Amos 6 commentary

Those are looked upon as doing well for themselves, who do well for their bodies; but we are here told what their ease is, and what their woe is. Here is a description of the pride, security, and sensuality, for which God would reckon. Careless sinners are every where in danger; but those at ease in Zion, who are stupid, vainly confident, and abusing their privileges, are in the greatest danger. Yet many fancy themselves the people of God, who are living in sin, and in conformity to the world. But the examples of others' ruin forbid us to be secure. Those who are set upon their pleasures are commonly careless of the troubles of others, but this is great offence to God. Those who placed their happiness in the pleasures of sense, and set their hearts upon them, shall be deprived of those pleasures. Those who try to put the evil day far from them, find it nearest to them.

How dreadful, how miserable, is the case of those whose eternal ruin the Lord himself has sworn; for he can execute his purpose, and none can alter it! Those hearts are wretchedly hardened that will not be brought to mention God's name, and to worship him, when the hand of God is gone out against them, when sickness and death are in their families. Those that will not be tilled as fields, shall be abandoned as rocks. When our services of God are soured with sin, his providences will justly be made bitter to us. Men should take warning not to harden their hearts, for those who walk in pride, God will destroy.

The Prophet now directs his discourse not only to the Israelites, to whom he was especially given as an instructor and teacher, but includes the Jews also: and yet he addresses not all indiscriminately, but only the chief men, who were intent on their pleasures, as though they were exempt from the common miseries: for he does not, as many suppose, reprove here luxury and pride only; but we must remember a fact connected with their case, — that they were not awakened by God’s judgments; when God severely punished the sins of the people, the chief men remained ever heedlessly in their own dregs. This security is now condemned by our Prophet.

And this is a very common evil, as we may see, in the present day. For when the Lord afflicts a country with war or with famine, the rich make great gain of such evils. They abuse the scourges of God; for we see merchants getting rich in the midst of wars, inasmuch as they scrape together a booty from every quarter. For they who carry on war are forced to borrow money, and also the peasants and mechanics, that they may pay taxes; and then, that they may live, they are obliged to make unjust conditions: thus the rich increase in wealth. They also who are in authority, and in favor at the court of princes, make more gain in wars, in famine, and in other calamities, than during times of peace and prosperity: for when peace nourishes, the state of things is then more equable; but when the poor are burdened, the rest grow fat. And this is the evil now noticed by the Prophet.

Hence he pronounces here a curse on the secure and those at ease; not that it is an evil thing, or in itself displeasing to God, when any one quietly enjoys his leisure; but, not to be moved, when the Lord openly shows himself to be displeased and angry, when his scourges are manifestly inflicted, but to indulge ourselves more in pleasures, — this is to provoke him, as it were, designedly. The secure, then, and the presumptuous the Prophet here condemns, for it became them to humble themselves when they saw that God was incensed against them. They were not indeed more just than the multitude; and when God treated the common people with such severity, ought not the chiefs to have looked to themselves, and have examined their own life? As they did not do this, but made themselves drunk with pleasures, and put far off every fear and thought that the scourges of God were nothing to them, — this was a contempt deservedly condemned by the Prophet. We see that God was in the same manner greatly displeased, as it is recorded in Isaiah: when he called them to mourning, they sang with the harp, and, according to their custom, feasted sumptuously and joyfully, (Isaiah 23:12) As then they thus persevered in their indulgences, the Lord became extremely angry; for it was, as though they avowedly despised him and scorned all his threatening.

We now observe the design of the Prophet, which interpreters have not sufficiently noticed. It behaves us indeed ever to keep in view these scourges of God, by which he began to visit the sins of the people. God can by no means endure, as I have said, such a contumacy as this, — that men should go on in the indulgence of their sins and never regard their judge and feel no guilt. Hence the Prophet says, Woe to you who are secure in Zion, who are confident, that is, who are without any fear, on the mount of Samaria “Woe to them that are at ease in Zion, And to them that are secure in the mountain of Samaria.” —Dr. Henderson.

From not considering the main drift of what follows in this chapter, critics have proposed emendations in this verse. The careless and the secure, both at Jerusalem and Samaria, are evidently meant. Newcome renders the last line nearly the same with Henderson —

“And that rest secure in the mountain of Samaria.”

So that the word “trust” in our version is not correct. The word used means often to be confident or secure, as well as to trust; but the law of parallelism requires it to be in the former sense here; as they were at ease in Zion, so they were confident or secure on the mount of Samaria. — Ed. He names here the mount of Zion and the mount of Samaria; for these were the chief cities of the two kingdoms, as we all know. The whole country had been laid waste with various calamities; the citizens of Jerusalem and of Samaria were, at the same time, wealthy; and then trusting in their strongholds, they despised God and all his judgments. This then was the security, full of contumacy, which is condemned by the Prophet.

He then mentions their ingratitude: he says that these mountains had been celebrated from the beginning of the nations, and that the Israelites entered into them. God here upbraids both the Jews and Israelites with having come to a foreign possession: for they had got those cities, not by their own valour, but the Lord drove out before them the ancient inhabitants. Seeing then that they perceived not that a safe dwelling was given them there by the Lord, that they might purely worship him and submit to his government, their ingratitude was inexcusable. The Prophet then, after having inveighed against the gross and heedless security, with which the chiefs of both kingdoms were inebriated, now mentions their ingratitude: “Ye are not natives, but ye have come in, for God did go before you, for it was his will to give you this land as your possession: why then are you now so inflated with pride against him? For before your time these cities were certainly well known and celebrated; and yet this was of no avail to the natives themselves. Why then do ye not now fear the Lord’s judgment and repent, when he threatens you? Yea, when he shows his scourges to you?” We now perceive the Prophet’s meaning in this verse. It now follows —

Amos 6:2

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?

2. Transite Chalneh et aspicite; ite illinc in Chamath magnam, et descendite in Gath Philistinorum; an meliores sint regnis istis? An terminus illorum major termino vestro?

By this representation Amos shows that there was no excuse for the Jews or the Israelites for sleeping in their sins, inasmuch as they could see, as it were in a mirror, the judgments which God brought on heathen nations. It is a singular favor, when God teaches us at the expense of others: for he could justly punish us as soon as we transgress; but this he does not, on the contrary he spares us; and at the same time he sets others before us as examples. This is, as we have said a singular favor: and this is the mode of teaching which our Prophet now adopts. He says, that Calneh and Hamath, and Gath, were remarkable evidences of God’s wrath, by which the Israelites might learn, that they had no reason to rest on their wealth, to rely on their fortresses, and to think themselves free from all dangers; for as God had destroyed these cities, which seemed impregnable, so he could also cut off Jerusalem and Samaria, whenever he pleased. This is the real meaning of the Prophet.

Some read the sentence negatively “Are not these places better than your kingdoms?” But this is not consistent with the Prophet’s words. Others attend not to the object of the Prophet; for they think that the blessings of God are here compared, as though he said, “God deals more liberally with you than with the Chaldeans, the Assyrians, and the neighboring nations.” For Calneh was situated in the plain of Babylon, as it is evident from Genesis 10:10; and Hamath was also a celebrated city, mentioned in that chapter, and in many other places; and Gath was a renowned city of the Philistines. In this opinion therefore interpreters mostly agree; that is, that there is set forth here God’s bounty to the Jews and Israelites, seeing that he had favored them with a rich and fertile country, and preferred them to other nations. But this view seems not to me to be the correct one; for when a comparison is made between Calneh and Jerusalem, Babylon was no doubt the more fruitful and the more pleasant country, as we learn from all histories. The Prophet then does not speak here of the ancient condition of these places, but shows, as I have already said, that it availed these cities nothing, that they were wealthy, that they were fortified by all kinds of defenses; for God, at last, executed vengeance on them. Hence the Prophet declares that the same was now nigh the Jews and the Israelites.

“What will hinder the hand of God,” he says, “from delivering you to destruction? For if men could have arrested God’s wrath by any fortresses, certainly Calneh and Hamath, and Gath, would have resisted by their forces; but the Lord has yet executed his vengeance on these cities, though fortified; your confidence then is nothing but infatuation, which deceives you.” Jeremiah uses a similar language, when he says, ‘Go to Shiloh,’ (Jeremiah 7:12) He certainly does not remind the Jews, that the Lord had more splendidly adorned them than Shiloh; but he had quite a different thing in view. Shiloh had indeed been eminent, for it had long afforded a dwelling to the ark of the covenant; the sanctuary of God had been there. But at that time the place was deserted; and Jeremiah sets before the eyes of the people its sad desolation, that they might know that they ought to dread the same event, except they repented; for if they hardened their necks, nothing could prevent God from dealing with them as he did before with the inhabitants of Shiloh.

We now then perceive the meaning of the Prophet, when he says, Go and pass into Calneh, and see In bidding them to see, he no doubt refers to the dreadful change which had taken place there. For Calneh had been a strongly fortified city, and possessed supreme power; and the neighboring country was also no less pleasant than fruitful: but it was now a solitary place; for Babylon, as it is well known, had swallowed up Calneh. Since then the place afforded such a spectacle, the Prophet rightly says, Pass over into Calneh, and see; that is consider, as in a mirror, what men can gain by their pride and haughtiness, when they harden themselves against God: for this was the cause of destruction to that celebrated city.

From thence, he says, go to Hamath, רבה, rebe, the great; which was a well-known city of Assyria; and see there, “How has it happened that a city so famous was entirely overthrown, except that the Lord could not endure so great a perverseness? As they had abused his patience, he at length executed his vengeance. The same thing also happened to your neighbors.” For the Jews and the Israelites were not far distant from Gath. Now then since there were so many evidences of God’s wrath before their eyes, justly does the Prophet here inveigh against their want of thought, inasmuch as they feared not God’s judgment, which was nigh at hand.

Are they then better? that is, is the condition of these cities better than that of the two kingdoms, Judah and Israel? and then, Is their border larger than your border? They have indeed been reduced to such straits, that they even pay tribute for their houses, whereas formerly they occupied a wide extent of country, and ruled, as it were, with extended wings, far and wide: but God has taken away those territories: for all these cities are become tributaries. See, he says, Is their border larger than your border? It now follows —

Amos 6:3

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

3. Qui procul rejicitis diem malum, et appropinquatis solium violentiae.

The Prophet here reproves the Jews and Israelites for another crime, — that they had often provoked God’s wrath, and ceased not by their sins to call forth new punishments, and in the meantime rejected, through their haughtiness and obstinacy, all his threatening, as if they were vain, and would never be executed on them. We must ever remember what I have said before, — that the Prophet speaks not here of the whole people, but of the chiefs; for the expression, that they drew nigh the throne of iniquity, could not have been applied to the common people. This discourse then was addressed particularly to the judges and counselors, and those who were in power in both kingdoms, in Judah as well as in Israel.

But it is a remarkable saying, that they drove far off the evil day, while they drew nigh the throne of iniquity, or of violence; as though he said, “Ye seek for yourselves a fever by your intemperance, and yet ye drive it far off, as drunken men are wont to do, who swallow down wine without any moderation; and when a physician comes or one more moderate, and warns them not to indulge in excess, they ridicule all their forebodings: ‘What! will a fever seize on me? I am wholly free from fever; I am indeed accustomed to drink wine.’” Such are ungodly men, when they provoke God’s wrath as it were designedly, and at the same time scorn all threatening, as though they were safe through some special privilege. We now then see what the Prophet had in view by saying, that they drove far the evil day, and yet drew nigh the throne of iniquity He means, that they drew nigh the throne of iniquity, when the judges strengthened themselves in their tyranny, and took the liberty to steal, to rob, to plunder, to oppress. When therefore they thus hardened themselves in all kinds of licentiousness, they then drew nigh the throne of iniquity. And they put away the evil day, because they were touched by no alarm; for when the Prophets denounced God’s vengeance, they regarded it as a fable.

In short, Amos charges here the principal men of the two kingdoms with two crimes, — that they ceased not to provoke continually the wrath of God by subverting and casting under foot all equity, and by ruling the people in a tyrannical and haughty manner — and that, in the mean time, they heedlessly despised all threatening, prolonged time, and promised impunity to themselves: even when God seriously and sharply addressed them, they still thought that the evil day was not nigh. Passages of this kind meet us everywhere in the Prophets, in which they show their indignation at this kind of heedlessness, when hypocrites putting off every feeling of grief, as though they had fascinated themselves, laughed to scorn all the Prophets, because they thought that the hand of God was far removed from them. Thus they are spoken of by Isaiah, as saying,

‘Let us eat and drink, since we must die,’ (Isaiah 22:13)

They indeed thought that the Prophets did not seriously threaten them; but they regarded the mention of a near destruction as an empty bugbear. We now then understand what the Prophet meant. It follows —

Amos 6:4

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;

4. Qui decumbunt (vel, dormiunt) in lectis eburneis et se extendunt super strata sua (alii vertunt, et superflua; alii, induti sunt tiaris; sed utrumque mihi videtur coactum,) qui comedunt agnos e grege (hoc est, selectos) et vitulos e medio saginarii (vel, opimi pascui; nam מרבק quidam ita vertunt.)

Amos still pursues the reproof we have noticed at the beginning of the chapter, — that the chief men, of whom he speaks, cast away from them all cares and anxieties, and indulged in pleasures, while the whole country was miserably distressed. We must ever bear in mind what I have already said, — that luxury is not simply reprehended by the Prophet, as some incorrectly think, without sufficiently considering what is said, for it is not what the Prophet treats of; but he upbraids the Israelites for setting up an iron neck against God’s judgments, yea, for shamelessly trifling with God, while he was endeavoring to lead them by degrees to repentance. The Prophet complains that nothing availed with them.

He then says, first, that they slept on ivory beds. To use ivory beds was not in itself bad, except that excess is ever to be condemned; for, when we give up ourselves to pomps and pleasures, we certainly are not then free from sin: indeed, every desire for present things, which exceeds moderation, is ever justly reprehensible. And when men greedily seek splendor and display, or become ambitious and proud, or are given to delicacies, they are guilty of vices ever condemned by God. But it might be, that one used an ivory bed, who was yet willing to lie on the ground: for we know that there was then a great abundance of ivory, and that it was commonly used in Asia. Italy formerly knew not what it was to use a bed of ivory, that is, before the victory of Lucius Scipio: but after the king Antiochus was conquered, then Italy freely used ivory beds and fineries; and thus luxury broke down their courage and effeminated them.

I will come now to our Prophet: it might have been that ivory was not then so valuable in Judea: they might then have used ivory beds without blame. But Amos ever regards the miseries of those times. The rich then ought to have given up all their luxuries, and to have betaken themselves to dust and ashes, when they saw that God was incensed with them, when they saw that the fire of his vengeance was kindled. We now then perceive why Amos was so indignant against those who slept on ivory beds.

He adds, And who extend themselves on their beds: for סרח, sarech, is properly to extend; it means also to become fetid; and further, it means to be superfluous; and therefore some render the words, “upon ivory beds and superfluities;” but this is strained, and agrees not with what follows, upon their couches. The Prophet then, I have no doubt, points out here the manners of those who so heedlessly indulged themselves: “Ye extend,” he says, “your legs and your arms on your couches, as idle men, accustomed to indulgences, are wont to do. But the Lord will awaken you in a new way; his scourges ought to have roused you, but ye remain asleep. Hence, since God could not terrify you by his rods, nothing more remains but to draw you forth against your will to be punished.” This was the reason why the Prophet said that they extended themselves on their couches.

Ye eat also the lambs from the flock, and the calves from the midst of the rich pasture, or of the stall. I prefer taking מרבק, merebek, for folds. Since then they loved fat meat, the Prophet reproves this luxury: he had indeed in view, as it has been already said, the then calamitous time; for if the rich had in their usual way feasted, and had even taken fat meat, they would not have deserved so severe a punishment: but when the Lord called them to mourning, and when the signals of his wrath spread horror all around, it was a stupidity not to be endured, for them to continue their indulgences, which they ought, on the contrary, to have renounced. Indeed, this passage agrees with that of Isaiah, to which I have already referred. It now follows —

Amos 6:5

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

5. Concinentes super ore cithera, sicut David excogitarunt sibi instrumenta cantici.

The word פרט, pereth, means to divide; so some explain it, and derive it from the clusters which remain after the vintage, because there are not then thick grapes, but a cluster here and there, and a great distance between: hence they think that the participle הפורטים, epurethim, is to be taken here metaphorically as meaning to divide by marks, as music has its various notes; for except there be a distinct variety in singing, the sound would be confused, and would produce no pleasing effect. Who sing then with the harps and have invented for themselves, after the example of David, musical instruments.

The Prophet still continues his discourse, and shows that these men lived sumptuously; as though they did not belong to the common class, they delighted themselves, against God’s will, not only in the common mode of living, but even sought new pleasures, as if they were continually at marriage feasts, or celebrating birthdays. As then they had no season for mourning, they pursued their own indulgences; and this is what the Prophet now reprehends. If then any one thinks that music is in these words condemned, he is much deceived, as it appears from the context. Indeed, the Prophet never dealt so rigidly with that people, but he ever kept to this point — that they were extremely torpid, nay, destitute of common sense, who perceived not that God showed himself angry with them, in order that they might flee immediately to the standard of repentance and humbly deprecate, with mourning, the wrath of God, as they ought to have done. It was therefore meet ever to set before them Gods wrath, which ought to have humbled the Jews and the Israelites, inasmuch as they ever obstinately set up against God their own indifference.

In saying that after the example of David they invented for themselves musical instruments, he no doubt greatly aggravated their sin by this comparison: for it is not likely that they had abused this pretext, as hypocrites do, who are wont to boast of the examples of the saints, when they seek to disguise their own vices, — “What!” some will say, “Did not David use musical instruments?” Others will say, “Had not Solomon very splendid palaces?” And some will add, “Had not Abraham a company of servants in his house?” So every one lays hold on what may avail for an excuse: and thus the examples of the saints are absurdly referred to by many. But it seems not probable that this was done by those whom Amos now addresses: but, on the contrary, he appears sharply to reprove them for provoking God’s wrath by self indulgence, and for manifesting their perverseness, while David employed musical instruments in the exercises of religion, to raise up his mind to God. No doubt, David, when in a peaceful state, after having been delivered from all dangers, could also amuse himself: but he applied musical instruments to another purpose — to sound forth the praises of God in the temple, that thereby he and other godly persons might together elevate their thoughts to a religious devotion. While David then, even in a state of peace and prosperity, did not allow his mind to become sunk in vain self-indulgences, these men, when God appeared angry, when he spread terror by so many tokens of his vengeance, yet dared contumaciously to follow their own ways, so that they left off nothing of their usual pomp and of their accustomed pleasures.

