The words of Amos, who was among the herdsmen. Abarbanel here objects to the position of the Guide (II:32), who established as a fundamental principle that prophecy can rest only upon a person who is prepared for it, whether through natural preparation according to the constitution of his body and brain and the power of his imagination, or through the study of wisdom and the perfection of his moral qualities. Abarbanel says that this opinion is based upon the words of the philosopher, according to whom prophecy is a natural phenomenon that comes to a person like other natural forms, which do not rest upon their subjects except after the appropriate preparations have been made. But this is not the view of our Torah, for prophecy is not a natural phenomenon, nor is preparation necessary for it; rather, prophecy is necessarily miraculous. For every faculty of apprehension has a fixed and limited relationship to the thing apprehended by it, whereas the human soul has no relationship or proportion to the Divine order that would enable it to receive that order naturally, except by way of a miracle. Accordingly, natural preparations arising from one's constitution, as well as the study of wisdom, are not conditions for prophecy. Indeed, Amos, though he was among the sheep herders—for the owner of sheep is called a noked—was "among the nokdim," meaning that he served the sheep owners. He had not studied wisdom, nor did he possess honor or wealth, and nevertheless he prophesied. In my opinion, however, there is a distinction between a prophet who prophesies for his own sake and perfection, and a prophet who is sent as a messenger for the sake of the community. For God to grant prophecy to a person who is not prepared for it is like creating something from nothing, and God will not do this except for a great necessity. For all the miracles that God performed involved the creation of something from something through the transformation of forms, as I have explained elsewhere. Therefore, God will not choose to bestow the spirit of prophecy upon a person unless he is prepared for it; He then adds His blessing to the preparation already present within him, with greater strength and greater power, in order to perfect him. As our Sages said, "The Holy One, blessed be He, gives wisdom only to one who already possesses wisdom." But when God needs to send a prophet to a generation and no person can be found who is naturally prepared for this from birth, from the womb, from conception, and through his upbringing, He will choose the person whom He brings near to Himself because of his righteousness, and the miracle will be greater. Amos's prophecy was of this kind. He did not prophesy for his own sake, but rather for the sake of the community. Although three other prophets also prophesied during that period, God desired that two prophets prophesy specifically to the Ten Tribes—Hosea and Amos—and that two prophesy to Judah—Micah and Isaiah. He desired that the former two be from among the Ten Tribes: Hosea was from the tribe of Reuben, and Amos was from Tekoa, which is in the territory of Asher. At that time, He found no one among them who was more prepared for prophecy relative to the rest of the people. Since it was necessary to send him on a mission concerning the community as a whole, He added blessing and an influx of holiness to the small degree of preparation that He found within him and poured out His spirit upon him. As for Abarbanel's objection that prophecy is not found among the nations of the world, nor among Israel after the destruction of the Temple, even though it is impossible that no person prepared for prophecy should be found, this is no objection. From Maimonides' statement that only one who is prepared for prophecy can prophesy, we cannot infer that everyone who is prepared for prophecy must necessarily prophesy. For the resting of prophecy even upon one who is prepared for it depends upon the Divine will. Even one who is prepared for prophecy is not prepared for it in the manner of things that necessarily occur by nature. The prophecy of a prepared person is itself a miracle and a wonder; it is merely not as great a miracle as the prophecy of one who is unprepared. Similarly, the miracle in which God sends such blessing upon the seed of the earth that one year's produce yields grain sufficient for three years is not as great a miracle as Elisha's miracle, in which the small amount of oil in the jar filled all the vessels. Now, concerning the words, "which he saw concerning Israel," Abarbanel asks: Did he not also prophesy concerning Judah and several other nations? And why does Scripture mention the earthquake? And why does the prophecy begin, "And he said: Hashem will roar from Zion," and afterward say, "Thus says Hashem"? This does not appear to follow the usual style of prophetic expression. In my opinion, the words "And he said: Hashem will roar from Zion" continue the description of Amos. That is, the meaning is: This is Amos, who saw concerning Israel and said that "Hashem will roar from Zion." For Amos was not prepared for prophecy, nor was he established in the eyes of the people as a prophet. This was so both because of who he was—a man among the herdsmen, a shepherd of sheep and a dresser of sycamore trees—and because of his place of origin, since he was from Tekoa, where there were no disciples of the prophets and no prophet who could ordain him and testify concerning him that he was a true prophet. Nevertheless, he became established as a true prophet because, two years before the earthquake, he prophesied and said in his prophecy that "Hashem will roar from Zion," referring to the earthquake that would come from Zion. Likewise, at that time he prophesied concerning the cessation of rainfall that would occur then, as it is written, "and the pastures of the shepherds shall mourn." He prophesied this two years before the earthquake, and his prophecy came to pass two years after he had uttered it. Through this, all Israel knew that he was a trustworthy prophet of Hashem. (As for the statement that he prophesied in the days of Jeroboam son of Joash, I explained at the beginning of Hosea that two years before the earthquake, Uzziah was subordinate to the kings of Israel, and the kingdom was therefore called by the name of the kingdom of Israel. This is why Jeroboam is mentioned; see there.)

