Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Amos 1:12
But I will send a fire upon Teman, which shall devour the palaces of Bozrah.
12. upon Teman ] According to Eusebius and Jerome ( Onomastica, ed. Lagarde, pp. 156, 260), a district of the chiefs (‘dukes’ [ duces ]) of Edom in Gebal, but also, they add, a village about 15 (Jerome 5) miles from Petra, and the station of a Roman garrison. From Eze 25:13, where it is implied that Teman was in an opposite quarter to Dedan, it may be inferred that, as Dedan was the name of a tribe on the S.E. of Edom, Teman was in the N. or W. part of Edom. It is mentioned elsewhere in the O.T., as synonymous with Edom, Jer 49:7; Oba 1:9; Hab 3:3, or in poetical parallelism with it, Jer 49:20: cf. Gen 36:34. Eliphaz, Job’s friend, is described as a Temanite (Job 2:11 &c.) In Gen 36:11; Gen 36:15 Teman is a grandson of Esau (= Edom), the relation of the particular clan to the whole nation being represented genealogically: the name must thus have been that of an Edomite clan, as well as of the region inhabited by it.
Bozrah ] A town of Edom, mentioned also Gen 36:33, Jer 49:13; and in poetical parallelism with Edom, Isa 34:6; Isa 63:1, Jer 49:22. From the manner in which it is named in most of these passages, it is clear that it must have been an important place. It is in all probability el-Buaireh (a diminutive of Borah), about 35 miles N. of Petra, and 20 miles S.E. of the Dead Sea, with (Roman) ruins, first visited by Burckhardt in 1812 ( Syria, 1822, p. 407: cf. also Rob. ii. 167; Doughty, Arabia Deserta, i. 31, 38).
Edom is mentioned as paying tribute to Rammn-nirri III. ( K.A.T [132][133] p. 190; K.B [134] i. 191), Tiglath-pileser III. ( K.A.T [135][136] p. 258), Sennacherib ( ib. p. 291), Esarhaddon, and Asshurbanipal ( ib. p. 355). Afterwards, like its neighbours, it fell under the rule of Nebuchadnezzar (Jer 27:3 f.). During, and after, the Captivity, the Edomites extended their dominions W. of the Arabah, and ultimately transferred themselves thither altogether (the later ‘Idumaea’ being the southern part of Judah); Malachi (Amo 1:3-4) describes Edom as desolate in his day, though how it became so, we do not know; and in b.c. 312 the Nabataeans, an Arabian tribe, are found located in Edom, where they maintained themselves for many centuries. The cities of Edom finally fell to ruin after the Mohammedan conquest in the seventh century, a.d.
[132] .A.T. Eb. Schrader, Die Keilinschriften und das A. T., ed. 2, 1883 (translated under the title The Cuneiform Inscriptions and the O. T. 1885, 1888). The references are to the pagination of the German, which is given on the margin of the English translation.
[133] Eb. Schrader, Die Keilinschriften und das A. T., ed. 2, 1883 (translated under the title The Cuneiform Inscriptions and the O. T. 1885, 1888). The references are to the pagination of the German, which is given on the margin of the English translation.
[134] .B. Eb. Schrader, Keilinschriftliche Bibliothek (1889 ff.).
[135] .A.T. Eb. Schrader, Die Keilinschriften und das A. T., ed. 2, 1883 (translated under the title The Cuneiform Inscriptions and the O. T. 1885, 1888). The references are to the pagination of the German, which is given on the margin of the English translation.
[136] Eb. Schrader, Die Keilinschriften und das A. T., ed. 2, 1883 (translated under the title The Cuneiform Inscriptions and the O. T. 1885, 1888). The references are to the pagination of the German, which is given on the margin of the English translation.
The authenticity of the oracle against Edom is doubted by Wellhausen, and at least suspected by G. A. Smith (p. 129 f.); the former supposes it to be an addition to the original text of Amos, dating from the Chaldaean age. Not only is there in the earlier prophets and historical books no other evidence of such animus against Edom as here displays itself, but Edom, when Amos wrote, had been for two centuries under the yoke of Judah; its first subjection had been accomplished with great cruelty (1Ki 11:16); Amaziah, also, more recently (801 792 b.c.), had severely smitten Edom (2Ki 14:7). Even, therefore, although Edom had shewn itself unfriendly, “was the right to blame them Judah’s, who herself had so persistently waged war, with confessed cruelty, against Edom? Could a Judaean prophet be just in blaming Edom and saying nothing of Judah? To charge Edom, whom Judah had conquered and treated cruelly, with restless hate towards Judah seems to fall below that high impartial tone which prevails in the other oracles of this section. The charge was much more justifiable at the time of the Exile, when Edom did behave shamefully towards Israel” (G. A. Smith, p. 130). The argument is a forcible one, and the conclusion to which it points may be the true one: our ignorance, as the same writer proceeds to point out, prohibits our endorsing it absolutely: we do not for instance know the particulars of the revolt under Jehoram or what may have happened to provoke Amaziah’s attack upon Edom, or indeed what, generally, may have been Edom’s behaviour towards Judah during the century before Amos: there may have been occurrences during this period known to Amos and sufficient to justify the words used by him.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
But – (And I, in My turn and as a consequence of these sins) will send a fire upon Teman Teman, say Eusebius and Jerome , was a country of the princes of Edom, which had its name from Teman son of Eliphaz, son of Esau Gen 36:11, Gen 36:15. But even to this day there is a village, called Teman, about 5 (Eusebius says 15) miles from Petra, where there is also a Roman garrison, from which place was Eliphaz, king of the Themanites. It is, however, probably the district which is meant, of which Bozra was then the capital. For Amos when speaking of cities, uses some word to express this, as the palaces of Benhadad, the wall of Gaza, of Tyrus, of Rabbah; here he simply uses the name Teman, as he does those of Moab and Judah. Amos does not mention Petra, or Selah, for Amaziah had taken it, and called it Joktheel, which God subdued, which name it for some time retained 2Ki 14:7.
