29:18 Nebuchadnezzar besieged Tyre for 13 years, from 585 to 572 B.C. (see “The Downfall of Tyre” and “Siege Warfare”).
The phrase “every head was rubbed bare” probably refers to the loss of hair that resulted from the wearing of leather helmets. It has also been posited that hair loss was believed to have been the result of hard work (see “Beards and Hairstyles in the Biblical World”).
30:1 No date is given, but this third oracle against Egypt was probably given between January and April of 587 B.C., while Jerusalem was under siege.
30:4 The “sword” is Nebuchadnezzar (see the note on 21:3).
30:5 For “Cush,” “Put” and “Lydia,” see the note on Jeremiah 46:9.
30:11 “The most ruthless of nations” was a common descriptor for the Babylonians, who were known for their cruelty.
30:14 For “Upper Egypt,” see the note on Isaiah 11:11. For “Zoan,” see the note on Isaiah 19:11. See also “Thebes.”
30:15 Pelusium was a fortress in the eastern delta region of the Nile.
30:17 Heliopolis (meaning “city of the sun”) was the Greek name for On, located 6 miles (9.7 km) northeast of Cairo. Bubastis, at one time the capital of “Lower” (northern) Egypt, was located 40 miles (65 km) northeast of Cairo.
30:18 Tahpanhes was located in extreme northeastern Egypt.
30:20 The date was April 29, 587 B.C.
30:21 This refers to Pharaoh Hophra’s defeat by Nebuchadnezzar during the previous year (see the note on 29:6).
31:1 The date was June 21, 587 B.C.
31:3 Although Assyria had once been a great empire, comparable to a cedar of Lebanon (see “Cedars of Lebanon”), it ultimately passed from history after it was destroyed by the Babylonians (see “Assyria From the Neo-Assyrian Period Forward”).
31:4 “Waters” refers here to the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers.
31:11 The “ruler of the nations” is probably Nabopolassar or possibly Nebuchadnezzar.
31:12 For “most ruthless,” see the note on 30:11.
31:14 For “pit,” see the note on 28:8.
32:1 The date was March 3, 585 B.C. If the Septuagint is followed (“eleventh year”), the chronological order of the Egypt oracles is preserved (making the date March 13, 586).
32:2 For “lament,” see the note on 19:1. The lion was a figure for royalty and grandeur, and the seas and streams represent the Nile’s many canals. For “monster,” see the note on 29:3.
32:7–8 Cosmologically, the great divisions of the universe in the Old Testament were the earth and the heavens (Ge 1:1; 14:19)—or heaven, earth and the waters under the earth (Ex 20:4). In the visible heavens are the stars and planets (Ge 1:14–17; Eze 32:7–8). Later Jews divided the heavens into seven strata; there is no evidence for this in the Bible, although Paul spoke of being caught up into the third heaven (2Co 12:2).
32:10 For “my sword,” see the note on 21:3.
32:11 The “king of Babylon” was Nebuchadnezzar (see “Nebuchadnezzar”).
32:12 For “most ruthless of all nations,” see the note on 30:11.
The “pride of Egypt” was her army (“her hordes”).
32:17 No month is given. The entire year dated from April 13, 586, to April 1, 585 B.C. The Septuagint suggests the first month, the fifteenth day of which would be April 27, 586.
32:18 The “earth below” refers to the grave (see “Sheol, Hades, Gehenna, the Abyss and Tartarus: Images of Hell”).
32:19 For “uncircumcised,” see the note on 28:10.
32:22 See “Assyria From the Neo-Assyrian Period Forward.”
32:24 Elam (in present-day Iran) was a country east of Assyria.
32:26 Meshech and Tubal were peoples and territories in Asia Minor, to the north of Israel (see the note on Isa 66:19).
32:30 For “Sidonians,” see “Sidon.”
33:3 The “trumpet,” an instrument not of music but for signaling in both religious and military contexts, was made from a ram’s horn (see “The Shofar”).
33:21 The date was January 8, 585 B.C., five months after the Jerusalem temple had been burned (August 14, 586). The journey between Jerusalem and Babylon could have been made in four months (Ezr 7:9).
33:24 The “people living in those ruins” were the residents of Jerusalem not included in the exile of 586 B.C.
33:25 Eating meat with the blood in it had been forbidden by God (e.g., Ge 9:4).
33:27 For commentary on the threefold threat, see the note on 5:17.
34:2 The “shepherds of Israel” included her kings and officials, as well as the priests and prophets (see “Shepherding in the Ancient World”).
34:5 Ezekiel often used the term “scattered” to describe Israel’s exile and dispersion.
34:17 “Rams and goats” was a reference to people of power and influence who were oppressing the poorer Israelites.
34:25 Wild beasts, deserts and sleeping in the forest all represented danger (see “Lions and Other Wild Beasts in Ancient Israel”).
34:26 The rainy season in the region begins with the autumn rains and ends with the spring rains.
34:27 Yokes had holes through which wooden pegs (“bars”) were inserted. Cords attached to the bars were then tied below an animal’s neck, forming a collar.
35:2 Mount Seir stands for Edom (see the note on 25:12–14; see also “Edom”).
35:5 Edom looted Jerusalem in 586 B.C.
36:2 “Ancient heights” refers to the promised land or, more specifically, to the heights of Zion.
37:2 “Very dry” bones referred to corpses long dead, far beyond any hope of resuscitation.
37:9 Ezekiel saw a battlefield littered with the bones of those who had been killed in battle.
37:12 The scene shifts from a battlefield to a cemetery with sealed graves.
37:23 On the subject of defilement in the Old and New Testaments, see the note on Song of Songs 5:3.
37:24 The coming ruler is likened to a shepherd (see “Shepherding in the Ancient World”).
38:2 The identity of Gog is unknown; several identifications have been attempted, notably Gyges, king of Lydia (c. 660 B.C.). It may be that the name was purposely left vague, standing for a mysterious, undisclosed enemy of God’s people. Magog was one of the sons of Japheth, and thus the name of a people. The word as used here may simply mean “land of Gog.” Israel had long experienced the hostility of the Hamites and other Semitic peoples; the future coalition here envisioned includes—and in fact is led by—peoples descended from Japheth.
38:5 For “Cush” and “Put,” see the note on Jeremiah 46:9. The invading forces from the north (see Eze 38:2 and its note) would be joined by armies from the south.
38:6 The people of Gomer (the later Cimmerians) lived near the Black Sea. For “Beth Togarmah,” see the note on 27:14.
38:11 A “land of unwalled villages” describes a place of peace, where walls (fortifications) were unnecessary.
38:12 The Hebrew for “center” also means “navel,” a graphic image reflecting the belief that Israel was the vital link between God and the world. Since the Hebrew for “land” can also mean “earth,” theologically Jerusalem is both the center of the land of Israel and the center of the world.
38:13 See “Sheba.” For “Dedan,” see the note on 25:13. See also “Where Was Tarshish?.”
39:1 For “Gog,” see the note on 38:2.
39:12 Ritual purity is a major theme in Ezekiel. Corpses were considered particularly unclean (see Lev 5:2; 21:11).
39:13 For “people of the land,” see the note on 7:27.
39:14 Absolute ritual purity was the aim (see the note on v. 12).
39:18 Bashan, east of the Sea of Galilee, was known for its rich pastureland, sleek cattle and magnificent oak trees.
40:1 The date was April 28, 573 B.C.
40:2 The “very high mountain” is a reference to Mount Zion. Height here signifies importance, as the earthly seat of God’s reign (see “Zaphon, Olympus, Sinai and Zion: The Mountain of God”).
40:3 The “man” was “like bronze,” indicating that he was other than human. He was “standing in the gateway” (presumably of the outer court; see vv. 17–19), holding a “linen cord” (for longer measurements) and a “measuring rod” (for shorter measurements).
40:5 Ezekiel was using the long cubit (about 21 in. or 53.3 cm), an older standard of measurement than the shorter cubit (about 18 in. or 45.7 cm), so the measuring rod of verse 3 was about 10 feet (3 m) long.
40:6 The “gate facing east” was that of the outer court. The three gates (east, north and south) of the outer court were similar to the three in the inner court (v. 32), each having six alcoves for the guards (three on each side) and a portico (vv. 8–9). Comparable gate plans have been discovered at Megiddo, Gezer and Hazor, all dating from the time of Solomon (see the note on 1Ki 9:15; see also “The Building Activity of Solomon”). The guards restricted access by anyone who might profane the temple area (see Ezr 2:62).
There were three sets of stairs leading to the temple. The first set (mentioned here) had seven steps (Eze 40:22), the next (inner court) eight (v. 31) and the last (temple) ten (Eze 40:49)—the specific number of steps to the temple is not found in the Hebrew text but does appear in the Septuagint. The rising numbers may indicate increasing degrees of sacredness.
40:16 The walls were decorated with palm trees, as in Solomon’s temple (see 1Ki 6:18, 29, 32, 35; see also the note on 1Ki 6:18 and “Solomon’s Temple and Other Ancient Temples”).
40:19 Over 170 feet (52 m) separated the outer wall from the inner wall and constituted the width of the outer court.
40:20–27 The north and south gates were identical to the east gate (vv. 6–16), and all three outer-court gates were similar to the three in the inner court (vv. 28–37). See also the note on verse 6.
40:38 There were rooms beside the portico of each gate in the inner courtyard for washing sacrifices; the porticoes themselves were for slaughtering animals. The temple’s main function was sacrifice—the people needed regular atonement for their sins to enable them to stand in God’s presence.
40:46 For “sons of Zadok,” see the note on 44:15.
40:47 The inner courtyard formed a perfect square—the “shape” of perfection, or holiness. At its geometric center was the altar, the place of sacrifice.
41:1 The outer sanctuary was the largest of the temple’s three rooms.
41:4 The inner sanctuary, the only square space within the temple building itself, was accessed by passing through three openings of increasing narrowness (40:48–41:3), which may indicate increasing degrees of sacredness (see the note on 40:6).
41:6 These 90 side rooms were probably storerooms for the priests, possibly for the tithes (see Mal 3:10).
41:13 The temple itself was a perfect square (see the note on 40:47).
41:18 The “cherubim” were probably similar in appearance to the statues of winged figures that stood guard at the entrances to palaces and temples elsewhere in ancient Mesopotamia (see also the note on Ex 25:18–20).
41:22 A wooden altar (3 ft 5 in.–1.06 m—square by 5 ft—1.52 m—high) standing outside the Most Holy Place was used as a table. Ezekiel made no mention of an altar of incense or of lampstands like those in Solomon’s temple and in the tabernacle before it. Also “missing” were the “Sea” and the ark of the covenant.
42:20 The total area was a perfect square (see the note on 40:47).
43:2 For “the glory of the God of Israel,” see the note on 1:28.
43:3 For “Kebar River,” see the note on 1:1.
43:5 Ezekiel was transported into the inner court but not into the temple proper.
43:13–17 The importance of the altar is evident from its detailed description and its place at the geometric center of the temple complex. Ezekiel’s altar was much larger than Solomon’s. It was over 20 feet—6 meters—tall (including the horns, v. 15) and was made up of three slabs of decreasing size, like an Egyptian pyramid or Babylonian ziggurat. Exodus 20:26 prohibited the use of steps leading up to an altar, but here they were required because of its size. (see “Ancient Altars” and “The Horned Altar.”)
