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Chinese Union (Simplified)
阿摩司书 9:7
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“以色列人哪！在我看來，你們不是與古實人一樣嗎？我帶領以色列人出埃及地，不是也領非利士人出迦斐託，領亞蘭人出吉珥嗎？”這是耶和華的宣告。
Bible Verse Review
from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge
ye not: Jeremiah 9:25, Jeremiah 9:26, Jeremiah 13:23
Have not: Amos 2:10, Exodus 12:51, Hosea 12:13
the Philistines: Deuteronomy 2:23, Jeremiah 47:4
the Syrians: Amos 1:5, 2 Kings 16:9
Reciprocal: Genesis 10:14 - Caphtorim 1 Chronicles 1:12 - Caphthorim Psalms 59:5 - the heathen Isaiah 1:10 - Sodom Isaiah 22:6 - Kir Jeremiah 51:16 - there is
Gill's Notes on the Bible
[Are] ye not as children of the Ethiopians unto me, O children of Israel? saith the Lord,.... And therefore had no reason to think they should be delivered because they were the children of Israel, of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob; since they were no more to God than the children of the Ethiopians, having behaved like them; and were become as black as they through sin, and were idolaters like them; and so accustomed to sin, and hardened in it, that they could no more change their course and custom of sinning than the Ethiopian could change his skin, Jeremiah 13:23; The Ethiopians are represented by Diodorus Siculus b as very religious, that is, very idolatrous; and as the first that worshipped the gods, and offered sacrifice to them; hence they were very pleasing to them, and in high esteem with them; wherefore Homer c speaks of Jupiter, and the other gods, going to Ethiopia to an anniversary feast, and calls them the blameless Ethiopians; and so Lucian d speaks of the gods as gone abroad, perhaps to the other side of the ocean, to visit the honest Ethiopians; for they are often used to visit them, and, as he wittily observes, even sometimes without being invited. Jarchi suggests the sense to be, that they were as creatures upon the same foot, and of the same descent, with other nations; and paraphrases it thus,
"from the sons of Noah ye came as the rest of the nations.''
Kimchi takes the meaning to be this,
"as the children of the Ethiopians are servants so should ye be unto me.''
The Targum is very foreign from the sense,
"are ye not reckoned as beloved children before me, O house of Israel?''
the first sense is best:
have not I brought up Israel out of the land of Egypt? and therefore it was ungrateful in them to behave as they have done; nor can they have any dependence on this, or argue from hence that they shall be indulged with other favours, or be continued in their land, since the like has been done for other nations, as follows:
and the Philistines from Caphtor, and the Syrians from Kir? that is, have I not brought up the one from the one place, and the other from the other? the Philistines and Caphtorim are mentioned together as brethren, Genesis 10:14; and the Avim which dwelt in the land of Palestine in Hazerim unto Azzah were destroyed by the Caphtorim, who dwelt in their stead, Deuteronomy 2:23; from whom, it seems by this, the Philistines were delivered, who are called the remnant of the country of Caphtor, Jeremiah 47:4. Aben Ezra understands it as if the Israelites were not only brought out of Egypt, but also from the Philistines, and from Caphtor: others take these two places, Caphtor and Kir, to be the original of the Philistines and Syrians, and not where they had been captives, but now delivered: so Japhet,
"ye are the children of one father, God, who brought you out of Egypt, and not as the Philistines from Caphtor, and the Syrians from Kir, who were mixed together;''
and R. Joseph Kimchi thus,
"from Caphtor came destroyers to the Philistines, who destroyed them; and from Kir came Tiglathpileser, the destroyer, to the Syrians, who carried them captive there.''
