Threatenings against A. M. cir. 3217., clothes B. C. cir. 787. Ante U. C. 34. Amulii Sylvii, R. Alban.,. cir annum 10. every Plaid to pledge r CHAP. II. ૧ the ten tribes. by 12 But ye gave the Nazarites A. M. cir. 3217. altar, and they drink the wine to drink; and commanded 9 Yet destroyed I the Amorite before them, whose height was like the height of the cetars, and he was strong as the oaks;. yet I "destroyed his fruit from above, and his roots from beneath. P Exod. xxii. 26, — Ezek. xxiii. 41; 1 Cor. viii: 10; x. 21. Or, such as have fined, or mulcted.- Num. xxi. 24; Deut. ii. 31, Josh. xxiv. 8. t Num. xiii. 28, 32, 33.- "Isa. v. 24; Mal. iv. 1. Exod. xii. 51; Mic. vi. 4.- Deut. ii. 7; viii. Num. vi. 2; Judg. xiii. 5. 2. the prophets, phesy not. 13 Behold, I am pressed under you, as a cart is pressed that is full of sheaves. 14 Therefore the flight shall perish from the swift, and the strong shall not strengthen his force, neither shall the mighty deliver himself. d с Their crimes are enumerated under the following in the wilderness forty years. 3. Driving out the heads : 1. Their judges were mercenary and corrupt. They took bribes to condemn the righteous; and even for articles of clothing, such as a pair of shoes, they condemned the poor man, and delivered him into the hands of his adversary. 2. They were unmerciful to the poor generally. They pant after the dust of the earth on the head of the poor; or, to put it on the head of the poor; or, they bruise the head of the poor against the dust of the earth. Howsoever the clause is understood, it shows them to have been general oppressors of the poor, showing them neither justice nor mercy. Canaanites before them, and giving them possession of the promised land. 4. Raising up prophets among them to declare the Divine will. 5. And forming the holy institution of the Nazarites among them, to show the spiritual nature of his holy religion, ver. 9-11. Verse 12. But ye gave the Nazarites wine] This was expressly forbidden in the laws of their institution. See Num. vi. 1-3. Prophesy not.] They would not worship God, and they would not hear the voice of his prophets. Verse 13. Behold, I am ́ pressed under you] The marginal reading is better: " Behold, I will press 3. They turn aside the way of the meek. They are your place, as a cart full of sheaves presseth." I peculiarly oppressive to the weak and afflicted. 4. They were licentious to the uttermost abomination; for in their idol feasts, where young women prostituted themselves publicly in honour of Astarte, the father and son entered into impure connections with the same female. 5. They were cruel in their oppressions of the poor; for the garments or beds which the poor had pledged they retained contrary to the law, Exod. xxii. 7-26, which required that such things should be restored before the setting of the sun, 6. They punished the people by unjust and oppressive fines, and served their tables with wine bought by such fines. Or it may be understood of their appropriating to themselves that wine which was allowed to criminals to mitigate their sufferings in the article of death; which was the excess of inhumanity and cruelty. Verse 9. Yet destroyed I the Amorite] Here follow general heads of God's mercies to them, and the great things he had done for them. 1. Bringing them out of Egypt. 2. Miraculously sustaining them will bring over you the wheel of destruction; and it shall grind your place your city and temple, as the wheel of a cart laden with sheaves presses down the ground, gravel, and stones over which it rolls. Verse 14. The flight shall perish from the swift] The swiftest shall not be able to save himself from a swifter destruction. None, by might, by counsel, or by fleetness, shall be able to escape from the impending ruin. In a word, God has so fully determined to avenge the quarrel of his broken covenant, that all attempts to escape from his judgments shall be useless.. -Verse 15. -Neither shall he that rideth the horse deliver himself.] I believe all these sayings, from verse 13 to 16 inclusive, are proverbs, to show the inutility of all attempts, even in the best circumstances, to escape the doom now decreed, because the cup of their iniquity was full. Verse 16. Shall flee away naked] In some cases the alarm shall be in the night; and even the most heroic shall start from his bed, and through terror not wait to put on his clothes.