44:2 The eastern gate was to remain shut because God had entered through it (43:1–2), thus rendering it holy. Related reasons may be that God would never again leave as before (10:19; 11:23) and that sun worship would be rendered impossible (see 8:16). Today the eastern gate (called the Golden Gate) of the sacred Muslim area (Haram esh-Sharif) in Jerusalem is sealed shut as a result of a later but possibly related tradition.
44:7–9 The nokhrî was a foreigner who did not have religious fellowship with Israel, since his allegiance was claimed by another people and another deity. Such a person was forbidden to enter the sanctuary.
44:9 Nehemiah enforced this restriction when he dismissed Tobiah (Ne 13:8), an Ammonite (Ne 2:10; see Dt 23:3). Foreigners could, however, be a part of the people of Israel (see Eze 47:22).
44:15 In contrast to the Israelites in general and to other Levites in particular (whose access was restricted), the “descendants of Zadok” received the privileges of sole access (v. 16) to the inner court, as well as the responsibility of offering sacrifices inside the sanctuary proper. Zadok, a descendant of Aaron, had served as priest (along with Abiathar) in David’s time. God had chosen Zadok and his descendants to minister in the temple after Abiathar was removed for supporting Adonijah rather than Solomon as David’s successor (1Ki 2:35). The key issue here was loyalty.
For the Zadokites, access to God’s presence implied heavy lifestyle restrictions. If they were to minister in the presence of the all-holy God, there were things they could not touch, places they could not go, food they could not eat and clothes they could not wear.
44:18 After the fall, God told Adam that he would have to work hard enough to sweat in order to procure his food (Ge 3:19). In contrast, priests in the future temple were not to wear anything that might cause them to perspire.
44:25 Contact with the dead rendered a person ceremonially unclean (Lev 21:1–3; Hag 2:13).
45:2 The “open land” was to serve as a buffer between the more and the less holy, although the entire area was holy.
45:3 The middle strip of the holy square was specifically for the temple.
45:4 The “land for the priests” was intended for their livelihood, not their ownership (see 44:28).
45:5 A section of land of equal size just to the north was designated for the Levites to dwell on, even though it was located within the holy area. The Levites, as opposed to the Zadokite priests, were permitted to hold land as a possession.
45:6 While the former Jerusalem had contained the temple area, the new holy city would be adjacent to the temple.
45:10 In a culture with no bureau of weights and measures, cheating in business transactions by falsification of standards was common practice (see Dt 25:13–16). The prophets consistently condemned such practices as sin (Am 8:5; Mic 6:10–11).
45:13–46:24 This section varies so much from the Pentateuch that Jewish rabbis have exerted great effort to reconcile the two. In fact, the difficulty of harmonizing them at one time put the book of Ezekiel in danger of exclusion from the canon of Jewish Scriptures.
45:16 For “people of the land,” see the note on 7:27.
45:25 The feast mentioned here is the Feast of Ingathering (Ex 23:16; 34:22), also called the Feast of Tabernacles (see “The Festivals of Israel”).
46:3 For “people of the land,” see the note on 7:27.
46:6 The “day of the New Moon” was the first day of the month.
46:17 “The year of freedom” was the Year of Jubilee, which was to be held every fiftieth year.
47:1 Ezekiel was standing in the inner court.
47:2 Ezekiel was brought out through the north gate because the east gate was closed (44:2).
47:8 The Arabah here refers to the Jordan Valley, the waterless region between Jerusalem and the Dead Sea (see “The Geography of Ezekiel 47”).
“The Sea” usually refers to the Mediterranean Sea, but here it is a reference to the Dead Sea, the lowest (1,300 ft—nearly 400 m—below sea level) and saltiest (25 percent) body of water in the world (see the note on Zec 14:8). It contains so much salt, in fact, that nothing can live in it. That it should sustain such an abundance of life indicates the wonderful, renewing power of this “river of the water of life” (Rev 22:1).
47:10 See “En Gedi.”
En Eglaim may be Ain Feshkha, at the northwestern corner of the Dead Sea, although some suggest a location on the eastern bank.
The “Great Sea” is the Mediterranean.
47:11 For the phrase “left for salt,” see the note on Leviticus 2:13.
47:13–20 The boundaries were similar to the original area God had promised the Israelites through Moses in Numbers 34:1–12—stretching from Lebo Hamath in the north to the Wadi of Egypt and Meribah Kadesh in the south, from the Mediterranean in the west roughly to the Jordan River and the Dead Sea in the east. Strikingly absent is the area east of the Jordan River, which, though occupied by Israel for much of its history, was not part of God’s original promise.
47:22–23 There would be a land inheritance not just for native Israelites but also for resident aliens. In earlier Old Testament legislation aliens were protected as a powerless class. Because they could not own land, they lacked full citizenship rights. But they could participate fully in Israel’s religious life, and some had relocated for this reason. God recognized these proselytes/converts by giving them a hereditary portion of the renewed land.
48:1–29 The tribes were assigned equal portions of land, running in strips from east to west. This was a fair way to divide a country whose major topographic features ran from north to south. But, more significantly, it oriented the land along the sacred east-west axis of the temple. The tribal strips themselves were undefined, with the borders between tribes unmarked by geographic indicators. This contrasted with the historical division of the land in Joshua 14–21, in which tribal boundaries were clearly defined.
48:11 For “Zadokites,” see the note on 44:15.
48:30–35 The new city, like the temple, is pictured as a perfect square. Its 12 gates were named after the 12 tribes of Israel. Since Levi was included in this list, Joseph (v. 32) represented Ephraim and Manasseh in order to keep the number at 12.
1:1 According to the Babylonian system of computing the years of a king’s reign, the third year of Jehoiakim would have been 605 B.C., since his first full year of kingship began on New Year’s Day after his accession in 608. But according to the system in Judah, which counted the year of accession as the first year of reign, this was “the fourth year of Jehoiakim” (see Jer 25:1; 46:2 and its note; see also “The Problem of the Chronology of the Kings of Judah and Israel”).
Since the first chapter of the book of Daniel begins and ends with chronological markers, we are able to date Daniel’s career. Although Jerusalem was destroyed by the Babylonians in 586 B.C., Daniel had been carried off to Babylon as part of an earlier deportation in 605 B.C. Daniel 1:21 tells us that he was still there in 539 B.C. Since Daniel mentioned in 10:1 that he received a vision during the third year of Cyrus, we know that he was still alive when the first exiles returned to Jerusalem.
1:2 Articles from the temple were “carried off” when Judah was exiled to Babylonia. The first deportation (605 B.C.) included Daniel and the second (597) Ezekiel. A third deportation took place in 586, when the Babylonians destroyed the city of Jerusalem and Solomon’s temple (see “Exile and Genocide in the Ancient Near East”).
Nebuchadnezzar’s god was Marduk, the god of cosmic order and the chief god of the Babylonian pantheon.
1:4 The “language and literature of the Babylonians” included the classical literature in Sumerian and Akkadian cuneiform, a complicated syllabic writing system (see “Sumer” and “Cuneiform and Clay Tablets in the Ancient Near East”). The language of normal communication in multiracial Babylon was Aramaic, which was written in an easily learned alphabetic script and understood by all (see the note on 2:4).
1:7 The new names implied submission to Nebuchadnezzar’s authority (see Ge 17:5; 2Ki 23:34 and their notes). The names of pagan gods were incorporated into the meanings of these Babylonian names: Belteshazzar probably means “Bel (i.e., Marduk), protect his life!”; Shadrach “command of Aku (the Sumerian moon god)”; Meshach “Who is what Aku is?”; and Abednego “servant of Nego/Nebo/Nabu.”
1:8 Daniel considered the food and drink from Nebuchadnezzar’s table to be ritually contaminated because the first portion of the food had been offered to idols and a portion of the wine had been poured out on a pagan altar (see “ ‘Temple Restaurants’ and Food Sacrificed to Idols” for a NT equivalent). In addition, ceremonially unclean animals were eaten, and even those considered clean were neither slaughtered nor prepared according to the regulations of the Mosaic Law (see “Clean and Unclean Foods in the Bible and the Ancient Near East”).
1:17 With God’s help Daniel and his friends mastered the essential Babylonian literature (see the note on 1:4), as well as the subtleties of astrology and divination by dreams (see the note on Ge 40:8; see also “Dream Oracles of the Ancient World”).
1:20 “Magicians and enchanters” refers to those trained in the magic “arts” of divination (see the note on Dt 18:10–18; see also “Akkadian Divination”).
1:21 Daniel spent about 70 years in Babylonia and was still living in the year 537 B.C. (10:1), affording him the satisfaction of seeing the first exiles return to Judah from Babylonian captivity.
2:1 The date was 604 B.C. (see 1:1 and its note).
2:2 See “Akkadian Divination.”
Although the translation “astrologers” appears several times in the English Bible (e.g., Da 3:8; 4:7; 5:7, 11), the only unequivocal reference to the practice and its practitioners is found in Isaiah 47:13 (“those stargazers who make predictions month by month”) and in Jeremiah 10:2 (where people are urged not to be “terrified by signs in the sky”). It was characteristic of both Babylonian and Egyptian wisdom to ponder the movement of the stars, taking note of variations and conjunctions in order to predict events on Earth.
2:4 Since the astrologers were of varied racial backgrounds, they communicated in Aramaic, the commonly understood language of the time. From this point until the end of chapter 7 the entire narrative is in Aramaic.
2:14 Arioch was also the name of a Mesopotamian king who had lived centuries earlier (Ge 14:1).
2:18 “Mystery,” a key word in Daniel (vv. 19, 27–30, 47; 4:9), also appears frequently in the writings of the Qumran sect (the Dead Sea Scrolls). In the New Testament the Greek equivalent refers to the secret purposes of God (see Ro 11:25; Rev 10:7).
2:32–43 See “The Kingdoms of Daniel’s Prophecies.”
2:35 See “The Threshing Floor.”
3:1–30 Advanced techniques for smelting and refining metals in furnaces were developed early in human civilizations. The current system of demarcating broad archaeological periods is itself based on the successive emergence of stone, bronze and eventually ironworks. The most common alloys refined were copper, silver, lead and gold. Brick kilns were usually constructed either as circular domes or as taller, chimney-like structures. One kiln discovered at Nippur (from approximately 2000 B.C.) is fashioned like a railway tunnel, with one end blocked and the other serving as an entrance. Kilns were heated with charcoal to extreme temperatures of 900–1000°C (1652–1832°F).
As depicted in Daniel 3, punishment by burning is well attested in the ancient Near East:
• The Bible prescribes death by burning for prostitution by a priest’s daughter (Lev 21:9) and for certain forms of incest (Lev 20:14).
• Burning was proposed in the case of Tamar (Ge 38:24) and actually carried out against Achan and his family after they had already been stoned to death (Jos 7:15, 25).
• The Code of Hammurabi (an ancient Babylonian law code) stipulates burning for various crimes. The Assyrian king Ashurnasirpal II is reported to have burned prisoners alive.
