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Am.1:1. The word of Amoz, which was in Akkarim from Tekuah, and the sight of Jerusalem in the days of Uzziah king of Judah, and in the days of Jeroboam the son of Joash king of Israel, before he was a coward for two years. These, he says, are the prophetic speeches of Amos from Tekua, which were pronounced in Akkarim. You need to know that this reading, that is, in Akkorim, is not at all in the Jewish edition: it only says: the words of Amos from Fekui. Other interpreters, instead of: in Akkarim read: ἐν τοῖς κτηνοτροφέιοις (in the pastures). So these are the words of Amos the Tequite, which came to him during his life as a shepherd, in the very sheepfolds. He says that he not only heard the words about Jerusalem, but also saw them; for, along with the revelations, God made events obvious to the prophets and as if they were already happening now, so that it seems that they even see the fulfillment of the very words before they are realized in reality, and their eyes are presented with a spectacle of future events that God tells them about. But it is worthy of investigation (if someone were to propose this question) why the words were only about Israel, although through the mouth of the Prophet himself God accuses Judah and Israel? Moreover, he says that “this saith the Lord: For three wickednesses of the sons of Judah, and for four I will not turn away from them,” and so on. And after that further: “This saith the Lord: For the three wickednesses of Israel,” etc. (Amos.2:4,6). And having added an indication of the types of sin, the prophetic word expressed a threat of disasters and brought a very serious reproach to both. So how can we understand that the words were about Jerusalem, although God says: I will send fire on Judah and beyond. Let's think about what answer can be given to this. We affirm that the holy Prophets usually call Israel either in the narrow sense the two tribes living in Jerusalem - Judah and Benjamin, or Israel or Ephraim - the ten tribes living in Samaria, but very often they do not make such a distinction; and since they all come from Israel, then all twelve tribes are called Israel. If they want to point out to us the entire host of the Jews, then we will see that they do not make an accurate use of the name Israel. So the prophetic words of Amos were about the entire multitude of Judah, living both in Jerusalem and in Samaria. But it is necessary to say what the (prophetic) words were about them. We can answer this in two ways. Firstly, (the prophet) presented God of all kinds as denouncing the sins of the Jewish host, then foretelling the future about it, and to this he adds that they will receive the benefits of mercy (Divine) and one day the greatest deliverance will be accomplished and their restoration to their original state. For Amos himself again, as if on behalf of God himself, says: “Nevertheless will I cast away the house of Israel to the end, says the Lord. Therefore I command, and I will scatter the house of Israel to all nations, as it is blown on a winnowing fan, and no destruction shall fall upon the earth” (Amos.9:8,9). Undoubtedly, this points to future deliverance through Christ and says that they will be renewed and will enjoy prosperity, because God will have mercy on them. Again he says this: “On that day I will raise up the fallen tabernacle of David,” and so on. (Amos.9:11). But the prophetic words about Jerusalem can rightly be understood in another way. Syria and the kings of Damascus and many neighboring nations oppressed the country of Judea, and other nations were at war against it in various ways, devastated and plundered it and, guided in their actions by unbridled malice, brought it to extreme disaster. Therefore, the Prophet represents God threatening devastation to all these devastators of the land of Judea and says that judgment will be carried out on them for their wicked deeds. So the words of Amos referred to Jerusalem or to the entire congregation of Judah. We will see this clearly if we pay attention to the circumstances of the prophecy. For further it says: in the days of Uzziah king of Judah, and in the days of Jeroboam the son of Joash king of Israel, before two years he was a coward. But perhaps someone will say: what benefit will the readers bring from the work of an accurate study of the question of the circumstances of the reign of the just named kings, I say, Uzziah and Jeroboam? In response to this, we say that it is necessary to fully know the sorrowful circumstances of the prophecy. For he threatens Syria and Damascus and the barbarians living near Judea with destruction, attacks and fires, and this was the basis of the holy prophecies. Therefore, it is necessary to know the reasons why an indication of the circumstances of the reign is added, what and how many successful events there were in each of the two kingdoms, how life went in them and what remarkable things happened in both. Israel and Judah, who strayed into idolatry, were admonished in many different ways. Then the leaders of Damascus and Syria raided them, besieged their cities and devastated their countries; then the Moabites and Edomites, the Gergesites and the Elamites, the Azothites and the inhabitants of Ekron, excited by unbridled desires and insatiable greed and driven by extreme hatred, humiliated Samaria and the kingdom of Judah. And we will see that they did this in various places. So about the time of Ahab’s reign over Samaria and Israel in the third book of Kings it is written like this: “And the son of Ader, the king of Syria, gathered all his strength, and went up to talk to Samaria, and with him threety-two kings” (1 Kings 20:1). Pay attention to the fact that the king of Damascus, that is, Ader, made thirty-two leaders of other neighboring nations participate in the war against Israel, who thus devastated the land of Israel. But even during the time of Joash, king of Judah, Hazael the Syrian waged war against Jerusalem, as it is written about this in the fourth book of Kings: “And Joash took all the holy things, and all the gold that was found in the treasures, and sent messengers to Hazael, and departed from Jerusalem” (2 Kings 12:18). This they did as a result of divine wrath, because Israel offended God with their strong inclination and terrible attachment to idolatry. But foreign victors humiliated the glory of God; for they, pathetic ones, thought that the Hand that helped them had become weak and dared to insult the glory of God. So the Syrians, struck during the short siege of Samaria by Ader, came up with an incorrect explanation for their cowardice and said: “The God of the mountains is the Lord God of Israel, and not the God of the valleys” (1 Kings 20:28). They thought that the Israelites were victorious because God could only help them on the mountains, or hills. So, they say, we are defeated because the God of Israel is the God of the mountains. But if we had to go into battle in the open valleys, we would be victorious, because the God of Israel is completely powerless in the valleys. But these are the consequences of Hellenic madness and the extremely daring speeches of people who do not know the true nature of God. So Almighty God was indignant, and quite rightly, at the foreigners because, having defeated, as I said, Israel, they gave thanks to their own gods and idle talk thought that they had defeated God himself. After some time had passed after the reign of Ahab and after the death of some other kings, his successors, Jeroboam, the son of Joash, became king over Israel in Samaria, different from the first, who was the son of Nebat, but of the same name and like-minded and equally wicked. However, during his reign, the merciful God took pity on Israel, which was suffering intolerable disaster, and delivered it from suffering by the hand of Jeroboam, although he did evil and was a great apostate from God. Under him, they won so many victories over foreigners that they acquired the cities that had been taken from them during the times of the previous kings again and brought them under their rule, and caused a lot of disasters to their former