Joel
Verse 6. A nation is come up upon my land] That real locusts are intended there can be little doubt; but it is thought that this may be a double prophecy, and that the destruction by the Chaldeans may also be intended, and that the four kinds of locust mentioned above may mean the four several attacks made on Judea by them. The first in the last year of Nabonassar, (father of Nebuchadnezzar,) which was the third of Jehoiakim; the second when Jehoiakira was taken prisoner in the eleventh year of his reign; the third in the ninth year of Zedekiah; and the fourth three years after, when Jerusalem was destroyed by Nebuchadnezzar. Others say that they mean four powers which have been enemies of the Jews: 1. The palmerworm, the Assyrians and Chaldeans. 2. The locust, the Persians and Modes. 3. The cankerworm, the Greeks, and particularly Antiochus Epiphanes. 4. The caterpillar, the Romans. Others make them four kings; Tiglath-pileser, Shalmaneser, Sennacherib, and Nebuchadnezzar. But of such similitudes there is no end; and the best of them is arbitrary and precarious.
Verse 7. He hath laid my vine loaste] The locusts have eaten off both leaves and bark, natyn '^tyn chasoph chasaphah, he hath made it clean bare; mty "nty suddad sadeh, the field is laid ivaste, ver. 1 0; and 'IVyO 1102 kesod mishshaddai, a destruction from the Almighty, ver. 15; are all paronomasias in vi'hich this prophet seems to delight.
Verse 8. Lament like a virgin — for the husband of her youth.] Virgin is a very improper version here. The original is nbinn bethulah, which signifies a young woman or bride; not a virgin, the proper Hebrew for which is r\::hy almah. See the notes on Isa. vii. 14, and Matt. i. 23.
Verse 9. The meat-offering and the drink-offering is cut off] The crops and the vines being destroyed by the locusts, the total devastation in plants, trees, corn, &c., is referred to and described with a striking
the trees of the field, are withered: because 'joy is withered away from the sons of
1 3 ' Gird yourselves, and lament, yc priests: howl, ye ministers of the altar; come, lie all night in sackcloth, ye ministers of my God: for " the meat-offering and the drink-offering is withholden from the house of your God.
14 " Sanctify ye a fast, call " a ' solemn assembly, gather the elders and ^ all the inhabitants of the land into the house of the Lord your God, and cry unto the Lord.
15^ Alas for the day! for ^ the day of tlie Lord is at hand, and as a destruction from the Almighty shall it come.
Verse 12. The vine is dried up] Dr. Shaw observes that in Barbary, in the month of June, the locusts collect themselves into compact bodies a furlong or more square, and march on, eating up every thing that is green or juicy, and letting nothing escape them, whether vegetables or trees.
They destroy the pomegranate, the palm, the apple, (man tappuach, the citron tree,) the vine, the ^^, and every tree of the field. See the note on chap. ii. 2.
Verse 14. Call a solemn assembly] mi'}' atsarah signifies a time of restraint, as the margin has it. The clause should be translated — consecrate a fast, proclaim a time of restraint; that is, of total abstinence from food, and from ail secular employment. AU the elders of the land and the representatives of the people were to be collected at the temple to cry unto the Lord, to confess their sins, and pray for mercy. The temple was not yet destroyed. This prophecy was delivered before the captivity of Judah.
As a destruction from the Almighty] The destruction that is now coming is no ordinary calamity; it is as a signal judgment immediately inflicted by the Almighty.
Verse 17. The seed is rotten under their clods] When the sprout was cut off as low as possible by the locusts, there was no farther germination. The seed rotted away.
17 The " seed is rotten under their clods, tlie garners are laid desolate, the barns are broken down; for the corn is withered.
1 8 How do "I the beasts groan! the herd of cattle are perplexed, because they have no pasture; yea, the flocks of sheep are made desolate.
19 0 Lord, Mo thee will I cry: for Uhe fire hath devoured the s pastures of the wilderness, and the flame hath burned all the trees of the field.
20 The beasts of the field ^ cry also unto thee: for ' the rivers of waters are dried up, and the fire hath devoured the pastures of the wilderness.
think that the neighing of horses, or braying of asses, is wonderfully expressed by the sound of the original: rr^ni nraxj n:D mah neench.^h behemah, how do the horses neigh! how do the asses bray! r\'2'n2 behemah is a collective name for aU domestic cattle, and those used in husbandry.
Cattle are perplexed] They are looking everywhere, and wandering about to find some grass, and know not which way to run.
Verse 19. O Lord, to thee will I cry] Let this calamity come as it may, we have sinned, and should humble ourselves before God; and it is such a calamity as God alone can remove, therefore unto him must we cry.
The fire hath devoured the pastures] This may either refer to a drought, or to the effects of the locusts; as the ground, after they have passed over it, everywhere appears as if a sheet of flame had not only scorched, but consumed every thing.
Verse 20. The beasts of the field cry also unto thee^ Even the cattle, wild and tame, are represented as supplicating God to have mercy upon them, and send them provender! There is a similar affecting description of the effects of a drought in Jeremiah, chap. xiv. 6.
The rivers of ivaters are dried up] There must have been a drought as well as a host of locusts; as some of these expressions seem to apply to tho effects of intense heat.
For "(31Dn hammidbar, " the wilderness," one of my oldest MSS. reads 13na midbar, " wilderness" simply, as in ver. 19. Eight or ten of Dr. KennicotCs have the same reading.
The prophet sounds the alarm of a dreadful calamity, the description of which is most terribly worhed up, 1-1 1. Exhortation to repentance, fasting, and prayer, that the Divine judgments may he averted, 12-17. God will in due time take vengeance on all the enemies of pure and undejiled religion, 18—20. Great prosperity of the Jews subsequent to their return from the Babylonish captivity, 21-27. Joel then makes an elegant transition to the outpouring of the Holy Ghost on the day of pentecost, 28-30; for so these verses are explained by one of the twelve apostles of the Lamb. See Acts ii. 16—21. Prophecy concerning the destruction of Jerusalem, which was shortly to folloiv the opening of the Gospel dispensation, 3 1. Promises of safety to the faithful and penitent; promises afterwards remarkably fulfilled to the Christians in their escape to Pella from the desolating sword of the Roman army, 32.
