English Standard Version
Amos 1:3
3Thus says the Lord: "For three transgressions of Damascus, and for four, I will not revoke the punishment, because they have threshed Gilead with threshing sledges of iron.
Amos 1:3 in other versions
- King James Version (KJV)Thus saith the Lord; For three transgressions of Damascus, and for four, I will not turn away the punishment thereof; because they have threshed Gilead with threshing instruments of iron:
- New International Version (NIV)This is what the Lord says: “For three sins of Damascus, even for four, I will not relent. Because she threshed Gilead with sledges having iron teeth,
- New King James Version (NKJV)Thus says the Lord: “For three transgressions of Damascus, and for four, I will not turn away its punishment, Because they have threshed Gilead with implements of iron.
- New Living Translation (NLT)This is what the Lord says: “The people of Damascus have sinned again and again, and I will not let them go unpunished! They beat down my people in Gilead as grain is threshed with iron sledges.
Context of Amos 1:3
1The words of Amos, who was among the shepherds of Tekoa, which he saw concerning Israel in the days of Uzziah king of Judah and in the days of Jeroboam the son of Joash, king of Israel, two years before the earthquake. 2And he said: "The Lord roars from Zion and utters his voice from Jerusalem; the pastures of the shepherds mourn, and the top of Carmel withers." Thus says the Lord: "For three transgressions of Damascus, and for four, I will not revoke the punishment, because they have threshed Gilead with threshing sledges of iron. 4So I will send a fire upon the house of Hazael, and it shall devour the strongholds of Ben-hadad. 5I will break the gate-bar of Damascus, and cut off the inhabitants from the Valley of Aven, and him who holds the scepter from Beth-eden; and the people of Syria shall go into exile to Kir," says the Lord.
Read all of Amos 1Amos 1:3 word by word
כֹּ֚ה אָמַ֣ר יְהוָ֔ה עַל־שְׁלֹשָׁה֙ פִּשְׁעֵ֣י דַמֶּ֔שֶׂק וְעַל־אַרְבָּעָ֖ה לֹ֣א אֲשִׁיבֶ֑נּוּ עַל־דּוּשָׁ֛ם בַּחֲרֻצ֥וֹת הַבַּרְזֶ֖ל אֶת־הַגִּלְעָֽד׃Read the interlinear
Words taken from the KJV.
- Thus saithאָמַר'âmar · to sayH559
- the Lordיְהֹוָהyehôvâh · LORDH3068
- For threeשָׁלֹשׁshâlôsh shâlôsh shelôshâh shelôshâh · threeH7969
- transgressionsפֶּ֫שַׁעpesha‛ · transgressionH6588
- of Damascusדַּמֶּ֫שֶׂקdammeώeq dûmeώeq darmeώeq · DamascusH1834
- and for fourאַרְבַּע'arba‛ 'arbâ‛âh · fourH702
- I will not turn awayשׁוּבshûb · to return: repentH7725
- thereof; because they have threshedדּוּשׁdûsh dôsh dîysh · to treadH1758
- Gileadגִּלְעָדgil‛âd · GileadH1568
- with threshing instrumentsחָרוּץchârûts chârûts · sharpH2742
- of ironבַּרְזֶלbarzel · ironH1270
Cross-references for Amos 1:3
- Amos 1:6Thus says the Lord: "For three transgressions of Gaza, and for four, I will not revoke the punishment, because they carried into exile a whole people to deliver them up to Edom.
- Amos 2:1Thus says the Lord: "For three transgressions of Moab, and for four, I will not revoke the punishment, because he burned to lime the bones of the king of Edom.
- Job 5:19He will deliver you from six troubles; in seven no evil shall touch you.
- Job 19:3These ten times you have cast reproach upon me; are you not ashamed to wrong me?
- Proverbs 6:16There are six things that the Lord hates, seven that are an abomination to him:
- Ecclesiastes 11:2Give a portion to seven, or even to eight, for you know not what disaster may happen on earth.