victors. So in the fourth book of Kings it is written that the Israelites, due to the lack of an assistant, were oppressed to such an extent that they became extremely insignificant and powerless; but they received deliverance from “the hand of Jeroboam” (2 Kings 14:24–27). He said: ἐκ χειρός, by hand 1 instead of διὰ χειρός by hand, because he did not oppress Israel, but on the contrary, he fought for it and defended it. He returned Damascus, took away the border of Israel (from enemies) and performed many courageous deeds. During the reign of Jeroboam, Azariah, who is also Uzziah, was anointed king over Judah in Jerusalem. And he, no less than Jeroboam, was formidable to the pagans and courageously defeated the devastators of Judea. He was a pious man who loved goodness. But after, with the assistance of God, he overcame his enemies, he fell under the disease of pride and finally reached the point of capricious self-will, so that he wanted to serve God as a priest and even dared to approach the divine altar itself (2 Chronicles 26:19,20) and offer incense to Him (as a sacrifice). But God immediately rebuked him. He was covered with leprosy, a terrible and incurable disease, so that, as unclean by law, he was even removed from Jerusalem and was already removed from serving God and illegally performing sacred rites to Him and from desecrating the divine church. So says the Holy One. Scripture is in the fourth book of Kings, and a more detailed account of this is found in the second book of Chronicles. But this is enough about the defeat of Uzziah with leprosy. And that he was a strong man and undertook military campaigns against foreign countries and achieved such power that he built cities among them and imposed taxes on them and subjugated even those who were once very arrogant to his power - this is sufficiently revealed by the Holy Scriptures. Therefore, since the prophetic word in the beginning pointed out to us the future devastation of the foreigners; then it was necessary to mention the reign of Uzziah and Jeroboam: for it was they who were defeated, as we have already said about this. We also know that Damascus was burned by the Assyrians, and foreign peoples were exterminated. But since all this happened after; then we must necessarily touch upon what happened to the foreigners under Jeroboam and during his time, and even to the Assyrian military leaders. And since the prophet added: first two years of a coward, then we needed to mention Uzziah’s leprosy. because he illegally dared to perform a sacred act; then, as a revelation from God, he was struck by leprosy, and Jerusalem was subjected to an earthquake, because through this God showed His wrath to its then inhabitants. Am.1:2. And he said: The Lord spoke from Zion, and from Jerusalem gave his voice, and lamented the pastures of the shepherds, and from above Carmel. In these words the whole purpose of the prophecy is revealed to us and, as it were, the final limit of the prediction, and they can be looked at as a preliminary explanation and indication of the essence of the prophecy to be interpreted, hidden by great ambiguity; for speech consists of similarity and improper expression and as if from what usually happens on high mountain peaks or sometimes on open valleys. When an ulcer, or some other disease caused by the influence of air, reveals its destructive effect, then the mountains, green with forests and trees, and the valley, covered with varied and luxurious vegetation, suddenly dry up. This is how the works of human hands are destroyed when heavy and unbearable misfortunes fall on cities and countries, destroying and destroying small and great things. Who, please tell me, will be spared by the sword of the enemy or by the plague. On the contrary, it completely destroys both the famous for wealth, glory and power, and the ignorant and despised. So the word of the prophet is fully consistent with the usual phenomena in his life; for, as I said, he was a shepherd and the image for expressing his thoughts borrows from the frequent destruction of pastures for flocks. What is the true meaning of what was said? The Lord spoke, he says, from Zion, as if from his own place, and from Jerusalem, as if appointed to Him. The incorporeal is not located in any place, but since there was that famous temple in Jerusalem, it was considered, as it were, His own place, according to the ideas of the ancients, who still had limited concepts of God. Instead of a verb, the Hebrew edition reads: roared or roared like a lion. When did this happen; then you are sad, he says, the pastures of the shepherds. He calls the pastures of shepherds foreign peoples, as if some shepherds are slavishly subordinate to their rulers, who do everything at their own discretion with the peoples under their control. Setovasha, that is, they were in despondency and in all sorts of troubles, for mourning happens over the dead. The reason for the disaster for them is that God issued a menacing voice and, as it were, threatened with death; for when the lion roars, then who will not feel fear? And not only the pasture of the shepherds, but also the top of Carmel, that is, Jerusalem. Carmel is a mountain located in the country of Judea, on which Elijah the Tishbite stayed; for the land of Judea is often designated by the name Carmel. Thus, through the mouth of another Prophet, God said to the children of Israel: “And he brought you into the land of Carmel, so that you might take away its goodness and its fruits: and you went in and desecrated my land and made my property an abomination” (Jer. 2:7). And since, of all the cities in the land of Judea, Jerusalem is recognized as the most glorious and famous; that is why Carmel calls him the top, as exalted in glory, as abundant in excellence, and as more prominent than others because of the divine church and the men who were once kings from the tribe of Judah. The holy prophets have a habit of covering their words with obscurity for fear of the unbridled anger of their listeners: for those who were especially prone to insolence, and reproached the holy prophets and said: “But speak to us and tell us another deception” (Is. 30:10), would not tolerate their direct speech. Am.1:3–5. And the Lord said: For three wickednesses of Damascus, and for four, I will not turn away from it, even though I have destroyed with saws of iron those who are in the belly of those who are in Gilead: and I will send fire into the house of Hazael, and will girdle the foundation of the son of Ader. And I will crush the faiths of Damascus, and I will consume the inhabitants of the field of On, and I will cut off the tribe of the men of Harranih, and the people of Sirstia will be taken captive in arrogance, says the Lord. The Divine Moses rightly expresses surprise at the good and long-suffering God, for when Israel in the desert poured out a calf for itself and senselessly said: “These are your gods to Israel, who brought you out of the land of Egypt” (Ex. 32:4): then he undoubtedly offended God. When God threatened to completely destroy them, Moses fell to the Creator, strenuously asked and begged Him to forgive the guilt of those who had sinned, and dedicated a song of gratitude to Him, saying: “The Lord God is generous and merciful, long-suffering, and abundantly merciful, and true: keep the truth and show mercy in thousands, take away iniquity, and unrighteousness, and sins: even the guilty will not be cleansed, bring the sins of the fathers upon the children, and upon the children, to the third and fourth generation” (Ex. 34:6,7). The Jewish people misunderstood this; for he thought that God was so cruel and implacable and had been harboring anger for so long that he laid the blame of the fathers on the children. So, proclaiming this very thing, they said: “the fathers poisoned the tart, but their children’s teeth set the teeth on edge.” Therefore, God says to the prophet Ezekiel: “Son of man, what is this proverb to you in the land of Israel, who say: The fathers gave bitterness, but the teeth of their children set the teeth on edge. As I live, says the Lord, “If this parable be spoken again in Israel. As all my soul