Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Amos 1:14
But I will kindle a fire in the wall of Rabbah, and it shall devour the palaces thereof, with shouting in the day of battle, with a tempest in the day of the whirlwind:
14. But I will kindle a fire ] Varied from I will send of the other cases: see on Amo 1:4.
in the wall of Rabbah ] The capital city of the Ammonites, and indeed the only Ammonite city mentioned in the O.T.: named elsewhere, 2Sa 11:1; 2Sa 12:27 ; 2Sa 12:29 (1Ch 20:1); Jos 13:25; Jer 49:3; Eze 25:5; called more fully ‘Rabbah of the Ammonites,’ Deu 3:11; 2Sa 12:26 ; 2Sa 17:27; Jer 49:2; Eze 21:25 (Heb. 20). From Ptolemy Philadelphia (b.c. 287 245) it received the name of Philadelpheia: in the Middle Ages it was known as ‘Ammn, a name which it still bears. It was situated about 25 miles N.E. of the N. end of the Dead Sea, in the valley forming the upper course of the Jabbok, now called the Wdy ‘Ammn. The stream is perennial, and is well-stocked with fish: one of its sources, the ‘Ain ‘Ammn, is a little above the city, to the W. The present remains are chiefly of the Roman period, comprising a fortress, theatre, odeum, baths, a street of columns and gate, mausolea, &c. The fortress stands upon a hill, which rises on a triangular piece of ground on the N. of the stream to a height of some 300 400 ft., the city lying in the valley to the South. This lower city, situated on the banks of the ‘Ammn, is probably the “city of the waters” stated to have been taken by Joab in 2Sa 12:27. There is a full description, with plan and views, of the existing ruins, in the Survey of Eastern Palestine (published by the Palestine Exploration Society) 19 64: see also D.B [138] 1 s.v. (with a view).
[138] .B. Smith’s Dictionary of the Bible, ed. 1, or (from A to J) ed. 2.
with shouting in the day of battle ] The ‘shouting’ is the battle-cry of the advancing foe: cf. Job 39:25; Jer 4:19; Jer 49:2 (A.V., R.V., ‘alarm’), &c., and the corresponding verb, Jdg 7:21 ; 1Sa 17:52.
with a tempest in the day of the whirlwind ] A figurative description of the onslaught of the foe: it will level all before it, like a destructive hurricane.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
I will kindle afire in the wall of Rabbah – Rabbah, literally, the great, called by Moses Rabbah of the children of Ammon Deu 3:11, and by later Greeks, Rabathammana , was a strong city with a yet stronger citadel. Ruins still exist, some of which probably date back to these times. The lower city lay in a valley bordered on both sides by barren hills of flint, at 12 an hour from its entrance. It lay on a stream, still called by its name Moyet or Nahr Amman, waters or river of Ammon, which ultimately falls into the Zurka (the Jabbok) . On the top of the highest of the northern hills, where at the divergence of two valleys it abuts upon the ruins of the town, stands the castle of Ammon, a very extensive rectangular building, following the shape of the hill and wholly occupying its crest. Its walls are thick, and denote a remote antiquity; large blocks of stone are piled up without cement, and still hold together as well as if they had been recently placed; the greater part of the wall is entire. Within the castle are several deep cisterns.
There are remains of foundations of a wall of the lower city at its eastern extremity . This lower city, as lying on a river in a waterless district, was called the city of waters 2Sa 12:27, which Joab had taken when he sent to David to come and besiege the Upper City. In later times, that Upper City was resolutely defended against Antiochus the Great, and taken, not by force but by thirst . On a conspicuous place on this castle-hill, stood a large temple, some of its broken columns 3 12 feet in diameter , probably the Grecian successor of the temple of its idol Milchom. Rabbah, the capital of Ammon, cannot have escaped, when Nebuchadnezzar , in the 5th year of his reign, led an army against Coele-Syria, and, having possessed himself of it, warred against the Ammonites and Moabites, and having made all these nations subject to him, invaded Egypt, to subdue it.
Afterward, it was tossed to and fro in the desolating wars between Syria and Egypt. Ptolemy II called it from his own surname Philadelphia , and so probably had had to restore it. It brought upon itself the attack of Antiochus III and its own capture, by its old habit of marauding against the Arabs in alliance with him. At the time of our Lord, it, with Samaria, Galilee and Jericho, is said by a pagan to be inhabited by a mingled race of Egyptians, Arabians and Phoenicians. It had probably already been given over to the children of the East, the Arabs, as Ezekiel had foretold Eze 25:4. In early Christian times Milchom was still worshiped there under its Greek name of Hercules . Trajan recovered it to the Roman empire , and in the 4th century it, with Bostra , was still accounted a vast town most secured by strong walls, as a frontier fortress to repel the incursions of neighboring nations. It was counted to belong to Arabia . An Arabic writer says that it perished before the times of Muhammed, and covered a large tract with its ruins . It became a station of pilgrims to Mecca, and then, until now, as Ezekiel foretold , a stable for camels and a couching place.