- Isaiah 7:8For the head of Syria is Damascus, and the head of Damascus is Rezin. And within sixty-five years Ephraim will be shattered from being a people.
- Isaiah 8:4for before the boy knows how to cry 'My father' or 'My mother,' the wealth of Damascus and the spoil of Samaria will be carried away before the king of Assyria."
- Isaiah 17:1An oracle concerning Damascus. Behold, Damascus will cease to be a city and will become a heap of ruins.
- Jeremiah 49:23Concerning Damascus: "Hamath and Arpad are confounded, for they have heard bad news; they melt in fear, they are troubled like the sea that cannot be quiet.
- Zechariah 9:1The oracle of the word of the Lord is against the land of Hadrach and Damascus is its resting place. For the Lord has an eye on mankind and on all the tribes of Israel,
- 1 Kings 19:17And the one who escapes from the sword of Hazael shall Jehu put to death, and the one who escapes from the sword of Jehu shall Elisha put to death.
- 2 Kings 8:12And Hazael said, "Why does my lord weep?" He answered, "Because I know the evil that you will do to the people of Israel. You will set on fire their fortresses, and you will kill their young men with the sword and dash in pieces their little ones and rip open their pregnant women."
- 2 Kings 10:32In those days the Lord began to cut off parts of Israel. Hazael defeated them throughout the territory of Israel:
- 2 Kings 13:3And the anger of the Lord was kindled against Israel, and he gave them continually into the hand of Hazael king of Syria and into the hand of Ben-hadad the son of Hazael.
- Isaiah 41:15Behold, I make of you a threshing sledge, new, sharp, and having teeth; you shall thresh the mountains and crush them, and you shall make the hills like chaff;
Commentaries on Amos 1:3
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 3For three transgressions of Damascus, and for four - These expressions of three and four, so often repeated in this chapter, mean repetition, abundance, and any thing that goes towards excess. Very, very exceedingly; and so it was used among the ancient Greek and Latin poets. See the passionate exclamation of Ulysses, in the storm, Odyss., lib. v., ver. 306: - , ̔ ' <-144 ͅ ͅ, ͅ . "Thrice happy Greeks! and four times who were slain In Atreus' cause, upon…Read the comment
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 3The order of God‘s threatenings seems to have been addressed to gain the hearing of the people. The punishment is first denounced upon their enemies, and that, for their sins, directly or indirectly, against themselves, and God in them. Then, as to those enemies themselves, the order is not of place or time, but of their relation to God‘s people. It begins with their most oppressive enemy, Syria; then Philistia, the old and ceaseless, although less…Read the comment
- Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 3For three transgressions of Damascus, even four: This phrase describes ongoing rebellion against the natural order set by God. The Hebrew phrase does not describe an exact number. Instead, it points to a pattern of repeated wrongdoing. they threshed: Threshing grain was the process of separating the grain heads from their husks. People did this by pulling wooden sledges with sharp edges over the cut grain (Isaiah 41:15; see Micah 4:13). This image helps…Read the comment
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 33. Here begins a series of threatenings of vengeance against six other states, followed by one against Judah, and ending with one against Israel, with whom the rest of the prophecy is occupied. The eight predictions are in symmetrical stanzas, each prefaced by "Thus saith the Lord." Beginning with the sin of others, which Israel would be ready enough to recognize, he proceeds to bring home to Israel her own guilt. Israel must not think hereafter, because…Read the comment
Topics related to Amos 1:3
In the dictionaries
Commentaries on Amos 1
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
- Matthew Henry Concise Commentary
- Tyndale Open Study Notes
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary
- Rashi on Tanakh
- Calvin’s Commentaries
- Keil & Delitzsch Commentary
- John Wesley’s Notes
- Darby Translation Notes
- Geneva Bible Translation Notes
- Kingcomments
- Matthew Henry’s Complete Commentary
- Matthew Henry’s Modern English Commentary
- Scofield Reference Notes, 1917 Edition
- Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary
- EGW Writings
English Standard Version — © 2001 Crossway Bibles
Commentaries