is, as is the soul of the father, so is the soul of the son: the soul that sinneth shall die: the son shall not bear the iniquity of his father, neither shall the father bear the iniquity of the son” (Ezek. 18:1-4,20). And how would the Lord of all be long-suffering and abundantly merciful if he did not forgive sins and did not cleanse the guilty, but extended his indignation to the third and fourth generation? So what's the point? He, as I said, is long-suffering and infinitely good and does not immediately punish those who have sinned, but postpones it until the second generation, so that the possible appearance of repentance in him would stop His anger. But if this does not happen and the third and fourth generations descended from the first will be given over to the same or even worse vices and turn out to be imitators of the wickedness of their ancestors: then, and only then, will he finally impose punishment, having already shown the family enough patience for past misdeeds, that is, he imposes the sins of the fathers on the third and fourth generation. So, he says, having very often shown long-suffering to Damascus, don’t I finally have every right to become indignant for three and four sins? For what have they done? Although there are many other iniquities, they will be punished for their own great cruelty: I will not turn away from them, even though I have crushed those who are in the womb of Gilead with iron saws. Gilead is a small city of Judea, lying on the border of Palestine. The Syrians attacked it and destroyed it to the ground, cutting with iron saws those who were pregnant and, together with their children, killing the premature fetuses of women. Iron saws are the wheels of the chariots with which the Syrians usually rolled the threshing floor. Therefore, God, through the mouth of Isaiah, nowhere says to the synagogue of the Jews: “And I made you like the wheels of a new chariot, wiping out like a saw” (Is. 41:15). He says almost the same thing to Damascus: I will wipe you out just as you wiped out and crushed the inhabitants of Gilead, so that you did not spare even those who were still in the womb and to whom mercy is and is due from everyone. And that some of the inhabitants of Damascus treated the Israelites cruelly and viciously, you can easily be convinced of this by listening to the word of the Prophet Elisha. He came to Damascus. When he met Hazael, during the illness of his son Aderov, he “cryed,” says Scripture, “the man of God. And Hazael said: Why is my lord crying? And he said: “Behold, you have done great evil to the children of Israel: you have burned their fortresses with fire, and you have killed their chosen ones with the sword, and you have broken their babies and dissolved those in their wombs” (2 Kings 8:11,12). since Damascus did this not only to Gilead, but also to the entire country of Judea; then he threatens to burn the house of Hazael and Adera and destroy the faith of Damascus. This was carried out through Uzziah and Jeroboam gradually and at different times; for they also took Syria and won a strong victory: and after some time, through the king of Assyria. Then he says: And I will consume those who live from the field of On. The prophets call it Bethel, in which the cursed Jeroboam placed a golden heifer, but as a result of this they (the prophets) usually called the whole country devoted to idolatry. Therefore, he says, those who live in the earth and in the field, or the vain ones (ματάιων), that is, idols (as everyone else interpreted this word), I will destroy and destroy, and I will also cut off the tribe of the men of Harranih. Harran is a town located almost near Damascus and has very warlike inhabitants. And the people of Sirstia, he says, are captivated by deliberateness, calling deliberate (ἐπίκλητον) either very glorious or hired and gathered to their aid; for when making military attacks on the Jewish countries, they hired neighboring foreigners. Therefore, deliberate can mean: called from outside, a foreigner. It should be noted that in the Hebrew edition, instead of: people of Sirstia, it reads: people of Cyrenstia; for the Syrians were settlers of the Cyreneans. Let us remember that (as it is written again in the fourth book of Kings) Ahaz reigned in Jerusalem. Pekah (king of Israel) and Rasson, kings of Syria and Damascus, went to Jerusalem, devastating the cities of Judah under their control. since Ahaz, the king of Judah, was in the greatest fear; then he hired Tiglaphalaser the Assyrian for money, and having listened to him, it is said, “The king of Assyria went to Damascus, and took him, and put him down, and killed Rehashon” (2 Kings 16:9). Am.1:6–8. This is what the Lord says; For three wickednesses of Gaza, and for four I will not turn away from them, for the captivity of Solomon, the hedgehog of Idumea: and I will send fire on the border of Gaza, and will lay down its foundation: and I will consume the living from Azoth, and the tribe will be erupted from Ascalon, and I will bring my hand against Ekron, and the remnant of the foreigners will perish, says the Lord. First of all, I think it is necessary to say that neither the Hebrew text 2 nor others mention Solomon, but the Jews read: for the sake of their captivity. Others, instead of the word: Solomon, add: arranged - ἀπηρτισμέρην or perfect - τελέιαν (captivity) 3 . We will have to follow the reading of the Seventy. So Gaza (and it is the city of the Philistines or present-day Palestine) is accused of captivating Solomon and imprisoning him in Idumea. We can understand this as other interpreters understood it, namely: they did not commit any ordinary devastation of Judea, but, capturing quite a few captives, delivered them into the hands of the Edomites. The Edomites were the descendants of Esau, always hostile to the Israelites: assisting them and fighting with them, the Gazites, the Azotians and the inhabitants of Ascalon, or the so-called Ekron and some other foreigners greatly helped them take possession of the cities of Judea. If, according to the translation of the Seventy, we read that they took Solomon captive; then it is necessary to understand the following here. Solomon was the strongest and most powerful king and dominated the neighboring nations, so that he built many cities among them and settled the Israelites in them, because Hiram allowed him to do so. In the second book of Chronicles it is written like this: “And it came to pass twenty years later that Solomon built the house of the Lord, and his house, and the cities that Hiram gave to Solomon; Solomon built them, and the children of Israel inhabited it. And Solomon came to Hamath-Zubah, and conquered it: and he created Fedmor in the wilderness and all the strong cities that he had built in Hamath,” and a little further: “and as Solomon desired, he created it in Jerusalem, and in Lebanon, and in all his kingdom. All the people that remained from Hittite, and Ammore, and Perizzea, and Hebeah, and Jebusea, which were not of the tribe of Israel, but were of their sons who remained after them in the land, which the children of Israel did not destroy; Solomon brought them as tribute even to this day" (2 Chronicles 8:1-8). So, having united with the Edomites, the inhabitants of Gaza and Ashdod and others destroyed these cities, called Solomon's, so that they no longer belonged to the kingdom of Judah, but were given over, as it were, to the wicked leaders of the Moabites. For this reason, he says that Gaza, together with other cities, will be destroyed by fire and the Azotians and the tribe of Ascalon will perish, and Ekron will be under the power of the slayer. And along with them, of course, the rest of their fellow tribesmen will perish: for some of the neighboring barbarians probably received payment (from them) and were called (by them) to help. So, in the end, it turns out to be a difficult and full of danger task to enter into an alliance with the wicked and, together with them, take up arms against those beloved by God and persecute the saints. And although we sometimes suffer for our sins and are admonished by God, He will not completely reject those whom He has made