Amos 3

Chap. III. ver. 1. — against the whole family &c.] All that family, of which Jacob or Israel was the head: “family” is equivalent to people, here and in the following verse; and so it is taken, Jer. 1. 15; viii. 3; x. 25; Nahum iii. 4; Zech. xiv. 18. W. Lowth.

— that dwell—in the corner of a bed.] It means, that not many of those, who dwell and live delicately in Samaria, shall be able to deliver themselves from destruction. The delicacy and luxuriousness of their lives is described by their beds and couches, on which they daily lie and repose themselves. Danaus, Dr. Wells, Abp. Newcome.

Those now most at their ease shall be delivered to their enemies, like sheep to the lion; and scarce any of them be rescued from his jaws.

We learn from Dr. Pocock, Maundrell, Hanway, and other travellers, that in the East the place of honour, the most easy, voluptuous, indulging station, is the corner; and that it is the position in which great men usually place themselves. The word rendered “bed,” may be understood of a divan or sofa. Harmer, Parkhurst, Fragments to Calmet. See the note on Deut. iii. 11, from Fragments to Calmet.

— and in Damascus in a couch.] That is, who are now in high honour in their own, or indulging in foreign luxuries in other countries. Damascus was a most delightful place; and, as Amos delivered this prophecy “in the days of Jeroboam the son of Josah king of Israel,” chap. i. 1, “who recovered Damascus for Israel,” see 2 Kings xiv. 26, it is probable that many of the richer Israelites might choose to dwell there. Parkhurst.

Chap. IV. ver. 1. Hear this word, ye kine of Bashan, &c.] Hear this, O ye great and rich men of Samaria, that feed full and carelessly, like the kine in the fat pastures of Bashan: ye, who oppress the poor, and crush the needy; and say to your princes and judges, Set deep fines, and condemn freely, that we may feast upon the offences of the people. Bp. Hall.

The luxury and insolence of oppressors is often compared to the wantonness of full-fed cattle: see Ps. xxii. 12; lxviii. 30. Bashan was remarkable for the richness of its pastures, and its breed of cattle; Numb. xxxii. 4; Deut. xxxii. 14; Ezek. xxxix. 18. W. Lowth.

Amos 3:2

2. You only have I known &c.] You only have I chosen from all other nations for my peculiar people, and have bestowed most cost and care upon you: therefore, since you have abused my mercies and rebelled against me, ye shall be surely punished. Bp. Hall. The more and the greater are the benefits of God towards a people, so much the more shameful is their ingratitude in despising God, and their sin the greater and more heinous. Danæus.

3. Can two walk together, except they be agreed? Will common reason permit two to walk friendly together, unless they be real friends? In like manner it is altogether unreasonable for you to think, that I will deal with you as your friend, while ye thus sin against me, and so act as those who hate me, or are my enemies. Dr. Wells.

4. Will a lion roar in the forest, when he hath no prey? As a lion doth not use to roar but when he hath his prey in view, so neither doth God denounce his judgments unless your sins have made you proper objects of his displeasure. W. Lowth. Naturalists assert, that, when the lion sees his prey, he roars before he rushes on it, and that at this roaring many animals shew great fear. Abp. Newcome.

5. — he will take you away with hooks.] Invaders and spoilers are elsewhere compared to fishers: see Jer. xvi. 16; Hab. i. 15. W. Lowth.

Amos 3:3

3. And ye shall go out &c.] The Prophet tells the people, that they shall with all possible haste make their escape at the several breaches which shall be made in the walls of Samaria. Compare 2 Kings xxv. 4; Ezek. xii. 12. W. Lowth.

— and ye shall cast them into the palace.] The sentence may be thus translated, “Ye shall cast out yourselves,” that is, ye shall with haste betake yourselves “to Harmon:” so the Latin Vulgate. W. Lowth.

Amos 3:4

4. Come to Beth-el, and transgress; &c.] Go ye up now, O ye foolish Israelites, to your Beth-el, if you please, and sin your fill: go up to Gilgal, and glut yourselves with the full scope of your iniquities; bring those your morning sacrifices, which are due unto God, bring and offer them to your idols; and that, which the law of God requires of you, for the maintenance of his Levites, (that is to say,) lay aside the tithes every third year for sacred use, do ye that to the priests of your idols: so also ver. 5. Bp. Hall.

A permission, spoken by way of sarcasm and irony, sharply upbraiding them as incorrigible, and not to be reformed by all the reproofs and admonitions that had been given them: like that of Ezekiel, chap. xx. 39, “Go ye, serve every one his idols.” W. Lowth.