Bozrah – (Literally, which cuts off approach) is mentioned, as early as Genesis Gen 36:33, as the seat of one of the elective kings who, in times before Moses, reigned over Edom. It lay then doubtless in Idumea itself, and is quite distinct from the Bozrah of Hauran or Auranitis, from which Jerome also distinguishes it. : There is another Bosor also, a city of Esau, in the mountains of Idumea, of which Isaiah speaks. There is yet a small village of the like name (Busaira the little Bozrah) which appears, it is said , to have been in ancient times a considerable city, if we may judge from the ruins which surround the village. It has now some 50 houses, and stands on an elevation, on the summit of which a small castle has been built. The name however, little Bozrah, indicates the existence of a great Bozrah, with which its name is contrasted, and is not likely to have been the place itself . Probably the name was a common one, the strong place of its neighborhood . The Bozrah of Edom is either that little vilage, or is wholly blotted out.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Verse 12. Teman-Bozrah.] Principal cities of Idumea.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
I will send a fire: see Amo 1:4,7.
Teman; metropolis of Idumea, called from Esaus grandson of that name; of this see Eze 25:13; Hab 3:3. And this here taken synecdochically implieth the inhabitants of this city, and of the whole country, which shall perish when the judgment here threatened shall be executed.
Which shall devour the palaces: see Amo 1:4.
Bozrah; a city bordering on Moab and Idumea, and which sometimes belonged to the one, sometimes to the other, as events of war determined. It may be there might be two cities of this name, the one in Moab, the other in Edom, or Idumea; however, this was a very strong city, and one of the chiefest in the whole kingdom, so that in the menace against Bozrah and Teman the strength and glory of Edom is threatened with an utter overthrow, as of that which is burnt up by fire.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
12. Temana city of Edom,called from a grandson of Esau (Gen 36:11;Gen 36:15; Oba 1:8;Oba 1:9); situated five milesfrom Petra; south of the present Wady Musa. Its people were famed forwisdom (Jer 49:7).
Bozraha city of Edom(Isa 63:1). Selah or Petra isnot mentioned, as it had been overthrown by Amaziah (2Ki14:7).
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
But I will send a fire upon Teman,…. A principal city of Edom or Idumea, so called from Teman a grandson of Esau, Ge 36:11. Jerom x says there was in his time a village called Theman, five miles distant from the city Petra, and had a Roman garrison; and so says Eusebius y; who places it in Arabia Petraea; it is put for the whole country; it signifies the south. So the Targum renders it,
“a fire in the south.”
The “fire” signifies an enemy that should be sent into it, and destroy it: this was Nebuchadnezzar, who, as Josephus z says, five years after the destruction of Jerusalem led his army into Coelesyria, and took it; and fought against the Ammonites and Moabites, and very probably at the same time against the Edomites:
which shall devour the palaces of Bozrah; another famous city of the Edomites; there was one of this name in Moab; either there were two cities so called, one in Edom, and another in Moab; or rather this city lay, as Jarchi says, between Edom and Moab; and so sometimes is placed to one, and sometimes to another, its it might belong to the one and to the other, according to the event of war. It is the same with Bezer in the wilderness, appointed a Levitical city, and a city of refuge, by Joshua, Jos 20:8; and belonged to the tribe of Reuben; but being on the borders of that tribe, and of Moab and Edom, it is ascribed to each, as they at different times made themselves masters of it. It is the same with Bostra, which Ptolemy a places in Arabia Petraea; and being on the confines of Arabia Deserts, and surrounded on all sides with wild deserts, it is commonly spoken of as situated in a wilderness, Jerom b speaks of it as a city of Arabia in the desert, to the south, looking to Damascus; and, according to the Persian c geographer, it is four days’ journey southward from Damascus; and Eusebius places it at the distance of twenty four miles from Adraa or Edrei. The destruction of this place is prophesied of by Jeremiah, Jer 48:24; and perhaps these prophecies were accomplished when Nebuchadnezzar made war with the Ammonites and Edomites, as before observed; or however in the times of the Maccabees, when Judas Maccabeus took this city, put all the males to the sword, plundered it, and then set fire to it, which literally fulfilled this prophecy,
“Hereupon Judas and his host turned suddenly by the way of the wilderness unto Bosora; and when he had won the city, he slew all the males with the edge of the sword, and took all their spoils, and burned the city with fire,” (1 Maccabees 5:28)
It was afterwards rebuilt, and became a considerable city; in the time of the above Persian geographer d, it had a very strong castle belonging to it, a gate twenty cubits high, and one of the largest basins or pools of water in all the east. In the fourth century there were bishops of this place, which assisted in the councils of Nice, Antioch, Ephesus, and Chalcedon, as Reland e observes; though he thinks that Bostra is not to be confounded with the Bezer of Reuben, or with the Bozra of Moab and Edom; though they seem to be all one and the same place.
