Amos 1:5

Amo 1:5 I will break also the bar of Damascus, and cut off the inhabitant from the plain of Aven, and him that holdeth the sceptre from the house of Eden: and the people of Syria shall go into captivity unto Kir, saith the LORD.

Ver. 5. I will break also the bar of Damascus ] i.e. their power and might, all strength defensive, or offensive, and so make way for the enemy into the city; give him a fair entrance without resistance. It is God that orders the battle, and renders men’s attempts vain or prosperous, Isa 54:17 Jeremiah 50:9 ; whereever the sword comes it is "bathed in heaven," Isaiah 34:5 .

And cut off the inhabitant from the plain of Aven ] Campus idoli, the plain or valley of idols (so Mercer rendereth it), that is, of Syria given to idolatry; or Damascus, a very Poneropolis, and therefore ripe for ruin.

And him that holdeth the sceptre ] & plain periphrasis of a king (called often by Homer, σκηπρουχος , sceptre bearer), or of him that was to succeed in the kingdom. The French call him Dauphin; the Spaniards, Infant, &c. Our Henry II crowned his eldest son Henry while he was yet alive, and put the sceptre into his hand; which made his ambition quite turn off his obedience.

From the house of Eden ] Or of pleasure, the king’s palace, a very paradise. God denieth not great men their lawful pleasures for refreshment, amidst their weighty businesses, &c., but yet they must remember St James’s charge, James 5:5 , against the grandees of his time: "Ye have lived in pleasure on the earth, and been wanton; ye have nourished your hearts as in a day of slaughter," or of good cheer. And that of Abraham to Dives, "Son, remember that thou in thy lifetime receivedst thy good things," &c., Luke 16:25 , which text Gregory the Great could never read but his heart ached with fear, lest it should be his own case. It is well observed that ( φιληδονοι ) lovers of pleasure are set as last and worst of those wicked ones, 2 Timothy 3:4 . Solomon is blamed for spending thirteen years in building his house, and planting those paradises about it, Ecclesiastes 2:5 .

And the people of Syria shall go into captivity unto Kir ] A place of Media, called by other authors Cyrrha, or (as others think) Cyrene, in Egypt or Africa. This was fulfilled fifty years after by Tiglathpileser.

Saith the Lord ] Who spake the word and it was done, Psalms 33:9 ; Psalms 148:5 . And what wonder, when his fiat only made the world, and he can as easily unmake it if he please.