Hear ye this word which I take up against you, even a lamentation, O house of Israel. HEAR YE THIS WORD WHICH I TAKE UP AGAINST YOU, EVEN A LAMENTATION - an elegy for the destruction coming on you. Compare , "take up a lamentation" - namely, as a mournful burden (; ).... [ Continue Reading ]
The virgin of Israel is fallen; she shall no more rise: she is forsaken upon her land; there is none to raise her up. THE VIRGIN OF ISRAEL IS FALLEN - the Israelite state, heretofore unsubdued by foreigners. Compare ; ; ; ; ("What shall I equal to thee, that I may comfort thee, O virgin daughter... [ Continue Reading ]
For thus saith the Lord GOD; The city that went out by a thousand shall leave an hundred, and that which went forth by an hundred shall leave ten, to the house of Israel. THE CITY THAT WENT OUT BY A THOUSAND i:e., 'the city from which there used to go out a thousand' equipped for war. "City" is... [ Continue Reading ]
For thus saith the LORD unto the house of Israel, Seek ye me, and ye shall live: SEEK YE ME, AND YE SHALL LIVE - literally, "Seek ye me, and live." The second imperative expresses the certainty of "life" (escape from judgment) resulting from obedience to the precept in the first imperative. If t... [ Continue Reading ]
But seek not Bethel, nor enter into Gilgal, and pass not to Beersheba: for Gilgal shall surely go into captivity, and Bethel shall come to nought. BUT SEEK NOT BETH-EL - i:e., the calves at Bethel. NOR ENTER INTO GILGAL - (note, ). Since here there is the Lord's invitation to penitents to come... [ Continue Reading ]
Seek the LORD, and ye shall live; lest he break out like fire in the house of Joseph, and devour it, and there be none to quench it in Bethel. SEEK THE LORD ... LEST HE BREAK OUT LIKE FIRE - bursting through everything in His way. God is "a consuming fire" (; ; , "He burned against Jacob like a... [ Continue Reading ]
Ye who turn judgment to wormwood, and leave off righteousness in the earth, YE WHO TURN JUDGMENT TO WORMWOOD - i:e. pervert it to most bitter wrong. As justice is sweet, so injustice is bitterness to the injured. Wormwood is from an Arabic root, to execrate, on account of its noxious and bitter... [ Continue Reading ]
Seek him that maketh the seven stars and Orion, and turneth the shadow of death into the morning, and maketh the day dark with night: that calleth for the waters of the sea, and poureth them out upon the face of the earth: The LORD is his name: THE SEVEN STARS AND ORION, [ Kiymaah (H3598)]. The P... [ Continue Reading ]
That strengtheneth the spoiled against the strong, so that the spoiled shall come against the fortress. THAT STRENGTHENETH THE SPOILED - literally, spoil, or devastation: hence, the person spoiled. Winer, Maurer, and the best modern critics, translate, 'maketh devastation (or destruction) suddenly... [ Continue Reading ]
They hate him that rebuketh in the gate, and they abhor him that speaketh uprightly. THEY HATE HIM THAT REBUKETH IN THE GATE - the judge who condemns their iniquity in the place of judgment (). AND THEY ABHOR HIM THAT SPEAKETH UPRIGHTLY - they abhor the prophet telling them the unwelcome truth:... [ Continue Reading ]
Forasmuch therefore as your treading is upon the poor, and ye take from him burdens of wheat: ye have built houses of hewn stone, but ye shall not dwell in them; ye have planted pleasant vineyards, but ye shall not drink wine of them. FORASMUCH THEREFORE AS YOUR TREADING ISLE UPON THE POOR, AND... [ Continue Reading ]
For I know your manifold transgressions and your mighty sins: they afflict the just, they take a bribe, and they turn aside the poor in the gate from their right. THEY AFFLICT THE JUST, THEY TAKE A BRIBE - rather, '(ye), who afflict the just, take a bribe-literally, a price with which one who ha... [ Continue Reading ]
Therefore the prudent shall keep silence in that time; for it is an evil time. THEREFORE THE PRUDENT - the spiritually wise. SHALL KEEP SILENCE IN THAT TIME; FOR IT IS AN EVIL TIME - not mere silence of tongue, but the prudent shall keep himself quiet from taking part in any public or private a... [ Continue Reading ]
