Commentary on the Holy Bible

This chapter denounces judgments against the nations bordering on Palestine, enemies to the Jews, viz., the St/nans, 1-5; Philistines, 6-8; Ttjrians, 9, 10; Edomites, 11, 12; and Ammonites, 13—15. The same judgments ivere predicted by other prophets, and fulfilled, partly by the kings oj' Assyria, and partly by those of Babylon; though, like many other prophecies, they had their accomplishment by degrees, and at different periods. The prophecy against the Syrians, whose capital loas Damascus, was fulfilled by Tiglath-pileser, king of Assyria; see 2 Kings xvi. 9. The prophecy against Gaza of the Philistines was accomplished by Hezekiah, 2 Kings xviii. 8; by Pharaoh, Jer. xlvii. 1; and by Alexander the Oreat; see Quintius Curtius, lib. iv. c. 6. The prophecy against Ashdod was fulfilled by Uzziah, 2 Chron. xxvi. 6; and that against Ashkelon by Pharaoh, Jer. xlvii. 5. All Syria was also subdued by Pharaoh-necho; and again by Nebuchadnezzar, who also took Tyre, as did aftenvards Alexander. Nebuchadnezzar also subdued the JSdomites, Jer. xxv. 9, 21, and xxvii. 3, 6. Judas Maccabeus routed the remains of them, 1 Mace. v. 3; and Hyrcanus brought them under entire subjection. The Ammonites icere likewise conquered by Nebuchadnezzar. The earthquake, which the prophet takes for his era, is perhaps referred to in Zech. xiv. 5, andalsoin Isa. v. 25. 3 nse^hMS ascribes it to UzziaVs invasion of the priestly office; see 2 Chron. xxvi. 16.

npHE words of Amos, " who was among the herdmen of ^ Tekoa, which he saw concerning Israel ^in the days of

Verse 1. The words of Amos^ This person and the father of Isaiah, though named alilce in our transyoL. IV-. ( 43)

Uzziah king of Jndah, and in the days of "^ Jeroboam the son Ante U. c. 34.

01 Joash king of Israel, two r. Alban.. years before the ° earthquake. cir. annum ^

lation, were as different in their names as in their persons. The father of Isaiah, I'nN Amots; the prophet before us, D13i' Amos. The first, alcph, mem, I'atf,

Ante U. c. 34. f roar from Zioii, and utter his

R. Aiban,, voicc irom Jerusalem; and the cir. annum 10. jjabilations of the shepherds shall mourn, and the top of ^ Carmel shall wither.

3 Thus saith the Lord; For three transgressions of ^ Damascus, ' and for four, I will not ■^ turn away the punisJiment thereof; ' because they have threshed Gilead with threshing instruments of iron:

yea^ for four. "^ Or, coJivert lY, or let it be quiet: and so verse tsaddi.; the second, ain, mem, van, samech. For some account of this prophet see the introduction.

Among tfie herdmen] He seems to have been among the very lowest orders of hfe, a herdsman, one who tended the flocks of ot/iers in the open fields, and a gatherer of sycamore fruit. Of whatever species this was, whether a kind oi fig, it is evident that it was loild fruit; and he probably collected it for his own subsistence, or to dispose of either for the service of his employer, or to increase his scanty wages.

Before tfie eart/)qua/ce.] Probably the same as that referred to Zeeh. xiv. 5, if Bf^nn fiaraash do not mean some popular tumult.

Verse 2. The Lord will roar from Zion] It is a pitv that our translators had not followed the hemistich form of the Hebrew; —

Jehovah from Zion shall roar.

And from Jerusalem shall give forth his voice;

And the pleasant dwellings of the shepherds shall mourn,

And the top of mount Carmel shall wither.

Carmel was a very fruitful moimtain in the tribe of Judah, Josh. xv. 55; Isa. xxxv. 2.

This introduction was natural in the mouth of a herdsman who was fainiliar with the roaring of lions, the bellowing of bulls, and the lowing of kine. The roaring of the lion in the forest is one of the most terrific sounds in nature; when near, it strikes terror into the heart both of man and beast.

Verse 3. For tliree transgressions of Damascus, and for four] These expressions of three and /our, so often repeated in this chapter, mean repetition, abundance, and any thing that goes towards excess. Very, very exceedingly; and so it was used among the ancient Greek and Latin poets. See the passionate exclamation of Ulysses, in the storm, Odyss., lib. v., ver. 306.—

Tpt^ jiaKapEC Aai'oot Kai TerpoKic, oi tot" oXovTo

" Thrice happy Greeks! and four times who were slain In Atreus' cause, upon the Trojan plain."

Which words Virgil translates, and puts in the mouth of his hero in similar circumstances, JEn. i. 93.

"Rxtemplo ^neas solvuntur frigore membra: Ingemit; et, duplicis tendens ad sidera palmas,

devour the palaces of Ben- r Aiban.,

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 P the house of Eden: and "i the people of Syria shall go into captivity ' unto Kir, saith

Talia voce refert: O terque quaterque beati! Quels ante ora patrum Trojas sub mcenibus altis Contigit oppetere.

" Struck with unusual fright, the Trojan chief With lifted hands and eyes invokes relief. And thrice, and four times happy those, he cried. That under Ilion's walls before their parents died." Dryden.

On the words, O terque quaterque, Sebvius makes this remark, " Hoc est strpius; finitus numerous pro infinite." " O thrice and four times, that is, very often, a finite number for an infinite." Other poets use the same form of expression. So Seneca in Hippolyt.. Act. ii. 694.

O ter quaterque prospero fato dati, Quos hausit, et peremit, et leto dedit Odium dolusque! " O thrice and four times happy were the men Whom hate devoured, and fraud, hard pressing on, Gave as a prey to death."

And so the ancient oracle quoted by Pausanias, Achaic, lib. vii., c. 6: Tpif ixanape^ Keivot Kai Te-patii^ avipeq eaovrai; " Those men shall be thrice and four times happy."

These quotations are sufficient to show that this form of speech is neither unfrequent nor inelegant, being employed by the most correct writers of antiquity.

Damascus was the capital of Syria.

Verse 4. Ben-hadad.] He was son and successor of Hazael. See the cruelties which they exercised upon the Israelites, 2 Kings x. 32;, xiii. 7, &c.; and see especially 2 Kings viii. 12, where these cruelties are predicted.

The^)-e threatened here is the war so successfully carried on against the Syrians by Jeroboam II., in which he took Damascus and Hamath, and reconquered all the ancient possessions of Israel. See 2 Kings xiv. 25, 26, 28.

Averse 5. The bar of Damascus] The gates, whose long transverse bars, running from wall to wall, were their strength. I will throw it open; and the gates were forced, and the city taken, as above.

The plain (f Aven — the house of Eden] These are names, says Boehart, of the valley of Damascus. The plain of Aven, or Birhath-Aven, Calmet savs, is a city

Threatenings as;ainst the

A.M.cir.32i7. 6 Thus saith the Lord; For

R. Alban., and lor lour, i will not turn away °'^''"""'° ^°- thcpunishme7iHheKoi; because they ' carried away captive the whole captivity, " to deliver them up to Edoin:

7 " But I will send a fire on the wall of Gaza, which shall devour the palaces thereof:

8 And I will cut off the inhabitant " from Ashdod, and him that holdeth the sceptre from Ashkelon, and I will ' turn mine hand against Ekron: and '' the remnant of the Philistines shall perish, saith the Lord God.

9 Thus saith the Lord; For three transgressions of ^ Tyrus, and for four, I will not turn away the jmnishment thereof; "because they delivered up the whole captivity to Edom, and remembered not "^ the brotherly coverant:

10 ° But I will send a fire on the wall of Tyrus, which shall devour the palaces thereof.

of Syria, at present called Baal-Bek, and by the Greeks Heliopolis; and is situated at the end of that long valley which extends from south to north, between Libanus and Anti-Libanus.

T/ie people of Si/ria shall go into captivity unto Kir] Kir is supposed to be the country of Cyrene in Albania, on the river Cyrus, which empties itself into the Caspian Sea. The fulfilment of this prophecy may be seen in 2 Kings xvi. 1-9.

Verse 6. They carried away captive'] Gaza is well inown to have been one of the five lordships of the Philistines; it lay on the coast of the Mediterranean Sea, near to Egypt. Ekron, Ashdod, and Ashkelon, ■were other seignories of the same people, whicli are here equally threatened with Gaza. The captivity mentioned here may refer to inroads and incursions made by the Philistines in times of peace. See 2 r'hron. xxi. IG. The margin reads, an entire captivity. They took all away; none of them afterwards returned.

Verse 9. Tyrus] See an ample description of this place, and of its desolation and final ruin, in the notes on Ezek. xxvi, xxvii., and xxviii.

The brotherly covenant] This possibly refers to the very friendly league made between Solomon and Hiram, king of Tyre, 1 Kings v. 12; but some contend that the brotherly covenant refers to the consanguinity between the Jews and Edomites. The Tyrians, in exercising cruelties upon these, did it, in effect, on the Jews, with whoni they were connected

1 1 Thus saith the Lord; For ^^^^ »j^^ 32i7. three transgressions of ^ Edom, Ante u. c. 34. and for four, I will not turn away r. Alban.™' the punishmetit iheieof; because ""■ '^""' '"■ he did pursue " his brother ''with the sword, and ^did cast off all pity, '' and his anger did teor perpetually, and he kept his wrath for ever •

12 But ' I will send a fire upon TemaD which shall devour the palaces of Bozrah.

13 Thus saith the Lord; For three transgressions of ^ the children of Ammon, and for four, I will not turn away the punishment thereof; because they have ' ripped ™ up the women with child of Gilead, " that they might enlarge their border:

14 But I will kindle a fire in the wall of ° Rabbah, and it shall devour the palaces thereof, » with shouting in the day of battle, with a tempest in the day of the whirlwind:

1 5 And 1 their king shall go into captivity, he and his princes together, saith the Lord.

by the most intimate ties of kindred; the two people having descended from the two brothers, Jacob and Esau. See Calmet.

Verse 10. / will send afire on the wall of Tyrus] The destructive fire or siege by Nebuchadnezzar, which lasted thirteen years, and ended in the destruction of this ancient city; see on Ezekiel, chap. xxvi. 7-14, as above. It was finally ruined by Alexander, and is now only a place for a few poor fishermen to spread their nets upon.

Verse 11. For three transgressions of Edom] That the Edomites (notwithstanding what Calmet observes above of the hrotherly covenant) were always implacable enemies of the Jews, is well known; but most probably that which the prophet has in view was the part they took in distressing the Jews when Jerusalem was besieged, and finally taken, by the Chaldeans. See Obad. 11-14; Ezek. xxv. 12; xxxv. 5; Psa. cxxxvii. 7.