• Jeremiah records that Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, roasted two false prophets, Ahab and Zedekiah, in the fire (Jer 29:21–22; see also “Nebuchadnezzar”).
• In Syria, Antiochus IV Epiphanes later executed the illegitimate high priest Menelaus by casting him onto a funnel that fed directly into a high tower filled with ashes (2Mc 13:4–8; Second Maccabees is an Apocryphal book, not found in the traditional Protestant canon).
• Later Jewish tradition contains an account of Abraham being delivered from a fiery furnace after having refused to worship idols.
3:1 Large statues of this kind, though made of wood, were plated with gold. This particular statute was 90 feet (27 m) high and probably represented the god Nabu, whose name formed the first element in Nebuchadnezzar’s name.
“Dura” was either the name of a place now marked by a series of mounds (located a few miles south of Babylon) or a common noun meaning “walled enclosure.”
3:2 The seven classifications of government officials were to pledge full allegiance to the newly established empire as they stood before the image.
3:4 Babylon had become a cosmopolitan city whose population included people of many different national and ethnic origins.
3:5 “Zither,” “harp” and “pipes” (or perhaps “small drum”) are Greek loanwords in Daniel. Greek musicians and instruments are mentioned in Assyrian inscriptions written before the time of Nebuchadnezzar. See “Ancient Musical Instruments.”
3:8 The term “Jew” is a shortened form of “Judahite” (see the note on Jer 34:9).
3:15 Boastful taunts were characteristic of proud Mesopotamian rulers (see Isa 36:18–20).
3:23 Interspersed among the canonical books of the Old Testament in the old Latin Vulgate Bible are certain additional books and chapters. It is to these that Protestant usage generally assigns the term “Apocrypha” (see “The Apocrypha”). Additions to the book of Daniel are included in this body of literature (see “The Books of the Apocrypha”):
Between 3:23 and 3:24 of canonical Daniel both Greek and Latin versions insert: (1) a prayer of national confession with supplication for deliverance, offered by Daniel’s friend Azariah (cf. 1:7) while he and his two companions were in the fiery furnace; (2) a psalm of praise (dependent upon Ps 148 and 136) uttered by the three; and (3) a narrative framework containing details not warranted by the genuine Daniel. This section may be of composite authorship and was probably written in Hebrew.
In addition, in the Vulgate (fourth century A.D. Latin translation) Susanna follows canonical Daniel as chapter 13; in Greek manuscripts this is prefixed to chapter 1. Two crucial wordplays at the climax of the tale suggest that it was composed in Greek, but there is no consensus on this issue. Susanna’s origin and date are unknown; one theory is that the work was composed in Alexandria in about 100 B.C. The story relates how two Israelite elders in Babylon, their lustful advances having been resisted by Susanna, falsely accused her of adultery. But young Daniel effected Susanna’s deliverance, as well as the elders’ doom, by ensnaring them in contradictory testimony.
Bel and the Dragon, fables ridiculing heathenism, appear as chapter 13 of Daniel in the Greek (the Septuagint) and as chapter 14 in the Latin (the Vulgate). They date from the first or second century B.C., and their original language is uncertain. Daniel then played detective to expose to Cyrus the fraud of the priests who clandestinely consumed the food-offerings of Bel (Baal—i.e., Marduk). After destroying Bel, Daniel concocted a recipe that exploded a sacred dragon. Consigned to a den of lions, Daniel was miraculously fed and delivered.
3:25 Nebuchadnezzar, speaking as a pagan polytheist, was content to conceive of the fourth figure as a lesser heavenly being (“angel,” v. 28) sent by the all-powerful God of the Jews (see also 6:22).
4:6 See “Dream Oracles in the Ancient World.”
4:8 Daniel’s Babylonian name, Belteshazzar, was formed from Bel (“lord”), a title for the Babylonian god Marduk (see the note on 1:7).
4:11 In one of Nebuchadnezzar’s building inscriptions Babylon is compared to a spreading tree (cf. v. 22). The phrase “its top touched the sky” was often used of Mesopotamian temple-towers (see the note on Ge 11:4).
4:16 “Seven” signifies completeness, and “times” can refer to indefinite periods.
4:22 Nebuchadnezzar’s empire was the largest and most powerful in that part of the world up to that time (see “Nebuchadnezzar”).
4:25 See “Nebuchadnezzar’s Madness.”
4:26 The term “Heaven” was a Jewish way of referring to God.
4:30 Babylon was grand indeed, and Nebuchadnezzar had much to do with creating its splendor (see “Babylon”).
4:34 The history of Daniel the prophet is confirmed both by the words of Jesus (Mt 24:15) and by references to Daniel’s righteousness and wisdom by his prophetic contemporary, Ezekiel (Eze 14:14, 20; 28:3, although some scholars relate the latter passages to the Daniel of the Ugaritic epic material). The book of Daniel presents a timeless demonstration of separation from impurity, of courage against compromise, of efficaciousness in prayer and of dedication to him whose “kingdom endures from generation to generation.”
5:1–4 The ancient Greek historians Herodotus and Xenophon both attested to the orgy of revelry, as well as to the blasphemy, that occurred on such occasions (see “Herodotus and the Fall of Babylon”).
5:1–2 The name Belshazzar was for many years regarded as a fictitious literary creation of a post-captivity author assuming the pen name of Daniel (c. 165 B.C.). Now, however, it is well authenticated through archaeological studies that Belshazzar was a historic personage. In Daniel 5 he is referred to as the son of Nebuchadnezzar (vv. 2, 11, 13, 18, 22). This conforms with general Semitic usage, in which one’s descendant is often referred to as his “son.” Nebuchadnezzar died in 562 B.C. after a 42-year reign and was followed by Amel-Marduk (562–560), the Evil-Merodach of Jeremiah 52:31 and 2 Kings 25:27. Evil-Merodach was replaced by Mergal Shar-usar (Nergal-Sharezer), who reigned from 560 to 556 and was succeeded in turn by Labasi-Marduk, his weak son, who reigned for only a few months and was then overthrown by revolution.
One of the conspirators, Nabonidus (Nabonaid), then ascended the throne. Though a revolutionary, he was still a man of culture and religious zeal for the gods of Babylon. He is sometimes styled “the world’s first archaeologist.” Nabonidus was the last true king of Babylon and the father of Belshazzar (see “Nabonidus and Belshazzar” and “Babylon”). Nabonidus made Belshazzar coregent when he retired to Arabia, presumably to consolidate the weakening empire. This explains Belshazzar’s offered reward to Daniel of becoming “the third highest ruler in the kingdom” (vv. 7, 16).
The Nabonidus Chronicle was written after the capture of Babylon in 539 B.C. Cyrus of Persia claimed that he had been able to take the city without a struggle, going on to describe his leniency toward the population and regarding himself as an “Enlightened Despot” and executioner of the will of the gods. His estimation of the character of Belshazzar was exceedingly low, not at all out of harmony with what is presented in the Biblical account.
5:5–31 There has been much discussion about the original form of the inscription, as well as about its interpretation. The words seem to refer to three weights in common use: the mina, the shekel and the half mina. Or they may have been terms used in Mesopotamian accounting houses: “numbered, numbered, weighed and divisions.”
The mysterious message was the fact that “God ha[d] numbered” the days of the kingdom (v. 26) and that the king had “been weighed on the scales and found wanting” (v. 27). His kingdom was to be “divided and given to the Medes and Persians” (v. 28). There was not much time between interpretation and fulfillment: “That very night Belshazzar, king of the Babylonians, was slain” (v. 30).
5:10 The “queen” could have been (1) the wife of Nebuchadnezzar, (2) the daughter of Nebuchadnezzar and the wife of Nabonidus or (3) the wife of Nabonidus but not the daughter of Nebuchadnezzar.
5:11 Nebuchadnezzar had died in 562 B.C.; the year was now 539.
5:16 For “third highest ruler,” see the note on verses 1–2.
5:21 See “Nebuchadnezzar’s Madness.”
5:26–28 See the NIV text notes. Three weights (mina, shekel and half mina/shekel) may be intended, symbolizing three rulers, respectively: Nebuchadnezzar, either Evil-Merodach or Nabonidus, and Belshazzar. For an alternative interpretation, see the note on verses 5–31.
5:29 The three symbols of a ruler’s authority were his signet ring (see “Signet Rings”), his royal robes and the gold chain he wore around the neck (see Ge 41:42).
5:30 See “Herodotus and the Fall of Babylon.”
5:31 See “Darius the Mede.”
6:7 The lions’ den was a pit with a relatively small opening at the top (see v. 17), making it impossible for a prisoner to escape.
6:17 See “Signet Rings.”
6:24 It was the Persian custom for a man’s family to share in his guilt (cf. Est 9:24–25).
7:1 The date here is uncertain—perhaps 553 B.C. The events of chapter 7 actually preceded those of chapter 5.
7:4–7 See “The Kingdoms of Daniel’s Prophecies” and “The Ptolemies.”
7:4 The lion with an eagle’s wings is a cherub symbolizing the Neo-Babylonian Empire (see Ge 3:24 and its note).
7:9 “Ancient of Days” is a reference to God. See “Thrones in the Ancient World.”
For a discussion of literal and figurative references to hair in the Bible, see the note on Psalm 40:12. See also “Beards and Hairstyles in the Biblical World.”
7:24 For commentary on the “ten kings,” see “The Kingdoms of Daniel’s Prophecies.”
8:1–12:13 These chapters were written in Hebrew (see the note on 2:4).
8:1 The date was about 551 B.C. The events of chapter 8 actually preceded those of chapter 5.
8:2 The “citadel of Susa” was the acropolis (upper fortified area) and palace complex, which was distinguished from the surrounding city. Several archaeological investigations have been conducted at the site since the mid-nineteenth century. Xerxes had made extensive renovations in the palace structures (see “Susa”). For “Elam,” see the note on Jeremiah 25:25.
8:3 The ram represents the Medo-Persian Empire (v. 20), and the longer of his two horns reflects the predominant position of Persia (see 7:5 and “The Kingdoms of Daniel’s Prophecies”).
8:5 The charging goat is Greece and the “prominent horn” is Alexander the Great, “the first king” (v. 21).
8:7 Greece crushed the Medo-Persian Empire.
8:8 With the death of Alexander the Great (the “large horn”) at the height of his power (323 B.C.), his kingdom was divided among his four generals.
8:9–12 The horn that “started small” (v. 9) is Antiochus IV Epiphanes (see “Antiochus IV Epiphanes”).
8:14 This could refer to 2,300 full days. But as morning and evening sacrifices were offered daily at the temple (9:21; Ex 29:38–39), “2,300 evenings and mornings” quite possibly refers to the number of sacrifices consecutively offered on 1,150 days—the interval between the desecration of the altar by Antiochus and its reconsecration by Judas Maccabeus in December of 164 B.C.
8:17 The term “son of man” here is not to be confused with the “one like a son of man” in 7:13.
8:21 See verse 5 and its note.
8:22 See verse 8 and its note.
8:23–25 These verses describe Antiochus IV and his rise to power by political intrigue and deceit. Antiochus called himself Epiphanes (“God manifest”). He died in 164 B.C. at Tabae in Persia as the result of either illness or accident. In reality, God (the “Prince of princes,” v. 5) destroyed him.
