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Am.1:1. The word of Amoz, who was in Kariathiap from Tekuah, who saw Jerusalem in the days of Uzziah king of Judah, and in the days of Jeroboam king of Israel, before he was a coward for two years. The prophet informed us that, coming from Fekua, he was honored with divine revelation in Kariathiarim, and that he was commanded to pronounce these words about Jerusalem. It also informs about the time of prophecy; for for this purpose he made mention of kings: about Uzziah king of Judah, and about Jeroboam king of Israel. But it is also clear that he makes prophecies not only about Jerusalem, but also about the ten tribes: that is why he mentioned Jeroboam, who at that time reigned over the ten tribes. And since each of them reigned for a long time; Zia ruled the kingdom fifty-two years, and Jeroboam forty-one years; It was not without reason that the Prophet designated the year of the coward and said that it was two years after the prophecy, so that we would clearly know when he spoke these divine words to the people. Others, without paying careful attention to the time, assumed that this earthquake occurred when the great Isaiah, after the death of Uzziah, “seeing the Lord sitting on a high and exalted throne, and taking up the door from the voice of the Seraphim” (Is. 6: 1, 4). But I, having entered into research regarding time, found this to be false. For, if the earthquake occurred after the death of Uzziah, blessed Amos began his prophecy two years before; then this must be the fiftieth year of the reign of Uzziah; for he reigned fifty-two years. But that year Jeroboam was no longer alive; because Uzziah was elevated to the kingdom (2 Kings 15:1, 2, 2 Chronicles 26:1, 2) in the twenty-seventh year of the reign of Jeroboam. Therefore, the very time makes it clear that the predictions of the divine Amos were uttered at the beginning of the reign of Uzziah; because he received the gift of prophecy, according to what he said, during his lifetime and during the reign of Jeroboam. Thus, having shown the time of the prophecy, the Prophet announces the beginning of the prophecy. 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. Because the Prophet will foretell tribulations to neighboring nations; then it is necessary to notify where the definition is pronounced on them. From Jerusalem and from Mount Zion, he says, the God of all things spoke and uttered a decree regarding punishments. The shepherds will weep; because they will not find food for the flocks they graze, and all of Carmel to the very top will be deprived of an abundance of fruit. This was actually fulfilled due to lack of rain, locusts, caterpillars and other plagues to which the righteous Judge subjected them. However, the Prophet means this and something else, and calls Israel the peak of Carmel; because Carmel is part of the promised land. It is said: “I brought you to Carmel, so that I could bear its fruits, and the good of it” (Jer. 2:7). And the Prophet calls the kings of neighboring nations shepherds; and pastures - their subjects, not only because, as it were, some kind of pasture they brought taxes and tributes from themselves to the kings, but also because they lived under their rule. Therefore, the Prophet says that God, from Mount Zion from the city of Jerusalem, and other neighboring nations, according to His Divinity, definitely plunges into disasters of all kinds. And then he describes in detail the crimes of these peoples and shows the punishments imposed on them. Am.1:3. And the Lord said: For three wickednesses of Damascus, and for four I will not turn away from them, even though I have crushed with iron saws those who are in the womb of those who are in Gilead. God, turning away, apparently does not look at human crimes; why blessed David prays, saying: “Turn away Your face from my sins” (Ps. 50:11); but when God punishes, then He Himself says: “And I will set My face on you, and will consider your iniquities” (Ezek. 15:7). Therefore, “I will not turn away” means: I will no longer be long-suffering, and I will not turn My face away from your sins, but I will also look at what I apparently did not look at before through long-suffering. With the words: “for three” and “for four,” the Prophet means many. Therefore God says: although Damascus sinned in many ways and many times, I bore it for a long time; Now I will no longer be long-suffering, and I will not turn away from seeing their unspeakable iniquities, especially those that they dared to do, treating the inhabitants of Gilead cruelly and brutally, so that they sawed even women with child. Symmachus expressed this more clearly when he said: because they destroyed Gilead with iron wheels. The same meaning was given to the words by Aquila and Theodotion. Therefore, we learn that the women mentioned above, having been thrown onto some kind of threshing floor, were crushed into pieces with saw-shaped wheels, like ears of corn, without pity. Gilead, against which the inhabitants of Damascus dared to do this, was a city of Israel. Thus, pointing to lawlessness, the Prophet adds a word about punishment. Am.1:4. And I will send fire into the house of Hazael, and he will explain the foundation of the son of Ader. Others recognized Ader as the father of Azailov, dividing one name into parts, and separately understanding the words: son and Ader. But this is one name; because Ader in Hebrew and Syriac is called Baradad, and he is not the father, but the son of Hazael, as the fourth book of Kings shows (2 Kings 13:24, 25). It was under him