Seek good, and not evil, that ye may live: and so the LORD, the God of hosts, shall be with you, as ye have spoken. SEEK GOOD, AND NOT EVIL, THAT YE MAY LIVE; AND SO - on condition of your "seeking good." THE LORD, THE GOD OF HOSTS, SHALL BE WITH YOU, AS YE HAVE SPOKEN - as ye have boasted-nam... [ Continue Reading ]
Hate the evil, and love the good, and establish judgment in the gate: it may be that the LORD God of hosts will be gracious unto the remnant of Joseph. HATE THE EVIL, AND LOVE THE GOOD - (Isaiah 1:16; , "Abhor that which is evil; cleave to that which is good"). AND ESTABLISH JUDGMENT IN THE GA... [ Continue Reading ]
Therefore the LORD, the God of hosts, the Lord, saith thus; Wailing shall be in all streets; and they shall say in all the highways, Alas! alas! and they shall call the husbandman to mourning, and such as are skilful of lamentation to wailing. THEREFORE - resumed from . God foresees that they wi... [ Continue Reading ]
And in all vineyards shall be wailing: for I will pass through thee, saith the LORD. IN ALL VINEYARDS SHALL BE WAILING - where usually songs of joy were heard. FOR I WILL PASS THROUGH THEE - taking vengeance (; ; ). "Pass over" and "pass by," on the contrary, are used of God's forgiving, as Go... [ Continue Reading ]
Woe unto you that desire the day of the LORD! to what end is it for you? the day of the LORD is darkness, and not light. WOE UNTO YOU THAT DESIRE THE DAY OF THE LORD! - Woe unto you who do not scruple to say in irony, 'We desire that the day of the Lord would come!' - i:e., Woe to you who treat... [ Continue Reading ]
As if a man did flee from a lion, and a bear met him; or went into the house, and leaned his hand on the wall, and a serpent bit him. AS IF A MAN DID FLEE FROM A LION, AND A BEAR MET HIM - trying to escape one calamity he falls into another. This perhaps implies that in their ironical desire for... [ Continue Reading ]
_SHALL NOT THE DAY OF THE LORD BE DARKNESS, AND NOT LIGHT? EVEN VERY DARK, AND NO BRIGHTNESS IN IT?_ No JFB commentary on this verse.... [ Continue Reading ]
I hate, I despise your feast days, and I will not smell in your solemn assemblies. I HATE, I DESPISE. The two verbs joined without a conjunction express God's strong abhorrence. YOUR FEAST DAYS - yours, not mine; I do not acknowledge them: unlike those in Judah, yours are of human, not divine in... [ Continue Reading ]
Though ye offer me burnt offerings and your meat offerings, I will not accept them: neither will I regard the peace offerings of your fat beasts. THOUGH YE OFFER ME ... YOUR MEAT OFFERINGS - flour, etc. Unbloody offerings. NEITHER WILL I REGARD THE PEACE OFFERINGS - offerings for obtaining fro... [ Continue Reading ]
Take thou away from me the noise of thy songs; for I will not hear the melody of thy viols. TAKE THOU AWAY FROM ME - literally, 'Take away from upon me;' the idea being that of a burden pressing upon the bearer. So , "They are a trouble unto me (literally, a burden upon me): I am weary to bear t... [ Continue Reading ]
But let judgment run down as waters, and righteousness as a mighty stream. BUT LET JUDGMENT - justice. RUN DOWN - literally, roll, i:e., flow abundantly (). Without the desire to fulfill righteousness in the offerer, the sacrifice is hateful to God (; ; ; ).... [ Continue Reading ]
Have ye offered unto me sacrifices and offerings in the wilderness forty years, O house of Israel? HAVE YE OFFERED UNTO ME SACRIFICES AND OFFERINGS IN THE WILDERNESS FORTY YEARS, O HOUSE OF ISRAEL? BUT YE HAVE BORNE THE TABERNACLE OF YOUR MOLOCH. Yes; ye have offered unto me sacrifices, etc. "But... [ Continue Reading ]
Therefore will I cause you to go into captivity beyond Damascus, saith the LORD, whose name is The God of hosts. THEREFORE WILL I CAUSE YOU TO GO INTO CAPTIVITY BEYOND DAMASCUS. In it is "beyond Babylon," which includes beyond Damascus. In Amos' time, Damascus was the object of Israel's fear, bec... [ Continue Reading ]