Exposition of the Whole Bible

is a queftion; nor does it feem very likely that thefe men would chufe fuch fort of wine! wherefore rather wine bought with the money they received by the fines and amercements of thofe they unjuftly condemned, is intended.. The Targum renders it, the wine of rapine; and this they were not content to drink only in their own houfes, but drank it at their feftivals in the temples of their idols, fuch as were built for the calves of Dan and Bethel, and other idols..

¥.'9. Yet deftroyed I the Amorite before them, &c.] flere the Lord by the prophet reckons up the many favours and bleffings he had beftowed upon T/rael, which was an aggravation of their fins, and fhewed them to be guilty of great ingratitude,. and a juftification of him in his punifhment of them. He drove out the feven nations of Canaanites from before them, to make way for them, and deftroyed them, of which the Amorite was a principal, and is here put for all the reft: whofe height was like the height of the cedars; being both. tall of ftature, and in great honour and dignity with the other nations, and in very opulent and flourifhing circumftances: and he was firong as the oaks; not only like the tall cedars of Lebanon for their height and largenefs of ftature, but like the fturdy oaks for the ftrength of their bodies, being of the race of the giants, Numb. xiii. 28, 32, 33. Deut. iii. 11: yet I deftroyed bis fruit from above, and bis roots from beneath, that is, utterly deftroyed him, root and branch, fo that nothing of him remained; ftill perfifting in the metaphor ofa tree. Farchi interprets it of their fuperior and inferior princes; but it feems beft to underftand it of children with their parents, the one being the fruit, the other the root; and both being deftroyed, there muft be utter ruin.

¥. 10. Alfo I brought you up from the land of Egypt, &c.] Where they were bond-flaves, and in great affliction and diftrefs, and unable to help themfelves; but the Lord wrought deliverance for them, and brought them out of this houfe of bondage with an high hand, and a mighty arm: and led you forty years thro’ the wildernefs; going before them in a pillar of cloud by day, and ina pillar of fire by night; providing them with all things neceflary, with food and raiment, and protecting them from all their enemies: to poffe/s the land of the Amorite; the whole land of Canaan, fo called from a principal nation of it.

y. 11. And I raifed up your fons for prophets, &c.] Such as Mojfes, Fofbua, and the feventy elders, and others; not only to foretel things: to come, but to teach and inftruct the people in the doétrines and duties of religion, and to warn them of their fins, and the danger of them: and of your young men for Nazarites; as Sampfon, Samuel, and others; whofe vow not only obliged them from fhaving their hair, but to abftain from drinking wine, and eating grapes, which the youthful age is inclined unto; but fuch grace was given them, as enabled them to deny themfelves fenfual gratifications, and to be examples of piety and conftant attendance on the fervice of God, and inftructing the people. The Targum is, ** of your * young men for teachers;” thefe were the fpi-

466 AM ritual mercies, as the: former were the temporal ones, the Lord beftowed on thefe people, for the truth of which he appeals to them: is it mot even thus, O ye children of Ifrael, faith the Lord? can ye deny it? the thing was too notorious to be contradicted.

yx. 12. But ye gave the Nazarites wine to drink, &c.] Contrary to their vow and calling, and in contempt of it, and to make them like themfelves; they either perfuaded them, or forced them to it: and commanded the prophets, faying, prophefy not; hard and heavy things, judgments and denunciations of vengeance, only {mooth things; by this authoritative language it appears, that this is faid of the rulers and governors of the people, as king, princes, and priefts; fee ch. vil. 12, 13.

y¥. 13. Bebold, I am preffed under you, &c.| With the weight of their fins, with which they had made him to ferve, and had wearied him; his patience was quite wore out, he could bear them no longer: as a cart is preffed that is full of foeaves, as a cart in harveft-time, in which the fheaves of corn are carried home; when one fheaf is laid upon another, till they can lay no more, and the cart is loaded, and over-loaded with them, and ready to break, or be preffed into the earth with them: thus Jehovah reprefents himfelf as loaded and burdened with the fins of thefe people, and therefore would vifit for them, and inflié& deferved punifhment. Some render it actively, behold, I prefs*, or am about to prefs your place, as a cart full of fheaves preffeth *; the horfe or horfes which draw it, efpecially the laft; or the ground it goes upon; or as a cart ftuck with iron fpikes, and loaded with ftones, being drawn over a corn-floor, prefies the full fheaves, and beats out the grain, which was their way of preffing it: fo the Lord fignifies he would afflict and diftrefs this people, bring them into ftrait circumftances, by a clofe fiege, and other judgments, which fhould ruin and deftroy them; and which was firft begun by Tiglath-Pilefer king of Afpria, and finifhed by Salmanefer, who carried away the ten tribes captive. So the Targum, ‘* be-

N this chapter, the prophet goes on with his prophecy againft J/rael, whom God had highly favoured, and yet finned againft him, and therefore muft expect to be punifhed by him; and the rather, fince he and they were not agreed; and therefore there could be no communion between them, ¥. 1, 2, 3. and by various fimilies are. fet forth the caufe of divine judgments, the certain defign of them, and their continuance till the end is anfwered; which fhould be attended to, fince every thing of this kind is of God, who giving his prophets notice of it, they are under an abfolute neceffity of declaring it; nor fhould they be blamed for it, ¥..4, 5, 6, 7, 8. and even the heathen nations are appealed unto as witnefles of the fins of J/rael, that caufed fuch a denunciation of wrath; their tumults, oppreffion, injuftice, violence and robbery, ¥. 9, 10. wherefore an adverfary is threatened to be fent among them, that fhould ut-

“ hold, I bring diftrefs upon you, and it fhall

“€ ftraiten you in your place, as a cart is ftraitened *¢ which is loaded with fheaves.” _¥. 14. Therefore the flight fhall perifh from-the fwift, &c.] They fhould be fo ftraitened and cooped up, and be fo loaded with preffures, that. ~ thofe, as fwift of foot as A/ahel, fhould not be able to make their efcape by fleeing: and the ftrong Jhall not firengthen bis force; fhould not increafe it, ~ or mutter it up, and exert it to fuch a degree, as to be able to defend and fecure himfelf from the enemy: neither foall the mighty deliver himfelf; bis foul or life; a foldier, a man of war, an expert and courageous officer at the head of his troop, or even the general of the army; fee P/ xxxiii. 16, y. 15. Neither fhaill he ftand that handleth the bow, &c,] That is, at fome diftance, and can make ufe of his inftruments of war afar off; yet will not think it fafe to ftand his ground, but will betake himfelf to his heels as faft as he can to fave himfelf: and be that is /wift of foot fall not deliver himfelf; this is repeated, left any fhould place confidence in their agility, and to fhew how complete and inevitable the affliction will be: meither fhall he that rideth the horfe deliver himfelf,; by fleecing on horfe-back, no more than he that is on foot; no ways that can be devifed or thought on, would preferve from this general calamity; fee P/. xxxiii. 17,, ¥. 16. And he that is courageous among the mighty, &c.] Or ftrong in his beart®, one that is of a great heart, famous for courage and bravery, that excels in it among the mighty; the moft valiant foldiers and officers: fhall flee away naked in that day; fhall throw away his armour, nay put off his cloaths, as being both an hindrance to him in his flight, and that he may make the better fpeed: faith the Lord; which is added to fhew the certainty of all this; it might be depended upon that fo it would be, fince the Lord God of truth had fpoken its and it was fulfilled about fourfcore years. after this prophecy.

terly deftroy them, fo that few thould efcape, ¥. 11, 12. particularly their idolatry and luxury feem to have been reigning fins, which had a great hand in bringing on their ruin, and for which the Lord would punifh them, y. 13, 14, 15.

¥. 1. Hear this word, that the Lord hath fpoken againft you, O children of Ifrael, &c.] The prophecy againft J/rael begins in the preceding chapter, where notice is taken of their fins, at leaft fome of them, and of their aggravated circumftances, and fure deftruction; and here they ate called upon to hearken and liften to what the Lord by his prophet had fpoken, and was about to {peak unto them; and to receive this word, as the Targum; to receive it as the word of God, and not men, and with all humility and reverence; and to take it, and apply it to themfelves, to whom it juftly belonged; and to make a proper ufe and

VON fortis corde fuo, Vatablus, Pifcator 5 fortis animo, improvement of it, by humiliation and teformation. A word this was, againft the whole family which I brought up from the land of Egypt; it was but a family that went down into Egypt; and tho’ it greatly increafed there, it was no more when it was brought up from thence: a family under the peculiar care of Febovab, as the bringing them out of Egypt, out of the houfe of bondage, when greatly diftreffed there, abundantly fhews; and which was a wonderful bleffing and favour; and therefore often mentioned, and led on to many other bleffings and mercies: a family which was the Lord’s own, and therefore he had a right to chaftife and correét them for their fins. It feems by this phrafe, the whole family, as if the two tribes of Fudab and Benjamin were included; though the prophecy feems chiefly intended againft the ten tribes, which went by the name of J/rael, ever fince the breach in Rehoboam’s time, as diftiné from Fudab, y¥. 2. You only have I known of all the families of the earth, &c.| All the families or nations of the earth, and all the inhabitants of it, are known by the Lord, as he is the omnifcient God; but none had been known by him as a family, or a nation, with that love and affection as this family had been, or diftinguifhed by his favours and bleffings as they, not only temporal, but fpiritual; befides the land of Cgnaan, and all the good things in it, they had the law of the Lord, his word, worfhip, and ordinances among them; he chofe them for himfelf above all people, and gave peculiar marks of his affe€tion to them, and {pecial inftances of his goodnefs, and of his care over them, and concern for them; fee Deut. iv. 6, 7, 8. and vii. 6, 7. Pf. cxlvii. 19, 20. Rom. ix. 4, 5. Therefore I will punifb you for all your iniquities; or vifit upon you ¢, or againft you; in a way of chaftifement and correction: they were a family he had highly favoured, and yet departed from him; children -he had brought up in a tender manner, and brought out of a moft miferable condition, and yet rebelled againft him; he had followed and loaded them with his benefits, and they had proved ungrateful to him; he had given them a revelation of his mind and will, and they had rejeéted it, and therefore knowing, and not doing it, were worthy of more ftripes; their fins were more aggravated than others, being againft goodnefs and mercy, light and knowledge; and therefore the Lord was determined to make an example of them; fee 1 Pet. iv. 17. re Can two walk together, except they be agreed?| Unlefs they meet together, and appoint time and place, when and where they fhall fet out, what road they will take, and whither they will go; without fuch confultation and agreement, it cannot be thought they fhould walk together; and not amicably, unlefs united in friendfhip, and are of the fame affection to each other, and of the fame fentiments one with another; or it is much if they don’t fall out by the way. The defign of thefe words is to fhew, that without friendfhip there’s no fellowfhip, and without concord no communion; as this is the cafe between man and man, fo between God and man; and that J/rae/ could not exeé& that God fhould walk with them, and fhew himfelf friendly to them, and continue his favours with them, when they walked contrary to him; when they were fo difagreeable to-him in their fen-

| timents of religion, in their worfhip, and the rites of it, and in the whole of their conduét and behaviour. And to a fpiritual wall with God, and communion with him, agreement is requifite. God and man were originally chief friends, but fin fet them at variance; a reconciliation becarne néceflary to their walking together again; which was fet on foot, not by man, who had no inclination to it;

nor knew how to go about it, if he had, and much lefs able to effect it; but by the Lord, the offended party: it began in his thoughts, which were thoughts of peace; it was fet on foot by him in the council of peace, and concluded in the covenant of peace; and his Son was fent to bring it about; and through his obedience, fufferings, and death, through his facrifice and fatisfaction, the agreement is made on the part of God, his jutftice is fatisfied; but ftill it is neceffary man fhould be agreed too; this is brought out by the Spirit of God, who fhews the finner the enmity of his mind, the fin and danger of it, flays this enmity, and puts in new principles of light, life, and love; when the foul is reconciled to God’s way of falvation, and loves the Lord, and delights in him; and both being thus agreed, the one by the fatisfaction of Chrift, and the other by the Spirit of Chrift; fee Rom. v. 10. they walk comfortably together: the faint walks with God, not only as in his fight and prefence, but by faith, and in his fear, in the ways and ordinances of the Lord; and particularly is frequent in prayer and meditation, in which much of his walk with God lies: and God walks with him; he grants his gracious prefence; manifefts his love and favour to him; talks with him by the way; difclofes the fecrets of his heart; and indulges him with nearnefs and communion with him; but all is founded on mutual agreement. And fo it muft be between men and men, that walk in a religious way; regenerate and unregenerate perfons cannot walk together, there being no concord, 2 Cor. vi. 14, 15. nor can all forts of profeffors; they muft agree in the way Chrift, and in the fundamental principles of religion; and in worfhip, and the manner of it; and in all the ordinances of the gofpel, and the manner of adminiftring them. ¥. 4. Will a lion roar in the foreft when he hath no prey? &c.] He will not, unlefs he has it in his fight, or in his paws; he roars when he firft fees it, whereby he terrifies the creature, that it cannot move till he comes up to it; and when he has got it in his paws, he roars over it, to invite others to partake with him. Now prophecy from the Lord is compared to the roaring of a lion, ch. i. 2. and this is never in a way of judgment without a caufe; the fin of men, or of a nation, which makes them a prey to the wrath and fury of God. Will a young lion cry, or give forth bis voice out of his den, if he have taken nothing? that is, if the old lion has taken nothing, and brought nothing unto him; which fignifies the fame as before; unlefs by the young lion is meant the prophets of the Lord, who never prophefy but when they have a commiffion from him, and a people are pointed out to them as the juft prey of his wrath and vengeance. All the images here ufed are very natural; the lion is for the moft part in woods and forefts, hence called the dion out of the foreft, Jer. v. 6. as he is by Theocritus* where his voice is heard, but not unlefs he = bi ight fight of his prey, or has got it, even tho’ ever fo hungry; but when he has it in view, he roars {fo terribly, that, as Bafil* obferves, many animals that could efcape him thro’ their fwiftnefs, yet are fo affrighted at~his roaring, that they have no power to move; and they have their dens either in caves or in thickets, where are the fhe-lionefs and the-young lions, to whom the prey is brought; fee Nab. ii. 11, 12.

y¥. 5. Can a bird fall in a fnare upon the earth, where no gin is for him? &c.} No, there muft be a fnare fet, or a bird can never be taken in it; and that is done, not by chance, but with the defign of the fowler; yea, with the knowledge and will of God himfelf, Matz..x. 29, the defign of this is to fhew, that no judgment or affliction comes upon a people, or they into one, by chance, or without the appointment of God; they are his nets and fnares, which he on purpofe fpreads and fets for perfons, to take them in; and unlefs he did do fo, they would not fall into any; fee od v. 6, 7. and xxiii. 14. and Ezek, xii. 13. Shall one take up a fuare from the earth, the Targum adds, out of its time; and have taken nothing at all? when men fet a fnare to catch any thing, do they ‘take it up before.any thing is caught? they do not; they let it ftand till fomething is enfnared in it, and fo their end anfwered, and then they take it up, and not before. And thus when God denounces or brings a judgment, or an affliction, upon a people, does he remove it, before the end is anfwered by it? he does not; if the end is to, bring men to a fenfe of fin, and humiliation for it; or to bring near to God, who have been wandring from him; or to-try their graces, or take away their fin; when fuch an end is anfwered, then, and not till then, is the fnare taken up, or the affliction removed; till fuch an end is brought about, the diftrefs is continued, or the threatening of it; and of this J/rae/ is hereby affured.

¥. 6. Shall a trumpet be blown in the city, &c.] Meaning not any trumpet bloWn, as the filver trumpet for the gathering of the people to worfhip, or the jubilee trumpet which proclaimed liberty to them, or any other, expreffive of joy and gladnefs; but the found of the trumpet, the alarm of war, or what is blown by the watchmen on the walls, defcrying an enemy, or fome danger, near: and the people not be afraid? they muft, they ufually are, left their lives, and their childrens, fhould be taken away, and their fubftance become a prey to the enemy: or, and the people not run together § 2 into fome one place for fhelter, or to confult together, how to provide for their fafety, and fecure themfelves from danger. So when the prophets of the Lord, by his order, lift up their voice like a trumpet, to fhew his people their tranfgreffions; or when, as watchmen, they blow the trumpet, to give notice of approaching danger; can they hear fuch denunciations of his wrath for their fins, and not tremble at them? or not take fome ways and methods to efcape it? Shall there be evil in a city, and the Lord hath not done it? which is not to be underftood of the evil of fin, of which God is not theauthor, it being contrary to his nature and will; and tho’ he permits it to be done by others, yet he never does it himfelf, nor fo much as tempts men to it, Fam. i. 13, 14. unlefs the words fhould be rendered, as they may be, jhall there be evil in a city, and foall not the Lord do or work? thall

© In Hexaemeron, Homil. 9. Seall not the Lord do Somewhat? margin of our bibles.

S. fin be committed in a city, all forts of fin, in the moft bold and extravagant manner, and will not. the Lord do fomething to fhew his refentment of it? is it not time for him to arife and work for his name-fake? will he not vifit for thefe things, and be avenged on fuch a city, and the inhabitants of it? but this may be interpreted of the evil of affiction or judgment; which, wherever it comes, is by the order and appointment of God, and is inflicted by him; thus evil, as well as good, comes out of the mouth and hand of the Moft High; and he creates the evil of adverfity, as well as. makes peace and profperity; fee 7od ii. 10. Lam. iii. 38. Jf, xlv. 7.

y. 7. Surely, the Lord Ged will do nothing, &c.} In the world, in a nation or city; no remarkable event has happened, or fhall happen, to the fons of men: but he revealeth his fecret unto bis servants the prophets; what he willed and determined to do, which was a fecret in his own breaft, till revealed; and this generally, and for the moft part, he makes known to thofe that fear and ferve him; and efpecially to whom he employs in public fervice, as his prophets and minifters, previous to his accomplifhment of it: thus he revealed to Noah, the drowning of the old world by the flood; to dbra-_ bam the burning of Sodom and Gomorrha; and to — the fame fervant and friend of his, the affliction of his pofterity four hundred years in a ftrange land, and then to be brought out with great fubftance; to Abijah the Shilonite, the rending of ten tribes from the houfe of David; to Feremiah, the feventy years captivity of the Yews in Babylon; to Laiab, their deliverance from thence, thro’ Cyrus by name; to Daniel, the four monarchies, the nature, rife, and fall of them; and to Joby, the difciple of Chrift, all the material things that fhould come to pafs, relating to the church and world, from the firft times of the gofpel, to the fecond coming of Chrift; which that book is a Revelation of, that bears that name; fee Gen. xviii. 17. and fo that grand affair, which God has brought about in the world, the falvation of his people by his Son, which was a fecret hid in his heart before the world began, this he revealed to his fervants, before it was effected; not only the fcheme of it, but the author of it, whom he very early gave notice of; and who was {poken of by the mouth of all the prophets, from the beginning of the world; declaring who and what he was, the Son of God; that he fhould be incarnate, and born of a virgin; when he fhould appear, and where, and in what part of the world; alfo in what way and manner he fhould obtain falvation, by his obedience and fufferings 5 and all the circumftances relating thereunto, are ~ moft minutely and exactly declared by him. Yea, God reveals unto his faints in common, the fecret of his purpofes, refpecting their election, redemption, and regeneration, which is made known in effeétual vocation; and of the bleffings of his grace in the covenant, and alfo of his providences; and of his love, grace, and mercy; and of his gofpel, and the myfteries of it; thus he deals with them as his friends, rather than as his fervants; fee Pf, xxv. 14. Yobn xv. 15. &:

'y. 8. Ihe lion bath roared, who will not fear? &c.] Amos faid this from his own experience, who — having been an herdiman in the wildernefs of Tekoa, had often heard a lion roar, which had put him into a pannic, both for himfelf, and the cartel he kept; the figure is explained in the next claufe: the Lord God bath fpoken, who can but prophefy? whether it be to foretel future events, which the Lord has made known fhall come to pafs; or to preach the word, which is to prophefy to edification, to exhortation, and comfort, 1 Cor. xiv. 3. or to perform the more private exercifes of religion, -as finging of pfalms, praying, &c. 1 Chrou, xxv. I, 25 3, 1 Cor. xi. 4, 5, thefe things who can forbear doing, to whom the Lord has fpoken either in a dream or vifion, or in his word, and by his Spirit; and to whom le has given a call and commiffion, and gifts and graces, qualifying them for fuch fervice? who that has the fear of God in his heart, and his glory in view, and the good of others, that can refrain from it? nay, it is of dangerous confequence to refufe it; for if the roaring of a lion is fo terrible, and if the wrath of an earthly king is as the roaring of a lion, much more the wrath and difpleafure of the King of kings. ‘Fonab declined prophefying, when the Lord {poke to him, but what was the confequence of it? the prophet by this feems to juftify himfelf in prophefying, and that he ought not to be blamed for it, feeing the Lord had given-him the word, and theretore he ought to publifh it. This may be particularly applied to the minifters of the word, who haye a call, a charge and gifts from Chritt, and on whom there is a neceffity laid to preach the gofpel; and'who fhould not fhun to declare it on any account; nor can they, who have it in their hearts, and as fire in their bones; who have feen and heard, and handled of the word of life, let what will be the confequence of it; fee P/- Ixviii. 11. AGs iv. 20. and v. 20, 29. 1 Cor. ix. 16.

¥. 9. Publifo in the palaces at Afodod, and in the palaces in the land of Egypt, Sc.] This is fpoken to the prophets, to publifh and declare in all the courts of the Philiftines and Egyptians, and among all the princes and great men therein, the fins of the people of J/rae/, and the punifhment God threatened them with; and let them, even thefe very heathens, judge whether there was not a juft proportion between them, and whether their fins did not deferve fuch calamities to be brought upon them, the Lord by his prophets had denounced. Aud fay; affemble yourfelves on the mountains of Samaria; the metropolis of the ten tribes, -J/- vii. 9. and which was built upon a mountain, and feveral others were about it, and joined to it; where thefe princes of Afhdod or Azotus in Paleftine, and of Egypt, are called to leave their courts, and meet together, to behold the iniquities committed by Jrael, and to fit in judgment upon them, and declare their fenfe of what was juft and fitting to be done to fuch a people: and bebold the great tumults in the midft thereof; the riots.of its inhabitants, the noife of the mob committing all manner of outrages and wickednels: and the oppreffed in the widft thereof, the poor, the fatherlefs, and the widow, injured in their perfons and properties, plundered of their fubftance, or defrauded of it.

¥. 10. For they know not to do right, &c.] What is juft and right between man and man, no not in one fingle inftance; they did not regard it, or advert to it; they were under no concern about it; and were fo much under the power of their lutts, that they knew not how to do it; and had ufed themfelves fo long to fuch wicked and unjuft Ways, that they had loft at leaft the practical knowledge of doing juftice; they knew what was right in the theory, but not in the practice; bribes blinded their eyes; for this feems to defign judges, civil magiftrates, fuch who had the adminiftration of Juftice, and the execution of the Jaws in their hands. The Targum is, * they know not to exe- * cute the law; fee Fer. iv. 22. Who ftore up violence and robbery in their palaces, treafured up riches in their palaces, gotten in a violent way, by oppreffion and injuftice; and which was no other, nor better, than robbery. his fhows that perfons in power and authority, that lived in palaces, in great fplendor and grandeur, are here meant.

y. 11. Therefore thus faith the Lord God; 8&c.| Becaute of thefe tumults and riots, oppreffion and injuftice, violence and robbery: an adverfary there fhall be even round about the land, not Tyre, as Theodoret renders the word; but the king of 4/ fyria, who invaded the land of J/rae/ in the days of Hofbea, took Samaria, and carried J/rael captive, and placed them in foreign countries, 2 Kings xvii. 6: and he fhall bring down thy ftrength from thee; take away their riches, demolifh their fortreflés, and ftrip them of every thing in which they put their confidence: and thy palaces fhall be fpoiled; plundered of the treafures laid up in them, and pulled down to the ground; and a juft retaliation this, for their being the repofitories of illgotten fubftance and wealth.

¥. 12. Thus faith the Lord, as the foepherd taketh out of the mouth of the lion, &c.] Or what the lion has left, to fhew to his mafter that it had been feized and torn by a beaft of prey; for otherwife it is a moft daring thing, and not ufual for a fhepherd to take any thing out of a lion’s mouth, tho* David did: and here it is faid to be not a whole fheep, or a lamb, but two /egs, or a piece of an ear; the body of the creature being devoured by the lion, only fome offal left he cared not for; two thanks of the legs that had no flefh upon them, and the griftle of the ear, as the Targum; having fatisfied his hunger with the beft of it: fignifying hereby, that only a few of the J/aelites fhould efcape the.enemy, and thofe poor and infignificant, he made no account of; and this in a miraculous manner, it being like taking any thing out of the mouth of a lion, to which a powerful enemy is compared, and particularly the king of Afpria, Fer. 1. 17: fo foall the children of Ijrael be taken out that dwell in Samaria; only a few of them, and thofe the pooreft; and their efcape will be next to a miracle, when the city will be taken; even fuch as are weak and fickly, or faint-hearted: being iz a corner of a bed; who either through ficknefs lie there, or flothfulnefs, danger being near; or thro’ poverty, having only a corner or a piece of a bed to lie on; or thro’ cowardice they hid themfelves in one part of it: and in Damafcus in a couch; or in a bed of Damafcus*; the chief city in Syria, taken much about the fame time as Samaria was; and where fome of the J/raelites might betake themfelves, and think themfelves fecure as perfons laid on. acouch; or at the bed’s feet*, as fome render it; or im a corner of a couch *, as before. The Targum paraphrafes it, ** that dwell in Samaria, ayy peta in fponda Damafci, Tigurine verfion; in grabbato Damafci, fo fome in Drufius; in leétis Damafcenis, Ca-

‘“< in the ftrength of power, trufting in Damaf- $6 bas x. 13. Hear ye, and teftify in the houfe of Jacob, &c.] The prophets and priefts, whofe bufinels it was to fpeak to the people from the Lord, and declare his will to them, and to admonifh them of their fin and danger, are» here called upon to hearken to what the Lord was about to fay, and to teftify and publith it to the people of J/rae, the pofterity of Facob, tho’ fadly degenerated:. faith the Lord God, the God of hofts; the eternal Jehovah, the being of beings, the God of the whole earth, the God of the armies above and below; _and being fo great, ought to be heard with the greateft attention and reverence, in what follows.

y. 14. That in the day that I fhall vifit the tranfgreffions of Trael upon him, &c.| The three or four mentioned in the preceding chapter, the great multitude of them, their profanenefs, uncleannefs, and luxury, their injuftice and oppreffion of the poor; when he fhould vifit and punith for thefe fins, as he would by the hand of the dffyrian, he would not forget their idolatry; tho’ no notice is taken of this before, in the appeal to the heathen princes, who were likewife guilty of it: J will alfo vifit the altars of Bethel; where one of the calves Feroboam made, was fet up and worfhipped; and where was an altar erected, and facrifice offered on it, 1 Kings xii. 28—33. and here the plural number is put for the fingular; tho’ it may be, that in procefs of time more altars might be fet up as they increafed in idolatry, and as feems from Ho/. viii. 11, and x. r. and now the Lord would. fhew his refentment at them, and punifh thofe that worfhipped and facrificed there... So the Zargum, “* that “¢ worfhip at the altars in Bethel.” And the horns of the altar fhall be cut off, and fall to the ground, for it feems this altar was made after the form of that at Ferufalem, with four horns at the four corners of it; and which were reckoned the more prin-

N this chapter, the great ones or the people of

J/rael are threatened with calamities for their oppreffion of the poor, ¥. 1, 2, 3, and in an ironical manner are reproved for their idolatry, y¥. 4, 5. then follows an enumeration of feveral judgments that had been upon them, yet had had no effect on them, to bring them to repentance, -nor even mercies, ¥. 6—11. and notwithftanding all this, in a wonderful gracious manner, they are called upon to prepare to meet their God, who is defcribed. by his power, greatnefs, and goodnefs, Mi Pde

¥. 1. Hear this word, ye kine of Bahan, &c.] Or cows of Bafban*, a country beyond Yordan, inhabited by the tribes of Gad and Reuben, and the half tribe of Manajeh, very fruitful of pafturage, and where abundance of fat cattel were brought up; to whom perfons of diftinétion, and of the firftrank, are here compared. Aben Ezra, Farchi, and Kimchi, interpret them of the wives of the king, princes, minifters of ftate, and great men; and-fo it may.be thought that Amos an herdfman, in his ruftic manner, compliments the caurt-ladies with cipal parts of if; and the more facred,’ where the

| blood of the facrific’s was poured, and to which perfons in diftrefs fled atid laid hold of for refuge; but now thefe fhould be of no ufe unto them, fince they would be entirely detnolifhed by the enemy, and laid level with the ground: oa y. 15. And I will finite the wihter-houfe with the Jummer-houfe, &c.|. Both the one and the other fhall fall to the ground, being beat down by the enemy, or fhook and made to fall by the earthquake predicted, ch. i. 1. as Kimchi thinks? kings and great perfonages had houfes in the city in the winter-feafon, in which they lived for warmth; and others in the country in the fummer-time, to which they retired for the benefit of the air; or they had in one and the fame houfe, a fummer and a winterparlour; fee Fudg. iii. 20. Fer. xxxvi. 22. it fignifies, that the deftruction fhould reach city and country, and deprive them of what was for their comfort and pleafure: and the houfes of ivory fhall perifo; or of the tooth’; the elephant’s tooth, of which ivory is made. Abad made an houfe of ivory; and perhaps more were made by others afterwards, following his example, 1 Kings xxii. 39. - not that thefe houfes were made wholly of ivory, only covered with it, as the Targum here paraphrafes it; or they were cieled or wainfcotted with it, or were inlaid and entrailed with it, and were reckoned very curious work; but fhould be demolifhed, and perifh in the general ruin: and the great boufes fall have an end, faith the Lord; the houfes of princes, nobles, and other perfons of figure and diftinétion; houfes great in building, or mazy in number, as Kimchi obferves, and as the word’™ will bear to be rendered; thefe, which the builders and owners of them thought would have continued many ages, and have perpetuated their names to pofterity,fhould now be thrown down, and be no more; of which oe og. affure themfelves, fince the Lord had this epithet, for their plumpnefs, wantonnefs, and petulancy. Tho’ it may be the princes and great men themfelves may be rather intended, and be fo called for their effeminacy, and perhaps with fome regard to the calves they worfhipped; and chiefly becaufe being fat and flourifhing, and abounding with wealth and riches, they became wanton and mifchievous; like fat cattel broke down their fences, and would be under no reftraint of the laws of God and man; entered into their neighbours fields, feized on their property, and fpoiled them of it: So the Zargum paraphrafes it, ** ye rich of fab- “* ftance.” In like manner, the principal men among the Fews, in the times of Chrift, are called bulls of Bajban, Pf. xxii. 12. That are in the mountains of Samaria; like cattel grazing on a mountain; the metaphor is ftill continued: Samaria was the principal city of Ephraim, the metropolis of the ten tribes, J/ ‘vii. 9. fituated on a mountain; Mr. Maundrel ° fays upon a long mount, of an oval figure, having firft a fruitful valley, and then a ring of hills running about it. Here the kings of J/rae/ had their palace, and kept their court, and where their princes and nobles refided.

Abab is faid to be king of Saimaria, 1 Kings xxi. t. Which opprefs the poor, which crufh the needy, by laying heavy taxes upon them; exacting more of them than they are able to pay; lefléning their wages for work done, or withholding it from them; or by taking from them that little they have, and fo reducing them to the utmoft extremity, and refufing to do them juftice in courts of judicature: which fay to their mafiers, bring, and let us drink; Kimchi, who interprets thefe words of thé wives of great men, fuppofes their hufbands are here addreffed, who are, and acknowledged to be, their mafters or lords; fee 1 Pet. iii. 6. whom they call upon to bring them money taken from the poor, or for which’they have fold them, that they may have wherewith to eat and drink, fare fumptuoufly, and live in a grand manner, feafting themfelves and their vifiters: or thefe are the words of inferior officers to fuperior ones, defiring they might have leave to pillage the poor, that fo they might live in a more gay and fplendid manner, and in rioting and drunkennefs, in chambering and wantonnes; So the Yargum, ** give us power, that <¢ we may fpoil it.” Or rather thefe words are directed to the mafters of the poor, who had power over them, had them in their clutches, in whofe debt they were; ot they had fomething againtt them, and therefore thefe corrupt judges, and wicked magiftrates, defire they might be brought before them; who for a bribe would give the caufe againft them, right or wrong, fo long as they got fomething to feaft themfelves with; or they are fpoken by the rich, to the mafters of the poor, to whom they had fold them, to bring them the purchafe-money, ‘that they might indulge and gratify their fenfual appetites; fee ch. ii. 6, 7. and Mic. iii, rii2, 3:

¥. 2. Ihe Lord God hath fworn by his holinefs, &c.} That is, by himfelf, holinefs being his nature, and an effential attribute of his; this is done to afcertain the truth of what is after-faid, and that men may be affured ofthe certain performance of it. Some render it, dy bis holy place, and interpret it of heaven; fo Aben Ezra and Kimchi, which is not likely; fee Matt. v. 34. Fam. v.12. The Targum is, ** the Lord God hath fworn by his «¢ word in his holinefs.” That lo, the days fhall come upon you; {peedily, fwiftly, and at an unawares: that he will take you away with hooks, and your pofterity with fifb-hooks, the enemy, the king of /- fyria, or God by him, would take them out of their own land, as fifh out of water, out of their own element, and carry them captive into a ftrange land, both them and their pofterity; and which fhould be as eafily done, as fifh are taken with the hook, even tho’ they were as the kine of Bafeoan. The word for fith-hooks fignifies thorns *, and is by fome fo rendered; thefe perhaps being ufed in angling, before iron hooks were invented. The Targum is, ** that people fhall take you away “on their fhields, and your daughters in fifher- <¢ mens? boats;” fee Fer. xvi. 16.

y. 3. And ye foall go out at the breaches, &c.) Not at the gates of the city, as they had ufed to do at pleafure; but at the breaches of the walls of it, made by the enemy, in order to make their efcape, if poffible: they who had broke down the fences of law and juftice, and injured the poor and

O & 471 néedy, fhall now have the walls of their city broker down, and they themfelves expofed to the moft imminent danger, and glad to get out of ther to fave their lives: every cow at that which is before ber; every woman, as archi and Kimchi; or every great perfon; comipared to the kine of Ba/ban, fhall make up as faft as he can to the breach befote him, to get out; fhall follow one another, as quick ds they cdh, and clamber on one another’s backs, as fuch cattel do, to get out firft, which fhows the hurry and confufion they fhould be in, upon the taking of their city Samaria: aind ye fhall caft them into the palace, faith the Lord either their children, or their fubftance; which they hall caft into the royal palace, or fort, or citadel, for fafety. Some render it, ye /hall caft yourfelves; fo Abarbinel; that is, fuch as could not get out at the breaches, fhould betake themfelves to the palace or fort for their fecurity. The Targum of the whole is, ‘* and they fhall break down the wall upon ** you, and bring you out, gathered every one ** before him, and catry you beyond the moun- “¢ tains of Armenia.” And fo fome others, taking it to be the name of a place, render it, ye hall be caft into Armon, or Mona; which Bochart * fufpects to be the fame with Minzi, mentioned with Ararat, a mountain in Armenia, Fer. li. 27.

¥. 4, Come to Bethel, and tranferefs, &c.] This, and what follows, are ironical and farcaftic fpeeches, not giving liberty to fin, but in this way reproving for it: Betbel was one of the places where the calves were placed and worfhipped; and here they are bid to go thither, and go on with, and continue in their idolatrous worfhip, by which they tranfgreffed the law of God, and mark what would be the iffue of it. The fenfe is the fame with Eccl. xi. 9. fee Ezek. xx. 39. At Gilgal multiply tran[grefion; that is, multiply acts of idolatry: Gilgal was a place where high-places and altars were erected, and idols worfhipped; as it had formerly been a place of religious worfhip of the true God, the ten tribes made ufe of it in the times of their apoftacy for idolatrous worhhip; fee Ho. iv.

15. and ix. 15. and xii. 11. And bring your facrifices every morning; and offer them to your idols, as you were wont formerly to offer them unto the true God, according to the law of Mo/es, Exod. xxix. 38, 39: and your tithes after three years; the third year after the fabbatical year, was the year of tithing; and after the tithe of the increafe of the fruits of the earth, there was Maa/er /heni the fecond tithe, the fame with Maa/er ani the poor’s tithe, which was given to the Levite, the ftranger, the fatherlefs, and the widow, to eat with them, Deut. xiv. 22—28. and xxvi. 12. and this they are farcaftically bid to obferve in their idolatrous way. It is in the Hebrew text, after three days; and fo the Targum, ‘* your tithes in three days;” days being put for years, as Kimchi and Ben Melech obferve. It may be rendered, after three years of days *, three complete years.

¥. 5. And offer a Sacrifice of thank[giving with leaven, &c.] Which fome obferve was contrary to the law, which forbids all leaven in a meat-offering; or burning it in any offering, Lev. ii. 11. which the word there ufed fuggefts was done by thefe idolaters, as well as eat by them, their priefts not liking to eat unleavened bread; but though it was

4 So ic is interpreted by R. Sol. Urbin. Ohel Moed, fol. 65. 2. likewife Elias fays the word fignifies a mall fhip, or a boat that is in a large fhip, Tifhbi, p. 59. So Vatablus interprets it, fcaphas pifcatorias, five cymbas; and fome in Munfter. poft tres annos dierum, Pifcator.

forbidden in the meat-offering, was allowed, yea ordered with the facrifice of thankfgiving, Lev. vii. 13. So Abarbinel underftands it here, as what was according to law, but ironically commanded to be offered to idols: and proclaim and publifh the free-offerings; let all know of them when you ‘make your free-will offerings, and invite them to partake of them: for this liketh you, O ye children.

of Ifrael, faith the Lord God; or ye love to offer fuch facrifices to your idols, rather than to the Lord God; preferring thefe to him, and delighting more in the worfhip of them, than of him.

_ ¥. 6, And I alfo have given you cleannefs of teeth in all your cities, &c.] Meaning a famine, having no food to foul them with, or to ftick in them. This was not the famine in Samaria, 2 Kings vi. 25. for that was only in that city, and for a fhort time, whilft befieged; whereas this was in all the cities in Jrael; rather therefore it defigns the famine predicted by Eli/ha, which fhould be upon the land for feven years, 2 Kings viii. 1: and want of bread in all your places, this is the fame with the former claufe, and explains it, and ftill makes the famine more general, being not only in their Cities, but in all their places of abode, their towns and villages: yet have ye not returned unto me, faith the Lord; this judgment had no influence upon them, to bring them to a fenfe of their evils, particularly their idolatry, and to repentance for them, and to reclaim them from them, and return them to the Lord, and to his worfhip, as the Targum paraphrafes it.

y. 7. And alfo I have withbolden the rain from you, &c.] As he did for the fpace of three years fucceflively in the days of Ahab, as predicted by Elijah, 1 Kings xvii. 1. and xviii. 1. the confequences of which are very bad to men and beaft, and bring on a fcarcity of food for both, and a famine if long withheld: when there were yet three months to the barveft; that is, three months before the harveft, as Yarchi; when, as Kimchi obferves, there was need of rain: this was the latter rain, which was ufually given and expected about this time, and on which the goodnefs of the crop, and fo of the harveft, greatly depended: thefe three months before barley-harveft, were December, Fanuary and February, that being in March; and before the wheat-harveft, February, March and April, that being in May ufually: ud I caufed it to rain upon one city; and caufed it not to rain upon another city; fo that it might appear to be not by the courfe of nature, or thro’ the influence of the planets, or by chance; but was according to the direction of divine providence, the hand of God was manifeftly in it: yea one piece was rained upon, and the piece whereupon it rained not, withered; one piece of ground or field had a plentiful fhower on it, whereby it became fruitful; and another field or clofe on the other fide of the hedge or partition had none, whereby what did fpring up withered away and came to nothing: or ove inberitance », or farm, as fome render it; one man’s eftate was well watered with rain from heaven, and brought forth much fruit; and another man’s eftate, for want of it, was barren, and brought forth nothing: thus God was pleafed todo in his providence, to fhew his fovereignty, and to chaftife men for their fins; and in {uch a manner, as that they might, if not blind, eafily perceive his hand in it.

y. 8. So two or three cities wandered unto one city to drink water, &c.] Two or three cities,

that is, the inhabitants of them, being without water, went up and down in queit of any city or place where they could find water for themfelves and cattel to drink: dut they were not fatisfied s could not get enough for their prefent ufe, and much lefs to carry back with them to fupply them for any length of time; fuch a fcarcity there was of it in other parts; fee 1 Kings xviii, 5, 6: yet have ye not returned unto me, faith the Lord; this had no more effect upon them than the other, to relinquifh their former courfes, and return unto the Lord by humiliation and repentance.

¥. 9. I have fmitten you with blafing and mildew, &c.] Blafting is what we commonly call dlights, generally occafioned by an eaft wind; and fo Kimchi interprets the word here ufed; and the Vulgate: Latin verfion renders it, a durning wind; which caufes the buds and leaves of trees to. fhrivel up as if they were burnt with fire. MGldew is a kind of clammy dew, which falling upon corn, Ge, corrupts and deftroys by its moifture; and is 2 kind of jaundice to the fruits of the earth; and has its name as that from yellownefs, in the Hebrew language: when the Lord is faid to {mite them with thefe, the fenfe is, that he fent thefe upon the fruits of their gardens, fields and vineyards, which confumed them: when your gardens, and your vineyards, and your fig-trees, and your olivetrees increafed, the palmer-worm devoured them; jult when they were budding and bloffoming, and, bringing forth fruit; and fo what the blafting and mildew did not confume, that the palmer-werm, a kind of locuft, did; which has its name from its biting and cutting off the leaves and branches of trees, as of thofe mentioned, vines, olives and figtrees, with which the land of Canaan abounded, the cutting off which was a great calamity, The Targum is, ‘* the multitude of your gardens, &c. ** the palmer-worm hath eaten:” yet Have ye not returned unto ime, faith the Lord; this difpenfation of providence was alfo without its defired fruit and effect; fee the note on y. 6.

¥. 10. I have feut among you the peftilence, after the manner of Egypt, &c.] Like that which was fent among the firft-born. of Egypt, and cut them off in one night; or when in the way of Egypt, as the Targum; either as in the wildernefs, when they came out of Egypt, fo Farchi interprets it fee Numb. xvi. 46—49. or eee fent the peftilence as they went in the way to Egypt for help and fuccour, or for fhelter, or for food in time of famine; for they went.thither, as Kimchi fays, becaufe of the famine, to fetch food from thence; and this was difpleafing to the Lord, and he fent the plague among them, which cut them off in - the way: your young men have I lain with the fwords of the enemy in battel; or as they were in the ‘way to Egypt, being fent there to» fetch food, but were intercepted by the enemy: and have taken away your borfes; on which they rode to Egypt on the above errand; or rather which they brought up from thence, contrary to the command of God: and have made the ftink of your camps to.come up unto your noftrils,; fach numbers of their armies’ being flain, and thefe lying unburied, the fimell of them was very noifome: yet have ye not returned unto me, faith the Lord; {till they continued obftinate and impenitent; fee the noteony. 6. _ ¥. 11. I have overthrown fome of you, as God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah, &c.| Either their houfes were burnt, or their bodies confumed by fire ’

fire from heaven, with lightening; not whole cities, but the habitations of fome particular perfons, or they themielves: and ye were as a firebrand plucked out of the burning, fome efcaped fuch an awful calamity, their houfes were not confumed, whilft others were; and their perfons were fafe, whilft others jutt by them were ftruck dead at once: yet have ye not returned unto me, faith the Lord; neither the judgments of God on themfelves and others, had any effect upon them to humble and reclaim them: fuch diipenfations, without the grace of God is exerted, rather harden than foften; and inftead of bringing men to repentance, caufe them to blafpheme; fee Rev. xvi. 8,9, 10, 11. nor will the mercy and goodnefs of God, which fhould lead perfons to repentance, attain that end, unlefs accompanied with the Spirit and grace of God; who, notwithftanding fuch mercies and deliverances, will remain fenfelefs, ftupid, obdurate and impenitent; fee Rev. ix. 20, 21.

&c.] What he would do is not exprefsly and particularly faid; it is commonly underftood to be fomething in a way of judgment, and worfe than what he had done, fince they had no effect upon them; or thefe things fhould be done over again, until an utter end was made of them; or the reference is to ch. iii. 11—15. and iv. 2, 3. and the following words are ufually interpreted, either ironically, fince the Lord was coming forth as an enemy to iffue the controverfy with them; they are called upon to meet him in an hoftile way, and mutter up all their forces, exert all their power and ftrength, and make ufe of their beft weapons and military fkill, and fee what-would be the confequence of all this; feeble worms fet in oppofition to the mighty God; thorns and briers he can eafily go thro’, and burn up quickly: or elfe they are ferioufly addreffed, and exhorted to meet the Lord in the way of his judgments, by humiliation, repentance and reformation; not knowing but that after all he may be gracious and merciful to them, and turn away the fiercenefs of his anger from them; fee ch. v. 15. but I rather think the words are a promife or intimation of doing fomething to J/rael in a way of fpecial grace and kindnefs, notwithftanding their conduct and behaviour, and the ineffectualnefs both of judgments and providential mercies; for the words may be rendered, as the fame particle fhould be in Hof. ii. 15. notwithftanding, or neverthele/s thus will I do unto thee *; what | have from all eternity purpofed and refalved to do, and what I have promifed again and again by the mouth of all the holy prophets from the beginning of the world I would do; namely fend my Son to be thy Saviour and Redeemer: and becaufe 1 will do this unto thee, pre- _ pare to meet thy God, O Ifrael; the Meffiah that was then to come was God, and fo equal to the work of redemption and falvation he was to do; and the God of fpivitual and myftical J/rae/, even all the elect, Fews and Gentiles, to be redeemedby him, was to be their Immanuel, God in their nature, and therefore to be met with the utmoft joy and pleafure; fee Zech. ix. 9. for this meeting him is not to be underftood in an hoftile way, and as fpoken ironically to the enemies of Chrift to oppofe him, encounter with him, and mark the iffue of it, who in time would caufe them to be brought: be- but in a friendly manner, a3 he wad mét by thofe that were waiting for his coming, fuch as. Simeon and others; and by thofe ¥obn the Bapti/t called upon to prepare the way of the Lord; and as he was by his own difciples, who embraced him by faith, received him with joy, and left all and followed him; and as all fuch are prepared td meet him who are made truly fenfible of fin, and of their own righteoufnels as infufficient to juftify ftom it, and have feen the glory, fulnefs and fuitablenefs of his falyation. Chrift is to be met with in his houfe and ordinances; and men are prepared for it, when the defires of their hearts are towards. him, and their graces are exercifed on him; which preparation is from himfelf: he’ll be met at his fecond coming by his fpiritual J/rael, and they will be prepared for it, who believe it, love it, and long for it; have their loins girt, and their lights burning, and they waiting for their Lord’s coming; fee Matt. xxv. 1—10. Luke xii. 35, 36. and fo at the hour of death, which is the day of the Lord; 4 preparation and readinefs for which lies not in external humiliation, outward reformation, a moral righteoufnefs, or a bare profeffion of religion, and {ubmiffion to ordinances;° but in regeneration, in faith in Chrift, and fpiritual knowledge of him; in a being wafhed in his blood, and clothed with his righteoufnefs; for which readinefs all truly fenfible finners will be concerned, and which is all from the grace of God; fee Matt. xxiv. 43, 44. The Septuagint, Syriac and Arabic verfions read it, prepare to call upon thy God; and the Targum paraphrafes it, ‘* to receive the doctrine of the law ‘* of thy God;” rather the doctrine of the gofpel; but the former fenfe is beft; for the confirmation of which it may be obferved, that when God is faid to do a thing to any, it is ufually in a way of grace; and that when preparation is made to meet a divine perfon, it is always meant of the Son of God; and that it is a common thing in prophecy, that when the Lord is threatning men with his judgments, to throw in a promife or proaig of the Meffiah, for the comfort of his peoe. & ¥. 13. For lo, be that formeth the mountains, &c.

Thefe words are a defcription of the glorious perfon thy God and Saviour to be met; he is the creator of all things, that formed the mountains, and fo was before them, as in Prov, viii. 25, 26. and able to furmount and remove all mountains of difficulties that lay in his way of working out falvation for his people: and createth the wind; or /pirit, not the holy Spirit, which is increated; but either angels, whom he makes fpirits; or the fpirit and foul of man, he is the creator of; or rather the natural wind is meant, which is his creature, he holds in his fifts, reftrains and commands at his. pleafure, Mast. viii. 26,27: and declareth unto man what is his thought; not what is man’s thought, tho’ he knows what is in man without any information, and is a difcerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart, and can reveal them to men, and convince them that he knows them, Matt. ix. 4. but rather the thought of God, the meditation of his heart concerning the falvation of men; his thoughts of peace, which are the deep things of God, and which Chrift lying in the bofom of his Father was privy to, and has declared, Fobu i. 18. The Septuagint and Arabic ver- fore him and flain, as fome interpret the words; fions reading the words wrong, render them, de- claring to men bis Chrift; is not the fenfe of this claufe. The Targum is, és what are his works =?” his works of creation, providence, redemption and grace: that maketh the morning darknefs, or darknefs morning, or the morning out of darknefs7; being the day-fpring from on high, the morning-ftar, the fun of.righteoufnefs, that rifing made the gofpel day, after a long night of ewifh and Gentile darknefs; and who made the fame difpenfation a morning to one, and darknefs to another, Yobn ix. 39. The Septuagint verfion is, making the morning and the cloud; the Vulgate Latin verfion, making the morning-cloud, his coming was as the morning, Hof. vi. 3: and treadeth upon the bigh places of the earth; the land of Dirael, which is Immanue?s land, is faid by the ews to be higher than other lands; eru/alem higher than any part of Yudea, and the mountain the temple was built on higher than Feru/alem:

| this chapter the prophet exhorts J/rael to hear his lamentation over them for their impending ruin, ¥. 1, 2, 3. neverthelefs to feek the Lord, and all that is good; to forfake their idols, and repent of their fins, in hopes of finding mercy, and living comfortably; or otherwife they muft expect the wrath of God for their iniquities, efpecially their oppreffion of the poor, ¥. 4—15. otherwife it would be a time of weeping and wailing, of darknefs and diftrefs; however they might harden or flatter themfelves, or make a jeft of it, y. 16—20. for all their facrifices and ceremonial worfhip would fignify nothing, fo long as they continued their idolatry with them, ¥. 21~—26. and therefore fhould furely go into captivity, Pi ay:

¥. 1. Hear ye the word which I take up againft you, &c.] And which was not his own word, but the word of the Lord; and which he took up by his direétion as a heavy burden, as fome prophecies are called, and this was; and which, tho’ againft them, a teproof for their fins, and denunciation of punifhment for them, yet was to be heard; for every word of God is pure, and to be hearkened to, whether for us, or againft us; fince the whole is profitable, either for doctrine and inftruction in righteoufnefs, or for reproof and correction. It may be rendered, which I take up concerning you, Or over you 7: even a lamentation, O houfe of Ifrael; a mournful ditty, an elegiac fong over the houfe of J/rael, now expiring, and as it were dead. This word was like Ezekzel’s roll, in which were written /amentation, and mourning, and wo, Ezek. ii. 10. full of mournful matter, mifery and diftrefs, as follows:

¥. 2. The virgin of Ifrael is fallen, &c.| The kingdom of J/rae/, fo called becaufe it had never been fubdued, or become fubjeét to a foreign power fince it was a kingdom; or becaufe confidered in its -ecclefiaftic ftate, it had been efpoufed to the Lord as a chafte virgin; and perhaps this may be ironically fpoken, and reférs to its prefent adulterare and degenerated ftate, worfhipping the calves at Daw and Bethel; or elfe becaufe of its. wealth here Chrift trod in the days of his flefh, and from the mount of O/ives afcended to heaven, after he had trampled upon ‘and fpoiled principalities and powers, {piritual wickedneffes in high places, and when he led captivity captive. archi interprets it of humbling the mighty and proud, who are compared to the high places of the earth. The Targum is, “ to declare to men what are his works, ** to prepare light for the righteous as the morn- ‘* ing-light, who goes and prepares darknefs for “¢ the wicked, that he may break the wicked of “ the earth:” the Lord, the God of hots is bis name; he is the Jehovah, the Lord our righteoufnefs, the God and governor of the armies of heaven, the hofts of angels, and to whom all crea-' tures on earth are fubjeét; all power in heaven and earth belongs unto him; this is J/rael’s God, his Redeemer and Saviour, he is called upon to” prepare to meet..

and riches, and the fplendor and gaiety in which it appeared; but now as it had fallen into fin and iniquity, it fhould quickly fall by it, and on aecount of it, into ruin and mifery; and becaufé of the certainty of it, it is reprefented as if it was already fallen: fhe fhall no more rife; and become a kingdom again, as it never has as yet, fince the ten tribes were carried away captive by Salmanefer king of Afyria, to which calamity this prophecy refers. The Targum is, ** fhall not rife again this “* year;” very impertinently; better Kimchi and Ben Melech, for a long time; fince as they think, and many others, that the ten tribes fhall return again, as may feem when all J/rae/ fhall be converted and faved, and repoffefs their own land; fee Hof. i. 10, 11. and iii. 5. Rom. xi. 25, 26, Abendana producesa paflage out of Zohar, in which thefe words are interpreted, that the virgin of J/- rael fhould not rife again of herfelf, fhe not having power to prevail over her enemies; but God will raife her up out of the duft, whem he fhall raife up the tabernacle of David that is fallen, who fhall reign in future time over all the tribes together, as it is faid ch. ix. rr: fhe is forfaken upon her land; by her people, her princes, and her God; or proftrate on the ground, as the Targum, fhe was caft upon the ground, and dafhed to pieces by the enemy as an earthen veffel, and there left, her ruin being irrecoverable; fo whatever is caft and fcattered, or dafhed to pieces on the ground, and left, is expreffed by the word here ufed, as Farchi obferves: there is zone to raife her up; her princes and people are either flain by the fword, famine and peftilence, or carried captive, and fo can yield her no affiftance; her idols, whom fhe worfhipped cannot, and her God fhe forfook, will not. de