We now see the design of the comparison which the Prophet makes: He aggravates, I have no doubt, their sin, because they regarded not the example of David, but transferred musical instruments to serve the purpose of gross and beastly indulgences, and thus they did when God was opposed to them, when he had begun to terrify them by his vengeance. Let us proceed —

Amos 6:6-7

6. That drink wine in bowls, and anoint themselves with the chief ointments: but they are not grieved for the affliction of Joseph.

6. Qui bibunt in phialis vinum, et primitiis oleorum sese ungunt, et non condolescunt super contritionem Joseph.

7. Therefore now shall they go captive with the first that go captive, and the banquet of them that stretched themselves shall be removed.

7. Propterea nunc transferentur (voluentur) in capite migrantium, et veniet luctus extensorum (est deductum ab eodem verbo jrs; diximus plura significare sed accipio pro extendere; et aliquid rursus dicendum erit in fine.)

Amos now reproaches the chiefs of both kingdoms for drinking wine in bowls, that is, in vessels either elegantly formed or precious. Some think “silver” to be understood “in vessels of silver:” but there is no need of regarding any thing as understood in the Prophet’s words. The meaning is, that those men were sufficiently convicted of brutish stupidity, inasmuch as they did not forsake their indulgences, when God manifested his terrible vengeance. Since God then did thus what tended to humble them, their madness and blindness were conspicuous enough; for they indulged themselves, they drank wine according to their usual custom, when they ought to have betaken themselves, as we have said, to fasting, lamentation, and mourning, to sackcloth and ashes.

They drank wine in bowls, and further, they anointed themselves with the chief ointments Christ, we know, was anointed at least twice, (Luke 7:38 Matthew 26:7) and this practice was not blamed in David, nor in king Hezekiah, nor in others. Since then anointing was not in itself sinful, we see that the Prophet must have something particular in view. He meant to show, that when God manifested tokens of his wrath, nothing then remained for those who were conscious of having done evil, but humbly to abstain, like guilty persons, from all indulgences, that they might, by fasting and mourning, excite the mercy of God: as the Israelites had not done this, the Prophet expostulated with them. There is no need of seeking, any other interpretation of this place.

For he immediately subjoins, that they grieved not for the bruising of Joseph These words are to be read in connection with the former, and ought to be applied to the whole discourse. The Prophet then does not specifically blame the Jews and Israelites because they drank wine in bowls, because they anointed themselves with the best and most precious ointment, because they reposed on ivory beds, because they extended themselves on their couches, because they ate the best meat; but because they securely indulged in such delights, and grieved not for the distress of their brethren, for God had miserably afflicted the whole kingdom before their eyes. How much had four tribes already suffered? and how much the whole land and those who lived in the country? Ought God to have spared any longer these chiefs? It is indeed certain, that those who were still free from these calamities were especially culpable. Since then they did not consider the wrath of God, which was evident enough before their eyes, it was a proof of stupidity wholly insane, and showed them who still indulged themselves to have been utterly besides themselves.

We now then understand the full meaning of the Prophet; and hence he says, They shall emigrate at the head of the emigrants, that is, “when there shall be an emigration, they shall be the first in order of time. I have hitherto indulgently spared you; but as I see that you have abused my forbearance, ye shall certainly be the forerunners of others; for ye shall go first into captivity. And my rigor shall begin with you, because I see that I have hitherto lost all my labor in attempting, kindly and paternally to call you to repentance. Ye shall now then migrate at the head of the emigrants

And come shall the mourning of those who extend themselves, סרוחים, saruchim The words are וסר מרזה סרוחים, usar merezach saruchim, — an instance of striking alliteration. But Calvin’s rendering, though amounting in its general import to the same thing, is certainly not the correct one. סר never means to come, but the reverse, to depart. To decline, to turn aside or away, or to depart, is its common signification. Then מרזה is properly shouting, either for grief or for joy; here evidently for the latter; and it may be rendered here mirth; so the clause may be thus translated —

And depart shall the mirth of the recumbents, or, of those who stretch themselves.

Dr. Henderson’s version is the following: —

And the shouting company of those that recline shall depart.

The translation of Symmachus is, “Taken away shall be the company of the voluptuous, ἑταιρεία τρυφητων” The idea of “banquet” for the word here used, is what the Rabbins have given to it. — Ed. ; that is, “Ye indeed lie down, (as he had said before,) ye extend yourselves on your couches; but mourning shall come to you. Ye think that you can escape punishment, when ye repose quietly on your beds; but though your chambers be closed, though ye move not a finger, yet mourning shall come to you.” We now see the connection between the words, mourning and resting in idleness and indulgence. The word סרח, sarech, means indeed properly to recumb; and hence some render the passage, “Mourning shall rest on you:” but the more received meaning is, Mourning shall come on you while recumbing. Though then they stretched out themselves on their beds, that they might pleasantly and softly recumb and rest themselves, yet mourning would come to them, that is, would enter into their chambers.

Prayer.

Grant, Almighty God, that since thou showest thyself at this day to be justly offended with us, and our own consciences reprove us, inasmuch as dreadful tokens appear, by which we may learn how much and in how many ways we have provoked thy wrath, — O grant, that we may be really touched with the consciousness of our evils, and being afflicted in our hearts, may be so humbled, that without any outward affliction, we may wholly submit ourselves to be reproved by thee, and at the same time flee to that mercy which is laid up for us, and which thou daily offerest to us in Christ Jesus our Lord. Amen.

Lecture Sixty-second

Amos 6:8

8. The Lord God hath sworn by himself, 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.

8. Juravit Dominus Jehova per animam suam, dicit Jehova, Deus exercituum, Detestor ego excellentiam Jacob, palatia ejus odio habeo, et tradam urbem et plenitudinem ejus.

God here declares that he would not desist, because he had hitherto loaded his people with many benefits: for he had now changed his purpose, so that he would no longer continue his favors. And this was designedly added by the Prophet; for hypocrites, we know, grow hardened, when they consider what dignity had been conferred on them; for they think their possessions to be firm and perpetual: hence they become haughty towards God. Since then hypocrites act thus foolishly, the Prophet justly says that it would avail them nothing, that they had hitherto excelled in many endowments for God no longer regarded their excellency.

The word גאון, gaun, means in Hebrew pride and also excellency; but it is to be taken here in a good sense, as it is in many other places. In Isaiah 2:10, it cannot be taken otherwise than for glory, for it is applied to God. So also in Psalm 47:4, ‘The glory of Jacob, whom I loved; he had fixed the inheritance of God.’ The gifts of God ever deserve praise: hence the Prophet in this place inveighs not against pride; but, on the contrary, he shows that the Israelites were deceived; for they set up their excellency and nobility in opposition to God, as though they were to be thus exempt from all punishment. God then says that he had now rejected this excellency, which yet was his gift; but as the Israelites had abused his benefits, they were therefore to be esteemed of no account. The meaning then is, — that there is no acceptance of persons before God, that the dignity which had been conferred on the people of Israel was now of no moment; for it was a mere mask: they were unworthy of adoption, they were unworthy of the priesthood and kingdom. It was then the same as if the Prophet had said, “I will judge you as the common people and heathens; for your dignity, of which ye are stripped, is now of no account with me.” They had indeed long before departed from God; they were therefore wholly unworthy of being owned by God as his inheritance.

I detest then the excellency of Jacob, and his palaces; that is, all the wealth with which they have been hitherto adorned. But the Prophet does not take either palaces or excellency in a bad sense; on the contrary, he shows that God’s blessings are no safeguards to the wicked, so as to avoid the judgment which they deserve.

He afterwards adds, I will deliver up the city and its fullness; that is, “Though ye are now full of wealth, I will empty you of all your abundance”. Hence, I will deliver up the city together with its fullness, that is, its opulence.

But that this threatening might not be slighted, the Prophet confirms it by interposing an oath. Hence he says, that God had sworn. And as we know that God’s name is precious to him, it is certain that it was not in vain adduced here, but on account of the hardness and contumacy of those who were wont to set at nought all the prophecies, and were wont in particular to regard as nothing all threatenings. This was the reason why the Prophet wished thus to ratify what he had said: it was, that hypocrites might understand that they could not escape the vengeance which he had denounced. The form of swearing, as it is, may seem apparently improper; but God in this place puts on the character of man, as he does often in other places. He swears by his soul, that is, by his life, as though he were one of mankind. But we ought to accustom ourselves to such forms, in which God familiarly accommodates himself to our capacities: for what Hilary philosophizes about the soul, as though God the Father swore by his own wisdom, is frivolous: that good man certainly exposed his own doctrine to ridicule, while he was attempting to refute the Arians. “God the Father, he says, swears by his own wisdom. Now he who is wont to swear by himself, could not swear by an inferior; but wisdom is the only begotten Son of God: hence it follows, that the Son is equal to the Father.” These things at first sight seem plausible; but they are puerile trifles.

Let it then be observed, that God borrows from men this mode of swearing; as though he said, “If men be believed when swearing by their life, which yet is evanescent, of how much greater weight must that oath be, by which I pledge my own life?” Since God thus speaks, surely the whole world ought to tremble. We now apprehend the Prophet’s design. Let us go on —

Amos 6:9

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

9. Et erit, si restabunt decem homines in domo una, morientur.

The Prophet here amplifies the calamity, which was nigh the people; as though he had said, that God would not now take moderate vengeance on that reprobate people, for he did nothing by dealing moderately with them: there was therefore nigh at hand the heaviest vengeance, which would reduce the people to nothing. This is the import of the Prophet’s words when he says, that ten, if remaining in the same house, would die But in naming ten survivors, he intimates that a slaughter had preceded, which had taken away either the half or at least some part of the family, since ten remained. At the same time this number shows how severe and dreadful a judgment of God awaited that people, that ten would be taken away together. But it rarely happens, even when a direful pestilence prevails, that so numerous a family entirely perishes; when three out of four, or six or five out of eight, are taken away, it is a diminution which usually greatly terrifies men: but when ten are taken away together, and no one is left, it is an evidence of an awful vengeance.

We see then that the Prophet here denounces on the people utter ruin, for they could not be reformed by milder punishments: when God tried to recall them to a sane mind, he effected nothing. There was therefore no remedy for their desperate diseases: it was hence necessary entirely to take away those who were thus incurable. Perish then shall the ten, who shall remain in one house It follows —

Amos 6:10

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 we may not make mention of the name of the Lord

10. Et tollet eum patruus ejus et avunculus ejus (vel, comburet eum) ad tollendum ossa e domo, et dicet ad eum qui erit in lateribus domus, An adhuc quispiam tecum? et dicet, Finis est (ad verbum, nihil;) et dicet, Tace; quia non licet recordari nominis Jehovae.

In the beginning of the verse the Prophet expresses more clearly what he had just said, — that the pestilence would be so severe as to consume the whole family: for when he speaks of an uncle coming to bury the dead, he shows, that unless neighbors performed their duty, bodies would remain without the honor of a burial: but this never happened, except during extreme devastation; for though the pestilence destroyed many in the same city, there were yet always some who buried the dead. When therefore it was necessary for uncles to perform this office, it was evident how great the calamity would be. This the Prophet meant to express in these words, His uncle shall take him away; that is, his uncle shall take away each of the dead. But this office, being servile, as I have said, was wont to be committed to mercenaries; and when a father or an uncle was constrained to do this, it was a proof of great confusion.

An uncle then shall come and take him away שרף, shireph, means to burn; it is written here with ס, but the change of ש into ס is well known. Hence, many render the words, and shall burn him in order to take away his bones; and this interpretation seems to suit the place. Then it is, “he will burn him, that he may carry his bones out of the house”. Dead bodies, as it is well known, were usually carried forth and burnt publicly. But as one man could not carry out a dead body especially an old man, and Amos mentions an uncle, he says, that another plan would be necessary, that the uncle would burn his nephews at home, that he might have the bones only to carry out, as he could not carry forth their dead bodies. This seems to me to be the real meaning of the Prophet. For they who explain this of a maternal uncle, have no reason on their side: it was enough to mention one only when men were so few. If indeed a maternal uncle be added to the paternal one, a great number of men would seem to have been still remaining. But when mention is made only of one uncle, this circumstance agrees best with what I have stated. An uncle shall come, he shall take him; and then, he will burn him that he may carry forth his bones. The bones could be easier carried out when the body was burnt, for the burden was not so heavy. We now then perceive the meaning of the words.

It follows, And he will say to him who shall be at the sides of the house. By the sides of the house, understand the next dwellings. He will then inquire, Is there yet any one with thee? that is, Is any one of thy neighbors alive? We cannot indeed explain the sides of the house as meaning the inner parts of the house, except one understands a reference to be made to strangers or lodgers, as though the Prophet said, “If there will be any lodger, he will seek retreat in some corner of the house.” Then the uncle, when the whole house had become desolate, should he by chance meet a guest, says, “Is there any one with thee? And he shall say, There is an end”, or a decay. Though there be some ambiguity in the words, we yet see what the Prophet meant, and what he had in view. He indeed confirms what he had previously declared in the person of God, which was, — that though ten remained alive in one house, yet all of them would die together, so that there would not be, no not one survivor; for the uncle, on inquiring respecting his nephews, whether any remained, would hear, that there was an end, that all had perished together. Now, the design of these words was to strike men with terror; for we know how great their stupidity is, as long as God spares them: but when they feel his hand, they then dread, though they are not moved by any threatenings. This, then, is the reason why the Prophet denounces here at large on the Israelites the dreadful judgment, which they would not dread, being, as we have seen, extremely secure and thoughtless.

It follows, And he will say; Be silent; for it is not meet to mention the name of Jehovah This place is differently explained. Some think that their extreme wickedness is here noticed, that those who died, even in their last moments, would not mention the name of God. They thus then expound the words, — “Be silent,” as though it were the expression of one indignant or of one who denied God. Be silent, then; for they remembered not the name of God, that is, those whom God would have humbled, repented not of their perverseness; even death itself could not bring them to the right way. Others give this exposition: Be silent, for it is not meet to mention the name of God; that is, “What can God’s name do to us? for we abhor it as a bad and an unhappy omen; for God brings us no joy”. The wicked dread the name of God, and wish it to be wholly obliterated. But it seems to me that the Prophet’s design is another, which interpreters have not sufficiently weighed. We first find that the hypocrites, whom he reproves, boasted of God’s name; for they said in adversity that it was the day of the Lord, as though they expected a change for the better. The Prophet now says, that the time would come when this boasting would cease, for they would perceive that God was offended with them, and they would no longer falsely pretend his name, as they had been wont to do. There is then a contrast to be understood between what is here said, and what is said in a former verse. The Prophet had previously inveighed against their rash vaunting, when they pretended the name of God without any shame, “O! we are God’s people, we are a holy nation, we are God’s heritage”. As, then, they were become thus arrogant, and yet had cast away God far from them, the Prophet now says, “These delusions shall then cease, by which ye now deceive yourselves; God will not suffer you wickedly to abuse his name, as we have ever hitherto done; and ye still go on in this iniquity. Ye shall at that time,” he says, “be silent respecting God’s name; yea, it will be a dread to you.”

We now apprehend the Prophet’s object: he means that such would be the grievousness of this last calamity, that the Israelites would really find that God was an enemy incensed against them, so that they would cast aside the false glorying which filled them with pride; yea, that they would dread the very name of God, for they would know that nothing would be better for them than to be hid from his presence. As it is said of the reprobate,

‘They will say to the mountains, Cover us; and to the hills, Bury us,’ (Revelation 6:16)

so also in this place, the Prophet says, that when hypocrites shall be struck and seriously frightened by God’s judgments, their false vauntings will continue no longer; for they would find that to be near God is to be near destruction. Be silent, then, for there is no reason for us to remember the name of Jehovah. It follows —

Amos 6:11

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

11. Quia ecce Jehova praecipiens et percutiet domum magnum mixtionibus (vel, contritionibus,) et domum parvam rimis (vel, rupturis, aut, scissionibus, ut vertunt, vel, scissuris.)

This verse is added only to confirm the former sentence. The Prophet indeed intimates, that the common people, as well as the chiefs, in vain trusted in their quiet state; for the Lord would destroy them all together, from the highest to the lowest. Behold, Jehovah, he says, commands etc.; by using the word commands, he means, that God had many reasons why he should take away and destroy them all. But he goes farther than this, and intimates that their destruction was dependent on the sole will of God; as though he said, “Though the Lord may not send for ministers of vengeance, though he may not prepare great forces, yet his word only, whenever it shall go forth, will consume you all.” We now then perceive what the Prophet means by the word “commands.”

He afterwards adds, He will smite the great house with confusions, or, according to some, with breaking רסס, resas, means properly to mingle. The Prophet therefore, I doubt not, refers here to those dreadful falls which commonly happen to great and splendid palaces. When a cottage is overturned so great a ruin is not occasioned by its weight; nay, when its ruin begins to appear, fragments fall down one after another, so that the whole work falls without any violence. This, I say, is the case with small and common houses; but when there is a great building, its downfall is tremendous. I am therefore inclined to render the word “confusion,” and the difference between small and great houses will then be more evident. Great houses then shall be smitten with confusions, (mixtionibus, with minglings) but small houses shall be smitten with fissures or clefts. But yet, as I have already reminded you, the Prophet means that there would be a ruin, both to the principal men and to the common people, so that they would all perish, from the least to the greatest. We hence learn how great was the corruption of that people; for God punishes none but the wicked. It then follows that equity was everywhere subverted and that all orders of men were become vicious and corrupt. It follows —

Amos 6:12

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:

12. An current in rupe equi? An arabitur bobus (est, an arabit quispiam in bobus; sed quia est verbum indefinitum, ideo verto impersonaliter, an ergo aratio fiet bobus, nempe in rupe?) quia vertistis in fel judicium et fructum justitiae in absynthium.