Verse 13. The children of Ammon] The country of tlie Ammonites lay to the east of Jordan, in the neighbourhood of Gilead. Rabbah was its capital.

Because they have ripped tip] This refers to some barbarous transaction well known in the time of this prophet, but of which we have no distinct mention in the sacred historians.

shall be totally subdued. This was done by Nebuchadnezzar. See Jer. xxvii. 3, 6.

Verse 15. Their iing shall go into caftivity] Pro bably DDh'2 malcham should be Milcam, who was a chief god of the Ammonites; and the following words, he and his princes, may refer to the body of his priesthood. See 1 Kings xi. 33, and the notes there. All these countries were subdued by Nebuchadnezzar.

The prophet goes on to declare the judgments of God against Moab, 1-3; against Judah, 4, 5; and then against Israel, the particular object of his mission. He enumerates some of their sins, 6-8, aggravated 1)1/ God's distinguishing regard to Israel, 9-12; and they are in consequence threatened with dreadful punishments, 13-16. See 2 Kings xv. 19, and xvii. 6.

R. Alban., ao, and tor tour, 1 will not turn cir. annum 10. j^^^y ^^g punishment thereof; because he ^ burned the bones of the king of Edom into lime:

2 But I will send a fire upon Moab, and it shall devour the palaces of "^ Kirioth: and Jloab shall die with tumult, "^ with shouting, and with the sound of the trumpet:

3 And I will cut off " the judge from the midst thereof, and will slay all the princes thereof with him, saith the Lord.

4 Thus saith the Lord; For three transgressions of Judah, and for four, I will not turn away the punishment thereof; 'because they have despised the law of the Lord, and

Verse 1. For three transgressions of Moab, and for four'] See an explanation of this form, chap. i. 2. The land of the Moabites lay to the east of the Dead Sea. For the origin of this people, see Gen. xix. 37.

He burned the bones of the king of Edom into lime] Possibly referring to some brutality; such as opening the grave of one of the Idumean kings, and calcining his bones. It is supposed by some to refer to the fact mentioned 2 Kings iii. 26, when the kings of Judah, Israel, and Idumea, joined together to destroy Moab. The king of it, despairing to save his city, took seven hundred men, and made a desperate sortie on the quarter where the king of Edom was; and, though not successful, took prisoner the son of the king of Edom; and, on their return into the city, offered him as a burnt-offering upon the wall, so as to terrify the besieging armies, and cause them to raise the siege. Others understand the son that was sacrificed to be the king of Moab"s own son.

Verse 2. The palaces of Kirioth] This was one of the principal cities of the Moabites.

Moab shall die icith tumult] All these expressions seem to refer to this city's being taken by storm, which was followed by a total slaughter of its inhabitants.

have not kept his commandments, A^'^- "^- ^sn. and K their lies caused them to Ante u. c. 34. err, ^ after the which their fathers R Aiban.7'' have walked: "" ^"""'° ^^-

5 ' But I will send a fire upon Judah, and it shall devour the palaces of Jerusalem.

6 Tims saith the Lord; For three transgressions of Israel, and for four, I will not turn avi^ay the punishmejit thereof; because "^ they sold the righteous for silver, and the poor for a p^ir of shoes;

7 That pant after the dust of the earth on the head of the poor, and ' turn aside the way of the meek: ™ and a man and his father wil! go in unto the same "maid, "to profane my holy name:

8 And they lay themselves down upon

Verse 3. I will cut off the judge] It shall be so destroyed, that it shall never more have any form of goi^ernment. 'Y\\& judge here, iDDIty shophel, may signify the chief magistrate. The chief magistrates of the Carthaginians were called suffetes; probably taken from the Hebrew judges, D'aiJVty shophelim.

Verse 4. For three transgressions of Judah] We may take the three and /our here to any latitude; for this people lived in continual hostility to their God, from the days of David to the time of Uzziah, under whom Amos prophesied. Their iniquities are summed up under three general heads: 1. They despised, or rejected the law of the Lord. 2. They kept not his statutes. 3. They followed lies, were idolaters, and followed false prophets rather than those sent by Jehovah.

Versed. I will send a fire upon Judah] This^re was the war made upon the Jews by Nebuchadnezzar, which terminated with the sackage and burning of Jenisalem and its palace the temple.

Verses 6—8. For three transgressions of Israel, d^c] To be satisfied of the exceeding delinquency of this people, we have only to open the historical and pro phetic books in any part; for the whole history of the Israelites is one tissue of transgression against God.

Ante U. C. 31. cvery altar, and they drink the

R'Aihan!"' winc of ' the condemned in the

9 Yet destroyed I the ' Amorite before them,

■ whose height ivas like the height of the ce-

■ tars, and he was strong as the oaks; yet I " destroyed his fruit from above, and his roots from beneath.

10 Also ■^ I brought you up from the land of Egypt, and " led you forty years through the wilderness, to possess the land of the Amorite.

1 1 And I raised up of your sons for prophets, and of your young men for ^ Nazarites. Is it not even thus, O ye children of Israel?

Their crimes are enumerated under • the following heads: —

1. Their judges were mercenanj and corrupt. They took bribes to condemn the righteous; and even for ai tides of clothing, such as a pair of shoes, they condemned the poor man, and delivered him into the hands of his adversary.

2. They were unmerciful to the poor generally. Thcij pant after the dust of the earth on the head of the poor; or, to put it on the head of the poor; or, they bruise the head of the poor against the dust of the earth. Howsoever the clause is understood, it shows them to have been general oppressors of the poor, showing them neither justice nor mercy.

3. They turn aside the way of the meek. They are peculiarly oppressive to the weak and afflicted.

4. They were licentious to the uttermost abomination; for in their idol feasts, where young women prostituted themselves publicly in honour of Astarte, the father and son entered into impure connections with the same female.

5. They were cruel in their oppressions of the poor; for the garments or beds which the poor had pledged they retained contrary to the law, Exod. xxii. 7-20, which required that such things should be restored before the setting of the sun.

6. They punished the people by unjust and oppressive fines, and served their tables with wine bought by such fines. Or it may be understood of their appropriating to themselves that wine which was allowed to criminals to mitigate their sufferings in the article of death; which was the excess of inhumanity and cruelty.

^'e^se 9. Yet destroyed I the Amorite'] Here follow general heads of God's mercies to them, and the great things he had done for them. 1. Bringing them out of Egypt. 2. Miraculously sustaining them wine to drink; and commanded Ante V. c. 34.

1 3 ^ Behold, " I am pressed under you, as a cart is pressed that is fidl of sheaves.

14 '' Therefore the flight shall perish from the swift, and the strong shall not strengthen his force, ■= neither shall the mighty deliver ■* himself.

15 Neither shall he stand that handleth the bow; and he that is swift of foot shall not deliver himself: " neither shall he that rideth the horse deliver himself.

1 6 And he that is ^ courageous among the mighty shall flee away naked in that day, saith

in the wilderness forty years. 3. Driving out thci Canaanites before them, and giving them possession of the promised land. 4. Raising up prophets among them to declare the Divine will. 5. And forming the holy institution of the Nazarites among them, to show the spiritual nature of his holy religion, ver.

Verse 12. But ye gave the Nazarites wine] This was expressly forbidden in the laws of their institution. See Num. vi. 1-3.

Prophesy not.] They would not worship God, and they would not hear the voice of his prophets.

Verse 13. Behold, lam pressed under you] The marginal reading is better: " Behold, I will press your place, as a cart full of sheaves presseth." I will bring over you the wheel of destruction; and it shall grind your place — ^your city and temple, as the wheel of a catt laden with sheaves presses down the ground, gravel, and stones over which it rolls.

Verse 14. The flight shall perish from the swift] The swiftest shall not be able to save himself from a swifter destruction. None, by might, by counsel, or by fleetness, shall be able to escape from the impending ruin. In a word, God has so fully determined to avenge the quarrel of his broken covena.'".!, that all attempts to escape from his judgments shall be useless.

Verse 15. Neither shall he that rideth the horse deliver himself.] 1 believe all these sayings, from verse 13 to 16 inclusive, are proverbs, to show the inutility of all attempts, even in the best circumstances, to escape the doom now decreed, because the cup of their iniquity was full.

A'erse 16. Shall flee away naked] In some cases the alarm shall be in the night; and even the most heroic shall start from his bed, and through terror BOtwait to put on his clothes.

This chapter begins with reproving the twelve tribes in general, 1,2; and then particularly the kingdom of Israel, whose capital was Samaria. The prophet assures them that, while they tvere at variance with God, it would be unreasonable in them to expect his presence or favour, 3-8. Other neighbouring nations are then called upon to take warning from the judgments about to be inflicted upon the house of Israel, which would be so general that only a small remnant should escape them, 9—15. The image used by the prophet on this occasion, {see verse 12,) and borrowed from his former calling, is very natural and significant, and not a little dignified by the inspired U'riler''s lofty air and manner.

Lord halh spoken against out of his den, if he have taken Ante u. c. 34.

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.

3 Can two walk together, exxept they be agreed?

4 Will a lion roar in the forest, when he hath

Verse 1. Against the whole family] That is, all, both the kingdoms of Israel and Judah. In this all the twelve tribes are included.

Verse 2. You only have I hnoum] I have taken no other people to be my own people. I have approved of)'ou, loved you, fed, sustained, and defended you; but because you have forsaken me, have become idolatrous and polluted, therefore will I punish you. And the punishment shall be in proportion to the privileges you have enjoyed, and the grace you have abused.

Verse 3. Can two icalh together] While ye loved and served me, I dwelt in you and walked among you. Now ye are become alienated from me, your nature and mine are totally opposite. I am holy, ye are unholy. We are no longer agreed, and can no longer walk together. I can no longer hold communion with you. I must cast you out. The similes in this and the three following verses are all chosen to express the same thing, viz., that no calamities or judgments can fall upon any people but by the express will of God, on account of their iniquities; and that whatever his prophets have foretold, they have done it by direct revelation from their Maker; and that God has the highest and most cogent reason for inflicting the threatened calamities. This correctness of the prophets' predictions shows that they and 1 are id communion.

