Exposition of the Whole Bible

they fhould promife themfelves impunity from the profperity of thefe finful nations;

them to a fenfe of their fin and danger, who might expect the vifitation of God for their tranfgreffions; as alfo to take off all offence at the prophet, who began not with them, but with their enemies: for three tranfgreffions of Damafcus, and for four, I will not turn away the punifhment thereof; Damafcus was an ancient city; it was in the times of Abraham, Gen. xv. 2. It was the metropolis of Syria, I and fo Pliny calls it, Damajcus of Syria". Of the fituation of this place, and the delightfulnefs of it, fee the note on Fer. xlix. 25. and of its founder, and the fignification of its name, fee the on As ix. 2. to which may be added, that tho’ | Hazae Fuftin “ {ays it had its name from Damajfcus, a king of it before Adrabam and Ifrael, whom he alfo makes kings of it; and Fofephus * would have Uz the fon of Avram the founder of it, to which Bochart ¥ agrees, yet the Arabic writers afcribe the building of it to others; for the Arabs have a tradition, as Schultens * fays, that there were Canaanites anciently in Syria; for they talk of Dimajbe the fon of Canaan, who built the famous city of Damajcus, and fo it fhould feem to be called after his name; and Abulpharagius * fays, that Murkus or Murpbus, as others call him, king of Pa/efline, built the city of Damafcus twenty years before the birth of Abrabam: from this place many things have their names, which continue with us to this day, as the Damajk rofe, and the Damafcene plumb, tranfplanted from the gardens that were about it, for which it was famous; and very probably the invention of the filk and linen called Damajks, owes its rife from hence. Itis here put for the whole country of Syria, and the inhabitants of it, for whofe numerous tranfgreffions, fignified by three and four, the Lord would not turn away his fury from them, juftly raifed by their fins; or the decree which he had paffed in his own mind, and now made a declaration of, he would not revoke; or not infli€t the punifhment they had deferved, and he had threatened. The fenfe is, that he would not fpare them, or have mercy on them, or defer the execution of punifhment any longer; he would not forgive their tranfgreffions. So the Targum, ** I will not pardon them.” De Dieu refers it to the earthquake before-mentioned, that God would not turn away that, but caufe it to come, as he had foretold, for the tranfgreffions of thefe, and other nations after fpoken of; but rather it refers to Damajfcus; and fo fome render it, I will not turn, or convert it ®; to repentance, and fo to my mercy; but leave it in its fins, and to my juft judgments. Kimchi thinks that this re- ¥. fpects four particular feafons, in which Damajcus, or the Syrians, evilly treated and diftrefled the people of [rael, firft in the times of Baa/a; then in the times of Ahab; a third time in the days of Feboabaz the fon of Febu; and the fourth in the times of Abaz; and then they were punifhed for them all: decaufe they have threfhed Gilead with threfhing infiruments of iron, that is, ‘* the inha- ** bitants of the land of Gilead,” as the Targum; this country lay beyond Jordan, and was inhabited by the Reubenites, and Gadites, and the half tribe of Manaffeb; who were ufed in a very cruel man-' ner by Hazael king of Syria, as was foretold by and to awaken Elifba, 2 Kings vii. 12, not literally, as in 2 Sam, xii. 31. but by him they were beat, opprefitd and crufhed, as the corn of the threfhing floor; which ufed to be threfhed out by means of a wooden inftrument ftuck with iron teeth, the top of which was filled with ftones to preis it down, and fo drawn to and fro over the fheaves of corn, by which means it was beaten out, to which the allu-: vii. 8. | fion is here, fee the note on 1 Cor. ix. 9. This was done by Hazael king of Syria, who is faid to deftroy the people, and make them /ike the duft by shrefhing, 2 Kings x. 32, 33. and xiii, 3,7. note ¥. 4. But I will Jend a Sire into the houfe of, &c.] For fo doing; into his family, his fons fons, one of whom perhaps was Rezin, that Tiglath-Pilefer king of Affyria flew, as dben Ezra obferves. ‘This denotes the judgments of God upon his pofterity for his cruel ufage of the J/raeltes; and defigns an enemy that fhould come into his country, and war made in the midft of it, by which it fhould be depopulated; and this being by the permiffion and providence of God, and according to his will, is faid to be fent by him: which fhall devour the palaces of Benhadad, a name frequently given to the kings of Syria, there was one of this name the immediate predeceflor of Hazae/, whofe iervant he was; and he left a fon of the fame name that fucceeded him, 2 Kings vii. 7, r5. and xiii. 24. thefe may denote the royal palaces of the kings of Syria, which fhould not be {pared in this time of defolation; tho’ rather by them may be intended the temples, which he and Hazael are faid by Fofepbus * to build in the city of Damafcus, whereby they greatly adorned it; and for thefe and other a¢ts of beneficence, they were deified by the Syrians, and worfhipped as gods; and even to the times of Yo/ephus, he fays, their ftarues were carried in pomp every day in honour of them; and fo the houfe of Hazael, in the preceding claufe, may fignify a temple, that was either built by him, or for the worfhip of him, fince he was deified as well as Benbadad; and it may be obferved, that as 4dad was a common name of the kings of Syria; for accarding to Nicholas of Damajcus*, ten kings that reigned in Damafcus were all called Adad; fo this is a name of the god they worfhipped. Pliny fpeaks of a god worfhipped by the Syrians whofe: name muft be Adad; fince according to him, the gem Adaduepbros had its name from him *; and Macrodius * is exprefs for it, that the chief god of the Affyrians was called Adad, which-fignifies one; fee th note on Jf. Ixvi. 17.; ay 5. I will break alfo the bar of Damafeus, 8c.] Or bars, the fingular for the. plural, by which the gates of the city were barred; and being broken, the gates would be eafily opened, and way made for the enemy to pafs into the city, and fpoil it; or it may fignify the whole ftrength, and all the fortifications of it. So the Targum, ‘1 will break * the ftrength of Damajfcus:” and cut off the inhabitant from the plain of Aven; or, of an idol, as the Vulgate Latin verfion. It is thought to be fome place. where idols were vrorthipidl by the Syrians, their gods were the gods of the vallies, which they denied the God of J/rael to be, 1 Kings

