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

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

16 Therefore the LORD, the God of hosts, the Lord, saith thus; Wailing shall be in all streets; and they shall say in all the highways, Alas! alas! and they shall call the husbandman to mourning, and such as are skilful of lamentation to wailing.

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

18 'Woe unto you that desire the day of the LORD! to what end is it for you? the day of the LORD is darkness, and not light.

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

20 Shall not the day of the LORD be dark

Psal. 34. 14, and 97. 10. Rom. 12. 9.
9 Isa. 5. 19.
12 Or, thankofferings.

11 Or, smell your holidays.

ness, and not light? even very dark, and no brightness in it?

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

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

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

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16. They shall call the husbandman to mourning.'-We do not feel quite satisfied with any of the reasons we have seen assigned for this call of the husbandman to mourning. It seems to us to signify that the slaughter or mortality should be so great, that even the husbandmen should be unable to pursue the labours of the field, from the constant calls upon them to take part in acts of mourning and of funeral griefs.

• Cull...such as are skilful of lamentation to wailing.' This doubtless alludes to the mourning women, of whom we have already spoken, particularly under Jer. ix. The pictorial illustration which we now introduce affords an interesting practical commentary on the custom. The scene is a Turkish cemetery. The women, at the grave of one lately interred, are professional mourners, as appears by their tambourines, which form the proper instruments and badges of their calling. They could not be introduced so characteristically as among the graves; and their presence there is explained by the fact, that, although the more proper sphere of their vocation is to mourn over the uninterred corpse, and while following it to the tomb, yet they also often accompany the chief female mourner in the daily visits which she pays to the grave during the first seven days of mourning, and sometimes go alone to mourn over the grave when she is absolutely unable to attend.

19. As if a man did flee from a lion, and a bear met him.'-The expression would seem to be proverbial, expressing a succession of calamities, or rather, the doom of

10 Isa. 1. 11. Jer. 6. 20. 15 Or, Siceuth your king.

avoiding one evil only to fall into another. There are proverbial expressions to this effect in all nations, as 'Incidit in Scyllam, qui vult vitare Charybdim,' and our own less elegant 'Out of the frying-pan into the fire.' In support of the proverbial character of the phrase Bochart (Hieroz. ii. 136, seq.) quotes two Arabian anecdotes, one of which begins thus:- A man, pursued by a lion, took refuge in a tree, in the branches of which a bear had fixed himself, devouring the fruit;' and the other, 'A man, fleeing from a lion, fell into a well, into which the lion went down after him, and there was a bear in the well,' etc.

'Leaned his hand on the wall, and a serpent bit him.' -The smaller serpents in the East delight to harbour in the old walls of houses, and particularly of dark chambers, to which they obtain easy access, as the doors hang loosely, and the windows are often mere wooden lattices without glass. In such situations they will remain and increase, unless extirpated; and their extirpation from such places is the principal vocation of the serpentcharmer, who in some respects answers to the rat-catcher of Europe. It is particularly common to find serpents, and also scorpions, in houses or rooms that have remained for any time unoccupied; and the new occupants are obliged to be careful. Under these circumstances such accidents as that to which the prophet refers are by no

means uncommon.

26. Ye have borne the tabernacle of your Moloch and Chiun,' etc.-This is a very difficult verse, the full investigation of which, or even a mere statement of the different views which have been taken of its contents, would take far more room than we can afford, or should consider to be profitably occupied. A few observations, however, as to the nature of the act here condemned, and the time in which it was committed, may not be misapplied; and these happen to be the most important points, as well as the clearest, and those which involve the least discussion. With respect to the first clause, the tabernacle of your Moloch,' it is to be noted that the word rendered 'tabernacle' is П siccuth, which most interpreters follow the