R. Roman., ui my holy mountam: let all the cir. annum 26. inhabitants of the land tremble: for "^ the day of the Lord cometh, for it is nigh at hand;
Verse 1. Bloio ye the trumpet in Zion] This verse also shows that the temple was stiU standing. All assemblies of the people were collected by the sound of the trumpet.
The day of the Lord cometh] This phrase generally means a day of judgment or punishment.
Verse 2. A day of darkness, <^c.] The depredations of the locusts are described from the second to the eleventh verse, and their destruction in the twentieth. Dr. Shaw, who saw locusts in Barbary in 1724 and 1725, thus describes them: —
" I never observed the mantes, bald locusts, to be gregarious. But the locusts, properly so called, which are so frequently mentioned by sacred as well as profane writers, are sometimes so beyond expression. Those which I saw in 1724 and 1725 were much bigger than our common grasshoppers; and had brown spotted wings, with legs and bodies of a bright yellow. Their first appearance was toward the latter end of March, the wind having been for some time south. In the middle of April their numbers were so vastly increased that, in the heat of the day, they formed themselves into large and numerous swarms; flew in the air like a succession of clouds; and, as the prophet Joel expresses it, (ii. 10,) they darkened the sun. When the wind blew briskly, so that these swarms were crowed by others, or thrown one upon another, we had a lively idea of that comparison of the psalmist, (Psa. cix. 23,) of being " tossed up and down as the locust." In the month of May, when the ovaries of those insects were ripe and turgid, each of these swarms began gradually to disappear; and retired into the Mettijiah, and other adjacent plains, where they deposited their eggs. These were no sooner hatched in June, than each of these broods collected itself into a compact body of a furlong or more in square; and, marching immediately forward in the direction of the sea, they let nothing escape them; eating up every thing that was green and juicy, not only the lesser kinds of vegetables, but the vine likewise; Xhefig tree.
of thick darkness, as the morn- r. Roman.,
'^a great people and a strong; ^ there hath not been ever the like, neither shall be any
the pomegranate, the palm, and the apple tree, even all the trees of the field, Joel i. 12; in doing which they kept their ranks like men of ivar; climbing over, as they advanced, every tree or wall that was in their way. Nay, they entered into our very houses and bedchambers, like so many thieves. The inhabitants, to stop their progress, made a variety of pits and trenches all over their fields and gardens, which they filled with water; or else they heaped up in them heath, stubble, and such like combustible matter, which were severally set on fire upon the approach of the locusts. But this was all to no purpose, for the trenches were quickly filled up, and the fires extinguished, by mfinite swarms succeeding one another; while the front was regardless of danger, and the rear pressed on so close, that a retreat vi^as altogether impossible. A day or two after one of these broods was in motion, others were already hatched to march and glean after them; gnawing off the very bark, and the young branches, of such trees as had before escaped with the loss only of their fruit and foliage. So justly have they been compared by the prophet Joel (chap, ii. 3) to a great army; who further observes, that " the land is as the garden of Eden before them, and behind them a desolate wilderness."
" Having lived near a month in this manner (like a /ivpioarofioi' ^iipoc, or sword with ten thousand edges, to which they have been compared,) upon the ruin and destruction of every vegetable substance which came in their way, they arrived at their full growth, and threw ofl^ their nympha state by casting their outward skin. To prepare themselves for this change, they clung by their hinder feet to some bush, twig, or corner of a stone; and immediately, by using an undulating motion, their heads would first break out, and then the rest of their bodies. The whole transformation was performed in seven or eight minutes, after which they lay for a short time in a torpid and seemingly languishing condition: but as soon as the sun and air had hardened their wings, by drying up the moisture which remained upon them, after casting their sloughs, they
A. ti. cir. 33U. niore after it, even to the years
R. Roman., 3 ' A hre uevourelli belorc tliem; ''''•■'^"""'°'^'^- and behind them a flame burneth: tlie land is as ^ the garden of Eden before tliem, ' and behind them a desolate wilderness; yea, and nothing shall escape
4 " The apjjcarance of them is as the appearance of horses; and as horsemen, so shall they run.
5 ° Like the noise of chariots on the tops of mountains shall they leap, like the noise of a flame of fire that devoureth the stubble, ° as a strong people set in battle array.
6 Before their face the people shall be much pained: " all faces shall gatiier i blackness.
men; they shall climb the wall Oi. cir. xxii.3. like men of war; and they shall r"'1{oJISi.,"' marcii every one on his ways, «""■ annum. 26. and they shall not break their ranks.
8 Neither shall one thrust another; they shall walk every one in his path: and when they fall upon the ' sword, they shall not be wounded.
9 They shall run to and fro in the city; they shall run upon the wall, they shall climb up upon the houses: they shall ' enter in at the windows ' like a thief.
10 " The earth shall quake before them, the heavens shall tremble: '' the sun and the moon shall be dark, and the stars shall withdraw their shining:
reassumed their former voracity, with an addition both of strength and agility. Yet they did not continue long in this state before they were entirely dispersed, as their parents were before, after they had laid their eggs; and as the direction of the marches and flights of them both was always to the northward, and not having strength, as they have sometimes had, to reach the opposite shores of Italy, France, or Spain, it is probable they perished in the sea, a grave which, according to these people, they have in common with other winged creatures." — Travels, 4to. edition, pp.
A day of darkness] They sometimes obscure the sun. And Thuanus observes of an immense crowd, that " they darkened the sun at mid-day."
As the morning spread upon the mountains] They appeared suddenly: as the sun, in rising behind the mountains, shoots his rays over them. Adanson, in his voyage to Senegal, says: " Suddenly there came over our heads a thick cloud which darkened the air, and deprived us of the rays of the sun. We soon found that it was owing to a cloud oi locusts." Some clouds of them are said to have darkened the sun for ^ mile, and others for the space of twelve miles I See on ver. 10.
