Komentaryong Sumisipi para sa Amos 1:1

The words of Koheles. Wherever it is stated, “the words of דִּבְרֵי,” it introduces words or reproof. [For example,] “These are the words הַדְּבָרִים that Moshe spoke,”¹Devarim 1:1. [followed by,] “And Yeshurun became fat [and kicked].”²Ibid. 32:15. [Also,] “The words דִּבְרֵי of Amos,”³Amos 1:1. [followed by,] “Hear this word, you cows of Bashan.”⁴Ibid. 4:1. [Also,] “The words דִּבְרֵי of Yirmiyahu,”⁵Yirmiyahu 1:1. [followed by,] “Ask now and see whether a male gives birth, etc.”⁶Ibid. 30:6. [And finally,] “And these are the words דִּבְרֵי of Dovid,”⁷II Shmuel 23:1. [followed by,] “But the wicked are all like thorns thrust away.”⁸Ibid. 23:6. “The words דִּבְרֵי of Koheles” [is followed by,] “The sun rises ... All the rivers flow into the sea.”⁹Below, verse 5. He refers to the wicked as the “sun,” the “moon,”¹⁰Below, verse 7. and the “sea,” which earn no reward. So it was taught in Sifre. I learned from there that the section deals with the wicked and he compares them to the rising sun, which ultimately sets. Addendum: Another explanation, “All the rivers flow into the sea.” What is the meaning of this? This is stated concerning idolaters, the fools who prostrate themselves to the water thinking that it has substance because they see the Great Sea, into which all the rivers flow and it is not full, but they have no understanding that to the place where the rivers flow, they repeatedly go, for the water of the rivers that flow into the sea are the very same waters that already flowed; they flow from under the deep and flow above the surface until the sea and then flow again. Therefore, the rivers do not stop, and the sea is not full, and not because they have substance. End of addendum.

In the year that King Uzziah died. Our sages said that died is here used for became a leper;¹Comp. Rashi, ad locum, and Talmud Babli Nedarim, 64: There are four persons who, though living, may be counted as dead: the poor, the blind, the leper, the childless. for when Uzziah entered the temple to offer the incense,²On that occasion, Uzziah was struck with leprosy (2 Kgs. 15:5, and 2 Chr. 26:20, 2 Chr. 26:21). the earthquake³At which, as some believe, Isaiah hinted by the words, And the posts of the door moved. See Rashi on ver. 4. The earthquake, which took place during the reign of King Uzziah, is mentioned Amos 1:1, and Zac. 14:5. Compare also Seder Olam, Amos prophesied before, Isaiah during the earthquake. took place. This may be true; but מות can also be taken literally; in that case the death of Uzziah must be placed in the same year in which Isaiah became prophet; no objection can be raised from In the days⁴In the days (1:1) appears to mean in the midst of the reign of, since ימים sometimes signifies years. Ibn Ezra anticipates this objection and refutes it by referring to the literal meaning of ימים days, which may of course be applied to a part of a year. Thus the words in the days of Uzziah admit the supposition, that Isaiah commenced his prophetical career in the last year of the reign of Uzziah. of Uzziah (1:1), since even months might have passed between Isaiah’s initiation as prophet and the death of Uzziah. This chapter contains the first prophecy of Isaiah.

At the beginning of the Lord’s speaking to Hosea Lit. in the beginning the Lord spoke to Hosea. Therefore, our Rabbis stated: The first of the four prophets who prophesied (in these days): Hosea, Isaiah, Amos, and Micah. [Parshandatha reads: in the days of Uzziah. Michah, in fact, is not mentioned as having prophesized in the days of Uzziah, but only in the days of Jotham, Ahaz and Hezekiah; this will be explained further. In Pesachim 87a, we read: at that time] Isaiah prophesized [at the time of the earthquake (Parshandatha)], as it is stated: (Isaiah 6:4) “And the doorposts quaked etc.” And that was the day that Uzziah was stricken when he entered the Temple, for the ethereal beings clamored to burn him, and the earthly beings to swallow him as the punishment of Korah’s company, among which there were [some] swallowed up and [some] burned. Concerning Amos, it is stated: (Amos 1:1) “Two years before the earthquake.” [Amos, accordingly, preceded Isaiah.] And Micah was the last of all of them, for it is said concerning him: (Micah 1:1) “In the days of Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah,” and Uzziah is not mentioned in his regard (Cf. Pesachim 87a; Seder Olam, ch. 20; Tanhuma Tzav 13; Rashi, Isaiah 6:4). But the simple meaning of the verse is: At the beginning of the speech which the Holy One, blessed be He, spoke to Hosea, he said this to him.

Whom shall I send to admonish Israel? I sent Amos, and they called him, ‘Pesilus,’ because he was tongue tied, [’Pesilus’ being the Greek word for tongue-tied.] He prophesied two years before the earthquake, and the Israelites would say, The Holy One, blessed be He, left over the whole world and caused His Shechinah to rest on this tongue-tied one, as is stated in Pesikta.

Ephraim shall be broken, no longer to be a people Ephraim shall be shattered, no longer to be a people, for Sennacherib will exile them with their king, Hoshea son of Elah. Go out and calculate from Amos’ prophecy until the ten tribes were exiled, and you will find them to be sixty-five years. Amos’ prophecy was two years before Uzziah was stricken, as it is stated (Amos 1:1): “Two years before the earthquake.” And Uzziah was stricken for twenty-five years, plus these two years, giving us a total of twenty-seven years. Add the sixteen years of Jotham and the sixteen years of Ahaz and six years of Hezekiah, as it is stated (II Kings 18:10, 11): “And they captured it [at the end of three years]; in the sixth year of Hezekiah, which is the ninth year of Hoshea, king of Israel...And the king of Assyria exiled Israel to Assyria.” Here are sixty-five years. Now how do we know that the duration of Uzziah’s state as a confirmed metzora was twenty-five years? For it is stated (ibid. 15:1): “In the twenty-seventh year of Jeroboam the king of Israel, Azariah the son of Amaziah the king of Judah, became king.” Is it possible to say this? Did not Uzziah and Jeroboam reign simultaneously, according to the calculation you will find in the Book of Kings (See Rashi II Kings 14:22)? Rather he reigned a plagued kingship. In the twenty-seventh year he was stricken, and he reigned for fifty-two years. It is impossible, however, to count “and in another sixty-five years” from the day that Isaiah said this prophecy, for he said it in the days of Ahaz, and they were exiled in the sixth year of Hezekiah. In this manner it is explained in Seder Olam (ch. 28), that Scripture counted from the prophecy of Amos.

Have you not heard from long ago More than seventy years (correct version as in Parshandatha and Warsaw edition) since Amos prophesied two years before the earthquake (Amos 7:17), “and Israel shall be exiled from upon its land.” Since then, you should have heard that I wrought and prepared this retribution.