His own, but having admonished them well, He will cause the vessels of wrath to perish, that is, those who were inflamed against them with unbridled rage, completely in accordance with what was beautifully said to Babylon about the children of Israel: “I breathed into your hand, but you gave them no mercy” ( Isa.47:6); for the cruelty of those entrusted with the execution of this is very unpleasant to God and excites His indignation. Am.1:9,10. This is what the Lord says: For three wickednesses of Tire, and for four, I will not turn away from him, since I have shut up Solomon captives in Idumea, and have not remembered the covenant of my brothers: and I will send fire on the fortress of Tire and will girdle the foundations thereof. In the same way, the Tyrians, together with the inhabitants of Damascus and Azoth and Ascalon and Ekron, who exceeded the excess of their iniquities and, as it were, conquered the long-suffering befitting God, will, however, be punished according to the meaning of the prophecy and will suffer the heaviest retribution of all. Their crime was that they carried out the captivity of Solomon in Idumea, not remembering the covenant of the brothers. What kind of captives Solomon were, the word sufficiently explained this to us. Now it is necessary to say how the captives were imprisoned by the Tyrians in Idumea. Enslaving countless numbers of inhabitants of Judea and Jerusalem, they sold them to the Edomites. And they (the Edomites) turned their brothers by blood and from time immemorial free (the Jews) into prisoners of war, oppressed them with the bitter yoke of slavery and forced them to live according to the laws of the Greeks; pathetic - they almost blasphemed the glory of God, as if He had not preserved their freedom from their fathers and did not have the strength to grant them prosperity and prosperity. since, strongly accusing Solomon’s captives who were imprisoned in Idumea, the God of all things through the mouth of another prophet says: “And what are you, Tire and Sidon to me: and all Galilee of foreigners? food retribution do you repay me? Or do you remember being spiteful towards me? I will repay your reward quickly and quickly upon your heads. Therefore you have taken my silver and my gold, and you have brought my chosen ones and my good things into your treasures: you will sell both the sons of Judah and the children of Jerusalem to the sons of the Greeks, so that you may bring me forth from their borders” (Joel 3:4–6). The limit, as if sensual, of the Israelites was Judea, and the spiritual limit was the law, outside of which (limits) they were, unworthily sold to the sons of the Greeks. The Tyrians did this, not remembering their brotherly covenant. We can understand this in three ways. Who these brothers are and what the covenant is - we will talk about this, guided in understanding this by the Holy Scriptures. Hiram, who once reigned over the Tyrians, was very friendly towards the divine David. Then after him (David) he was favorably disposed towards Solomon, so that he entered into an alliance of friendship with him, helped him in everything and during the construction of the divine church provided him with the necessary attention (1 Kings 5:9,11-14), sent him very large gifts, although he himself received even larger and richer ones from him. So, either he says that the Tyrians fought against the Israelites, forgetting about the covenant of being brothers in love and united by (mutual) goodwill and tenderness to such an extent that they seemed to be of the same blood: or (says) that the Edomites descended from Esau, although they were brothers to the Israelites, fought against them, despising the brotherly covenant. Esau harbored hostile and hostile feelings towards Jacob, having once been offended because of his birthright. But when Jacob left Laban’s home and wanted to return home again with his wives and children; then Esau met him as a brother; for they hugged and kissed each other and spoke friendly words to each other and, rejecting their former enmity, entered into a covenant of concord and peace. So it was between them. But the Tyrians, forgetting about the covenant of the brothers, quarreled related tribes and decided to have them as slaves of half-bloods and brothers, with their assistance making the Edomites incomparably stronger than those who once ruled. Or this can be understood in relation to the Moabites themselves, who descended from Lot, because the Tyrians violated the covenant of the brothers, obviously the covenant between Abraham and Lot: when the shepherds of both quarreled among themselves; Then “speech,” says the divine scripture, “Abraham said to Lot: Let there be no strife between me and you, and between my shepherds, and between your shepherds, for we are brethren of men” (Gen. 13:8). Therefore, it is fair, he says, that he (Tire) will be set on fire and destroyed to the very foundations, for the expression: “let not be with many in malice” (Ex. 23:2) is always used in relation to the wicked. Am.1:11. This says the Lord: For three wickednesses of Edomite and for four I will not turn away from them, until I drove out my brother with the sword. The speech is addressed to Idumea itself, obviously to the descendants of Esau. He says very well that they too will suffer the consequences of (divine) wrath; for they were at enmity against their brother Israel, and they were not afraid to brazenly and cruelly raise the sword against their neighbors and half-bloods, not thinking about the law of nature, not thinking about philanthropy; but in hating his brothers he has learned to surpass strangers and the most hostile people, and perhaps even considering this to be a great advantage for himself. Therefore, let him hear from us: “Why do you boast in malice, being strong?” (Ps. 51:3). And it is very appropriate to say about them: “their glory is in their cold” (Phil. 3:19); for those who consider the best that which should be avoided as much as possible, will again hear: “Woe to those who say good things from the evil one,” and so on. (Isa.5:20). Am.1:11. And the false plant grew 4 on the earth. He usefully lists the crimes of the Edomites 5 and attributes them to Esau himself, declaring them people of low birth and descended from an wicked father, perhaps so that we would have in mind what is indirectly indicated by the mouth of Isaiah: “from the seed of the serpent will come the offspring of asps” (Is. 14:29). So it is narrated that their forefather Esau, with the benefits that he received from his mother’s womb and from his very birth, neglected and threw down the dignity of the firstborn, for the sake of sensual pleasure, putting the mentioned dignity into nothing; for he desired lentil food and, having received it, gave (for it) the gift of nature. “For this reason,” he says, “his name was called Edom” (Gen. 25:30). Hence, I think, those who later descended from him were called Edomites. So the expression: the dignity received from birth and the womb of the mother, is said to be transferred to the earth instead of: “exchanged for an earthly object.” Those who put the enjoyment of earthly objects above the enjoyment of spiritual things, who prefer the temporary to the eternal, the fragile to the lasting, and who neglect glory, even from God, are also guilty of such crimes, recklessly preferring to it the glory of people, which, like a shadow, disappears from those who have it. Therefore, the divine Paul very appropriately says: “Let no one be a fornicator or a defiler like Esau, who gave his birthright for one poison” (Heb. 12:16). Am.1:11. And delight in your thunderstorm as a witness. He recalls another act, reproaching the Edomite for having always been angry and crafty and extremely hostile and hateful towards his brothers and sisters. So in the book of Numbers it is written: “And Moses sent ambassadors from Cadiz to the king of Edom, saying: Thus says your brother Israel: You weigh the weight of the labor that has found us. And our fathers went down into Egypt, and lived in Egypt for many days, and the Egyptians of our fathers embittered us: and we cried out to the Lord, and were brought out of Egypt: and now let us pass through your land: we will not pass through villages, nor through vineyards, nor drink water for your labors. And Edom said to us: You will not pass through me; otherwise, I will march out against you. And Edom went out against them with a grievous people. And Israel turned away from him” (Num. 20:14–21). Notice again in these words how terrible and inexpressible is the vice of inhumanity (Edom). After all, Israel did not ask Edom for free water, but he took up arms and opposed him and viciously prevented him from even passing (through his land) and turned out to be so severe that if Israel had not shied away from him, he would not have spared his half-bloods. So, take note of your thunderstorm: fearing to start a war, some begged and shied away, so that it would not seem that they were neglecting love for their brothers: the other turned such compliance and timidity, which is designated by the name of a thunderstorm, into a reason for revealing his cruelty towards them: for he directly expressed the threat that if the Israelites do not want to move away from the borders of his possessions, he will come out against them with weapons. So Edom turned out to be alien to mutual love and extremely guilty of brotherly hatred and therefore rightly hated by God, for “God is love,” according to the words of John, “and he who abides in love abides in God” (1 John 4:8,16). So, whoever wants to live a life without love has not believed in God, but will be out of communion with God. Am.1:11. And your aspiration for victory. . This is the third sin of the descendants of Esau, for they forever equipped (kept) within themselves for victory, their aspiration, obviously towards enmity and wickedness. They never stopped their wicked plans, although Esau himself had already abandoned his former wickedness and no longer desired the death of Jacob, on the contrary, he changed (his hatred of him) into meekness and mutual love, for when Jacob returned from Laban’s house, then he hugged him with tears, and tears usually flow from the eyes with very great joy. But his descendants turned out to be very cruel and surpassed their ancestor in the severity of their character and malice. However, there is no doubt that the paths of evil-minded people certainly lead to death; therefore he says: Am.1:12. And I will send fire into Teman, and will lay down the foundations of its fences. This is the capital of Idumea; when the enemies took it, it was burned and Feman, along with other cities, perished. So those who hate brothers and rebel against their brothers and sisters or against those who, due to spiritual kinship, are in unity and unanimity, will perish in fire and flame, and the glory of love is alien to such. Am.1:13–15. This is what the Lord says: For three wickednesses of the sons of Ammonih, and for four I will not turn away from them, since I will destroy those who are in the womb of the Gileadites, so that they will enlarge their borders: and I will kindle a fire on the fence of Rabbath, and they will lay down her foundations with a cry on the day of the battle, and will be shaken on the day of her end: and her king will go into captivity, their priests and their princes together, says the Lord. The cruelty of the Ammonites is depicted as the same as the cruelty of the inhabitants of Damascus, for they also killed the women of Gilead who were in their wombs, not in order to help others, and not in order to satisfy the revenge of foreigners, but for their own benefit, in order to expand their country and expand the boundaries of their kingdom as much as possible, after all of Judah was devastated and the Israelites were completely defeated, so that God seemed to be powerless and incapable, despite his promise, to save them and make them invincible to their enemies. So, these too, taking possession of the cities, dared to laugh at their Patron God and gave thanks and songs of victory to their false gods. That is why he says that Rabbafa will be given over to the fire; and it is the main city of the Ammonite country. She will die with a cry, that is, when the Babylonians, as happens in war, will utter joyful cries during the victory over her; for they took possession of it when Nebuchadnezzar with all his army attacked the Ammonites. And the subjects, he says, will go into captivity together with the kings and have received the right to perform sacred acts together with their gods, without receiving the slightest help from them; for what can a deaf idol do and what benefit can it bring to whom? And the leaders of heresies are likened to those who cut open those who are in the womb, in order to expand the boundaries of their possessions; for in order to appear as leaders of many, they commit violence against unfortunate souls and, with the help of deceptive words, try to arouse in them a kind of premature and immature faith, preaching to them what is false and spewing out what comes from their own hearts, and not from the mouth of the Lord; for “no one can declare the Lord Jesus except by the Holy Spirit,” but no one can say anathema against Jesus except by Beelzebub (1 Cor. 12:3). Amos 2:1–3. This says the Lord: For three wickednesses of Moab, and for four I will not turn away from him; Having burned the bones of the king of Edom to ashes, I will send fire on Moab, and the foundations of its cities will be destroyed, and Moab will die powerless, with a cry and a trumpet. And I will consume the judge from him, and all his princes I will slay with him, says the Lord. And the Moabites committed no small crime, so that they too exceeded the measure of all meekness and long-suffering characteristic of God. Their guilt is sin unto death: they burned, he says, the bones of the king of Edom, and burned them so that they finally turned to dust and ashes. What was their crime? In hatred and inhumanity and unbridled cruelty towards the Israelites. But perhaps someone will say that they burned the bones of the said king not for the sake of anyone else, but only for the sake of the Israelites. Let me tell you a briefly well-known story. In the fourth book of Kings, it is written that after the death of Ahab, Moab broke its alliance with the king of Israel. Then Jehoram from Samaria sent a letter to Jehoshaphat, king of Judah, with the following content: “The king of Moab has rejected me: will you go with me to battle against Moab? and speech: I'm going up. And the king of Israel went, and the king of Judah, and the king of Edom” (2 Kings 3:7,9). Look how the king of Edom, that is, the Edomite, armed himself together with these kings. since they suffered a shortage of water, they called Elisha to them and begged him to grant them from the Lord what they were looking for. And when this happened, the Moabites were defeated, as is written further about this. So the Moabites were angry that the Israelites had once defeated them, with the help and assistance of the king of Edom. But since they could no longer annoy the dead; Then they violated the remains in another way, putting them on fire and not even sparing the bones, as if adding their former assistant to the Israelites they destroyed. So, he says, their cities will be burned and they will perish powerless, not exhausted by illness, not exhausted by ordinary infirmities, but with a cry and a trumpet blast, that is, as in war and battle. He also threatens that judges and princes will perish along with their subordinates; for they were the authors of their plans and enterprises and the leaders of others in all wickedness. Am.2:4–5. This is what the Lord says: Because of the three wickednesses of the sons of Judah, and because of the four, I will not turn away from them, because I have rejected the law of the Lord, and have not kept its commandments, and have deceived them in vain, even as they did, which their fathers followed after them. And I will send fire on Judah, and the foundations of Jerusalem will be destroyed. Judah, guided by the law, joins the nations that did not have the law, for the Judge is impartial. But he shows that he was condescending and patient for a long time towards the sinner, and only by his third and fourth