Amos 1:4

4 I will send a fire on the house of Hazael and burn down the palaces of Ben Hadad.

Amos 1:4 Meaning and Commentary

Amos 1:4

But I will send a fire into the house of Hazael
For so doing; into his family, his sons' sons, one of whom perhaps was Rezin, that Tiglathpileser king of Assyria slew, as Aben Ezra observes. This denotes the judgments of God upon his posterity for his cruel usage of the Israelites; and designs an enemy that should come into his country, and war made in the midst of it, by which it should be depopulated; and this being by the permission and providence of God, and according to his will, is said to be sent by him: which shall devour the palaces of Benhadad;
a name frequently given to the kings of Syria; there was one of this name the immediate predecessor of Hazael, whose servant he was; and he left a son of the same name that succeeded him, ( 2 Kings 7:7 2 Kings 7:15 ) ( 13:24 ) ; these may denote the royal palaces of the kings of Syria, which should not be spared in this time of desolation; though rather by them may be intended the temples, which he and Hazael are said by Josephus ^F3 to build in the city of Damascus, whereby they greatly adorned it; and for these and other acts of beneficence they were deified by the Syrians, and worshipped as gods; and even to the times of Josephus, he says, their statues were carried in pomp every day in honour of them; and so, the house of Hazael, in the preceding clause, may signify a temple that was either built by him, or for the worship of him, since he was deified as well as Benhadad; and it may be observed, that as Adad was a common name of the kings of Syria; for, according to Nicholas of Damascus ^F4, ten kings that reigned in Damascus were all called Adad; so this is a name of the god they worshipped. Pliny speaks of a god worshipped by the Syrians, whose name must be Adad; since, according to him; the gem "adadunephros" had its name from him ^F5; and Macrobius ^F6 is express for it, that the chief god of the Assyrians was called Adad, which signifies one; (See Gill on Isaiah 66:17).

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FOOTNOTES:

F3 Antiqu. l. 9. c. 4. sect. 6.
F4 Apud Joseph. Antiqu. l. 7. c. 5. sect. 8.
F5 Nat. Hist. l. 27. c. 11.
F6 Saturnal. l. 1. c. 23.

Amos 1:4 In-Context

2 He said: The LORD roars from Zion, and his voice thunders from Jerusalem. The pastures of the shepherds are turning brown, and the top of [Mount] Carmel is dried up.

3 This is what the LORD says: Because Damascus has committed three crimes, and now a fourth crime, I will not change my plans. The Arameans have crushed [the people of] Gilead with iron-spiked threshing sledges.

4 I will send a fire on the house of Hazael and burn down the palaces of Ben Hadad.

5 I will break the bars [on the gates] of Damascus. I will cut off those living in Aven Valley and the one who holds the scepter in Beth Eden. The people of Aram will go into captivity at Kir. The LORD has said this.

6 This is what the LORD says: Because Gaza has committed three crimes, and now a fourth crime, I will not change my plans. The Philistines have taken all the people captive in order to hand them over to the Edomites.