Septuagint (onh) in rendering 'tent,' or tabernacle,' that is, as applied to an idol, or shrine. But several others, of good authority, not being able to satisfy themselves as to the process by which the Septuagint extracts this meaning from the Hebrew word, regard it as the proper name of the idol denoted. Then, again, the words rendered 'your Moloch' may equally mean your king,' which is the interpretation necessarily adopted by those who regard the other word as a proper name, and is even taken by some who do not. We have thus three various translations of this clause, as 'the tabernacle (or shrine) of your Moloch;' or 'the tabernacle (or shrine) of your king;' or 'Siccuth your king.' To the last we feel unable to attach much weight, and the balance of credible interpretation seems to us to lie between the first two, and of these two perhaps that of your king' is preferable to your Moloch; for although Moloch may be and probably is intended, it is rendered likely that the name is here used appellatively, by the consideration that the same idol is denoted by a proper name in the next clause. For the next clause, And Chiun your image,' there are also various interpretations. Some refuse to recognize Chiun () as a proper name, and render it by car'-'the car of your idols;' but the general current of recent criticism bears out the old interpretations which the Authorized Version here follows. The Septuagint translator seems to have used a copy which had not but as the first

letter of the word, for he renders it into 'Papáv, Raiphan, which is quoted by Stephen in Acts vii. 43 as 'Peμpár, Remphan. The elder Jewish interpreters, as Aben Ezra and Kimchi, also regard it as a proper name, and recognize the name and the idol as that which the planet still bore in the languages of Arabia and Persia; and in this, modern research into the languages of the East has so far confirmed them, that the identity of Chiun with Saturn is to be regarded as almost a settled thing. But it is also to be borne in mind that Saturn was the idol better known as Moloch in Scripture, so that this clause and the last coincide in their reference to the same idol. We prefer, therefore, to retain Chiun as a proper name; and to apprehend that by 'Chiun of your images' (as more exactly rendered) we are to understand that many copies or smaller images were made like that larger and more important one which was carried about in the shrine. As to the star of your god,' this seems merely explanatory, informing us that the figure of the idol was that of a star, confirming the general opinion that Zabianism (or star-worship) was the form of idolatry with which the Israelites became acquainted in the Arabian desert, and against which many of the Mosaical laws are levelled.

It is generally agreed that the act with which the prophet reproaches the Hebrews, consisted in carrying or drawing about, in solemn procession or during a march, the shrine, car, or portable temple, containing the image

of the idol, or some idolatrous symbol, or it might be the tent or tabernacle of the idol god, which was carried from place to place, and pitched for the idol's reception. The interpretation which rejects Chiun' as a proper name, would suggest both a car for the march of the idol, and a tent for his reception. However, it is supposed that a car, or receptacle of some kind or other, is intended; and nothing can be more probable, as we know that in whatever nation, ancient or modern, the worship or reverence of images is found, it has been and is customary to carry about some principal idols on solemn festival occasions, under a canopy, in cars or chariots, or upon the shoulders of men. How magnificently such affairs are managed by the Hindoos is known to all; and we have introduced a representation of one of their idols' cars, or movable temples, as a suitable illustration of the general practice, but not certainly of the particular form in which that practice may have been followed by the Hebrews. We may also refer to the curious specimens of a Phoenician car of this kind for the goddess Astarte, afforded by the ancient coin which we have engraved under 2 Chron. xv. We also know that not only were the images of idols thus carried about in procession on festival occasions, but that they were sometimes conveyed about in armies with much state and ceremony. That the idolatrous Hebrews had the custom of carrying their idols about is clear from other passages; and it is possible they may have taken it

[B.C. 787. from the Egyptians, among whom it existed in remote time, as attested not only by ancient writers, but from the evidence of existing paintings and sculptures. And this derivation of the practice may seem the more obvious, if we conceive that the circumstance to which the prophet refers occurred during the forty years' wanderings in the desert, when the Hebrews were deeply imbued with the idolatries of Egypt. That it did then occur seems to be very obviously intimated; and is generally allowed, though disputed by some on the ground, chiefly, that so conspicuous an act of idolatry could not have been concealed from Moses, or have been allowed by him. But it is not necessary to contend that they constantly did this during the years of their sojourning: it is enough to suppose that they did so that they got up idolatrous processions during one or more of those occasions when, in the wilderness, the people turned aside to idols-when abandoning themselves to the worship of the golden calf, or when drawn into the idolatries of Moab and Midian. Another conjecture has been made, which would allow the act in question to have been continuous and secret. This supposes that the 'tabernacle' which was borne by the Hebrews was a small and portable idolatrous symbol, worn about the person, and analogous to the silver shrines' of Diana, the manufacture of which brought no small gain to the silversmiths of Ephesus.