9:1 The date was 538 B.C. For Darius, see “Darius the Mede.” The Xerxes mentioned here is not the later Xerxes of the book of Esther.
9:2 See “The 70 Years of Captivity.”
9:3 Sackcloth was the coarse garb of mourners (see the notes on 1Ki 20:31–32 and Job 16:15, as well as “Sackcloth and Ashes: Rituals of Lamentation”).
9:18 The “city that bears your Name” is Jerusalem.
9:20 The “holy hill” is Zion (see “Zaphon, Olympus, Sinai and Zion: The Mountain of God”).
9:24–27 “The Seventy Weeks” is a name often applied to Daniel 9:24–27, a prophecy that presumably, in contrast to the general prophecies in Daniel 2 and 7, pinpointed the exact time within the fourth kingdom when the Messiah would appear. Almost all scholars agree that the “weeks” designate 490 years. The prophecy is (1) divided—the successive periods are described as 7, 62, 1; (2) dated—“from” and “until” in 9:25; (3) determinative—Its purposes regard Israel (v. 24), redemption (v. 24), the Messiah (vv. 24, 26–27), the sacrifices (v. 27) and Jerusalem (vv. 25–27); and (4) debated (see below).
Three primary views are held. (1) The critical view posits that the “prophecy” was written by a pseudo-Daniel in 165 B.C. and synchronizes (inaccurately) with the history between 586 B.C. (Jerusalem’s fall) and 164 B.C. (Antiochus). (2) The dispensational view has the sixty-ninth week terminating before Jesus’ crucifixion, leaving the seventieth (the present age being a “great parenthesis”) to be fulfilled in the great tribulation. (3) The conservative or traditional view asserts that the seventieth week was introduced by Jesus’ baptism and bisected (three and a half years) by his death, thus causing the sacrifices to cease (v. 27).
10:1 The date was 537 B.C., the third year after Cyrus’s conquest of Babylonia in 539 (see the note on 1:1 regarding the computation of the years of a king’s reign).
11:1 See “Daruis the Mede.”
11:2 “Three more kings” is a reference to Cambyses (530–522 B.C.), Pseudo Smerdis or Gaumata (522) and Darius I (522–486). The “fourth” king was Xerxes I (486–465; see the note on Est 1:1), who attempted to conquer Greece in 480.
11:3 The “mighty king” was Alexander the Great (336–323).
11:5–45 See “The Ptolemies”, “The Seleucids” and “Antiochus IV Epiphanes.”
11:8 “Their gods” refers to the images of Syrian deities, as well as to those of the Egyptian gods the Persian Cambyses had carried off after conquering Egypt in 525 B.C.
11:12 The Greek historian Polybius recorded that Antiochus lost nearly 10,000 infantrymen at Raphia (Ptolemy’s fortress southwest of Gaza) in 217 B.C.
11:15 The “fortified city” refers to the Mediterranean port of Sidon (see “Sidon”).
11:18 “Coastlands” is a reference to Asia Minor and perhaps also to mainland Greece.
11:28 In 169 B.C. Antiochus plundered the temple in Jerusalem, set up a garrison there and massacred many Jews in the city (see “Antiochus IV Epiphanes”).
11:31 The “abomination that causes desolation” refers to the altar to the pagan god Zeus that was set up in 167 B.C. by Antiochus IV Epiphanes; it prefigures a similar abomination that Jesus predicted would be erected (see Mt 24:15; Lk 21:20).
11:34 This verse refers to the Jewish rebellion led by Judas Maccabeus. After a three-year struggle the Maccabees were successful and the altar of the temple was rededicated.
11:36–45 Daniel concluded his predictions about Antiochus IV Epiphanes in verse 35 and now began to prophesy concerning the more distant future. Daniel’s language in these verses seems larger than life and does not fit what is known from history about Antiochus. Further, this prophecy refers to the “time of the end” (v. 40; cf. v. 35). At the conclusion of the conflict between the antichrist and his political enemies, he will meet his end at the “beautiful holy mountain” (v. 45; see “Zaphon, Olympus, Sinai and Zion: The Mountain of God”), the temple mount of Jerusalem—perhaps in connection with the battle of Armageddon (Rev 16:13–16).
12:2 This is the first clear reference to a resurrection of both the righteous and the wicked (see the note on Ps 6:5; see also “Sheol, Hades, Gehenna, the Abyss and Tartarus: Images of Hell”).
12:5 Two was the minimum number of required witnesses to an oath (see Dt 17:6; 19:15; Da 12:7).
1:1 Although the introduction to the book lists only one king from the northern kingdom of Israel (Jeroboam II, r. 793–753 B.C.), the list of kings from the southern kingdom of Judah demonstrates that Hosea preached during the reigns of several other northern kings, until just before Israel’s exile to Assyria in 722 B.C. Hosea’s ministry in Israel came shortly after that of Amos and partially overlapped those of Micah and Isaiah in Judah.
1:4–5 Located east of Megiddo, the Valley of Jezreel provides the only major pass through the mountain range that crosses Israel from north to south; it was therefore a major battleground in ancient times (see “The Valley of Jezreel”). Jeroboam II was of the dynasty of Jehu (841–814 B.C.), which was established at Jezreel by the overthrow of Ahab’s son Joram (see 2Ki 9:14–29). Jehu’s dynasty ended with the murder of Zechariah in 753 (2Ki 15:8–10).
1:7 God delivered Judah from Assyria in 722 B.C. and again in 701 (see 2Ki 19:32–36).
2:2 See “Marriage and Divorce in Ancient Israel.” Although the Old Testament seems to have permitted divorce for rather general reasons (Dt 24:1), it was usually either for adultery or childlessness. The bill of divorce could be a simple repudiation, such as, “She is not my wife, and I am not her husband.”
Among the ancient Sumerians it was easy for a man to divorce his wife, especially if she had failed to produce children. Among the Babylonians, the Code of Hammurabi (eighteenth century B.C.; see “Hammurabi”) provided for divorce under certain circumstances but included the return of the dowry to the wife, a situation that would have given many men cause for contemplation. Where there was no dowry, the husband was required to make a payment of silver according to a schedule based on the social status of the wife’s family. But if the wife had been negligent in her household duties, she could be sent away without payment or simply replaced and demoted to the position of a servant or a slave (Code of Hammurabi, 141,143). Simpler and more severe was the Middle Assyrian law code, which stated that, with no fault specified, the wife could be divorced and sent away empty-handed (Middle Assyrian Laws, 37). Generally speaking, it was an unusual and, therefore, more complex situation if a wife instituted divorce proceedings. Divorce was discouraged in the fourth century B.C. in Egypt, and later by the Hebrews, through the imposition of a substantial fine on the husband, known as “divorce money.”
2:3 It was the husband’s responsibility to supply his wife’s clothing (see Ex 21:10; Eze 16:10).
2:7 The catalyst of Hosea’s prophetic message was his marriage to Gomer. There are two major views of this relationship. One holds that Gomer was pure when she married Hosea but later proved unfaithful. Another posits that she was a harlot/prostitute when the prophet married her. Either way, the shock effect of Hosea’s marital difficulties would have had a telling impact on the people of his community. The children born of this marriage were given symbolic names indicating divine displeasure with Israel (see “Naming of Children”). After Gomer had pursued her illicit lovers, she was to be brought back and with patient love readmitted to Hosea’s home, there to await in penitence and grief the time of restoration to full favor. This was a clear picture of wayward Israel in her relationship with God, highlighting the unending faithfulness of the Almighty.
2:8 The Canaanite god Baal was believed to control both the weather and the fertility of crops, animals and people (see the note on Jdg 2:13; see also “The Ugaritic Text of the Myth of Baal” and “Baal and the Fertility Cults”).
Silver and gold were used for casting idols (see Hos 8:4; 13:2).
2:11 See “The Festivals of Israel” and “Sabbath, Sabbath Year and the Jubilee.”
2:12 Israel attributed her agricultural produce to the false gods she worshiped rather than to the Lord (see v. 8 and its note; cf. Dt 11:13–14).
2:13 “Baals” is plural, suggesting that various gods are intended. Incense to pagan deities was often burned on rooftops (see Jer 19:13 and its note; see also “Incense”).
For earrings or nose rings, see the note on Ezekiel 16:12.
2:15 The Valley of Achor (meaning “trouble”) was near Jericho.
2:16 The word baal appears in the Old Testament with a variety of meanings. Originally it was not a proper noun, but later it came to be used as such. Sometimes it is used in the primary sense of “master” or “owner” (as in Ex 21:28, 34; Jdg 19:22; Isa 16:8). Since the Hebrew husband was regarded as the literal owner of his wife, baal was the common term for husband used here—see the NIV text note—as well as in Exodus 21:3 and 2 Samuel 11:26. Most often, however, the word refers to the Semitic deity or deities called Baal.
2:19–20 See “Marriage and Divorce in Ancient Israel.”
3:1 Raisin cakes were offered to Baal in thanksgiving for a good harvest (see “Baal and the Fertility Cults”).
3:2 The fact that Hosea “bought” Gomer means at the least that she had become indebted to someone, if not even that she had become a slave. Fifteen shekels was half the usual price of a slave (see Ex 21:32). It appears that half her price was paid in money (silver) and half in produce (barley)—for a total value of 30 shekels. See “Banking and Money in the Ancient World.”
3:4 For “sacred stones,” see the note on 1 Kings 14:23–24.
The ephod is here a symbol of idols (see Jdg 8:27; see also the note on Jdg 17:4–5 and “The Ephod”).
4:1–14:9 The remainder of Hosea’s prophecy is an indictment of Israel, delivered at various times from the later days of Jeroboam II up to approximately 730 B.C. The style of this section is vigorous, although the Hebrew text has suffered in transmission, making for difficulties in translation. Although the book is generally held to be unified, critical writers have maintained that interpolations and editorial material appear throughout the work.
4:4–9 This was an indictment against the priests, whose duty it was to act as guardians of God’s law and to furnish religious instruction (see “The Levites and the Priests”).
4:12 Idols were often carved from wood (see Jer 2:27; 10:8; Hab 2:19) but were sometimes also plated with gold or silver (see Jer 10:4 and its note). See “Idols and Idol-Making.”
4:13 Pagan altars were commonly constructed on mountaintops (see “The High Places”). Clay tablets from Ugarit tell of fertility rites carried out by the Canaanites at the high places (see “Baal and the Fertility Cults”), and pagan rituals involving sexual immorality were often conducted under oak trees, which were considered sacred (see the note on Isa 1:29).
4:14 “Harlots” were common prostitutes (see Ge 34:31; Lev 21:14; Eze 16:31), while “shrine prostitutes” were women of the sanctuaries who served as partners for men in the sexual activity that was a part of their religious ritual (cf. Ge 38:21; Dt 23:18). See “Prostitution in the Ancient World.”
4:15 Gilgal was near Jericho (see “The Camp at Gilgal”). The Israelites had established a religious shrine there.
See “Beth Aven: A Lesson in the Difficulty of Biblical Geography.”
4:17 For “Ephraim,” see the note on 5:3.
“Idols” refers to the Baals (see the notes on 2:8, 13) and to the golden calves set up by Jeroboam I (see the note on 8:5).