This verse interpreters misrepresent; for some think that the Prophet, by these figurative expressions, means, that the people were wholly unprofitable as to any thing good; as some one says, “The slothful ox wishes for the saddle, the horse wishes to plough.” They therefore suppose that this is the meaning of the words, “Ye are no more fitted to lead a good life than a horse is to run on a rock, or an ox to plough on a rock.” Others think that the Prophet complains that the order of things was subverted as though he said, “Ye have alike confounded all equity government, and justice. In short, ye have subverted all right; as when one tries to ride swiftly over a high rock, or attempts to plough there, which is contrary to the nature of things: ye are therefore become monsters.” Others, again, understand that the Prophet here complains that he had lost all his labor; for he had been singing, according to the common proverb, to the deaf. “What do I effect as to this iron generation? It is the same as if one tried to ride on the rock, to mount a rock on a swift horse; or as if one attempted to plough there; both which are impossible. So now, when I address stupid men, there is no fruit to my labor, and no advantage is gained.” This is the view taken by Matthew Henry, and seems not unsuitable. “The methods used for their reformation,” he says, “have been all fruitless and ineffectual. Shall horses run, etc. No; for there will be no profit to countervail the pains. God has sent them his prophets to break up their fallow ground; but they found them as hard and inflexible as the rock, rough and rugged, and they could do no good with them, nor work upon them, and therefore they shall not attempt it any more.” — Ed.

But let us see whether a fitter and a more suitable meaning can be elicited. We have already observed how secure the Israelites were; for they thought that God was, in a manner, bound to them, for he had pledged his faith to be a father to them. This adoption of God puffed up their hearts. The Prophet now reproves this presumptuous security; and, in a fitting manner, “Can a horse,” he says, “run on a rock? and can an ox plough in a stony place? So there is not among you a free course to God’s blessings. Ye ought indeed to have been the vineyard and the field of the Lord; justice and judgment ought to have reigned among, you but ye have turned judgment into gall (ראש, rash, which is variously taken, but as to the sense it matters but little,) ye have then turned judgment into gall, and righteousness into hemlock Since then ye are so perverse, a way for God’s blessings is doubtless closed up. It cannot be that the Lord will act towards you in a manner like himself; for he must necessarily be refractory towards the refractory, as he is gentle towards the gentle”. The Prophet seems to me to mean this and if any one impartially considers the whole verse, he will easily find out the truth of what I have stated, namely, that the Prophet here reproves the supreme haughtiness of the Israelitic people, who thought God bound to them though, at the same time, they, as it were, designedly provoked his wrath. “Ye think”, he says, “that God will be always propitious to you; whence is this confidence? Is it because he has adopted you, because he made a covenant with your fathers? True he has done so; but what sort of covenant was it? What was engaged on your part? Was it not that ye would be perfect before him? But ye have turned judgment into gall, and righteousness into hemlock “Ye have turned judgment into gall, which is nauseous, and the fruit of righteousness into hemlock, which is noxious.” — M. Henry. Since then ye are thus covenant-breakers, what can God now do? Do you wish him to proceed in the same course, and to bestow on you his blessings? Ye do not allow them to be bestowed. For ye are become like craggy rocks. How can God proceed in his course? how can he continue his benefits to you? He can certainly no more do so than a horse, however nimble he may be, can run swiftly on a rock or an ox plough on a rock.” We now understand what the Prophet means in this place. A confirmation of this view now follows, and from this connection the truth of what I have stated will become more evident.

Amos 6:13

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

13. Gaudetis in non re (hoc est, in nihilo,) dicitis, Annon in fortitudine nostra sustulimus nobis coronua?

This verse will seem better connected with the last, if we bear in mind the view to which I have referred: for the Prophet inveighs again against the careless contempt with which the Israelites were filled. Ye rejoice, he says, in a thing of nought A thing of nought he calls those fallacies, by which they were wont to deceive, not only others, but also their own selves. For hypocrites not only falsely pretend the name of God, but also deceive themselves by self flatteries, when they arrogate to themselves the name of Church, and the empty title of adoption and other things. We see this to be the case at this day with the Papists, who are puffed up with nothing; who not only with sacrilegious audacity twist the Word of God against us, that they may appear to be the true Church, but also harden themselves: and though they are ill at ease with themselves, they yet lull themselves asleep by such deceptions as these, “God could not have suffered his Church to err; we have indeed succeeded the apostles: and though there are among us many vices and corruptions, yet God abides with us; and all who think not with us are schismatic; nay, though we may be supported by no reasons, yet their defection is not to be borne with. Let us then continue in our own state, for the Lord approves of our hierarchy.” Thus the Papists not only deal in trifles to deceive the ignorant, but also harden themselves against God. Such was the blindness of the people of Israel. Hence the Prophet here reproves them, because they rejoiced in nothing; ‘In no word,’ he says, for so it is; but it means that they rejoiced in nothing; for they involved themselves in mere fallacies, and thus set up their empty delusions in opposition to God and his judgments.

Who say, have we not in our own strength raised up for ourselves horns? Horns, we know are taken in Hebrew for eminence, for strength, for elevation, or for any sort of defense. Hence the expression means the same as though they had said, “Are we not more than sufficiently fortified by our own strength?” It is however certain that they did not say this openly; but as the Prophet possessed the discernment of the Holy Spirit, he penetrated into their hearts and brought out what was hid within. We indeed know this to be the power of the word, as the apostle teaches in the fourth chapter to the Hebrews: for the word partakes of the nature of God himself, from whom it has proceeded; and as God is a searcher of hearts, so also the word penetrates to the marrow, to the inmost thoughts of men, and distinguishes between the feelings and the imaginations. This spiritual jurisdiction Jurisdicto, which means sometimes the authority to determine the import of the law; but it means here the power to interpret the thoughts of the heart. — Ed. ought therefore to be noticed, when the Prophets allege against the ungodly such gross blasphemies; for it is certain that they had not actually pronounced the words used by the Prophet; but yet their pride had no other meaning, than that they had raised horns to themselves by their own strength. They were indeed separated from the Lord; in the meantime they wished to abide safe through their own power. What did they mean? They had become alienated from God, and yet they sought to be in a state of safety, and thought themselves to be beyond any danger. Whence came this privilege? For they certainly ought to have sheltered themselves under God’s shadow, if they wished to be safe. But as they renounced God, and despised all his instructions, nay, as they were manifestly his enemies, whence was this safety to come, which they promised to themselves, except they sought to derive their strength from themselves?

We now perceive the Prophet’s design: He reproves the Israelites for being content with a false and empty title and for heedlessly despising God, and for only pretending a form of religion instead of its reality; it was this so gross a vice that he condemned in them: and he shows at the same time, that they put on horns by which they assailed God; for while they were separated from him, they promised to themselves a secure and happy state. It at length follows —

Amos 6:14

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 Hemath unto the river of the wilderness.

14. Certe, ecce tollo contra vos, domus Israel, dicit Jehova, Deus exercituum, gentem; et coarctabunt vos ab introitu Hemath usque ad torrentem campestrem.

At last follows a denunciation, and this is the close of the chapter. God then after having seriously exposed the vices which prevailed among the people of Israel, again declares that vengeance of which he had shortly before reminded then; but with this difference only — that God now points out the kind of punishment which he would inflict on the Israelites. He had said before, ‘Behold God commands;’ and then he had spoken of calamity, but expressed not whence that calamity would come: but he now points it out in a special manner, Behold he says I am raising up against you, O house of Israel, a nation, who will straiten you from the entrance into Hemath to the river, etc. The Prophet no doubt speaks here of the Assyrians, and expresses in strong terms how dreadful the war with the Assyrians would be, which was now nigh at hand; for though large was their land and country, (and being large and spacious it had many outlets,) yet the Prophet shows that there would be everywhere straits, when the Lord would raise up on high that nation I am then stirring up a nation against you.

He again calls the Lord, the God of hosts, for the same reason as before, — that they might understand that all the Assyrians were at God’s disposal, and that they would stir up war whenever he gave them a signal. The Lord then will raise up a nation, who will straiten you In what place? He speaks not here of strait places, but of a spacious country, which, as it has been stated, had many outlets. But after the Lord had armed against them the Assyrians, all the most spacious places were made strait to them, “Ye shall be everywhere confined, so that there will be open no escape from death.”

Prayer.

Grant, Almighty God, that since we are extremely deaf to those so many holy warnings by which thou continuest to recall us to thyself, and since we ever harden ourselves against those threatenings, by which thou terrifiest us, that thou mayest break or at least correct our hardness, — O grant, that we may, though late, yet in time, before final vengeance comes, attend to thy word and submit ourselves to thee, and in a teachable spirit undertake thy yoke, that thou mightest receive us into favor, and vouchsafe to us thy paternal kindness, and being at length reconciled to us, thou might grant us thy blessings, which thou hast promised to all thy children, who are the members of thy only begotten Son our Lord. Amen.

Chapter 7.

Lecture Sixty-third

Amos 7:1-3

1. Thus hath the Lord God shewed The verb is הראני, “made” or caused “me to see;” and so to render it would have been better; and it is the same verb in the succeeding clauses. — Ed. unto me; and, behold, he formed grasshoppers in the beginning of the shooting up of the latter growth; and, lo, it was the latter growth after the king’s mowings.

1. Sic ostendit mihi Dominus, et ecce formans locustas principio ascensionis herbae (hoc est, quum incipit herba ascendere: לקש, proprie significat secundam herbam, quam vocamus, Regian) et ecce herba post sectiones (vel, tonsuras, ut alii vertunt) Regis.

2. And it came to pass, that when they had made an end of eating the grass of the land, then I said, O Lord God, forgive, I beseech thee: by whom shall Jacob arise? for he is small.

2. Et factum est dum perficeret ad comendendum (hoc est, quum jam fere in totum absumpsisset herbam terrae,) tunc dixi, Adonai Jehova, parce, obsecro: quis stabit (vel, quis restituet) Jacob, quia parvus est?

3. The Lord repented for this: It shall not be, saith the Lord.

3. Poenituit Jehovam super hoc; Non erit, dixit Jehova.

CHAPTER 6

Am 6:1-14. Denunciation of Both the Sister Nations (Especially Their Nobles) For Wanton Security--Zion, as Well as Samaria: Threat of the Exile: Ruin of Their Palaces and Slaughter of the People: Their Perverse Injustice.

1. named chief of the nations--that is, you nobles, so eminent in influence, that your names are celebrated among the chief nations [Ludovicus De Dieu]. Hebrew, "Men designated by name among the first-fruits of the nations," that is, men of note in Israel, the people chosen by God as first of the nations (Ex 19:5; compare Nu 24:20) [Piscator].

to whom ... Israel came--that is, the princes to whom the Israelites used to repair for the decision of controversies, recognizing their authority [Maurer]. I prefer to refer "which" to the antecedent "Zion" and "Samaria"; these were esteemed "chief" strongholds among the heathen nations "to whom ... Israel came" when it entered Canaan; Am 6:2 accords with this.

2. Calneh--on the east bank of the Tigris. Once powerful, but recently subjugated by Assyria (Is 10:9; about 794 B.C.).

Hameth--subjugated by Jeroboam II (2Ki 14:25). Also by Assyria subsequently (2Ki 18:34). Compare Am 6:14.

Gath--subjugated by Uzziah (2Ch 26:6).

be they better--no. Their so recent subjugation renders it needless for Me to tell you they are not. And yet they once were; still they could not defend themselves against the enemy. How vain, then, your secure confidence in the strength of Mounts Zion and Samaria! He takes cities respectively east, north, south, and west of Israel (compare Na 3:8).

3. Ye persuade yourselves that "the evil day" foretold by the prophets is "far off," though they declare it near (Eze 12:22, 27). Ye in your imagination put it far off, and therefore bring near violent oppression, suffering it to sit enthroned, as it were, among you (Psa 94:20). The notion of judgment being far off has always been an incentive to the sinner's recklessness of living (Ec 8:12, 13; Mt 24:48). Yet that very recklessness brings near the evil day which he puts far off. "Ye bring on fever by your intemperance, and yet would put it far off" [Calvin].

4. (See Am 2:8).

beds of ivory--that is, adorned, or inlaid, with ivory (Am 3:15).

stretch themselves--in luxurious self-indulgence.

lambs out of the flock--picked out as the choicest, for their owners' selfish gratification.

5. chant--literally, "mark distinct sounds and tones."

viol--the lyre, or lute.

invent ... instruments ... like David--They fancy they equal David in musical skill (1Ch 23:5; Ne 12:36). They defend their luxurious passion for music by his example: forgetting that he pursued this study when at peace and free from danger, and that for the praise of God; but they pursue for their own self-gratification, and that when God is angry and ruin is imminent.

6. drink ... in bowls--in the large vessels or basins in which wine was mixed; not satisfied with the smaller cups from which it was ordinarily drunk, after having been poured from the large mixer.

chief ointments--that is, the most costly: not for health or cleanliness, but wanton luxury.

not grieved for the affliction of Joseph--literally, "the breach," that is, the national wound or calamity (Psa 60:2; Eze 34:4) of the house of Joseph (Am 5:6); resembling in this the heartlessness of their forefathers, the sons of Jacob, towards Joseph, "eating bread" while their brother lay in the pit, and then selling him to Ishmaelites.

7. Therefore ... shall they go captive with the first--As they were first among the people in rank (Am 6:1), and anointed themselves "with the chief ointments" (Am 6:6), so shall they be among the foremost in going into captivity.

banquet--literally, the "merry-making shout of revellers"; from an Arabic root, "to cry out." In the Hebrew, marzeach; here, there is an allusion to mizraqu, "bowls" (Am 6:6).

them that stretched themselves--on luxurious couches (Am 6:4).

8. the excellency of Jacob--(Psa 47:4). The sanctuary which was the great glory of the covenant-people [Vatablus], (Eze 24:21). The priesthood, and kingdom, and dignity, conferred on them by God. These, saith God, are of no account in My eyes towards averting punishment [Calvin].

hate his palaces--as being the storehouses of "robbery" (Am 3:10, 15). How sad a change from God's love of Zion's gates (Psa 87:2) and palaces (Psa 48:3, 13), owing to the people's sin!

the city--collectively: both Zion and Samaria (Am 6:1).

all that is therein--literally, "its fulness"; the multitude of men and of riches in it (compare Psa 24:1).

9. If as many as ten (Le 26:26; Zec 8:23) remain in a house (a rare case, and only in the scattered villages, as there will be scarcely a house in which the enemy will leave any), they shall all, to a man, die of the plague, a frequent concomitant of war in the East (Jr 24:10; 44:13; Eze 6:11).

10. a man's uncle--The nearest relatives had the duty of burying the dead (Ge 25:9; 35:29; Jud 16:31). No nearer relative was left of this man than an uncle.

and he that burneth him--the uncle, who is also at the same time the one that burneth him (one of the "ten," Am 6:9). Burial was the usual Hebrew mode of disposing of their dead. But in cases of necessity, as when the men of Jabesh-gilead took the bodies of Saul and his three sons from the walls of Beth-shan and burned them to save them from being insulted by the Philistines, burning was practised. So in this case, to prevent contagion.

the bones--that is, the dead body (Ge 50:25). Perhaps here there is an allusion in the phrase to the emaciated condition of the body, which was little else but skin and bones.

say unto him that is by the sides of the house--that is, to the only one left of the ten in the interior of the house [Maurer] (compare Note, see on Is 14:13).

Hold thy tongue ... we may not ... mention ... the Lord--After receiving the reply, that none is left besides the one addressed, when the man outside fancies the man still surviving inside to be on the point, as was customary, of expressing devout gratitude to God who spared him, the man outside interrupts him, "Hold thy tongue! for there is not now cause for mentioning with praise (Jos 23:7) the name of Jehovah"; for thou also must die; as all the ten are to die to the last man (Am 6:9; compare Am 8:3). Formerly ye boasted in the name of Jehovah, as if ye were His peculiar people; now ye shall be silent and shudder at His name, as hostile to you, and as one from whom ye wish to be hidden (Re 6:16), [Calvin].

11. commandeth, and he will smite--His word of command, when once given, cannot but be fulfilled (Is 55:11). His mere word is enough to smite with destruction.

great house ... little house--He will spare none, great or small (Am 3:15). Jerome interprets "the great house" as Israel, and "the small house" as Judah: the former being reduced to branches or ruins, literally, "small drops"; the latter, though injured with "clefts" or rents, which threaten its fall, yet still permitted to stand.

12. In turning "judgment (justice) into gall (poison), and ... righteousness into hemlock" (or wormwood, bitter and noxious), ye act as perversely as if one were to make "horses run upon the rock" or to "plough with oxen there" [Maurer]. As horses and oxen are useless on a rock, so ye are incapable of fulfilling justice [Grotius]. Ye impede the course of God's benefits, because ye are as it were a hard rock on which His favor cannot run. "Those that will not be tilled as fields, shall be abandoned as rocks" [Calvin].

13. rejoice in a thing of naught--that is, in your vain and fleeting riches.

Have we not taken to us horns--that is, acquired power, so as to conquer our neighbors (2Ki 14:25). Horns are the Hebrew symbol of power, being the instrument of strength in many animals (Psa 75:10).

14. from the entering in of Hamath--the point of entrance for an invading army (as Assyria) into Israel from the north; specified here, as Hamath had been just before subjugated by Jeroboam II (Am 6:2). Do not glory in your recently acquired city, for it shall be the starting-point for the foe to afflict you. How sad the contrast to the feast of Solomon attended by a congregation from this same Hamath, the most northern boundary of Israel, to the Nile, the river of Egypt, the most southern boundary!

unto the river of the wilderness--that is, to Kedron, which empties itself into the north bay of the Dead Sea below Jericho (2Ch 28:15), the southern boundary of the ten tribes (2Ki 14:25, "from the entering of Hamath unto the sea of the plain") [Maurer]. To the river Nile, which skirts the Arabian wilderness and separates Egypt from Canaan [Grotius]. If this verse includes Judah, as well as Israel (compare Am 6:1, "Zion" and "Samaria"), Grotius' view is correct; and it agrees with 1Ki 8:65.