Of the captivity of the Philistines, and their deliverance from the Caphtorim, we nowhere read; the captivity of the Syrians in Kir Amos prophesied of, Amos 1:5; and if he speaks here of their deliverance from it, he must live at least to the times of Ahaz; for in his times it was they were carried captive thither, 2 Kings 16:9. Caphtor some take to be Cyprus, because it seems to be an island, Jeremiah 47:4; but by it the Targum, Septuagint, Vulgate Latin, Syriac and Arabic versions understand Cappadocia; and the Cappadocians used to be called by the Greeks and Persians Syrians, as Herodotus e and others, observe. Bochart f is of opinion that that part of Cappadocia is intended which is called Colchis; and the rather since he finds a city in that country called Side, which in the Greek tongue signifies a pomegranate, as Caphtor does in Hebrew; and supposes the richness of the country led the Caphtorim thither, who, having stayed awhile, returned to Palestine, and there settled; which expedition he thinks is wrapped up in the fable of the Greek poets, concerning that of Typhon out of Egypt to Colchis and from thence to Palestine; and indeed the Jewish Targumists g every where render Caphtorim by Cappadocians, and Caphtor by Cappadocia, or Caphutkia; but then by it they understand a place in Egypt, even Pelusium, now called Damiata; for the Jewish writers say h Caphutkia is Caphtor, in the Arabic language Damiata; so Benjamin of Tudela says i, in two days I came to Damiata, this is Caphtor; and no doubt the Caphtorim were in Egypt originally since they descended from Mizraim; but Calmet k will have it that the island of Crete is meant by Caphtor; and observes, theft, the Philistines were at first called strangers in Palestine, their proper name being Cherethites, or Cretians, as in Ezekiel 25:16; as the Septuagint render that name of theirs; and that the language, manners, arms, religion and gods, of the Philistines and Cretians, are much the same; he finds a city in Crete called Aptera, which he thinks has a sensible relation to Caphtor; and that the city of Gaza in Palestine went by the name of Minoa, because of Minos king of Crete, who, coming into that country, called this ancient city by his own name. The Targum and Vulgate Latin version render Kir by Cyrene, by which must be meant, not Cyrene in Africa, but in Media; so Kir is mentioned along with Elam or Persia in Isaiah 22:6; whither the people of Syria were carried captive by Tiglathpileser, as predicted in Amos 1:5; and, as the above writer observes l, not certainly into the country of Cyrene near Egypt, where that prince was possessed of nothing; but to Iberia or Albania, where the river Kir or Cyrus runs, which discharges itself into the Caspian sea; and Josephus m says they were transported into Upper Media; and the above author thinks that the Prophet Amos, in this passage, probably intended to comprehend, under the word "Cyr" or "Kir", the people beyond the Euphrates, and those of Mesopotamia, from whence the Aramaeans in reality came, who were descended from Aram the son of Shem; and he adds, we have no certain knowledge of their coming in particular out of this country, where the river Cyrus flows; and, upon the whole, it is difficult to determine whether this is to be understood of the origin of these people, or of their deliverance from captivity; the latter may seem probable, since it is certain that the prophet speaks of the deliverance of Israel from the captivity of Egypt; and it is as certain that the Syrians were carried captive to Kir, and, no doubt, from thence delivered; though we have no account of the Philistines being captives to Caphtor, and of their deliverance from thence; however, doubtless these were things well known to Amos, and in his times, he here speaks of. In some of our English copies it is read Assyrians instead of Syrians, very wrongly; for "Aram", and not "Ashur", is the word here used.
b Bibliothec. l. 3. p. 143, 144. c Ibid. 1. l. 423. d In Jupiter Tragaedus. e Clio, sive l. 1. 72. Terpsichore, sive l. 5. c. 40. & Polymnia, sive l. 7. c. 72. Vid. Strabo. Geograph. l. 22. p. 374. f Phaleg. l. 4. c. 32. col. 291, 292. g Targum Onkelos, Jon. & Jerus. in Gen. x. 4. & Ben Uzziel in Jer. xlvii. 4. & in loc. h Maimon. & Bartenora in Misn. Cetubot, c. 13. sect. 11. i Itinerarium, p. 125. k Dictionary in tile word "Caphtor". l Dictionary, in the word "Cyrene". m Antiqu. l. 9. c. 12. sect. 3.
Barnes' Notes on the Bible
Are ye not as children of the Ethiopians unto Me, O children of Israel! - Their boast and confidence was that they were children of the patriarch, to whom God made the promises. But they, not following the faith nor doing the deeds of Israel, who was a âprince with God,â or of Abraham, the father of the faithful, had, for âBene Israel,â children of Israel, become as âBene Cushiim, children of the Ethiopians,â descendants of Ham, furthest off from the knowledge and grace of God, the unchangeableness of whose color was an emblem of unchangeableness in evil. âCan the Ethiopian change his skin, or the leopard his spots? then may ye also do good, that are accustomed to do evilâ Jeremiah 13:23.
Have I not brought up - (Did I not bring up) Israel out of the land of Egypt? Amos blends in one their plea and Godâs answer. God by bringing them up out of Egypt, pledged His truth to them to be their to protect and preserve them. True! so long as they. retained God as their God, and kept His laws. God chose them, that they might choose Him. By casting Him off, as their Lord and God, they cast themselves off and out of Godâs protection. By estranging themselves from God, they became as strangers in His sight. His act in bringing them up from Egypt had lost its meaning for them. It became no more than any Other event in His Providence, by which He brought up âthe Philistines from Caphtor,â who yet were aliens from Him, and âthe Syrians from Kir,â who, He had foretold, should be carried back there.