And he said. I have already explained that the meaning of the verse is: "which he saw and said two years before the earthquake." At that time, he prophesied concerning the earthquake: "Hashem will roar from Zion," for the earthquake began in Zion, and there was a great roaring there; "and from Jerusalem He will give forth His voice," which is less powerful than a roar, for the earthquake spread from Zion to Jerusalem and from there to all the cities of the Land of Israel. He gave forth His mighty voice—the sound of the earthquake that shook the earth from its place and caused its pillars to tremble. This was one prophecy that he uttered before its fulfillment. A second prophecy announced that there would be a year of drought, so severe that "the pastures of the shepherds shall mourn," for there would be no pasture for the animals, "and the summit of Carmel shall wither," though it is always filled with fresh produce. All this he prophesied two years beforehand, and when his prophecy was fulfilled, he became established as a trustworthy prophet.

Thus says Hashem. After describing the characteristics of the prophet and how he became established as a trustworthy prophet, the main body of the book begins. Before beginning his prophecies concerning Judah and the Ten Tribes, he first introduces prophecies of punishment against the neighbors of the Land of Israel who had harmed Israel, and announces that God would punish them for this. For although Israel was punished for its sins, nevertheless, all those who harmed them would not go unpunished, as it is written, "And also the nation whom they shall serve, I will judge." Now Aram was a neighbor of the Land of Israel to the east, the Philistines to the west, Tyre to the north, and Edom, Ammon, and Moab to the south, and he announces their punishments one after another. He begins with Aram, because they were the first to harm Israel, from the days of Elisha until the days of Jeroboam son of Joash, as explained in the Book of Kings. He said, "For three transgressions of Damascus, and for four, shall I not requite him?" After they committed three transgressions, and then the fourth transgression as well, must I not necessarily punish them and repay them for their deeds? But what are these three transgressions? Radak explains that they refer to the three times that they had previously harmed Israel. Abarbanel explains that they refer to the three well-known transgressions—idolatry, sexual immorality, and bloodshed—which existed among them. Thus, He says: Although I did not repay them for the three transgressions, now that they have committed a fourth transgression as well, shall I not requite them? And the fourth transgression was "because they threshed Gilead with threshing sledges of iron." They passed iron implements over their bodies, just as grain is threshed, torturing them with cruel fury and an outpouring of wrath.

And I will send a fire, for their punishment will not come in the natural manner, in which the enemy first conquers the surrounding cities of the countryside, then conquers the gate of the city, and afterward destroys the king's palace; rather, it will be the reverse. First, I will send a fire into the house of Hazael, which is the royal house, and afterward it shall consume the palaces of Ben-hadad, the son of Hazael, who reigned after him and built palaces around his father's house, and afterward.

And I will break the bar of Damascus, the bar of the city's fortress, and afterward I will cut off the inhabitant from the Valley of Aven, who were around Damascus, and the one who holds the scepter from Beth-eden, who belonged to the kingdom of Aram and had a governing scepter of their own under the kingdom of Aram; and they too shall go into exile with Aram to Kir, even though they were a separate tribe, so that they will resemble a dangerously ill person whose illness begins in the heart, from which the sources of life flow, and spreads from there to all the limbs of the body.

