26

10

11

12

AMOS. III,

Gather yourselves together upon the mountains of
Samaria,

And see great § tumults in the midst of her,
And the oppressed within her.

For they know not to do right, saith Jehovah;
They treasure up rapine and spoil in their
palaces.

Therefore thus saith the Lord Jehovah :

An enemy shall encompass the land,

And shall bring down thy strength from thee;
And thy palaces shall be spoiled.

Thus saith Jehovah:

As the shepherd † taketh out of the lion's mouth
Two legs, or a portion of an ear;

So shall the Sons of Israel be taken out,
Who sit in Samaria on the side of a bed,
thereative to mon And in Damascus on the side of a couch.
A conclude in 250r, violences. ||

Or, violences. Hebr. Treasuring up. * Or, violence. Hebr. † rescueth. ‡ rescued.

Samaria] The capital of the kingdom of Israel; situated on a hill, and surrounded by hills. Maundrell. p. 58. 1 Kings xvi. 24. Some of the versions read the mountain. See c. iv. 1.

ઃઃ

11. ---shall encompass] Houbigant reads 2: hostis circumsidens, vel, circumsidebit. Perhaps a circundabit; which exactly corresponds to the verb in the next line. See Syr. "F. 20. sequiter ." Mr. Woide. Five MSS. have 1. 12. Who sit] See c. vi. 4. Who now sit luxuriously on beds and couches. Jer. xxxvi. 15. Esth. 1. 6. Harmer ii. 60, endeavours to shew that the corner of a bed was the most honourable place: and by D he thinks that we may understand a divan; or a part of a room raised above the floor, and spread with a carpet in the winter, and in the summer with fine mats. A mattress laid on this floor might serve for a bed. See. p. 67. He also thinks that pu may signify something made at Damascus. p. 67.

Damascus] This prophecy may have been delivered when Jeroboam the Second was in possession of Damascus. 2 Kings

Because p in the Arabic version of Isai. iii. 22. is rendered peplum, Houbigant leads us to translate,

Who dwell in Samaria,

In the extremity of a bed, and in the covering of a couch.

13

14

15

Hear [O ye priests,] and testify to the house of

Jacob,

Saith the Lord Jehovah, the God of hosts;

§ That in the day when I visit the transgressions
of Israel upon him,

I will also visit the altars of Bethel;

And the horns of the altar shall be cut off, and dicating

shall fall to the ground:

And I will smite the winter-house

Together with the summer-house;

And the houses of ivory shall be destroyed,
And the great houses shall

have an end, saith

* Or, fail.

According to this conjectural rendering, the sense may be: So a very inconsiderable part shall escape, who hide themselves. in the most retired places of their habitations. "Professor Michaelis observes that MS. 93 reads w, which he renders in latibulo lecti: from the Arab. abdidit, occultavit." Mr. Woide.

---and in Damascus] "If we suppose the word properly to signify the covering of a couch, this name may have been given to it because probably it was generally made of a species of silk so called. Po in Arab. signifies the threads spun from a silkworm's thread; and the Hebrew word may be formed from it by the substitution of a cognate letter." Dr. Forsayeth.

13. O ye priests] The lxx and Arab. supply this: and there seems to be a peculiar propriety in addressing the priests on this

occasion.

---hosts] The word may comprehend the angelic host; the sun, moon and stars, which are the heavenly host; and the hosts, or armies, of all nations; but particularly those of the Jews, whom God led forth to battle when his people observed his law. 14. Bethel] See Kings xii. 29, 32. It's destruction is also foretold c. v. 5. and may be reffered to Jer. xlviii. 13. ---borns] See Ps. cxviii. 27. Ex. xxvii. 2.

11

15. --winter-house] See Jer. xxxvi. 22.

---of ivory] inlaid with ivory in some parts of them.

Δώματα ηχηεία

Χρυσε το ηλεκτρα τε, και αργυρε, ηδ' ελέφαντος.

Non ebur, neque aureum

Odyss. iv. 72.

Mea renidet in domo lacunar. Hor. Od. L. ii. xviii. 1.

See Harmer i. 181. and Boch. Hieroz. L. ii. xxiv. 252.

K

CHAP. IV.

HEAR this word, O ye kine of Bashan,
That are on the mountain of Samaria:
That oppress the poor, that crush the needy;
That say to their masters, Bring, and let us drink.
The Lord Jehovah hath sworn by his holiness,
That, behold, the days shall come upon you,
When ye shall be taken away with † hooks,
And your posterity, with nets of fishes.

And ye shall go out at the openings, every one
at that which is before it;

Or, fishing instruments.

to the passes on Fix mountainz 1. Hear] It should regularly be now: and Houbigant sugGuinnich Albid. gests that this word may have been originally written, acVia Camcording to Gen. iv. 23. su Vi27

---O ye kine of Bashan] Bashan was famous for its flocks and herds. Deut. xxxii. 14. Ezek. xxxix. 18. The proud and luxurious matrons of Israel may be here described. Or if the reader supposes that the men of Israel are addressed, you may be construed with ar to navojasvov, or, according to the sense; and may be the reading, v. 2. ---to their masters] Houbigant reads

לאדניכן .Ar

: and V. Syr.

