Amos 1:11

Edom. - Amo 1:11. "Thus saith Jehovah: For three transgressions of Edom, and for four, I shall not reverse it, because it pursues its brother with the sword, and stifles its compassion, and its anger tears in pieces for ever, and it keeps its wrath for ever, Amo 1:12. I send fire into Teman, and it will devour the palaces of Bozrah." Edom and the two following nations were related to Israel by lineal descent. In the case of Edom, Amos does not condemn any particular sins, but simply its implacable, mortal hatred towards its brother nation Israel, which broke out into acts of cruelty at every possible opportunity. ושׁחת רחמיו, he annihilates, i.e., suppresses, stifles his sympathy or his compassionate love; this is still dependent upon על רדפו, the preposition על continuing in force as a conjunction before the infinitive (i.e., as equivalent to על אשׁר), and the infinitive passing into the finite verb (cf. Amo 2:4). In the next clause אפּו is the subject: its wrath tears in pieces, i.e., rages destructively (compare Job 16:9, where târaph is applied to the wrath of God). In the last clause, on the other hand, Edom is again the subject; but it is now regarded as a kingdom, and construed as a feminine, and consequently עברתו is the object, and placed at the head as an absolute noun. שׁמרה, with the tone upon the penult. (milel) on account of netsach, which follows with the tone upon the first syllable, stands for שׁמרהּ (it preserves it), the mappik being omitted in the toneless syllable (compare Ewald, 249, b). If עברתו were the subject, the verb would have to be pointed שׁמרה. Again, the rendering proposed by Ewald, "his fury lies in wait for ever," is precluded by the fact that שׁמר, when applied to wrath in Jer 3:5, signifies to keep, or preserve, and also by the fact…

In this chapter we have, I. The general title of this prophecy (Amo 1:1), with the general scope of it (Amo 1:2). II. God's particular controversy with Syria (Amo 1:3-5), with Palestine (Amo 1:6-8), with Tyre (Amo 1:9, Amo 1:10), with Edom (Amo 1:11, Amo 1:12), and with Ammon (Amo 1:13-15), for their cruelty to his people and the many injuries they had done them. This explains God's pleading with the nations, Joe 3:2.

1:11 Edom was another betrayer (see 1:9; Gen 36; see also Gen 25:23-30; 27:39-40). • The NLT adds the Israelites to make explicit what relatives (literally brother) means (see Gen 25:25-30). “Brothers” can also refer to parties to a treaty (see Amos 1:9). Apparently Edom exerted constant pressure on the borders of Israel and Judah, raiding and plundering at moments of weakness (Jer 49:7-22; Obad 1:1-9).