Wo to them that are at ease in Zion - For השאננים hashshaanannim, "who dwell at ease," it has been proposed to read השעננים hashshaanannim, "who confidently lean," the two words differing only in one letter, an ע ain for an א aleph. They leaned confidently on Zion; supposing that, notwithstanding their iniquities they should be saved for Zion's sake. Thus the former clause will agree better with the latter, "leaning upon Zion," and "trusting in the mountain of Samaria." Those that are at ease may mean those who have no concern about the threatened judgments, and who have no deep concern for the salvation of their own souls. Houbigant would read, "Go to them who despise Zion, and trust in Samaria." So the Septuagint, reading שנאים soneim, hating, instead of שאננים shaanannim, being at rest, tranquil Calmet first proposed this conjecture; Houbigant follows him.

Are named chief - Newcome renders, "That are named after the chief of the nations;" and observes, that the Hebrew word נקבי nekubey is an allusion to marking a name or character by punctures. See on Isa 44:5 (note). They call themselves not after their ancestors, but after the chief of the idolatrous nations with whom they intermarry contrary to the law.

Perhaps the words here rather refer to the mountains and their temples, than to the people. The mountain of Zion, and the mountain of Samaria, were considered the chief or most celebrated among the nations, as the two kingdoms to which they belonged were the most distinguished on the earth.

Pass ye unto Calneh - This is, says Calmet, the Ctesiphon on the river Tigris.

Hamath - The same as Emesa. Hamath was a city on the Orontes, in Syria.

Gath - A well-known town, and head of one of the five seignories of the Philistines.

Be they better - You have no more reason to expect exemption from the consequences of your sins than they had. They have been punished; so shall you. Why then will ye trust in their gods, that could not save their own cities?

Ye that put far away the evil day - Wo to you who will not consider the day of approaching vengeance; but continue in your iniquity, and harden your hearts. Ye bring your iniquities nearer, and still suppose your punishment to be at a greater distance.

That lie upon beds of ivory - The word הוי hoi, wo, is understood at the beginning of each of the first, third, fourth, fifth, and sixth verses. The beds mentioned here may be either sofas to recline on at table, or beds to sleep on; and these among the ancients were ornamented with ivory inlaid. They were called lectos eburatos by Plautus, lectos eburnos by Horace, "ivory beds." Probably those ornamented with shells, or mother-of-pearl, may be intended. Several works of this kind may be still seen in Palestine and other places. I have before me a cross brought from Jerusalem, incrusted all over with mother-of-pearl, and various figures chased on it.

There must have been a great deal of luxury and effeminacy among the Israelites at this time; and, consequently, abundance of riches. This was in the time of Jeroboam the second, when the kingdom had enjoyed a long peace. The description in the fourth, fifth, and sixth verses, is that of an Asiatic court even in the present day.

And invent to themselves instruments of music, like David - See the note on 1Chr 23:5; and see especially the note on 2Chr 29:25 (note). I believe that David was not authorized by the Lord to introduce that multitude of musical instruments into the Divine worship of which we read, and I am satisfied that his conduct in this respect is most solemnly reprehended by this prophet; and I farther believe that the use of such instruments of music, in the Christian Church, is without the sanction and against the will of God; that they are subversive of the spirit of true devotion, and that they are sinful. If there was a wo to them who invented instruments of music, as did David under the law, is there no wo, no curse to them who invent them, and introduce them into the worship of God in the Christian Church? I am an old man, and an old minister; and I here declare that I never knew them productive of any good in the worship of God; and have had reason to believe that they were productive of much evil. Music, as a science, I esteem and admire: but instruments of music in the house of God I abominate and abhor. This is the abuse of music; and here I register my protest against all such corruptions in the worship of the Author of Christianity. The late venerable and most eminent divine, the Revelation John Wesley, who was a lover of music, and an elegant poet, when asked his opinion of instruments of music being introduced into the chapels of the Methodists said, in his terse and powerful manner, "I have no objection to instruments of music in our chapels, provided they are neither Heard nor Seen." I say the same, though I think the expense of purchase had better be spared.

The word הפרטים happoretim, which we render chant, and the margin quaver, signifies to dance, to skip, etc. In the sight of such a text, fiddlers, drummers, waltzers, etc., may well tremble, who perform to excite detestable passions.

That drink wine in bowls - Perhaps the costliness of the drinking vessels, more than the quantity drank, is that which is here reprehended by the prophet. Drinking vessels of the most costly materials, and of the most exquisite workmanship, are still in use; and as to precious ointments and perfumes among the Jews, we have a proof that the contents of one small box was worth three hundred denarii, at least seven pounds ten shillings sterling. See the case in the Gospel, Joh 12:5 (note), and the note there.

With the first that go captive - The house of Israel shall be carried into captivity before the house of Judah.

The Lord God hath sworn by himself - בנפשו benaphsho, by his soul, his being, existence.

Ten men - they shall die - All shall be cut off by the sword, or by captivity, or by famine.

A man's uncle shall take him up - Bp. Newcome says, this obscure verse seems to describe the effects of famine and pestilence during the siege of Samaria. The carcass shall be burnt, and the bones removed with no ceremony of funeral rites, and without the assistance of the nearest kinsman. Solitude shall reign in the house; and if one is left, he must be silent, (see Amo 8:3), and retired, lest he be plundered of his scanty provision! Burning the body, and then collecting the ashes, and putting them into an urn, was deemed the most honorable mode of burial.

He will smote the great house with breaches - The great and small shall equally suffer; no distinction shall be made; rich and poor shall fall together; death has received his commission, and he will spare none. Horace has a sentiment precisely like this, Carm. Lib. i., Od. iv., 5:13.

Pallida mors aequo pulsat pede pauperum

Tabernas, Regumque Turres.

With equal pace impartial fate

Knocks at the palace as the cottage gate.

But this may refer particularly to the houses of the poor in Eastern countries; their mud walls being frequently full of clefts; the earth of which they are built seldom adhering together because of its sandiness.

Shall horses run upon the rock - First, they could not do it, because they were unshod; for the shoeing of horses with iron was not then known. Secondly, If they did run on the rock, it would be useless to their owner, and hurtful to themselves. Thirdly, And it would be as useless to plough on the rock with oxen; for there it would be impossible to sow with any advantage. Fourthly, Just as useless and injurious would it be to put gall in the place of judgment, and hemlock in the place of righteousness. You have not only been laboring in vain for yourselves, but you have also been oppressive to others; and for both ye shall suffer.

Ye which rejoice in a thing of naught - In your idols: for an idol is nothing in the world.

Have we not taken to us horns - We have arrived to power and dignity by our strength. Horns were the symbols of power and authority. So Horace: -

Vina parant animos: tum pauper cornua sumet. "Wine repairs our strength, and furnishes the poor with horns."

At such times they think themselves as great as the greatest.

I will raise up against you a nation - The Assyrians under Pul, Tiglath-pileser, and Shalmaneser, who subdued the Israelites at various times, and at last carried them away captive in the days of Hosea, the last king of Israel in Samaria.

From the entering in of Hamath (on the north) unto the river of the wilderness - Besor, which empties itself into the sea, not far from Gaza, and was in the southern part of the tribe of Simeon.

At ease - That neither fear nor believe the threatened judgments of God. In Zion - That is put for the kingdom of the two tribes, and principally the inhabitants of Jerusalem. Samaria - Woe to them also who rely upon the strength, wealth, and policy of the kingdom of Samaria or Israel. Which - Which two cities, Zion and Samaria. Named chief - Accounted the chief cities of that part of the world. To whom - To which place all Israel had recourse, the two tribes to Zion, the ten tribes to Samaria.

Pass ye - Run over the history of that great and ancient city. Hemath - Head of the Syrian kingdom, lately overthrown by Tiglath - Pilneser, and a fresh instance of God's just indignation against secure sinners. Gath - The chief city of the Philistines, a few years before wasted by the arms of Hazael; by these examples learn to amend your ways, or expect to perish in them. Greater - That is, greater than these kingdoms of Israel and Judah, and their borders, or bounds, greater than these of Israel and Judah.

That lie - That out of laziness or luxury, lay themselves to rest. And eat - The very best in all their flock.

That chant - That in a time of deep mourning entertain themselves with songs, and musical instruments.

In bowls - Not in little vessels, but probably bowls: they drank these filled as full as they could hold too, and in design to drink each other down. And anoint - In those hot countries this anointing was much used. Not grieved - Nothing affected with the calamities of their country.

The banquet - The feastings of voluptuous ones shall cease.

The excellency - All that the seed of Jacob accounts a glory and excellency to them, all their external privileges and worship.

Remain - Escaping the enemies sword. Ten men - Many men, a certain number for an uncertain. They shall die - Tho' they escape a while, they shall not finally escape.

Uncle - Or near kinsman, instead of those who were wont to do this, and were paid for it; but now none of these remaining, the next to the dead must, as well as he is able, take him up on his shoulders, and carry him. That burneth - Though the Jews mostly buried, yet in some cases they burned the dead bodies, as in this of pestilence. The bones - The flesh being consumed, the bones are reserved to be buried. Unto him - Any one he sees near the house out of which the bones are carried. Is there yet any - Is any one living in your house. Hold thy tongue - Do not complain, lest thou thyself be killed, lest all be rifled. For - It is too late to seek God, who is executing his immutable decree.

For behold - It seems to be the continued speech of him who took care of the dead, ver.10, God hath sent out war, famine, and pestilence. The great house - The palaces of great men shall have great breaches made in them, and the cottages of poor men shall, by lesser strokes, be ruined.

Shall horses - If prophets exhort or advise, it does no more good than if you would run your horses upon the precipices of rocks.

Who rejoice - In your victories, alliances, and idols. Have we not - We have raised ourselves to greatness by our wisdom and courage.

Hemath - A city of Syria, bordering on Israel, north - east. The wilderness - Which is the south - west parts of Canaan. So all your country shall be destroyed.

1 WO to them that are at ease in Zion , and trust in the mountain of Samaria , which are named chief of the nations , to whom the house of Israel came .

This compriseth many and great sorrows, all that God intends against these sinners.

Who live in abundance, eat, drink, sleep, and are secure, that think too morrow shall be as this day, and neither fear nor believe the threatned Judgments of God.

By a Synecdoche put for the Kingdom of the two Tribes, and principally the inhabitants of Ierusalem and Zion, the Ten Tribes were hitherto threatned, now the Prophet warns the Two Tribes.

Wo to them also who rely upon the Strength, Wealth, and Policy of the King, Princes, Cities, and Kingdom of Samaria or Israel.

Which two Cities, Zion and Samaria.

Accounted Chief Cities among the known Cities of that part of the World. Others refer this passage to the Nobles, Wisemen, and great men of each place, men that were heads among their own people.

To which places all Israel had recourse, so the two Tribes went up to Zion, the Ten Tribes went to Samaria, or to whom i. e. to which Nobles and Rulers the People of each Kingdom did go on all occasions for Judgment, Counsel or Refuge.

Marginal references: [illegible: 1 span]; Or, [illegible: 1 word]; Exod. [illegible: 1 span]; Or, [illegible: 1 word]

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

Run over the History of that Great, and antient City, as go to Shilo, Ier. 7.12.

Built by Nimrod, Gen. 10.10. and after a long growth to Power, Wealth and Security, through near 1300 years was at last ruin'd, as is probable in the Civil Wars which ended in the utter ruin of Sardanapalus by Arba[illegible: 1 letter]es, and P[illegible: 1 letter]ul-Belochus, Grandfather to Salmaneser who Captivated Israel, the story of which, fresh in the days of Amos, is thus referr'd unto for warning to Israel.

Consider well what befel that City built on Euphrates, Rich, Delightful, and, as you, full of Sin.

Head of the Syrian Kingdom, lately overthrown by Tiglath-Pilneser, and very fresh instance of Gods just indignation against secure sinners, and a very fit warning to Israel.

The chief City of the Philistines a few years before wasted by the Armes and Cruelty of Hazael, 2 King. 12.17. by these Examples learn to amend your wayes or expect to perish in them.

The reading this passage interrogatively renders it darker than if 'twere read assertively, yet they were better, i. e. greater than these Kingdoms of Israel and Iudah, and their borders, i. e. the bounds of those Kingdomes, greater than these of Israel and Iudah. But if you retain our Version, it will amount to this; are they, i. e. Israel and Iudah, better, more just, thankful and merciful than these Kingdoms that they should hope to escape? or is the border of these two Kingdoms greater that they should hope to stand by power?

Marginal references: [illegible: 1 word] 3.8.

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

Wo to you that flatter your selves that the day of darkness and misery foretold is far off, as Ezek. 12.27. which see. These were great ones too, that the Prophet here threatneth, who thus postpon'd the day of Israel and Iudahs Calamities.

Not as if it should be a short calamity, as a day, but it speaks the determinate fixed time, and the haste wherewith the Execution shall be made.

The Throne, or Judgment-Seat which should relieve the oppressed, condemn the wicked, and acquit the Innocent, this is made a seat of violence where unjust Judges condemn the just, and take Bribes.

Thus you draw the judgments of God on your selves, by acting violence against the poor, and contemning the Threats of the Prophets.

Marginal references: [illegible: 1 word]. 5.18. [illegible: 1 span].; [illegible: 1 word] [illegible: 1 letter]4.2[illegible: 1 letter].

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 .

The wo is to be added to them that either out of Laziness or Luxury, and to please the flesh lay themselves to rest

on beautiful rich Beds, bought with the gain of Bribes and Oppression.

This somewhat explains the former; they did extremely indulge their Pride and Luxury, and on Beds or Couches laid themselves to Feast, when God called them to mourn and weep.

With excess, as Mat. 24.37, 38. and Luk. 12.19, 20.

The very best in all their Flock, and probably they chose them out first, before they set out Lambs for Sacrifices, or else these Gluttonous Judges and Rulers eat the best Lambs, not of their own, but out of poor oppressed mens Flocks.

Those that were fattest too.

Kept on purpose to make them most delicious and nourishing meat.

Marginal references: [illegible: 1 letter]r, abound [illegible: 1 span]

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

Wo to them that in a time of deepest Mourning, do entertain themselves with Songs, and with greatest skill sing to their Musical Instruments as if they had no greater thing to mind.

Or Lute or Guitern, one kind put for every one used in their Feastings at this time of Amos.

Not content with known, old-fashion'd Musick, they find out new Instruments, New Songs and Tunes.

In imitation of David, as they profanely pretend, or else emulating his skill, and preferring their own Feast Songs and Musick, before his Temple Musick and Songs. We may imagine what Songs such ungodly, cruel, voluptuous men would sing, and what Tunes they would set too, on such occasions, viz. loose, profane and impure enough.

Marginal references: Isa. 5.12.; Or, [illegible: 1 word].

6 That drink wine in bowles , and anoint themselves with the chief ointments , but they are not grieved for the affliction of Joseph .

The Prophet continues the wo still to these Riotous Feasters; the jovial, banquetting, dancing, and singing Judges.

Not in little Vessels, not in moderate glasses, or cups as beseemed sober men, but in great Vessels, called Bowls, and it is likely they drank these filled as full as they could hold too, and in design to drink each other down.

In those hot Countreys this anointing was needful to refresh and strengthen the Limbs and 'twas much used. But here the effeminate use of it, at such a time, and by such men, at Feasts is condemned as a great excess, and provoking sin which God will punish.

Nothing affected with or troubled for the publick calamities of their Countrey, though they were sore ones brought on them by the Syrians, and by their own divisions and civil Wars, both Kingdoms of Iudah and Israel were in a very low afflicted state, but these Rulers and Grandees live, feast, sing and dance, as if no sad occasion called for other Carriage.

Marginal references: [illegible: 1 letter]r, in bowls of [illegible: 1 word].; Heb. breach.

7 Therefore now shall they go captive with the first that go captive , and the banquet of them that stretched themselves shall be removed .

For this s[illegible: 1 letter]n of unseasonable Feasting added to all former sins; much like that, Isa. 22.14.

Who ruled others, and whose Character you have ver. 1, 2, 3, &c. who put far from them the evil day, &c. these shall certainly be carried Captive.

And as they deserve by their sins, so shall they be carried away the first of any, Gods hand in punishing them shall be as eminent as their hand was in [illegible: 1 letter]in[illegible: 1 letter]ing.

The Feastings of voluptuous ones shall cease.

Vid. ver. 4. let. t.

God will send the Assyrians to take away the Banquet, and to bring in a Bill, a reckoning, for these secure sinners, who shall be removed too as well as their Banquet is, they shall go into Captivity, and there in sorrows dearly pay for all their luxury, inhumanity and security.

8 The Lord GOD hath sworn by himself , 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 .

The secure, incredulous and Atheistical among the Judges of Israel, are here spoken to, especially, and the Prophet assures them that God had sworn by himself that they should be punished, and in the manner he had foretold.

God assureth his Prophet, that the Prophet might attest it to his Hearers.

I look with detestation, and remember with loathing,

All that the seed of Iacob accounts a glory and excellency to them, and in which they do put their trust, all their external priviledges and ceremonious Worship.

In which violence is stored up, in which luxury abounds.

[illegible: 1 letter]erusalem, Samaria and all the other Cities.

Both Persons and things, Assyria first shall sweep away all out of Israel and Samaria and Babylonians next shall carry away Iudah, Ierusalem and all in it.

Marginal references: Jer. 51.14. Heb. 6.13, 17.; Heb. the fulness thereof.

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

The thing is decreed, and shall take effect.

Or escape the Enemies Sword, or the Famine of Samaria besieged three years.

Many men for 'tis a certain number exprest, though an uncertain be understood.

Either of Pestilence or by some other stroke of Gods hand, though they escape a while they shall not finally escape, 2 King. 17.5.

10 And a mans 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 we may not make mention of the name of the LORD.

Or some near Kinsman.

Instead of those Mercenaries who were wont to do this, and were paid for it, but now none of these to be had, the next to the dead must as well as he is able take him up on his shoulders, and carry him, i. e. the last of the Ten, the other nine being dead.

