Amos, Part 7

The Prophecy of Amos, Part 7

In the last segment of this presentation of the prophecy of Amos we spent a considerable amount of time examining the phrase “all the families of the earth”, which appears in Amos 3:2, in the light of the context of Scripture. We shall not again dwell at length on that phrase here, however we shall summarize a few things from last week's presentation, and then proceed with the rest of Amos chapter 3.

Amos 3:1 Hear this word that the LORD hath spoken against you, O children of Israel, against the whole family which I brought up from the land of Egypt, saying, 2 You only have I known of all the families of the earth: therefore I will punish you for all your iniquities.

The phrase “all the families of the earth” can only refer to all of the White Genesis 10 nations of the Adamic oikoumenê, which is the Biblical context provided by Genesis chapters 5, 10 and 11, which is also the way the phrase was understood in both Deuteronomy 32:8 and in Acts 17:26:

Genesis 5:1: “This is the book of the generations of Adam. In the day that God created man, in the likeness of God made he him; 2 Male and female created he them; and blessed them, and called their name Adam, in the day when they were created.”

Genesis 10:32: “These are the families of the sons of Noah, after their generations, in their nations: and by these were the nations divided in the earth after the flood.”

Genesis 11:1, 8-9: “1 And the whole earth [that whole land of Shinar] was of one language, and of one speech.... 8 So the LORD scattered them abroad from thence upon the face of all the earth: and they left off to build the city. 9 Therefore is the name of it called Babel; because the LORD did there confound the language of all the earth [of all of that land]: and from thence did the LORD scatter them abroad upon the face of all the earth.”

Genesis 12:1-3: “1 Now the LORD had said unto Abram, Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and from thy father's house, unto a land that I will shew thee: 2 And I will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee, and make thy name great; and thou shalt be a blessing: 3 And I will bless them that bless thee, and curse him that curseth thee: and in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed.”

Deuteronomy 32:8-9: “8 When the most High divided to the nations their inheritance, when he separated the sons of Adam, he set the bounds of the people according to the number of the children of Israel. 9 For the LORD'S portion is his people; Jacob is the lot of his inheritance.”

Acts 17:26-28, where was addressing the Athenians, who were Japhethites: “26 And hath made of one blood all nations of men for to dwell on all the face of the earth, and hath determined the times before appointed, and the bounds of their habitation; 27 That they should seek the Lord, if haply they might feel after him, and find him, though he be not far from every one of us: 28 For in him we live, and move, and have our being; as certain also of your own poets have said, For we are also his offspring.”

The children of Adam, who is the son of God, are the offspring of God (Luke 3:34). Genesis chapter 5 tells us that “this is the book of the generations of Adam”, and all of the races which are not Adam are not even under consideration here. All of the descendants of Adam through Noah were originally White people, and that can indeed be established in history. Deuteronomy 32:8 tells us not that Israel was a people elected by Yahweh out of all the races on the planet, but that Israel was elected by Yahweh God out of all the Adamic families of Genesis chapters 10 and 11. Yet it is to these people, and none others, that Yahweh God refers where he tells Abraham in Genesis chapter 12 that “I will bless them that bless thee, and curse him that curseth thee: and in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed.”

For this reason, that Yahweh had known only Israel “of all the families of the earth”, did Christ state that He came “but unto the lost sheep of the house of Israel”, at Matthew 15:24. It can be established that Paul of Tarsus understood this as well, and therefore he used the Greek term οἰκονομία, the management of a household or family, in order to describe his ministry. This he did in Ephesians chapter 3, Colossians chapter 1, and 1 Timothy chapter 1.

Ephesians 3:1-2: “1 For this cause I, Paul, captive of Christ Yahshua on behalf of you of the Nations, 2 if indeed you have heard of the management of the family of the favor of Yahweh which has been given to me in regard to you...” and Ephesians 3:9: “and to enlighten all concerning the management of the household of the mystery which was concealed from the ages by Yahweh, by whom all things are being established.”

For this same reason Paul said in Galatians chapter 6 that “10 So then while we have occasion we should work at good towards all, but especially towards those of the family of the faith”, meaning all of the Genesis 10 nations and especially towards the children of Israel.