Verses. A fire devoureth before them] They consume like a general conflagration. " They destroy the ground, not only for the time, but burn trees for two years after." Sir Hans Shane, Nat. Hist, of Jamaica, vol. i., p. 29.
Behind them a flame hurneth] "Wherever they feed," says Ludolf, in his History of Ethiopia, " their leavings seem as if parched icithjire."
Nothing shall escape them.] "After devouring the herbage," says Adanson, " with the fruits and leaves of trees, they attacked even the htuls and the very bark; they did not so much as spare the reeds with which the huts were thatched.''''
Verse 4. The appearance of horses] The head of the locust is remarkably like that of the horse; and so Ray on Insects describes them: Caput oblongum, equi inslar, prona spectans — " They have an oblong head, like to that of a horse, bending downward." On this account,-' the Italians call them cavaletta, cavalry. Bochart remarks, from an Arabic writer, that the foc««i5 resemble;en different kinds of a)i(ma/.s.- 1. The HORSE in its head. 2. The elephant in its eyes. 3. The BULL in its neck. 4. The stag in its horns. 5. The LION in its breast. 6. The scorpion in its belly. 7. The e.\gle in its wings. 8. The camel in its thighs. 9. The ostrich in its feet. And 10. The SERPENT in its tail. Vid. Hieroz., vol. ii., p. 475, edit. 1692. But its most prominent resemblance is to the horse, which the prophet mentions; and which the Arabic writer puts in the first place, as being the chief.
Verse 5. Like the noise of chariots] Bochart also remarks: — " The locusts fly with a great noise, so as to be heard six miles off, and whUe they are eating the fruits of the earth, the sound of them is like that of a flame driven by the wind.'^ — Ibid., p. 478.
Verse 6. All faces shall gather blackness.] Universal mourning shall take place, because they know that such a plague is irresistible.
A'erse 7. Like mighty men — like men of war {and as horsemen, ver. 4)] The prophet does not say they are such, but they resemble. They are locusts; but in their operations they are like the above.
They shall not break their ranks] See the account on ver. 2, from Dr. Shaw.
Verse 8. They shall not he woutided.] They have hard scales like a coat of mail; but the expression refers to the utter uselessncss of all means to prevent their depredations..See Shaiv's account above.
Verse 10. The earth shall quake — the heavens shall tremble] Poetical expressions, to point out universal consternation and distress. The earth quaked to see (>63
E. Roman., his camp IS vcry great: ^ tor lie cir. annum 26. ^^ strong that executeth his word: for the ^ day of the Lord is great and very terrible; and ^ who can abide it?
1 2 Therefore also now, saith the Lord, ^ turn ye even unto me with all your heart, and with fasting, and with weeping, and with mourning:
1 3 And = rend your heart, and not ^ your garments, and turn unto the Lord your God: for he is ^ gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and of great kindness, and repenteth him of the evil.
14 f Who knoweth?/he will return and repent, and leave ^ a blessing behind him; even '' a meat-offering and a drink-offering unto the Lord your God?
the congregation, "assemble the oi. cir. xxil.3. elders, ^ gather the children, and jtlioman',''' those that suck the breasts: <> let "'■ ^""'"^ '^- the bridegroom go forth of his chamber, and the bride out of her closet.
17 Let the priests, the ministers of the Lord, weep p between the porch and the altar, and let them say, '^ Spare thy people, O Lord, and give not thine heritage to reproach, that the heathen should ' rule over them: = wherefore should they say among the people, Where is their God?
18 Then will the Lord 'be jealous for his land, " and pity his people.
1 9 Yea, the Lord will answer and say unto his people. Behold, I will send you '' corn, and wine, and oil, and ye shall be satisfied therewith: and I will no more make you a reproach among the heathen:
itself deprived of its verdure; the heavens trembled to find themselves deprived of their light.
The sun and the moon shall he darh^ Bochart relates that "their multitude is sometimes so immense as to obscure the heavens for the space of twelve miles V —Ibid. p. 479.
Verse 11. The Lord shall utter his voice] Such a mighty force seems as if summoned by the Almighty, and the noise they make in coming announces their npproach, while yet afar off.
Verse 12 Turn ye even to me] Three means of turning are recommended: Fasting, weeping, mourning, i. e., continued sorroiv.
Verse 13. Rend your heart] Let it not be merely a rending of your garments, but let your hearts be truly contrite. Merely external worship and hypocritical pretensions will only increase the evil, and cause God to meet you with heavier judgments.
For he is gracious] Good and benevolent in his own nature.
Merciful] Pitying and forgiving, as the effect of goodness and benevolence.
Sloio to anger] He is not easily provoked to punish, because he is gracious and merciful.
Of great kindness] Exuberant goodness to all them that return to him.
And repenteth him of the ei^il.] Is ever ready to change his purpose to destroy, when he finds the culprit ^vUling to be saved. See the notes on Exod. xxxiv. 6, 7. Verse 14. Who knoweth if he will return] He may yet interpose and turn aside the calamity threatened, and so far preserve the land from these ravagers, that there will be food for men and cattle, and a sufficiency of offerings for the temple service. Therefore —
Verse 16. Gather the children] Let all share in the humihation, for all must feel the judgment, should it come. Let no state nor condition among the people be exempted. The elders, the young persons, the infants, the bridegroom, and the bride; let all leave their houses, and go to the temple of God.
Verse 17. Let the priests — iveep between the porch and the altar] The altar of burnt-offerings stood before the porch of the temple, 2 Chron. viii. 12, and between them there was an open space o( fifteen or twenty cubits. It was there that the priests prostrated themselves on such occasions. It was into this place that the priest-s brought the sacrifice or victim of atonement; and where the high priest laid his hands on the head of the victim confessing his sins.
Let them say] The following was the form to be used on this occasion, " Spare thy people," &c. And if this be done with a rent heart, &c., " then will the Lord be jealous for his land, and pity his people," ver. 18. He will surely save, if ye seriously return to and penitently seek him.
A'^erse 19. Yea, the Lord will answer] It is not a peradventure; it will surely be done; if ye seek God as commanded, ye will find him as promised.
