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 {h} Kir, saith the LORD.
(h) Tiglath Pileser led the Assyrians captive, and brought them to Cyrene, which he here calls Kir.
1:5 The bar - Literally the bar with which the city gates were shut, and fastened. Of Eden - Some royal seat, of the kings of Syria. Kir - Kir of Media, Isa 22:6, thither did Tiglath - Pilneser carry the conquered Syrians, 2Kings 16:9, and placed them captives in that barren mountainous country, about fifteen years after it was foretold by Amos.
1:18-21 There shall be abundant Divine influences, and the gospel will spread speedily into the remotest corners of the earth. These events are predicted under significant emblems; there is a day coming, when every thing amiss shall be amended. The fountain of this plenty is in the house of God, whence the streams take rise. Christ is this Fountain; his sufferings, merit, and grace, cleanse, refresh, and make fruitful. Gospel grace, flowing from Christ, shall reach to the Gentile world, to the most remote regions, and make them abound in fruits of righteousness; and from the house of the Lord above, from his heavenly temple, flows all the good we daily taste, and hope to enjoy eternally.
