Verse Lens · Expanded explanation
Amos 1:3 Explained in Context
Use this verse as a doorway into the larger passage—not as an isolated saying.
Verse 3. 3Thus saith the LORD; For three transgressions of Damascus, and for four, I will not turn away the punishment thereof; because they have threshed Gilead with threshing instruments of iron:
King James Version — public domain in the United States · Bible text and permissions
Quick Meaning
This verse begins the repeated three-and-four formula and names Damascus's threshing of Gilead with iron.
Read It With
- Amos 1:3-5
Read Amos 1:3 with 1:3-5. This verse begins the repeated three-and-four formula and names Damascus's threshing of Gilead with iron. The complete unit establishes this movement: Damascus is judged for savage violence against Gilead; the oracle answers militarized threshing with destroyed palaces, government, and forced removal while leaving the precise campaign uncertain.
Why This Verse Appears Here
The first neighboring-nation oracle establishes that celebrated wartime brutality is a crime when heard from its victims' side. Within that movement, this verse begins the repeated three-and-four formula and names Damascus's threshing of Gilead with iron.
Follow the Context
- The numerical formula declares accumulated rebellion.
- Iron threshing names Damascus's violent treatment of Gilead.
- Fire, broken gates, removed rulers, and exile reverse military security.
Phrase-by-Phrase Explanation
“threshed Gilead with threshing instruments of iron”
In plain language: The agricultural image depicts brutal treatment of Gilead.
begins the repeated three-and-four formula and names Damascus's threshing of Gilead with iron. Accumulated military cruelty remains accountable even when rulers celebrate it as victory.
Why it matters: The wording carries interpretive or ethical risk that requires the complete unit and stated limits.
How certain? probableWhat This Verse Is Not Saying
The verse does not declare modern Syrians eternally guilty or authorize retaliation against Damascus.
What Remains True
Accumulated military cruelty remains accountable even when rulers celebrate it as victory.
How It Can Shape Life
- Evaluate warfare from the experience of bodies and communities harmed.
Teach It Back
Explain Amos 1:3's contribution to Amos 1:3-5: begins the repeated three-and-four formula and names Damascus's threshing of Gilead with iron. Include what the surrounding verses add, the stated uncertainty, and what this verse does not authorize.
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Continue in Context
The full thought-unit study remains the final contextual authority for this Verse Lens.
Read Amos 1:3-5 — Damascus Accountable for Threshing GileadSources used for this Verse Lens
How certain is this explanation? probable
Where care is needed
The numerical saying is cumulative rather than a transparent count, and the campaign is unnamed.
These are the sources used directly for this lens. Language, grammar, disagreements, and the complete source shelf remain attached to the full thought-unit research record.
Biblical text
King James (Authorized) Version — eng-kjv2006
eBible.org and CrossWire Bible Society
USFM archive eng-kjv2006_usfm.zip; source files dated 2026-08-19; downloaded 2026-08-24; archive SHA-256 aec1b3b26c622fd3d963d2bbac963016b9513246ffbfa20da00bb100372ea007; normalized corpus SHA-256 09aef51d90488aa7b9722b3fd9a93f4b25f6bf2064c5fd798fb39673c300ddf2.
Supports: Exact reader-facing Scripture wording, paragraph markers, supplied-word markup, and complete verse coverage.
Exact location: Amos 1:3-5, pinned eng-kjv2006 USFM corpus
Open source ↗hebrew text and morphology
Open Scriptures Hebrew Bible: Amos
Open Scriptures
Open Scriptures, release 2.2
Supports: Masoretic Hebrew wording, morphology, clause relationships, wordplays, names, and the base text behind translation discussion.
Exact location: Open Scriptures MorphHB v.2.2, commit 6a5db284c715c18b239422e57bb89684e6a19f00, wlc/Amos.xml, 1:3-5
Open source ↗translation and translator notes
NET Bible: Amos with translators' notes
Biblical Studies Press
Biblical Studies Press, 2006
Supports: Verse-level translation, syntax, textual, literary, historical, and uncertainty notes.
Exact location: NET Bible Amos PDF, printed pp. 1705-1708, translation and notes on 1:3-5
Open source ↗