Chik #6 72 xx. 20. Mr. Maundrel * fays, that near Damafcus there is a plain {till called the valley of Bocat, and which he thinks is the fame with this Bicat-Aven, as it is in the Heérew text; and which lies between Lilanus and Antilibanus, near to the city of Heliopolis; and the Septuagint and Arabic verfions here call this valley the plain of Ox, which Theodoret interprets of an idol called Oz. Father Calmet takes it to be the fame with Hediapolis, now called Balbec, or Baal-beck, the valley of Baal, where was a famous temple dedicated to the fun, the magnificent remains whereof are ftill at this day vifible. Balbec is mentioned by the Arabians as the wonder of Syria; and one of their lexicographers fays, it is three days journey from Damajcus, where are wonderful foundations, and magnificent veftiges of antiquity, and palaces with marble co- Jumns, fuch as in the whole world are no where elfe to be feen; and fuch of our European travellers as have vifited it, are fo charmed with what they beheld there, that they are at a lofs how to expreis their admiration. On the fouth-weft of the town, which ftands in a delightful plain on the weft foot of Antilibanus, is an heathen temple, with the remains of fome other edifices, and among the reft of a magnificent palace', Some late travellers “ into thefé parts tell us, that ‘‘ upona rifing ground

“¢ near the north-eaft extremity of this p/aim, and * immediatély under Aztilibanus, is pleafantly fi- “¢ tuated the city of Balbec, between Jripoli of “© Syria, and Damajfcus, and about fixteen hours <¢ diftant from each.—This plain of Bocaz they fay ‘<¢ might by a little care be made one of the richett “¢ and moft fertile {pots in Syria; for it is more fer- “¢ tile than the celebrated vale of Dama/cus, and “¢ better watered than the rich plains of E/draelon «© and Rama. In its prefent neglected {tate it pro- << duces corn, fome good grapes, but very little << wood.—It extends in length from Ba/bec almoft “¢ to the fea; its direction is from north-eaft by * north, to fouth-weft by fouth; and its breadth “¢ from Libanus to Antilibanus is guefled to be in ** few places more than four leagues, or lefs than “ two.” It feems to be the fame with Bicat-