I will send you com and wine] He will either prevent the total ravaging of the land, or so bless it with extraordinary vegetable strength, that ye shall have plentiful crops.
*a" ■="• f '^- 20 But "I will remove far off ir XXII.3. from you ^ the northern armi/, and will drive him into a land ^_ barren and desolate, with iiis face
"toward the east sea, and his hinder part ^ toward the utmost sea, and his stink sliall come up, and his ill savour shall come up, because ^ he hath done great things.
21 Fear not, O land; be glad and rejoice: for the Lord will do great things.
22 Be not afraid, '' ye beasts of the field: for "^ tlic pastures of the wilderness do spring, for the tree beareth her fruit, the fig tree and the vine do yield their strength.
23 Be glad then, ye children of Zion, and •^rejoice in the Lord your God: for he hath given you "= the former rain ^ moderately, and he s will cause to come down for you ^ the
Verse 20. Iwillremove far off from you the northem army] " That is, the locusts; which might enter Judea by the north, as Circassia and Mingrelia abound with them. Or the locusts may be thus called, because they spread terror like the Assyrian armies, which entered Judea by the north. See Zeph. ii. 13." — Neivcome. Syria, which was northward of Judea, was infested with them; and it must have been a northern wind that brought them into Judea, in the time of Joel; as God promises to change this wind, and carry them into a barren and desolate land, Arabia Deserta. "And his face toward the east sea," i. e., the Dead Sea, which lay eastward of Jerusalem. " His hinder part toward the utmost sea, the western sea, i. e., the Mediterranean.
And his stink shall come up] After having been drowned by millions in the Mediterranean, the reflux of the tide has often brought them back, and thrown them in heaps upon the shore, where they putrefied in such a manner as to infect the air and produce pestilence, by which both men and cattle have died in great multitudes. See Bochart, Hieroz., vol. ii., p. 481.
Livy, and St. Augustine after him, relate that there «vas such an immense crowd of locusts in Africa that, having eaten up every green thing, a wind arose that carried them into the sea, where they perished; but being cast upon the shore, they putrefied, and bred such a pestilence, that eighty thousand men died of it in the kingdom of Massinissa, and thirty thousand in the garrison of Ulica, in which only ten remained alive. See Calrnet and Lioy, lib. xc, and August. De Civitale Dei, lib. iv., c. 31. We have many testimonies of a similar kind.
Because he hath done great things'] Or, 'J hi, although he have done great things, or, after he has done thera, i. e., in almost destroying the whole country.
latter rain in the first month. oi. cir. xxii. 3.
24 And the floors shall be full iTliomM.',''' of wheat, and the fats shall over- ""■ """"'" •^- flow with wine and oil.
25 And I will restore to you the years ' that the locust hath eaten, the cankerworm, and the caterpillar, and the palmerwonn, '' my great army which I sent among you.
26 And ye shall ' eat in plenty, and be satis fied, and praise the name of the Lord your God, that hath dealt wondrously with you: and my people shall never be ashamed.
27 " And ye shall know that I am " in the midst of Israel, and that ° I am tiie Lord your God, and none else: and my people shall never be ashamed.
28 P And it shall come to pass afterward,
Verse 21. Fear not — for the Lord will do grea. things.] The words are repealed from the preceding verse; Jehovah will do great things in driving them oicay, and' supernaturally restoring the land to fertility
Verse 23. The former rain moderately] mran npTyb hammoreh litsedakah, " the former rain in righteousness," that is, in due time and in just proportion. This rain fell after autumn, the other in spring. See Hosea vi. 3.
Verse 25. I will restore — the years] It has already been remarked that the locusts not only destroyed the produce of that year, but so completely ate up all luds and harked the trees, that they did not recover for som-i years. Here God promises that he would either pre~ vent or remedy that evil; for he would restore the years that the locust, cankerworm, caterpillar, and palmerworm had eaten.
Verse 26. Praise the name of the Lord your God, that hath dealt wondrously with you] In so destroying this formidable enemy; and so miraculously restoring the land io fertility, after so great a devastation.
Verse 28. Shall come to pass afterward] p "inx acharey ken, " after this;" the same, says Ktmchi, as in the latter days, which always refers to the days of the Messiah; and thus this prophecy is to be interpreted: and we have the testimony of St. Peter, Acts ii. 1 7, that this prophecy relates to that mighty effusion of the Holy Spirit which took place after the day of pentecost. Nor is there any evidence that such an effusion took place, nor such effects were produced, from the days of this prophet till the A^y of pentecost. And the iS;)iW< was poured out then upon all fesh, that is, on people of different countries, speaking the lan- oi. cir. XXII. 3. upon all flesh; ' and your sons R. Roman., and ^ your daughters shall procir. annum 26. pj^ggy^ your old mcn shall dream dreams, your young men shall see visions:
29 And also upon ' the servants and upon the handmaids in those days will I pour out my Spirit.
30 And " I vi'ill show wonders in the heavens and in the earth, blood, and fire, and pillars of smoke.
guages of almost all the people of the earth; which intimated that these were the first-fruits of the conversion of all the nations of the world. For there was scarcely a tongue in the universe that was not to be found among the Parthians, Medes, Elamites, Mesopotamians, Jeios, Cappadocians, people of Pontus, of Asia, Phrygia, Pamphylia, Egypt, Libya, Cyrene, Rome, Crete, and Arabia, who were residents at Jerusalem at that time; and on whom this mighty gift was poured out, each hearing and apprehending the truths of the Gospel, in his own language wherein he was born. Thus we have Divine authority for saying, that was the fulfilment of this prophecy by Joel. And the mighty and rapid spread of the Gospel of Christ in the present day, by means of the translation of the Scriptures into almost all the regular languages of the world, and the sending missionaries to all nations, who preach the Gospel in those tongues, are farther proofs that the great promise is in the fullest progress to be speedily fulfilled, even in the utmost sense of the words.
Your sons and your daughters shall prophesy^ Shall preach — -exhort, pray, and instruct, so as to benefit the Church.
Your old men shall dream dreams^ Have my will represented to them in this way, as the others by direct inspiration.