Verse 5. Can a bird fall in a snare] Can ye, as a sinful people, fall into calamities which I have not appointed 1

Shall one take up a snare — and have taken nothing] Will the snare be removed before it has caught the expected prey? — shall I remove my judgments till

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

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

7 Surely the Lord God will do nothing, but

they are fully accomplished? This is a curious passage, and deserves farther consideration. The original, literally translated, is nearly as follows: " Shall the trap arise from the ground; and catching, shall it not catch V Here is a plain allusion to such traps as we employ to catch rats, foxes, &c. The jaws of the trap opening backward, press strongly upon a spring so as to keep it down; and a key passing over one jaw, and hooking on a table in the centre, the trap continues with expanded jaws, till any thing touch the table, when the key, by the motion of the table, being loosened, the spring recovers all its elastic power, and throws up the jaws of the trap, and their serrated edges either close in each other, or on the prey that has moved the table of the trap. Will then the jaws of such a trap suddenly spring up from the ground, on which before they were lying flat, and catch nothing! Shall they let the prey that was within them escape? Certainly not. So my trap is laid for these offenders; and when it springs up, (and they themselves will soon by their transgressions free the key,) shall not the whole family of Israel be inclosed in it? Most certainly they shall. This is a singular and very remarkable passage, and, when properly understood, is beautifully expressive.

And the people not be afraid 1] Not take the alarm, and provide for their defence and safety!

Shall there be evil in a city] Shall there be any public calamity on the wicked, that is not an effect of my displeasure? The word does not mean moral evil, but punishment for sin; calamities falling on the workers of iniquity. Natural evil is the punishment of moral evil: God sends the former when the latter is persisted in.

Neighbouring nations warned hath spoken, '' who can but prophesy?

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

1 0 For they "^ know not to do right, saith the Lord, who store up violence and " robbery in their palaces.

1 1 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.

reference to the punishment, correction, or blessing of his people —

Bui he revealeth his secret unto his servants the prophets.'] They are in strict correspondence with him, and he shows them things to come. Such secrets of God are revealed to them, that they may inform the people; that, by repentance and conversion, they may avoid the evil, and, by walking closely with God, secure the continuance of his favour.

Verse 8. The lion hath roared] God hath sent forth a terrible alarm, Who will not fear? Can any hear such denunciations of Divine wrath and not tremble?

The Lord God hath spo/cen] And those only who are in communion with him have heard the speech. Who can but prophesy? Who can help proclaiming at large the judgment threatened against the nation?

But I think X33 naba, here, is to be taken in its natural and ideal signification, to pray, supplicate, or deprecate vengeance. The Lord hath spoken of punishment— who can help supplicating his mercy, that his judgments may be averted?

Verse 9. Publish in the palaces] The housetops or flat roofs were the places from which public declarations were made. See on Isa. xxi. 1, and on Matt. x. 27. See whether in those places there be not tumults, oppressions, and rapine sufficient to excite my wrath against them.

Verse 10. For they know not to do right] So we may naturally say that they who are doing wrong, and to their own prejudice and ruin, must certainly be ignorant of what is right, and what is their own interest. But we say again, " There are none so blind as those who will not see." Their eyes, saith the Lord, they have closed.

Verse 11. An adversary, round about the land] Ye shall not be able to escape; wherever ye turn, ye shall meet a foe.

12 Thus saith the Lord; As %^f-^-^^.^ the shepherd f taketh out of the Ante u. c. 34. mouth of the lion two legs, or a ' R.Aibln.V' piece of an ear; so shall the "'■ """"^ ^°- children of Israel be taken out that dwell in Samaria in the corner of a bed, and "J in Damascus in a couch.

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 y'mt the altars of Beth-el: and the horns of the altar shall be cut off, and fall to the ground.

1 5 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.

of the lion] Scarcely any of you shall escape; and those that do shall do so with extreme difficulty, just as a shepherd, of a whole sheep carried away by a lion, can recover no more than tico of its legs, or a piece of i,ts ear, just enough to prove by the marks on those parts, that they belonged to a sheep which loas his own.

So shall the children of Israel be taken out] Those of them that escape these judgments shall escape with as great difficulty, and be of as Utile ivorth, as the tivo legs and piece of an ear that shall be snatched out of the lion's mouth. We know that when the Babylonians carried away the people into Chaldea they left behind only a few, and those the refuse of the land.

In the comer of a bed] As the comer is the most honourable place in the East, and a couch in the comer of a room is the place of the greatest distinction; so the words in the text may mean, that even the metropolitan cities, which are in the corner — in the most honourable place — of the land, whetlier Sa>naria in Israel, or Damascus in Syria, shall not escape these judgments; and if any of the distinguished persons who dwell in them escape, it must be with as great difficulty as the fragments above-mentioned have been recovered from a lion. The passage is obscure. Mr. Harmer has taken great pains to illustrate it; but 1 fear with but little success. A general sense is all we can arrive at.

Verse 14. In the day that I shall visit] When Josiah made a reformation in the land he destroyed idolatry, pulled down the temples and altars that had been consecrated to idol worship, and even burnt the bones of the priests of Baal and the golden calves upon their own altars. See 2 Kings xxiii. 15, 16, &c.

summerhouse] I will not only destroy the poor habitations and villages in the country, but I will destroy those of the nobility and gentry; as well the lofty palaces in the fortified cities in which they dwell in the winter season, as those light and elegant seats in which they spend the summer season. Dr. Share observes that " the hills and valleys round about Algiers are all over beautified with gardens and country seats, whither the inhabitants oi better fashion retire during the licats of the summer season. They are little white houses, shaded with a variety of fruit trees and evergreens, which beside shade and retirement, afford a gay and delightful prospect toward the sea. The gardens are all well stocked with meloyis, fruits, and pot herbs of all kinds; and (which is chiefly regarded in these hot countries) each of them enjoys a great command of water."

And the houses of ivory] Those remarkable for their magnificence and their ornaments, not built of ivory, but in which ivory vessels, ornaments, and inlaying abounded. Thus, then, the winter houses and the summer houses, the great houses and the houses of uncommon splendour, shall all perish. There should be a total desolation in the land. No kind of house should be a refuge, and no kind of habitation should be spared. Ahab had at Samaria a house that was called the ivory house, 1 Kings xxii. 39. This may be particularly referred to in this place. We cannot suppose that a house constructed entirely of ivory can be intended.

Israel reproved for their oppression, 1—3; idolatry, 4, 5; and for their impenitence under the chastising hand of God, 6—11. The omniscience and uncontrollable power of God, 12, 13.

TTEAR this word, ye ^ kine of Bashan, that are in the mountain of Samaria, which oppress the poor, which crush the needy, which say to their masters, Bring, and let us drink.

2 ^ The Lord God hath sworn by liis holiness, that, lo, the days shall come upon you, that he will take you away ° with hooks,

Verse 1. Hear this word, ye kine of Bashan] Such an address was quite natural from the herdsman of Tekoa. Bashan was famous for the fertility of its soil, and ils flocks and herds; and the prophet here represents the iniquitous, opulent, idle, lazy drones, whether men or women, under the idea of fatted bullocks, which were shortly to be led out to the slaughter.

Averse 2. He ivill take you away with hooks] Two modes of fishing are here alluded to: 1. Angling with rod, line, and baited hook. 2. That with the gafl", eel-spear, harpoon, or such like; the first used in catching small fish, by which the common people may be here represented; the second, for catching large fish, such as leave the sea, and come up the rivers to deposit their spawn; or such as are caught in the sea, as sharks, whales, dolphins, and even the hippopotamus, to which the more powerful and opulent inhabitants may be likened. But as the words in the text are ijenerally feminine, it has been supposed that the prophecy is against the proud, powerful, voluptuous women. I rather think that the prophet speaks catachresticaUy; and means men of effeminate manners and idle lives. They are not the bulls o) Bashan, and your posterity hooks.

3 And ^ ye shall go out at the breaches, every coiv at that which is before her; and ' ye shall cast them into the palace, saith the Lord.

4 ' Come to Beth-el, and transgress; at? Gilgal multiply transgression; and '' bring your sacrifices every morning, ' and

' Or, ye shall cast away the tilings of the palace. ' Ezek. xx.

but the cows; having little of the manly character remaining. Some understand the latter word as meaning a sort of basket or wicker fish-nets.

Verse 3. And ye shall go out at the breaches] Probably the metaphor is here kept up. They shall be caught by the hooks, or by the nets; and though they may make breaches in the latter by their flouncing when caught, they shall be taken out at these very breaches; and cast, not into the palace, but into a reservoir, to be kept awhile, and afteiwards be taken out to be destroyed. Samarta itself is the yiet; your adversaries shall besiege it, and make breaches in its walls. At those breaches ye shall endeavour to make your escape, but ye shall be caught and led into captivili/, where most of you shall be destroyed. See Houbignnt on this passage.

Verse 4. Come to Beth-el and transgress] Spoken ironically. Go on to worship your calves at Beth-el; and multiply your transgressions at Gilgal; the very place where I rolled away the reproach of your fathers, by admitting them there into my covenant by circumcision. A place that should have ever been sacred to me; but you have now desecrated it by enormous idolatries. Let your tnorning and evening sacrifices be offered still to vour senseless gods; and continue to

God's mercies to the people,

offer a sacrifice of thanksgiving with leaven, and proclaim and publish " the free offerings: ° for P this liketh you, O ye children of Israel,

6 And I also have given you cleanness of teeth in all your cities, and want of bread in all your places: i yet have ye not returned unto me, saith tlie Lord.

7 And also I have wilhholden the rain from you, when there luere yet tiiree months to the harvest: and I caused it to rain upon one city, and caused it not to rain upon another city: one piece was rained upon, and the piece whereupon it rained not withered.

8 So two or three cities wandered unto one city, to drink water; but they were not satis-

support your present vicious priesthood by the regular triennial tithes which should have been employed in my service; and,

Verse 5. Offer a sacrifice of thanksgiving] To the senseless metal, and the unfeeling slock and stone images, from which ye never did, and never could receive any help. Proceed yet farther, and hiiag freeu'lll offerings; testify superabundant gratitude to your wooden and metallic gods, to whom ye are under such immense imaginary obligations! Proclaim and publish these offerings, and set forth the perfections of the objects of your worship; and see what they can do for you, when I, Jehovah, shall send drought, and blasting, and /amine, and pestilence, and the sword among you. Verse 6. Cleanness of teeth] Scarcity of bread, as immediately explained. Ye shall have no trouble in cleaning your teeth, for ye shall have nothing to eat.

Yet have ye not returned unto me, saith the Lord.] This reprehension is repeated five times in this chapter; and in it are strongly implied God's longsuffering, his various modes of fatherly chastisement, the ingratitude of the people, and their obstinate wickedness. The famine mentioned here is supposed to be that which is spoken of 2 Kings viii. 1; but it is most likely to have been that mentioned by Joel, chaps, i. and ii.