Lebanon, or the valley of Lebanon, Fob. xi. 17. and with that which S¢rado! calls the hollow plain; the breadth of which to the fea (he fays) is two hundred furlongs, and the length from the fea to the mid-land is double that: and him that holdeth the fcepter from the houfe of Eden; that is, the king from his pleafure-houfe; or it may be underftood of the name of fome place in Syria, where the kings of it ufed fometimes to be, and had their palace there, called Beth-Eden 5 arid it feems there is ftill a place near Damafcus, on mount Libanus, called Eden, as the above traveller fays; and Ca/- met™ takes it to be: the fame that is here fpoken of: and the people of Syria fhall go into captivity unto Kir, faith the Lord, which laft claufe is added for the certainty of it, and accordingly it was punctually fulfilled, for in the times. of Rezin, which was about fifty years after this prophecy of Amos, tho” Kimchi {ays but twenty-five, Tiglath- Pilefer king of Affyria came up againft Damajcus, took it, and carried the people captive to Kir, 2 Kings xvi. 9g. The Targum and Vulgate Latin verfion call it Cyrene, which fome underftand of

« Authors of the ruins of Balbec.

Cyrene in Egypt; fee Afs ii. 10. but this cannot be, fince it was in the hands of the king of 4/~ Syria but rather Kir in Media is meant; fee J/. xxii. 6. which was under his dominion; and fo Fofepbus fays *, that he carried captive the inhabitants of Damajfcus into Upper Media.

¥. 6, Thus faith the Lord, for three tranfgreffions ‘of Gaza, &c.} The chief city of the Philiftines, and put for the whole country, and defigns the inhabitants of it: and for four 1 will not turn away the punifhment thereof; fee the note on y. 3: becaufe they carried away captive the whole captivity; which cannot be underftood of the captivity of the whole nation, either of Jae! or Fudah, who were never carried captive by the Pbiliftines; but of their carrying away all the fubftance of the houfe of ‘Feboram king of Fudah, and of all his fons and his wives, and left him not one fon, but the youngeft, 2 Chron. xxi. 17: to- deliver them up to Edom, or, to fout them up in Edom; which country alfo revolted from Fehoram, when he and the captains of his chariots going out againft them, were compafled in by them, y¥. 8, 9, 10. Some think this refers to the time when Sennachertb invaded Fudea, and many of the Fews fled to Paleftine for fuccour, but inftead of being fheltered were delivered up to the Edomites; but this was in the times of Hezekiah, after Amos had prophefied, and therefore can’t be referred to; and for the fame reafon this cannot be applied to the Edomites and Philiftines invading and fmiting Judah, and carrying them captive, 2 Chron. xxviii. 17, 18. ¥. 7. But I will fend a fire on the wail of Gaza, &c.] An enemy that fhall pull down and deftroy the walls of it: this was fulfilled in the times of Uzziah, under whom Amos prophefied; and very likely in a very fhort time after this prophecy, who went out and warred againft the Phili/tines, and: broke down the wall of Gaza, 2 Chron. xxvi. 6. or elfe in the times of Hezekiah, who fmote the Philiftines unto Gaza, and the borders thereof, 2 Kings xviii. 8. or however in the times of Nebuchadnezzar, according to the prophecy of Feremiah, ch. xxv. 20. as alfo in the times of A/exander the Great, who, after he had taken Tyre, befieged Gaza, and after two months fiege took it, as Diodorus Siculus relates ®; the wall being undermined and thrown down, he entered in at the ruins of it, as Curtius 1 fays; in the times of the Maccabees the fuburbs of it were burnt by Fonathan, and the place taken, 1 Maccad. xi. 61, 62: which fhall devour the palaces thereof; the palaces of the governor, and of other great men in it; the governor of it, when Alewander took it, was Batis; and the ftately towers of it, of which there were many. ‘This city was about fifteen miles fouth of Afcalon, and about four or five north of the river Bezor, and at a fmall diftance from the Mediterranean. It was fituated on an eminence, furrounded with the moft beautiful and fertile vallies, watered by the above-mentioned river, and a number of other fprings; and at a farther diftance encompafied on the inland fide with hills, all planted with variety of fine fruit-trees. The city itfelf was ftrong, both by its fituation, and by the ftout walls and ftately towers that furrounded it, and built after the Philiftine manner’. Arrian alfo fays *, it it was a great city built on high ground, and en- “compafied with a ftrong wall; and was diftant from the fea at leaft twenty furlongs, or two miles and a half; fee the note on Aés vill. 26.