One other question that this discourse might raise, since it relates to the promise of Genesis 12:3, is just how all of the other Genesis 10 nations could be blessed in Abraham's seed. Paul answers this, albeit indirectly, in Romans chapter 5. First we must be mindful that the first promise of restoration to eternal life found in the Bible is in Genesis 3:22, right after the fall, where it is written: “And the LORD God said, Behold, the man is become as one of us, to know good and evil: and now, lest he put forth his hand, and take also of the tree of life, and eat, and live for ever: 23 Therefore the LORD God sent him forth from the garden of Eden, to till the ground from whence he was taken. 24 So he drove out the man; and he placed at the east of the garden of Eden Cherubims, and a flaming sword which turned every way, to keep the way of the tree of life.” The flaming sword does not prevent Adamic man from attaining the tree of life. Rather, it is a symbol assuring that Adamic man shall indeed attain it, that the way to it shall be kept. The east is where the sun rises. The Son is the Light of the World, He is the Way, and He is the Tree of Life.

Therefore Yahshua Christ says in Luke chapter 11, for instance, that the men of Nineveh shall rise in the judgement. They are Genesis 10 descendants of Ashur. He also says that the Queen of the South shall rise in the judgement. This queen who once visited King Solomon is a Genesis 10 descendant of Sheba. Job, who was also not an Israelite, said: “26 And though after my skin worms destroy this body, yet in my flesh shall I see God: 27 Whom I shall see for myself, and mine eyes shall behold, and not another; though my reins be consumed within me.” (Job 19:26-27) The apostle Peter explained in his first epistle that Christ descended to Hades and preached the Gospel to those souls who had died before the flood, and they were not Israel. Finally Paul, in Romans chapter 5, says: “12 For this reason, just as by one man failure of purpose entered into the Society, and by that failure of purpose death, and in that manner death has passed to all men, on account that all have done wrong: 13 (for until the law fault was in the Society; but fault was not accounted, there not being law; 14 but death reigned from Adam until Moses, even over those who had not committed an error resembling the transgression of Adam, who is an image of the future. 15 But should not, as was the transgression, in that manner also be the favor? Indeed if in the transgression of one many die, much greater is the favor of Yahweh, and the gift in favor, which is of the one man Yahshua Christ, in which many have great advantage. 16 And not then by one having committed error is the gift? Indeed the fact is that judgment of a single one is for condemnation, but the favor is from many transgressions into a judgment of acquittal. 17 For if in the transgression of one, death has taken reign through that one, much more is the advantage of the favor, and the gift of justice they are receiving, in life they will reign through the one, Yahshua Christ.) 18 So then, as that one transgression is for all men for a sentence of condemnation, in this manner then through one decision of judgment for all men is for a judgment of life. 19 Therefore even as through the disobedience of one man the many were set down as wrongdoers, in this manner then through the obedience of One the many will be established as righteous.”

Therefore ostensibly, the seed of Abraham was chosen to continue and to carry out the will of Yahweh our God in the world, and in their redemption are all of the Genesis 10 Adamic nations blessed.

3 Can two walk together, except they be agreed?

Exodus 19:3-8: “3 And Moses went up unto God, and the LORD called unto him out of the mountain, saying, Thus shalt thou say to the house of Jacob, and tell the children of Israel; 4 Ye have seen what I did unto the Egyptians, and how I bare you on eagles' wings, and brought you unto myself. 5 Now therefore, if ye will obey my voice indeed, and keep my covenant, then ye shall be a peculiar treasure unto me above all people: for all the earth is mine: 6 And ye shall be unto me a kingdom of priests, and an holy nation. These are the words which thou shalt speak unto the children of Israel. 7 And Moses came and called for the elders of the people, and laid before their faces all these words which the LORD commanded him. 8 And all the people answered together, and said, All that the LORD hath spoken we will do. And Moses returned the words of the people unto the LORD.”

There is a Greek word, ὁμολογέω, homologeo, which is literally to be of the same word or to agree, which in the King James Version of the New Testament is usually translated as confess. The children of Israel are commanded to be in agreement with their Creator, or they cannot walk with Him.

Matthew 10:32-33: “32 Therefore each who shall agree with Me before men, I shall also agree with him before My Father who is in the heavens. 33 But he who should deny Me before men, I shall also deny him before My Father who is in the heavens.