Though the Iews mostly buried yet in some cases they burned the dead bodies as in this of wasting Pestilence when they could not carry them out either for fear of infecting others or for want of help.

All that remain'd. The flesh of the dead being consumed to Ashes; the Bones are reserved to be buried, and laid up in some Sepulchre of their Ancestors.

He that doth this Office for the last of his dead friends shall enquire

Of one he seeth either dwelling near, and by the sides of the house out of which the bones are carried, or else of some that lay undiscerned in the corner of the house where so many died.

Is any one living in this your house, hath any one escaped?

The Man of whom the Uncle, or whoever carried out the bones, enquireth.

Then shall the Enquirer say.

Either murmur not against God, or mourn not, for so sad is the time that the dead are happier than the living, or say nothing lest all be rifled from thee. For such inhumanity was among them that there were those who would dare to rifle infected houses. Or else which suits next words be silent under Gods just displeasure.

Now 'tis too late to seek God who is executing his immutable Decree and Sentence which we were advised to prevent, but did not in season.

Marginal references: chap. 5.13. and 8.3.; Or, they will not, or, have not.

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

Consider this well: it seems to be the continued speech of him who took care of the dead, ver. 10.

God provoked by our sins hath sent out thy Enemies: War, Famine and Pestilence all come commission'd of God and when the Arrow is shot 'twill hit and kill.

The Palaces of great men, and their Families,

shall have great breaches made in them, by which they shall be ruin'd.

The Cottages, and lesser dwellings of poor men with their Families.

Shall by lesser stroaks be ruin'd, their Clefts shall be enough to do this. All shall be overthrown, and we must submit to it.

Marginal references: Or, droppings.

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 .

Would it not be dangerous to Horse and Rider? if Prophets and Pious men exhort, threaten or advise, they endanger themselves, it does no more good then if you would run your Horse on the slippery Precipices of Rocks. Or all is lost labour on these hardned Sinners.

Your hearts are hard as the Rocks; my Prophets Preaching, my lesser Judgments warning you, all gentler means used are but as a Husbandmans Plowing the Rocks. These shall therefore be torn up by the Roots, your State and Kingdom shall be utterly overthrown.

You Judges, and Governours in the Ten Tribes, and in Iudah too.

Vid. chap. 5. ver. 7. let. g, h, i.

Or poyson, by those Laws they took away life, and forfeited Estate which had the Laws been rightly executed, had saved both.

All that fruit which Equity and Justice would have produced by due application of the Law, hath been wormwood, grief and complaints by your wresting and perverting the Law.

A deadly and pernicious weed, so the course of your Courts have been.

Marginal references: Hos. 10.4. chap. 5.7.

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

Glorying with a Joy and Satisfaction, with Hope and Confidence.

In your Victories, Alliances, Fortifications and Idols, all which draw you away from God, and from seeking him as he will be found.

Tell the Prophets that reprove you and foretell your downfal, you say to them, notwithstanding all that God threatens, yet

you have rais'd your selves to dominion and Greatness by your Wisdom, Courage and Success, and by the same you will maintain it, and so you put off the day of Evil.

14 But behold , I will raise up against you a nation l, O house of Israel , saith the LORD the God of hosts , and they shall afflict you from the entring [illegible: 1 letter]n of Hemath , unto the river of the wilderness .

Notwithstanding all your boasts and carnal confidences.

Observe and weigh well what is said.

Awaken, call together, strengthen, succeed and prosper in the attempt against you. P[illegible: 1 letter]l hath, and Tiglath Pileser hath or now doth afflict and break you, but Salmaneser shall utterly destroy you, if his strength were not enough of it self, mine arm should strengthen him to bring all your hopes to nought.

Kingdom of the Ten Tribes.

Who doth what he saith, who does command and 'tis done, whom none can resist.

The Assyrians and their Confederates.

Distress you and press you hard on all sides, it shall be a great and an universal oppression of you▪

A City of Syria bordering on the land of Israel, North-east and was an inlet into Syria, from the North of Canaan.

Which is Sichor in the most South-west parts of Canaan towards Egypt. So all your Country, Iudah and all shall be oppressed by that Nation which I will raise and strengthen against you.

Marginal references: Or, valleys.

Amo 6:1

The prophet utters the second woe over the careless heads of the nation, who were content with the existing state of things, who believed in no divine judgment, and who revelled in their riches (Amo 6:1-6). To these he announces destruction and the general overthrow of the kingdom (Amo 6:7-11), because they act perversely, and trust in their own power (Amo 6:12-14). Amo 6:1. “Woe to the secure upon Zion, and to the careless upon the mountain of Samaria, to the chief men of the first of the nations, to whom the house of Israel comes! Amo 6:2. Go over to Calneh, and see; and proceed thence to Hamath, the great one: and go down to Gath of the Philistines: are they indeed better than these kingdoms? or is their territory greater than your territory? Amo 6:3. Ye who keep the day of calamity far off, and bring the seat of violence near.” This woe applies to the great men in Zion and Samaria, that is to say, to the chiefs of the whole of the covenant nation, because they were all sunk in the same godless security; though special allusion is made to the corrupt leaders of the kingdom of the ten tribes, whose debauchery is still further depicted in what follows. These great men are designated in the words נקבי ראשׁית הגּוים, as the heads of the chosen people, who are known by name. As ראשׁית הג is taken from Num 24:20, so נקבי is taken from Num 1:17, where the heads of the tribes who were chosen as princes of the congregation to preside over the numbering of the people are described as men אשׁר נקּבוּ בּשׁמות, who were defined with names, i.e., distinguished by names, that is to say, well-known men; and it is used here in the same sense. Observe, however, with reference to ראשׁית הגּוים, that in Num 24:20 we have not הגּוים, but simply ראשׁית גּוים. Amalek is so called there, as being the first heathen nation which rose up in hostility to Israel. On the other hand, ר הגוים is the firstling of the nations, i.e., the first or most exalted of all nations. Israel is so called, because Jehovah had chosen it out of all the nations of the earth to be the people of His possession (Exo 19:5; cf. 2Sa 7:23). In order to define with still greater precision the position of these princes in the congregation, Amos adds, “to whom the house of Israel cometh,” namely, to have its affairs regulated by them as its rulers. These epithets were intended to remind the princes of the people of both kingdoms, “that they were the descendants of those tribe-princes who had once been honoured to conduct the affairs of the chosen family, along with Moses and Aaron, and whose light shone forth from that better age as brilliant examples of what a truly theocratical character was” (Hengstenberg, Dissertations, i. p. 148). To give still greater prominence to the exalted calling of these princes, Amos shows in Amo 6:2 that Israel can justly be called the firstling of the nations, since it is not inferior either in prosperity or greatness to any of the powerful and prosperous heathen states. Amos names three great and flourishing capitals, because he is speaking to the great men of the capitals of the two kingdoms of Israel, and the condition of the whole kingdom is reflected in the circumstances of the capital. Calneh (= Calno, Isa 10:9) is the later Ctesiphon in the land of Shinar, or Babylonia, situated upon the Tigris opposite to Seleucia (see at Gen 10:10); hence the expression עברוּ, because men were obliged to cross over the river (Euphrates) in order to get there. Hamath: the capital of the Syrian kingdom of that name, situated upon the Orontes (see at Gen 10:18 and Num 34:8). There was not another Hamath, as Hitzig supposes. The circumstance that Amos mentions Calneh first, whereas it was much farther to the east, so that Hamath was nearer to Palestine than Calneh was, may be explained very simply, from the fact that the enumeration commences with the most distant place and passes from the north-east to the south-west, which was in the immediate neighbourhood of Israel. Gath: one of the five capitals of Philistia, and in David’s time the capital of all Philistia (see at Jos 13:3; 2Sa 8:1). The view still defended by Baur - namely, that Amos mentions here three cities that had either lost their former grandeur, or had fallen altogether, for the purpose of showing the self-secure princes of Israel that the same fate awaited Zion and Samaria - is groundless and erroneous; for although Calneh is spoken of in Isa 10:9 as a city that had been conquered by the Assyrians, it cannot be proved that this was the case as early as the time of Amos, but is a simple inference drawn from a false interpretation of the verse before us. Nor did Jeroboam II conquer the city of Hamath on the Orontes, and incorporate its territory with his own kingdom (see at 2Ki 14:25). And although the Philistian city Gath was conquered by Uzziah (2 Chronicles 26:60, we cannot infer from 2Ch 26:6, or from the fact of Gath not being mentioned in Amo 1:6-8, that this occurred before the time of Amos (see at Amo 1:8). On the other hand, the fact that it is placed by the side of Hamath in the passage before us, is rather a proof that the conquest did not take place till afterwards.

Amo 6:2-3

Amo 6:2 states what the princes of Israel are to see in the cities mentioned, - namely, that they are not better off (טובים denoting outward success or earthly prosperity) than these two kingdoms, i.e., the kingdoms of Judah and Israel, and that their territories are not larger than theirs. It is very evident that this does not apply to cities that have been destroyed. The double question ה ... אם requires a negative answer. Amo 6:3. assigns the reason for the woe pronounced upon the sinful security of the princes of Israel, by depicting the godless conduct of these princes; and this is appended in the manner peculiar to Amos, viz., in participles. These princes fancy that the evil day, i.e., the day of misfortune or of judgment and punishment, is far away (מנדּים, piel of נדה = נדד, to be far off, signifies in this instance not to put far away, but to regard as far off); and they go so far as to prepare a seat or throne close by for wickedness and violence, which must be followed by judgment. הגּישׁ שׁבת, to move the sitting (shebheth from yâshabh) of violence near, or better still, taking shebheth in the sense of enthroning, as Ewald does, to move the throne of violence nearer, i.e., to cause violence to erect its throne nearer and nearer among them.

Amo 6:4-6

This forgetfulness of God shows itself more especially in the reckless licentiousness and debauchery of these men. Amo 6:4. “They who lie upon beds of ivory, and stretch themselves upon their couches, and eat lambs from the flock, and calves out of the fattening stall. Amo 6:5. Who prattle to the tune of the harp; like David, they invent string instruments. Amo 6:6. Who drink wine out of sacrificial bowls, and anoint themselves with the best oils, and do not afflict themselves for the hurt of Joseph.” They lie stretched, as it were poured out (סרחים), upon beds inlaid with ivory, to feast and fill their belly with the flesh of the best lambs and fattened calves, to the playing of harps and singing, in which they take such pleasure, that they invent new kinds of playing and singing. The ἁπ. λεγ. pârat, to strew around (cf. peret in Lev 19:10), in Arabic to throw many useless words about, to gossip, describes the singing at the banquets as frivolous nonsense. כּלי שׁיר, articles or instruments of singing, are not musical instruments generally, but, as we may see from 2Ch 34:12, compared with 2Ch 29:26-27, and 1Ch 23:5, the stringed instruments that were either invented by David (e.g., the nebel), or arranged by him for the sacred song of the temple, together with the peculiar mode of playing them; in other words, “the playing upon stringed instruments introduced by David.” Consequently the meaning of Amo 6:5 is the following: As David invented stringed instruments in honour of his God in heaven, so do these princes invent playing and singing for their god, the belly. The meaning to invent or devise, which Baur will not allow to חשׁב, is established beyond all doubt by Exo 31:4. They drink thereby out of sacrificial bowls of wine, i.e., drink wine out of sacrificial bowls. שׁתה with ב, as in Gen 44:5. Mizrâq, in the plural mizrâqı̄m and mizrâqōth, from zâraq, to sprinkle, was the name given both to the vessels used for the sprinkling of the blood, and also to the bowls made use of for pouring the libation of wine upon the table of shew-bread (2Ch 4:8). This word is applied by Amos to the bowls out of which the gluttons drank their wine; with special reference to the offering of silver sacrificial bowls made by the tribe-princes at the consecration of the altar (Numbers 7), to show that whereas the tribe-princes of Israel in the time of Moses manifested their zeal for the service of Jehovah by presenting sacrificial bowls of silver, the princes of his own time showed just as much zeal in their care for their god, the belly. Mizrâqı̄m does not mean “rummers, or pitchers used for mixing wine.” Lastly, Amos refers to their anointing themselves with the firstling of the oils, i.e., the best oils, as a sign of unbridled rejoicing, inasmuch as the custom of anointing was suspended in time of mourning (2Sa 14:2), for the purpose of appending the antithesis ולא גחלוּ, they do not afflict or grieve themselves for the ruin of Israel. Shēbher, breach, injury, destruction. Joseph signifies the people and kingdom of the ten tribes.

Amo 6:7

Announcement of Punishment. - Amo 6:7. “Therefore will they now go into captivity at the head of the captives, and the shouting of the revellers will depart.” Because these revellers do not trouble themselves about the ruin of Israel, they will now be obliged to wander into captivity at the head of the people (cf. 1Ki 21:9), when the approaching shebher occurs. בּראשׁ גּלים is chosen with direct reference to ראשׁית שׁמנים, as Jerome has observed: “Ye who are first in riches will be the first to bear the yoke of captivity.” Serūchı̄m also points back to Amo 6:4, “those who are stretched upon their couches” - that is, the revellers; and it forms a play upon words with mirzach. מרזח signifies a loud cry, here a joyous cry, in Jer 16:5 a cry of lamentation.

Amo 6:8-11

This threat is carried out still further in Amo 6:8-11. Amo 6:8. “The Lord Jehovah hath sworn by Himself, is the saying of Jehovah, the God of hosts: I abhor the pride of Jacob, and his palaces I hate; and give up the city, and the fulness thereof. Amo 6:9. And it will come to pass, if then men are left in a house, they shall die. Amo 6:10. And when his cousin lifts him up, and he that burieth him, to carry out the bones out of the house, and saith to the one in the hindermost corner of the house, Is there still any one with thee? and he says, Not one; then will he say, Hush; for the name of Jehovah is not to be invoked. Amo 6:11. For, behold, Jehovah commandeth, and men smite the great house to ruins, and the small house into shivers.” In order to show the secure debauchees the terrible severity of the judgments of God, the Lord announces to His people with a solemn oath the rejection of the nation which is so confident in its own power (cf. Amo 6:13). The oath runs here as in Amo 4:2, with this exception, that instead of בּקדשׁו we have בּנפשׁו in the same sense; for the nephesh of Jehovah, His inmost being or self, is His holiness. מתאב, with the guttural softened, for מתעב. The participle describes the abhorrence as a continued lasting feeling, and not a merely passing emotion. גּאון יעקב, the loftiness or pride of Jacob, i.e., everything of which Jacob is proud, the true and imaginary greatness and pride of Israel, which included the palaces of the voluptuous great men, for which reason they are placed in parallelism with גאון יע. This glory of Israel Jehovah abhors, and He will destroy it by giving up the city (Samaria), and all that fills it (houses and men), to the enemies to be destroyed. גאון יע, to give up to the enemy, as in Deu 32:30 and Oba 1:14; not to surround, to which וּמלאהּ is unsuitable. The words not only threaten surrounding, or siege, but also conquest, and (Amo 6:11) the destruction of the city. And then, even if there are ten in one house, they will all perish. אנשׁים: people, men. Ten in one house is a large number, which the prophet assumes as the number, to give the stronger emphasis to the thought that not one will escape from death. This thought is still further explained in Amo 6:10. A relative comes into the house to bury his deceased blood-relation. The suffix to נשׂאו refers to the idea involved in מתוּ, a dead man. Dōd, literally the father’s brother, here any near relation whose duty it was to see to the burial of the dead. מסרף for משׂרף, the burner, i.e., the burier of the dead. The Israelites were indeed accustomed to bury their dead, and not to burn the corpses. The description of the burier as mesârēph (a burner) therefore supposes the occurrence of such a multitude of deaths that it is impossible to bury the dead, whose corpses are obliged to be burned, for the purpose of preventing the air from being polluted by the decomposition of the corpses. Of course the burning did not take place at the house, as Hitzig erroneously infers from להוציא עצמים; for עצמים denotes the corpse here, as in Exo 13:19; Jos 24:32, and 2Ki 13:21, and not the different bones of the dead which remained without decomposition or burning. The burier now asks the last living person in the house, who has gone to the very back of the house in order to save his life, whether there is any one still with him, any one still living in the house beside himself, and receives the answer, אפס (Adv.), “Nothing more;” whereupon he says to him, has, “Be still,” answering to our Hush! because he is afraid that, if he goes on speaking, he may invoke the name of God, or pray for the mercy of God; and he explains his words by adding, “The name of Jehovah must not be mentioned.” It is not Amos who adds this explanation, but the relation. Nor does it contain “the words of one who despairs of any better future, and whose mind is oppressed by the weight of the existing evils, as if he said, Prayers would be of no use, for we too must die” (Lievl., Ros.). לא להזכּיר, “it is not to (may not) be mentioned,” would be unsuitable as an utterance of despair. It rather indicates the fear lest, by the invocation of the name of God, the eye of God should be drawn towards this last remaining one, and he also should fall a victim to the judgment of death. This judgment the Lord accomplishes not merely by a pestilence which breaks out during the siege, and rages all around (there is no ground for any such limitation of the words), but also by sword and plague during the siege and conquest of the town. For the reason assigned for the threat in Amo 6:11 points to the latter. כּי links the words to the main thought in Amo 6:11, or even Amo 6:10: “When the Lord delivers up the city and all that fills it, they will all perish; for, behold, He commands, orders the enemy (the nation in Amo 6:14), and it will smite in pieces the houses, great and small.” The singular הבּית is used with indefinite generality: every house, great and small (cf. Amo 3:15).