Your young men shall see visions^ Have true representations of Divine things made upon their imaginations b)- the power of God; that they shall have as full an evidence of them as they could have of any thing that came to the mind through the medium of the senses.
Verse 29. And also upon the servants and upon the handmaids'] The gifts of teaching and instructing men shall not be restricted to any one class or order of people. He shall call and qualify the men of his own choice; and shall take such out of all ranks, orders, degrees, and offices in society. And he will pour out his Spirit upon them; and they shall be endowed with all the gifts and graces necessary to convert sinners, and ouild up the Church of Christ on its most holy faith.
And this God has done, and is still doing. He left the line of Aaron, and took his apostles indiscriminately from any tribe. He passed by the regular order of into darkness, and the moon into oi. cir. xxil. 3,
32 And it shall come to pass, that ^whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be delivered: for '' in Mount Zion and in Jerusalem shall be deliverance, as the Lord hath said, and in ^ the remnant whom the Lord shall call.
the priesthood, and the public schools of the most celebrated doctors, and took his evangelists from among fishermen, tent-makers, and even the Roman tax-gatherers. And he, lastly, passed by the Jewish tribes, and took the Gentile converts, and made them preachers of righteousness to the inhabitants of the whole earth. The same practice he continues to the present day; yet he did not then pass by a man brought up at the feet of Gamaliel, no more than he would 7ioiv a man brought up in a celebrated seminary of learning. He is ever free to use his own gifts, in his own way; and when learning is sanctified, by being devoted to the service of God, and the possessor is humble and pious, and has those natural gifts necessary for a public teacher, perhaps we might safely say, God would in many cases prefer such: but he will have others, as intimated in the prophecy, that we may see the conversion of men is not by human might, nor power, but by the Spirit of the Lord of hosts. The learned man can do nothing without his Spirit; the unlearned must have his gifts and graces, without which both their labours would be unprofitable; and thus the excellency of the power is of God, and no flesh can glory in his presence. See my sermon on this passage.
Verse 30. Wondei-s in the heavens and in the earth] This refers to those dreadful sights, dreadful portents, and destructive commotion, by which the Jewish polity was finally overthrown, and the Christian religion established in the Roman empire. See how our Lord applies this prophecy. Matt. xxiv. 29, and the parallel texts.
Verse 31. The sun shall be turned into darkness] The Jewish polity, civil and ecclesiastical, shall be entirely destroyed.
Before the great and the terrible day of the Lord come.] In the taking and sacking of Jerusalem, and burning of the temple, by the Romans, under Titus, the son of A'espasian. This was, perhaps, the greatest and most terrible day of God's vengeance ever shown to the world, or that ever will be shown, till the great day of the general judgment. For a full view of this subject, I wish to refer the reader to the notes on Matl. xxiv.
Verse 32. Whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord] mn" DM X^p' ^B'X h3 col asher yikra beshem
Yehovah, " All who shall invoke in the name of Jehovah." That Christ is the Jehovah here mentioned appears plain from Rom. x. 15, where the reader had better consult the notes. " This refers," says Bp. Newcome, " to the safety of the Christians during- the Jewish and the Roman war." It may; bat it has a much more extensive meaning, as the use of it by St. Paul, as above, evidently shows. Every man who invokes Jehovah for mercy and salvation bi/ or in the na/n€, JESUS — that very name given under heaven among men for this purpose — shall be saved. Nor is there salvation in any other; and those who reject bim had better lay these things to heart before it be too late.
For in Mount Zion and in Jerusalem] Our blessed Lord first began to preach the Gospel in Mount Zion, in the temple, and throughout Jerusalem. There he formed his Church, and thence he sent his apostles and evangelists to every part of the globe: " Go ye into all the world, and preach the Gospel to every creature." Of the Jews tliere was but a remnant, a very small number, that received the doctrine of the Gospel, here termed the remnant that the Lord should call; N'lp kore, ivhom he callclh. Many were called who would not obey: but those who obeyed the call were saved; and still he delivers those who call upon him; and he is still calling on men to come to him that they may be saved.
The prophecy in this chapter is thought l>y some to relate to the latter times of the world, when God shall finally deliver his people from all their adversaries; and it must be confessed, that the figures employed are so lofty as to render it impossible to restrain the ivhole of their import to any events prior to the commencement of the Christian era. The whole prophecy is delivered in a very beautiful strain of poetry: but what particular events are referred to is at present very uncertain, 1—3 1.
"POR, behold, => in those days, and in that time, when I shall bring again the captivity of Judah and Jerusalem, 2 *• I will also gather all nations, and will bring
NOTES ON CHAP. IIL Verse 1. For, behold, in those days] According to the preceding prophecy, these days should refer to Gospel times, or to such as should immediately precede them. But this is a part of the prophecy which is difficult to be understood. All interpreters are at variance upon it; some applying its principal parts to Cambyses; his unfortunate expedition to Egypt; the destruction of fifty thousand of his troops (by the moving pillars of sand) whom he had sent across the desert 'to plunder the rich temple of Jupiter Amnion; his return to Judea, and dying of a wound which he received from his own sword, in mounting his horse, which happened at Ecbatane, at the foot of Mount Carmel. On which his army, composed of different nations, seeing themselves without a head, fell out, and fought against each other, till the whole were destroyed. And this is supposed to be what Ezekiel means by Gog and Magog, and the destruction of the former. See Ezek. xxxviii. and xxxix.
Others apply this to the victories gained by the Maccabees, and to the destruction brought upon the enemies of their country; while several consider the whole as a figurative prediction of the success of the Gospel among the nations of the earth. It may refer to those times in which the Jews shall be brought in with the fulness of the Gentiles, and be re-established in their own land. Or there may be portions in this prophecy that refer to all the events; and to others thai have not fallen yet within the range of human shaphat, and '' will plead with them 01. cir. xxii. 3. thereformypeoplcand/ormyheri- R.Roman., tage Israel, whom they have scat- '^^^' """""^ ^^- tered auiong the nations, and parted my land.
conjecture, and will be only known when the time of fulfilment shall take place. In this painful uncertainty, rendered still more so by the discordant opinions of many wise and learned men, it appears to be my province, as I have nothing in the form of a new conjecture to offer, to confine myself to an explanation of the phraseology of the chapter; and then leave the reader to apply it as may seem best to his own judgment.