5:1 The “snare” and “net,” devices for catching animals and birds, function here as metaphors for Israel’s corruption.
Mizpah refers either to Mizpah in Gilead, east of the Jordan (Ge 31:43–49), or to Mizpah in Benjamin.
Tabor is a mountain at the northeastern edge of the Jezreel Valley.
5:3 Hosea frequently used “Ephraim” as a synonym for Israel. As the northern kingdom’s largest tribe, Ephraim had come to be associated with the nation as a whole.
5:8 Some interpreters suggest that the Syro-Ephraimite War (see “The Syro-Ephraimite War”) forms the background for the oracle in chapters 4–5.
The “trumpet,” made from a ram’s horn, sounded the alarm to warn of an approaching army (see “The Shofar”).
See “Gibeah” and “Beth Aven: A Lesson in the Difficulty of Biblical Geography.” Ramah was 2 miles (3.2 km) north of Jerusalem.
5:10 For a discussion of the removal of boundary stones, see the note on Deuteronomy 19:14.
5:13 Assyrian records confirm the tribute paid to Tiglath-Pileser III by the Israelite kings Menahem and Hoshea (see “Menahem and Pekah of Israel, Jotham of Judah and Tiglath-Pileser III of Assyria” and “Hoshea, King of Israel, and Shalmaneser V, King of Assyria”).
6:4 For “Ephraim,” see the note on 5:3.
7:1 “Ephraim” and “Samaria” (the capital city of the northern kingdom) are both alternate names for the northern kingdom of Israel.
7:4–7 There were three principal types of ovens in the ancient Near East. In Egypt there was in nearly every house a structure of clay built on the floor. In this, or on it, baking was done. In the region now known as Palestine and in Syria a barrel-shaped hole in the ground was coated with clay and heated by a quick, hot fire of brambles or dry dung mixed with straw. The dough, beaten very thin, was spread on the inside and almost immediately taken out, fully baked. In some places, a curved plate of iron was placed over the sunken oven, but in cities the oven was a chamber of stone, from which the fire was raked when the oven was very hot and into which the unbaked loaves were then placed.
7:5 The “festival of our king” probably refers to a coronation or birthday celebration that developed into a drunken orgy. King Elah died in drunkenness (see 1Ki 16:9).
7:7 Four kings were assassinated within 20 years, Zechariah and Shallum during a mere seven-month period (2Ki 15:10–14).
7:8 Bread (in the form of a “flat cake”) was baked on hot stones. If it was not turned, it would burn on the bottom and be undone on the top.
7:9 The drain of tribute both to Assyria (see the note on 5:13) and to Egypt (v. 11) had weakened the country economically.
7:11 Menahem turned to Assyria (2Ki 15:19–20), while Hoshea alternated in his allegiance between Assyria and Egypt (2Ki 17:3–4). See the note on Hosea 5:13.
8:1 For “trumpet,” see “The Shofar.”
8:3 “An enemy” refers to the Assyrians.
8:4 After Jeroboam II five other kings ruled over Israel within 13 years (2Ki 15:8–30), three of whom seized the throne by violence (see Hos 7:7 and its note).
8:5 Jeroboam I (930–909 B.C.), Israel’s first king, had set up golden calves in Bethel and Dan, saying, “Here are your gods” (see 1Ki 12:28–33; see also “The High Place at Dan”).
8:9 The northern kingdom of Israel (“Ephraim”) sought Assyrian protection. Menahem (2Ki 15:19) and Hoshea (2Ki 17:3), kings of Israel, paid tribute to Assyria (see the note on Hos 5:13).
8:13 Both the offerer and the priests ate parts of the sacrifices (see Lev 7:11–18, 28–36; Dt 12:7; Jer 7:21).
9:1 At threshing time, the threshing floor (see “The Threshing Floor”) was a man’s world. At the end of a hard day the threshers feasted there and then stayed all night to protect the grain (see Ru 3:2–3). Prostitutes were not uncommon visitors.
9:3 For “Ephraim,” see the note on 5:3. Israel was threatened with exile to the very lands upon which it had depended. Any foreign country, along with whatever grew there, was considered unclean; the produce was the product of fertility credited to pagan gods (see the notes on 2:8, 12; see also “Baal and the Fertility Cults”).
9:4 The “bread of mourners” was unclean, coming as it did from a house where there had been a death (see Nu 19:14; Dt 26:14; Jer 16:7). All who touched it also became ceremonially unclean.
9:6 Memphis was the capital of Lower (northern) Egypt. See “Memphis.”
9:7 A prophet was often considered a “fool” or “maniac” because his behavior was sometimes bizarre (see 2Ki 9:11; Jer 29:26; cf. 1Sa 21:15).
9:8 For “watchman,” see the note on Ezekiel 3:17. Israel demonstrated hostility only toward those watchmen (the true prophets) whom God had sent to warn his people of coming judgment (see Jer 1:19; 11:19; 15:10; Am 7:10–13).
9:9 The word “corrupt” is used of the Israelites who worshiped the golden calf (Ex 32:7; Dt 9:12), while “the days of Gibeah” refers to the debased behavior of the Benjamites described in Judges 19 (see also “Gibeah”).
9:10 Peor was a mountain (Nu 23:28), and “Baal Peor” refers to the god of Peor (see Nu 25).
9:13 Tyre was renowned for its wealth and security (see “The Downfall of Tyre”).
9:15 For “Gilgal,” see the note on 4:15.
10:1 For “sacred stones,” see the note on 1 Kings 14:23–24.
10:3–4 The last kings of Israel were notoriously corrupt and deceitful.
10:5 The “calf-idol of Beth Aven” was the idol that Jeroboam I had set up at Bethel (see the note on 8:5; see also “The High Place at Dan” and “Beth Aven: A Lesson in the Difficulty of Biblical Geography”).
10:6 For “tribute for the great king,” see the note on 5:13. For “Ephraim,” see the note on 5:3.
10:8 See “The High Places.”
10:9 For “the days of Gibeah,” see the note on 9:9.
10:11 The English word fair translates more than a dozen Hebrew and Greek words, none of which has the modern sense of blond or fair-skinned. Here it carries the meaning of beautiful or attractive (cf. Ac 7:20).
10:14 This event is otherwise unknown, as is true of the names mentioned. In any event, atrocities against civilians were common in ancient warfare (see the note on Ps 137:9; see also “Warfare in the Ancient World” and “Siege Warfare”).
10:15 For “Bethel,” see the note on 8:5; see also “Bethel.”
11:2 For “Baals,” see the note on 2:13.
11:3 For “Ephraim,” see the note on 5:3.
11:8 Admah and Zeboiim were cities of the plain located east and/or southeast of the Dead Sea. They were overthrown when Sodom was destroyed (Ge 19:24–25), symbolizing total destruction.
11:10 “The west” refers to the islands and coastlands of the Mediterranean Sea.
12:1 For “Ephraim,” see the note on 5:3.
12:4 In Hosea’s time Bethel was the most important royal sanctuary in the northern kingdom (see the note on 8:5; see also “Bethel”).
12:7 For “dishonest scales,” see the notes on Proverbs 11:1 and 16:11.
12:9 For the “appointed feasts,” see “The Festivals of Israel.”
12:11 Gilead was overrun by Assyria in 734–732 B.C. (2Ki 15:29).
For “Gilgal,” see the note on Hosea 4:15.
12:14 For “Ephraim,” see the note on 5:3.
“Bloodshed” refers to violence committed against others, including human sacrifice (see “Human Sacrifice in the Ancient Near East”).
13:1 For “Ephraim,” see the note on 5:3. From Ephraim came such prominent leaders as Joshua (Nu 13:8, 16; Jos 24:29–30) and Jeroboam I (1Ki 11:26; 12:20).
“Israel” here refers to the 12 tribes.
13:2 For “human sacrifice,” see “Human Sacrifice in the Ancient Near East.”
In the ancient Near East kissing was an act of worship toward heathen gods (1Ki 19:18, 20; Job 31:27; Hos 13:2). For “calf-idols,” see the note on 8:5.
13:3 “Mist,” “dew,” “chaff” and “smoke” are all figurative descriptors for Ephraim, which was soon to vanish as a nation. For commentary on chaff, see the notes on Psalm 1:4 and Isaiah 5:24. For “smoke,” see the note on hearths and home heating at Psalm 102:3.
13:7–8 The Lord, previously pictured as a shepherd (4:16), would attack like the wild beasts that often ravaged the flocks. See “Shepherding in the Ancient World” and “Lions and Other Wild Beasts in Ancient Israel.”
13:14 For “grave,” see the NIV text note; see also the note on Psalm 6:5 and “Sheol, Hades, Gehenna, the Abyss and Tartarus: Images of Hell.”
13:15 In a literal sense, wind from the east came to Palestine over the desert, making it a hot, dry wind (see Jer 4:11and its note). An east wind brought the plague of locusts on Egypt (Ex 10:13) and dried up the sea so the Israelites could cross over on dry land (Ex 14:21). Many references mention the destructive results of the east wind: thin and withered heads of grain (Ge 41:6), broken ships (Ps 48:7; Eze 27:26), withered plants (Eze 17:10), dried fountains (Hos 13:15) and Jonah’s fainting spell (Jnh 4:8). In addition, the east wind was used as a means of judgment by God (Isa 27:8; Jer 18:17). Here the “east wind” is a figure for Assyria, an instrument of destruction. Assyria invaded the northern kingdom in 734 B.C., then crushed it and exiled its people in 722.
13:16 For commentary on wartime atrocities against women and children, see the note on 10:14.
14:5 “Dew” is here a symbol of God’s blessing (see Dt 33:13; Mic 5:7).
See “Cedars of Lebanon.”
14:8 For “Ephraim,” see the note on 5:3.
1:2 “Elders” refers either to the older men of the community or to the recognized officials (see the note on Jer 19:1).
1:4 See “Locusts in the Ancient Near East.”
1:5 Drunkenness is the only specific sin mentioned in this book. In this context drunkenness represents a self-indulgent lifestyle pursued by those who value the material more than the spiritual.
1:6 The locusts are compared here to a nation, and elsewhere in the book they are called the Lord’s “army” (2:11, 25). The reverse comparison—that of armies to locusts with regard to numbers—is as old as Ugaritic literature (fifteenth century B.C.) and is common in the Old Testament (see Jdg 6:5; Jer 46:23; 51:14, 27; Na 3:15).
1:8 Sackcloth was the coarse garb of mourners (see the notes on 1Ki 20:31–32 and Job 16:15, as well as “Sackcloth and Ashes: Rituals of Lamentation”).
In Israel, when a woman was pledged to be married to a man, he was already called her husband and she his wife, even though she was still a virgin (see Dt 22:23–24; see also “Marriage and Divorce in Ancient Israel”). This verse refers to a “husband” who died before the marriage had been consummated.
1:9 The grain offering (Lev 2:1–2) and the drink offering, which was a libation of wine (Lev 23:13), were part of the daily offering (Ex 29:40; Nu 28:5–8). The locusts had left nothing that could be given as a sacrifice.
1:10 Grain, wine and oil were the three staples of the agricultural society of that day (see “Food and Agriculture”).