Thus says Hashem. Now he prophesied concerning the Philistines, who were neighbors of the Land of Israel to the west. For three transgressions of Gaza, namely idolatry, sexual immorality, and bloodshed, which were in their hands, and for four, which they have now added, shall I not repay them? Because they carried away an entire exile to deliver them over to Edom. At the time of the destruction, Edom stood at the crossroads to cut down those who escaped, as it is written in Obadiah, and many fled westward through the land of the Philistines; but they delivered them into the hands of the Edomites, handing them over to the enemy so that the exile would be complete and no one would escape.

And I will send a fire upon the wall of Gaza. Gaza was fortified with a strong wall, and the wall was conquered, and the city was given over to the consuming fire.

And I will cut off the inhabitant from Ashdod. There the inhabitants were cut off, while from Ashkelon the government was cut off, and Ekron was destroyed twice; therefore, He says, "And I will turn My hand against Ekron." Gath is not mentioned because it belonged to Judah.

Thus says Hashem. He prophesies concerning Tyre, because they delivered an entire exile over to Edom. Israel trusted in the covenant that Tyre had maintained with Israel since the days of David and Solomon and fled to Tyre, but they delivered them into the hands of the Edomites (although they did not themselves carry them into exile, as the Philistines did), contrary to the commandment, "You shall not deliver a slave to his master." Their sin was great because they did not remember the covenant of brothers that they had with Israel, for Hiram said to Solomon, "What are these cities that you have given me, my brother?"

And I will send a fire, for it was destroyed by Nebuchadnezzar and afterward by Alexander the Macedonian, as explained in Ezekiel.

Thus says Hashem: For three transgressions of Edom, idolatry, sexual immorality, and bloodshed, and for four, etc., because he pursued his brother with the sword at the time of the destruction of the First Temple, and his anger tore perpetually, through the Romans who destroyed Jerusalem, for the Romans were considered descendants of Edom according to what Abarbanel explained with proofs, and likewise the anger they bore toward Israel throughout the entire period of exile. There is a distinction between anger (af) and wrath (evrah): wrath is when, because of his anger, one passes beyond the proper limit to do harm to the community as a whole, including even those who have not sinned. Now the descendants of Edom have a general wrath against the entirety of Israel because of their faith, and this they preserve in their hearts forever, seeking vengeance against the entire people, to confound and destroy them, and because of this they decreed upon them slaughter, forced conversion, and destruction in every generation.

And I will send a fire upon Teman, which is part of Edom, and it shall consume the palaces of Bozrah, which is the metropolis of Edom, under which is the city of Rome, concerning which Isaiah prophesied, "Who is this who comes from Edom, with crimsoned garments from Bozrah?" etc., as I explained there.

For three transgressions of the children of Ammon, idolatry, sexual immorality, and bloodshed, as stated above, and for four, etc., because they split open the mountains of Gilead. Abarbanel explains the word harot as relating to har, "mountain": because the children of Ammon were situated near the land of Gilead, they split open the neighboring mountains in order to enlarge their border. Rashi, of blessed memory, explains harot according to its plain meaning, as referring to pregnant women, whom they split open in order to eradicate Israel from there. According to both explanations, we can understand what Jeremiah said concerning the children of Ammon: "Does Israel have no sons? Has he no heir? Why then has their king inherited Gad, and his people dwelt in its cities?" The words "Why then has he inherited?" allude to the eradication of the children who would have been the heirs, while "and his people dwelt in its cities" alludes to what is written here: "in order to enlarge their border."

And I will kindle. He will kindle among them the fire of war, and kindling refers to a burning that takes place all at once on every side, for the fire spread throughout all the children of Ammon. Likewise, Jeremiah said, "And her daughters shall be kindled with fire." This will be with a shout on the day of battle, and this same expression is also used there in Jeremiah. And because the worship of Milcom was the worship of fire, he says that the fire will not come from Milcom, for:

Their king shall go into exile, and by "their king" he includes both the worship of Molech and the king in its literal sense, and therefore it says, "he and his princes."