Masters, or Lords, are husbands. Gen. xviii. 12." Secker. 2. ---ye shall be taken away] Literally: one shall take you See on Jon. iii. 7.

away.

---hooks] The original word in the masculine is used for thorns; but in the feminine it signifies shields. In Buxt. Lex, Rabb. Ny signifies canistrum corbis; and is equivalent to N in Hebrew, they and being often changed. So that perhaps a fishing-instrument may be denoted, which, like some now in use, resembled a shield, or a basket, in its form. Our translators render hooks, from their analogy to thorns.

---nets of fishers] The original word in the masculine is used for thorns, and in the feminine for pots; and the sense of hooks is assumed by the English translators, as before. Perhaps the prophet means vessels of fishing resembling pots, with nets annexed to them.

Those who think that the women of Israel are understood v.

אתכן and עליכן .may read in this w ,1

3. ---at the openings] The apertures of the fishing instru

And I will cast it forth, and will utterly destroy

it, saith Jehovah.

Hebr. to transgress.

And proclaim, publish abroad, freewill-offerings.

ment in which ye were caught. Houbigant reads

be

cause Vulg. Syr. actually supply the preposition; which in He-
brew is very often understood.

--every one] N Sc. 727 fish.

---utterly destroy]_Houbigant Proposes; "et projiciemini in sagenas." Possibly, ɔannn na’nɔbum, "et projiciam eam perdendo eam." From Chald. Syr. we may collect 27, or, "to the mountains of Mini or Armenia." In v. 2, 3, the image is changed from that of v. 1, in the irregular eastern manner: and I suppose it continued through these two verses; and not interrupted by a second transition.

4. Gilgal] See c. v. 5. That this place, which lay between the river Jordan and Jericho, was the scene of idolatry, appears from the contempory prophet Hosea; c. iv. 15. ix. 15. xii. 11. It was so called, because at that place God 2 rolled away the reproach of circumcision from the Israelites. Josh. v. 9.

---years] So sometimes signifies. See Ex. xiii. 10.
Numb. ix. 22. 1 Sam. i. 3. xxvii. 7. 2 Sam. xiv. 26. See the
law for offering tithes at the end of three years, Deut. xxvi. 12.
“On' nwhwh means by or on the third day without imply-
ing any repetition, Ex. xix. 15. Ezr. x. 8, 9. The tithes of
the third year were to be given by the Jews to the Levites and
the poor, to be eaten within their gates; Deut. xiv. 28. xxvi.
12: but those mentioned here were brought to the temple: and
the third day bears some proportion to the preceding every
morning; but three years do not.Michaelis, whom see,
understands days: and all the old versions translate so." Secker.
5. And burn] V. 6. Syr. read op.

---of leaven] Though of leaven, in contempt of the law Lev.
ii. 11, makes a good sense; yet the Chaldee, by reading
from violence, suggests a better sense.

2,

---proclaim] Inviting many to feast on these sacrifices. See Spencer de leg. Hebr. L. iii. c. vii. The sense of these two

For thus ye love to do, O ye sons of Israel,
Saith the Lord Jehovah.

And moreover I have given you

Cleanness of teeth in all your cities,

And want of bread in all your places:

And yet ye have not returned unto me, saith
Jehovah.

And moreover I have withholden from you the rain,
When there were yet three months to harvest:
And I have caused it to rain upon one city,

And upon another city have I caused it not to rain:
One portion hath been rained on;

And another portion, whereupon I have caused it
not to rain hath withered:

And two or three cities have gone

Unto one city

To drink water, and have not been satisfied:

And yet ye have not returned unto me, saith
Jehovah:

I have smitten you with blasting, and with mildew,
very much:

verses is: With the punishment denounced, . 2, 3, impending over you, and notwithstanding past tokens of my anger, v. 6, &c.; continue to trust in your idols. A severe derision of their folly and mpiety.

6. And yet, &c.] A reprehension which occurs five times in this chapter.

7. three months] Some understand this of the rain which fell in April, three months before wheat-harvest: others think that there is a reference to the snow and rains which filled the reservoirs in the beginning of February. Harmer i. 40.

---whereupon I have caused it not to rain] Forn, V. 6. Ar. read N. So does one MS. now; and a second read so originally, and perhaps a third. This reading is therefore

.תמטר preferable to

8. or three] ww. Houbigant. V. 6. But Syr. Chald. omit the vau. The rhyme in v. 7, 8, is prosaic. and yet the use of the future for the past, and the repetition at the close of 2. 8, are in the poetical manner.

9. very much] Hebr. multiplicando. See Prov. xxv. 27.