A'erse 7. When there were yet three months to the harvest] St. Jerome says, from the end of April, when the latter rain falls, until harvest, there a.re three months, May, June, and July, in which no rain falls in Judea. The rain, therefore, that God had withheld from them, was that which was usual in the spring months, particularly in April.

/ caused it to rain upon one city] To prove to tliem that this rain did not come fortuitously or of

your gardens and your vineyards and your fig trees and your olive trees increased, " the palmerworm devoured them: yet have ye not returned unto mc, saith the

10 I have sent among you the pestilence ' after '" the manner of Egypt: your young men have I slain with the sword, "^ and have taken away your horses; and I have made the stink of your camps to come up mito your nostrils: ^ yet have ye not returned unto me,

Ill have overthrown some of you, as God overthrew ^ Sodom and Gomorrah, * and ye were as a firebrand plucked out of the burn

necessity, God was pleased to make these most evident distinctt07fs. One city had rain, and could fill all its tanks or cisterns, while a neighbouring city had none. One farm or field was well watered, and abundant in its crops, while one contiguous to it had not a shower. In these instances a particular providence was most evident. "And yet, they did not return to the Lord.'' Verse 9. / have smitten you with blasting and mildew] He sent blasting and mildew on the crops, and the locust on the gardens, vineyards, and fields; and this in such a way as to show it was a Divine judgment. They saw this; ''yet they did not return to the Lord!" Verse 10. I have sent — the pestilence] After the blasting and the mildew, the pestilence came; and it acted among them as one of the plagues of Egypt. Besides this, he had suffered their enemies to attack and prevail against them; alluding to the time in which the Syrians besieged Samaria, and reduced it to the most extreme necessity, when the head of an ass was sold for eighty pieces of silver, and the fourth part of a cab of dove's dung for five; and mothers ate the flesh of their children that had died through hunger, 2 Kings vi. 25. And the people were miracuhmsly relieved by the total slaughter of the Syrians by the unseen hand of God, 2 Kings vii. 1, &c. And yet, after all those signal judgments, and singular mercies, " they did not return unto the Lord!"

Verse 11. / have overthrown some of you] In the destruction of your cities I have shown my judgments as signally as I did in the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah; and those of you that did escape were as " brands plucked out of the fire;" if not consumed, yet much scorched. And as the judgment was evidently from my hand, so was the deliverance; " and yet ye have not returned unto me, saith the Lord."

ing: ^ yet have ye not returned unto me, saith the Lord. 12 Therefore thus will I do unto thee, O Israel: and because I will do this unto thee, " prepare to meet thy God, 0 Israel. 13 For, lo, he that formeth the mountains.

Verse 12. Therefore thus ivill I do unto thee'\ I will continue my judgments, 1 will fight against you; and, because I am thus determined, —

Prepare to meet thy God, O Israel.] This is a military phrase, and is to be understood as a challenge to come out to battle. As if the Lord had said, I will attack you immediately. Throw yourselves into a posture of defence, summon your idols to your help: and try how far your strength, and that of your gods, will avail you against the unconquerable arm of the Lord of hosts! This verse has been often painfully misapplied by public teachers; it has no particular relation to the day of judgment, nor to the hour of death. These constructions are impositions on the text.

and createth the * wind, " and declareth unto man what is his thought, ^that maketh the morning darkness, ^ and treadeth upon the high places of ^ The Lord,

Verse 13. He that formeth the mountains'] Here is a powerful description of the majesty of God. He formed the earth; he created the wind; he knows the inmost thoughts of the heart; he is the Creator of darkness and light; he steps from mountain to mountain, and has all things under his feet! Who is he who hath done and can do all these things? JEHOVAH ELOHIM TSEBAOTH, that is his name. 1. The self-existing, eternal, and independent Being. 2. The God who ia in covenant with mankind. 3. The universal Commander of all the hosts of earth and heaven. This name is farther illustrated in the following chapter. These words are full of instruction, and may be a subject of profitable meditation to every serious mind.

This chapter opens with a tender and pathetic lamentation, in the style of a funeral song, over the house of Israel, 1, 2. The prophet then glances at the awful threatenings denounced against them, 3; earnestly exhorting them to renounce their idols, and seek Jehovah, of whom he gives a very magnificent description, 4-9. He then reproves their injustice and oppression ivith great warmth and indignation; exhorts them again to repentance; and enforces his exhortation ivilh the most awful threatenings, delivered loith great majesty and authority, and in images full of beauty and grandeur, 10—24. The chapter concludes with observing that their idolatry was of long standing, that they increased the national guilt, hy adding to the sins of their fathers; and that their punishment, therefore, should be great in proportion, 25-27. Formerly numbers of them were brought captive to Damascus, H Kings x. 32, 33; but now they must go beyond it to Assyria, 2 Kings xv. 29; xvii. 6.

TTEAR ye this word which I " take up against you, eue?i a lamentation, 0 house of Israel. 2 The virgin of Israel is fallen; she shall no more rise: she is forsaken upon her land; there is none to raise her up.

3 For thus saith the Lord God; The city that went out by a thousand shall leave a

Verse 1. Hear ye this word] Attend to this doleful song which I make for the house of Israel.

Verse 2. The virgin of Israel] The kingdom of Israel, or the ten tribes, which were carried into captivity; and are now totally lost in the nations of the

Verse 3. The city that went out by a thousand] The city that could easily have furnished, on any emergency, a thousand fighting men, can now produce

5 But seek not "^ Beth-el, nor enter into Gilgal, and pass not to ' Beer-sheba: for Gilgal

scarcely one hundred — one in ten of the former number, and now of the hundred scarcely ten remain: so reduced was Israel when Shalmaneser besieged ar»d took Samaria, and carried the residue into captivity.

Verse 4. Seek ye me, and ye shall live] Cease your rebellion against me; return to me with all your heart; and though consigned to death, ye shall be rescued and live. Deplorable as your case is, it is not utterly desperate.

n the house of Joseph and devour it, and there be none to quench it in Belh-el.

7 Ye who *" turn judgment to wormwood, and leave off righteousness in the earth,

8 Seek him that maketh the ' seven stars and Orion, and turncth the shadow of death into the morning, '' and maketh the day dark with night: that ' calleth for the waters of the sea, and pouretli them out upon the face of the earth: "" The Lord is his name:

9 That strengtheneth the "spoiled against the strong, so that the spoiled shall come against the fortress.

10 ° They hate him that rebuketh in the gate, and they p abhor him that speaketh uprightly.

1 1 Forasmuch therefore as your ^. M. «'.r. 3^2^17. treading is upon the poor, and ye Ante u. c.34.

take irom him burdens ot wheat: r. Aiban., 1 ye have built houses of hewn "''"■ =^""'" '"• stone, but ye shall not dwell in them; ye have planted ■■ pleasant vineyards, but ye shall not drink wine of them.

12 For I know your manifold transgres sions, and your mighty sins: ^ they afflict the just, they take ' a bribe, and they " turn aside the poor in the gate from their right.

1 3 Therefore ' the prudent shall keep silence in that time; for it is an evil time.

14 Seek good, and not evil, that ye may live: and so the Lord, the God of hosts, shall be with you, ■" as ye have spoken.

15^ Hate the evil, and love the good, and establish judgment in the gate: ^ it may be that the Lord God of hosts will be gracious unto the remnant of Joseph.

Jeroboam's golden calves, and at Gilgal were carved images; both were places in whicli idolatry was triumphant. The prophet shows them that all hope from those quarters is utterly vain; for Gilgal shall go into captivity, and Beth-el be brought to naught. There is a play or paronomasia on the letters and words in this galoh yigleh, uheith el yiheyeh leaven. " This Gilgal shall go captive into captivity; and Beth-el (the house of God).shall be for Beth-aven," (the house of iniquity.)

In the house of Joseph] The Israelites of the ten tribes, of whom Ephraim and Manasseh, sons of Joseph, were the chief.

Verse 7. Ye who turn judgment to wormwood] Who pervert judgment; causing him who obtains his suit to mourn sorely over the expenses he has incurred in gaining his right.

Verse 8. That maketh the seven stars and Orion] Or, Hyades and Arcturus, Kimah and Kesil. See my notes on Job ix. 9, and xxxviii. 32, where the subject of this verse is largely considered.

Tumeth the shadow of death into the morning] Who makes day and night, light and darkness.

Calleth for the waters of the sea] Raising them up by evaporation, and collecting them into clouds.

And poureth them out] Causing them to drop down in showers upon the face of the earth. Who has done this! jEHov.iH is his name.

Verse 9. That strengtheneth the spoiled] Who takes the part of the poor and oppressed against the oppressor; and, in the course of his providence, sets up the former, and depresses the latter.

Verse, 10. They hate him that reluketh in the gate] They cannot bear an upright magistrate, and will not have righteous laws executed.

Verse 1 1. Your treading is upon the poor] You tread them under your feet; they form the road on which ye walk; and yet it was by oppressing and impoverishing them that ye gained your riches.

Ye take from him burdens of wheat] Ye will have his bread for doing him justice.

Verse 12. / know your manifold transgressions] I have marked the multitude of your smaller crimes, as well as your mighty offences. Among their greater offences were, 1. Their afflicting the righteous. 2. Taking bribes to blind their eyes in judgment. And, 3. Refusing to hear the poor, who had no money to give them.

Verse 13. The prudent shall keep silence] A wise man will consider that it is useless to complain. He can have no justice without bribes; and he has no money to give: consequently, in such an evil time, it is best to keep sUence.

Verse 14. Seek good, and not evil] Is there a greater mystery in the world, than that a man, instead of seeking good, will seek erj7, knowing that it is evil?

And so the Lord] As God is the Fountain of good, so they who seek the supreme good seek him: and they who seek shall find him; for the Lord, the God of hosts, shall be with him.

Verse 15. Hate the evil, and love the good] What ruins you, avoid; what helps you, cleave to. And as a proof that you take this advice, purify the seats of justice; and then expect God to be gracious to the remnant of Joseph — to the posterity of the ten tribes.

cir. annum 10. gtrcets; and they shall say in all the highways, Alas! alas! and they shall call the husbandman to mourning, and ^ such as are skilful of lamentation to wailing.

17 And in all vineyards shall be wailing: for '^ I will pass through thee, saith the Lord.

1 8 *> Wo unto you that desire the day of the Lord! to what end is it for you? " the day of the Lord is darkness, and not light.

19 ''As if a man did flee from a lion, and a bear met him; or went into the house and leaned his hand on the wall, and a serpent bit

21 ° I hate, I despise your feast days, and ^ I will not ^ smell in your solemn assemblies.