This immigration of the Philistines from Caphtor must have taken place before the return of Israel from Egypt. For Moses says, âThe Caphtorim, who came forth from Caphtorâ had at this time âdestroyed the Avvim who dwelt in villages unto Gazah, and dwelt in their steadâ Deuteronomy 2:23 An entire change in their affairs had also taken place in the four centuries and a half since the days of Isaac. In the time of Abraham and Isaac, Philistia was a kingdom; its capital, Gerar. Its king had a standing army, Phichol being âthe captain of the hostâ Genesis 21:22; Genesis 26:26 : he had also a privy councillor, Ahuzzath Genesis 26:26. From the time after the Exodus, Philistia had ceased to be a kingdom, Gerar disappears from history; the power of Philistia is concentrated in five new towns, Gaza, Ashdod, Askelon, Gath, Ekron, with five heads, who consult and act as one (see above, the note at Amos 1:6-8).
The Caphtorim are in some sense also distinct from the old Philistines. They occupy a district not co-extensive with either the old or the new land of the Philistines. In the time of Saul, another Philistine clan is mentioned, the Cherethite. The Amalekites made a marauding inroad into the south country of the Cherethites; 1 Samuel 30:14; which immediately afterward is called âthe land of the Philistinesâ 1 Samuel 30:16. Probably then, there were different immigrations of the same tribe into Palestine, as there were different immigrations of Danes or Saxons into England, or as there have been and are from the old world into the new, America and Australia. They, were then all merged in one common name, as English, Scotch, Irish, are in the United States. The first immigration may have been that from the Casluhim, âout of whom came Philistimâ Genesis 10:14; a second, from the Caphtorim, a kindred people, since they are named next to the Casluhim Genesis 10:14, as descendants of Mizraim. Yet a third were doubtless the Cherethim. But all were united under the one name of Philistines, as Britons, Danes, Saxons, Normans, are united under the one name of English. Of these immigrations, that from Caphtor, even if (as seems probable) second in time, was the chief; which agrees with the great accession of strength, which the Philistines had received at the time of the Exodus; from where the Mediterranean had come to be called by their name, âthe sea of the Philistinesâ Exodus 23:31 : and, in Mosesâ song of thanksgiving, âthe inhabitants of Philistiaâ are named on a level with âall the inhabitants of Canaanâ Exodus 15:14-15; and God led His people by the way of Mount Sinai, in order not to expose them at once to so powerful an enemy Exodus 13:17.
A third immigration of Cherethim, in the latter part of the period of the Judges, would account for the sudden increase of strength, which they seem then to have received. For whereas heretofore those whom God employed to chasten Israel in their idolatries, were Kings of Mesopotamia, Moab, Hazor, Midian, Amalek, and the children of the East Judg. 3â10:5, and Philistia had, at the beginning of the period, lost Gaza, Ashkelon, and Ekron Judges 1:18, to Israel, and was repulsed by Shamgar, thenceforth, to the time of David, they became the great scourge of Israel on the west of Jordan, as Ammon was on the east.
The Jewish traditions in the Septuagint, the Vulgate, and three Targums, agree that Caphtor was Cappadocia, which, in that it extended to the Black Sea, might be callad âI, seacoast,â literally, âhabitable land, as contrasted with the sea which washed it, whether it surrounded it or no. The Cherethites may have come from Crete, as an intermediate resting place in their migrations.
Clarke's Notes on the Bible
Verse Amos 9:7. Children of the Ethiopians — Or Cushites. Cush was the son of Ham, Genesis 10:6; and his descendants inhabited a part of Arabia Petraea and Arabia Felix. All this stock was universally despised. See Bochart.
The Philistines from Caphtor — The island of Crete, the people of which were the Cherethim. See, 1 Samuel 30:14; Ezekiel 25:16; Zephaniah 2:5.
The Syrians from Kir? — Perhaps a city of the Medes, Isaiah 22:6. Aram, from whom Syria had its name, was the son of Shem, Genesis 10:22. Part of his descendants settled in this city, and part in Aram Naharaim, "Syria of the two rivers," viz., Mesopotamia, included between the Tigris and the Euphrates.
The meaning of the verse is this: Do not presume on my having brought you out of the land of Egypt and house of bondage, into a land flowing with milk and honey. I have brought other nations, and some of your neighbours, who are your enemies, from comparatively barren countries, into fruitful territories; such, for instance, as the Philistines from Caphtor, and the Syrians from Kir.
