Thus hath the Lord GOD shewed unto me: and behold a basket of summer fruit. Ver. 1. _Thus hath the Lord God showed unto me_] viz. in this fourth vision, whereby (for better assurance, and to shake them out of their desperate security) Israel's utter ruin is again foretold by a lively type, which is... [ Continue Reading ]
And he said, Amos, what seest thou? And I said, A basket of summer fruit. Then said the LORD unto me, The end is come upon my people of Israel; I will not again pass by them any more. Ver. 2. _Amos, what seest thou?_] This the Lord asketh, to stir up attention and affection in the prophet; who migh... [ Continue Reading ]
And the songs of the temple shall be howlings in that day, saith the Lord GOD: [there shall be] many dead bodies in every place; they shall cast [them] forth with silence. Ver. 3. _And the songs of the temple shall be howlings_] Heb. shall howl, shall be turned into the black santis, as they call i... [ Continue Reading ]
Hear this, O ye that swallow up the needy, even to make the poor of the land to fail, Ver. 4. _Hear this, ye that swallow up the needy_] That seep them up as drink (our word seep seems to come of the Hebrew _Shaaph_), that would make but a breakfast, nay, but a bit of them; that would swallow them... [ Continue Reading ]
Saying, When will the new moon be gone, that we may sell corn? and the sabbath, that we may set forth wheat, making the ephah small, and the shekel great, and falsifying the balances by deceit? Ver. 5. _Saying, When will the new moon be gone, &c._] "O, what a weariness it is! and ye have snuffed at... [ Continue Reading ]
That we may buy the poor for silver, and the needy for a pair of shoes; [yea], and sell the refuse of the wheat? Ver. 6. _That we may buy the poor for silver, &c._] Thus the poor always pay for it; the modest and mild poor especially, as Amos 8:4. Hence poor and afflicted are put for one and the sa... [ Continue Reading ]
The LORD hath sworn by the excellency of Jacob, Surely I will never forget any of their works. Ver. 7. _The Lord hath sworn by the excellency of Jacob_] _i.e._ by himself, the matter of Jacob's chief boasting, there being no God like unto their God (their enemies themselves being judges, Deu 32:31)... [ Continue Reading ]
Shall not the land tremble for this, and every one mourn that dwelleth therein? and it shall rise up wholly as a flood; and it shall be cast out and drowned, as [by] the flood of Egypt. Ver. 8. _Shall not the land tremble for this_] _q.d._ So great are the oppressions here exercised, that the very... [ Continue Reading ]
And it shall come to pass in that day, saith the Lord GOD, that I will cause the sun to go down at noon, and I will darken the earth in the clear day: Ver. 9. _And it shall come to pass in that day, &c._] Here the Lord threateneth (saith Mr Diodati) to encumber the land with horrible and mournful c... [ Continue Reading ]
_And I will turn your feasts into mourning, and all your songs into lamentation; and I will bring up sackcloth upon all loins, and baldness upon every head; and I will make it as the mourning of an only [son], and the end thereof as a bitter day._ Ver. 10. _And I will turn your feasts into mourning... [ Continue Reading ]
Behold, the days come, saith the Lord GOD, that I will send a famine in the land, not a famine of bread, nor a thirst for water, but of hearing the words of the LORD: Ver. 11. _Behold, the days come_] Behold it; for it is a just wonder. The Lord created a new thing in the earth when Israel should w... [ Continue Reading ]
And they shall wander from sea to sea, and from the north even to the east, they shall run to and fro to seek the word of the LORD, and shall not find [it]. Ver. 12. _And they shall wander from sea to sea_] Trouble themselves to no purpose, take pains (as Esau did for venison, but lost his labour),... [ Continue Reading ]
In that day shall the fair virgins and young men faint for thirst. Ver. 13. _In that day shall the fair virgins and young men faint for thirst_] When God depriveth a People of his ordinances, and so withdraweth his gracious presence from them, what wonder though temporal judgments come rushing in a... [ Continue Reading ]
They that swear by the sin of Samaria, and say, Thy god, O Dan, liveth; and, The manner of Beersheba liveth; even they shall fall, and never rise up again. Ver. 14. _They that swear by the sin of Samaria_] _i.e._ By the calf set up at Bethel, not far from Samaria. This calf is called the sin, or gu... [ Continue Reading ]