22 '^ Though ye offer me burnt-offerings and your meat-offerings, I will not accept them: neither will I regard the ' peace-offerings of your fat beasts.

23 Take thou away from me the noise of thy songs; for I will not hear the melody of thy viols.

24 ^ But let judgment ^ run down as waters, and righteousness as a mighty stream.

25 " Have ye offered unto me sacrifices

Verse 16. They shall call the husiandman lo mourning] Because the crops have failed, and the ground has been tilled in vain.

Such as are skilful of lamentation] See the note on Jer. ix. 17.

Verse 17. And in alt vineyards shall be icailing] The places where festivity especially used to prevail.

I ivill pass through thee] As I passed, by the ministry of the destroying angel, through Egypt, not to spare, but to destroy.

Verse 18. Wo unto you that desire the day of the Lord] The prophet had often denounced the coming of God^s day, that is, of a time of judgment; and the unbelievers had said, " Let his day come, that we may see it." Now the prophet tells them that that day would be to them darkness — calamity, and not light — not prosperity.

Verse 19. As if a man did flee from a lion, and a bear met him] They shall go from one evil to another. He who escapes from the lion's mouth shall fall into the bears paws: —

Incidit in Scyllam, cupiens vitare Charybdim. The Israelites, under their king Menahem, wishing to avoid a civil war, called in Pul, king of Assyria, to help them. This led to a series of evils inflicted by the SjTian and Assyrian kings, till at last Israel was ravaged by Shalmaneser, and carried into captivity. Thus, in avoiding one evil they fell into another still more grievous.

Leaned his hand on a wall, and a serpent bit Aim.] Snalces and venomous animals are fond of taking up their lodging in walls of houses, where they can either find or make holes; and it is dangerous to sit near them or lean against them. In the East Indies they keep the faithful mongose, a species of ichneumon, in their houses, for the purpose of destroying the snakes that infest them.

Verse 21. I hate, I despise your feast days] I abominate those sacrificial festivals where there is no piety; and I despise them because they pretend to be what they are not. This may refer to the thi-ee aimual festivals which were still observed in a certain way among the Israelites.

Verse 22. The peace-offerings of your fat beasts.] DD'N'10 merieychem probably means buffaloes; and so Bochart.

Verse 33. The noise of thy songs — the melody of thy viols.] They had both vocal and instrumental music in those sacrificial festivals; and God hated the noise of the one and shut his ears against the melody of the other. In i\\e first there was nothing but noise, because their hearts were not right with God; and in the latter there could be nothing but (mot ztmrath) cutting and scraping, because there was no heart — no religious sense in the thing, and nearly as little in them that used it. See on chap. vi. 5.

Verse 24. Let judgment run down] Let the execution of justice be everywhere like the showers that fall upon the land to render it fertile; and let righteousness in heart and life belike a mighty river, or the Jordan, that shall wind its course through the whole nation, and carry every abomination into the Dead Sea. JjSt justice and righteousness prevail everywhere, and sweep their contraries out of the land.

Verse 25. Have ye offered unto me sacrifices] Some have been led to think that " during the forty years which the Israelites spent in the wilderness, between Egypt and the promised land, they did not offer any sacrifices, as in their circumstances it was impossible; they offered none because they had none." But such people must have forgotten that when the covenant was made at Sinai, there were burnt-offerings and peace-offerings of oxen sacrificed to the Lord, Exod. xxiv. 5; and at the setting up of the tabernacle the twelve princes of the twelve tribes oflTered each a young bullock, a ram, and a la?nb, for a burnt-offenng; a kid for a sin-offering; two oxen, five rams, five he-goats^ and five lambs, for a peace-offering. Num. vii. 12, &«.,

and offerings in tlie wilderness forty years, 0 house of Israel? 26 But ye have borne " the tabernacle " of your Moloch and Chiun your images, the star of your god,

which amounted to an immense number of victims offered in the course of the twelve dai/s during which this feast of the dedication lasted. At the consecration of priests, lullocks and rams to a considerable number were offered, see Lev. viii. 1, &c.; but they were not offered so regularly, nor in such abundance, as they were after the settlement in the promised land. Learned men, therefore, have considered this verse as speaking thus: Did ye offer to me, during forty years in the wilderness, sacrifices in such a way as was pleasing to me } Ye did not; for your hearts were divided, and ye were generally in a spirit of insurrection or murmuring.

Verse 26. But ye have borne] The preceding verse spoke o{ theii fathers; the present verse speaks of the Israelites then existing, who were so grievously addicted to idolatry, that they not only worshipped at stated public places the idols set up by public authority, but t\iQy carried their gods about with them everywhere.

27 Therefore will I cause you

Damascus, saith the Lord, ■• whose name is The God of hosts.

The tabernacle of your Moloch'] Probably a small portable shrine, with an image of their god in it, such as Moloch; and the star or representative of their god Chiun. For an ample exposition of this verse, see the note on Acts vii. 42; to which let me add, that from PicarCs Religious Ceremonies, vol. iii. p. 199, we find that there was an idol named Choun worshipped among the Peruvians from the remotest antiquity.

Verse 27. Will I cause you to go into captivity beyond Damascus] That is, into Assyria, the way to which, from Judea, was by Damascus.

But St. Stephen says. Acts vii. 43, beyond Babylon; because the Holy Spirit that was in him chose to extend the meaning of the original text to that great and final captivity of the Jews in general, when Zcdekiah, their last king, and the people of Judea, were carried into Mesopotamia, Armenia, and Media; see 2 Kings xvii. 7, 24. This captivity happened after the time of Amos.

The prophet reproves his people for indulging themselves in luxurious ease, and forming alliances with their powerful idolatrous neighbours, 1. He asks (/"their lands or their lot be better than their oion, 2, that they should choose to worship the gods of the heathen, and forsake Jehovah. Then follows an amplification of the sin which the prophet reproves, 3-6; to which he annexes very awful threatenings, confirmed by the oath of Jehovah, 7, 8. He next particularly specifies the punishment of their sins by pestilence, 9—1 1; by famine, or a drought that should harden the earth so that it could not be tilled, 12; and by the sicord of the Assyrians, 14.

NOTES ON CHAP. VL Verse 1. Wo to them that a.ie at ease in Zion] For D'JJSiyn hashshaanannim, " who dwell at ease," it lias been proposed to read D"JJ>iyn hashshaanannim, " who confidently lean," the two words differing only in one letter, an i' ain for an X aleph. They leaned confidently on Zion; supposing that, notwitlistanding their iniquities they should be saved for Zion's sake. Thus the former clause will agree better with the latter, '• leaning upon Zion," atxl " trusting in the mountain of Samaria." Those that are at ease may mean those who have no concern about the threatened judgments, and who have no deep concern for the salvation of their own souls. Houbigant would read, "Wo to them who

2 " Pass ye unto ^ Calneh, and see; and from thence go ye to

despise Zion, and trust in Samaria." So the Scptuaginl, reading D'xrj soneim, hating, instead of D'JJNty shaanannim, being at rest, tranquil. Calmet first proposed this conjecture; Houbigant follows him.

Are named chief] Newcomc renders, " That are named after the chief of the nations;" and observes, that the Hebrew word 'Dp: nekubcy is an allusion to marking a name or character by punctures. See on Isa. xliv. 5. They call themselves not after their ancestors, but after the chief of the idolatrous nations with whom they intermarry contrary to the law.

Perhaps the words here rather refer to the mountains and their temples, than to the people. The mountain otZion, and the mountain of Samaria, were considered

3 Ye that '' put far away the ^ evil day, " and cause " the ° seat of violence to come near;

4 That lie upon beds of ivory, and p stretch themselves upon their couches, and eat the lambs out of the flock, and the calves out of the midst of the stall;

the chief or most celebrated among the nations, as the two kingdoms to which they belonged were the most distinguished on the earth.

Verse 2. Pass ye unto Calneh] This is, says Calmet, the Ctesiphon on the river Tigris.

Gath] A well-known town, and head of one of the five seignories of the Philistines.

Be they better] You have no more reason to expect exemption from the consequences of your sins than they had. They have been punished; so shall you. Why then will ye trust in their gods, that could not save their own cities!

Verse 3. Ye that put far away the evil day] Wo to you who will not consider the day of approaching vengeance; but continue in your iniquity, and harden your hearts. Ye bring your iniquities nearer, and still suppose your punishment to be at a greater distance.

Verse 4. That he upon beds of ivory] The word 'in hoi, wo, is understood at the beginning of each of the first, third, fourth, fifth, and sixth verses. The beds mentioned here may be either sofas to recline on at table, or beds to sleep on; and these among the ancients were ornamented with ivory inlaid. They were called lectos eburato.t by Plautus, lectos eburnos by Horace, " ivory beds." Probably those ornamented with shells, or mother-of-pearl, may be intended. Several works of this kind may be still seen in Palestine and other places. I have before me a cross brought from Jerusalem, incrusted all over with mother-ofpearl, and various figures chased on it.

There inust have been a great deal of luxury and effeminacy among the Israelites at this time; and, consequently, abundance of riches. This was in the time of Jeroboam the second, when the kingdom had enjoyed a long peace. The description in the fourth, fifth, and sixth verses, is that of an Asiatic court even in the present day.

Verse 5. And invent to themselves instruments of music, like David] See the note on 1 Chron. xxiii. 5; and see especially the note on 9 Chron. xxix. 25. I believe that David was not authorized by the Lord to introduce that multitude of musical instruments into the Divine worship of which we read; and I am satisfied that his conduct in this respect is most solemnly repre-

6 That drink ' wine in bowls, and anoint themselves with the chief ointments: " but they are not grieved for the ''affliction of Joseph.

7 Therefore now shall they go captive with the first that go captive, and the banquet of them that stretched themselves shall be removed.

8 ■" The Lord God hath sworn by himself,

hended by this prophet; and I farther believe that the use of such instruments of music, in the Christian Church, is without the sanction and against the ivill of God; that they are subversive of the spirit of true devotion, and that they are sinful. If there was a wo to them who invented instruments of music, as did David under the law, is there no wo, no curse to them who invent them, and introduce them into the worship of God in the Christian Church 1 I am an old man, and an old minister; and I here declare that I never knew them productive of any good in the worship of God; and have had reason to believe that they were productive of much evil. Music, as a science, I esteem and admire; but instruments of music in the house of God I abominate and abhor. This is the abuse of music; and here I register my protest against all such corruptions in the worship of the Author of Christianity. The late venerable and most eminent divine, the Rev. John Wesley, who was a lover of music, and an elegant poet, when asked his opinion of instruments of music being introduced into the chapels of the Methodists, said, in his terse and powerful manner, " I have no objection to instruments of music in our chapels, provided they are neither heard nor seen." I say the same, though I think the expense of purchase had better be spared.

