Amos 5

Notes on the verses

Chap. V, Ver. 2. Shall no more rise.—Boothroyd, ‘‘She cannot rise;” nor shall he raised by any human power, till the time comes that God himself will raise her. See (Amos 9:15). (Joel 3:20). hes: Ver. 3. The city that went out, &c.—The meaning is, the population shall be reduced to a tenth of what it had been. Ver. 5. Gilgal, &c.—[There is a paronomasia here both on the letters and words: haggilgal galoh yigleh oovaith el yiheyeh learen, * Gilgal shall surely go into captivity, and Beth-el (the house of God) shall come to nought,” or Aven, i. e. Beth-aven, the house of iniquity.]—Bagster.: Ter. 8. The seven stars and Orion.—(Heb. Cimah and Cecil.) See (Job 9:9).; XXXVIII. 31, 32, and notes.—That turneth, &c.—That is, produceth the alternate succession of day and night.: Jer. 11.

Burdens of wheat.—By way of bribes, as in next verse. Ver. 19. As if a man went into the house, (for safety,) and when he leaned his hand on the wall, a serpent bit him.—Serpents often concealed themselves in the walls of old buildings. Harmer.—They should go from one evil to another. ‘‘Thinking to avoid Charybdis, he fell into Scylla.’’—Bagster Ver. 20. Day of the Lord.—A strong asseveration as beautifully conveyed in this interrogation.—Darkness is put for calamity, mg for prosperity. Ver. 21. I will not smell—That is, will not accept your incense. Ver. 25. Have ye offered?—Newcome, “Did ye offer?” Ver. 26. But ye have borne.—Bishop Lowth, “Nay, but ye bare.”——The tabernacle,—A portable shrine, or temple, in which the idol was contained.

See (Acts 19:24).——And Chiun.—{Chiun, in Arabic, kaiwan, most probably denotes Saturn; rendered by the LXX. Raiphan, and in (Acts 7:43). Rem-Phan, probably the same as the Coptic Rephan, of the same import.}—B.—The star of your god.—Probably the figure of a star in the forehead of the idol, to show that it was to represent some one of the heavenly bodies, as may be seen in many ancient coins. Ver. 27. Beyond Damascus—That is, into Assyria and Media. See (2 Kings 15:29).; XVII. 6.