1:13–14 Joel challenged Judah’s spiritual leaders, the priests, to call for a “sacred assembly” (v. 14). The call for national prayer and fasting signaled an extraordinary event (cf. Ne 9:1–3; Jer 36:9) or calamity—here an unprecedented locust invasion, apparently accompanied by a terrible drought.
For “elders” (v. 14), see the note on verse 2.
1:15 Sometimes abbreviated as “that day,” the term “the day of the LORD” often refers to the decisive intervention of God in history, such as through the invasion of locusts in Joel. It can also herald Christ’s coming to consummate history.
1:20 Because of its scarcity in Palestine, water is much appreciated there, and its absence is extremely serious (see also 1Ki 17:1ff., Jer 14:3). In fact, rain was viewed in Old Testament days as a direct sign of God’s favor. The rivers of Palestine tend to be small and carry little, if any, water in summer. Consequently, in Bible times Israel depended on rain as its source of water, supplying springs and fountains. Cisterns were a necessity for the storage of water (see “Wells, Cisterns and Aqueducts in the Ancient World”), but if water was stored too long it became brackish and filthy and a menace to health. In the summer there was no rain, so vegetation was dependent upon the heavy dews. Irrigation was carried on wherever there was sufficient water. When this vital resource was scarce, as during a time of siege, it had to be rationed. Drinking water, carried in goatskins, was often sold in the streets. Wells and pools, although comparatively scarce, are often mentioned in the Bible (Ge 21:19; 24:11; Jn 4:6; 9:7).
2:1 The trumpet, made of a ram’s horn, was used to signal approaching danger (see “The Shofar”).
Zion here refers to Jerusalem as the capital of the nation.
For “the day of the LORD,” see the note on 1:15.
2:9 Latticed windows with no glass would not have prevented the locusts from entering the houses (see “The Israelite Town and Home”).
2:11 Just as Isaiah viewed the Assyrians (see Isa 10:5) and Jeremiah the Babylonians (Jer 25:9; 43:10) as the Lord’s weapons, so Joel saw the locusts as the Lord’s army—the army with which he would come against his enemies in the day of the Lord.
2:15 Here the trumpet is sounded not as an alarm (cf. v. 1) but as a call to religious assembly (see “The Shofar”).
For “fast” and “assembly,” see the note on 1:13–14.
2:16 The Hebrew for “assembly” refers to the religious community.
For “elders,” see the note on 1:2.
The “chamber” refers to the place where the marriage was consummated (see the note on SS 1:16–17; see also “Weddings in Ancient Israel”).
2:17 For “byword,” see “Bywords and Insults in the Ancient World.”
2:20 Since enemies in ancient times did not invade from the sea or across the desert, Canaan’s geographical location made her vulnerable only from the south (Egypt) and from the north (Assyria and Babylon). The hordes of locusts are pictured here as a vast army of Israel’s most feared enemies.
For “the eastern sea” (the Dead Sea), see the note on Zechariah 14:8.
2:23 The phrase “the autumn rains in righteousness” can also be translated “the teacher of righteousness.” The religious sect at Qumran, which produced most of the Dead Sea Scrolls, claimed that its most revered teacher of the law, whom its members called the “Teacher of Righteousness,” was the fulfillment of this prophecy (see “Biblical Interpretation at Qumran and Among the Early Rabbis”). The immediate context, however, seems to support the translation in the NIV text.
2:24 See “The Threshing Floor”; For “vats,” see “The Winepress.”
2:25 See “Locusts in the Ancient Near East.”
2:28 See the note on prophetesses at Exodus 15:20–21.
2:31 There are a number of allusions in the Bible to eclipses of the sun and of the moon. In Isaiah 13:10 it is stated, “The rising sun will be darkened,” while we find here the statement, “The sun will be turned to darkness and the moon to blood.” These two descriptions accord quite well with observations of eclipses of the sun and of the moon. As the shadow of the moon sweeps across the face of the sun, it appears that the sun is turned to darkness, and when the earth comes directly between the sun and the moon there is an eclipse of the moon. When the eclipse is complete, it is still possible to see the surface of the moon, due to the fact that the atmosphere of the earth bends the light rays from their straight path. The sunlight is bent somewhat as it passes the earth and is then reflected by the moon and returned to the earth. Just as the sun appears to be red when it is setting, due to the passage of the light through more atmosphere, so the eclipsed light appears strange in color. The Bible uses the apt expression “turned … to blood” to describe this astronomical phenomenon.
3:2 Called the “valley of decision” in verse 14, the “Valley of Jehoshaphat” seems to have been a symbolic name for a valley near Jerusalem that is here depicted as the place of God’s ultimate judgment on the nations gathered against Jerusalem (see the NIV text note). There King Jehoshaphat had witnessed one of the Lord’s historic victories over the nations (see 2Ch 20:1–30).
3:3 The events described here happened to Judah at the time of the captivity (586 B.C.) and are mentioned in Obadiah 11. The Israelites were treated by their enemies as mere chattel, to be traded off for the pleasures of prostitution and wine. (see “Casting Lots.”)
3:4–6 Tyre and Philistia (for Philistia, see “The Archaeology of Philistia” and the note on Eze 25:15–17) were longtime enemies of Israel. But God would punish them by allowing Sidon (see “Sidon”) to be destroyed and many of its people to be enslaved by Artaxerxes III in about 345 B.C., as well as by allowing Tyre to be captured by the Greeks under Alexander the Great in 332. Artaxerxes III sold the Sidonians as slaves in 345 B.C. (see “The Downfall of Tyre”).
3:6 Javan (Greek Iomnia) had come to be the name by which the Hebrews referred to Greece. The Ionians carried on extensive trade in the Near East; hence all people of Greece were called Javan. The Greeks were trading with the Phoenicians as early as 800 B.C. (see “Phoenicia” and “The Greeks and the Old Testament”), and the Phoenicians often sold captives from Judah to the Greeks. These later became the agents of God’s vengeance against Greece (see Zec 9:13, noting the contrast of “your sons, O Zion” with “your sons, O Greece”). Critics have suggested that the Hebrews of preexilic days were not familiar with the Ionians, but discoveries have demonstrated that by Solomon’s day (tenth century B.C.) the Hebrews were engaged in regular trade with them.
3:8 Sabeans were probably southern Arabians from Sheba (see “Sheba”).
3:10 The pruning hook, an agricultural tool used in the cultivation of the vine, had a sharp, knifelike end for pruning (see also Isa 2:4; Mic 4:3).
3:11 “There” refers to the Valley of Jehoshaphat (see vv. 2, 12; see also the note on v. 2).
3:14 The “valley of decision” is the Valley of Jehoshaphat (judgment) of verses 2 and 12 (see the note on v. 2).
3:16 For “Zion,” see “Zaphon, Olympus, Sinai and Zion: The Mountain of God.”
3:18 Since the acacia is one of the few trees that flourishes in dry soil, the picture here is that of a well-watered desert.
3:19 As ancient enemies of Israel, Egypt and Edom probably represented all the nations hostile to God’s people (see “Edom”).
1:1 Tekoa lay 12 miles (20 km) south of Jerusalem and the same distance northeast of Hebron. It had been fortified by Rehoboam (2Ch 11:6). Previous to this, Joab, David’s cousin and general, had sent to Tekoa for a “wise woman” and plotted with her to persuade David to bring back Absalom. The prophet Amos described himself both as one of the shepherds of Tekoa (Am 1:1) and later as one who cared for sycamore-fig trees (7:14), offering insight into the civilization of the city and surrounding countryside. Ruins of Tekoa survive as Takua.
Evidently a major earthquake had occurred, probably the one mentioned in Zechariah 14:5 (see the note there). Recent geological studies have detected a mammoth seismic event in this area dating to about the mid-eighth century B.C.
1:2 “Zion” refers to Jerusalem (see “Zaphon, Olympus, Sinai and Zion: The Mountain of God”).
Amos, a shepherd, used shepherding imagery to warn the people of coming danger (see “Shepherding in the Ancient World”). The Lord’s judgment would be felt by the whole land, from the “pastures” (the lowest and driest regions) to the “top of Carmel” (the highest and greenest area).
1:3–2:5 Amos pronounced God’s judgment on: (1) Aram (and its capital, Damascus), for war atrocities; (2) Philistia (and its major cities of Gaza, Ashdod, Ashkelon and Ekron), for slave raids on defenseless villages; (3) Tyre, also for slave trafficking; (4) Edom (and its major cities, Teman and Bozrah)—Israel’s “brother” through Esau (see Ge 25:21–30; 27:38–40)—for years of hostility toward Israel; (5) Ammon (and its capital, Rabbah), for brutal genocide bred by territorial greed; (6) Moab, for showing absolute disrespect for the dead; and (7) Judah (and its capital, Jerusalem), for rejecting God’s law in general and for worshiping false gods in particular.
1:3 Damascus, the capital of Aram, was a perpetual enemy of Israel in that day (see “Damascus” and “Syria/Aram”).
For information on the harvesting process, which included threshing the heads of grain by driving a wooden sledge over the cut grain, see the note on Ruth 1:22.
1:4 Hazael was the king of Damascus (see “Hazael, the Nemesis of Israel”), and Ben-Hadad (r. 796–775 B.C.) was Hazael’s son and one of several kings with this name (see “Ben-Hadad III of Aram and Jehoash of Israel”).
“Fortresses” may refer not only to citadels but also to the fortress-like palatial dwellings of the rich and powerful.
1:5 The “Valley of Aven” may be the Beqaa Valley, located between the Lebanon and Anti-Lebanon mountains, but it may also refer to the river valley in which Damascus is located. “Beth Eden” is probably Damascus, a lush, garden-like spot of that region. Kir is an unidentified site, possibly in the vicinity of Elam (see the notes on Isa 21:2; 22:6), from which the Arameans are said to have come (9:7).
For “scepter,” see the note on Zechariah 10:11.
1:6–8 Gaza, Ashdod, Ashkelon and Ekron were four of the five major Philistine cities (see “The Archaeology of Philistia”). Gath, the fifth significant city (cf. 6:2), may already have been subdued by Uzziah (see 2Ch 26:6). Philistia was eventually destroyed by Nebuchadnezzar (see “Nebuchadnezzar”).
See “Edom.”
1:9–10 Tyre, the dominant Phoenician merchant city of the time, boasted of its secure position on its nearly impregnable island (see “The Downfall of Tyre”).
1:12 Teman and Bozrah were major cities of Edom. Teman is thought to have been near Petra (see the note on Ob 9), while Bozrah is identified with Buseirah or “el Buseirah” (“the little Bozrah”), 37 miles (60 km) to the north. The word bozrah means “sheepfold” and appears in Micah 2:12 (NIV “sheep in a pen”).
1:13–14 This prophecy against Ammon (see “Ammon”) and its capital, Rabbah (see “Rabbah”), was fulfilled through the Assyrian king Tiglath-Pileser III around 732 B.C.
2:1 See “Moab.”
In ancient times burning the bones of the dead was thought to have deprived the person’s spirit of the rest that was widely believed to result from a decent burial.
2:2 Kerioth may be a plural noun meaning “cities” (see the NIV text note) or the name of a major town and a shrine of Chemosh, the national god of Moab.