The word D'Dliin happoretim, which we render chant, and the margin quaver, signifies to dance, to skip, &c. In the sight of such a text, fiddlers, drummers, waltzers, &c., may well tremble, who perform to excite detestable passions.

Verse 6. That drink ivine in bowls] Perhaps the costliness of the drinking vessels, more than the quantity drank, is that which is here reprehended by the prophet. Drinking vessels of the most costly materials, and of the most exquisite workmanship, are still in use: and as to precious ointments and perfumes among the Jews, we have a proof that the contents of one small box was woith three hundred denarii, at least seven pounds ten shillings sterling. See the case in the Gospel, John xii. 5, and the note there.

Verse 7. With the fiist that go captive] The house of Israel shall be carried into captivity before the house

Verse 8. The Lord God hath sworn by himself] ItySJi benaphsho, by his soul, his being, existence

9 And it shall come to pass, if there remain ten men in one house, that they shall die.

10 And a man's uncle shall take him up, and he that burneth him, to bring out the bones out of the house, and shall say unto him that is by the sides of the house. Is there yet any with thee? and he shall say, No. Then shall he say, ^ Hold thy tongue: " for '' we may not make mention of the name of the Lord.

Verse 9. Ten men — they shall </;>.] All shall be cut off by the sword, or by captivity, or by famine.

Verse 10. A man's uncle shall take him up\ Bp. Newcome says, this obscure verse seems to describe the effects of famine and pestilence during the siege of Samaria. The carcass shall be burnt; and the bones removed with no ceremony of funeral rites, and without the assistance of the nearest kinsman. Solitude shall reign in the house; and if one is left, he must be silent, (see chap. viii. 3,) and retired, lest he be plundered of his scanty provision! Burning the body, and then collecting the ashes, and putting them into an urn, was deemed the most honourable mode of burial.

Verse 1 1. He will smite the great house with breaches] The great and small shall equally suffer; no distinction shall be made; rich and poor shall fall together; death has received his commission, and he will spare none. Horace has a sentiment precisely like this, Carm. Lib. i., Od. iv., v. 13.

J3ut this may refer particularly to the houses of the poor in Eastern countries; their mud walls being frequently full of clefts; the earth of which they are built seldom adhering together because of its sandiness.

Verse 12. Shall horses rumipon the rock?] First, they could not do it, because they were unshod; for he will smite the great house ■*■ '^f- "'.'• 3?i'' with "breaches, and the little Ante u. 6.34.

12 Shall horses run upon the "'■ """""' '"■ rock 1 will one plough thei-e with oxen? for ^ ye have turned judgment into gall, and the fruit of righteousness into hemlock:

13 Ye which rejoice in a thing of naught, which say, Have we not taken to us horns b*- our own strength?

14 But, behold, ^I will raise up against you a nation, O house of Israel, saith the Lord the God of hosts; and they shall afflict you from the *" entering in of Hamath unto the ' river of the wilderness.

Secondly, If they did run on the rock, it would be useless to their owner, and hurtful to themselves. Thirdly, And it would be as useless to plough on the rock with oxen; for there it would be impossible to sow with agy advantage. Fourthly, Just as useless and injurious would it be to put gall in the place of judgment^ and hemlock in the place of righteousness. You have not only been labouring in vain foryourselves, but you have also been oppressive to others; and for both ye shall suffer.

Verse 13. Ye which rejoice in a thing of naught] In your idols: for an idol is nothing in the world.

Have we not taken to us horns] We have arrived to power and dignity by our strength. Horns were the symbols of power and authority. So Horace: —

Verse 14. / will raise up against you a nation] The Assyrians under Pul, Tiglath-pileser, and Shalmaneser, who subdued the Israelites at various times, and at last carried them away captive in the days of Hosea, the last king of Israel in Samaria.

From the entering in of Hamath (on the north) unto the river of the wilderness.] Besor, which empties itself into the sea, not far from Gaza, and was in the southern part of the tribe of Simeon.

In this chapter God represents to Amos, by three several visions, the judgments he is about to bring on Israel- The first is a plague of locusts, threatening to cut off the hopes of the harvest by attacking it in the time of the second growth; the first luxuriances of the crop being probably mowed for the king's horses, 1-3

The next vision threatens a judgment by fire, which would consume a great part, 4-6; and the third a total overthrow of Israel, levelling it as it were by a line, 7-9. The rest of the chapter is a denunciation of heavy judgments against Amaziah, priest of Beth-el, ivho had brought an accusation to the kin<r a'^ainst the prophet, 10—17.

6 The Lord repented for this: R^Aiba'li"'' This also shall not be, saith the "'"■ '^"""' ''°-

7 Thus he showed me: and, behold, the Lord stood upon a wall made by a plumbline, with a plumbline in his hand.

8 And the Lord said unto me, Amos, what seest thou? And I said, A plumbline. Then said the Lord, Behold, ' I will set a plumbline in the midst of my people Israel: s I •will not again pass by them any more:

9 '' And the high places of Isaac shall be desolate, and the sanctuaries of Israel shall be laid waste; and I will rise against ' the house of Jeroboam with the sword.

1 0 Then Amaziah ^ the priest of Beth-

up of the latter growth; and, lo, it was the latter growth after the king's mowings.

2 And it came to pass, that when they had made an end of eating the grass of the land, then I said, 0 Lord God, forgive, I beseech thee: "^ by ■= whom shall Jacob arise? for he is small.

3 ^ The Lord repented for this: It shall not be, saith the Lord.

4 Thus hath the Lord God showed unto rac: and, behold, the Lord God called to contend by fire, and it devoured the great deep, and did eat up a part.

Verse 1. Behold, he formed grasshoppers] '3 J gobai is generally understood here to signify locusts. See the notes on Joel i. and ii.

The shooting up of the latter growth] The early crop of grass had been already mowed and housed. The second crop or rowing, as it is called in some places, was not yet begun. By the king''s mowings we may understand the first crop, a portion of which the king probably claimed as being the better hay; but the words may signify simply the prime crop, that which is the best of the whole. Houligant thinks the shearing of the king''s sheep is meant.

Verse 2. By ivhom shall Jacob arise?] The locusts, the symbols of the many enemies that had impoverished Jerusalem, having devoured much of the produce of the land, were proceeding, till, at the intercession of the prophet, they were removed. Then, seeing in the light of prophecy the nation in every sense brought low, he cries, " By whom shall Jacob arise? for he is small." Calmet justly remarks: " After the death of leroboam the second, the kingdom, so flourishing and powerful before, was reduced to such weakness that it was obliged to have recourse to strangers for support. Menahem applied to Pul, king of Assyria, whence irose the final misery of the state.

Verse 3. The Lord repented] Changed his purpose of destroying them by the locusts. See ver. 6.

Verse 4. The Lord God called to contend by fire] Permitted war, both civil and foreign, to harass the land, after the death of Jeroboam the second. These wars would have totally destroyed it, had not the prophet interceded.

It devoured the great deep, and did eat up a part.] We are here to understand the partially destructive wars which afterwards took place; for the Lord causes all these things to pass before the eyes of Amos in the vision of prophecy; and intimates that, at the intercession of his prophets, total ruin should be prevented.

Verse 7. With a ])lumbline in his hand.] This appears to be intended as an emblem of strict justice, and intimated that God would now visit them according to their iniquities.

Verse 8. / will set a plumbline] I will visit them by justice without any mixture of mercy.

Verse 9. And the high places of Isaac shall be desolate] Their total destruction is at hand. The high place of Isaac was Beer-sheba, where Isaac had built an altar to the Lord, Gen. xxvi. 25. This high place, which had been abused to idolatrous uses, was demolished by Josiah, king of Judah, as we read in 2 Kings xxiii. 8, for he defiled alt the high places from Geba to Beer-sheba.

I ivill rise against the house of Jeroboam] The Lord had promised to Jehu, the ancestor of Jeroboam, that his family should sit on the throne of Israel to \he fourth generation. Zechariah, the son of Jeroboam, was \he fourth in order after Jehu; and on him the tlireatening in this verse fell; for he was murdered by Shallura after he had reigned six months, and in liim the family became extinct. See 2 Kings x. 30, and xv. 8-10.

Verse 10. Amaziah the priest of Beth-el] The idolatrous priest who had been established by the king to maintain the worship of the golden

is not able to bear all his words.

1 1 For thus Amos saith, Jeroboam shall die by the sword, and Israel shall surely be led away captive out of their own land.

12 Also Amaziah said unto Amos, 0 thou seer, go, flee thee away into the land of Judah, and there eat bread, and prophesy there:

1.3 But "prophesy not again any more at Beth-el: " for it is the king's " chapel, and it is the P king's court.

14 Then answered Amos, and said to Amaziah, I was no prophet, neither ivas I i a pro-

1 5 And the Lord took me ' as "'' """""* I followed the flock, and the Lord said unto me. Go, prophesy unto my people Israel.

16 Now therefore hear thou the word of the Lord: Thou sayest. Prophesy not against Israel, and " drop not thy word against the house of Isaac.

IT'' 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.

Amos hath conspired against thee] This was truly a tying prophet; there is not one word of truth in this message which he sent to Jeioboam. Amos had not conspired against the king — had not said that Jeroboam should die by the sword — and had not said that Israel should be carried away captive, though this last was implied in God's threatenings, and afterwards delivered by this prophet; see ver. 17.

Verse 12. O thou seei-] He pretends kindness to the prophet, and counsels him to go into Judea, and prophesy there and be safe, even in the time that he had accused him of high treason against Jeroboam. Hireling priests of this kind have ever been the great enemies of the true prophets of God; and when they could bring no charge of false doctrine or immorality against them, have accused them of conspiring against the government; and because they have preached against sin, have held them up as exciting insurrection among the people.

Verse 13. But prophesy not — at Beth-el] He must not speak against idolatry, because that was the king's religion; and he who speaks against the king's religion must be an enemy to the state. This was the doctrine held in England by popish James II. and his insidious Jesuit hireling priests, till God in his mercy put this pitiful tvTant down, and with him his false prophets, and the degrading superstition which they endeavoured to establish in these lands.

Verse 14. / was no prophet] I am an extraordinary messenger of God. I am not called to the prophetic office but for this occasion. I have no message to Judah, and therefore need not go there. I have a message to Israel alone, and I must faithfully de liver it.

