“Thus Says Yahweh.
For three transgressions
Of Damascus,
And for four,
I will not revoke
The punishment.
They have threshed Gilead
With threshing sledges
Of iron.
So,
I will send a fire
On the house of Hazael.
It shall devour
The strongholds of Ben-hadad.
I will break the gate bars
Of Damascus.
I will cut off
The inhabitants
From the Valley of Aven.
I will cut of
The one who holds
The scepter from Beth-eden.
The people of Syria
Shall go into exile
To Kir.’
Says Yahweh.”
In typical prophetic language, Amos said that that Yahweh had spoken to him about Damascus, one of the neighbors of the northern kingdom of Israel, the Syrian capital city, about 130 miles northeast of Jerusalem, fairly close to the older northeastern territory of Manasseh. Damascus was under Aramean rule from 950-732 BCE, so that it is often referred to in the Bible as Aram instead of Syria. However, the Assyrian people conquered them in 732 BCE. The idea of numbering iniquities could be found later in the numerical Proverbs, chapter 30, talking about 3 and 4 things. The fact that Amos ranted against the neighbors of Israel was like Isaiah in chapter 17. These people of the north had defeated Gilead in 2 Kings, chapter 10. Hazel and Ben-hadad III were rulers in Damascus. The Valley of Aven or On was near Lebanon. They would be exiled to Kir, the place of their origins.
Eugene Finnegan Bible Project 