Amo 6:12-14

This judgment also, they, with their perversion of all right, will be unable to avert by their foolish trust in their own power. Amo 6:12. “Do horses indeed run upon the rock, or do men plough (there) with oxen, that ye turn justice into poison, and the fruit of the righteousness into wormwood? Amo 6:13. They who rejoice over what is worthless, who say: with our strength we make ourselves horns! Amo 6:14. For, behold, I raise over you, O house of Israel, is the saying of Jehovah, the God of hosts, a nation; and they will oppress you from the territory of Hamath to the brook of the desert.” To explain the threat in Amo 6:11, Amos now calls attention in Amo 6:12, under two different similes, to the perversity with which the haughty magnates of Israel, who turn right into bitter wrong, imagine that they can offer a successful resistance, or bid defiance with their own strength to the enemy, whom the Lord will raise up as the executor of His judgment. The perversion of right into its opposite can no more bring salvation than horses can run upon rocks, or any one plough upon such a soil with oxen. In the second question בּסּלע (on the rock) is to be repeated from the first, as the majority of commentators suppose. But the two questions are not to be taken in connection with the previous verse in the sense of “Ye will no more be able to avert this destruction than horses can run upon rocks,” etc. (Chr. B. Mich.). They belong to what follows, and are meant to expose the moral perversity of the unrighteous conduct of the wicked. For הפכתּם וגו, see Amo 5:7; and for ראשׁ, Hos 10:4. The impartial administration of justice is called the “fruit of righteousness,” on account of the figurative use of the terms darnel and wormwood. These great men, however, rejoice thereby in לא דבר, “a nothing,” or a thing which has no existence. What the prophet refers to may be seen from the parallel clause, viz., their imaginary strength (chōzeq). They rested this hope upon the might with which Jeroboam had smitten the Syrians, and restored the ancient boundaries of the kingdom. From this might they would take to themselves (lâqach, to take, not now for the first time to create, or ask of God) the horns, to thrust down all their foes. Horns are signs and symbols of power (cf. Deu 33:17; 1Ki 22:11); here they stand for the military resources, with which they fancied that they could conquer every foe. These delusions of God-forgetting pride the prophet casts down, by saying that Jehovah the God of hosts will raise up a nation against them, which will crush them down in the whole length and breadth of the kingdom. This nation was Assyria. Kı̄ hinnēh (for behold) is repeated from Amo 6:11; and the threat in Amo 6:14 is thereby described as the resumption and confirmation of the threat expressed in Amo 6:11, although the kı̄ is connected with the perversity condemned in Amo 6:12, Amo 6:13, of trusting in their own power. Lâchats, to oppress, to crush down. On the expression לבוא חמת, as a standing epithet for the northern boundary of the kingdom of Israel, see Num 34:8. As the southern boundary we have נחל הערבה instead of ים הערבה (2Ki 14:25). This is not the willow-brook mentioned in Isa 15:7, the present Wady Sufsaf, or northern arm of the Wady el-Kerek (see Delitzsch on Isaiah, l.c.), nor the Rhinokorura, the present el-Arish, which formed the southern boundary of Canaan, because this is constantly called “the brook of Egypt” (see at Num 34:5; Jos 15:4), but the present el-Ahsy (Ahsa), the southern border river which separated Moab from Edom (see at 2Ki 14:25).

III. Sights or Visions

The last part of the writings of Amos contains five visions, which confirm the contents of the prophetic addresses in the preceding part. The first four visions, however (ch. 7 and Amo 8:1-14), are distinguished from the fifth and last (Amo 9:1-15) by the fact, that whereas the former all commence with the same formula, “Thus hath the Lord showed me,” the latter commences with the words, “I saw the Lord,” etc. They also differ in their contents, inasmuch as the former symbolize the judgments which have already fallen in part upon Israel, and in part have still to fall; whilst the latter, on the contrary, proclaims the overthrow of the old theocracy, and after this the restoration of the fallen kingdom of God, and its ultimate glory. And again, of these four, the first and second (Amo 7:1-6) are distinguished from the third and fourth (Amo 7:7-9, and Amo 8:1-3) by the fact, that whereas the former contain a promise in reply to the prophet’s intercession, that Jacob shall be spared, in the latter any further sparing is expressly refused; so that they are thus formed into two pairs, which differ from one another both in their contents and purpose. This difference is of importance, in relation both to the meaning and also to the historical bearing of the visions. It points to the conclusion, that the first two visions indicate universal judgments, whilst the third and fourth simply threaten the overthrow of the kingdom of Israel in the immediate future, the commencement of which is represented in the fifth and last vision, and which is then still further depicted in its results in connection with the realization of the divine plan of salvation.

The Danger of False Security. (b. c. 790.)

1 Woe to them that are at ease in Zion, and trust in the mountain of Samaria, which are named chief of the nations, to whom the house of Israel came! 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 music, like David; 6 That drink wine in bowls, and anoint themselves with the chief ointments: but they are not grieved for the affliction of Joseph. 7 Therefore now shall they go captive with the first that go captive, and the banquet of them that stretched themselves shall be removed.

The first words of the chapter are the contents of these verses; but they sound very strangely, and contrary to the sentiments of a vain world: Woe to those that are at ease! We are ready to say, Happy are those that are at ease, that neither feel any trouble nor fear any, that lie soft and warm, and lay nothing to heart; and wise we think are those that do so, that bathe themselves in the delights of sense and care not how the world goes. Those are looked upon as doing well for themselves that do well for their bodies and make much of them; but against them this woe is denounced, and we are here told what their ease is, and what the woe is.

I. Here is a description of their pride, security, and sensuality, for which God would reckon with them.

1. They were vainly conceited of their own dignities, and thought those would secure them from the judgments threatened and be their defence against the wrath both of God and man. (1.) Those that dwelt in Zion thought that was honour and protection enough for them, and they might there be quiet from all fear of evil, because it was a strong city, well fortified both by nature and art (we read of Zion's strong-holds and her bulwarks), and because it was a royal city, where were set the thrones of the house of David (it was the head-city of Judah, and therefore truly great), and especially because it was the holy city, where the temple was, and the testimony of Israel; those that dwelt there doubted not but that God's sanctuary would be a sanctuary to them and would shelter them from his judgments. The temple of the Lord are these, Jer. vii. 4. They are haughty because of the holy mountain, Zeph. iii. 11. Note, Many are puffed up with pride, and rocked asleep in carnal security, by their church-privileges, and the place they have in Zion. (2.) Those that dwelt in the mountain of Samaria, though it was not a holy hill, like that of Zion, yet they trusted in it, because it was the metropolis of a potent kingdom, and perhaps, in imitation of Jerusalem, was the head-quarters of its religion; and by lapse of time the hill of Shemer became with them in as good repute as the hill of Zion ever was. They hoped for salvation from these hills and mountains. (3.) Both these two kingdoms valued themselves upon their relation to Israel, that prince with God, which they looked upon as masking them the chief of the nations, more ancient and honourable than any of them; the first-fruits of the nations (so the word is), dedicated to God and sanctifying the whole harvest. The house of Israel came to them, that is, was divided into those kingdoms, of which Zion and Samaria were the mother cities. Those that were at ease were the princes and rulers, the great men, that were chief of the nations, chief of those two kingdoms, and to whom, having their residence in Zion and Samaria, the whole house of Israel applied for judgment. Note, It is hard to be great and not to be proud. Great nations and great men are apt to overvalue themselves, and to overlook their neighbours, because they think they a little overtop them. But, for a check to their pride and security, the prophet bids them take notice of those cities that were within the compass of their knowledge, that had been as illustrious in their time as ever Zion or Samaria was, and yet were destroyed, v. 2. "Go to Calneh (which was an ancient city built by Nimrod, Gen. x. 10), and see what has become of that, it is now in ruins; so is Hamath the great, one of the chief cities of Syria. Sennacherib boasts of destroying the gods of Hamath. Gath was likewise made desolate by Hazael, and not long ago, 2 Kings xii. 17. Now were they better than these kingdoms of Judah and Israel? Yes, they were, and their border greater than your border, so that they had more reason than you to be confident of their own safety; yet you see what has become of them, and dare you be secure? Art thou better than populous No?" Nah. iii. 8. Note, The examples of others' ruin forbid us to be secure.

2. They persisted in their wicked courses upon a presumption that they should never be called to an account for them (v. 3): "You put far away the evil day, the day of reckoning, as a thing that shall never come, or you look upon it as at such a distance that it makes no impression at all upon you; you put it far away, and think you can still put it yet further, and adjourn it de die in diem—from day to day, and therefore you cause the seat of violence to draw near; you venture upon all acts of injustice and oppression, and have fellowship with the throne of iniquity, which frames mischief by a law, Ps. xciv. 20. You cause that to come near, as if that would be your protection from these judgments which really ripens you for them." Note, Therefore men take sin to be near them, because they take judgment to be far off from them; but those deceive themselves who thus mock God.

3. They indulged themselves in all manner of sensual pleasures and delights, v. 4-6. These Israelites were perfect epicures and slaves to their appetites. Their dignities (in consideration of which they ought to have been examples of self-denial and mortification), they thought, would justify them in their sensuality; the gains of their oppression and violence, they thought, would bear the charge of it; and they put the evil day at a distance, that they might give them no disturbance in it. That which they are here charged with is not in itself sinful (these things might be soberly and moderately used), but they placed their happiness in the gratification of their carnal appetites; and though they were men in office, that had business to mind, they gave themselves up to their pleasures, spent their time in them, and threw away their thoughts, and cares, and estates upon them. They were in these enjoyments as in their element. Their hearts were upon them; they exceeded all bounds in them, and this at a time when God in his providence was calling them to weeping and mourning, Isa. xxii. 12, 13. When they were under guilt and wrath, and the judgments of God were ready to break in upon them, they called for wine and strong drink, presuming that to-morrow shall be as this day, and much more abundant (Isa. lvi. 12), thus walking contrary to God and setting his justice at defiance. (1.) They were extravagant in their furniture. Nothing would serve them but beds of ivory to sleep upon, or to sit on at their meat, when sackcloth and ashes would have become them better. (2.) They were lazy, and humoured themselves in the love of ease. They did not only lie down, but stretched themselves upon their couches, when they should have stirred up themselves to their business; they were willingly slothful, and took a pride in doing nothing; they abound in superfluities (so the margin reads it), when many of their poor brethren wanted necessaries. (3.) They were nice and curious in their diet, must have every thing of the best and abundance of it: They ate the lambs out of the flock (lambs by wholesale) and the calves out of the midst of the stall, the fattest they could lay their hand on; and these perhaps not out of their own flock and their own stall, but taken by oppression from the poor. (4.) They were merry and jovial, and diverted themselves at their feasts with music and singing: They chant to the sound of the viol, sing and play in concert, and they invent new-fashioned instruments of music, striving herein, more than in any thing else, to excel their ancestors; they set their wits on work to contrive how to please their fancy. Some men never show their ingenuity but in their luxury; on that they bestow all their faculty of invention and contrivance. They invent instruments of music, like David, entertain themselves with that which formerly used to be the entertainment of kings only. Or it intimates their profaneness in their mirth; they mimicked the temple-music, and made a jest of that, because, it may be, it was old-fashioned, and they took a pride in bantering it as the Babylonians did when they urged the captives to sing to them the songs of Zion; such was Belshazzar's profaneness when he drank wine in temple-bowls, and such is theirs that sing vain and loose songs in psalm-tunes, on purpose to ridicule a divine institution. (5.) They drank to excess, and never thought they could pour down enough: They drank wink in bowls, not in glasses, or cups (as Jer. xxxv. 5); they hate to be stinted, and must have large draughts, and therefore make use of vessels that they can steal a draught out of. (6.) They affected the strongest perfumes: They anoint themselves with the chief ointments, to please the smell, and to make them more in love with their own bodies, and to guard against those presages of putrefaction which they carry about with them while they live. No ordinary ointments would serve their turn; they must have the chief, such as were far-fetched and dear-bought, when cheaper would have served as well.

4. They had no concern at all for the interests of the church of God, and of the nation, that were sinking and going to decay: They are not grieved for the affliction of Joseph; the church of God, including both the kingdoms of Judah and Israel (which are called Joseph, Ps. lxxx. 1), was in distress, invaded, insulted, and broken in upon. As to their own kingdom which they were entrusted with the government of, the affairs of which they were directors of, the peace of which they were the conservators of, great breaches were made upon it, upon its peace and welfare; and they were so besotted that they were not aware of them, so indulgent of their pleasures that they never laid them to heart, and had such an aversion to the thing called business that they were in no care or concern to get them repaired. It is all one to them whether the nation sink or swim, so that they can but lie at ease and live in pleasure. Particular persons that belonged to Joseph were in affliction, and they took no cognizance of their case of the wrongs and hardships they sustained and the troubles they were in, nor took any care to relieve them, and right them, contrary to the temper of holy Job, who, when he was in prosperity, wept with him that was in misery and his soul was grieved for the poor, Job xxx. 25. Some think that, in calling the afflicted church Joseph, there is an allusion to the story of Pharaoh's butler, who, when he preferred to give the cup again into his master's hand, remembered not Joseph, but forgot him, Gen. xl. 21, 23. Thus they drank wine in bowls, but were not grieved for the affliction of Joseph. Note, Those are commonly careless of the troubles of others who are set upon their own pleasures; and it is a great offence to God when his church is in affliction and we are not grieved for it, nor lay it to heart.

II. Here is the doom passed upon them (v. 7): Therefore now shall they go captive with the first that go captive, and shall fall into all the miseries that attend captives; and the banquet of those that stretched themselves upon their couches shall be removed. Their plenty shall be taken from them, and they from it, because they made it the food and fuel of their lusts. 1. Those who lived in luxury shall lose even their liberty; and by being brought into servitude shall be justly punished for the abuse of their dignity and dominion. 2. Those who trusted in the delights and pleasures of their own land shall be carried away into a strange land, and so made ashamed of their pride and confidence; they shall go captive. 3. Those who placed their happiness in the pleasures of sense, and set their hearts upon them, shall be deprived of those pleasures; their banquet shall be removed, and they shall know what it is to fare hard. 4. Those who stretched themselves shall be made to contract themselves, and to come into a less compass. 5. Those who put the evil day far from them shall find it nearer to them than it is to others; those shall go captive with the first who flattered themselves with hopes that if trouble did come they should be the last who should be seized by it. Those are ripening apace for trouble themselves who lay not to heart the trouble of others and of the church of God. Those who give themselves to mirth, when God calls them to mourning, will find it a sin that shall not go unpunished, Isa. xxii. 14.

Threatenings of Judgment. (b. c. 790.)

8 The Lord God hath sworn by himself, 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 we 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 Hemath unto the river of the wilderness.

In the former part of the chapter we had these secure Israelites loading themselves with pleasures, as if they could never be made merry enough; here we have God loading them with punishments, as if they could never be made miserable enough. And observe,

I. How strongly this burden is bound on, not to be shaken off by their presumption and security; for it is bound by the Lord the God of hosts, by his mighty, his almighty, hand, which none can resist; it is bound with an oath, which puts the sentence past revocation: The Lord God has sworn, and he will not repent, and, since he could swear by no greater, he has sworn by himself. How dreadful, how miserable, is the case of those whose ruin, whose eternal ruin, God himself has sworn, who can execute his purpose and cannot alter it!

II. How heavily this burden lies! Let us see the particulars. 1. God will abhor and abandon them, and that implies misery enough, all misery: I abhor the excellency of Jacob, all that which they are proud of, and value themselves upon, and for which they call and count themselves the chief of nations. Their visible church-membership, and the privileges of that, their temple, altar, and priesthood, these were, more than any thing, the excellencies of Jacob; but, when these were profaned and polluted by sin, God abhorred them; he hated and despised them, ch. v. 21. Note, God abhors that form of godliness which hypocrites keep up, while they abhor the power of it. And if he abhors their temple, for the iniquity of that, no marvel that he hates their palaces, for the injustices and oppression he finds there. Note, that creature which we take such a complacency and put such a confidence in as to make it a rival with God is thereby made abominable to him. He hates the palaces of sinners, for the sake of wickedness of those that dwell therein. Prov. iii. 33, The curse of the Lord is in the house of the wicked. And, if God abhor them, immediately it follows, He will deliver up the city with all that is therein, deliver it up into the hands of the enemy, that will lay it waste, and make a prey of all its wealth. Note, Those that are abhorred and abandoned of God are undone to all intents and purposes. 2. There shall be a great and general mortality among them (v. 9): If there remain ten men in one house, that have escaped the sword of the enemy, yet they shall be met with another way; they shall all die by famine or pestilence. In the most sickly times, if there be ten in a house, one may hope that at least the one-half of them will escape, according to the proportion of two in a bed, one taken and the other left; but here not one of ten shall live to bury the rest. Another instance of the greatness of the mortality is (v. 10) that the nearest relations of the dead shall be forced with their own hands to wind up their bodies, and bury them, for want of other hands to be employed in it; that is all that the next of kin, to whom the right of redemption belongs, can do for them, and with great reluctance will they do that. It intimates that the young people shall be cut off soonest; for the uncle that survives is, ordinarily, the senior relation. "When the uncle comes with the sexton (or him that burns), to bring out the bones out of the house, he shall say to him that he sees next about the house, 'Is there any yet with thee? Are there any left alive?' And he shall say, 'No, this is the last; now the whole family is cut off by death, and neither root nor branch remains.'" But that which makes the judgment the more grievous is that their hearts seem to be hardened under it. "When he that is found by the sides of the house begin to enter into discourse with those that are carrying off the dead, they shall say, 'Hold thy tongue; do not stand preaching to us about the hand of Providence in this calamity, for we may not make mention of the name of the Lord; God is so angry with us that there is no speaking to him; he is so extreme to mark what we do amiss that we dare not so much as make mention of his name." ' Thus the foolishness of men perverts their way, and brings them into distress, and then their heart frets against the Lord. Even then they will not take notice of his hand, nor suffer those about them to do it. Perhaps it was forbidden by some of the idolatrous kings to make mention of the name of Jehovah, as by the law of Moses it was forbidden to make mention of the names of the heathen-gods: "We may not do it without incurring the penalty." Note, Those hearts are wretchedly hardened indeed that will not be brought to make mention of God's name, and to worship him, when the hand of God has gone out against them, and when, as here, sickness and death are in their families. Thus those heap up wrath who cry not when God binds them. 3. Their houses shall be destroyed, v. 11. God will smite the great house with breaches, and the little house with clefts; they shall both be cracked so as to lose their beauty and strength, and to be hastening towards a fall. The princes' palaces are not above the rebuke of divine justice, nor the poor men's cottages beneath it; neither shall escape. When sin has marked them for ruin God will find ways to bring it about. It is by order from him that breaches are made.