x De locis Hebr. fol. 95. B. y Onomast. ad vocem . z Antiqu. l. 10. c. 9. sect. 7. a Geograph. l. 5. c. 17. b De locis Hebr. in voce “Trachonitis”, fol. 95. B. c Apud Calmet, Dictionary, on the word “Bosor”. d Apud Calmet, ut supra. e Palestina Illustrata, tom. 2. l. 3. p. 666.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
He says in the last place, I will send fire on Teman, to consume the palaces of Bozrah By fire he ever means any kind of destruction. But he compares God’s vengeance to a burning fire. We know that when fire has once taken hold, not only on a house, but on a whole city, there is no remedy. So now the Prophet says, that God’s vengeance would be dreadful, that it would consume whatever hatred there was among them: I will then send fire on Teman; which, as it is well known, was the first city of Idumea. Let us now proceed —
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
(12) Teman.According to Gen. 36:11, a name for a grandson of Esau. The district and chief town of this name are often referred to in the Prophets (Jer. 49:7-8; Eze. 25:13; Hab. 3:3; Oba. 1:8-9). The wisdom and might of the Temanites were well known, and Eliphaz the Temanite was one of the sage interlocutors of the Book of Job. It was situated, according to Burckhardt and Robinson, south of the Wady Musa.
Bozrah.Referred to in Jer. 49:13; Jer. 49:22; Mic. 2:12; Isa. 34:6; Isa. 63:1. Quite distinct from Bozrah in Moab (Jer. 48:24). The former is situated south of the Dead Sea, identified by Robinson and Burckhardt with the village of El Buseireh in Jebal.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
Amo 1:12. But I will send a fire, &c. Teman and Bozrah were two principal cities of Idumea. This expression imports their intire conquest and destruction. The ancient country of the Edomites was afterwards called Arabia Petraea; whence they were expelled by the Nabatheans, and never could recover it; but were forced to settle themselves in the southern parts of Judaea. Prideaux.
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
Amo 1:12 But I will send a fire upon Teman, which shall devour the palaces of Bozrah.
Ver. 12. But I will send a fire ] A fierce enemy, ut supra. The inhabitants of Teman and Bozra, together with other the posterity of Esau, were famous for power and policy, Oba 1:8-9 Jer 49:7 Isa 34:6 . But there is no wisdom, might, nor counsel against the Lord, Pro 21:30-31 . He can make fools and babies of the Church’s enemies: he can fire out their malice.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Teman. Compare Jer 49:7. Oba 1:9. I-lab. Amo 3:3. Elipbaz was a Ternanite (Job 2:11, &c.)
Bozrah. Now el Buseirah, south-east of the Dead Sea.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
Teman: Gen 36:11, Jer 49:7, Jer 49:20, Oba 1:9, Oba 1:10
Bozrah: Gen 36:33, Isa 34:6, Jer 49:13, Jer 49:22
Reciprocal: Gen 25:23 – the elder Gen 27:41 – hated Gen 36:15 – duke Teman Num 21:28 – a fire 1Ch 1:36 – Teman 1Ch 1:44 – Bozrah 1Ch 1:45 – Temanites Isa 21:11 – me out Isa 34:5 – upon Idumea Isa 63:1 – Bozrah Jer 17:27 – then Jer 25:21 – Edom Jer 50:32 – kindle Eze 25:12 – taking vengeance Eze 30:8 – when I Eze 32:29 – Edom Eze 35:2 – and prophesy Eze 36:5 – against all Hos 8:14 – I will send Joe 3:4 – O Tyre Joe 3:19 – Edom Amo 1:4 – I will Mic 2:12 – Bozrah Hab 3:3 – from
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Amo 1:12, Teman and Bozrah were cities of the Edomites, and they were destined to feel the wrath of God for their Injustices against Israel.