2 Pass ye unto Calneh, and see; and from thence go ye to Hamath the great: then go down to Gath of the Philistines: be they better than these kingdoms? or their border greater than your border?

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

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

5 That 'chant to the sound of the viol, and invent to themselves instruments of musick, like David;

saith the LORD the God of hosts, I abhor the excellency of Jacob, and hate his palaces: therefore will I deliver up the city with "all that is therein.

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

10 And a man's uncle shall take him up, and he that burneth him, to bring out the bones out of the house, and shall say unto him that is by the sides of the house, Is there yet any with thee? and he shall say, No. Then shall he say, "Hold thy tongue: for 15we may not make mention of the name of the LORD.

11 For, behold, the LORD commandeth, and he will smite the great house with breaches, and the little house with clefts.

12 Shall horses run upon the rock? will one plow there with oxen? for ye have turned judgment into gall, and the fruit of righteousness into hemlock :

13 Ye which rejoice in a thing of nought, which say, Have we not taken to us horns by our own strength?

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

Chap. 5. 18. 11 Heb. breach.

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Verse 4. That lie upon beds of ivory.'-From the description, given in this and the following verses, of the feasts of the Hebrews, it would seem that they had arrived at a somewhat luxurious condition of life in the time of Amos. Such of the usages to which it refers, as have not already been illustrated, we shall hereafter have occasion to notice separately. At present it may suffice to sum up the information it contains :-That the Hebrews reclined at their entertainments upon splendid couches or beds; the guests were anointed with rich ointments or oils; they indulged freely in wine; and were entertained with vocal and instrumental music. All these usages were common in most ancient nations; and nearly all these, and others which may be collected from different passages of Scripture, are still retained in the East. One important exception is the drinking of wine, which is forbidden by the law of Mohammed, and which gives a peculiar character of sobriety, but not dulness, to the most luxurious entertainments of Western Asia, in which the law is not transgressed.

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5. Chant to the sound of the viol.'-The word here rendered 'viol' is the same as the nabel, which has already been noticed under Ps. xcii. and cviii.

10. He that burneth him.'-This remarkable passage has been incidentally illustrated under Jer. xxxv. 5, and since then, the illustration of this text has been further anticipated by some intimations which have been given in

the note on Ezek. xxxii. 22. It will be seen from these notes that we are disposed to contend that the custom of burning the dead was at one time in use among the Hebrews, though perhaps not commonly in use. We are willing to allow, however, that even at this time, when burning appears to have been regarded as an honourable mode of disposing of the remains even of kings, the prac tice was more generally resorted to when deaths occurred in great numbers, from plague, war, or other circumstances. The prophet is here describing the effects of pestilence. And it appears-from the admission of the Rabbins, that fires were kept burning in the valley of Tophet to consume dead carcases, for fear of pestilence-that the Hebrews were not ignorant that the mephitic vapours arising from putrescent bodies were favourable to the rise and spread of pestilence. On the subject of this connection an interesting paper was read by Mr. Urquhart at the meeting of the British Association at Liverpool in 1837, on which occasion Colonel Briggs observed, that the plague was unknown in India, and attributed it to the custom of burning the dead. If the Hebrews burned their dead, when deaths were numerous, as a measure of precaution for preventing the spread of pestilence, they knew more than is known to the present inhabitants of Syria. 13. Have we not taken to us horns by our own strength? -Horns being the symbol of power and glory, the words mean, Have we not raised ourselves in glory and authority by our own strength ?'