III. How justly they are thus burdened. If we understand the matter aright, we shall say, The Lord is righteous. 1. The methods used for their reformation had been all fruitless and ineffectual (v. 12): Shall horses run upon the rock, to hurl or harrow the ground there? Or will one plough there with oxen? No, for there will be no profit to countervail the pains. God has sent them his prophets, to break up their fallow-ground; but they found them as hard and inflexible as the rock, rough and rugged, and they could do no good with them, nor work upon them, and therefore they shall not attempt it any more. They will not be reclaimed, and therefore shall not be reproved, but quite abandoned. Note, Those who will not be cultivated as fields and vineyards shall be rejected as barren rocks and deserts, Heb. vi. 7, 8. 2. They had abused their power to the wrong and oppression of many, whose injured cause the sovereign Judge would not only right, but revenge: You have turned judgment into gall, which is nauseous, and the fruit of righteousness into hemlock, which is noxious; it would make one sick to see how those that were entrusted with the administration of public justice bore down equity with that power which they out to have defended and supported it, and so turned its own artillery against itself. Note, When our services of God are soured with sin his providences will justly be embittered to us. 3. They had set the judgments of God at defiance, and, confiding in their own strength, thought themselves a match for Omnipotence, v. 13. They rejoiced in a thing of nought, pleased themselves with a fancy that no evil should befal them, though they had no ground at all for that confidence, nothing to trust to that would bear any weight. They said, "Have we not taken to us horns; have we not arrived to great dignity and dominion, have we not pushed down our enemies and pushed on our victories, and this by our own strength, our own skill and courage, our own wealth and military force? Who then need we be afraid of? Who then need we make court to? Not God himself." Note, Prosperity and success commonly make men secure and haughty; and those that have done much think they can do any thing, any thing without God, nay, any thing against him. But those who trust in their own strength rejoice in a thing of nought, and so they will find. Probably they did not say this with their lips, totidem verbis—in so many words, but it was the language of their hearts and of their actions, both which God understands.

IV. How easily and effectually this burden shall be brought upon them, v. 14. He that brings it upon them is the Lord the God of hosts, who both may do and can do what he pleases, who has all creatures at his command, and who, when he has work to do, will not be at a loss for instruments to do it with; though they are the house of Israel, yet he will raise up against them a nation which they feared not, but had many a time hoped in, even the Assyrians, and this nation shall afflict them, bring them into straits, and put them to pain, from the entering in of Hamath, in the north, to the river of the wilderness, the river of Egypt, Sihor or Nile, in the south. The whole nation has shared in the iniquity, and therefore must expect to share in the calamity. Note, When men are in any way instruments of affliction to us we must see God raising them up against us, for they are in his hand—the rod, the sword, in his hand. The Lord has bidden Shimei curse David.

CHAP. VI.

Verſe 1.In utramv is aurem dorin. WOe to them that are at eaſe in Zion] that lye ſleeping on both ſides, and ſlighting the former menaces, as Leviathan doth the ironweapons Iob. 41.27. that live as if ye were out of the reach of Gods rod: and as for all your enemies, ye puff at them, ſaying: We ſhall not be moved, we ſhall never be in adverſity, Pſal. 10.5, 6. To theſe ſleepers in Zion, God here ſends forth his ſummons (the word Hoi ſignifieth as well Heus as Vae, Ho, as Wo, Eſay 55.1. Zach. 2.6. Ho, ho, come forth) that were quiet and ſtill, Zach. 1.11. lulled aſleep by Satan, or rather caſt into a dead lethargy: Sampſon-like their enemies are upon them, and they faſt aſleep the while: Iſhboſheth-like they ſtretch themſelves upon their beds of ivory, till they loſe, not their precious lives onely, but their immortall ſouls. Security uſhereth in deſtruction: thoſe that are at eaſe in Zion, ſhall be raiſed by a dreadfull Woe rung in their ears, that ſhall make their hearts fall down, and their hairs ſtand upright. In the froth of carnall ſecurity and ſenſuall delights is bred that worm of conſcience that never dieth, Mar. 9. and here begins to grub and gnaw: like as while the Crocodile ſleepeth with open mouth, the Ichneumon, or Indian Rat ſhoots himſelf into his bowels: after which he never is at eaſe, as having his entrails daily devoured: ſo that one while he will be in the water, and anon after on the land, till life fails him.

and truſt in the mountain of Samaria,] Are carnally confident and ſecure, as good David alſo was, when gotten upon his ſtrong mountain, Pſal. 30.6, 7. [non-Latin text not transcribed]. Septuag. but was ſoon confuted: Thou didſt hide thy face and I was troubled. The beſt are apt by reſt, to contract ruſt: and being full-fed to wax wanton, Deut. 32.15. To affect more mundi delicias quam Chriſti divitias, as One ſaith, the worlds dainties then Chriſts comforts: to truſt in uncertain riches, then to rely upon the living God, who giveth them all things richly to enjoy. This muſt be lookt to:1 Tim. 6.17. for it hath a woe hanging at the heels of it, Jer. 17.5, 6. Pſal. 52.7, 9.

which are named chief of the Nations,] Heb. expreſſely named, declared, notified, celebrated, chief,] the head, or firſt fruits; the head and height, Principium, id eſt, praecipuum gentium: So Amalec is called the firſt of the Nations, Numb. 24.20. haply they held themſelves ſo:Juſtin. lib. 2. as the Egyptians afterwards boaſted much of their Antiquity, and the Chinois at this day do of their excellency, and perſpicuity above other Nations. Many wicked ones are of great renown in this world, Pſal. 73.4, 6. and ſtand much upon their titles and termes of honour: who yet in the next generation ſhall be utterly forgotten, Pſal. 109.13. for that their names are not written in heaven, Rev. 17.8. and look how much they have glorified themſelves, and lived deliciouſly, ſo much torment and ignominy ſhall be given them, Rev. 18.7.

To whom the houſe of Iſrael came.] The whole houſe of Iſrael, viz. the two tribes to Zion, the ten to Samaria, Vel ſacrorum causà, vel judiciorum, ſaith Druſius, as to places of worſhip, and beſies, courts of Juſtice. Others ſence it thus, The houſe of Iſrael came unto them, that is, the Iſraelites invaded thoſe nations, that once held Zion and Samaria, and ſucceeded them therein: not by any ſtrength of their own, but by Gods mighty hand and out-ſtretched arm, which they (ungratefull wretches) acknowledge not: but came in for themſelves, ſo Ribera rendreth it, [non-Latin text not transcribed] Quaſi ſibi tantum nati, ſe ſolos eſſe aliquid, as if they were the onely proprietaries, the ſole owners of all; and owed no ſervice to any chief-Lord. Such inſolency grows from ſecurity. See Job 21.23.

Verſe 2. Paſſe ye unto Calneh and ſee,] Take a voyage to, and a view of thoſe moſt famous bordering cities, Calneh, or Selencia in Meſopotamia on the Eaſt, (whereof ſee Gen. 10.10. the beginning of Nimrods Kingdom) Hamath the great, or Antiochia, (now Aleppo, a famous Mart-town) on the North. Then go down Southward to Gath of the Philiſtines, which was of all the five ſatrapies potiſſima & potentiſſima, and is therefore called Metheg-Ammah, 2 Sam. 8.1. with 1 Chron. 18.1. becauſe, being a town of great ſtrength, it was, as it were, the bridle, whereby the whole countrey about was kept in awe: It was afterwards known by the name of Diocaeſarea. Away to theſe neighbouring cities, and ſee in them, as in ſo many Optick-glaſſes, how much more God hath done for you then for them in every reſpect; the greater is your guilt, and the deeper will be your judgement in the end, for abuſe of theſe rich mercies (of a fertile ſoil, a large Empire, &c.) to ſecurity, oppreſſion, and other deteſtable vices and villanies.

be they better then theſe kingdoms?] ſc. of Judah, and Iſrael? which were certainly multis nominibus laudatiſſima, very fruitfull and pleaſant countries, [non-Latin text not transcribed]. Deut. 8.7, 8, 9. Numb. 14.7, 8. whatſoever Strabo ſpitefully reporteth to the contrary,Lib. 7. being therein worſe then Rabſhakeh, Eſay 36.17.

Or their border greater then your border,?] ſc. till the Babylonians, Syrians, and Aſſyrians took part of your countrey from you, and cooped you up, cut you ſhort. And now that you are ſo ſtraitned for room, doth not the Lord recompenſe you in multitudes of people? Judea was not above 200. miles long, and 50. miles broad, ſay Geographers: and yet what huge armies brought they into the field? Obſerve then ſaith the Prophet, the great things that God hath done for you above other Nations, and walk accordingly: or elſe take leſſons out of their loſſes, and damages, and know that the caſe will be your own, Aliorum perditio veſtra ſit cautio: Learn by other mens harms, to beware.

Verſe 3. Ye that put farre away the evil day,] Wo to you that would do ſo, if you could; that fondly perſwade your ſelves there is no ſuch danger in evil-doing, as the Prophets pretend: but that all ſhall be hail and well with you, though yee walk in the imagination of your hearts, to adde drunkenneſſe to thirſt, Deut. 29.19. and to heap up ſin as high as heaven,Quae longinqua ſunt, non metuuntur. Ariſt. Rhet. l. 2. c. 5. Rev. 18.5. This curſed ſecurity and hope of impunity, is the ſource of much wickedneſſe in the world. See Prov. 7.19, 20. Matth. 24.48. with the Notes. It is a ſad thing when men ſhall ſay, as Ezek. 12.27. The viſion that he ſeeth is for many dayes to come: and he propheſieth of the times that are farre off. This Atheiſticall conceit accelerates the judgement, verſ. 28. Therefore ſay unto them, Thus ſaith the Lord God, there ſhall none of my words be prolonged any more: but the word which I have ſpoken ſhall be done, ſaith the Lord God.Val. Ma[illegible: 1 letter]. Tarditatemque ſupplicij, gravitate compenſabo.

and cauſe the ſeat of violence to come near.] Amotâ Juſtitiae ſellâ: ſetting aſide the care of juſtice, together with the fear of God, for whom yee ought to have reſerved the chief room in all your publike meetings, as the Ethiopian Judges are ſaid to do. Atque vi an geritur res, might overcomes right: and robberies are daily done by authority. See Pſal. 94.20. The throne of iniquity ſhall not have fellowſhip with God: neither will he take the wicked by the hand, whatever thoſe corrupt Vice-gods do,2 Pet. 2.3. (as we may in the worſt ſence, beſt terme them) whoſe judgement now of a long-time lingreth not, and their damnation ſlumbreth not. The evil day that they put farre away, will ſuddenly ſurprize them, and then what will they do when God riſeth up? and when he viſiteth, what will they anſwer him? Job 31.14.

Sed quam caecus ineſt vitijs amor? omne faturum,Claudian. l. 2. in Eutrop. Deſpicitur, ſuadentque brevem praeſentia fructum, &c.

Verſe 4. That lie upon beds of ivory,] which was a commodity far fet (even out of India) and dear bought;Ezek. 27.15. precious, and ſumptuous. The wealthier ſort uſed to deck their houſes with ſuch kind of beds deckt with ivory (lectis eburatis, as Plautus phraſeth it) as Eſth. 1.6. with gold and ſilver: hence their houſes are called houſes of ivory, chap. 3.15. and 1 King. 22.39. See Plin. lib. 33. cap. 11. Herat. l. 2. Sat. 6. Here then is condemned their luxury, and abuſe of Gods good gifts, with neglect of the weal-publike, and contempt of judgements threatned.

and ſtretch themſelves upon their couches,] Pandiculantur in ſuis cubilibus, ſo Rabbi Solomon. [non-Latin text not transcribed]. Others render it, redundantibus ac diffluentibus. Wo to them that delight in over-long and large coverlets, curtains, &c, ſuperfluouſly hanging down on all ſides upon the very ground; ſo Kimchi. The Seventy and Vulgar render it, Wo to thoſe that wantonnize upon their couches, melting in ſenſuall pleaſures. Compare 1 Tim. 5.6. Jam. 5.5. God grudgeth not his people an honeſt affluence, Pſal. 23.4.Laſcivientes, Deliciantes. but granteth them all things richly to enjoy, 1 Tim. 6.17. Howbeit he requireth them to be ſober and watch: not making proviſion for the fleſh, to live after the luſts thereof, but walking decently as in the day; not in rioting and drunkenneſſe, not in chambering and wantonneſſe, &c. Rom. 13.13, 14.

and eat the lambs out of the flock,] E grege, id eſt, egregios ac optimos, the very beſt and fatteſt morſels, pampering their paunches; ſwiniſh belly-gods.

and the calves out of the middeſt of the ſtall.] The French call them high-graſſeveals. Veaux de haute graiſſe. Nothing would down with them but tid bits, [non-Latin text not transcribed], dainty and goodly, Rev. 18.9. Thoſe Abbey-lubbers of the Romiſh Synagogue are compared to fed horſes, pampered in their cloyſters (as war-horſes in their ſtalls or ſtables) and prepared unto battell, Rev. 9.7. Lawfull it is, I grant, at ſome times to eat of the fat, and drink of the ſweet, and to pleaſe the appetite,Neh. 8.10. Deut. 4.26. to gratifie it with what it liketh and luſteth after. But yet it muſt ſtill be remembred, that it is a finne to feed without fear; and a ſhame for a ſervant of God, to be a ſlave to his palate. Eat ſuch things as are ſet before you, ſaith Chriſt to his diſciples, [non-Latin text not transcribed]. be it never ſo homely, if wholeſome, Luke 10.8. And Gen. 9.3. after, Every moving thing that liveth ſhall be meat for you, it is added, even as the green herb have I given you all things, that is, ſoberly and without curioſity, to take and make uſe of ſuch meats as are at hand, as Dr. Willet interprets it. And this, Nature ſeems to teach man, in giving him ſo narrow a mouth, throat, and belly:Hexap. in loc. whereas to ſwine ſhe hath given a wide mouth, a very thick neck, a large belly, and but a very little brains: that they might the ſooner grow fat,Chryſoſt. Theatr. natu. 354. and take no other thought but for the belly ſaith Bodine.

Verſe 5. That chant (or quaver) to the ſound of the viol,] That ſing diviſion with much variation of their voyces, and many diſtinctions of diverſe tones,Particularizant, they ſing their parts in conſort. modulations fractions. The Hebrew root-word ſignifieth the ſingle grains of grapes, that remain after the vintage: or the particular berries, Lev. 19.10. Our word parting, anſwereth to the Hebrew peret. It is their wanton and unſeaſonable muſick (emaſculating, diſſolving, and drawing out their ſpirits) that they are here threatned for. This abuſe of Muſick (given to men for better purpoſes) is elſewhere condemned, chap. 5.23. Eſay 5.12. Exod. 32.18. Eccleſ. 2.8. God made not man more avium minurire to ſport on earth, as Leviathan doth in the ſea: to ſpend his whole time (as the people of Tombutum in Africk are ſaid to do) in ſinging and dancing: and, when he is caſt out of one paradiſe, to make himſelf another. It is charged as a foul fault upon thoſe ſenſualiſts in St. James, that they had lived in pleaſure on the earth, and been wanton, Jam, 5.5.

and invent to themſelves inſtruments of muſick, like David.] Whoſe example, likely they pleaded, to patronize their fidlings, and chaunting of ribald ſongs. But his muſick and theirs agreed like harp and harrow, as the proverb is. Two may do the ſame thing, and yet it not be the ſame; becauſe not from the ſame principles, and for the ſame purpoſes: as we ſee in Cain and Abel, the Phariſee and the Publican, David and theſe ſingſters, who did nothing leſſe then help forward their devotion by Muſick, as did David: and as did our late holy Eſty, who when he ſat and heard a ſweet conſort of Muſick,D. Halls Art of div. Medit. ſeemed upon this occaſion carried up for the time before-hand, to the place of his reſt, ſaying very paſſionately; What muſick may we think there is in heaven?

Verſe 6. That drink wine in bowles,] Non in ſcyphis, cyathis, aut calicibus, not in cups, pots, or chalices, but in veſſels of price, and of largeſt receipt, that they may bee counted and called (as young Cicero was) Tricongii, ſuch as can drink whole-ones, and no ſmall-ones neither. (The Seventy and the Chaldee render it, In phials, others in goblets) Diotimus of Athens, for his excellive drinking, was termed [non-Latin text not transcribed], Tun-diſh. Ailian. lib. 2. cop. 41. Alexander the Great gloried that he could drink down any man: and one time inviting many to ſupper, he provided a crown of 180 pound to be given to thoſe that drank moſt: and fourty one of the company killed themſelves with drinking to get that crown. Darius king of Perſia, cauſed this to bee ingraven upon his tomb; I was able to drink much wine, and to bear it bravely. Was not this to glory in his ſhame? had he no way elſe to ſhew his valour?Athen[illegible: 3 letters]. Did he never take notice of that Perſian law; that it ſhould not bee lawfull for their King to be drunk but onely once a yeer, when they ſacrificed to the Sunne,Idem. whom they took to be the greateſt of the gods? How much better Bathſheba, in her Lemuels-leſſon. It is not for Kings, Lemuel, it is not for Kings to drink wine, nor for Princes, ſtrong-drink: leſt they drink and forget the law, &c. Prov. 31.4. And if not for kings, much leſſe is it for others to be drunk with wine wherein is exceſſe, Eph. 5.18. leſt with Nabal, and the rich glutton, they drink deep of the wine of Gods wrath: and have the full vials of his vengeance poured upon them for ever.

and anoint themſelves with the chief ointments,] After the manner of the Jewiſh Nation, whereof ſee 2 Sam. 12.20. Eccleſ. 9.8. Luk. 7.38, 46. Pſal. 23.5. and 104.15. Mat. 6.17. They ſpare for no coſt, or pains to pleaſe all their ſenſes. And ſuch a prodigall pleaſure-monger was that rich citizens ſonne, mentioned in the ſecond part of the Theatre of Gods judgments: who to pleaſe all his five ſenſes at once, allowed to the delight of every ſeverall ſenſe a ſeverall hundred pound. For which end 1.Theat. of Gods judgments part. 2. pag. 110.111. He beſpake a curious faire room richly hangd, and furniſhed with the moſt exquiſite pictures, to pleaſe the eye. 2. He had all the choyſeſt Muſick that could be heard of, to give content to the eare. 3. He had all the Aromatickes and odoriferous perfumes, to delight his cent in ſmelling. 4. All the Candies, Preſerves, Junkets, even to the ſtretching of the Apothecaries or Confectionaries art, to pleaſe his taft. 5. And laſtly, a beautifull and faire ſtrumpet lodg'd with him in a ſoft bed, and the daintieſt linnen that could be compaſſed to accommodate his touch: and all theſe this Epicure (more then ever Sardanapalus did) enjoy'd at one inſtant. He ſpent thirty thouſand pounds in three yeares, and ſwore after all, that if he had ten times more then ever he had, he would ſpend it all to live one week like a God, though he were ſure to be damn'd in hell the next day after.

they are not grieved for the affliction of Joſeph] i. e. of the Iſraelites Pſal. 80.2. and 77.16. Amos. 5.6. Joſeph is mentioned and put for all the reſt, becauſe he was famous amongſt his brethren,Aug. de doct. Chriſtian. lib. 4. cap. 6. vel ob mala quae pendit, vel ob bona quae rependit, both for the evils that he ſuffered, and for the good turns that he returned. Time was when poor Joſeph was ill handled by his mercileſſe brethren; and could not be heard, though he uſed many intreaties, Gen. 37.23, any 42, 21. They when they had caſt him into the pit, there to pine and periſh with hunger, ſat down to eat, and ſo to eaſe themſelves of any remorſe of conſcience, that might be wrought in them.See 1 Sam. 22.8. [non-Latin text not transcribed] They ſhould have been ſick at heart (as the word here ſignifieth) for the affliction (the confraction, the breaking to ſhivers) (of Joſeph: poor Reuben was ſo, as farr as he durſt ſhew it: and Joſeph forgat not his kindneſſe, when he came to his greatneſſe. God (who is all bowels) will never forget thoſe that forget not his afflicted; but commiſerate and relieve them, as they have opportunity and ability.