Verse 16. Now therefore hear thou the word of the Lord] While he was speaking in his own vindication, God seems to have inspired him with the awful prediction which he immediately de livers.

Verse 17. Thy icife shall be a harlot] As this was the word of the Lord, so it was fulfilled; but as we have no farther account of this idolatrous priest, so we cannot tell in what circumstances these threatenings were executed. 1. His wife was to be a public prostitute; she was probably such already privately in the temple, as the wife of an idolatrous priest.

Israel shall surely go into captivity] He now declares fully what he had not declared before, though Amaziah had made it a subject of accusation. This particular was probably revealed at this instant, as well as those which concerned Amaziah and his family.

This chapter hegins with a fourth vision denoting the certainty and nearness of the destruction of Israel, 1-3. The prophet then proceeds to reprove their oppression and injustice, 4-7. Strong and beautiful figures, by xvhich is represented the complete dissolution of the Israelitish polity, 8-10. The people threatened with a most auful judgment; a famine of the word of God, 11-14. Vol. IV. ( 44) 689

'^r! AlfJn',"' hold a basket of summer fruit. cir. annum 10. g And he said, Amos, what seest thou? And I said, A basket of summer fruit. Then said the Lord unto me, * The end is come upon my people of Israel; *> I will not again pass by them any more.

3 And " the songs of the temple ** shall be howlings in that day, saith the Lord God: there shall be many dead bodies in every place; « they shall cast them forth *■ with silence.

4 Hear this, 0 ye that ^ swallow up the

Verse 1. A basket of summer fruit.'] As summer fruit was not proper for preserving, but must be eaten as soon as gathered, so the Lord inlimates by this symbol that the kingdom of Israel was now ripe for destruction, and that punishment must descend upon it without delay. Some think the prophet means the fruits at the end of autumn. And as after the autumn no fruit could be expected, so Israel's summer is gone by, her autumn is ended, and she shall yield no more fruit. Or, the autumn of her iniquity is come; the measure is filled up, and now she shall gather the fruit of her sin in the abundance of her punishment.

Verse 2. A basket of summer fruit] |"p 3l'73 kelub kayils; the end is come — "m N3 ba hakkets: here is a paronomasia or play upon the words kayits, summer fruit, and kets, the end, both coming from similar roots. See the note on Ezek. vii. 2, where there is a similar play on the same word.

/ will not again pass by them any more.] I will be no longer their Guardian.

Verses. The songs of the temple] Instead of nil'iy shiroth, songs, Houbigant reads nmc' shoroth, the singing xoomen; and Neiccome follows him: " And the singing women of the palace shall howl in that day." Instead of joyous songs, they shall have nothing but lamentation.

They shall cast them forth with silence.] Every place shall be filled with the dead, and a dreadful silence shall reign universally; the few that remain oeing afraid either to speak or complain, or even to chant a funeral dirge for the most respectable of the dead.

Verse 4. Hear this, O ye that swallow up the needy] Ye that bruise the poor; exact from them, and tread them under foot.

Verse 5. When will the neio moon be gone] This was kept as a kind of holy day, not by Divine command, but by custom. The Sabbath was strictly holy; and yet so covetous were they that they grudged to give to God and theii own souls this seventh portion

5 baying. When will the "new r. Alban., moon be gone, that we may sell ^'r- annum. corn? and ' the Sabbath, that we may ^ set forth wheat, ' making the ephah small, and the shekel gi"eat, and " falsifying the balances by deceit?

6 That we may buy the poor for " silver, and the needy for a pair of shoes; yea, and sell the refuse of the wheat?

7 The Lord hath sworn by " the excellency of Jacob, Sm-ely p I will never forget any of their works.

of time! But bad and execrable as they were, they neither set forth their corn, nor their wheat, nor any other kind of merchandise, on the Sabbath. They were saints then, when compared to multitudes called Christians, who keep their shops either partially or entirely open on the Lord's day, and buy and sell without any scruples of conscience. Conscience! alas! they have none; it is seared as with a hot iron. The strong man armed, in them, is quiet, for all his goods are in peace.

Making the ephah small, and the shekel great] Giving short measure, and taking full price; or, buying with a heavy weight, and selling with one that was light.

Falsifying the balances] Having one scale light, and the other weighty; one end of the beam long, and the other short. A few months ago I detected a knave with such balances; with a slip of his finger along the beam he altered the centre, which made three ounces short weight in every pound. He did it so dexterously, that though I knew he was cheating, or, as the prophet expresses it, was falsifying the balances by deceit, it was some time before 1 could detect the fraud, and not till I had been several times cheated by this accomplished knave. So we find that though the knaves of ancient Israel are dead, they have left their successors behind them.

Verse 6. That ive may buy the poor for silver] Buying their services for such a time, with just money enough to clear them from other creditors.

And the needy for a pair of shoes] See on chap. ii. 6.

And sell the refuse of the wheat?] Selling bad wheat and damaged flour to poor people as good, knowing that such cannot afford to prosecute them.

Verse 7. By the excellency of Jacob] By the state of eminence to which he had raised the descendants of Jacob; or, by the excellent One of Jacob, that is, Himself. The meaning is: " As surely as I have raised you to such a state of eminence, so surely will I punish you in proportion to your advantages and your crimes."

R. Aibaii., that dvvelletli tlierein f and it ''■•■'^"°"'""'- shall rise up wholly as a flood; and it shall be cast out and drowned, ^ as by the flood of Egypt.

saitli the Lord God, ' that I will cause the sun to go down at noon, and I will darken the earth in the clear day:

10 ' And I will turn your feasts into mourning, and all your songs into lamentations; "and I will bring up sackcloth upon all loins, and baldness upon every head; "and I will make It as the mourning of an only son, and the end thereof as a bitter day.

Verse 8. Shall not the land tremble for this] It is supposed that an earthquake is here intended, and that the rising up and subsiding as a flood refers to that heaving 7notion that takes place in an earthquake, and which the prophet here compares to tlie overflowing and subsiding of the waters of the Nile. But it may refer to commotions among the people.

Verse 9. / ivill cause the sun to go down at noon] This may either refer to that darkness which often precedes and accompanies earthquakes, or to an eclipse. Abp. Usher has shown that about eleven)'ears after Amos prophesied there were two great eclipses of the sun; one at the feast of tabernacles, and the other some time before the passover. The prophet may refer to the darkness occasioned by those eclipses; yet I rather think the whole may refer to the earthquake.

Verse 10. I will turn your feasts into mourning] See on ver. 3.

Verse 11. A famine in the land] The most grievous of all famines, a famine of the xoords of Jehovah; a time in which no prophet should appear, no spiritual counsellor, no faithful reprover, none any

12 And they shall wander from sea to sea, and from the north even to the east, they shall run to and fro to seek the word of the Lord, and shall not find it.

13 In that day shall the fair virgins and young men faint for thirst.

14 They that ^ swear by ^ the sin of Samaria, and say. Thy god, 0 Dan, liveth; and, The ^ manner ^ of Beer-sheba liveth; even they shall fall, and never rise up again.

longer who would point out the way of salvation, or would assure them of the mercy of God on their repentance and return to him. This is the severest of God's judgments on this side the worm that never dieth, and the fire that is never quenched.

Verse 12. They shall wander from sea to sea] From the Mediterranean to the Dead Sea; or from west to east, and from north to south, to seek the word of the Lord; to find a prophet, or any person authorized by God to show them the end of their calamities. In this state they shall continue, because they have rejected Him who is the bread of life.

Thy god, O Dan'] The golden calf, or ox, the representative of the Egyptian god Apis, or Osiris.

The manner of Beer-sheba] The worship, or object of worship. Another of the golden calves which Jeroboam had set up there. The word "JIT derech, ivay, is here taken for the object and mode of worship; see Acts xix. 9, where tvay is taken for the creed and form of Divine worship as practised by the followers of Christ, and by which they were distinguished from the Jews. See also Acts ix. 8.

The first part of this chapter contains another vision, in which God is represented as declaring the final rum of the kingdom of Israel, and the general dispersion of the people, 1—10. The prophet then passes to the great blessedness of the people of God under the Gospel dispensation, 11-15. See Acts xv. 15, 16.

" them in the head, all of them; and I will slay the last of them with the sword: <■ he that fleeth of them shall not flee away, and he that escapeth of them shall not be delivered.

2 ^ Though they dig into hell, thence shall mine hand take them: f though they climb up to heaven, thence will I bring them down:

3 And though they hide themselves in the top of Carmel, I will search and take them out thence; and though they be hid from my sight in the bottom of the sea, thence will I command the serpent, and he shall bite them:

Verse 1. / saw the Lord standing upon the altar] As this is a continuation of the preceding prophecy, the altar here may be one of those either at Dan or Beer-sheba.

Smite the lintel] Either the piece of timber that binds the wall above the door, or the upper part of the door frame, in which the cheeks, or side posts, are inserted, and which corresponds to the threshold, or lower part of the door frame.

And cut them in the head] Let all the lintels of all the doors of all those temples be thus cut, as a sign that the whole shall be thrown down and totally demolished. Or this may refer to their heads — chief men, who were principals in these transgressions. Mark their temples, their priests, their prophets, and their princes, for destruction.

He that fleeth — shall not flee away] He shall be caught before he can get out of the reach of danger.

And he that escapeth (that makes good his flight) shall not he delivered.] Captivity, famine, or sword, shall reach him even there.

Verse 2. Though they dig into hell] Though they should get into the deepest caverns; though they climb up to heaven — get to the most inaccessible heights; I will drag them up from the one, and pull them down from the otiier.

Verse 3. Though they hide themselves] All these are metaphorical expressions, to show the impossibility of escape.

Verse 4. / will set mine eyes upon them for evil] I will use that very providence against them which before worked for their good. Should they look upward, they shall see nothing but the terrible lightninglike eye of a sin-avenging God.

Averse 5. The Lord God of hosts is he] So powerful is he that a touch of his hand shall melt or dissolve the land, and cause all its inhabitants to mourn.

captivity before their enemies. Ante it. c. 34. s thence will I command the R^Aiban.?'' sword, and it shall slay them: "'"■ '^"""'" '"• and '' I will set mine eyes upon them for evil, and not for good.

5 And the Lord God of hosts is he that toucheth the land, and it shall ' melt, ■= and all that dwell therein shall mourn: and it shall rise up wholly like a flood; and shall be drowned, as by the flood of Egypt.

6 It is he that buildeth his ' "" stories " in the heaven, and hath founded his ° troop in the earth; he that p calleth for the waters of the sea, and poureth them out upon the face of the earth: 1 The Lord is his name.

