do we knot see that many nations that are mentioned in the Torah and in the books of Divrei Hayamim taht are about the nations who were destoyed without a trace but Israel is not that way that rather despite having sinned, "I will not destory the house of Jacob..." That een though they rebelled against Me I will restore your descendants like it says in Medrash Tanchuma (Nitzavim 1:1) "don't rejoice my enemeis on me" whenever Gd sees ways of sinners they have no way to stand against Him like with the generations of the flood and the peopel of Sodom and Egypt and Babylon and the rest about them Dovid Hamelech says in Tehillim "there fell the doers of sin, they fall and were unable to rise" But Israel if they fall they rise Rav Chanina bar Papa says that Hashem never destoryed a nation and then changed His Mind but Israel I will not destroy meaning it will be an eternal nation enduring through Godly Eternity and this not done to other nations
9.7.10
and he brings a proof of this from the time of the ingathering that Israel will be wandering in the desert of the nations that it says "I led them from nation to nation, kingdom to kingdom" and despite this all they weren't able, rather the sinners and rebellious among them died ndd the rest of the nation merited redeption. This explains pasuk 9 "behold I am commanding and the house of Israel will be shaken among the nations..." Just like in a sieve, the grain is scattered and moves from side to side without rest, so too you will wander. But despite all this you won't be completely destroyed, which is the meaning of the "pebble will not fall to the ground". The commentaries explain that the pebble is the righteous men and the dust that falls out is the wicked ones. And Rashi writes that the pasuk says that not a pebble will fall from the orce of the movement. But to me it seems that the meaning is that the word "tzarur" (which the commentaries translate as pebble meaning tzadik) is from the meaning of the word to "bind" and gather like the word is used in Deutoronomy 14:25 and Exodus 12:36 and like the word "tzur" from the same root means a siege because the enemy "gathers" around the city. So here it alludes to the ingathering of Israel, because the prophet said "only I will not utterly destroy the house of Israel" meaning that when a small item is in a sieve but it is attached to other items, it will not fall and be lost. The next pasuk (Amos 9:10) but the wicked will die because of the same movement and upheaval. Each man will die from his sin. And this is the meaning of "by the sword, will perish the sins of my nation". The wicked gave up hope from the troubles and said that the bad wasnt coming in an accerlated and "supernatural" way and was rather a happenstance but not as a result of our wayward deeds. This is all speaking about the birth pangs of the Messiah and the ingathering of exiles. Which is in line with the navi Ezekiel 20: 39 that the sinners will be cleansed from you and also similar to the Abarbenel commentary on Hosea.
9.7.11
And it's also possible to explain the phrase "I command and the house of Israel will be shaken..." about the total exile (not just the birth pangs/ingathering) that Gd will not destroy Israel because of sin but rather will shake out them among the exile and the sinners wll fall. And afterwards (Amos 9:11) "on that day" meaning to say at that time that is auspcious towards Me for the redemption, "I will raise up the fallen sukkah of Dovid..." An alternative meaning of "on that day" is that at that time when the sinners will be finished because of the movement of the exile, I will raise the fallen sukkah of Dovid. And if you say it will not be raised as Amos said earlier "fallen and will not rise is the virgin daughter or Israel" this means, she will not rise on her own and will not have a king from the shvatim. But now, Gd will raise the sukkah of Dovid that fell in the days of Jerobam and will appoint a king from the house of Dovid Hamelech on His people. And the "fall" of the house of Dovid began during the first Temple era with the splitting of the 10 tribes into a separate kingdom. ANd during the second Temple there was no king from the house of David. Rather the Hasmoneans and Herod's house were the rulers. Therefore the prophet Amos says "I will mend its breaches" the breaches are the kings that the ten tribes set up for themsleves during the first Temple era. And regarding the second Temple "I will rebuild its ruins" ruins indicate a total destruction (as opposed to breaches) because during that era there was no Davidic rule on any of the tribes. And then the pasuk continues "I will build it like the days of yore" as strong and grounded as it was in the past. And I already explained earlier in this pasuk a different and correct explain that the word "et' in "et sukkat" is used similarly to the word "et" in Shemot 1:1 where it means "with". That along "with" the rebuilding of Dovid's sukah, Gd will also raise the fallen, who refer to the tribes of Israel (called fallen by Amos above) . And sukkat Dovid therefore refers to the tribes of Judah. And about both groups the prophet says "I will repair their breaches" about the house of Dovid, I will rebuilt the ruins, beacuse the 10 tribes will be restored to Davidic rule. And the sukkah in this case refers to Jerusalem which will be complete like the days of yore (Psalms 76:3)

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