Romans 10:8-9: “8 But rather what does it say? “The word is near to you, in your mouth and in your heart:” that is to say, the word of the faith that we proclaim, 9 that if by your mouth you were to agree with Prince Yahshua, and trust in your heart that Yahweh has raised Him from among the dead, you shall be delivered.”

Disagreement with Christ is tantamount to denial of Christ. He is God incarnate. God is not going to agree with us, we are going to have to agree with Him. We of the children of Adam are formed in His image: we cannot form Him in our image. Therefore Paul said at Romans 8:29: “For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren.”

4 Will a lion roar in the forest, when he hath no prey? will a young lion cry out of his den, if he have taken nothing?

The words of Yahweh are not vain. He tells Israel “I will punish you for your iniquities”, and if He roars (as He says in verse 8), He will indeed take a prey, which here are the children of Israel.

5 Can a bird fall in a snare upon the earth, where no gin is for him? shall one take up a snare from the earth, and have taken nothing at all?

The analogy is clear in the 124th Psalm, said to be a “A Song of degrees of David”: “1 If it had not been the LORD who was on our side, now may Israel say; 2 If it had not been the LORD who was on our side, when men rose up against us: 3 Then they had swallowed us up quick, when their wrath was kindled against us: 4 Then the waters had overwhelmed us, the stream had gone over our soul: 5 Then the proud waters had gone over our soul. 6 Blessed be the LORD, who hath not given us as a prey to their teeth. 7 Our soul is escaped as a bird out of the snare of the fowlers: the snare is broken, and we are escaped. 8 Our help is in the name of the LORD, who made heaven and earth.” However here Yahweh is against Israel, and the nation would indeed soon fall prey to the Assyrians. This time the snare shall not be broken.

6 Shall a trumpet be blown in the city, and the people not be afraid? shall there be evil in a city, and the LORD hath not done it?

The trumpet is the sound of war, blown by those on watch as a call to arms for the defense of a city. Nehemiah, in chapter 13 of his book, is addressing those who profane the Sabbath where he says “ 17 Then I contended with the nobles of Judah, and said unto them, What evil thing is this that ye do, and profane the sabbath day? 18 Did not your fathers thus, and did not our God bring all this evil upon us, and upon this city? yet ye bring more wrath upon Israel by profaning the sabbath.” If evil comes upon a city of Israel, that evil is a punishment from Yahweh.

7 Surely the Lord GOD will do nothing, but he revealeth his secret unto his servants the prophets. 8 The lion hath roared, who will not fear? the Lord GOD hath spoken, who can but prophesy?

Hosea, Isaiah and Amos all had their ministries around the same exact time. All three men were contemporaries, and they were all publicly forewarning of the destruction to come upon Israel. The lion is Yahweh, through His prophets He has roared, and therefore the prey would be taken.

Amos prophesied in the days of Jeroboam II, the king of Israel. Of this king, from a historical perspective 2 Kings 14:25-28 says: “25 He restored the coast of Israel from the entering of Hamath unto the sea of the plain, according to the word of the LORD God of Israel, which he spake by the hand of his servant Jonah, the son of Amittai, the prophet, which was of Gathhepher. [We do not have a record of this in Jonah, however these things were also prophesied in some degree by Elisha, as it is recorded at the beginning of 2 Kings 13.] 26 For the LORD saw the affliction of Israel, that it was very bitter: for there was not any shut up, nor any left, nor any helper for Israel. 27 And the LORD said not that he would blot out the name of Israel from under heaven: but he saved them by the hand of Jeroboam the son of Joash. 28 Now the rest of the acts of Jeroboam, and all that he did, and his might, how he warred, and how he recovered Damascus, and Hamath, which belonged to Judah, for Israel, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Israel?” Therefore this should have been a time of hope and restoration for Israel. And while in the historical perspective of 2 Kings 14 the account of Jeroboam displays such hope, at the very same time the prophets of Yahweh are pronouncing an impending judgement of doom upon Israel.

9 Publish in the palaces at Ashdod, and in the palaces in the land of Egypt, and say, Assemble yourselves upon the mountains of Samaria, and behold the great tumults in the midst thereof, and the oppressed in the midst thereof. 10 For they know not to do right, saith the LORD, who store up violence and robbery in their palaces.