sin was he moved (to punishment). Although, in fairness, other nations, as those who did not have the divine law, should have given mercy to a greater extent and provided longer-lasting leniency, on the contrary, Israel should have been immediately punished for negligence; because he was brought up in the divine commandments and knew the path leading to benefit; but the Lord showed (equal) condescension both to those who knew the law and to those who did not know. When He finally saw that they had reached the extreme degree of wickedness and foolishness of thoughts; then he announces that he will send fire to Jerusalem itself and destroy such a glorious and famous city to its very foundations. The crimes of the Israelites are numerous; in particular, God accuses them of following the errors of their fathers. Even then, when they were under the yoke of the Egyptians and brought up in their morals and laws, they rendered divine worship to the calf. But having been freed from this very painful slavery and guided in various ways by the divine commandments to a clear knowledge of what was pleasing to God, they turned back and were drawn into the error of their fathers, although perhaps they were afraid as something shameful to be subjected to the same disasters, for they themselves worshiped golden heifers. The reason for their wickedness was that they rejected the law of the Lord and did not want to preserve His commandments. So while we keep the law and love God and try to keep His commandments, we will prove wise and prudent and experienced in every virtue and rich in many other things. But as soon as we indulge in negligence and neglect the divine laws, we are carried away by every wind (of teaching) (Eph. 4:14), we are deprived of reason and beautiful aspirations, and we will become “part of the fox” (Ps. 62:11), because unclean spirits carry us hither and thither. Therefore, justly and wisely, the divine David sings about every righteous person: “the law of his God is in his heart, and his feet will not stumble” (Ps. 36:31). Am.2:6–7. This says the Lord: For the three wickednesses of Israel, and for the four, I will not turn away from them, because I have sold the righteous for money and the needy for boots, who walk 7 on the dust of the earth. He does not leave unpunished, but on the contrary, he subjects Israel, that is, the tribes living in Samaria, to judgment. And that they, by sinning unbridledly, seemed to have exhausted the mercy of God shown to the weak, this can be indicated by disgust for three and four sins, which those experiencing must be subjected to terrible suffering and be in all sorts of troubles. Therefore, David, fearing this and knowing the cause of his death, begged the Lord, saying: “Do not turn away your face from me, and do not turn away with anger from your servant” (Ps. 26:9): for anger always follows and, as it were, accompanies disgust. And what the crimes of Israel were, this clearly shows; for the righteous were sold for money, and the needy for boots; that is, they did not tolerate being told truth and justice and being judged in accordance with the law. But if it happened that strong people brought to trial a righteous, chaste and honest man, unpretentious and averse to vanity (and by such a righteous man we can mean a poor or poor in spirit); then they sold him to enemies, although the law clearly says: do not show partiality in court (Deut. 1:17, 16:19), and again: “let her not kill you if she is innocent and righteous” (Exodus 23:7). Whoever is entrusted with the duty of carrying out judgment certainly takes the place of God, to Whom alone belongs the right of judgment; for “there is one lawgiver and judge” (James 4:12), according to the word of the Saint. Therefore, whoever carries out unjust judgment on the righteous and shows partiality will humiliate the divine dignity and offend God, Who says: “Judge righteous judgment, and show mercy and generosity to each one of his brothers” (Zechariah 7:9). So he accuses them of selling the righteous and the poor to their enemies and usually doing this for the sake of insignificant and most insignificant profits, which were barely enough for those who received them to purchase only sandals. Meanwhile, they should have been most concerned about maintaining justice and pleasing God and enjoying the honors received from Him and possessing the wealth of good fame: for “better,” he says, “is a good name than much wealth” (Prov. 22:1). You need to know that through the mouth of Isaiah He also speaks to the mother of the Jews, that is, Jerusalem: “Your princes do not judge the orphans and do not listen to the judgment of widows” (Is. 1:23), and also through Micah: “His elders judge in gifts” (Mic. 3:11). Therefore, it is always worthy of damnation if the trial is not carried out in compliance with justice and impartiality, but as if with hatred and in violation of the truth. Am.2:7. And I will give the wrist to the heads of the poor. He reproaches them and directly accuses them of the fact that, due to their love of power and self-interest, they were wicked and unmerciful and usually unjust in relation to those about whom, on the contrary, it was worthy to have care, whom it was proper to honor and from whom it was appropriate to gain favor with the help provided out of love, tormenting those burdened with poverty with unbearable and bitter sorrows. But what is done by them, our Lord attributes to his own person. Therefore, we immeasurably insult God himself, oppressing the weak and beating the humble with his hands, as it is written, causing grief to those oppressed by poverty, when on the contrary we should have extended to them the hand of mutual love; for “poverty,” he says, “humbles a man: but the hands of the courageous become rich” (Prov. 10:4). Nowhere does a disciple of Christ write: “This faith is pure and undefiled in the sight of God and the Father, to visit the orphans and widows in their affliction, and to keep itself undefiled from the world” (James 1:27). Am.2:7. And the path of the humble seduces. You can understand this in two ways. Or here he says that they were extremely arrogant and reached such a degree of God-hating pride that they despise their brothers if they are not surrounded by wealth and do not have brilliant surroundings, and they disdain to walk along the same path with those who have not exercised the passion of covetousness very well and who are humble and remove from themselves the vain excitement of life. Or he says that, being mentors and leaders of the people, they led weaker or humble people away from the straight path, that is, those who themselves could not have accurate knowledge of what was useful, but on the contrary, diligently followed the words of their mentors. And there are a lot of such people: for such people live carefree and in simplicity and are attached to the words and instructions of their teachers, and whichever path they have learned to consider good, they have a strong attachment to. So the wise and God-loving of those called to teaching show the straight path, and those who follow it lead a life pleasing to God. And those who, with their thoughts, are far from the divine law, seduce the path of the humble, tearing them away from what is just and truly doing (this is what Jeroboam did, who persuaded the Israelites to worship heifers made with hands) and moving them away from the path to truth and goodness, I say, from devotion to the true God. The paths of the humble are also corrupted by those who do not turn away (are not careful) to say to a person with a child’s mind: come with us, take part in the blood of the unrighteous. The path of the humble is also corrupted by those who willfully pervert the correctness of church dogmas and lead the minds of more simple-minded people onto a false and perverse path; for they have nothing correct, on the contrary, only perverse and ugly expressions and combinations of words, filled with wickedness and ignorance. Am.2:7. Both his son and his father are attracted to a single slave, as if they would desecrate the name of their God. Again he accuses them of unbridled and reprehensible