7 Are ye not as children of the Ethiopians

Here is still a reference to the earthquake. See the note, chap. viii. 8, where the same images are used.

Verse 6. Buildeth his stories in the heaven] There is here an allusion to large houses, where there are cellars, or places dug in the ground as repositories for corn; middle apartments, or stories, for the families to live in; and the house-top for persons to take the air upon. There may be here a reference to the various systems which God has formed in illimitable space, transcending each other as the planets do in our solar system: and thus we find Solomon speaking when addressing the Most High: " The heavens and the heaven of heavens cannot contain thee, D'atSTl ''■:iSl □"rDBTI hashshamayim ushemey hashshamayim, 1 Kings viii. 27. fiixheavens are necessarily implied in these three words. According to the points, the first and third are in the dual number, and the second is the contracted form of the plural. But how many more spheres may be intended who can tell 1 There may be millions of millions of stellar systems in unlimited space; and then what are all these to the v.\st im.-\iensitv of God!

Hath founded his tioop in the earth] imJN aguddalho, from TJN agad, to bmd or gather together, possibly meaning the seas and other collections of waters which he has gathered together and bound by his perpetual decree, that they cannot pass; yet when he calleth for these very ivaters, as in the general deluge, he " poureth them out upon the face of the earth."

The Lord is his name.] This points out his infinite essence. But what is that essence? and what is his nature ■? and what his immensity and eternity? What archangel can tell ^

Verse 7. Children of the Ethiopians] Or Cushites. Cush was the son of Ham, Gen. x. 6; and his descendants inhabited a part of Arabia Petraea and Arabia Feli.x. All this stock was universally despised. See Bochart.

unto me, 0 cliildren of Israel? saith the Lord. Have not I brought up Israel out of the land of Egypt? and the ■■ Philistines from = Caphtor, and the Syrians from ' Kir?

8 Behold, " the eyes of the Lord God are upon the sinful kingdom, and I ' will destroy it from off the face of the earth; saving that I will not utterly destroy the house of Jacob,

9 For, lo, I will command, and I will " sift the house of Israel among all nations, like as

The Si/rians from Kir?] Perhaps a city of the Medes, Isa. xxii. 6. Aram, from whom Syria had its name, was the son of Shem, Gen. x. 23. Part of his descendants settled in this city, and part in Aram Naharaim, " Syria of the two rivers," viz., Mesopotamia, included between the Tigris and the Euphrates.

The meaning of the verse is this: Do not presume on my having brought you out of the land of Egypt and house of bondage, into a land flowing with milk and honey. I have brought other nations, and some of your neighbours, who are your enemies, from comparatively barren countries, into fruitful territories; such, for instance, as the Philistines from Caphtor, and the Syrians from Kir.

Verse 8. The eyes of the Lord God are upon the sinful kingdom] The kingdom of Israel, peculiarly sinful; and therefore to be signally destroyed by the Assyrians.

/ will not utterly destroy the house of Jacob] The race shall not become extinct: I will reserve them as monuments of my justice, and finally of my mercy.

Verse 9. / ivill sift the house of Israel among all nations] I will disperse them over the face of the earth; and yet I will so order it that the good shall not be lost; for though they shall be mixed among distant nations, yet there shall be a general restoration of them to their own land.

The least grain] inx tseror, little stone, pebble, or gravel. Not one of thera, howsoever little or contemptible, when the time comes, shall be left behind. All shall be collected in Christ, and brought into their own land.

Verse 10. All the sinners of my people] Those who are the boldest and most incredulous; especially they who despise my warnings, and say the evil day shall not overtake nor prevent us; they shall die by the 8Word. It is no evidence of a man's safety that he is presumptuously fearless. There is a blessing to him who trembles at God''s word.

Verse 1 1. Will I raise up the tabernacle of David] It is well known that the kingdo7n of Israel, the most profane and idolatrous, fell first, and that the kingdom ofJudah continued long after, and enjoyed considerable prosperity under Hezekiah and Josiah. The remnant

10 All the sinners of my people shall die by the sword, ^ which say, The evil shall not overtake nor prevent us.

11'- In tliat day will I raise up the tabernacle of David that is fallen, and " close up the breaches thereof; and I will raise up his ruins, and I will build it as in the days of old:

of the Israelites that were left by the Assyrians became united to the kingdom of Judah; and of the others, many afterwards joined them: but this comparatively short prosperity and respite, previously to the Babylonish captivity, could not be that, as Calmet justly observes, which is mentioned here. This could not be called closing up the breaches, raising up the rums, and building it as in the days of old; nor has any state of this kind taken place since; and, consequently, the prophecy remains to be fulfilled. It must therefore refer to their restoration under the Gospel, when they shall receive the Lord Jesus as their Messiah, and be by him restored to their own land. See these words quoted b^ James, Acts xv. 17. Then indeed it is likely that tliey shall possess the remnant of Edom, and have the whole length and breadth of Immanuel's land, ver. 12. Nor can it be supposed that the victories gained by the Asmoneans could be that intended by the prophet, and which he describes in such lofty terms. These victories procured only a short respite, and a very imperfect re-establishment of the tabernacle of David; and could not warrant the terras of the prediction in these verses.

Verse 12. That they may possess the remnant of Edom] Bp. Newcome translates this clause as follows: " That the residue of men may seek Jehovah, and all the heathen who are called by my name. Here, instead of Dns Edom, he reads DIN Adam, men or mankind, which is the reading of the Arabic, and some MSS. of the Si/riac, and of Acts xv. 17.

The Pachomian MS. of the Septuagint adds here, on-uf CK^tiTijaum /ae, that they may seek me. And the Arabic has •— -J/JJ the Lord; and instead of ItyT" yireshu, " they shall possess," the learned bishop seems to have read ItsriT yidreshu, " they may seek;" and thus the text resembles the quotation by St. James, Acts XV. 17, "That the residue of men might seek after the Lord." It is strange that not one of the MSS. collated by Kennicott and De Rossi, nor any of my own, favours or countenances any of these alterations. I am of opinion, therefore, that we must dismiss all these conjectural emendations, and take the Hebrew text as we find it. That it speaks of the conversion of the Jews in Gospel times, we have the authority of the New Testament as above to prove; and if we cannot make the words, as they stand there, entirely

13 Behold * the days come, saith the Lord, that the ploughman shall overtake the reaper, and the treader of grapes him that ^ soweth seed; ^ and the mountains shall drop '' sweet wine, and all the hills shall melt. 14 ' And I will bring again the captivity of

to agree w ith the words here, the subject is not affected by it. The Jews shall be converted and restored, and this text in both covenants is a proof of it.

Verse 13. T/ie ploughman shall overtake the reaper] All the seasons shall succeed in due and natural order: but the crops shall be so copious in the fields and in the vineyards, that a long time shall be employed in gathering and disposing of them; so that the seasons of ploughing, solving, gathering the grapes, treading the ivine-press, &c., shall press on the heels of each other; so vast will be the abundance, and so long the time necessary to gather and cure the grain and fruits. We are informed by travellers in the Holy Land, Barbary, &c., that the vintage at Aleppo lasts from the fifteenth of September to the middle of November; and thit the sowing season begins at the close of October, and lasts through all November. Here, then, the ploughman, sower, grape-gatherer, and operator at the wine-press, not only succeed each other, but have parts of these operations going on at the same time. But great fertility in the land, abundance in the crops, and regularity of the seasons, seem to be the things which the prophet especially predicts. These are all poetical and prophetical images, by which happy times are pointed out.

shall build the waste cities, and AntcU.C. 34. inhabit them; and they shall " R^.i'iban.!"' plant vineyards, and drink the ""■''""'"" ^''- wine thereof; they shall also make gardens, and eat the fruit of them.

15 And I will plant them upon their land, and ' they shall no more be pulled up out of their land which I have given them, saith the Lord thy God.

Verse 14. They shall plant vineyards, and drink the wine'\ When threatened with great evils, chap. V. 1 1, it is said, " They shall plant pleasant vineyards, but shall not drink the wine of them." Previously to their restoration, they shall labour for others; after their restoration, they shall labour for them-

Verse 15. / will plant them upon their land] They shall receive a permanent establishment there.

Aiid they shall no more he pulled up\ Most certainly this prophecy has never yet been fulfilled. They were pulled out by the Assyrian captivity, and by that of Babylon. Many were planted in again, and again pulled out by the Roman conquest and captivity, and were never since planted in, but are now scattered among all the nations of the earth. I conclude, as the word of God cannot fail, and this has not yet been fulfilled, it therefore follows that it will and must be fulfilled to the fulness of its spirit and intention. And this is established by the conclusion: ".Saith the Lord thy God." He is Jehov.\h, and cannot fail; he is THV God, and will do it. He con do it, because he is.Tehovah; and he will do it, because he is thy God. Amen.

Chronological Notes relative to this book, upon the supposition that it ivas written about five hundred and eighty-seven years before the commencement of the Christian era.

Year from the Creation, according to Archbishop Usher, 3417. — Year of the Jewish era of the world, 3174. — Year since the Flood, 1761. — Year from the vocation of Abram, 1335. — Year from the foundation of Solomon's temple, 425. Year since the division of Solomon's monarchy into the kingdoms of Israel and Judah, 389. — Year of the era of Iphitus, 298. — Second year of the forty-eighth Olympiad. — Year from the building of Rome, according to the Varronian or generally received computation, 167. — Year from the building of Rome, according to the Fasti Consulares, 166. — Year from the building of Rome, according to Polybius the historian, 165.— Year from the building of Rome, according to Fabius Pictor, 161. — Year since the overthrow of the kingdom of Israel by Shalmaneser, king of Assyria, 135. — Year since the destruction of the kingdom of Judah by Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, 2. — Year of the Julian Period, 4127. — Year of the era of Xabonassar, 161. — Year before the birth of Christ, 583. — Year before the vulgar era of Christ's nativity, 587. — Cycle of the Sun, 11. — ^^Cycle of the Moon, 4. — Thirtieth year of Tarquinius Priscus, the fifth king of the Romans. — Thirty-ninth year of Cyaraxes or Cya.\ares, the fourth king of Media. — Nineteenth year of Agasicles, king of Lacedaemon, of the family of the Proclida;. — Twenty-first year of Leon, king of Lacedaemon, of the family of the Eurysthenida;. — Thirty -third year of Alyattes II., king of Lydia.— Sixteenth year of -Eropas, the seventh king of Macedon. — Eighth year of Apries, king of Egypt; the same with the celebrated Pharaoh-hophrah. — Ninth year of Baal, king of the Tyrians. — Twentieth year of Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon.