Or Aya yt
HIS chapter feems to be direéted both to the two tribes of Fudab and Benjamin, and the ten tribes of J/rael, under the names of Zion and Samaria, and to the principal men in both, who are reproved and threatened for their carnal fecurity and felf-confidence, being in no fear of the evil day, tho’ they had no reafon for it no more than other people, ¥. 1, 2, 3. ate charged with wantonnefs, luxury, intemperance, and want of fympathy with thofe in diftrefs, ¥. 4, 5, 6. therefore are threatened to be carried captive firft, and their city to be delivered up; which, for the cer- ‘tainty of it, is not only faid, but fwore to, ¥. 7, 8. and a great mortality in every houfe, and the deftruction of all houfes, both great and {mall, ¥. 9, 10, 11. and fince a reformation of them feemed impracticable, and not to be expected, but they gloried in their wealth, and boafted of their ftrength, therefore they fhould be afflicted by a foreign nation raifed againit them, which affliction fhould be general, from one end of the country to the other, y. 325 135 ‘E4.
y. 1. Wo to them that are at eafe in Zion, &c.) Or fecure * there; which was a ftrong hold, the city of David, the feat of the kings of Fudah; where their court was kept, and the princes and chief men refided, and thought themfelves fafe, the place being well fortified with walls, towers, and bulwarks: or at edfe; that is, in eafy, profperous, comfortable circumftances of life; as Fob was before his troubles, and others he mentions, $¥ob xvi. 12. and xii. 5, and xxi. 23. tho? to be in fuch a {tate is not criminal, but a bleffing of providential goodnefs, for which men fhould be thankful, and make ule of it aright: but wo, to the rich in Zion *, as the Vulgate Latin verfion renders it, when they have nothing elfe but temporal riches; this is: all their portion, and the whole of their confolation, Luke vi. 24. when they truft in thefe uncertain riches, and confume them on their lufts, as deferibed in the following verfes; are unconcerned at the troubles of others, and give them no relief, but defpife them, od xii. 5. Pf. cxxiii, 4. and even are thoughtlefs about their own future ftate, and put away the evil day far from them, Luke xii. 19, 20. and fuch are they, who like Adoaé are at eafe from their youth, as to their fpiritual ftate, Fer. xlvili, 11. never had any true fight of fin, or fenfe of danger; never complain of a body of fin, or are concerned about fins of omiffion or commiffion; nor troubled with the temptations of fatan, and have no fears and doubts about their happinefs; and fuch there be who yet. are in Zion, or in a church-ftate, which Zion often fignifies; and being there, truft in it, and in the privileges of it, and fo are fecure, and at eafe; fuch are the foolith virgins and hypocrites, who place their confidence in a profeffion of religion, in being church-members, and in their fubmiffion to external ordinances, and fo cry, peace, peace, to themfelves, when deftruction is at hand: and are moreover at eafe, and’ unconcerned about the affairs of Zion, both temporal and {piritual, and efpecially the latter 5 don’t trouble themfelves about the doétrines - hear, whether truth or errer; and about ‘the fuccefs of them, whether they are made ufeful for converfion and edification; and about the continuance of a gofpel-miniftry, and a fucceffion in it; and about the difcipline of the church of God, - and the walk of profeffors; or about what trials and about the judgments of God in the-earth: therefore fuch carnal fecure perfons are either called upon to awake out of their fleep, and come off of their beds of eafe, and fhake off their vain confidence and carnal fecurity; for the word may be rendered, ho *, as a note of calling, ‘as in J Zech, ii. 6. or a threatening of calamity is denounced upon them, that the day of the “Lord fhould come upon them as a thief in the night, or as a {nare upon them that dwell on earth, and they be furprized with the midnight-cry, and with the terrors of devouring “flames, as the foolifh virgins and hypocrites in Zion will, Matt. xxv. 6, 7. Jf. Xxxlil. 14. The Septuagint, Syriac, and Arabic verfions render it, who de/pife Zion, or negleé? her; and the word is fometimes ufed of infolent perfons, and to exprefs their infolence; fee J/ xxxvii. 29. and fo may be underftood, not of the Fews in Ferufalem, but of the ten tribes, as the following claufe; who defpifed Zion, the city of folemnities, the temple, and the worfhip of God there, and fet up the calves at Dan and Bethel, and worfhipped them; and therefore a wo is denounced upon them. And truft in the mountain of Samaria; in the city of Samavia, built on a mountain, a {trong fortified city, where they thought themfelves fafe; the royal city of the kings of J/rael, the head of Ephraim, and the metropolis of the ten tribes, who here are intended: tho’ the words may be rendered, and the fenfe given a little different from this, as wo to the confident ones, that are in Samaria‘; not that put their truft in Samaria, but dwell there; but however are confident in their own ftrength, wealth, and might. The Zargum is, “ that truft in the “* fortrefs of Samaria;” fee 1 Kings xvi. 24. Which are named the chief of the nations; the perfons at eafe in Zion, and trufted in Samaria, were the principal men-of both nations, Fudah and I/rael, or thefe cities of Zion and Samaria, were the chief of the faid nations: Zion, which was near Jeru/alem, and includes it, was the metropolis of ‘fudea; as Samaria was the head-city of Ephraim, or the ten tribes. The Targum is, * that put the name of © their children, as the name of the children of <¢ the nations;” as the Fews did in after-times, giving their children the names of Alexander, Antipater, &cc. To whom the houfé of Ifrael came;| meaning not to the feven nations, of which the two natned cities were chief, into which T/rael entered, and took pofieffion of, and dwelt in; for Samaria never belonged to them, but was built by Omri king of Jjrael, long after the entrance of the J raelites into the land of Canaan, 1 Kings xvi. 24. but the cities of Zion and Samaria, into which the whole houfe of J/rael came, or had recourfe unto, at certain times: the ten tribes came to Samaria, where their kings refided, the court was kept, and the feats of judgment were; and the two tribes -came to Zion, to Ferufalem, to the temple there, and) by it, being put for Babel, as he fuppofes. According to ‘Yeroms, it is the fame city, fometimes called Se/eucia, in his days Crefiphon; very proba# bly it had been lately taken by the king of 4jria, and therefore made mention of; fee J x. 9. lv. 1.{ where it is called Ca/no. And fromm thence £0 ye to Hamath the great; thé fame with Antiochia, as Farchi and Ferom, called the great, to diftinguifh it from Hamath the lefs, fometimes called Epipdania; or from Hamath-Zobah, near Tadmor, ot Pa/myra, in the wildernefS, 2 Chron. Viii. Bee Ad tho’ it might be fo called with refpect to its own grandeur and magnificence; as Sidon is called, Sidon the great, tho’ there was no other, Fo/d. xi. 8. for it was a royal city; we read of Toi king of Hamath, in the times of David, 2 Sam. viii. 04,403 It is placed by Yo/epbus*, on the north of the land of Canaan, and fo it appears to be, and to be between Dama/cus and the Mediterranean fea, from Hzek. xlvii. 15, 16, 17. and xlviii. 1. Abu’ifeda', a learned prince, who reigned in Hamath, and fhould know its fituation, places it on the Orontes, between Hems and Apamea, that river furrounding it on the eaft and north. The learned Vitringa * thinks, that neither Axtiochia nor Epipbania are meant, but the city Emiffa; which Ammianus Marcellinus' makes mention of along with Damafcus, as a famous city in Syria, equal to Tyre, Sidon, and Berytus: and of the fame opinion was Theodovef ™ among the ancients, and {o Calmet * of late. And fo Hamath and Damajcus are mentioned together as recovered by Feroboam, 2 Kings xiv. 28. very probably the kingdom of Hamath became fubject to the kings of Damajcus; fee Fer. xlix. 23. but be it what place it will, it is very likely it had been lately fpoiled by the king of Afprias fee J/- xxxvii. 13. Then go down to Gath of the Philifiines; one of their five principalities, and a chief one, fo called to diftinguifh it from other Gaths, as Gath-Hepher, Gath-Rimmon. It ftood about five or fix miles fouth of Famuia, about fourteen fouth of Joppa, and thirty-two weft of Zerufalem. A village of this name is fhewn, as ferom ° fays, five miles from E/eutheropolis, as you go to Dio/polis or Lydda, and is taken to be the iame place. It is famous for being the birth-place ot Goliab, and is called in 2 Sam. viii. 1. compared with 1 Chron. xviii. 1. Metheg-Ammab, or the bridle of Ammah, or Metheg and her mother; that is, Gath and her daughters. Reland * thinks Gath is the city Cadytis ot Herodotus 1, who fays jit is a city of the Syrians, called Paleftines or Phi- /i/tines, and {peaks of the mountains of it; and this city was not far from the mountainous country of ‘fudea: now this city had been taken by Haxael king of Syria, and its wall was broke down by Uzziab king of Fudab, 2 Kings xii. 17. 2 Chron. xvi. 6. Be they better than thefe kingdoms? or their border greater than your border? that is, do Calneh, to worfhip the Lord. Hamath, and Gath, excel in dignity and grandeur,
¥. 2. Pafs ye unto Calneh, and fee, &c.] What is become of that city, which was in the land of Shinar, an ancient city, as early as the days of Nimrod, and built by him, and was with others the beginning of his kingdom, Gea. x. 10. it belonged to Badylon, and is by ‘Farchi here interpreted in wealth and ftrength, the kingdoms of [rae/ and %udab? or are they of a larger circumference, and exceed them in length and breadth? no, they did not; and therefore the more ungrateful were [/rael and Yudab to fin againft the Lord as they had done, who had given them fuch rich and large kingdoms, and therefore might expect to be taken and fpoiled as well as they: tho’ fome think there is a change of number and perfons in the text, and that the fenfe is, are you better than thefe kingdoms, or your border greater than theirs? and if not, you may expect to fare as they; fee a like expreffion in Nahum iii. 8,
¥. 3. Ye that put far away the evil day, &c.] The day of J/rael’s captivity, threatened by the Lord, and prophefied of by the prophets; by this prophet, and by Ho/hea and others: this they endeavoured to put out of their minds and thoughts, and fuppofed it to be at a great diftance, yea, hoped it never would be; and like the Jews, with refpect to their captivity, and the deftruction of their city, faid it was not near, but prolonged, yea, would never come to pafs, Ezek, xi. 3. and xii. 22. fo fome men put far from them the day of death; which tho” to a good man is better than the day of his birth, yet to a wicked man is an evil and terrible day; he don’t care to hear or fpeak, or think of it, left it fhould damp his carnal joys and pleafures: as alfo the day of Chrift’s coming to judgment; which tho’ a good man haftens to in his affections, defires, and prayers, wicked men fet at the greateft diftance, yea {coff at it, as believing it never will be, and to fhew that they are in no pain or uneafinefs about it; fee Jf Ivi. 12. Matt. xxiv. 48. 2 Pet. iii. 4—12. The Vulgate Latin verfion renders it, who are feparated to the evil day; appointed to it; fore-ordained to this condemnation, deftined to ruin and deftruétion for their fins; fee Prov. xvi. 4. And caufe the feat of violence to come near; boldly venture upon the commiffion of acts of injuftice, rapine, and violence, on a prefumption the evil day threatened will never come; or place themfelves on the bench in courts of judicature, and there, without any manner of concern, commit the greateft acts of unrighteoufnefs, as believing they fhall never be called to an account for them by God or man.
¥. 4. That lie upon beds of ivory, &c.] That were made of it, or inlaid with it, or covered with it, as the Targum, nor was it improbable that thefe were made wholly of ivory, for fuch beds we read of: Timeus fays ‘, the Agrigentines had beds entirely made of ivory; and Horace * alfo fpeaks of fuch beds: and if any credit can be given to the Targums.of fonathan and Ferufalem on Gen, |. 1. Fofeph made his father Faced to lie on a bed of ivory. Indeed, the Latin interpreters of thefe Zargums render it a cedar-bed; but Buxtorf * conjectures that ivory is meant, by the word ufed; and fo Bochart * tranflates it; on thefe they lay either for fleep and reft, or to eat their meals. ud firetch themfelves upon their couches; for the fame purpofes, living in great fplendor, and indulging themfelves in eafe and floth; as it was the cuftom of the eaftern countries, and is of the Arads now; that they make little or no ufe of chairs, but either fitting crofs-legged, or lying at length, have couches to lie on at their meals; and when they indulge to eafe, they cover or fpread their floors with carpets, which for the moft part are of the richeft materials. Along the fides of the wall or floor, a range of narrow beds or matrafles is often placed upon thefe carpets; and for their further eafe and con-'
*.—Rubro ubi cocco
Tinta fuper leClos canderet veltis eburnos.
venience, feveral velvet or damafk bolfters aré placed upon thefe, or matraffes ”, to lean upon, and take their eafe,; fee Ezek. xiii. 18. and thus, and in fome fuch like manner, did the principal men of the people of J/rae/ indulge themfelves. Some render it, abound with Juperfiuities; the Septuagint and Vulgate Latin verfions, are lafcivious; and the Arabic verfion, burn in luft; and fo fome of the Fewifh writers interpret it of their committing adulteries, and all uncleannefs, on their beds and couches. dud eat the lambs out of the flock; pick the beft and fatteft of them for their ufe: fo the Targum, ‘* eat the fat of the fheep:” and the calves out of the midft of the fall; where they are put, and kept to be fattened; from thence they took what they liked beft, and perhaps not out of their own flocks and ftalls, but out of others, and with which they pampered themfe!ves to excefs.
¥. 5. That chant to the found of the viol, &c.] Or p/altery; an inftrument of twelve cords, and that gave twelve founds, as Yo/ephus * fays, being ftricken with the fingers; and to thefe founds thefe men chanted or quivered, made like founds with their voice, which they raifed higher or lower, according to the found of the inftrument: they particularized, as the word fignifies’; or obferved the divifions and diftinctions of notes and founds, by the modulation of their voice: and invent to themfelves infiruments of mufic like David; not content with old ones, fuch as were ufed in former times, they invented new inftruments and new tunes, and new fongs to fing to them; as David made fongs, and invented feveral inftruments of mufic to fing them upon and to, in religious worfhip, and for the praife and glory of God; fo thefe men invented new ones to indulge their carnal mirth and jollity, in which they thought themfelves to be juftified by the example of David.
¥. 6. That drink wine in bowls, &c.] Not in fmall cups or glafies, but in large bowls, that they might drink freely, even to drunkennefs; hence we read of the drunkards of Ephraim, or the ten tribes, J/, xxviii, 1. or drink in bowls of wine; which is much to the fame fenfe. The Targum is, “ that drink wine in filver vials.” 4nd anoint themfelues with the chief ointments; which arch fays was balfam, and the beft is that which grew about Yericho; this they did not for moderate refrefhment, but for pleafure, and to indulge themfelves in luxury: but they are not grieved for the afflittion of Fofepb;, or the breach of him; that was made upon him by fome enemy or another: either what had been already made; Kimchi thinks it refpects the carrying captive of fome before the reign of Yeroboam, or it may regard the diftrefs Pul king of Afjria gave to IJ/rael, in the times of Menahem; or the carrying captive the inhabitants of feveral places by Tiglath-Pilefer king of a
Afpria, in the times of Pekab, 2 Kings xv. 19, 29. or elfe, as Farchi thinks, this refers to fome breach and affliction to come, which thefe men were unconcerned about; even what they heard from the mouth of the prophets fhould come to them; that the kingdom of the houfe of J/rael fhould ceafe, and be utterly took away, Ho/. i. 4, 6. which was fulfilled by Salmanefer, who carried J/rael captive into the cities of the Medes, 2 Kings xvii. 6. but the prophecy of this did not trouble them, or make them fick at heart, as the word * fignifies, nor any prefent affliction that might attend them; they did not weep with them that weep, were men of hard hearts, that had no fympathy with their brethren and fellow-creatures. It is thought that here is fome allufion to the carriage of Jo/eph’s brethren to him, when in the pit, and fold by them into Egypt; or to the chief butler’s forgetfulnefs of him, when advanced, and amidft his cups. _ ¥. 7. Therefore now fhall they go captive with the firft that go captive; &c.] That is, thefe men, who were the firft and chief in the nation, who would not believe the day of J/rael’s captivity would ever come; or however, had very diftant apprehenfions of it; but indulged and gratified their feveral fenfes of tafting, hearing, felling, in a carnal way, and had no fympathy with, and compafiion upon their afflicted brethren; thefe fhould be the firft the enemy fhould lay hold upon, and carry captive; as we find the royal family, the princes and nobles, the courtiers and chief tradefmen, were the firft that were carried captive of the Fews, in Feconiah’s captivity, 2 Kings xxiv. 12, 14. And the banquet of them that ftretched themfelves fhall be removed; that ftretched themfelves upon couches, ¥. 4. they fhall have no more banquets or feafting-bouts to attend to, by ftretching themfelves out, and lying upon couches at their eafe, thtfe’ fhall.be taken from them; and be glad of bread and water in an enemy’s country, without a couch to recline upon. Some underftand this of a funeral-banquet, as in Jer. xvi. 5. and fo the fenfe is, that when they die, they fliall not have that honour done to their memory, as to have a funeral-feaft provided for thofe that attend their burial, as was cuftomary. Kimchi interprets it, the mourning of fuch fhall draw nigh®;, and according to his father Yofeph Kimchi, the word in the Arabic language fignifies to lift up the voice, either in mourning or joy; and fo may fignify, that as all feafts, and the joy that attends them, fhould be removed, which is the fenfe of the Zargum, inftead of that, mourning fhould take place; or they fhould be deprived of the common ceremony at death, of mourning men and women. y¥. 8. The Lord God bath fworn by himfelf, &c.] Becaufe he could fwear by no greater, Hed. vi. 13. which fhows the importance and certainty of the thing fworn to, and is as follows: faith the Lord, the God of bofts, 1] abbor the excellency of ‘Jacobs or the pride of facob*; of I/rael, of the ten tribes, remarkable for their pride; hence called the crown of pride, Jf xxviii, 3. it may include all that was glorious, valuable, and excellent among them, of which they were proud; their kingdom, riches, wealth, and ftrength, their fortified cities and towns: if Fudab is comprehended in this, it may regard the temple, which was their excellency, and in which they gloried. So the Targum paraphrafes it, ‘* the houfe of the fanctuary of the ** houfe of Facob;” and in like manner archi, Kimchi, and Ben Melech interpret it. nd bate his palaces; the palaces of the king and nobles, and great men, which fhould fall into the enemies hand, and be plundered and deftroyed; which is meant by the Lord’s abhorrence and hatred of them, this being an evidence of it, Therefore will I deliver up the city, with all that is therein; or with its fulnefs *, with all its inhabitants and riches; according to
Farchi, the city of Feru/alem is meant; though rather the city of Semaria, unlefs both are intended; city for cities; fince the chief men both of Jrael and Fudab feem to be addrefied, y. 1.
¥. 9. And it foall come to pafs, &c.] When the city is delivered up and taken: if there remain: who are not carried captive; or deftroyed by the {word: ten men in one houfe; that is, many, a certain number for an uncertain: that ¢bey /hall die; either with famine, or by the peftilence, tho’ they have efcaped the other calamities; fo general fhall the deftruétion be, by one means or another.
¥. 10. And a man’s uncle fall take him up, &c.] That is, his father’s brother, as Kimchi; or his near kinfman, as the Targum; to whom the right of inheritance belongs, and alfo the care of his funeral; he fhall take up the dead man himfelf, in order to inter him, there being none to employ in fuch fervice; the mortality being fo univerfal, either thro’ the peftilence raging every where; or thro’ the earthquake, men being killed by the fall of houfes upon them; which ben Ezra takes to be the cafe here; fee ¥; 11. and ch, i. 1. and iii. 13. And he that burneth bim,; which may be read disjunctively, or he that burneth him®, his mother’s brother, according to Judah ben Karis in Aben Ezra; for which there feems to be no foundation. The Yargum renders it in connexion with the preceding claufe, ‘* fhall take him up from the burn- ‘“* ing;” and fo Farchi interprets of a man’s being found, and taken up in a houfe, burnt by the enemy at the taking of the city: but it is beft to underftand it of one, whofe bufinefs it was to burn the dead; which tho’ not commonly ufed among the Fews, femetimes was, 1 Sam. xxxi. 12: and fo fhould be at this time, partly becaufe of the infection, and to ftop the contagion; and chiefly becaufe a fingle man could not well carry whole bodies to the grave, to bury them; and therefore firft burnt their flefh, and then buried their bones; as follows: to bring out the bones out of the houjfe; in order to bury them: and_fball fay unto him that is by the fides of the houfe; or in the corner of it §; as the Targum; either the uncle fhall fay to the burner, that is fearching the houfe for the dead; or the uncle and burner being. one and the fame perfon, fhall fay to the only furviving one of the ten, that is got into fome corner of the houfe thro’ fear or melancholy, under fuch a fad calamity, is there yet any with thee? any dead corpfe to be brought out and burned, and buried? and be fhall fay, no; there are no more: or there is an end of them all ®; the laft has been brought out: or -as the Targum, ‘ they are perifhed;” they are all dead, and carried out: then fhall he fay, hold thy tongue; left the neighbours fhould hear, and be difcouraged at the number of the dead in one houfe; or fay not one word againft the providence of God, nor murmur and repine at his hand, fince it is jut and righteous: for we may not make mention of the name of the Lord; being forbid by their fuperiors; or it is not right to do it by way of complaint, fince our fins haye deferved fuch judgments to come upon us; or it will be to no purpofe to make mention of the name of the Lord, and pray unto him to turn away his hand, fince deftruction is determined, the decree is gone forth. The Targum is, “he fhall fay, remove (that is, the dead) fince «¢ while they lived they did not pray in the name <¢ of the Lord.” And fo the Syriac and Arabic verfions make this to be the reafon of the mortality, Lecaufe they remembered not the name of the Lora, or called not upon it.
y. 11. For bebold, the Lord commandeth, &c.] _ Hath determined and ordered the judgment before, and what follows: Kimchi paraphrafes it, hath decreed the earthquake, as in ch. iii. 15. of which he underftands the following: and be will fmite the great houfe with breaches; or droppings *; fo that the rain fhall drop through: and the little boufe with clefts; fo that it fhall fall to ruin; that is, he fhall {mite the houfes both of great and fmall, of the princes, and of the common people, either with an earthquake, fo that they fhall part afunder and fall; or being left without inhabitants, fhall of courfe become defolate, there being none to repair their breaches. Some underftand by the great bou/e, the ten tribes of J/rae]; and by the /ittle houfe, the two tribes of Fudah and Benjamin; to which fenle the Targum feems to incline, ‘* he will fmite the ** great kingdom with a mighty ftroke, and the *¢ Jittle kingdom with a weak ftroke.”
y. 12. Shall horfes run upon the rocks? or will one plow there with oxen? &c.] Will any man be fo weak and foolifh, to propofe or attempt a race for horfes upon rocks, where they and their riders would be in danger of breaking their necks? or would any man act fo unwife a part, as to take a yoke of oxen to plow with them upon a rock, where no impreffion can be made? as vain and fruitlefs a thing it would be, to attempt to bring fuch perfons under a conviction of their fins, and to repentance for them, and reformation from them, who are given up to a judicial hardnefs of heart, like that of a rock, as are the perfons defcribed in the next claufe; or as fuch methods with horfes and oxen would be contrary to all the rules of reafon and prudence, fo as contrary a part do fuch perfons act, whofe characters are next given, and there is no probability of bringing them to a better fenfe and practice of things. For ye have turned judgment into gall, and the fruit of righteoufne s into hemlock; that which would be beneficial to a nation, than which nothing is more fo, as the exercife of juftice and judgment, into that which is bitter and pernicious to it, as injuftice and oppreffion; fee ch. v. 7.
¥. 13. Ye which rejoice in a thing of nought, &c.] In their wealth and riches, which are things that are not, becaufe of the uncertainty of them; and in comparifon of true riches, have no folidity and fubftance in them, Prov. xxiii. 5. or in any of the things of this world, the lufts of it, the honours of it, human wifdom or ftrength; all are things of nought, of no worth, give no fatisfaction, and are of no continuance, and not to be gloried in, Jer. ix. 23. or in their idols, for an idol is nothing in the world, 1 Cor. viii. 4. and yet they rejoiced in them, és vii. 41. or in their own works of righteoufnefs, as men of a pharifaical temper do, as thefe people were; thefe indeed are fomething,
" Vicimus, & domitum pedibus calcamus amorem, Venerunt capiti cornua fera meo.
when done in obediencé to the will of God, and according to that, and from right principles, and in the exercife of faith and love, and with a view to the glory of God, and as they are evidences 0 true grace, and profitable to men, and tend to glorify God, and ferve the intereft of religion; but they are things of nought, and not to be rejoiced and gloried in, in the bufinefs of juftification before God, and in the affair of falvation: the fame may be faid of a mere outward profeffion of religion depended on, and all external rites and ceremonies, or fubmiffion to outward ordinances, whether legal or evangelical. The phrafe may be rendered, in that which is no word‘; is not the word of God, nor according to it; indeed every thing — fhort of Chrift and his righteoufnefs, and falvation by him, are things of nought, and not to be rejoiced in, Phil. iii. 3, 4, 5. andiv. 4. Which fay, bave we not taken to us borns by our own firength? by which we have pufhed our enemies, got victory over them, and obtained power, dominion, and authority; all which horns are an emblem of. So Sanckoniatho * fays, Affarte put upon her own head, a bull’s head, as an enfign of royalty, or a mark of fovereignty; by which, as Bifhop Cumberland! thinks, is plainly meant the bull’s horns, fince it is certain that a horn in the eaftern languages, is an.emblem or expreffion noting royal power, as in 1 Sam, ii. 10. and in. other places; fee Daa. vii. 24. thus the kings of Egypt wore horns, as Diodorus relates; and perhaps for the fame reafon the ©
Egyptians adorned J/s with horns". And ail this. they afcribed not to God, but to themfelves. The Targum interprets horns by riches; but it rather fignifies victory *, and power and government, which they took to themfelves, and imputed to their own ftrength, valour, and courage: very probably here is an allufion to their enfigns, banners, fhields or helmets, on which horns might be figured or engraven, being the arms of Ephraim, the fon of Fo/eph, the chief of the ten tribes, who are here fpoken of. Ephraim is often put for the ten tribes, or the kingdom of J/rael; and Fofeph, whofe fon he was, is glory was like the firftling of a bullock, and bis horns are faid to be like the horns of unicorns, with them, it is promifed, he fhall pub the people together, to the ends of the earth, and they are the ten thoufands of Ephraim, and they are the be, as the lion feems to be the enfign of the tribe of Fudab, to which he is by Facob compared; fo the ox or the unicorn might be the enfign of the - tribe of Ephraim: and fo the ancient Fews, as Aben Ezra on Numb. ii. 2. obferves, fay, that the form of a man was on the ftandard of Reuben;
and the form of a lion on the ftandard of Fudab;
and the form of an ox on the ftandard of Ephraim, Sc, and others ° of them fay, that the ftandard of Yofeph was died very black, and was figured for the two princes of Ephraim and Manaffeh, wpon the ftandard of Ephraim was figured an ox, becaule the firfiling of a bullock; and on the ftandard of Manajfeh was figured an unicorn, becaufe bis horns are like the horns of unicorns. Now the Ifraelites, or thofe of the ten tribes, at the head of which Ephraim was, fet up their banners, not in the name of the Lord, but in their own ftrength; and attri- buted their conquefts and dominions to their own conduct and courage, the horns of their own ftrength, and not to God’, And this alfo is the language of fuch perfons, who afcribe regeneration and converfion, faith, repentance, the cleanfing of a man’s heart, and the reformation of his life, yea his whole falvation, to the power and ftrength of his free-will, when man has no ftrength at all to efiect any of thefe things; thefe are all vain boatts, and very difagreeable and offenfive to the Lord; and for fuch like things, perfons ftand here reproved by him, and threatened with woes; for wo muft be here fupplied from y..1.
¥. 14. But behold, I will raife up againft you a nation, O house of Ifrael, faith the Lord, the God of bofis, &c.| The Afjyrian nation, under its king Salmanefer;. who invaded J/rae/, came up to Samavia, and after a three years-fiege took it, and carried J/rael captive into foreign lands, 2 Kings xvii. 5,6: and they. foall affi you; by battels, fieges, forages, plunders, and burning of cities and towns, and putting the inhabitants to the fword: from the entring in of Hamath, unto the river of the wilderne s;
from Hamath the lefs, faid by Fofephus 2 and Ferom ' to be called Epiphania in their times from Antiochus Epiphanes, it was at the entrance on the land of djrael, and at the northern border of it; fo that the river of the wildernefs, whatever is meant by it, lay to the fouth; by which it appears, that this affliction and diftrefs would be very general, from one end of it to the other. Some, by this river, underftand the river of Egypt, at the entrance of Egypt in the wildernefs of Ethen; Sthor or Nile; which, Farchi fays, lay fouth-welt of Jrael, as Hamath lay north-wett of it. And a late traveller ¢ obferves, that the fouth and fouth-weft border of the tribe of ¥udab, containing within it the whole, or the greateft part of what was called the way of the [pies, Numb. xxi. 1. and afterwards Jdumea, extended itfelf from the Elenitic gulf of the Red-fec, along by that of Hiersopolis, quite to the Nile wettward; the Nile confequently, in this view and fituation, either with regard to the barrennefs of the Philiftines, or to the pofition of it with refpect to the land of promife, or to the river Euphrates, may, with propriety enough, be called the river of the wilderne/s, Amos vi. 14. as this diftriét, which lies beyond the eaftern or Afatic banks of the Nile, from the parallel of Memphis, even to Pelufium, (the land of Go/ben only excepted) is all of it dry, barren, and inhofpitable; or if the fituation be. more regarded, it may be called, as it is rendered by the Septuagint, the weftern torrent or river. Tho’ fome take this to be the river Bofor or Bezor, that parts the tribes of Fudah and Simeon, and difcharges itfelf into the Mediterranean between Gaza, or rather Majuma and Anthedon. Tho’ Kimchi takes this river to be the fea of the plain, the fame with the falt or dead fea, Deut. ii. 17. which may feem likely, fince Feroboam the fon of Foa/h, king of J/rael, under whom Amos prophefied, had reftored the coaft of J/rael, from the entring of Hamath unto the fea of the plain, 2 Kings xiv. 25. with which they were elevated, and of which they boafted; but now they fhould have affliction and diftrefs in the fame places, and which fhould extend as far,
N this and the two following chapters, are the vifions of Amos, in number five; three of which are contained in this chapter, and with which it begins. The firft is of the grafhoppers or locufts eating up the after-grafs of the land, which are {topped at the interceffion of the prophet, ¥. 1, 2, 3. the fecond is of fire the Lord called for to contend by, whofe devouring flames are made to ceafe by the fame interpofition, ¥. 4, 5, 6. and the other is of the plumb-line, fignifying the utter deftruction of the people of J/rae/, according to the righteous judgment of God, ¥. 7, 8, 9. upon the delivery ot which prophecies and vifions, the prieft of Bethel forms a charge againft the prophet to the king and advifes Amos to flee into Fudea, and prophefy there, and not at Bethel, being willing to be rid of him at any rate, ¥. 10, II, 12, 13. next follows the prophet’s vindication of himfelf, fhewing his divine call to the prophetic office, and his miffion and exprefs order he had from the Lord to prophefy unto Tjrael, ¥. 14, 15. and concludes with a denunciation of divine judgments: on the y. 1. Thus hath the Lord fhewed unto me, &c.] What follows in this and the two chapters, before the prophet delivered what he heard from the Lord;