/ shall bring again the captivity of Judah and Jerusalem.] This may refer to the return from the Babylonish captivity; extending also to the restoration of Israel, or the ten tribes.
Verse 2. The valley of Jehoshaphat] There is no such valley in the land of Judea; and hence the word must be symbolical. It signifies the judgment of God, or Jehovah judgeth; and may mean some ]ilace (as Bp. Neiocome imagines) where Nebuchadnezzar should gain a great battle, which would utterly discomfit the ancient enemies of the Jews, and resemble the victory which Jehoshaphat gained over the Ammonites, Moabites, and Edomites, 2 Chron. XX. 22-26.
And parted my land.] The above nations had frequently entered into the territories of Israel; and divided among themselves the lands they had thus overrun.
While the Jews were in captivity, much of the land of Israel was seized on, and occupied by the Philistines, and other nations that bordered on Judea.
4 Yea, and what have ye to do with me, ^ 0 Tyre, and Zidon, and all the coasts of Palestine? s will ye render me a recompense? and if ve recompense me, swiftly and speedily will I return your recompense upon your own head;
5 Because ye have taken my silver and my gold, and have carried into your temples my goodly '• pleasant things:
6 The children also of Judah and the children of Jerusalem have ye sold unto ' the Grecians, that ye might remove them far from their border.
7 Behold, ^ I will raise them out of the place whither ye have sold them, and will return your recompense upon your own head:
8 And I will sell your sons and your daugh-
sell them to the ' babeans, to r. Roman., a people "far off; for the Lord ""■ ^"""'° ^^- hath spoken it.
9 " Proclaim ye this among the Gentiles; ° Prepare war, wake up the mighty men, let all the men of war draw near; let them come up.
10 I" Beat yout ploughshares into swords, and your 1 pruning hooks into spears: "■ let the weak say, I am strong.
1 1 ' Assemble yourselves, and come, all ye heathen, and gather yourselves together round about: thither ' cause " thy mighty ones to come down, O Lord.
1 2 Let the heathen be wakened, ^ and come up to the valley of Jehoshaphat: for there will I sit to ™ judge all the heathen round about.
IS'' Put ye in the sickle, for ^ the harvest is
Verse 3. Have given a boy for a harlot] To such wretched circumstances were the poor Jews reduced in their captivity, that their children were sold by their oppressors; and both males and females used for the basest purposes. And they were often bartered for the necessaries or luxuries of life. Or this may refer to the issue of the Chaldean war in Judea, where the captives were divided among the victors. And being set in companies, they cast lots for them: and those to whom they fell sold them for various purposes; the boys to be slaves and catamites, the girls to be prostitutes; and in return for them they got loine and.mch things. I think this is the meaning of the text. Verse 4. What have ye to do ivith me] Why have the Tyrians and Sidomans joined their other enemies to oppress my people % for they who touch my people touch mc.
Will ye render me a recompense.'] Do you think by this to avenge yourselves upon the Almighty? to retaliate upon God! Proceed, and speedily will I return your recompense; I will retaliate.
Averse 5. Ye have taken my silver and my gold] The Chaldeans had spoiled the temple, and carried away the sacred vessels, and put them in the temple of their own god in Babylon.
Verse 6. Sold unto the Grecians] These were the descendants of Javan, Gen. x. 2-5. And with them iV.e r»//-(an5 trafficked, Ezek. xxvii. 19.
That ye might remove them far from their border.] Intending to send them as far off as possible, that it might be impossible for them to get back to reclaim the land of which you had dispossessed them.
Verse 7. / will raise them] I shall find means to
bring them back from the place lohilher ye have sold them, and they shall retaliate upon you the injuries they have sustained. It is said that Alexander and his successors set at liberty many Jews that had been sold into Greece. And it is likely that many returned from different lands, on the publication of the edict of Cyrus. — Newcome.
Verse 8. I xvill sell your sons] When Alexander took Tyre, he reduced into slavery all the lower people, and the women. Arrian, lib. ii., says that thirty thousand of them were sold. Artaxcrxes Ochus destroyed Sidon, and subdued the other cities of Phcenicia. In all these wars, says Calmct, the Jews, who obeyed the Persians, did not neglect to purchase Phcenician slaves, whom they sold again to the Sabeans, or Arabs.
Verse 9. Prepare ivar] Let all the enemies of God and of his people join together; let them even call all the tillers of the ground to their assistance, instead of labouring in the field; let every peasant become a soldier. Let them turn their agricultural implements into offensive weapons, so that the weak, being well armed, may confidently say, / am strong: yet, when thus collected and armed, Jehovah loill bring doivn thy mighty ones; for so the clause in ver. 11 should be rendered.
The valley of Jehoshaphat] Any place where God may choose to display his judgments against his enemies.
Verse 13. Put ye in the sickle] The destruction of his enemies is represented here under the metaphor of
K.Roman., ilow; lor their wicKediiess zs great. '"• =^"""'" ^'^- 14 Multitudes, multitudes in ' the valley of '' decision: for " the day of the Lord is near in the valley of decision.
15 The "^ sun and the moon shall be darkened, and the stars shall withdraw their shining.
16 The Lord also shall ° roar out of Zioii, and utter his voice from Jerusalem; and ^the heavens and the earth shall shake: s but the Lord loill be the '' hope of his people, and the strength of tlie children of Israel.
reaping down the harvest; and of gathering the grapes, and treading them in the wine-presses.
Averse 14. Midliludes, multitudes] D":Dn D'jrsn hamonim, hamonim, crowds upon croicds, in the valley of decision, or excision: the same as the valley of Jehoshaphat, the place where God is to execute judgment on his enemies.