As it has been elucidated from the Assyrian inscriptions here in earlier segments of this presentation, the armies of the neighboring states which were already subject to Assyria would join in the conquest of other states, which includes Israel. After the Assyrian king Sennacherib had subjected the cities of the Philistines, the Philistines in turn had joined him in his campaigns against both Israel and Judah. After that, Philistine kings were rewarded with portions of Israelite territory for their booty. [See the notes at Amos 1:6-8 and Amos 2:4-5]

11 Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD; An adversary there shall be even round about the land; and he shall bring down thy strength from thee, and thy palaces shall be spoiled.

The Septuagint version of this verse is quite different: “Therefore thus saith the Lord God; O Tyre, thy land shall be made desolate round about thee; and he shall bring down thy strength out of thee, and thy countries shall be spoiled.” The first part of the verse is apparently wanting in the Dead Sea Scrolls.

Now it must be asked, should we accept the contents of this verse as it is found in the Septuagint? Or in the Masoretic Text? Why should Tyre be referenced in a prophecy which is against the children of Israel, when there has already been an oracle against the Tyrians in Amos chapter 1? That question may be answered in the following verse, in Amos 3: 12, where we see Damascus mentioned in this prophecy against Israel, although there has already been an oracle against Damascus in Amos chapter 1.

There is one other occurrence in the prophets where such a discrepancy is extant. In Micah 7:12, the King James Version reads: “In that day also he shall come even to thee from Assyria, and from the fortified cities, and from the fortress even to the river, and from sea to sea, and from mountain to mountain.” Yet in Micah 7:12 in the Septuagint reads: “And thy cities shall be leveled, and parted among the Assyrians; and thy strong cities shall be parted from Tyre to the river, and from sea to sea, and from mountain to mountain.” The days of Micah's prophesying were not long after those of Amos. Like the verse here in Amos, the questionable portion of this verse in Micah is also somehow wanting in the Dead Sea Scrolls.

In the cases of Amos 3:11 and Micah 7:12, I must trust the Septuagint. The Septuagint translators sometimes confused Canaanites for Phoenicians, translating the Hebrew word in that manner on occasion. However it is clear that many of the inhabitants of Phoenicia in the comparatively late time of the Septuagint translators were actually Canaanites. Those translators had nothing to lose nor to gain by claiming Tyre as an Israelite city if it were truly a Canaanite city. No certain motive could be ascertained if they were trying to pervert the truth in these instances. However the much later Masoretic Text editors, who lived long after the time of Christ, would have everything to gain in maintaining the false identity of those who claim to be Judaeans - but are not, if they could obscure history by disconnecting the relationship between the children of Israel and their former great city of Tyre, from which so many European colonies were launched in ancient times. In fact, in ancient Greek myth Tyre was said to be the birthplace of Europa, the mythical figure for whom the continent is named, and something which is certainly not a coincidence.

At this point it may be fitting that we read a lengthy passage from Josephus, Against Apion, Book 1, lines 161-171. Here we shall see that Josephus practically took it for granted that the ancient Tyrians were Israelites, and neither did he have anything to gain by doing such a thing. However note that in this passage, Josephus uses the term Judaeans (which was originally mistranslated as Jews by Whiston) to describe both ancient and contemporary (to him) Judahites and Israelites, and therefore it seems to be a religious designation as much as a tribal one:

“161 But now it is proper to satisfy the inquiry of those who disbelieve the records of barbarians, and think none but Greeks to be worthy of credit, and to produce many of these very Greeks, who were acquainted with our nation, and to set before them such as upon occasion have made mention of us in their own writings. 162 Pythagoras [A famous and early Greek Philosopher who is esteemed to have lived from about 570 to 495 BC], therefore, of Samos lived in very ancient times, and was esteemed a person superior to all philosophers, in wisdom and piety toward God. Now it is plain that he did not only know our doctrines, but was in very great measure a follower and admirer of them. 163 There is not, indeed, extant, any writing that is owned for his; but many there are who have written his history, of whom Hermippus is the most celebrated, who was a person very inquisitive in all sorts of history. 164 Now this Hermippus, in his first book concerning Pythagoras, speaks thus: 'That Pythagoras, upon the death of one of his associates, whose name was Calliphon, a Crotoniate by birth, affirmed that this man's soul conversed with him both night and day, and enjoined him not to pass over a place where an ass had fallen down; as also not to drink of such waters as caused thirst again; and to abstain from all sorts of reproaches.' 165 After which he adds thus: 'This he did and said in imitation of the doctrines of the Judaeans and Thracians, which he transferred into his own philosophy.' For it is very truly affirmed of this Pythagoras, that he took a great many of the laws of the Judaeans into his own philosophy. [Not only Pythagoras, but later philosophers such as Plato, received many of their ideas from the Hebrew Scriptures.] 166 Nor was our nation unknown of old to several of the Greek cities, and, indeed, was thought worthy of imitation by some of them. 167 This is declared by Theophrastus, in his writings concerning laws; for he says that ``the laws of the Tyrians forbid men to swear foreign oaths.' Among which he enumerates some others, and particularly that called Corban : which oath can only be found among the Judaeans, and declares what a man may call 'A thing devoted to God.' 168 Nor, indeed, was Herodotus, of Halicarnassus, unacquainted with our nation, but mentions it after a way of his own, when he says this, in the second book concerning the Colchians. 169 His words are these: – 'The only people who were circumcised in their privy members originally, were the Colchians, the Egyptians, and the Ethiopians; but the Phoenicians and those Syrians that are in Palestine, confess that they learned it from the Egyptians; 170 and for those Syrians who live about the rivers Thermodon and Parthenius, and their neighbours the Macrones, they say they have lately learned it from the Colchians; for these are the only people that are circumcised among mankind, and appear to have done the very same thing with the Egyptians; but as for the Egyptians and Ethiopians themselves, I am not able to say which of them received it from the other.' 171 This, therefore, is what Herodotus says, that 'the Syrians that are in Palestine are circumcised.' But there are no inhabitants of Palestine that are circumcised excepting the Judaeans; and, therefore, it must be his knowledge of them that enabled him to speak so much concerning them.

Aside from Pythagoras, early Greek society certainly did have many things in common with the Hebrew, which can be demonstrated in the Epic Poets which preceded Pythagoras, and in the Tragic Poets who were closely contemporary to him. That was discussed here in a June, 2010 program entitled Greek Culture is Hebrew, which is available at Christogenea. [The program has 7,655 downloads to date.]

In the paper at Christogenea entitled Classical & Biblical Records Identifying the Phoenicians we find this, speaking of this very same passage from Josephus: “Surely Tyre was an Israelite city, and the historian Josephus acknowledges as much again in his Against Apion (1:22), where he quotes a Greek writer Theophrastus and his writings concerning laws: 'the laws of the Tyrians forbid men to swear foreign oaths', and Josephus tells us that he was speaking of Israelites, and then goes on to cite Herodotus (from Histories 2:104), who stated that the Phoenicians and the 'Syrians of Palestine' (which is what Herodotus called the Judaeans - cf. 2:159, 3:5 and 7:89) were circumcised, and Josephus points out that 'there are no inhabitants of Palestine that are circumcised excepting the Judaeans [meaning Israelites]; and therefore it must be his knowledge of them that enabled him to speak so much concerning them.'”

While there are many other evidences in Scripture and in archaeology that the ancient Tyrians were indeed Israelites, the final proof that this is so rests in the words of this prophet at Amos 1:9: “Thus saith the LORD; For three transgressions of Tyrus, and for four, I will not turn away the punishment thereof; because they delivered up the whole captivity to Edom, and remembered not the brotherly covenant.” Canaanites were accursed, and never could be a part of such a covenant, recognized by Yahweh Himself.