voluptuousness, and with this one sin he showed that they despised all decency. Although they should have courageously fought passions and overcome shameful and impure voluptuousness, they themselves had the ability to suppress lusts and prohibit carnal desires and persuade others to curb the law that is rampant in our members: but they neglected glorious virtue and yielded to their carnal passions. Then, isn’t it some sign of wisdom to prefer what is better even in shameful matters? The most vile sin must be recognized when a son enters the father’s bed and the father feels a lawless desire for his son’s bed and decides to actually commit this heinous thing, which, even without the law given by Moses, nature itself recognizes as shameful and condemns as worthy of indignation. Therefore, Reuben, who desecrated his father's bed, committed a great crime. And Paul was greatly indignant at a similar crime committed among the Corinthians. He writes to them: “from here you hear fornication in you, and such is fornication, as if a man had a desire to have a wife” (1 Cor. 5:1). However, his indignation does not stop there, but he handed over the one who committed such a crime to Satan “for the destruction of the flesh” (1 Cor. 5:5). So those guilty of such passions dishonor the name of their God. We even affirm that they adopted filth and uncleanness into the divine nature. How and why? They (by their behavior) do what is slandered by the God of all, as the ruler of unclean people. Therefore, nowhere did he say to the Jews: “For your sake my name is blasphemed among the nations” (Is. 52:5); for as those who live righteously are said to sanctify God; So one can think that those devoted to an unclean and inglorious life blaspheme Him (Matt. 6:9; 1 Pet. 3:15). Am.2:8. And he binds his garments with snakes, he holds the curtains of the treasury, and he drinks wine from slander in the house of his God. Our Lord Jesus Christ, teaching that divine churches should be built for no other purpose than to glorify the God of all in them and to perform the worship due to Him, once reproached the Jewish traders who brought animals into the church, saying: “it is written: My church will be called the church of prayer” (Matthew 21:13); He hinted at the Holy Scripture, as the disciples remembered: because it was written: “Zeal for Your house has eaten me up” (Ps. 68:10). And Paul reproached some who had acquired the arrogant habit of doing similar things: “For food,” he says, “don’t you have houses to eat and drink?” Or don’t you care about the Church of God?” (1 Cor. 11:22). So it always turns out to be harmful to boldly abuse buildings dedicated to God, as if they were ordinary houses belonging to every private person (for where then can we perform the worship due to God if we serve carnal pleasures before His eyes?) - and in those places in which we should appear shining for the reason of holiness, there we cheerfully strive for the illegal. He does not leave those who do this without reproof - and quite rightly: for they, he says, did not remove the covers from the altar, but, hiding under it, they dared to get drunk and do deeds of sensuality, so that they would hear God clearly speaking: “I am listening, says the Lord” (Jer. 29:23). And which of the shameful deeds can a drunken and crazy person refrain from doing, and which of the evils is he not willing to give in to? For the God of everyone sees what is happening in darkness, according to what is written (Ps. 138) and for Him there is nothing hidden. There is no doubt that what happens especially in churches is accomplished by us as if in the presence and under the direct observation of God himself. And if being completely drunk is a most shameful thing and, according to the law, worthy of extreme condemnation: then to appear in this form in the church itself is not a thing that in its obscenity exceeds any word? And even worse, if they collect for sensual pleasures obtained through unrighteously and craftily shed blood. Those who do this will hear God saying clearly: Is a den of thieves My house? (Matthew 21:13). So the crimes of others will serve to our great benefit, and the way others have offended God can make us better, if only we turn away from the misdeeds of those people. After all, prudent people, in all fairness, should be safer, if only they wish to live their lives in accordance with the law and do not want to compete with the evil one. But if this is said to Judah, or to the two tribes living in Jerusalem; then the meaning of the considerations we have just expressed is true. If the mentioned sin belonged to Israel: then I will say that it was not in the house of the true God and not for the divine altar that tents of curtains were made, or drunkenness was committed, but in the house of their God, whether it be Baal, or some other one made by human ingenuity in the form of an idol. But even in this case, will not Israel be charged with the fact that in the house of idols, and perhaps at the very altar of Baal, he drank wine and set up tents - because they respected this and turned the churches of their supposed gods into places for drunkenness and all sorts of sensual pleasures; Meanwhile, one should strive for pure and immaculate service to God and enter a truly holy house and treat the altar with reverence. But they tried to treat objects so sacred and worthy of reverence with disdain, and with respect for the most shameful things, and they dared to mock their very gods, always trampling on the divine dignity and brazenly humiliating the glory due to the one true God, when giving it to false gods, they did not attach any importance. Am.2:9. But I rejected the Amorites from before them; their height was like the height of a cedar, and they were as strong as an oak, and they dried up their fruit from above, and rooted them out from below. You see how wickedly insolent and contemptuous he later portrays them. To whom they should have sung a song of gratitude and shown obedience in everything, they dared to insult Him very unreasonably and senselessly, due to the greatest rudeness of their morals, and even went so far as to forget the benefits received from Him. Az, he says, rejected Ammore from their presence, that is, I destroyed the barbarian tribes, designated, as it seems, in the person of one Amorite, as cruel and stronger. I gave the opportunity to defeat someone so unusually strong and indestructible that he seemed to reach the height of a cedar and was likened in strength to a very strong oak. It was not anyone else, but I alone, he says, who weakened it and struck it at the root and, as it were, dried up its fruit; for when he speaks of trees, His speech is obviously of a metaphorical nature. He says that he was defeated at the root and therefore the fruit also died: for in the forest a tree dies only in the same way. And that the Amorites and Hivites and Girgashites and Perizzites and Jebusites were destroyed when the Israelites fought against them, obviously with the assistance of God - no one will doubt this. So it is scary to despise Christ, who gave us the power to trample on serpents, overthrow enemies, and subdue the strongest: “for our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against spiritual wickedness” (Eph. 6:12), and we possess all this in Christ. And if we, falling into negligence, insult our Savior and Deliverer, then we will not find a means and a way to get rid of strong punishment and fire. Am.2:10. But I brought you out of the land of Egypt and led you into the desert for fourty years, before you took the land of the Amorites as an inheritance. He clearly interprets what he said, and, as if going back, the prophetic word briefly indicates the events that took place from beginning to end. I, he says, delivered you from slavery and freed the Egyptians from covetousness. I fed them in the desert, sending down manna from heaven, opening up springs of water as is fitting for God, and granting unexpected springs of water from a rocky rock. And they had the labor of traveling not because of anything unimportant, but so that they would inherit the land of the Amorites, promised to their fathers. But