For “trumpet,” see “The Shofar.”
2:7 Israel’s law, as well as numerous other laws of the ancient Near East, commanded kings and rulers to care for the poor and the oppressed and to protect them from injustice (see “The Care of Widows and Orphans in the Bible and the Ancient Near East”).
Whether the girl being “used” was a household servant (in which case father and son alike were abusing her as a family prostitute) is unclear. In any case, Israelite law required that in the case of illicit sexual relations with a girl, marriage was obligatory (Ex 22:16; Dt 22:28–29). For a father and son to engage in sexual relations with the same girl or woman was strictly forbidden (Lev 18:7–8, 15; 20:11–12).
2:8 The law prohibited retaining a man’s cloak overnight as security for a debt (see Ex 22:26–27) or taking a widow’s cloak at all (Dt 24:17).
2:9 “Amorite” is here used to include all of the inhabitants of Canaan.
2:11 Prophets were God’s faithful spokespersons (see “Prophets in the Bible and Pagan Nations”), and Nazirites were others who were uniquely dedicated to him (see the note on Nu 6:1–21). These persons, though outside the priesthood, were used by God through word and example to call his people to faithfulness.
2:13 For a discussion of sheaves and threshing, see the note on Ruth 2:7. See also “The Threshing Floor” and “Food and Agriculture.”
2:16 For “that day,” see the note on Joel 1:15.
3:9 For “fortresses,” see the note on 1:4.
3:11 The “enemy” here refers to Assyria.
3:12 A piece of the sheep was saved to prove to the owner that it had been eaten by a wild animal, not stolen by the shepherd.
Since Israel had extended its influence over Damascus by this time, the rich merchants of Samaria may have maintained luxurious houses in Damascus, along with market privileges in that city (see 1Ki 20:34).
3:14 Israel’s sins were rooted in the false shrines erected by Jeroboam I at Bethel and Dan (1Ki 12:26–33; see also “The High Place at Dan”).
The horns of the altar were the last refuge for a condemned individual (cf. 1Ki 1:50–53). To cut off its horns rendered an altar useless for religious purposes.
3:15 Extensive excavations of Samaria were carried out by G. Reisner, C.S. Fisher and D.H. Lyon in 1908 and 1910–1911, as well as by J.W. Crowfoot, K. Kenyon and others in 1931–1935. Impressive remains of a palace from the time of Omri and Ahab have been located on the city’s acropolis (fortified height). Ostraca written in ancient Hebrew were found dating to the reign of Jeroboam II, as well as numerous ivory plaques reminiscent of the “palace [Ahab had] built and inlaid with ivory” (1Ki 22:39; see also Am 6:4 and “The Samaria Ivories.”
4:1 The well-fed cattle raised in Bashan were considered the best breed in ancient Canaan. The phrase “cows of Bashan” was therefore a harsh but fitting symbol for Israel’s wealthy, pampered, self-indulgent women, who maintained their lifestyles by exploiting the poor and speaking demandingly—even to their husbands.
For “Mount Samaria,” see the note on 6:1.
The Scriptures demonstrate that drunkenness was one of the major vices of antiquity (e.g., Ge 9:21; 19:33, 35; 1Sa 25:36; 2Sa 11:13; 13:28; 1Ki 16:9; 20:16), and the prophets often denounced it as a great social evil of the wealthy in Israel. Women, who spent much of their lives in the home and were perhaps more subject to boredom than men, are often criticized in ancient texts for excessive drinking.
4:2 According to Assyrian reliefs, prisoners of war were led away with ropes fastened to hooks that pierced their noses or lower lips (see 2Ki 19:28; Isa 37:29 and their notes). The Hebrew word here translated “hooks” may, in fact, refer to ropes.
The fishhook in ancient times served as the means not only of catching fish but also of keeping them, at least for a time (cf. Am 4:2 with Job 41:1–2).
4:4 Bethel and Gilgal were popular places of worship in Amos’s day (see “Bethel” and “The Camp at Gilgal”).
4:5 The burning of leavened bread in the sacrifices was strictly forbidden (see Lev 2:11; 6:17).
4:7–8 Lack of rain three months before harvest would have prevented the full development of the grain.
4:9 Mildew is a pale fungus that discolors and spoils grains and fruits in warm, damp weather. In Scripture it is always associated with “blight,” a disease or injury of plants marked by the formation of lesions, withering and the death of parts, such as leaves and tubers (Dt 28:22; 1Ki 8:37; Hag 2:17). For “locusts,” see “Locusts in the Ancient Near East.”
4:11 Sodom and Gomorrah had long since become proverbial for their wickedness and for the divine judgment upon sin (see “The Destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah”).
5:1 See “Ancient Near Eastern Laments.”
5:2 “Deserted” refers here to a dead body that had been left in an open field—a disgrace and an indignity.
5:5 For “Bethel” and “Gilgal,” see the note on 4:4. Beersheba, located in the south of Judah, had evidently become a place of pilgrimage and idolatry (see 8:14; see also “Beersheba”).
5:6 The “house of Joseph” refers to the northern kingdom of Israel, which was dominated by the tribe of Ephraim, whose members were descended from Joseph’s son.
Bethel was the primary religious center of the northern kingdom (see “Bethel” and “The High Place at Dan”).
5:10 Legal proceedings were conducted at the city gate (see “The City Gate”).
5:16 In ancient funeral processions wailing relatives, often accompanied by hired mourners and musicians (usually fremale), preceded the body to the grave (see also Jer 9:17–18; Mt 9:23).
5:18 For “the day of the LORD,” see the note on Joel 1:15.
5:23 See “Ancient Musical Instruments.”
6:1 Samaria, Israel’s capital city founded by King Omri, was situated at a crossroads near the main north-south road through the highlands of Israel, 34 miles (nearly 55 km) north of Jerusalem. Situated on a high hill, the city dominated the surrounding countryside.
6:2 Calneh and Hamath, cities located in northern Aram (Syria), had fallen in Jeroboam’s campaign (see 2Ki 14:25, 28), and the wall of Gath had been broken down by Uzziah (2Ch 26:6).
6:4 See “The Nimrud Ivories”, as well as the note on 3:15.
The meat of lambs was considered a delicacy among the ancient Hebrews (Dt 32:14; 2Sa 12:3–6). Meat was scarce, and the killing of a lamb would have marked an important occasion. Lambs had been used for sacrifices from the earliest times (Ge 4:4; 22:7).
6:5 See “Ancient Musical Instruments.”
6:6 The use of perfume in the form of ointment or impregnated oil was a Middle Eastern practice long before it spread to the Mediterranean world. In all probability perfume was originally used for ceremonial purposes, first religious and then secular, and became a personal habit with the growing sophistication of society and the need for deodorants in hot lands. So universal was the practice that its suspension was viewed as an accepted sign of mourning (Dt 28:40; Ru 3:3; 2Sa 14:2; Da 10:3; Mic 6:15).
6:8 “Fortresses” may refer to the palace-fortresses that were the status symbols of Israel’s rich and famous—as well as to the citadels that were a tribute to Israel’s past military victories (v. 13).
6:10 The reference to burning the dead bodies may actually be to lighting a memorial fire in honor of the dead, as cremation was not generally practiced (see the note on Jer 34:5).
6:12 The ancient plow, which scratched the surface but did not turn over the soil, was thus a “scratch plow.” It consisted of a branched stick with the larger branch, usually the trunk of a small tree, hitched to the animals that pulled it, the other branch braced and terminating in the share, which was at first simply the sharpened end of the branch but was later a metal point. The plow was ordinarily drawn by a yoke of oxen (Job 1:14).
6:13 Lo Debar and Karnaim, cities in Transjordan, may have been regained from Hazael by Jehoash (2Ki 10:32–33; 13:25) or by Jeroboam II (see 2Ki 14:25), then taken by the Assyrians soon after Amos’s day (2Ki 15:29)—beginning the sequence of events that would lead to the loss of all the territory conquered by Jeroboam II.
6:14 “From Lebo Hamath to the valley of the Arabah” encompassed an area from the Orontes River in northern Lebanon to the Dead Sea—thus the whole land (see 2Ki 14:25). For information on the Arabah, see “The Geography of Ezekiel 47.”
7:1 See “Locusts in the Ancient Near East.”
The “king’s share” was apparently taken from the earlier crop as payment for the royal taxes. The “second crop” referred to further growth in the fields after the grains and the early hay had been harvested. The flocks and herds pastured on these crops until the summer dry season halted all growth.
7:2 See “Famine in the Ancient Near East.”
7:4 The “great deep” probably refers to the Mediterranean Sea.
7:9 See “The High Places.”
7:11 “Jeroboam” refers to Jeroboam’s “house” (v. 9)—his dynasty. Jeroboam died naturally (2Ki 14:29), but his son and successor, Zechariah (2Ki 15:8), was assassinated (2Ki 15:10).
7:12 For “seer,” see “Prophets in the Bible and Pagan Nations.”
7:14 The Hebrew word here translated “shepherd”—a term not found elsewhere in the Old Testament—is related to a word for “cattle,” suggesting that Amos may also have tended cattle.
Sycamore-fig trees are large trees that yield fig-like fruit. To ensure good fruit, the gardener had to slit the top of each fig—which may be the procedure referred to by the obscure Hebrew word here rendered “took care of.”
7:17 With the exile of Amaziah, the death of their children and the loss of the family estate, Amaziah’s wife would be reduced to prostitution in order to survive (see “Prostitution in the Ancient World”).
8:5 Commerce ceased on the Sabbath and during religious festivals (see Nu 28:9–15; 2Ki 4:23).
For “dishonest scales,” see the notes on Proverbs 11:1 and 16:11; see also “Weights and Measures.”
8:8 Because of the heavy seasonal rains in Ethiopia, the Nile in Egypt annually rose by as much as 25 feet (8 m), flooding the whole area except for the towns and villages situated above the valley. Its waters carried a large amount of rich soil, which was thus deposited on the land—perhaps referred to by the words “stirred up.”
8:9 For “that day,” see the note on Joel 1:15.
8:10 An only son represented the future of his entire family, so his death would have caused intense mourning (see “Sackcloth and Ashes: Rituals of Lamentation”).
8:12 The phrases “sea to sea” and “north to east” encompass the entire land of Israel, from the Mediterranean to the Dead Sea and even across the Jordan River through the Transjordan.
8:14 Dan and Beersheba were cities that not only marked the northern and southern limits of Israel (see the note on Jdg 20:1) but were also noted as sites where pagan shrines had been erected (see 1Ki 12:29, Am 5:5; see also “The High Place at Dan” and “Beersheba”).
9:3 For “the top of Carmel,” see the note on 1:2.
The “serpent” refers to a fierce monster of the sea from pagan mythology (see the note on Ps 74:13–15).
9:7 The Cushites were a dark-skinned people who lived south of Egypt (see “Cush”).
Caphtor is Crete, one of many islands in the Mediterranean believed to have been the original homeland of the Philistines (see “The Ekron Inscriptions of Akhayus”; see also the note on Zep 2:5).
For “Kir,” see the note on Amos 1:5.
9:9 Grain was sifted with a sieve to remove any foreign matter, such as small stones or refuse gathered with it when it was scooped up from the ground. Only the grain dropped through, while the refuse was screened out and discarded. (For information on the harvesting process, see the note on Ru 1:22.)
9:11 This verse is regarded in the Jewish Talmud as Messianic.
1–7 For the Nabateans (alluded to but not named in these verses), see the note on Malachi 1:1–7. See also “Aretas IV of Nabatea and Petra.”
3 Edom’s arrogance was grounded in its location “on the heights.” Sela (perhaps the later Petra), the capital of Edom, was located some 50 miles (80 km) south of the southern end of the Dead Sea. Situated on a rocky plateau towering 1,000 feet (305 m) above the surrounding landscape, it was a natural fortress.
6 The ancient Greek historian Diodorus Siculus indicated that the Edomites safeguarded their wealth—accumulated from trade—in vaults in the rocks.
8 For “that day,” see the note on Joel 1:15.
Edom, particularly Teman, was known for its wise men (see “The Sage”). Eliphaz, one of Job’s three friends, was a Temanite (see the note on Job 2:11).
“Esau” is another name for Edom.
9 Teman means “south,” and the name probably refers to Edom as the southland. Some, however, identify Teman with Tawilan, a site about 3 miles (4.8 km) east of Petra.
“Esau mountains” is a reference to Mount Seir.
11 The book’s principal clue to its date of writing is in verses 11 and 14. If “the day you stood aloof” (v. 11) alludes to the events of 2 Kings 8:20–22 and 2 Chronicles 21:16–18, when the Edomites and others rebelled against King Jehoram early in the ninth century B.C., it probably would be dated quite early. But if the reference is to Psalm 137:7, 2 Chronicles 36:20 and Ezekiel 25:13–14, the prophecy would point to the period after the destruction of Jerusalem in 586 B.C. Still another view is that the Edomite raid mentioned in 2 Chronicles 28:16–18 was the impetus for Obadiah’s prophecy (in the eighth century B.C., during the reign of Ahaz of Judah). The majority of scholars, however, believe that Obadiah was referring to the 586 B.C. destruction of Jerusalem and that Psalm 137:7 is the closest parallel to this prophecy.
For “cast lots for Jerusalem,” see the note on Ezekiel 24:6; see also “Casting Lots.”
12 The word “day” in the Bible is often misinterpreted because of its various uses. It often denotes time from sunrise to sunset (Ge 1:5; Ps 74:16), and at an early date it was divided into three parts—morning, noon and evening (Ps 55:17; Da 6:10). Probably due to Medo-Persian influence after the exile, it was divided into 12 hours (Jn 11:9). Time could not be determined by clocks, so the length of an hour depended on the time of the year. The word also refers to time in general (here, as well as in Jdg 18:30; Job 18:20; Ob 12), length of life (Ge 5:4) or a time of opportunity (Jn 9:4).
15 For “the day of the LORD,” see the note on Joel 1:15.
17 “Mount Zion” is Jerusalem (see “Zaphon, Olympus, Sinai and Zion: The Mountain of God”).
19 See “The Negev: Its Climate and Features.”
The Philistines were one of the Sea Peoples, who had arrived on the Canaanite shores at the end of the Bronze Age (see “The Archaeology of Philistia”).
Gilead, located southeast of the Sea of Galilee, was a fertile region known for its good pasturage.
20 Zarephath (present-day Sarafand, Lebanon) was a coastal town located between Tyre and Sidon. (see “Zarephath.”)
Sepharad is usually taken to refer to Sardis in Asia Minor (present-day Turkey), though some think that Sparta (the city in Greece) might be intended. Another possibility is that it may be identified with Shaparda, which Sargon II, who exiled Israelites to the cities of the Medes and claimed to have conquered Judah, mentioned as a district in southwestern Media. Among the Jews of the postbiblical period the term was used with reference to Spain.
1:2 In about 700 B.C. Sennacherib made Nineveh the capital of Assyria, a status it retained until its fall in 612 B.C. (see “Nineveh”). Nineveh was over 500 miles (800 km) from Gath Hepher, Jonah’s hometown. According to the prophet Nahum, Nineveh’s flagrant sins included plotting evil against the Lord, cruelty and plundering in war, prostitution, witchcraft and commercial exploitation (Na 1:11; 2:12–; 3:1, 4, 16, 19).
1:3 Tarshish was in the west, meaning that Jonah was heading in the opposite direction of Nineveh (see “Where Was Tarshish?”). See also “Joppa.”
Regular passenger service by land or sea was unknown, and there is no evidence that the pattern of procedure changed from Old Testament times to New. Nine centuries after the approximate date of Jonah’s flight a record similar to Jonah’s reads: “When we had sailed across the open sea off the coast of Cilicia and Pamphylia, we landed at Myra in Lycia. There the centurion found an Alexandrian ship sailing for Italy and put us on board” (Ac 27:5–6). Travelers evidently made their own arrangements, attached themselves to official parties, accompanied caravans and coordinated their movements with those of trade and commerce.
1:5 Apparently the sailors, who may have come from various ports, worshiped a variety of pagan gods.
1:7 The casting of lots was common practice in the ancient Near East (see “Casting Lots”).
1:9 Commonly used as an ethnic designation in the Bible, the word “Hebrew” was typically intended by non-Israelites as a disparaging term. Outside the Bible, people known as the Habiru/Apiru (a word probably related to “Hebrew”) are described to as a landless, dependent, immigrant (foreign) social class rather than as a specific ethnic group. Negative descriptions of them are given in the Amarna Letters (see “The Amarna Tablets and the Habiru”).
The sailors understood Jonah’s description of God as being characteristic of the highest deity, for in the religions of the ancient Near East the supreme god was generally considered the master of the seas (see the note on Jos 3:10–11).
1:13 The Hebrew translated “to row” literally means “to dig” (with oars), indicating strenuous effort. The ship could have been driven by sails, oars or both (see “Seafaring in the Ancient World”).
1:16 There is no evidence that the sailors renounced all other gods. Ancient pagans were ready to recognize the existence and power of many gods. At the least, however, the sailors acknowledged that the God of Israel was in control of the present events.
1:17 The Hebrew for “great fish” and the Greek for “huge fish” in Matthew 12:40 are both general terms for a large fish, not necessarily a whale. This great fish is not to be confused with the sinister “serpent” of the sea (Am 9:3)—otherwise called “Leviathan” (Isa 27:1), the “monster of the deep” (Job 7:12; see also the note on Ps 32:6).
The phrase “three days and three nights” as used here may, as in Matthew 12:40, refer to a period of time including one full day and parts of two others (see the notes on Mt 12:40; 1Co 15:4).
2:6 “The pit” refers to the grave (see the note on Ps 6:5; see also “Sheol, Hades, Gehenna, the Abyss and Tartarus: Images of Hell”).
3:2 For “great city,” see the note on 1:2.
A prophet was the bearer of a message from God, not primarily a foreteller of coming events (see “Prophets in the Bible and Pagan Nations”).
3:3 The later imperial city of Nineveh had a perimeter of about 8 miles (13 km), see “Nineveh.”
3:4 The Assyrians, instead of numbering their years, named them after certain rulers and powerful men. “Eponym” lists of this sort are critical for establishing ancient Near Eastern chronology.
An eclipse of the sun is recorded for the reign of Ashur-Dan III (763 B.C.), an event that would have been regarded as an ill omen. It was at about this time that Jonah was sent by the Lord to warn the people of Nineveh. But God gave the city a respite for nearly 200 years.
Forty was often used symbolically in Old Testament times as a round number (see also Ex 24:18; 1Ki 19:8).
3:5–6 These were customary signs of repentance and/or mourning (see “Sackcloth and Ashes: Rituals of Lamentation”).
4:2 For “Tarshish,” see the note on 1:3.
4:5 A prophet was the bearer of a message from God, not primarily a foreteller of coming events (see “Prophets in the Bible and Pagan Nations”).
4:11 For “great city,” see the note on 1:2.
1:1 Micah, a shortened form of the name Micaiah (or Michael), means “Who is like God?”
1:3–4 See “Storm Gods, Storm Imagery and Theophany.”
1:6–7 This prophecy was fulfilled during Micah’s lifetime when Assyria destroyed Samaria in 722–721 B.C.
1:7 Prostitution is often an Old Testament symbol for idolatry or spiritual unfaithfulness. The wealth that Samaria had gained from her idolatry would be taken by the Assyrians and placed in their own temples to be used again in the worship of idols.
1:8 Going barefoot was a sign of mourning (see “Sackcloth and Ashes: Rituals of Lamentation”). It is possible that Micah actually walked barefoot through Jerusalem, wearing only a loincloth of sackcloth (“naked”).
1:9 The city gate was the place where the leaders of the city met to hold court, where the marketplace was located and where official business was transacted (see “The City Gate”).
1:10–15 The towns mentioned in these verses lay in the Shephelah, the foothills between the Mediterranean coastal plain and the mountains of Judah.
1:10 Sitting in the dust was a sign of mourning.
1:11 Zaanan, located, like Moresheth, in the Shephelah region of Judah, has never been identified with certainty, but it may be Zenan.
Beth Ezel, a town in southern Judea in the Philistine plain, was for a time thought to be the same as Azel (Zec 14:5) but has now been identified with Deir el-Asal.
1:13 Lachish was one of the largest towns in Judah. Later, Sennacherib would decorate his palace at Nineveh with a relief picturing his exploits there (see “The Lachish Reliefs”).
Micah condemned Lachish’s chariots as “the beginning of sin to the Daughter of Zion,” perhaps because the city was used as a staging point for the extravagant importation of Egyptian horses (cf. Dt 17:16; 1Ki 10:28–29).
1:14 The Hebrew for “parting gifts” is translated “wedding gift” in 1 Kings 9:16. Jerusalem would give up Moresheth Gath to Assyria, as a father gives a “wedding gift” to his daughter when she marries.
The only Biblical reference to Moresheth Gath, a town in the Judah-Philistine border area, appears in this verse, although verse 1 identifies the prophet as coming from Moresheth. “Gath” may have been added to the name to indicate that this was the Moresheth that was near Gath. It may be identified with Tell ej-Judeideh, located about five miles (eight km) west of Gath in the Shephelah region.
Aczib, a city of Judah (Jos 15:44) may be Tell el-beida, southwest of Adullam. The same location is variously called Kezib (Ge 38:5) and Cozeba (2Ch 4:22).
2:2 Land was intended to be the permanent possession of a particular family (see the notes on Nu 27:1–11; 1Ki 21:1–7; see also “Inheritance in the Ancient Near East”).
2:6 See “Prophets in the Bible and Pagan Nations.”
3:5 The false prophets predicted peace for Judah, while Micah forecast destruction and captivity (see v. 12; 4:10).
3:7 “Seers” is an older term for “prophets” (see “Prophets in the Bible and Pagan Nations”).
3:12 Micah’s preaching may have been instrumental in the reformation under King Hezekiah (see 2Ki 18:1–6; 2Ch 29–31; Jer 26:18–19). The destruction of Jerusalem eventually occurred in 586 B.C.
4:1–3 This passage is practically identical to Isaiah 2:2–4. Many have questioned whether Micah quoted Isaiah or vice versa, or whether both quoted a common oracle.