now what he faw, the-fame thing, the ruin of tlie ten tribes, is here expreffed as before, but in 2 different form; before in prophecy, here in vifion, the more to affect and work upon the hearts of the people: and bebold, he formed grafboppers; or locufts *, as the word is rendered, J/ xxxiii. 4. and fo the Septuagint here, and other verfions. Kimchi interprets it, and behold, a collection or fwarm of locufts; and the Targum, a creation of them. Tho’ Aben Ezra takes the word to be a verb, and not a noun, and the fenfe to be, agreeable to our verfion, he fhewed me the bleffed God, who was forming locufts; it appeared to Amos, in the vifion of prophecy, as if the Lord was making locufts, large and great ones, and many of them; not that this was really done, only vifionally, and was an emblem of the Afyrian army, prepared and ready to devour the land of J/rael; fee Foeli. 4. Nab. iii. 17. And this was in the beginning of the fhooting up of the latter growth; and lo, it was the latter growth after the king’s mowings; when the firit grafs was mowed down, and the firft crop gathered in, for the ufe of the king’s cattel; as the aftergrafs was juft {pringing up, and promifed a fecond crop, thefe grafhoppers or locufts were forming, which threatened the deftruction of it. This muft be towards the clofe of the fummer, and when autumn was coming on, at which time naturalifts tell us, that locufts breed. So Ariftole * fays, they bring forth at the going out of the fummer; and of one fort of them he fays, their eggs perifh in the waters of autumn, or when it is a wet autumn; but in a dry ‘autumn there is a large increafe of them: and fo Pliny fays *, they breed in the autumn-feafon, and lie under the earth all the winter, and appear in the fpring: and Colwmella obferves ’, that locufts are moft fuitably and commodioufly fed with grafs in autumn which is called cordum or the latter grafs, that comes or fprings late in the year; fuch as this nowwas. The Mabometans fpeak * much of God being the maker of Jocutts; they fay he made them of the clay which was left at the formation of Adam; and reprefent him faying, Fam God, nor is there any Lord of locufts befides me, who feed them, and fend them for food to the people, or as a punifhment to them, _ as I pleafe: they call them the army of the moft hi¢h God, and will not fuffer any to kill them; fee the note on Rev. ix. 3. whether all this is founded on this paflage of feripture, I cannot fay; however, there is no reafon from thence, to make the locufts fo peculiarly the workmanthip of God as they do, fince this was only in a vifionary way; tho’ it may be obferved, that it is with great propriety, agreeable to the nature of thefe creatures, that God is reprefénted as forming them at fach a feafon of the year. Some, by the king’s mowings, underftand the carrying captive the ten tribes by Salmanefer king of Afyria, fo Ribera; after which things were in a flourifhing ftate, or at leaft began to be fo, in the two tribes: under Hezekiab, when they were threatened with ruin by the army of Sennacherib, from which there was a deliverance: but as this vifion, and the reft, only refpect the ten tribes of I/rael, -the king’s niowings of the firft crop, may fignify the diftreffes of the people of J/rae/, in the times of Feboahaz king of Jjfrael, by Hazael and Benhadad kings of Syria, 2 Kings xiii. 3, 4, 22. when things revived again, like the fhooting up of the after-grafs, in the reign of Foa/b, and efpecially of Feroboam his fon, who reftored the coaft of J/rae/, the Lord having compaffion on them, 2 Kugs xiii. 25. and xiv. 25, 26. but after his death things grew worfe; his fon reigned but fix months, and he that flew him but one; and in the reign of Menahem that fucceeded him, an invafion of the land was made by Pul king of Affjria, 2 Kings xv. 19. which is generally thought to be intended here. Or elfe, as others, it may refer to the troubles in the interregnum, after the death of eroboam, to his fons mounting the throne, the fpace’of eleven years, when, and afterwards, J/rael was in a declining {tate.
y. 2. And it came to pafs, that when they bad made an end of eating the gras of the land, 8ec.] That is, the erafhoppets or locufts; whén in’ the vifion it feemed to the prophet that almoft all the grafs of the land was eat up, and they were going to feize upon’ the corn, and other fruits of the eatth: this fignifies not Sénacherid’s invafion of the land of Fudea, but Pul’s invafion of the land of I/rdel, whofe army feemed like thefe locutts; and fpreading themfelves over the land, threatened it with defolation, as thefe locufts feemed to have