Verse 15. The.sure and the moon shall he darkened] High and mighty states shall be eclipsed, and brought to ruin, and the stars — petty states, princes, and governors— shall icithdraw their shining; withhold their influence and tribute from the kingdoms to which they have belonged, and set up themselves as independent governors.
Verse 16. The Lord also shall roar out of Zion] His temple and worship shall be re-established there, and he will thence denounce his judgments against the nations. " The heavens and the earth shall shake." There shall be great commotions in powerful empires and their dependencies; but in all these things his own people shall be unmoved, for God shall be their hope and strength.
Verse 17. So shall ye know] By the judgments 1 execute on your enemies, and the support I give to yourselves, that I am the all-eonquering Jehovah; and that I have again taken up my residence in Jerusalem. All this may refer, ultimately, to the restoration of the Jews to their own land; when holiness to the Lord shall be their motto; and no strange god, nor impure people, shall be permitted to enter the city, or even pass through it; they shall have neither civil nor religious connections with any who do not ■worship the true God in spirit and in truth. This, I think, must refer to Gospel times. It is a promise not yet fulfilled.
The mountains shall drop down new wine] A poetic expression for great fertility. Happy times: peace and plenty. The vines shall grow luxuriantly on the sides of the mountains; and the hills shall produce such rich pastures that the flocks shall yield abundance of milk.
am the Lord your God dwelling oi. cir. xxil. 3.
in Zion, " my holv mountain: k. Roman., then shall Jcrusaleni be ' holy, '^''•- '"""'" '^°- and there shall " no strangers pass through her any more.
18 And it shall come to pass in that day that the mountains shall "drop down new wine, and the hills shall flow with milk, ° and all the rivers of Judah shall i" flow with waters, and 1 a fountain shall come forth of the house of the Lord, and shall water ■■ the valley of Shittim.
And all the rivers of Judah] Far from being generally dry in the summer, shall have their channels always full of water.
A)id a fountain shall come forth of the house of the Lord] See the account of the typical waters in Ezekiel, chap, xlvii., to which this seems to have a reference; at least the subject is the same, and seems to point out the ^race of the Gospel, the waters of salvation, that shall flow from Jerusalem, and water the valley of Shittim. Shittim was in the plains of Moab beyond Jordan; Num. xxxiii. 49; Josh. iii. 1; but as no stream of water could flow from the temple, pass across Jordan, or reach this plain, the valley of Shittim must be considered symbolical, as the valley of Jehoshaphat. But as Shittim may signify thorns, it may figuratively represent the most uncultivated and ferocious inhabitants of the earth receiving the Gospel of Christ, and being civilized and saved by it. We know that briers and thorns are emblems of baa men; see Ezek. ii. 6. Thus all the figures in this verse will point out the happy times of the Gospel: the inountains shall drop down new wine; the hills flow with milk; the thorny valleys become fertile, &c. Similar to those almost parallel words of the prince of poets; —
Mistaque ridenti colocasia fundet acantho. — Ipsae lacte domum referent destenta capellae Ubera: nee magnos metuent armenta leones. — MoUi paullatim flavescet campus arista, Incullisque rubens pendebit sentibus uva: Et dura; quercus sudabunt roscida mella.
Unbidden earth shall wreathing ivy bring. And fragrant herbs the promises of spring. The goats with streaming dugs shall homeward
speed; And lowing herds, secure from lions, feed. Unlabour'd harvests shall the fields adorn. And clustered grapes shall grow on every thorn: The knotted oaks shall showers of honey weep. Drvden
01. Cir. XXII.3. tion, and ' lidom shall be a ' TroS.,"' desolate -wilderness, for the viocir. annum 26. |g^(.g against the children of Judah, because they have shed innocent blood in their land.
Verse 19. Egypt shall be a desolation] While peace, plenty, and prosperity of every kind, shall crown my people, all their enemies shall be as a wilderness; and those who have used violence against the saints of God, and shed the blood of innocents (of the holy MAKTVRs) in their land, when they had political power; these and all such shall fall under the just judgments of God.
Verse 20. Bui Judah shall dwell for ever] The true Church of Christ shall be supported, while all false and persecuting Churches shall be annihilated. The promise may also belong to the full and final restoration of the Jews, when they shall dwell at Jerusalem as a distinct people professing the faith of our Lord Jesus Christ.
blood that I have not cleansed: Lord dwelleth in Zion.
keythi, I ivill avenge the slaughter and martyrdom of my people, which 1 have not yet avenged. Persecuting nations and persecuting Churches shall all come, sooner or later, under the stroke of vindictive justice.
For the Lord dwelleth in Zion.] He shall be the life, soul, spirit, and defence of his Church for ever.
This prophet, who has many things similar to Ezekiel, ends his prophecy nearly in the same way:
Ezekiel says of the glory of the Church, r\rw 71171' Yehovah shammah, the Lord is there.
Joel says, n'!f3 V2V Tlini Yehovah shochen betsiyon, THE Lord dwelleth in Zion.
Both point out the continued indwelling of Christ among his people.
A MOS, the third of the minor prophets, was, it is said, of the httle town of Tekoa, in the tribe of Judah, about four leagues southward of Jerusalem. There is no good proof, however, that he was a native of this place; but only that he retired thither when he was driven from Beth-el, which was in the kingdom of the ten tribes. It is very probable that he was born within the territories of Israel, and that his mission was directed principally to this kingdom.
As he was prophesying in Beth-el, where the golden calves were, in the reign of Jeroboam the second, about the year of the world 3217; before the birth of Jesus Christ, 783; before the vulgar era, 787; Amaziah, the high priest of Beth-el, accused him before King Jeroboam, saying, " Amps hath conspired against thee in the midst of the house of Israel: the land is not able to bear all his words. For thus Amos saith, Jeroboam shall die by the sword, and Israel shall surely be led away captive out pi their own land." Amaziah said therefore unto Amos, " 0 thou seer, go, flee thee away into the land of Judah, and there eat bread, and prophesy there: but prophesy not again any more at Beth-el; for it is the king's chapel, and it is the king's court."