that Damascus suffered destruction. Why does the prophecy say: “And he will lay down the foundation of the son of Ader,” that is, I will uproot the kingdom of Damascus. Am.1:5. And I will crush the faiths of Damascus, I will put an end to the former invincibility of Damascus. And I will consume the inhabitants of the field of On, and I will cut off the seed of the men of Harranih, and the people will be taken captive in wickedness, says the Lord. I will make sure that not only the capital will be taken, but also all the surrounding residents who migrated from Harran, and those living there and living near the idol He will be captives, and I will completely destroy the kingdom of Syria, famous in ancient times. For the Prophet called the famous “deliberate.” And God says about the inhabitants of Gaza: having shown them patience three and four times, I will no longer tolerate their iniquities. Most of all, they arouse My indignation by their actions towards My people. Am.1:6. For the hedgehog, he brought Solomon into captivity and imprisoned him in Idumea. Others understood it this way: long ago, Solomon took the Edomites captive and imprisoned them in Judea, and the inhabitants of Gaza, fighting with the Jews, gave these Edomites freedom and returned them to their homeland. But this seems far from the truth to me; because from Solomon to the present prophecy there were ten kings, and a lot of time passed between them. On the contrary, I think that the passage in question has the following meaning: The Philistines, due to their proximity to the tribe of Judah and often waging war with them, if they took someone captive, they sold them not to other nations, but to the Edomites - the tribe most hostile and warlike to the Jews. Therefore, the Prophet called the captivity of the captured Jews “the captivity of Solomon,” indicating the glory and celebrity of the people by the name of the glorious and famous king. Therefore, God, indignant at this cruelty, threatens to burn Gaza, and with it the other Philistine cities. Tire also accuses him of the same thing, and intensifying the accusation, he added: Am.1:9–10. This says the Lord: for three wickednesses of Tyree and for four I will not turn away from him, having yet shut up the captives of Solomon in Idumea, and not having remembered the covenant of brethren: and I will send fire upon the fortress of Tyree, and destroy the foundations thereof. Because Solomon and Hiram, king of Tire, showed a brotherly disposition towards each other, and one delivered cedar trees for the construction of the divine church, and the other paid for this with wheat, but the Tyrians forgot this friendship, and sinned in the same way against Israel, in which the inhabitants of Gaza did; then God justly pronounced His judgment on them. About the Edomites, having said: three and four times, even having repeatedly shown them His long-suffering, I will not tolerate them anymore, especially having seen their fury against their brother (Edom did not want to bring to mind the natural bonds and the fact that they were confined together in one womb, but continues to show his fratricidal disposition), God threatens that he will give them up to fire, like the Syrians, Philistines and Tyrians. He calls the Assyrian army fire, which destroys everything like fire. Yes, they probably did indeed use fire; They burned villages, turned cities to ashes, and destroyed everything. Am.1:11. This says the Lord: for three wickednesses of Edomite, and for four, I will not turn away from them, having driven out my brother with the sword and corrupted my mother on the earth, and take as a witness my storm, and supply my desire for victory. What is said: “by corrupting the mother” means their fury against nature itself, because, being brother and half-brother, enclosed together in one womb, like a twin, he does not cease to furiously rebel against his brother, as if inflicting a reproach on the womb in which both of them were imprisoned. And this: “to take your thunderstorm as a witness” means: you dared to do a terrible thing, leaving such a testimony about yourself. Having also said about the Ammonites, namely, that he showed them great patience, although they sinned in many ways and many times, God mentions their lawless act with Israel, and says: Am.1:13. As soon as possible, those who have in the womb of the Gileadites will expand, so that they will expand their borders. For, living in the neighborhood of the Gileadites and treating them cruelly and inhumanly, they not only killed their husbands, but also destroyed the unborn, killing those who were pregnant, so that, as the number of Israelites decreased, they could benefit from the fruits of the land cultivated by the Israelites. For this: Am.1:14. I will kindle a fire on the visor of Rabbath, and will lay down the foundations with a cry on the day of the army, and will shake on the day of his death: and Melchom, his priests, and his princes together will go into captivity, says the Lord. Here he made it clear that in threatening others he called fire; for he added: “on the day of battle.” He threatens that, together with the inhabitants of Ravvafa, the idol they honor will be captured; because Melchom, the false God of the Ammonites, was not able not only to save the priests and princes, but also to deliver himself from captivity. The main city of the Ammonites is called Rabbatha, and now in Arabia it is called Philadelphia in Greek, and Amman in Syriac. The Slavic translation reads like this: “and her kings, their priests and their princes will go into captivity.”