John Trapp on Amos 4:1

CHAP. IIII.

Verſe 1. HEare this word ye kine of Baſhan] Obeſae & benè pastae, ye fat bawſons (as we uſe to call them) ye that are Baeotum in patria, craſſoque ſub a ëre natae. Ye that have hearts as fat as greaſe, and delight not in Gods law Pſal. 119.70. Ye that cover your faces with fatneſſe, Job. 15.27. till both your eyes ſtand out with it Pſal. 73.7.8. (as fulneſſe breeds forgetfullneſſe Deut. 32.15. the fed hawk forſakes his maſter) as untamed heyfers full-fed, ye have been unruly and refractary, meanes of much miſchief to my poor afflicted, as was Iezabel to Eliah, Herodias to the Baptiſt, Eudoxia the Empreſſe to Chryſoſtom, Theodora to Belliſarius that brave and noble Captaine, and others; Poor Tegedine ſuffered many yeeres captivity in miſery and irons, by the Turk, for one word in a ſermon, which diſtaſted a proud and petulant woman without the leaſt cauſe. What cruel perſecutions raiſed the Q. Mother of Scotland about the beginning of the Reformation there? the Q. Mother of France Katherine de Medices, for thirty yeares together? Q. Mary here, being wholy poſſeſſed by the Biſhops, as Alexandra was by the Phariſees, of whom Ioſephus teſtifieth that ſhe had the name, but they had all the power of the kingdome? Oh theſe kine of Baſhan, theſe wanton and wicked women (for ſo I underſtand the text after the Jew-Doctours Vatablus, Lyra, Lively &c.) when once they get the reines in their hands, there is no hoe with them: when once the devill gets paſſage per coſtam ad cor (as Gregory ſpeaketh) by the rib to the heart, what may he not effect? when the hen is ſuffered to crow, what hope is there of good? David complaines of ſtrong buls of Baſhan Pſal. 22, 12. but thoſe he might better deale with, then with theſe curſt cowes of Baſhan that thruſt with ſide and ſhoulder, and puſht the diſeaſed with their hornes, till they had ſcattered them abroad, Ezek. 34.21.

that are in the mountaines of Samaria] Ladyes of the Court, accuſtomed to high titles, ſuch as I (that am non aulâ ſed caulâ natus & educatus, no courtier but carter rather, and uſed to call a ſpade a ſpade) care not to complement.

which oppreſſe the poor, which cruſh the needy] As did, much about the ſame time, Iezabel in Iſrael, and Athaliah in Judah: and (beſides the above-mentioned) Dame Alice Piercy K. Edward the thirds concubine, an impudent woman; who ſo farr wrought upon the kings impotencies, and preſumed on his favour, that ſhe impriſoned Sr. Peter Lamare Speaker in Parliament,Daniel. 257. and intermedled in courts of Juſtice, and other offices; where ſhee her ſelfe would ſit to effect her deſires: which though in all who are ſo exalted are ever exceſſive, yet in a woman, moſt immoderate: as having leſſe of diſcretion and more of greedineſſe. I have ſpoken before of Diana Valentina King Henry the ſecond of France his miſtreſſe,Hiſt. of Councell of Trent. 387. to whom he had given all the confiſcations of goods made in the kingdome for cauſe of hereſy, whereby many poor Proteſtants were oppreſſed, and needy cruſhed and quaſhed to peeces: for a poor man in his houſe is like a ſnaile in his ſhell: cruſh that, and you kill his heart.

which ſay to their maſters] Or, Lords, that is to their husbands: as Sarah called her husband Lord Gen. 18.12. She in obedience, but theſe in craft and counterfaiſance: that they may the ſooner ſubdue them, and have what they will of them.

Bring and let us drink.] q. d. Fac nobis poteſtatem in hos aut illos, ſaith Mercer: that is, Give us authority over ſuch and ſuch, that we may pick their bones, drink their tears, enrich and feaſt our ſelves of their ſpoils, make no more ſcruple to undo them by force or forgery, then to eat a meals-meat when hungry, or then the luxurious Italians (who have twenty diſtinct ſpecies of liquor,Il Mercuri[illegible: 1 letter] Italico. to pleaſe the Guſto) do, to take off a cup of the moſt delicious, which they profanely call Lachrymae Chriſti.