~ Gol's quirments trelce tribes in general, 1, 2; and then particularly the kingdom of The prophet assures them that, while they were at variance with God, Other neighbouring nations are Á TJA E Brevi a te ta expect his presence or favour, 3–8. then “alt mua 2 DU TELAr frm the pigments about to be inflicted upon the house of Israel, which gami w n men but my a unui trasant should escape them, 9–15. The image used by the prophet 18 jus m'asm. Le verse 19. and berriced from his former calling, is very natural and significant, and qui a utie uznáci yg die magured enter's lifty, air and manner. A. M. cir. 3217. HEAR this word that the no prey? will a young lion cry. B. C. cir. 787. Leap math spoken against out of his den, if he have taken Ante U. C. 34. vou. O children of Israel, against nothing? ze wide fancy witch I brought Amulii Sylvii, R. Alban., cir. annum 10. 5 Can a bird fall in a snare upon the earth, where no gin is for him? shall one take up a snare from the earth, and have taken nothing at all? 6 Shall a trumpet be blown in the city, and TVI VAÅ SYKLIer, erept they be the people not be afraid? f shall. there be བཟུང་ ར༤་བ་ བྱ་ ༢ཨཉྙ evil in a city, and the LORD hath not done it? Surely the Lord GeD will do nothing, but Het ge forth his voice. Or, not run together. ——— Út, and shall not the LORD do some what? der we fly accomplished? This is a curious pasTHE & ul. Se, and deserves farther consideration. The original, al meri asiated, is nearly as follows: "Shall the gs from the ground; and catching, shall it not war men? Here is a plain allusion to such traps as we maur aach mats, foxes, &c. The jaws of the VERE THE penny backward, press strongly upon a spring *** keep a down; and a key passing over one 25. IN DOMENŲg on a table in the centre, the trap ZMONES VA EIZanded jaws, till any thing touch the saje, vien de key, by the motion of the table, being useret de soring recovers all its elastic power, and TEL as a ne ss of the trap, and their serrated HOS HOT use in each other, or on the prey that surat dhe me of the trap. Will then the jaws 8 8001 & TAQ SUBendy spring up from the ground, on VACA PELOS TET were lying flat, and catch nothing? Sud er et the prey that was within them escape? Crating. So my trap is laid for these offenders; et van i sengs up, (and they themselves will I SAN Der sessions free the key,) shall not De VHUN MOIY of Israel be inclosed in it? Most This is a singular and very HOLE? * stal. and, when properly understood, Cre 4. Stil & rumpet be blown] The sign of 9 Publish in the palaces at Ashdod, and in by Israel's punishment. B. C. cir..787. Ante U. C. 34. Amulii Sylvii, R. Alban., 12 Thus saith the LORD; As A. M. cir. 3217. the shepherd P taketh out of the mouth of the lion two legs, or a piece of an ear; so shall the children of Israel be taken out that dwell in Samaria in the corner of a bed, and 9 in Da the palaces in the land of Egypt, and say, As-mascus in a couch. semble yourselves upon the mountains of Sa i cir. annum 10. 13 Hear ye, and testify in the house of maria, and behold the great tumults in the Jacob, saith the Lord GOD, the God of midst thereof, and the oppressed in the midst thereof. m n 10 For they know not to do right, saith the LORD, who store up violence and robbery in their palaces. 11 Therefore thus saith the Lord God; ° An adversary there shall be even round about the land; and he shall bring down thy strength from thee, and thy palaces shall be spoiled. m Jer. iv. 22. hosts. 14 That in the day that I shall visit the transgressions of Israel upon him I will also visit the altars of Beth-el: and the horns of the altar shall be cut off, and fall to the ground. 15 And I will smite the winter house with the summer house; and "the houses of ivory shall perish, and, the great houses shall have an end, saith the LORD. 22. -P Heb, delivereth. xviii. 9, 10, 11.Or, punish Israel for. - 1 Kings xxii. 39. Jer. xxxvi. i Chap. h Gen. vi. 13; xviii. 17; Psa. xxv, 14;. John xv. 15.2 Kings xvii. 3, 6; i. 2. Acts iv. 20; v. 20, 29; 1 Cor. ix. 16.