y. 8. I will cut off the inhabitants from Afhdod, &c.] The fame with dzotus. Als viil. 40. another principal city of the Philiftines: this perhaps was fulfilled when Zartan was fent againit it by Sargon king of Affria, and took it, //, xx. 1. or however in the times of the Maccabees, when ‘fonathan took it, and burnt it, and the cities round about it; and took their fpoils, and burnt the temple of Dagon, and thofe that fled to it; and what with thofe that were burnt, and thofe that fell by the fword, there perifhed about eight thoufand, 1 Maccab. x. 84, 85. this was fo ftrong a place, that, according to Heredotus *, it held out a fiege of twenty-nine years, under P/ammitichus king of Egypt. It was, according to Diodorus Siculus*, two hundred and feventy furlongs, or thirty four miles from Gaza before-mentioned; and it was about eight or nine from Afbkelon, and fourteen or fifteen from Ekron after-mentioned: and him that holdeth the [cepter from Afbkelon, another of the five lordfhips of the Pbilifines, whofe king or governor fhould be cut off, with the inhabitants of it; this was done by Nebuchadnezzar, Fer. xlvii. 5,6, 7. This place was about fifteen miles from Gaza, Mr. Sandys“ fays ten, but it was eight or nine miles from Afkdod; and, as Fofephus * fays, was five hundred and twenty furlongs from erzfalem. Jt was the birth place of Herod the Great, who from thence is called an Abkelonite; but the king or governor of it was cut off before his time. It was governed by kings formerly. Fuftin’ makes mention of a king of Ahkelon; according to the Samaritan interpreter, Gen. xx. 1. it is the fame with Gerar, which had a king in the times of Abraham; hence a {cepter is here afcribed to it: and I will turn mine band againft Ekron; to deftroy that; another of the chief cities of the Philiftines. It was about ten miles from Gath; four of the five lordfhips are here mentioned, but not Gath, which was the fifth; fee 1 Sam. vi. 17, 18. becaufe, as Kimchi fays, it was in the hands of Yudcb, All thefe places were. inhabited by heathens, and guilty of grofs idolatry, which muft be one of the tran{fgreffions for which they were punifhed. Gaza was a place much given to idolatry, as it was even in after-times; when other neighbouring cities embraced the chriftian religion, the inhabitants of it were violent perfecutors; hence that faying of Gregory Nazianzen *, “¢ who knows not the madnefs of the inhabitants of “* Gaza?” here ftood the temple of the god Marwas *, which with the Syrians. fignified the lord of men: at “faded or Azotus ftood the temple of Dagon, where he was worfhipped, 1 Sem. v. 2, 1 Mac. x. 84. Near Afbkelon, as Diodorus Siculus » relates, was a large and deep lake full of fifhes; and by it was a temple of a famous goddefs, called by the Syrians Derceto, who had a woman’s face, but the reft of her body in the form of a fith; being, as the fable goes, changed into one upon her cafting herfelf into the above lake on a certain occafion; hence the Syrians abftained from fihhes, and worfhipped them as gods. Herodotus « calls this city a city of Syria, and fpeaks of a temple dedicated to Urania Venus, and in the Talmud 4 mention is made of the temple of Zeripha, or of a molten image at Akelon, and betides idolatry, this place feems to have been famous for witchcraft; for it is faid *, that Simeon ben Shetach hang on one day at Abkelon fourfcore women: for being witches; and at Ekron, Baal-zebub or the god of the fly was worfhipped: and the remnant of the Philiftines fhall perifh,. faith the Lord Ged; all the other towns and cities belonging to them, befides thofe mentioned; which very likely had its accomplifhment in the times of the Maccabees, when they fell into the hands of the Jews.

¥. 9. Thus faith the Lord, for three tranfgrefiions of Tyrus, &c.] Or Tyre, a very ancient city in — Paleftine; of which fee the note on Jf. xxiii. 1: and for four, I will not turn away the punifhment thereof; {ee the note on ¥. 3: becaufe they delivered up the whole captivity to Edom, fuch of the J/- raelites that fell into their hands, or fled to them for fhelter, they delivered up to the Edomites their implacable adveriaries, or fold them to them, as they did to the Grecians, Foel iii. 6: and remembered not the brotherly covenant, either the covenant and agreement that fhould be among brethren, as the Fews and Edomites were; which the Tyriars fhould have remembered, and perfuaded them to. live, peaceably; and: not have delivered the one into the hands of the other, to be ufed in a cruel manner as flaves: or elfe the covenant made between Hiram king of Tyre, and David king of Tfrael, and which was renewed between Hiram and Solemen, on account of which they called each other brethren, 2 Sem. v. 11. 1 Kings v. 1, 12. and ix. 13. The Phenicians, of whom the Tyrians were the principal, are noted for being faithlefS and treacherous '. Punica fides * was the fame as French faith now; the perfidy of Hannibal is well known *. Cicero ‘ fays the Carthaginians, which were a colony of the Tyrians, were a deceitful and lying people; and Virgil * calls the Tyrians themfelves, Tyrios bilingues, double-tongued, which Servius interprets deceitful, as referring more to the mind than to the tongue; and obferves from Livy, the perfidy of the Pheniciaus in general, that they have nothing true nor facred among them; no fear of ° God, no regard to an oath, nor any religion; and which are the three or four tranfgreffions for which they are faid here they fhould be punifhed; for befides their ill ufage of the Yews, their idolatry no doubt came into the account: the god that was worfhipped at Tyre was Hercules, by whom was meant the fun, as Macrobius' obferves; and as there were feveral heathen gods of this name, he whom the Tyrians worfhipped is the fourth of the name with Cicero ™; the fame is the Melicarthus of Sanchoniatho*, which fignifies the king of the city, by which Bochart ° thinks Tyre is intended. To bea prieft of Hercules, was the fecond honour to that of king, as ¥u/tin ® obferves; and fo careful were the Zyrzans of this deity, that they ufed to chain him that he might not depart from them; fee Jer. x. 4. and a moft magnificent temple they had in honour of him, and which

~ they pretended was exceeding ancient; as old as the city itfelf, the antiquity of which they fpeak extravagantly of. Heredotus * fays he faw this termple, and which was greatly ornamented, and particularly had two pillars, one of gold, and another of emerald; and enquiring of the priefts, they told him it was built when their city was, ten thoufand three hundred years before that time; but according to their own hiftorians:, Hiram who lived in the days of Solomen built the temple of Hercules, as well as that of Afarte; for tho’ the is called the goddefs of the Sidonians, fhe was alfo worfhipped by the Tyrians; as he alfo ornamented the temple of Fupiter Olympius, and ‘annexed it to the city, which deity alfo it feems had worfhip paid it in this place. ¥. 10. But I will fend a fire on the wall of Tyrus, &c.] An enemy to deftroy the walls of it: this was done either by Salmanefer king of the Afyriens, in the times of Eu/eus king of the Tyrians, ot whofe expedition againft it Fo/ephus * makes mention: or by Nebuchadnezzar, who took it after thirteen years fiege of it, in the time of [thobalus*: or by Alexander, by whom it was taken, as Curtius * relates, after it had been befieged feven months:.which fhall devour the palaces thereof; of the governor, the great men and merchants in it. Alexander ordered all to be flain but thofe that fled to the temples, and fire to be put to the houfes; which made it a moft defolate place, as the above hiftorian has recorded. y. 11. Thus faith the Lord, for three tranfereffions of Edom, &c.J} Or the Edomites, the pofterity of H/au, whofe name was Edom, fo called from the red pottage he fold his birth-right for to his brother Facob: and for four, I will not turn away the punifhment thereof; fee the note on y¥. 3. Among thefe three or four tranfgreffions, not only what follows is included, but their idolatry; for that the Edomites had their idols is certain, tho’ what they were cannot be faid; fee 2 Chron. xxv. 14°: becaufe he did purfue bis brother with the fword not L/aw his brother Facob; for tho’ he purpofed in his heart to flay him, which obliged him to flee, and frighted him upon his return, by meeting him with four hundred men, yet he never purfued him with the fword; but his pofterity the Edomites, not only would not fuffer the J/raelites their brethren to pais by their borders, but came out againft them witha large army, Numb. xx. 18, 19, 20. and in the times of dbaz they came againit Fudab with the fword, and fmote them, and carried away captives, 2 Chron. xxviii. 17. and were at the taking and deftruction of Ferufalem, and afiifted and encouraged in it, Pf. cxxxvii. 7. Obad. y. 11—14. tho’ to thefe later inftances the pro- -phet could have no refpect, becaufe they were after his time: end did caft off all pity; bowels of compaffion, natural affection, fuch as ought to be between brethren, even all humanity: or corrupted, or deftroyed all pity”; fhewed none, but extinguifhed all fparks of it, as their behaviour to the Ijreelites Shewed, when upon their borders in the wildernefs: and his anger did tear perpetually, it was deeply rooted in them; it began ini their frit father Efau, on account of the bleffing and birthright Facob got from him; and it defcended from father to fon in all generations, and was vented in a moft cruel manner; like the ravening: of a lion, or any other beaft of prey: and kept his wrath for ever 5 referved it in their breafts till they had an opportunity of fhewing it, as Ejaw: their father propofed to do, Gen. xxvii. Al. bs

¥. 12. But I will fend a fire upon Teman, &c.] A principal city of Edom or Idumea, fo called from Teman a grandfon of Efau, Gen. xxxvi. 11. Ferom™ {ays there was in his time a village called Theman; five miles diftant from the city Petra, and had a Roman garrifon; and fo fays Eujebius ’; who places it in Arabia Petrea; it is put for the whole country; it fignifies the fouth: So the Zargum renders it, ** a fire in the fouth.” The fre fignifies an enemy that fhould be fent into it, and deftroy it: this was Nebuchadnezzar, who; as fo- Jephus * fays, five years after the deftruction of Ferufatem led his army into Celefyria, and took. its and fought againft the Ammonites and Moabites, and very probably at the fame time againft the Edomites: which hall devour the palaces of Bozrah another famous city of the Edomites, there was one of this name in Moad; either there were two cities fo called, one in Edom, and another in Moab; or rather this city lay, as Farchi fays, between Edom and Moab; and fo fometimes is placed to one, and fometimes to another, as it might belong to the one and to the other, according to the event of war. It is the fame with Bezer in the wildernefs, appointed a Levitical city, and a city of refuge by Yofbua, ch. xx. 8. and belonged to the tribe of Reuben; but being on the bordets of that tribe, and of Moab and Edom, it is afcribed to each, as they at different times made themfelves matters of it. It is thé fame with Bofra, which Ptolemy * places in Arabia Petrea, and being on the confines of Arabia Deferta, and furrounded on all fides with wild deferts, it is commonly fpoken of as fituated in a wildernefs. erom» fpeaks of it as a city of Arabia in the defert, to the fouth, looking to Damafcus; and according to the Per- Jian © geographer, it is four days journey fouthward from Damafcus; and Eufebius places it at the diftance of twenty-four miles from Adraa or Edrei. The deftruction of this place is prophefied of by Feremiah, ch. xlviii. 24. and xlix. 13. and perhaps thefe prophecies were accomplifhed when