¥. 3. For thus faith the Lord God, &c.] This is a reafon why there were none to raife her up: fince the city that went out by a thoufand, foall leave an hundred, that is, the city in which there were a thoufand perfons conftantly going in and ~ out; or which fent, or caufed to go out, or furnifhed a thoufand men upon occafion for war, had only an hundred perfons left in it; or there remained but an hundred of the thoufand they fent y PD'y AMY wy faciens obfcuritatem

Ch. v.¥. 4—~8. AMO XS. Avs out, the reft being deftroyed by one means or another: and that which went forth by an hundred, Joall leave ten to the houfe of Ifrael,; where there were an hundred perfons going out and coming in continually; or which fent out an hundred men to the army to fight their battels, had now only ten remaining; to fuch a fmall number were they reduced all over the land, fo thar there were none, or not a number fufficient to raife up J/rae to its former ftate and glory. ' ¥. 4. For thus faith the Lord unto the houfe of Trael, &c.] Or yet *, notwithftanding all this, tho’ fuch judgments were threatened and denounced, and fuch defolations fhould certainly come, in cafe of impenitence, and an obftinate continuance in a courfe of fin; yet hopes are given of finding mercy and kindnefs upon repentance and reformation, at leaft to the remnant of them; fee ¥. 15: feek ye me, and ye fhall live, feek my fear, as the Targum; fear and reverence, ferve and worfhip the Lord God; return unto him by repentance; feek to him by prayer and fupplication; acknowledge your fins, and humble*yourfelves before him, and implore his pardoning grace and mercy: and ye foall live, in your own land, and not be carried out of it; live comfortably, in great plenty of good things; and live fpiritually, enjoying the favour of God, and his prefence in his ordinances, and live eternally in the world to come. ¥. 5. But feek not Bethel, &c.] Don’t go to Bethel, the place where one of Feroboam’s calves was fet up and worfhipped, to confult the oracle, idols and priefts there; or to perform religious worfhip, which will be your ruin, if not prevented by another courfe of living: nor enter into Gilgal another place of idolatry, where idols were fet up and worfhipped; fee the note on ch. iv. 4: and pafs not to Beer-fbeba; a place in the further part of the land of J/rael; it formerly belonged to Judah, but was fiow in the hands of the ten tribes, and where idolatrous worfhip was practifed; fee ch. viii. 14. it having been a place where /raham, Ifaac and Facob had dwelt, atid worfhipped the true God: for Gilgal fhall furely go into captivity; that is, the inhabitants of it; they will not be able with their idols and idol-worfhip to fave themfelves, and therefore go not thither. There is an elegant paronomofia here’, as there is alfo in the next words: and Bethel fhall come to nought; which alfo was called Bethaven, the houfe of vanity, or of an idol, which is nothing in the world; and therefore becaufe of the idolatry in it, fhould come to nothing, be utterly deftroyed, and the inhabitants of it. So the Targum, “ they that ** are in Gilgal, and worfhip calves in Bethel.” ¥. 6. Seek the Lord, and ye foall live, 8cc.] This is repeated to ftir up unto it, becaufe of their backwardnefs and flothfulnefs, and to fhew the importance and neceffity of it. By the Lord may be meant the Meffiah, J/rael’s God that was to come, and they were to prepare to meet, ch. iv, 12. and the rather, fince life fpiritual and eternal is only to be had from him, and he is to be fought unto for it, and all the bleffings of it, peace, pardon, righteoufnefs, reft and falvation, as well as temporal deliverance, and all outward mercies: left be break out like fire in the boufe of Fofeph, and devour it that is, left-his wrath and fury break out like fire, as the Targum, by fending an enemy to invade the land, deftroy it, and carry the inhaftant revolution of day and night, and the days longer in the fummer, and fhorter in winter, as Kimchi interprets’ it; and alfo the various changes of profperity and adverfity, turning the one into the other when he pleafes: that calleth for the wafers of the fea, and poureth them out upon the face of the earth; as in the time of the a de- bitants of it captive; evén all the ten tribes; who frequently go by the name of Ephraim the fori of Foeph, that being the principal tribe, and the firft king of them being of it: and there be mone 16 quench it in Bethel; the calf worfhipped there, and the priefts that officiated would not be able to avert the ftroke of divine vengeance, or turn back the enemy, and fave the land from ruin. The Tar: gum is, ** and there be noné to quench it, becaufé “* of your fins, who have been ferving idols in << Bethel.” “nes

¥. 7. Ye who turn judgment to wormwiood, 8&c.} This feems to be fpoken to kings and judges, a3 Aben Ezra and Kimchi obferve; in whofe hands is the adminiftration of juftice, and who often pervert it, as thefe did here addreffed and complained of; that which was the moft ufeful and falubrious, and fo the moft defirable to the commonweéalth, namely juft judgment, was changed into the reverfe, what was as bitter and as difagreeable as wormwood; or hemlock, as it might be rendered; and as it is in ch. vi. 12. even injuftice: and leave off rightecufne/s in the earth, leave off doing’ it. among men: or rather, leave it on the earth *; who caft it down to the ground, trampled upon it, and there left it; which is expreffive not only of their neglect, but of their contempt of it; fed Dan. viii. 12.

y¥. 8. Seek him that maketh the feven flats, 8cc.] Which fome connect with the preceding words, without a fupplement, they Jéave righteoufne/s on the ground, who maketh the feven ftars; underftahding it of Chrift, the Lord our righteoufnefs, who is made unto ts righteoufnefs, whom the ews rejected and defpifed, tho’ the maker of the heavens and the conftellations in them. Some continue; and fupply the words thus, and remember not him that maketh the feven ftars, as Kimchi; or forget him, as Yaphet in Aben Ezra. The Targum is; *¢ they ceafe to fear him that maketh,” Gc. they have no regard unto him, no awe and reverence of him, or they would not ‘act fo unjuftly as they do. There is but one word for the /even flars in the original text, which fignifies that conftellation -called the Pleiadés, and fo the famé word is ren+ dered Fob ix. g. and xxxviii. 31. and the Verg?- lie, becaufe they appear in the fpring of the year; when they yield their fweet influences, which. the féripture afcribes to them, and are defirable; hence they have their name in Hebreto from a word which fignifies defire: and Orion; another conftellation; for Aben Ezra fays, it is not one ftar, but many; and as he, with the ancients he mentions, takes the former to be the tail of Aries, and the head of Taurus; fo this to be the heart of Scorpio. This conftellation appears in winter, and is a fign of bad weather. Virgil calls it, Nimbofus Orion; and it has its name in Hebrew from unfettlednefs and inconftancy, the weather being then very variable. _ Amos being an herdfman had obferved the appearances and effects of thefé conftellations, and adored _ the maker of them, whom others neglected: and turneth the foadow of death into the morning, and maketh the day dark with night, maketh the con- to which {ome Jews writers apply this, as archi observes; or rather draws up by the heat of the -fun the waters of the fea into the air, and forms them into clouds, where they lofe their faltnefs, and become fweet; and then lets them down in plentiful and gentle fhowers, to water, refrefh and fructify the earth; which is an inftance of divine power, wifdom and goodnefs. The Targum is, “* who commands many armies to be. gathered “* like the waters of the fea, and fcatters them ‘© upon the face of the earth.’ Some, who underftand thefe words cf Chrift our righteoufnets, interpret the whole myftically of his raifing up the twelve apoftles, comparable to ftars; and ot his turning the Gentiles, who were darknets itfelf, to the light of the gofpel; and of his giving up the Jews, who were tormerly light, to judicial blindnefs and darknefs; and of his watering the earth with large fhowers of the divine word. The Lord is his name; he is the true Jehovah, that can and does do all this.

¥. 9. That frrengtheneth the fpoiled againft the frong, &c.] Such as have been taken by an enemy, who have been ftripped of their armour, and {poiled of all their goods and fubftance, and have no friends nor allies, nor any thing to help themfelves with; the Lord can fupply them with ftrength, furnith them with weapons, and fend them helpers, fo that they fhall rife up againft their conquerors and fpoilers, and in their turn fubdue them. The Targum is, ‘ that ftrengthens ‘* the weak againft the ftrong;” or caufes the weak to prevail over the ftrong. A learned man, from the ufe of the word in the Arabic language, choofes to render it, who intends, or defigns deftruction to the firong*; that is, in his fecret purpofes, and which he brings about in providence; tho’ he is doubtful whether it may not have the fignification of recreation and refrefhment, and whether the conftruétion and circumftances will admit of it; and fome do fo tranflate it, who refrefbes himfelf with deftruétion againft the firong*; takes delight and pleafure in it; it isa recreation to him; fo that the fpoiled foall come againft the fortre/s lay fiege to it, and take it, in which the {poiler thought himfelf fecure, with the fpoil and fubftance he had taken from the fpoiled; fuch fudden changes and viciffitudes can God bring upon men, when he pleafes. Some apply this to the Romans ftrengthened againft the Fews, and befieging their tortified city Yerufalem; but not very aptly.

y. 10. They bate him that rebuketh in the gate, &c.] Openly and publickly in the courts of judicature: wicked judges hated the prophets of the Lord, fuch as Amos, who faithfully reproved them for the perverfion of juftice, even when they were upon the bench: or the people were fo corrupt and degenerate, that they hated thofe faithful judges who reproved them for their vices in the open courts of juftice, when they came before them. The former fenfe feems beft, and more agreeable to the context: and they abbor him that Speaketh uprightly; not only hate him, but abhor him, can’t bear the fight of him, or to hear his name mentioned that fpeaks out his mind. freely and honeftly, and tells them of their fins, and advifes them to repent of them, and leave them.

¥. 11. Forafmuch therefore as your treading is | upon the poor, &c.} »'This feems to be poy to the princes, judges and civil magittratcs, as Avmchi obferves; who oppreffed the poor and needy, and crufhed them to the ground, trampled upon them, itripped them of the little fubftance they had, and left them deftitute; exercifing a cruel and tyrannical power over them, they having none to ftand by them, and deliver them: and ye take from him burdens of wheat; which perhaps he had been gleaning in the field, and was carrying home for the fupport of his family; or which he had gotten with great labour, and was all he had in the world: this they took away from him, for the payment of pretended debts, or law-fuits; or as not in right belonging to him, but taken out of fields where he fhould not have entered: ye have built houfes of hewn flones; ina very grand and pompous manner for themfelves and their children, with money they had extorted from the poor, and got by oppreffion and injuttice: dat ye foall not dwell in them, at leaft but a very fhort time; for quickly and fuddenly the enemy will come and turn you out of them, and deftroy them, which would be a juft retaliation for their {poiling the houfes of the poor: ye have planted pleafant vineyards; well fituated and filled with the choiceft vines, which promife a large produce of the beft wine: but ye foall not drink wine of them; tor before the grapes are fully ripe they fhould be either taken away by death, or be carried captive, and others ° fhould dwell in their houfes, and drink the wine of their vineyards.