- Or, oppres-Or, on the bed's feet. - Or, spoil. sions.Judg. iii. 20.reference to the punishment, correction, or blessing of the lion] Scarcely any of you shall escape; and of his people those that do shall do so with extreme difficulty, just as a shepherd, of a whole sheep carried away by a lion, can recover no more than two of its legs, or a piece of its ear, just enough to prove by the marks on those parts, that they belonged to a sheep which was his own, But he revealeth his secret unto his servants the prophets.] They are in strict, correspondence with him, and he shows them things to come. Such secrets of God are revealed to them, that they may inform the people; that, by repentance and conversion, they may avoid the evil, and, by walking closely with God, secure the continuance of his favour. Verse 8. The lion hath roared] God hath sent forth a terrible alarm, Who will not fear? Can any hear such denunciations of Divine wrath and not tremble? The Lord God hath spoken). And those only who are in communion with him have heard the speech. Who can but prophesy? Who can help proclaiming at large the judgment threatened against the nation? But I think I naba, here, is to be taken in its natural and ideal signification, to pray, supplicate, or deprecate vengeance. The Lord hath spoken of punishment who can help supplicating his mercy, that his judgments may be averted ? 'Verse 9. Publish in the palaces] The housetops or flat roofs were the places from which public declarations were made. See on Isa. xxi. 1, and on Matt. x. 27, See whether in those places there be not tumults, oppressions, and rapine sufficient to excite my wrath against them.. Verse 10. For they know not to do right] So we may naturally say that they who are doing wrong, and to their own prejudice and ruin, must certainly be ignorant of what is right, and what is their own interest. But we say again, "There are none so blind as those who will not see.". Their eyes, saith the Lord, they have closed. Verse 11. An adversary, round about the land] Ye shall not be able to escape; wherever ye turn, ye shall meet a foe. Verse 12. As the shepherd taketh out of the mouth So shall the children of Israel be taken out] Those of them that escape these judgments shall escape with as great difficulty, and be of as little worth, as the two legs and piece of an ear that shall be snatched out of the lion's mouth. We know that when the Babylonians carried away the people into Chaldea they left behind only a few, and those the refuse of the land. In the corner of a bed] As the corner is the most honourable place in the East, and a couch in the corner of a room is the place of the greatest distinction; so the words in the text may mean, that even the metropolitan cities, which are in the corner-in' the most honourable place of the land, whether Samaria in Israel, or Damascus in Syria, shall not escape these judgments; and if any of the distinguished persons who dwell in them escape, it must be with as great difficulty as the fragments above-mentioned have been recovered from a lion. The passage is obscure. Mr. Harmer has taken great pains to illustrate it; but I fear with but little success. A general sense is all we can arrive at. Verse 13. Hear ye] This is an address to the prophet. Verse 14. In the day that I shall visit] When Josiah made a reformation in the land he destroyed idolatry, pulled down the temples and altars that had been consecrated to idol worship, and even burnt the bones of the priests of Baal and the golden calves upon their own altars. See 2 Kings xxiii. 15, 16, &c. Verse 15. I will smile the winter house with the An expostulation AMOS. with Israel. summerhouse] I will not only destroy the poor habi-chiefly regarded in these hot countries) each of them tations and villages in the country, but I will destroy enjoys a great command of water.” those of the nobility and gentry; as well the lofty And the houses of ivory] Those remarkable for palaces in the fortified cities in which they dwell in their magnificence and their ornaments, not built of the winter season, as those light and elegant seats ivory, but in which ivory vessels, ornaments, and inin which they spend the summer season. Dr. Shaw laying abounded. Thus, then, the winter houses and observes that "the hills and valleys round about the summer houses, the great houses and the houses Algiers are all over beautified with gardens and of uncommon splendour, shall all perish. There should country seats, whither the inhabitants of better fashion be a total desolation in the land. No kind of house retire during the heats of the summer season. They should be a refuge, and no kind of habitation should are little white houses, shaded with a variety of fruit be spared. Ahab had at Samaria a house that was trees and evergreens, which beside shade and retire-called the ivory house, 1 Kings xxii. 39. This may ment, afford a gay and delightful prospect toward the be particularly referred to in this place. We cannot sea. The gardens are all well stocked with melons, suppose that a house constructed entirely of ivory can fruits, and pot herbs of all kinds; and (which is be intended, CHAPTER IV. Israel reproved for their oppression, 1-3; idolatry, 4, 5; and for their impenitence under the chastising hand of God, 6-11. The omniscience and uncontrollable power of God, 12, 13. A. M. 787, Ante U. C. 34. hooks. a ye B. C. cir. 787. B. C. ir. 3297, HEAR this word, ye kine of and your posterity with fish- AM. cir. 317. Bashan, that are in the mountain of Samaria, which oppress the poor, which crush the needy, which say to their masters, Bring, and let us drink. cir. annum 10. 