- Nebuchadnezzar made war with the Ammonites and

Edomites, as before obferved; or however in the times of the Maccabees, when Fudas Maccabeus took this city, put all the males to the fword, plundered it, and then fet fire to it, which literally fulfilled this prophecy, 1 Maccad. v. 28. It was afterwards rebuilt, and became a confiderable city; in the time of the above Perfian geographer *, it had a yery ftrong caftle belonging to it, a gate twenty cubits high, and one of the largeft bafons or pools of water in all the eaft. In the fourth century there were bifhops of this place, which affifted in the councils of Nice, Antioch, Ephefus, and Chalcedon, as Reland * obferves; tho’ he thinks that Bofra is not to be confounded with the Bezer of Reuben, or with the Bozra of Moab and Edom; tho’ they feem to be all one and the fame place. y¥. 13. Thus faith the Lord, for three tranfgreffions of the children of Ammon, 8cc.] Thefe are the defcendents of Ben-Ammi, a fon of Lot’s, by one of his daughters, Gen. xix. 38. are diftinguifhed from the Ammonites, 2 Chron. xx. 1. were near neighbours of the Jews, but great enemies to them, tho’ a-kin: and for four, I will not turn away the punifhment thereof; fee the note on ¥. 3. Among thefe tranfgreffions, for which God would punifh thefe people, are to be reckoned, not only their ill treatment of the Gileadites after-mentioned, but other fins, which are all included in this number, and particularly their idolatry; for idolaters they were, though the children of Lot; and originally might have had better inftruétion, from which they departed. Moloch or Milcom, which fignifies a king, was the abomination or idol of the Ammonites, 1 Kings xi. 5,7. The image of this idol, according to the Fews, had feven chapels, and he was within them; and his face was the face of a calf or ox; and his hands were ftretched out as a man ftretches out his hands to receive any thing of his friend; and they fet it on-fire within, for it was hollow; and every one according to his offering went in to thefe chapels; he that offered a fowl, went into the firft chapel; he that offered a fheep, into the fecond chapel; if a lamb, into the third; a calf into the fourth; a bullock into the fifth; an ox into the fixth; but he that offered his fon, they brought him into the feventh; and they put the child before Moloch, and kindled a fire in the infide of him, until his hands were like fire; and then they took the child, and put him within its arms; and beat upon tabrets or drums, that the cry of the child might not be heard by the father’. Benjamin of Tudela ® reports, that in his time at Gidal, the border of the children of Ammon, a day’s journey from Tripoli, was found the remains of a temple of the children of Ammon; and an idol of theirs fitting upon a throne; and it was made of ftone, and covered with gold; and there were two women {fitting, one on its right-hand, and the other on its left; and before it an altar, on which they ufed to facrifice and burn incenfe to’ it, as in the times of the children of Ammon. Chemofh alfo was worfhipped by, the Ammonites, Fudg. xi. 24. which was alfo the god of the. Moadites; of which fee the note on Fer. xlviii, 7: becaufe they have ript up the women with child of Gilead, that they might enlarge their border; this Hazael king of Syria did, according to Eli/ba’s prophecy; and very likely the children of Ammon might join with bim, inafmuch as they bordered on the countries which he {mote, 2 Kings viii. 12. and xX, 32, 33. This was an inftance of fhocking cruelty and inhumanity, to deftroy at once the innocent and the impotent, tho’ frequently done by enemies, 2 Kings xv. 16. Hof. xiii. 16. The reafon of it was not only that they might pofiefs their land, but keep it when they had got it; there being no heir to claim it, or moleft them in the pofleffion of it; fee Fer. xlix. 1.