Comentario sobre Amos 2:17

For he burnt the bones etc.—Once the king of Edom fell into the hands of the king of Moab, and they burned his bones and plastered them on the walls of the house, and the Holy One, blessed be He, requited the injustice inflicted upon the king, for they treated him with disgrace.

"Thus said the LORD... because he burned the bones of the king of Edom into lime." This is what is said in the book of Kings: "He took his firstborn son who was to reign after him and offered him up as a burnt offering on the wall. And there was a great wrath against Israel..." The wrath was from the king of Edom against Israel, from that day forward, since the king of Moab burned the son of the king of Edom...

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.

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

2:3 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.

Kerioth—A place name, as it is stated: (Jer. 48:24) “And to Kerioth and to Bozrah.”

amidst the tumult—The sound of the stirring of battle.

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.

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.

for selling an innocent man for money—The judges would sell the one who was innocent according to the law, with money; i.e, with the bribes they would receive from his opponent.

and a poor man in order to lock [the fields] Heb. נַעֲלָיִם. Jonathan renders in two places [here and below 8:6]: in order to inherit. And I say that this is its explanation. They pervert the judgment of the poor man so that he will be compelled to sell his field that he had between the fields of the judges, and this one seeks an opportunity and takes it for a cheap price in order to fence in and lock all his fields together, and it should not intervene between them.

Thus said the LORD...Because they have sold for silver Those whose cause was just: Even though Israel had transgressed the three worse sins (those being idolatry, sexual immorality, and bloodshed)-- for those, they did not receive the decree of destruction and exile at the hands of the king of Assyria-- rather, because of the חמס/violence, which is the fourth sin (mentioned in Amos), and on the basis of that sin they were punished for all their sins that they did. And this is the same as the generation of the flood. Even though they were guilty of several sins, they were not punished until they were guilty of חמס, as it says "כִּֽי־מָלְאָ֥ה הָאָ֛רֶץ חָמָ֖ס מִפְּנֵיהֶ֑ם for the earth is filled with lawlessness because of them" (Gen 6:13). And even more so because the חמס came at the hands of the judges, who were responsible for upholding justice, but they decided their rulings based on taking bribes, which is what עַל־מִכְרָ֤ם" בַּכֶּ֙סֶף֙ צַדִּ֔יק/Because they have sold for silver

those whose cause was just" means, and the explanation of "צַדִּ֔יק" in that verse is "one whose cause was just."

Who aspire on the dust of the earth—On the dust of the earth, when they walk on it, all their aspiration and all their thoughts are concerning the head of the poor, how they will rob them and take their property. שְׁאִיפָה is goloser in O.F., aspiring.

and they pervert the way of the humble etc.—The weak turn away from their way and go on a tortuous way because of fear of them, as Scripture says: (Job 24:4) “They turn the poor from the way.”

to the maid—I.e, a betrothed maid.

And they recline on pledged garments—Jonathan renders: On couches of a pledge they dine. They settle [the charge as] a loan upon the poor. and they take a pledge from them, and make their garments into couches and recline on them at the time of their meal.

they recline—An expression of dining, for all their meals were eaten while leaning, for he would lean on his left side.

and the wine of the fined ones—from whom they would exact money for fines and drink wine with it.

in the house of their god—In the house of the idol that they had beside the altar.

as oaks Heb. אַלוֹנִים, kesnes (chenes) in French.

his fruit from above—I.e, the celestial princes. [from Midrash Tanchuma, Devarim 4; Tanchuma Buber, Addendum to Devarim 8]

and his roots from below—I. e, the earthly princes. Another explanation: the wasp would blind their eyes from above and castrate them from below. [from Sotah 36a]

as Nazirites—Jonathan renders: as teachers. For they were separated from the ways of the people of the land and were engaged in the Torah. The expression נְזִירָה is everywhere only an expression of separation.

Is this not so?—This is a rhetorical question. I.e, can you deny this?

And you gave the Nazirites to drink wine—lest they instruct you, for a drunken man is forbidden to instruct. And you gave the Nazirites to drink wine—Jonathan renders: And you misled your teachers with wine.

“Do not prophesy.”—Amaziah the priest of Bethel commanded Amos in this manner: (Amos 7:12) “Seer, go, flee to the land of Judah.”

Behold I will oppress Heb. מֵעִיק, the Aramaic translation of מֵצִיק,

your dwelling place Heb. תַּחְתֵּיכֶם. Your camping place

as a wagon... is oppressed from the weight of the burden that is upon it.

and the fleet-footed shall not deliver—himself.

shall flee naked—Naked without weapons.