3 And. shall go out at the breaches, every cow at that which is before her; and ye shall cast them into the palace, saith the LORD. e Or, ye shall cast away the things of the palace. Ezek. xx. Ezekiel xii. 39. Hos. iv. 15; xii. 11; chap. v. 5. Num. xxviii 34 NOTES ON CHAP. IV. Verse 1. Hear this word, ye kine of Bashan] Such an address was quite natural from the herdsman of Tekoa. Bashan was famous for the fertility of its soil, and its flocks and herds; and the prophet here represents the iniquitous, opulent, idle, lazy drones, whether inen or women, under the idea of fatted bullocks, which were shortly to be led out to the slaughter. Verse 2. He will take you away with hooks] Two modes of fishing are here alluded to: 1. Angling with rod, line, and baited hook, 2. That with the gaff, eel-spear, harpoon, or such like the first used in catching small fish, by which the common people may be here represented; the second, for catching large fish, such as leave the sea, and come up the rivers to deposit their spawn; or such as are caught in the i Deut. xiv. 28. but the cows; having little of the manly character remaining. Some understand the latter word as meaning a sort of basket or wicker fish-nets.\ Verse 3. And ye shall go out at the breaches] Probably the metaphor is here kept up. They shall be caught by the hooks, or by the nets; and though they may make breaches in the latter by their flouncing when caught, they shall be taken out at these very breaches; and cast, not into the palace, but into a reservoir, to be kept awhile, and afterwards be taken. out to be destroyed. Samaria itself is the net; your adversaries shall besiege it, and make breaches in its walls. At those breaches ye shall endeavour to make your escape, but ye shall be caught and led into cap tivity, where most of you shall be destroyed. See Houbigant on this passage. Verse 4. Come to Beth-el and transgress] Spoken sea, as sharks, whales, dolphins, and even the hippo- ironically. Go on to worship your calves at Beth-el; potamus, to which the more powerful and opulent in- and multiply your transgressions at Gilgal; the very habitants may be likened. But as the words in the place where I rolled away the reproach of your fathers, text are generally feminine, it has been supposed that by admitting them there into my covenant by circumthe prophecy is against the proud, powerful, volup- cision. A place that should have ever been sacred to tuous women. I rather think that the prophet speaks me; but you have now desecrated it by enormous catachrestically; and means men of effeminate man- idolatries. Let your morning and evening sacrifices ners and idle lives. They are not the bulls of Bashan, be offered still to your senseless gods; and continue to God's mercies to the people, A, M. cir. 3217. Ante U. C. 34. your tithes after three fied: yet n 8 B. C. cir. 787. Ante U. C. 34. Amulii Sylvii, R. Alban., cir. annum 10: 51 And offer a sacrifice of 9 I have smitten you with cir, annum 10. thanksgiving with heaven, and blasting and mildew: twhen proclaim and publish the free offerings: for your gardens and your vineyards and your Pthis liketh you, O. ye children of Israel, fig trees and your olive trees increased, saith the Lord GOD. " the palmerworm devoured them: yet 6 And I also have given you cleanness of have ye not returned unto me, saith the teeth in all your cities, and want of bread in all your places: yet have ye not returned unto me, saith the LORD... 7 And also I have withholden the rain from you, when there were yet three months to the harvest and I caused it to rain upon one city, and caused it not to rain upon another city one piece was rained upon, and the piece whereupon it rained not withered, 8 So two or three cities wandered unto one city, to drink water; but they were not satis Heb. three years of days. Lev. vii. 13; xxiji. 