¥.12. Ker I know your manifold tranfgreffions, and your mighty fins, &c.] Their fins were numerous, and of the firft magnitude, attended with very heavy aggravations; and thefe with all their circumftances were well known to the omnifeient God, and therefore he determined to punifh them as he had threatened. Some of their tranfgreffions are pointed out, as follow: they affli® the juft; who are fo both ina moral and evangelic fenfe; not comparatively only, but really; and particularly whofe caufe was juft, and yet were vexed and diftrefled by unjuft judges, who gave the caufe againft them, made them pay all cofts and charges, and feverely muléted them: they take a bribe; of thofe that were againft the juft, and gave the caufe for them. The word fignifies a ranfom'. The Targum renders it, falfe mammon, corrupt and unjuft judges are here taxed: and they turn afide the poor in the gate from their right; in the court of judicature, where they fhould have done them juftice, fuch courts being ufually held in the gates of cities; but inftead of that they perverted their judgment, and did them wrong.

¥. 13. Therefore the prudent foall keep filence at that time, &c.| Not the prophets of the Lord, whofe bufinefs it was at all times to reprove, and not hold their peace, let the confequence be what it would; tho’ the Zargum calls them teachers; but private perfons, whofe wifdom it would be to fay nothing; fince reproof would do no-good to

-thefe perfons, and they would bring a great deal of hatred, ill-will, and trouble upon themfelves, as well as would hear the name of God blafphemed,, which would be very afflictive to them: or the fenfe is, they would not fpeak to God on the behalf of thefe wicked men, knowing the decree was. gone forth; nor fay one murmuring word at it, believing it was in righteoufnefs; and being ftruck alfo with the awfulnefs of God’s righteous judgments: for it is an evil time; in which fin abounded, and miferies and calamities on account of it.

ly; in every court of judicature, which ufed to be kept in the gates of cities; not only execute jude ment and juftice in all cafes brought into court, but let it have its conftant courfe, and be always

¥. 14. Seek good, and not evil, &c.] Seek not unto, or after evil perfons, and evil things; not the company and converfation of evil men, which is infectious and dangerous; nor any thing that is evil, or has the appearance of it, efpecially the evil of evils, fin; which is hateful to God, contrary to his nature and will; is evil in its own nature, and bad in its confequences, and therefore not to be fought, but fhunned and avoided; but feck that which is good, perfons and things: feck the fummum bonum, the chief good, God, who is effentially, perfectly, immutably and communicatively good, the fountain of all goodnefs, and the portion of his people; feek Chrift the good Saviour and facrifice, the good fhepherd, and the good Samaritan, who is good in all his relations, as a father, hufband and friend, and in whom all good things are laid up; feek the good Spirit of God, who works good things in his people, and fhews good things to them, and is the comforter of thern; feek to him for affiftance in prayer, and to help in the exercife of every grace, and in the difcharge of. every duty, and as the guide into all truth, and to eternal glory; feek the good ways of God, the way of truth, the path of faith and holinefs, and efpecially the good way to the Father, the way of life and falvation by Chrift; feek the good word of God, the {criptures of truth, the promifes contained in them, and the gofpel of them; feek the company of good men, and that good part that fhall not be taken away, the true grace of God, the kingdom of God, and his righteoufnefs; feek the glories of another world, the goodnefs of God laid up, the beft things which | a are referved to laft: that ye may live; comfortably, {piritually and eternally, which is the confequence of all this; fee the notes on ¥. 4,6: and fo the Lord, the God of hofts, fhail be with you, as ye have Spoken; as they ufed to fay, and boafted of; tho’ they had not the temple, the ark of the teftimony, the fymbols of the divine prefence, as fudab had; but this they would have in reality, both his gracious prefence here, and his glorious prefence hereafter, did they truly and rightly feek thofe things; than which nothing is more defireable to good men, or can make them more comfortable, or more happy. The Yargum is, “ feek to do well, ** and not to do ill, that ye may live; and then ** the word of the Lord God of hofts fhall be *¢ your help, as ye have faid.”

practifed according to the fettled laws of it: 7 may be that the Lord God of hofts will be gracious anto the remnant of Fofeph s who fhould efeape the fire that fhould break out of his houfe, and devour it; even the ten tribes, ¥. 6. fuch of ‘them as fhould feek the Lord, and that which is good; for in the worft ‘of times God referves a remnant for himfelf, as in the times of Elijah, Tjaiah, Chrift and his apoftles; a remnant according to the elec tion of grace, to whom he has been gracious in the choice and referve he has made of them; in the ftores of gtace he has laid up for them; in thé provifion and miffion of his Son as a Saviour; and in waiting the time of their converfion, when he is gracious to them, in regenerating, quickening; pardoning and juftifying of them; and ftill will be in the vifits of his love; in the fupplies of his grace, in fupporting them under afflictions, temptations, defertions, €?c: and in giving them his word and ordinances for their comfort and relief: nor is this may be, to be underftood in a way of doubt or hefitation, but of good hope, yea of 4 holy confidence; and fo fome render it, «without doubt the Lord God of bots will be gracious &, &c. fee Zeph. ii. 3.

y. 16. Therefore the Lord, the God of bofs, the Lord faith thus, &c.] The connexion of thefe words is not with thofe that immediately precede; but with the whole context; fecing neither promifes nor threats, exhortations, good advice, and intimations of grace and mercy, had no effect, at leaft upon the generality of the people, therefore the Lord declared, as follows: wailing fhall de in / frreets; in all the ftreets of the towns and cities of Z/rael, becaufe of the flain and wounded in 2 and they fhall fay in all the bigh-ways, alas! alas! in the feveral roads throughout the country, as travellers pafs on, and perfons flee from the enemy; they fhall lament the ftate of the kingdom, and cry Wo, Wo unto it; in what a miferable ate and circumftances it isin: and they fhall call the bufbandmen to mourning; who ufed to be_bettet employed in tilling their land, plowing, fowing, reaping, and gathering in the fruits of the earth; but now fhould have no work to do, all being deftroyed, either by the hand of God, by blaiting, and mildew, and vermine, or by the hie pape and forage of the enemy; and fo there would: juft occafion for mourning: and fuch as are Jrilfu ‘| of lamentation, for wailing, that have got the art of mourning, and were expert in nee, m4 and ufing plaintive tones, and who aa. us nerals, and other doleful occafions 5 and who are made ufe of to this day in fome countries, particularly in Ireland; and were by the old nae, by whom they were called Siticines, Prafici an Prefice; and thefe mourning men and women ot alfo employed among the Fews at fuch times 3 fee Matt. ix. 23. in Jer. 1X. 17. the mourning eae are called cunning women; and fo Lucian ® calls them: CoPicas rwv Sema, fophifts at oy ge artifts at them, well fkilled therein, fuch oe ‘ ofe the good word | are here directed to be called for. Mr. Lively ooh countryman puts both claufes together, and ren os them thus, he hufbandmen fall call to mourning a openly, publick-' wailing, fuch as are failful of lamentation; to i “rs

_¥. 15. Hate the evil; and love the good, &c.] Evil is not only not to be fought, but to be hated, efpecially the evil of fin, becaufe of its evil nature, and pernicious effects and confequences; and if it was for no other reafon, but becaufe it is hateful and abominable unto God, therefore they that love him, fhould hate evil; even with a perfect hatred; as all good men do, tho’ it is prefent with them, and cleaves unto them, and they do it, Pf. xcvii. ro. Rom. vii. 15. and xii. g. and good is to be loved for its goodnefs fake, and the good effects of it; a good God is to be loved, and all men, and all good things;

of God, and his commands and ordinances, and highly to be efteemed, and affectionately regarded: end efablifo judgment in the gate;

them therein, becaufe of the lofs of the fruits of the earth;.and fuch a verfion is confirmed by Farchi, tho” he paraphrafes it to a different fenfe; “© companies of hufbandmen fhall meet thofe that «* plow in the fields with the voice of mourners “¢ that cry in the ftreets.” y¥.17. And in all vineyards fhall be wailing, &c.] The vines being deftroyed, and no grapes to be gathered, and put into the prefs; when there ufed to be great fhoutings, and large expreffions of joy at the gathering in of the vintage, and prefling the grapes; but now there fhall be a different tone; fee Fer. xlviii. 32, 33: for J will pafs thro’ thee, faith the Lord, thro’ their cities, towns and country, fields and vineyards, and deftroy all in his way, as he pafied thro’ Egypt, when he deftroyed their firft born. ¥. 18. Wo unto you that defire the day of the Lord, &c.] Either the day of Chrift’s coming in the flefh, as Cocceius interprets it; and which was defired by the people of J/rae/, not on account of fpiritual and eternal falvation, but that they might be delivered by him from outward troubles and _ enemies, and enjoy temporal felicity; they had a notion of him asa temporal Saviour and Redeemer, in whofe days they fhould poffefs much outward happinefs, and therefore defired his coming; fee Mal. iii. 1, 2. or elfe the day of the Lord’s judgments upon them, fpoken of by the prophet, and which they were threatened with, but did not believe it would ever come; and therefore in a fcoffing, jeering manner expreffed their defire of it, to fhew their difbelief of it, and that they were in no pain or fear about it, like thofe in Jf v. 19: to what end is it for you? why do you defire it? what benefit do you expec to get by it? the day of the Lord is darknefs, and not light;. it will bring on affliction, calamities, miferies and diftrefs, which are often in {cripture exprefied by darkne/s, and not profperity and happinefs, which are fometimes fignified by light; fee I/. v. 30. and viii. 22. E fh, viii. 16.