Verſe 7. Therefore now ſhall they go captive with the firſt] Heb. in the head of thoſe that go captive: as they have been firſt in the degrees of honour, and of ſin, ſo ſhall they be now of puniſhment, according to that ſaying of the Centuriſt[illegible: 1 letter], Ingentia beneficia, Magdeburg. Eſa. 50.11. ingentia flagitia, ingentia ſupplicia. This they ſhall have of Gods hand, they ſhall lie down in ſorrow: yea many ſorrowes ſhall be to theſe wicked ones, Pſal. 32.10. theſe mercileſſe men ſhall not have the leaſt mercy ſhewed them, Iam. 2.13. God will ſurely ſet off all hearts from ſuch (as he did from Haman, for whom in his miſery not one man openeth his mouth once to intercede) and he will puniſh magnum luxum magno luctu, as One ſaith, great luxury with great neceſſity.

and the banquet of them that ſtretched themſelves] They ſhall neither have mind nor mony to make feaſts, that were wont to lay on in all ſorts of ſuperfluities. That prodigall above-mentioned was by a juſt hand of God reduced to extreame penury, and caſt off by all his former acquaintance.Sen[illegible: 3 letters]. That luxurious Roman Apicius (the expences of whoſe kitchin amounted to more then two millions of gold,) having eaten up his eſtate, and fearing poverty poyſoued himſelf: leaving behind him ten bookes, of direction how to furniſh and ſet forth a feaſt with all manner of varieties, which now he could ſooner talk of then take of. The word here rendred banquet is taken for a funerall feaſt Jer. 16.5. and ſo ſome think the ſenſe here is;Lively. they ſhall be carried captive into a farr country, and there be deprived of the honour of burialls; which is a judgement elſewhere threatened Jer. 22.18, 19. Aben-Ezra rendreth it, faceſſet canticum the ſong of the wanton ſhall be ſet packing: and for this he alledgeth, that in the Arabick dialect, the root word here uſed, ſignifieth to lift up the voyce, either for joy or grief; The Seventy render it, the neighing of horſes: as noting their immoderate luſt according to Jer. 5.8. And this ſenſe Ribera commendeth.

Verſe 8. The Lord God hath ſworn by himſelf] Heb. by his ſoul, which is himſelf: ſith whatſoever is in God, is God. So chap. 4.2. Gen 22.16. Heb. 6.16.17. Or, He hath ſworn by his ſoule, that is Seriè & ex animo Seriouſly and heartily. Among the Heathens ex animi ſui ſententia was inſtead of an oath.

ſaith the Lord God of hoſts] who hath power enough in his hand to performe what he hath ſo ſolemnly aſſured.

I abhorr the excellency (or, the pomp and pride) of Jacob] So Baſil ſpeaking of the Weſtern Church, Odi faſtum iſtius Eccleſiae ſaith He, I hate their pride. This he elſewhere calleth [non-Latin text not transcribed] the Weſtern brow (from the fore-head, that ſeat of pride and arrogancy) which at length occaſioned that lamentable ſeparation of the Eaſterne or Greek church from communion with the Latine:Field. Gerſon. Carlton. the other foure Patriarks dividing themſelves from the biſhop of Rome. Pride is an odious evill; fitly compared by One to a great ſwelling in the body, which unfits it for any good ſervice: and is apt to putrify, and break, and run with loathſome and foule matter: ſo doth Pride diſable the ſoule from doing duty, and at laſt breaks forth into odious deeds, abominable to God and Man. There are that by Excellency or Glory here underſtand their glorious Temple, and other priviledges, wherein they ſo much gloried. See Pſal. 47.5. But Mercer thinks it rather meant of the ten tribes then of the two, whoſe crown of pride is elſewhere taxed Eſay. 28.1. Hoſ. 7.10. The pride of Iſrael teſtifieth to his face, it breaketh out in his forehead, as a great maſter-pock.

therefore will I deliver up the city with all that is therein] Heb. with the fulneſſe thereof: both perſons and things are all forfeited, and ſhall be ſeized by the enemy; be the city of Samaria never ſo rich a Cargazon, ſo full a Magazine of Men and meanes, I will ſhut them up (ſo the word ſignifieth) after a ſtrait ſiege, into the enemies hand, who ſhall make a ſpoyle of them.

Verſe 9. And it ſhall come to paſſe, if there remaine, ten men &c.] that is many, as Zech. 8.23. Levit. 26.26. becauſe ten is the utmoſt of ſingle number q. d. Though a conſiderable company eſcape the enemy, yet peſtilence or ſome other deſtruction ſhall put an end to them.

they ſhall dye] See this fulfilled 2 King. 17.5. In which common calamity what an happyneſſe had they, that belonging to the election of grace could confidently ſay as Hab. 1 12. Art not thou from everlaſting, O Lord my God, mine holy One? Occidere poteſt, non laedere. We ſhall not dye (or if we do, death may kill us but cannot hurt us) O Lord thou haſt ordained them for judgement, and O mighty God thou haſt establiſhed them for correction. The wicked are killed with death Rev. 2.23. undone by it:Hoſ. 2.15. to them it is no other but a trap-dore to hell; as to the Saints it is as the valley of Achor, a door of hope, the very day-break of eternall brightneſſe.

Verſe 10. And a mans uncle ſhall take him up] Him, that is every one of the ten a fore-mentioned, being now dead of the plague, ſhall his uncle or deareſt friend take up on his own ſhoulders, for want of the ordinary mercenary officers (called by the Latines Veſpillones, Libitinarii, Pollinctores) their beſt friends ſhall be forced to bury or burn their dead corpſes. So Seneca in Oedipo.

—portat hunc aeger parens Supremum ad ignem, mater hunc amens gerit, Properatque ut alium regerat in eundem regum.

To bring out the bones out of the houſe] for buriall as 1 Sam. 31.15 the fleſh being firſt burnt. Bones are a part of a mans body; and therefore to be committed to the earth, or laid up in a ſafe place as Ioſephs were Exod. 13.19. Ioſh. 24.32. and with his, the reſt of the Patriarks doubtleſſe Act. 7.16 This is one of the dues of the dead 1. [non-Latin text not transcribed]. In honour of God who made mans body with admirable art Pſal. 139.5. and as it were by the book verſe 14.15, 16.2. Next becauſe the dead body was ſometime a Temple of the Holy Ghoſt, and an inſtrument of many holy actions 1 Cor. 3.16, 17. and 2 Cor. 6.16. 3. becauſe it ſhall be raiſed one day and conformed to Chriſts glorious body the Standard Philip. 2.21. We know, ſaith the ſame Apoſtle, that when Chriſt, our life, ſhall appeare, we ſhall appeare with him in glory: like as in the transfiguration, that body of Moſes which was hid in the valley of Moab, appeared with Chriſt in the hill of Tabor.

and ſhall ſay unto him that is by the ſides of the houſe] To him that burneth the dead, as afore, that aſſiſteth a mans uncle to interr him. The Jewes did not uſually burn but bury: yet ſometimes they did Jer. 34. and 1 Kings. 31. and at this time they were forced by the raging peſtilence to do it (as Hierome here noteth) for the preventing of ſtench and further infection.

Is there yet any with thee?] ſc. left alive: or hath death made a clean riddance? Or thus: Are there yet any more dead corpſes, which I may carry foorth for the buriall?

and he ſhall ſay No:] Or, And he ſhall ſay An end, a totall conſumption: they are all dead, and gone. A ſad verdict.

then ſhall he ſay, Hold thy tongue] ſc. beare it patiently,Has, St. fret not, murmure not, 'tis Gods doing Pſal. 39.9. Hold thy peace at the preſence of the Lord God Zeph. 1.7.

for we may not make mention of the Name of the Lord] This is vox deſperantis the voice of deſpaire and deſpondenſy: and it is as if he had ſaid: it is bootleſſe to pray; for God is ſet to plague us, and will not be pacified; Surely there is no hope: but we are all Free among the dead, like the ſlaine that lie in the grave whom God remembreth no more, Pſal. 88.5. neither helpeth it us to remember or mention him any more. Men under ſharp afflictions are apt to think that there is left them neither hope of better nor place of worſe, as the Church in the Lamentations. Others ſenſe it otherwiſe: but to me this ſeemeth the likelieſt.

Verſe 11. For behold the Lord commandeth] Calamities, and they come: the Chaldeans, and they are at hand with their battel-axes, but it is he that gives them their commiſſion, and biddeth them Fall on.

and he will ſmite the great houſe with breaches &c] i. e.aequo pulſat pede &c. he will deſtroy rich and poor together; pale death will knock at both their houſes with an even foot, as in time of plague, earthquake or the like Epidemicall evill. The grave is the Congregation houſe of all living Iob. 30.23. whereinto men chop oft before they think: as a man that walks in the ſnow may into a marle-pit. The mortall ſcyth is maſter of the royall ſcepter: and it mowes down the lillies of the crown, as well as the graſs of the field. Death is the onely king againſt whom there is no riſing up, as Augur phraſeth the moſt abſolute predominance Prov. 30.31. it levelleth Lords and Loſels, and layes all waſt: breaking down the greater houſes and cleaving the leſſer, with an utter extermination of all. Search you therefore, ſearch you, O nation not deſired; before the decree come forth &c. Zeph. 2.1, 2. After-wit here helps not: repentance, though true may come too late in reſpect of temporall judgements, as in Moſes Deut. 1.37. and David 2 Sam. 12.10.

Verſe 12. Shallhorſes runne upon the rock?] Is it poſſible they ſhould do ſo, and not firſt break their hoofs, and then their necks? will the rider therefore venture there? were it not matchleſſe madneſſe in him?

will one plow there with oxen?] Sure he will conceive it too hard a tug, and too vain a labour. Hierom rendreth it Bubalis, with wild-oxen: which, not accuſtomed to the yoke, are like to make but wilde work where-ever they are plowed with. Now as there is no good horſe-racing upon a rock, nor fit plowing there: ſo neither muſt you ever hope to eſcape unpuniſhed, or to keep up your Commonwealth unſhattered, ſo long as ye deal thus prepoſterouſly, perverſly, and abſurdly, Prov. 14.14. That of Virgil is not much unlike: Atque idem jungat vulpes,Eclog. 3. & mulgeat hircos.

for ye have turned judgement into gall, &c.] Or, into poyſon: the Chaldee rendreth it, into the head of hurtfull ſerpents. The word ſeemeth to ſignifie the poyſon of ſerpents, which is in the head. See Hoſ. 10.4. with the Note.

and the fruit of righteouſneſſe into hemlock.] Or, Wormwood, as if ye were a kin to that Starre in the Revelation that is ſtiled Wormwood, Revel. 8.11. Bellarm lib. 4. de Pontif. Romam. that great Antichriſt, who would make the world beleeve, that he hath power de injuſtitia facere juſtitiam, ex nihilo aliquid, ex virtute vitium, that is, of injuſtice to make juſtice, of nothing to make ſomething, of vertue vice, to diſpence with any of the ten Commandements,In Extrav. to make new articles of the Creed, to diſpoſe of all kingdoms at his pleaſure, and what not? Pope John 23 ſaith, that he may grant a diſpenſation againſt the law of Nature and of Nations,Caranza Sum. Conc: ſeſſ: 13. againſt St. Paul, and St. Peter, againſt the four Goſpels, &c. The Councel of Conſtance comes in with a Non-obſtante againſt Chriſts own inſtitution, with-holding the cup from the Sacrament: and the like for prieſts marriages, prayers in a known tongue, ſinging of Pſalms, &c. When the Cardinalls meet to chuſe a Pope, they make a vow, whoſoever is choſen, he ſhall ſwear to ſuch Articles as they make. And Sleydan telleth us, that the Pope is no ſooner choſen, but he breaks them all, and checks their inſolencies, as if they went about to limit his power, to whom all power is given both in heaven and earth, both in ſpirituals and temporals. And indeed, he is called the Beaſt, in reſpect of his civil power, and the falſe-prophet in reſpect of his ſpiritual: and the Starre Wormwood, becauſe being himſelf in the gall of bitterneſſe, and bond of perdition, he turneth all judgement into gall, and the fruit of righteouſneſſe into wormwood. See Chap. 5.7.

Verſe 13. Ye which rejoyce in a thing of nought] In the creature, ſaith à Lapide, which is a meer Nothing: in your wealth and ſtrength (called hornes in the next clauſe) which are an uncertainty, an obſcurity, as the Apoſtle deemed them 1 Tim. 6.17. and have no ſolid ſubſiſtence, ſaith Solomon, Prov. 23.5. [non-Latin text not transcribed]. though the fooliſh world call them ſubſtance, and goods: Indeed it is onely opinion that ſets the price upon them, as when gold is raiſed from twenty ſhillings to two and twenty, the gold is the ſame: eſtimation only raiſeth it. It is ſaid of the people of the Eaſt-Indies in the Iſle Zeiilon that having an apes tooth got from them, which was a conſecrated thing by them, they offered an incredible maſſe of treaſure to recover it. Such things of nought, are highly prized and purſued by the worlds [non-Latin text not transcribed] by worthleſſe perſons, [non-Latin text not transcribed]. Act. 25.23. ſuch as Anthiocus was in all his ſtate Dan. 11.21. and Agrippa in all his pomp (or as the Greek hath it, in all his phantaſy or vaine ſhew) and as theſe voluptuaries in the text, who had their wine and their muſick, fat calves, and choyceſt oyntments wherein they held themſelves happy verſe. 4.5, 6. but the Prophet telleth them that in rejoycing in theſe low things, they rejoyced in a thing of nought: they fed altogether upon aſhes, a deceived heart had turned them aſide, ſo that they could not deliver themſelves from theſe empty vanities, nor ſay (as wiſe men would have done,) Is there not a lie in my right hand. Eſay 44.20.

Which ſay, Have we not taken to us horns,] yet, no doubt: but ſuch as God by his Carpenters can ſoon cut off, Zech. 1.20, 21, or without them, by his own bare hand, Pſal. 75.11. But what an arrogant brag is here? Have we not taken? and to us? and horns? and by our own ſtrength? Hic Deus nihil fecit, Here God did nothing; they were all the doers: ſo ſmall a winde blowes up bubble, Sic levè ſic parvum eſt, animum quod laudis avarum Subruit, aut reficit.— It is a notable witty expreſſion of Luther; By mens boaſting of what they have done, ſaith He, Hac ego feci, haec ego feci, This and that I have done,Luth. in Pſal. 127. they become nothing elſe but faeces, that is dregs: if themſelves were any thing, they would not thus rejoyce in a thing of nothing: they would not crack in this ſort.

Verſe 14. But behold, I will raiſe up againſt you a nation, &c.] which ſhall be a cooler to your courage, a rebater to your ſwelth, a meanes to take you a link lower, and to ſtain the glory of your pride. I tell you not what a nation it is, that you may imagine the worſt: but you will finde their quiver is an open ſepulchre, they are all mighty men, and no leſſe mercileſſe, Jer. 5.16, 17.

and they ſhall afflict you (or cruſh you) from the entering in of Hamath unto the river of the wilderneſſe] from one end of your land to the other; that as ye have filled it from corner to corner with your uncleanneſſes Ezra. 9.11. ſo there may paſſe over it an overflowing ſcourge to waſh the foul face of it, as once the old world. Hamath was before noted to be Antiochia, which was one of the bounds of the land of Iſrael to the North-Eaſt.

the river of the wilderneſſe] is elſe where called the river of Egypt, as ſome will have it, See Num. 34.5, 8. Deut. 3.17. Ioſh. 13.3. and 15.47. 1 Chron. 13.35. where the wilderneſſe was Joel. 1.20. I cannot but concurr with Kimchi, who by the river of the valleys here, underſtandeth the dead ſea, comparing this text with 2 King. 14.25. & Deut. 3.17. It being common in Scripture to call lakes and great rivers by the name of Seas, Luke 5.1. with Num. 34.11.Joſephus. Galenus. The dead ſea alſo is in Humane Authours called the lake Aſphaltites the lake of Paleſtina, of Sodom, &c. It lieth to the South-weſt: and is elſewhere made the bound of the Promiſed land, Num. 34.3. Joſh. 15.2.