Amos answered Amaziah, " I was no prophet, neither was I a prophet's son; but I was a herdman, and a gatherer of sycamore fruit. And the Lord took me as I followed the flock; and the Lord said unto me. Go, prophesy unto my people Israel. Now, therefore, hear thou the word of the Lord; Thou sayest. Prophesy not against Israel, and drop not tliy word against the house of Isaac. Therefore thus saith the Lord, Thy wife shall be a harlot in the city, and thy sons and thy daughters shall fall by the sword, and thy land shall be divided by line; and thou shalt die in a polluted land, and Israel shall surely go into captivity forth of his land."
After this the prophet retired into the kingdom of Judah, and dwelt in the town of Tekoa, where he continued to prophesy. He complains in many places of the violence off'ered him by endeavouring to oblige iiim to silence, and bitterly exclaims against the disorders of
He began to prophesy the second year before the earthquake, which happened in the reitrn of King Uzziah; and which Josephus, with most of the ancient and modern commentators, refers to this prince's usurpation of the priest's ofiice, when he attempted to oSex incense to
The first of his prophecies, in order of time, are those of the seventh chapter. The others he pronounced in the town of Tekoa, whither he retired. His two first chapters are against Damascus, the Philistines, Tyrians, Edomites, Ammonites, Moabitcs, the kingdom of Judah, and that of the ten tribes. The evils with which he threatens them refer to the times of Shalmaneser, Tiglath-pileser, Sennacherib, and Nebuchadnezzar, who did so much mischief to these provinces, and at last led the Israelites into captivity.
He foretold the misfortunes into which the kingdom of Israel should fall after tlie death of
Jeroboam the Second, who was then living. He foretold the death of King Zechariah; the invasion of the lands belonging to Israel by Pul and Tiglath-pileser, kings of Assyria; and speaks of the captivity of the ten tribes, and of their return into their own country. He makes sharp invectives against the sins of Israel; against their effeminacy and avarice, their harshness to the poor, the splendour of their buildings, and the delicacy of their tables. He reproves the people of Israel for going to Beth-el, Dan, Gdgal, and Beer-sheba, which were the most famous pilgrimages of the country; and for swearing by the gods of these places.
The time and manner of his death are not known. Some old authors relate that Amaziah, priest of Beth-el, whom we have spoken of, provoked by the discourses of the prophet, had liis teeth broken in order to silence him. Others say that Hosea, or Uzziah, the son of Amaziah, struck liim with a stake upon the temples, and knocked him down, and almost killed him; that in this condition he was carried to Tekoa, where he died, and was buried with his fathers. This is the account these authors give us. On the contrary, it is the opinion of others, that he prophesied a long time at Tekoa after the adventure he had with Amaziah: and the prophet taking no notice of the ill treatment which he is said to have received from Uzziah, his silence is no argument that he suffered nothing from him.
St. Jerome observes, that there is nothing great and sublime in the style of Amos. He applies these words of St. Paul to him, rude in speech, though not in knowledge. He says farther, that as every one chooses to speak of his own art, Amos generally makes use of comparisons taken from the country life wherein he had been brought up. St. Austin shows that there was a certain kind of eloquence in the sacred writers, directed by the spirit of wisdom, and so proportioned to the nature of the things they treated of, that even they who accuse tliem of rusticity and unpoliteness in their way of writing, could not choose a style more suitable, were they to have spoken on the same subject, to the same persons, and in the same circumstances.
Bishop Lowth is not satisfied with the judgment of St. Jerome. His authority, says the learned prelate, has occasioned many commentators to represent this prophet as entirely rude, void of eloquence, and wanting in all the embellishments of style; whereas any one who reads him with due attention will find him, though a herdsman, not a whit behind the very chiefest prophets; almost equal to the greatest in the loftiness of his sentiments; and not inferior to any in the splendour of his diction, and the elegance of his composition. And it is well observed, that the same heavenly Spirit which inspired Isaiah and Daniel in the palace, inspired David and Amos in their shepherds' tents; always choosing proper interpreters of his will, and sometimes perfecting praise even out of the mouths of babes: at one time using the eloquence of some; at another, making others eloquent to subserve his great purposes. See Cabnet and Dodd.
Archbishop Newco?ne speaks also justly of this prophet: " Amos borrows many images from the scenes in which he was engaged; but he introduces them with skill, and gives them tone and dignity by the eloquence and grandeur of his manner. We shall find in him many affecting and pathetic, many elegant and sublime, passages. No prophet has more magnificently described the Deity; or more gravely rebuked the luxurious: or reproved injustice and oppression with greater warmth, and a more generous indignation. He is a prophet on whose model a preacher may safely form his style and manner in luxurious and profligate times."
Chronological Notes relative to this Book.
year from the Creation, according to Archbisop Usher, 3217. — Year of the Julian Period, 3927. — Year since the Flood, 1561. — Year from the foundation of Solomon's temple, 225. — Year since the division of Solomon's monarchy into the kingdoms of Israel and Judah, 188. — Year since the first Olympic games were celebrated in Elis by the Idsi Dactyli, 667. — Year since the restoration of the Olympic games at Elis by Lycurgus, Iphitus, and Cleosthenes, 97. — Year before the conquest of Corcebus at Olympia, vulgarly called the first Olympiad, 11. — Year before the building of Rome, according to the Varronian computation, 34. — Year before the birth of Christ, 783. — Year before the vulgar era of Christ's nativity, 787. — Cycle of the Sun, 7. — Cycle of the Moon, 1 3. — Twenty-eighth and last year of Caranus, the founder of the kingdom of Macedon. — Twenty-third year of Nicander, king of Laced«mon, of the family of the Proclidce. — Twenty-seventh year of Alcamenes, king of Laceda^mon, of the family of the Eurysthenidie. — Eleventh year of Ardysus, king of Lydia. — Eleventh year of Agamestor, perpetual archon of the Athenians. — Tenth year of Amulius Sylvius, king of the Albans. — Fifth year of Telestus, monarch of Corinth. — Sixth year of Sosarmus, king of the Medes, according to some dhronologers. — Thirty-ninth year of Jeroboam II., king of Israel. — Twenty-fourth year of Uzziah, king of Judah.