I will kindle a fire in the wall – It may be that the prophet means to speak of some conflagration from within, in that he says not, as elsewhere, I will send afire upon, but, I will kindle a fire in Amo 1:4, Amo 1:7, Amo 1:10, Amo 1:12; Amo 2:2, Amo 2:5. But the shouting is the battle-cry (Job 39:25; Jer 20:16; Zep 1:16, etc.) of the victorious enemy, the cheer of exultation, anticipating its capture. That onslaught was to be resistless, sweeping, like a whirlwind, all before it. The fortress and walls of Rabbah were to yield before the onset of the enemy, as the tents of their caravans were whirled flat on the ground before the eddying of the whirlwinds from the desert, burying all beneath them.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Verse 14. With shouting in the day of battle] They shall be totally subdued. This was done by Nebuchadnezzar. See Jer 27:3; Jer 27:6.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
I will kindle a fire in the wall: see Amo 1:4, where the phrase is explained: as to the time when this prophecy was fulfilled, it was partly when the Assyrian kingdom flourished, and partly by Nebuchadnezzar, as was foretold by Ezekiel, Eze 25:1-3, &c., which see.
Rabbah; the chief city of the kingdom of Ammon, 2Sa 11:1; 12:26, which by a usual figure compriseth all the Ammonites, and all their strength, wealth, and glory, all which shall be devoured. It shall devour the palaces thereof: see Amo 1:4.
With shouting in the day of battle; a mixed and horrid noise of trumpets, and alarms of war, with howlings of the distressed, groans of the dying, and acclamations of the conquerors.
With a tempest in the day of the whirlwind, i.e. with irresistible force, and surprising swiftness, as the similitude imports.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
14. Rabbahthe capital ofAmmon: meaning “the Great.” Distinct from Rabbah of Moab.Called Philadelphia, afterwards, from Ptolemy Philadelphus.
tempestthat is, withan onset swift, sudden, and resistless as a hurricane.
day of the whirlwindparallelto “the day of battle”; therefore meaning “the day ofthe foe’s tumultuous assault.“
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
But I will kindle a fire in the wall of Rabbah,…. Which was the metropolis of the children of Ammon, and their royal city, 2Sa 12:26. This is to be understood of an enemy that should destroy it, perhaps Nebuchadnezzar; or of war being kindled and raised in their country; this place being put for the whole; [See comments on Jer 49:2];
and it shall devour the palaces thereof; the palaces of the king, and his nobles:
with shouting in the day of battle; with the noise of soldiers when they make their onset, or have gained the victory; see Jer 49:2;
with a tempest in the day of the whirlwind; denoting that this judgment should come suddenly, and at an unawares, with great force, irresistibly; and a tempest added to fire, if literally taken, must spread the desolation more abundantly, and make it more terrible.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
I will therefore kindle a fire in the wall of רבה , Rabe, which shall devour its palaces, (the Prophet adds nothing new, I shall therefore go on,) and this by tumult, or by clamour, in the day of war. The Prophet means that enemies would come and suddenly lay waste the kingdom of Ammon; and that this would be the case, as a sudden fire lays hold on wood, in the day of war; that is as soon as the enemy attacked them, it would immediately put them to fight, and execute the vengeance they deserved, by a whirlwind in the day of tempest By these figurative terms the Prophet intimates that the calamity destructive to the Ammonites, would be sudden.
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
(14) Jeremiah gives a vivid account of the impending doom of Ammon, quoting and expanding this very passage (Jer. 49:1-3).
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
Amo 1:14 But I will kindle a fire in the wall of Rabbah, and it shall devour the palaces thereof, with shouting in the day of battle, with a tempest in the day of the whirlwind:
Ver. 14. But I will kindle a fire, &c. ] With mine own hands (not only send a fire, as before, Amo 1:10 ; Amo 1:12 ); as Charles V Emperor of Germany (when it was told him how that Farnesius, the Pope’s general, had ravished certain ladies), brake out into these hot words: If I had the villain here I would kill him with mine own hands; neither was he ever heard to speak anything with so great anger in all his days.
With shooting in the day of battle
With a tempest
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Rabbah: Deu 3:11, 2Sa 12:26, Jer 49:2, Eze 25:5
with shouting: Amo 2:2, Job 39:25, Isa 9:5
with a: Psa 83:15, Isa 30:30, Dan 11:40, Zec 7:14
Reciprocal: Exo 14:25 – Let us flee Exo 32:17 – There is a noise Num 21:28 – a fire Jos 13:25 – Rabbah 1Ch 20:1 – Rabbah Jer 17:27 – then Jer 20:16 – let him Jer 23:19 – General Jer 50:32 – kindle Eze 21:20 – Rabbath Eze 25:7 – and will Eze 28:18 – therefore Eze 30:8 – when I Hos 8:14 – I will send Amo 1:4 – I will
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Amo 1:14. Smiths Bible Dictionary says that Rabbah was the chief city of the Ammonites, hence the most valu-able of their buildings would be there. But the city was threatened with in-vasion from an enemy army that would devour (destroy) those houses.