Amos 3:5

5. Can a bird fall in a snare upon the earth, where no gin is &c.] As birds are not caught without the net of the fowler being already set and laid; and as the fowler doth not take up his nets, before he has secured a prey; so neither doth God threaten these things without being prepared to execute his judgments; nor will He withdraw his hand, but will punish you, except ye repent. Danæus.

6. — proclaim and publish the free offerings.] Or “freewill offerings,” Lev. xxii. 18. 21. These offerings

Before CHRIST 787. Or, ye shall cast away the things of the palace. years of days. by burning. love.

Amos 3:6

6. Shall a trumpet be blown in the city, and the people not be afraid? &c.] Shall a trumpet be blown in the city, to summon the inhabitants to the walls, yet the people find no cause of the fear of an enemy? no more would God by his Prophets denounce these imminent judgments, if there were not just cause to expect and

fear their speedy execution: and who shall or can execute them, but the just and powerful hand of God? Can there be any evil of punishment in the city, yea in the world, which is not of his sending, his inflicting? Bp. Hall. Shall the evil of earthquakes, of unfruitful seasons, of hostile incursions, befall my people without my special appointment. Abp. Newcome.

By the “evil” here spoken of is not to be understood sin, or the evil of guiltiness, but affliction or trouble, or the evil of punishment; for God is not either the author or the cause of our sin, but we ourselves. Compare James i. 13, 14; Hosea xiii. 9. Danæus.

Amos 3:7

7. Surely the Lord God will do nothing, &c.] There was a succession of Prophets among the Jews from Samuel’s time, till the captivity: the people commonly consulted them upon extraordinary occasions, and they gave them counsel and direction what was proper to be done. See chap. ii. 11; 1 Kings xxii. 13; 2 Kings iii. 11; xxii. 13; Jer. xvi. 2; Ezek. xx. 1, &c. The want of this prophetic gift was much lamented in the times of the captivity. See Ezek. vii. 26; Lament. ii. 9; Ps. lxxiv. 9. W. Lowth.

Amos 3:8

8. The lion hath roared, &c.] The awful admonitions uttered by the Prophets are as natural a consequence of God’s command, as fear is of the lion’s roaring. Abp. Newcome.

Amos 3:9

9. Publish in the palaces at Ashdod, &c.] God calls upon the heathen to be witnesses of his judgments upon his own people, that they may take warning thereby: particularly He gives notice to the “Philistines” and “Egyptians,” the Jews’ inveterate enemies, that they may assemble themselves, and with pleasure behold the ravages and oppressions which their insulting adversaries will bring upon the kingdom of Israel. W. Lowth.

Amos 3:12

12. — As the shepherd taketh out of the mouth of the lion &c.] As the shepherd, when a lion hath been devouring amongst his flock, finds some mangled remnants of a leg or an ear, which he carries home, to shew the spoil that hath been done by that fierce beast; so shall it be with Israel: of all the body of Samaria, there shall be some one or two left undevoured, for proof of the general slaughter and captivity. Bp. Hall.

The causes of God’s judgment. He reproveeth Israel for oppression. Before CHRIST 787. Or, on the bed’s feet.

so shall the children of Israel be taken out that dwell in Samaria in the corner of a bed, and || in Damascus in a couch.

Amos 3:14

14. — I will also visit the altars of Beth-el: &c.] I will reckon with Israel for his idolatries in Dan and Beth-el, and for those altars which he hath erected there, and will cause those mis-erected altars to be beaten down to the ground. Bp. Hall. See 1 Kings xii. 29. 32. The destruction of the altar at Beth-el is also foretold, chap. v. 5, and is perhaps referred to in Jer. xlviii. 13. Abp. Newcome.

Amos 3:15

15. And I will smite the winter house with the summer house.] See the note on Jer. xxxvi. 22.

— the house of ivory] The Romans anciently ornamented their houses with ivory: and the Eastern people might possibly do the same. Sir J. Chardin says, “the ceilings of the Eastern houses are of Mosaick work, and for the most part of ivory:” and Dr. Russell notices, that ivory “is likewise employed at Aleppo in the decoration of the more expensive apartments.” Harmer. Such houses were probably called “ivory houses,” just

HEAR this word, ye kine of Bashan, that are in the mountain of Samaria, which oppress the poor, which crush the needy, which say to their masters, Bring, and let us drink.