and even the day of the coming of Chrift were to the unbelieving ews darknefs, and not light; they were blinded in it, and given up to judicial blindnefs and darknefs; they hating and rejecting the light of Chrift, and his gofpel, and which iffued in great calamities, in the utter ruin and deftruction of that people, Fobn iii. 19, 20. and ix. 39. ¥. 19. As if aman did flee from a lion, and a bear met him, &c.] That is, fhould the day of the Lord come as they defired, they would not be the better for it, it would be only going from one trouble to another, like efcaping Scyl/a, and falling into Charyddis: or as if a man upon the fight of a lion, and at his yell, fhould take to his heels, and flee from the face of him, as the phrafe is ', and a bear, a lefs generous, and more cruel and voracious creature, efpecially when bereaved of its whelps, fhould meet him, and feize him: or fhould he get clear of them both, or went into the boufe, and leaned his hand on the wall, and a ferpent bit him; fhould he get into a houfe, and fo efcape thelion and the bear, and lean upon the wall of the houfe to fupport and eafe him, being out. of breath in running from thefe creatures; yet a ferpent lurking in the wall of an old houfe bites him, and the venom and poifon of it iffues in his death; fo he gains nothing by fleeing from the lion, or efcaping the bear. Thefe proverbial. ex- preffions fignify, that the J/raelites would be no gainers by the day of the Lord, but rather fall into greater evils, and more diftrefling calamities. Some Fewi/h writers interpret the lion and the bear of Laban and Efau; the lion (they fay *) is Laban, who purfued after Faced to take away his life; the bear is Efau, who ftood in the way to kill all that came, the mother with the children; but are much better interpreted of the Chaldeans, Perfiams and Grecians, by Ferom; whole words are, ‘* fleeing ‘“¢ from the face of Nebuchadnezzar the lion, ye will be met by Aba/uerus, under whom was the hiftory of E/her; or the empire of the Afprians and Chaldeans being deftroyed, the Medes and Perfians fhall arife; and when upon the reign of Cyrus ye fhall have returned, and at the com- ‘mand of Darius fhall have begun to build the houfe of the Lord, and have confidence in the temple, fo as to reft in it, lean your weary hands on its walls; then fhall come Alewander king of the Macedonians, or Antiochus firnamed Epiphanes, who fhall abide in the temple, and bite like a ferpent, not without in Badylon, and in Sufa, but. within the borders of the holy land; by which it appears, that the day ye defire is not a day of light and joy, but of darknefs and forrow.” The interpretation is pretty and ingenious enough, fince the characters of the lion, bear and ferpent agree with the refpective perfons and people mentioned; Nebuchadnezzar is often compared to a lion, Jer. iv. 7. and}. 17. and the Babylonian and Chaldean monarchy is reprefented by one in Dan; vii. 4. and the Perfian monarchy by a bear, ¥. 5. to which the Perfians are compared, the Fews fay *, becaufe: they eat and drink like a bear, ‘are as fat as bears, and hairy like them, and as reftlefS as they; and fo the Perfians were noted for their luxury and luft, as well as their cruelty; and wearing long hair, are called hairy perfons’ in the De - phic oracle, which Herodotus ™ interprets of them 5 fee the note on Dan. vii. 5. and Antiochus may not unfitly be compared to a ferpent; fee Dan. viii. 23, 24, 25. and xi. 23. fee the notes there: but what is to be objected to this fenfe is, that the words are fpoken to the ten tribes, or J/rael, who were carried captive by the Afyrians; and not the two tribes, or the ews, who fell into the hands, firft of the Chaldeans, then the Perfians, and then the Grecians, particularly into the hands of Aatiochus; fee Dan. vii. 4, 5. Ezrai.t.. ‘ ¥. 20. Shall not the day of the Lord be darknefs, and not light? &c.} The defign of fuch a que- {tion is ftrongly to affirm, that in this day of the ~ Lord fpoken of, there fhould be nothing but mifery and diftrefs, and no profperity and happinefs, at leaft to the wicked Jraelites, or the unbelieving Fews: even very dark, and no brightne/s init? fignifying that there fhould be no deliverance, nor the leaft glimmering view or hope of it; that the calamity fhould be fo very great, and the deftruction fo entire, that there fhould be no mixture of mercy, nor the leaft appearance of relief. y.21. 1 bate, I defpife your feaft days, eee Kimchi thinks this is faid, and what follows, wi refpect to the kingdom of the houfe of Fudab, - which kept the feaft the Lord commmanded; but it is not neceflary fo to underftand it; for doubtlefs the ten tribes imitated the worfhip at Ferufalem, and kept the feafts as the ews did there, j:: 3 Toe ah “ain. ¥ Pirke Eliezer, ¢. 37.

in the obfervance of which they trufted; but the Lord rejects their vain confidence, and lets them know that thefe were no ways acceptable to him; and were fo far from atoning for their fins, that they were hated, abhorred, and defpifed by him, being obferved in fuch a manner, and with fuch a view as they were. And I will not fmell in your folemn afjemblies; a {weet favour of reft, as in Gen, viii. 21. take no pleafure in their duties and fervices performed, in their folemn affemblies convened together for religious purpofes, nor accept of them; but, on the contrary, diflike and abhor them; fee J/ i. 11 —14.

y. 22. Though ye offer me burnt-offerings, and your meat-offerings, 1 will not accept them, &e.] The daily burnt-offerings, morning and night, and others, which were wholly the Lord’s; and the Minchab, or bread-offering, which went along with them; in which they thought to do God fervice, and to merit his favour; but inftead of that they were unacceptable to him, being neither offered up in a proper place, if in a right manner according to the law of Mo/es; however not in the faith of the great facrifice Chrift,; nor attended with repentance towards God: neither will I regard the peaceofferings of your fat beafis; even tho’ their peaceofferings were of the beft of the herd. ben Ezra fays, the creature here meant, is the fame which in the Jhmaelitifh or Arabic language is called yuses> Giamus, a creature bigger than an ox, and like one, which is called a buffle or buffalo. And fo Ben Melech fays, it means one of the kinds of the larger cattel; for not a lamb, aram, or a fheep, is meant, as the word is fometimes rendered by the Septuagint, but a creature like an ox; not larger, or the wild ox, as the above Hebrew writers, but {maller; with which agrees the defcription Bedlonius " gives of the Syrian bubalus or buffalo, which he calls a {mall ox, full bodied, little, fmooth, fleek, fat, and well made; and is no doubt the fame the Arabs cal] almari, from its {moothnefs.

y¥. 23. Take thou away from me the noife of thy Jongs, &cc.] The ten tribes, very probably, imitated the temple-mufic at Ferufalem, both vocal and inftrumental, and had their fongs and hymns of praife, which they fung to certain tunes; but the mufic of thefe is called a moi/e, being very difagreeable to the Lord, as coming from fuch carnal and wicked perfons; and therefore he defires it might ceafe, be took away, and he be no more troubled with it: for I will not hear the melody of thy viols which may be put for all inftruments of mufic ufed by them, as violins, harps, pfalteries, &e, the found of which, how melodious foever, the Lord would turn a deaf ear unto, and not re- ard. ¥. 24. But det judgments run down as waters, &c.] Or roll *; in abundance, with great rapidity, bearing down all before them, which nothing can refift; fignifying the plenty of juftice done in the land, the full. and free exercife of it, without any ftoppage or intermiffion: and righteoufne/s as a mighty fiream; the fame thing exprefied in different words; tho’ fome think that not the execution of judgment and juftice by men is here exhorted to, but the vindictive juftice of God is threatened; which like a mighty torrent of water fhould come dowi,’ overwhelm, bear away, and deftroy all before it, even all the tranfgreflors in J/rael. _ ¥. 25. Have ye offered unto me facrifices and offer: ings, &c.] No; they were not offered to God, but to devils, to the golden calf, and to the hoft of heaven: fo their fathers did in the wilderne s forty years; where facrifices were omitted during that time, a round number for a broken one, it being about thirty-eight years; and thefe their children were imitators of them, and offered facrifice to idols too, and therefore deferved punifhment as they: even ye, O houjfe of Ifrael, the ten tribes, who are here particularly charged and threatened; fee 4s Vii. 42. and the note there., ¥. 26. But ye have born the tabernacle of your Moloch, &c.] The god of the Ammonites; fee the note on ch, i. 13. and on Fer. vii. 31. called theirs, becaufe they alfo worfhipped it, and caufed their feed to pafs thro’ the fire to it; and which was carried by them in a fhrine, or portable tent or chapel. Or it may be rendered, but ye have born Siccuth your king?, and fo Siccuth may be'taken for the name of an idol, as it is by Yarchi, Kimchi, and Ben Melech, to whom they gave the title of king, as another idol went by the name of the queen of heaven; perhaps by one was meant the fun, and by the other the moon. And Chiun, your images; Moloch or Siccuth was one, and Chiun another image, or rather the fame; and this the fame with Chevan, which in the Arabic and Perfic languages is the name of Saturn, as Aben Ezra and Kimchi fay; and is fo rendered by Montanus here: and who in the Egyptian tongue was called Revan, or Rephan, or Remphan, as by the Septuagint here, and in Aéfs vii. 43. The flar of your god, which ye made to yourfelves, or the ftar your god%; meaning the fame with Chiun or Saturn; perhaps thé fame with the ftar that fell from the air or fky, mentioned by Sanchoniatho"; which Afarte, the wife of Chronus or Saturn, is {aid to take and confecrate in Tyre;.this they made for themfelves, and worfhipped as a deity. The Targum is, “ ye have ‘© born the tabernacle of your priefts, Chiun your ‘“¢ image, the ftar your god, which ye have made ‘* to yourfelves.” Various are the fenfes put upon the word Chiun. Some read it Cavan, and take it to fignify a cake; in which fenfe the word is ufed in Fer. vii. 18. and xliv. 19. and render it, the cake of your images *, and fuppofe that it had the image of their gods impreffed upon it. Ca/mer interprets it, the pedeftal of your images‘; and indeed the word has the fignification of a ba/is, and is fo rendered by fome"; and is applicable to Moloch their king, a king being the bafis and foundation of the kingdom and people; and to the fun, intended by that deity, which is the bafis of the celeftial bodies, and of all things on earth. Some take Moloch and Chiun to be diftinét deities, the one to be the fun, the other the moon; but they feem rather to be the fame, and both to be the Egyptian ox, and the calf of the J/raelites in the wildernefs, the image of which was carried in portable tents or taberna+ cles, in chefts or fhrines; fuch as the Succothbenoth, or tabernacles of Venus, 2 Kings xvii. 30. and thofe of Diana’s, Ads xix. 24. the firft of thefe thefe portable temples we read.of, is one drawn by oxen in Phaenicia, mentioned by Sanchoniatho “; not that the J/raelites carried fuch a tent or tabernacle during their travels through the wildernefs, whatever they might do the few days they worfhipped the calf; but this is to be underftood of their pofterity in after-times, in the times of Amos; and alfo when Salmanefer carried them captive beyond Dama/cus, as follows. It may be further obferved, for the confirmation and illuftration of what has been faid concerning Chiun, that the Egyptian Anubis, which Plutarch * fays is the fame with Saturn, is called by him Kyoz, which feems to be no other than this word Chiun: and whereas Stephen calls it Repban, this is not a corruption of the word, reading Rephan or Revan for Chevan, nor has he refpect to Rimmon, the god of the Syrians, but it is the Egyptian name for Saturn; which the Septuagint interpreters might chufe to make ufe of, they interpreting for the king of gyp¢: and Diodorus Siculus ¥ makes mention of an Egyptian king called Remphis, whom Braunius * takes to be this very Chiun; fee Ads vii. 43. but Rephas or Rephan, was the fame with Chronus or Saturn, from whence came the Rephaim*, who dwelt in Abiarotb-Carnaim, a town of Ham or Chronus; fee Gen. xiv. 5. Some’, who take Siccuth for an idol, render it in the future, ye fhall carry, 8c. and take it to be a prediction of Amos, that the D/raelites fhould, with great reproach and ignominy, be obliged by the Affprians, as they were led captive, to carry on their fhoulders the idols they had worfhipped, and in vain had trufted in, as ufed to be done in triumphs; fee the note on ch. i. 15.

¥. 27. Therefore will I caufe you to go into caps tivity beyond Damafeus, 8&cc.] The chief city of Syria, and which, as Aben Ezra fays, lay to the eaft of the land of J/rael, and was a very ftrong and fortified place: and Syria being in alliance with Tfrael, the I/raelites might think of fleeing thither for refuge, in the time of their diftrefs; but they are here told, that they fhould be taken captive, and be carried to places far more remote than that: Stephen fays, beyond Babylon, as they were, for they were carried into Media, to Halabh and Habor by the river of Gozan, to the cities of the Medes; their way to which lay through Syria and Babylon; fee Aéis vii. 43. and the note there: faith the Lord, whofe name is the God of bofts; and therefore is able to do what he threatens; and it might be depended upon it would be certainly done, as it is clear, beyond all contradiétion, it has been done; -fee 2 Kings xvii. 6.