Tyre was not destroyed by the Assyrians, but it was under tribute to them. However the mainland city, called Ushu by both the Assyrians and Babylonians, was besieged and destroyed by the Babylonians in the time of Nebuchadnezzar II. In an inscription of the Assyrian king Ashurnasirpal II, who presumably reigned from 883-859 BC, it is evident that Tyre, along with the Phoenician cities of Sidon, Byblos, Arvad, and other cities of the coast, were under tribute to Assyria in his time (ANET, p. 276). Tyre and Sidon, along with Israel, are again listed as being under tribute to Shalmaneser III, who ruled from 858 to 824 BC (ANET, p. 280). Adad-nirari III, who ruled from 810 to 783 BC, also had Tyre and Sidon, and also Israel, as tributaries (ANET, p. 281). Tiglath-pileser III, who ruled from 744 to 727 BC, lists Tyre as a tributary, along with Menahem of Samaria, the king of Israel (ANET, p. 283). Tyre is not found mentioned in the surviving inscriptions of Sargon II, who ruled from 721 to 705 BC. However Sennacherib, who ruled from 704 to 681 BC, mentions a rebellion by the king of Sidon which had been joined by the other cities. He subjected Ushu, the mainland part of Tyre, to Assyrian rule once again (ANET, p. 287). Esarhaddon, who ruled Assyria from 668 to 660 BC, mentions having conquered the island city of Tyre once again and subjecting it to Assyria. Under his rule Tyre revolted and was subjected several times, as his inscriptions relate (ANET, pp. 291, 292). Ashurbanipal, who reigned from 668 to 633 BC, also subjected Tyre to Assyria once again, after the island city had rebelled against his rule (ANET, p. 295). Later, Ushu revolted again and was conquered by this king, who deported a large number of its inhabitants to Assyria (ANET, p. 300). The inhabitants of Accho, another seaport town of Asher south of Tyre, were also either slain or deported in large numbers by Ashurbanipal at this time (ANET, p. 300).

While the destruction of Ushu, the mainland portion of Tyre, is not evident in surviving Babylonian inscriptions, it is evident in Ezekiel chapter 29, although in the Bible Ushu is not distinguished from the island portion of the city. Ezekiel 29:18-21 reads thus: “18 Son of man, Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon caused his army to serve a great service against Tyrus: every head was made bald, and every shoulder was peeled: yet had he no wages, nor his army, for Tyrus, for the service that he had served against it: 19 Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I will give the land of Egypt unto Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon; and he shall take her multitude, and take her spoil, and take her prey; and it shall be the wages for his army. 20 I have given him the land of Egypt for his labour wherewith he served against it, because they wrought for me, saith the Lord GOD. 21 In that day will I cause the horn of the house of Israel to bud forth, and I will give thee the opening of the mouth in the midst of them; and they shall know that I am the LORD.”

The mainland city was totally destroyed by Nebuchadnezzar II, which is the service that he had performed for Yahweh whereby he was rewarded with Egypt for his payment. After a thirteen-year siege the island agreed to pay tribute, and in that manner it survived for nearly another 250 years. In 332 BC, Alexander the Great used the rubble from the destroyed city of Ushu for a rampart out to the island, taking it and destroying it totally after a siege of about seven months.

12 Thus saith the LORD; As the shepherd taketh out of the mouth of the lion two legs, or a piece of an ear; so shall the children of Israel be taken out that dwell in Samaria in the corner of a bed, and in Damascus in a couch.

These verses are clearly an oracle against Israel, yet in the Septuagint version of Amos 3:11 there is a mention of ancient Tyre, and here in verse 12, along with Samaria Amos also mentions Damascus. While Damascus was still populated to some degree with the people of Aram, it was a city subjected to Israel in the days of David, in which many Israelites had dwelt (2 Samuel 8:6), and which Jeroboam II had retaken for Israel, something Amos must have witnessed. Tyre was an Israelite city, and here Amos attests that many Israelites also dwelt in Damascus.

13 Hear ye, and testify in the house of Jacob, saith the Lord GOD, the God of hosts, 14 That in the day that I shall visit the transgressions of Israel upon him I will also visit the altars of Bethel: and the horns of the altar shall be cut off, and fall to the ground. 15 And I will smite the winter house with the summer house; and the houses of ivory shall perish, and the great houses shall have an end, saith the LORD.

The words winter (2779) and summer (7019) in Hebrew are words which describe different harvest-times. The phrases “winter house” and “summer house” appear only here in the Bible. However where we read winter in the King James and in Brenton's English, the Greek of the Septuagint has a word, περίπτερος, which means flying round about, or according to Liddell and Scott in the 9th edition of their Greek-English Lexicon, was also used as an architectural term describing a certain type of temple. Both references may be appropriate here. Bethel was in the southern part of the territory of the sons of Joseph, near the border of Benjamin. Dan was to the north, far above Galilee. Therefore the terms winter house and summer house may be allegorical references to the northward and southward towns of Dan and Bethel, which are the locations of the golden calves of Jeroboam.