17. Heb. offer by burning.- Lev. xxii. 18, 21; Deut. xii. 6. Psa. lxxxi. 12.- -P Heb. so ye love. - Isa. xxvi. 11; Jer. v. 3; Hag. ii. 17; ver. 8, 9. Ver. 6, 10, 11. Deut. xxviii. 22, Hag. i. 17. Or, the multitude of your gardens, &c., did the support your present vicious priesthood by the regular triennial tithes which should have been employed in my service; and, LORD. 10 I have sent among you the pestilence after the manner of Egypt: your young men have I slain with the sword, and have taken away your horses; and I have made the stink of your camps to come up unto yournostrils: yet have ye not returned unto me, saith the LORD./ a 11 I have overthrown some of you, as God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah, and ye were as a firebrand plucked out of the burnpalmerworm, &c. Joel i, 4; ii. 25.- Or, in the way. Exod. ix. 3, 6; xii. 29; Deut. xxviii. 27, 60; Psa. lxxviii. 50.- Heb. with the captivity of your horses; 2 Kings xiii. 7. Ver. 6. Gen. xix. 24, 25; Isa. xiii.. 19; Jer. xlix. 18. Zech. iii. 2; Jude 23. a necessity, God was pleased to make these most evident distinctions. One city had rain, and could fill all its tanks or cisterns, while a neighbouring city, had none. Verse 5. Offer a sacrifice of thanksgiving] To the One farm or field was well watered, and abundant in senseless metal, and the unfeeling stock and stone its crops, while one contiguous to it had not a shower. images, from which ye never did, and never could re- In these instances a particular providence was most ceive any help. Proceed yet farther, and bring free-evident. "And yet, they did not return to the Lord." will offerings; testify superabundant gratitude to your wooden and metallic gods, to whom ye are under such immense imaginary obligations! Proclaim and publish these offerings, and set forth the perfections of the objects of your worship; and see what they can do for you, when I, Jehovah, shall send drought, and blasting, and famine, and pestilence, and the sword among you. Verse 6. Cleanness of teeth] Scarcity of bread, as immediately explained. Ye shall have no trouble in cleaning your teeth, for ye shall have nothing to eat. Yet have ye not returned unto me, saith the Lord.] This reprehension is repeated five times in this chapter; and in it are strongly implied God's long suffering, his various modes of fatherly chastisement, the ingrátitude of the people, and their obstinate wickedness. The famine mentioned here is supposed to be that which is spoken of 2 Kings viii. 1; but it is most likely to have been that mentioned by Joel, chaps. i. and ii. Verse 9. I have smitten you with blasting and mildew] He sent blasting and mildew on the crops, and the locust on the gardens, vineyards, and fields; and this in such a way as to show it was a Divine judgment. They saw this; "yet they did not return to the Lord!" Verse 10. I have sent the pestilence] After the blasting and the mildew, the pestilence came; and it acted among them as one of the plagues of Egypt. Besides this, he had suffered their enemies to attack and prevail against them; alluding to the time in which the Syrians besieged Samaria, and reduced it to the most extreme necessity, when the head of an ass was sold for eighty pieces of silver, and the fourth part of a cab of dove's dung for five; and mothers ate the flesh of their children that had died through hunger, 2 Kings vi. 25. And the people were miraculously relieved by the total slaughter of the Syrians by the unseen hand of God, 2 Kings vii. 1, &c. And yet, after all those signal judgments, and singular mercies, " e" they did not return unto the Lord!" Verse IT. I have overthrown some of you] In the destruction of your cities I have shown my judgments as signally as I did in the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah; and those of you that did escape were as Verse 7. When there were yet three months to the harvest] St. Jerome says, from the end of April, when the latter rain falls, until harvest, there are three months, May, June, and July, in which no rain falls in Judea. The rain, therefore, that God had withheld from them, was that which was usual in the spring months, particu" brands plucked out of the fire;" if not consumed, yet larly in April. I caused it to rain upon one city] To prove to them that this rain did not come fortuitously or of much scorched. And as the judgment was evidently from my hand, so was the deliverance; "and yet ye have not returned unto me, saith the Lord," |