they reached such foolishness that apparently they did not even know My love for them, or my love for mankind. And we, who by faith are in Christ, need to remember that we too have been freed from slavery and, as it were, emerged from Egypt into the desert, that is, into the purest and truly broad and alien to evil, I say, gospel life. We have received bread from heaven, which gives life to the world (John 6:33). We are strengthened in Christ and have sources of pure waters - the writings of the holy Apostles. This is what Isaiah called them, saying: “Draw water with joy from the fountain of salvation” (Is. 12:3); because they truly are the sources of salvation, communicating to us the saving and life-giving word and preaching the mystery of Christ and guiding the universe in secret. Am.2:11–12. And drink from your sons for the prophets, and from your young men for sanctification: is there no food for this, O children of Israel? Says the Lord: And you have drunk the blessed wine, and commanded the prophet, saying: You shall not prophesy. A strong basis for reproach and accusation of all evil is ingratitude towards God, who gives us everything we need for glory and for the maintenance of life. For out of the many peoples existing in the universe, He only made Israel His chosen one and called and placed him to such a degree of glory that He adorned some who loved a holy life and a life completely in accordance with the law with the dignity of prophecy and He took young men, that is, people more exalted in spiritual disposition and possessing spiritual strength, for sanctification; for some, the so-called Nazarenes, were sanctified according to the law, keeping their hair to God and refusing to eat wine and vinegar and grapes made from it and raisins and grape seeds, and especially by moving away from dead bodies. And the law about them has a deep meaning. But God, as I said, honored some of them with elevation to the rank of prophetic and representative sanctification. They, having neglected such a great and honorable advantage, gave wine to those who were sanctified, that is, those who had taken upon themselves the vow of holiness: they persuaded them to neglect sanctification, arguing that there is no law of God at all and it is useless for people to strive for holiness and fulfill the laws related to this. Although the law was in the shadows, it was still not completely devoid of the dogmas of truth: for the image of piety is reflected in the types. The prohibition against the holy prophets themselves is a sign of people who reject the law of God and cannot stand its guidance and do not understand that they are honored if some of them are even admitted to an interview with God. In the middle of the speech he proposes a question and says: Do you have food for these children of Israel? says the Lord. Is it possible, he says, that you will see lies in such obvious matters? And will God really need witnesses to expose you who have decided to commit such obvious slander? So, we must strive for holiness and cleave to God with an unshakable mind, not allowing evil opinions, for “evil conversations corrupt good customs” (1 Cor. 15:33) and the speeches of people given over to pleasures remove them from holiness and all that is good. On the contrary, we will be devoted to the teaching of the people who speak God, to which the Savior himself testified, saying: “For you shall not be the ones who speak, but the Spirit of your Father speak in you” (Matthew 10:20). Am.2:13. For this reason, behold, I will turn under you, as a chariot full of canes turns. Among the ancient peoples, everything that was collected from the fields and filled the threshing floor was usually transported on chariots. This custom is still preserved among peoples living in the east and west. The wheels spin around the axles, while the wooden parts of the chariot make sharp and unpleasant sounds and seem to scream from the weights placed on them. So I myself, says the Lord of all, will be like the one turning in a chariot, that is, the axle (because He Himself, as I said, will turn the strong and well-adjusted wheels), and I will cry out as no longer able to bear the weight of the sins of wicked people; for they rejected the law of the Lord and did not keep His commandments, but they were led astray by vanity, which their fathers did, forgot Me, who brought them out of Egypt, who rejected the Amorites from before them, who took from their sons to be prophets and from their young men to be sanctified. I showed them honor, but they reached such a frenzy that “they bound their garments with snakes, they held the curtains of the treasury, and the wine of slander was drunk in the house of their God,” and they gave wine to the sanctified, and they ordered and said to the prophets: do not prophesy. Therefore, as if burdened with such your iniquities, like an axle in a chariot filled with straw and sheaves, I will utter a very loud cry. What harm will come from this or what disasters will happen to them again is immediately explained in the following words. However, it is also necessary to say how truly dangerous it is to anger God and finally reach such depravity that the sin we commit becomes unbearable for Him, although He is by nature merciful and good and meek. Therefore, one must be wary lest one acquire a strong inclination to anger Him. And if it happened to sin in something due to human weakness, then there is no need to be slow to repent and allow sins to multiply; on the contrary, armed with the vigilance characteristic of saints, one must refrain from them and try to bring the soul stricken by illness to a better state; only in this case will He be long-suffering towards us and, since He is good, will He grant us mercy. Amos 2:14–16. And the flight will perish from the fleeting, and the strong will not hold their strength, and the brave will not save his soul, and the archer will not stand, and the swift will not survive his foot, and the horseman will not save his soul, and the mighty will not find his heart in strength, naked will he flee in that day, says the Lord. Nothing, he says, will save those who anger Him on the day of wrath: neither the speed of the feet will save the one capable of the fastest running from troubles, nor the physical strength will save the strong, nor the military experience of the one versed in the art of war, nor the bow of the most skillful and thus arousing astonishment of the shooter. Both the fast running of horses and the very ability to control horses during battle will be useless: but each of these will clearly not find his heart in strength, that is, he will find him depressed with horror and without resistance yielding victory to the devastators: then fear will attack the Israelites. The power of the Babylonians is so great that even an unarmed man can pursue, that is, defeat an armed man. Each of the Babylonians, even if he did not have any armor, weapons or armor at all, was able to pursue those who were fully armed. So, if God makes those whom He wants to punish powerless; then nothing can help them. The same thing, I think, is told to us in other words through the mouth of the Psalmist: “He does not delight in the strength of his bones” (Ps. 146:10); and also: “a lie is a horse for salvation” (Ps. 32:17). All this turns out to be completely useless if God does not help in the battle, for He is the Lord of hosts, giving strength to those who are weak and depriving those who grieve Him of strength, and with him “one thousand will be married and two” will move back “darkness” (Deut. 32:30). If God does not help, then even with the resistance of two or three, a great and innumerable multitude may perish. Literally: published – ἄκδοσις. The first reading is found in Aquila, also in ἀναπεπληρωμένην, the second in Symmachus and Theodotion. Hebrew ה ם ל ש translates by adjective or participle, in addition to the above, also: Jerome, Syrian, Chaldean. But LXX and Arabic translates it in its own way: Solomon. Greek μἡτραν; Slavic: corrupted the mother, following the reading: μητέρα. Slavs, and version LXX: the strong will not find his heart. You might be interested in: