Amo 1:4-5 | Clarke | e4.org | Verse 4. Ben-hadad. ] He was son and successor of Hazael. See the cruelties which they exercised upon the Israelites, , &c., and see especially , where these cruelties are predicted. The fire threatened here is the war so successfully carried on against the Syrians by Jeroboam II., in which he took Damascus and Hamath, and reconquered all the ancient possessions of Israel. See .

‏ Amos 1:4-5

Verse 4. Ben-hadad.] He was son and successor of Hazael. See the cruelties which they exercised upon the Israelites, 2Ki 10:32; 13:7, &c., and see especially 2Ki 8:12, where these cruelties are predicted.

The fire threatened here is the war so successfully carried on against the Syrians by Jeroboam II., in which he took Damascus and Hamath, and reconquered all the ancient possessions of Israel. See 2Ki 14:25, 26, 28.

Verse 5. The bar of Damascus] The gates, whose long traverse bars, running from wall to wall, were their strength. I will throw it open; and the gates were forced, and the city taken, as above.

The plain of Aven-the house of Eden] These are names, says Bochart, of the valley of Damascus. The plain of Aven, or Birkath-Aven, Calmet says, is a city of Syria, at present called Baal-Bek, and by the Greeks Heliopolis; and is situated at the end of that long valley which extends from south to north, between Libanus and Anti-Libanus.

The people of Syria shall go into captivity unto Kir] KIR is supposed to be the country of Cyrene in Albania, on the river Cyrus, which empties itself into the Caspian Sea. The fulfilment of this prophecy may be seen in 2Ki 16:1-9.