it came to pass, when they had made an end of eating the herb of the land, that I said; O Lord Jehovah, pardon, I beseech thee. Who shall raise up 3 Jacob? for he is small. Jehovah repented of this, It shall not be, said Jehovah. 4 The Lord Jehovah thus shewed unto me: and, behold, the Lord Jehovah called to a judgment by 5 fire. And devoured the great deep. And it devoured a part; and I said, O Lord Jehovah, cease, I beseech thee. Who shall raise up Jacob? for he 6 is small. Jehovah repented of this. This also shall not be, said the Lord Jehovah. 7 Thus he shewed unto me: and, behold, the Lord stood upon a wall made by a plumbline: and in his 8 hand was a plumbline. And Jehovah said unto me, What seest thou, Amos? And I said, A plumbline. And the Lord said: Behold, I will set a plumbline in the midst of my people Israel; 2. shall raise up] V. ó. Ar. Syr. Houbigant, and one MS. read which is also the true reading, v. 5. ---small] Reduced to a low state. 3. It shall not be] Sc. 27, as Isai. xiv. 24. xliii. 19. lxv. 6. ---repented] To affect the mind of the prophet, and by him that of the people, God displays different judgments, and shews his clemency by forbearing to execute them on the intercession of Amos: it being his sole intention to represent these modes of punishment, and not to inflict them. ---deep] The waters of the sea. Exod. xv. 5, 8. 7. ---he shewed] V. 6. Ar. and one MS. supply Jehovah: agreeably to v. 1. MS. A. and v. 4. MS. Vat. and c. viii. 1. MS. A. And I think that it should be admitted into the text. ---the Lord stood] ó, MS. A. Pachom. ed. Ald. avng 15nxws. is wanting in one MS. and 8. What seest thou---] This is said to raise the prophet's at tention. ---a plumbline] The word denotes tin in Syr. and lead or tin in Arab. I will destroy and level Israel, as it were by a line, See 2 Sam. viii, 2. 2 Kings xxi. 13. Isai. xxviii, 17. xxxiv, 11. Lam. ii. 8. 9 10 I will not pass through them any more. Then Amaziah, priest of Bethel, sent to Jeroboam king of Israel, saying: Amos hath conspired against thee in the midst of the house of Israel: the land is 11 not able to bear all his words. For thus Amos saith. Jeroboam shall die by the sword; and Israel shall surely go into captivity out of their own land. 12 Then Amaziah said unto Amos: O thou Seer, go flee thou away into the land of Judah, and eat 13 bread there, and there prophesy: but * prophesy not any more against Bethel; for it is the King's sanctuary, and the temple of the kingdom. 14 Then answered Amos, and said to Amaziah; I was no prophet; Neither was I the son of a prophet: I will not pass through them---] So c. viii. 2. I will make a full end: I will not pass through my people, as Judge and Avenger, any more. Ex. xii. 12. c. v. 17. I will not punish them by locusts, or by the fire of lightning or of earthquakes; but by hostile desolation and captivity. 9. Isaac I believe the true reading hear and v. 16. to be phy. Comp. Ps. cv, 9. 1 Chron. xvi. 16. and observe that in the psalm ten MSS. read prys. --with the sword] See 2 Kings xv. 8--10. xvii. 5, &c. 10. --bear] See Jer. x. 10. The people are not able to endure, or support them, through the indignation which they conceive at them. 11. Jeroboham] Or, metrically: And Israel shall surely be led away captive out of their own 13. against] So ó. Arab. Bethel] See c. iv. 4. v. 5. -temple] So Beth-el signifies; the house or temple of God. 15 16 17 But I was an herdsman, and a gatherer of syca- And Jehovah took me from † following the flock; Go prophesy unto my people Israel. Now therefore hear the word of Jehovah: And drop not thy word against the house of Isaac. Thy wife shall be an harlot in the city; And thy sons and thy daughters shall fall by the sword: And thy land shall be divided by line: And thou shalt die in a polluted land; And Israel shall surely go into captivity out of their own land. + Hebr. from after. 14. ---a herdsman] "Videtur legendum 7. C. i. 1. 2 Reg. iii. 4." Secker. a gatherer] Egvar. Aquila. wh, says Buxt. lex. Chald. & Rabb. respondet frequenter in Targum Hebræo won scrutari. As the substantive in Arab. and th. signifies a fig, Bochart supposes that the verb may mean, ficans, sycaminans, i. e. colens. Hieroz. L. ii. xxxix. p. 384. See Cels. Hierobot. i. 318. " Gr. Kw, quod Hesychius explicat Key words mug. Sycamori enim, inquit Hieron. agrestes afferunt ficus, quæ si non vellicentur amarissimas cariculas faciunt, & a culicibus corrumpunEt Dioscorides 1. 1: Fert. fructum, inquit, quæ non maturescit nisi vellicetur ungue vel ferro." Jo. Heinr. Michaelis. Biblia. Hale. Archbishop Secker refers to this note, and adds; "Etiam hodie Græci culices pungendis ficubus adhibent. V. Tournefortii itin. apud Miller voc. ficus." tur. ---sycamore-fruit] A kind of fig. Celsius. 16. drop] Metaphorically for to speak, to instruct. It is equivalent to prophesying: Exek. xx. 46. xxi. 2. as well as here. See Job xxix. 22, 3. Micah ii. 6, 11. and Pocock on Micah ii. 6. 17. ---polluted] A foreign land. Ezek. iv. 13: Hos. ix. 3, Or, in the land of Israel polluted by blood. And Israel] A repetition of Amaziah's words. p. 11. 1 THE Lord Jehovah thus shewed unto me: and, 2 behold, a basket of late summer-fruits. And he said, What seest thou, Amos? And I said, A basket of late summer-fruits. Then said Jehovah unto me; 3 4 The latter end is come upon my people Israel: And the singing-women of the palace shall howl Saith the Lord Jehovah. There shall be many dead bodies in every place: Hear this, O ye that bruise the needy, And set yourselves to make the poor of the land to 5 Saying: When will the new moon be gone, that we may making the And the sabbath, that we may set || forth wheat? And falsifying the deceitful balances: Hebr. add to pass. § Or, cease. open. + to pervert the balances of decent. * to make. 1. a basket] Kaha Symm. ayyó. Arab. vas. Chald. There is a paronomasia in late summer-fruits, and latter end. the "Harvest, or vintage, expresseth judgment: Joel iii. 13. Mr. Lowth." Secker.. 3. ---the singing women] I adopt Houbigant's reading: .cantatices שורות --cast forth] is understood, as frequently. ---be silent] See c. vi. 10. 4. bruise] Read . See c. ii. 7. ---to make &c.] See c. vi. 10. Read nawn to cause to cease, that is, to cut off, to destroy. See Hos. i. 4. Deficere facitis. V. 5.---new moon] See Numb. x. 10. xxviii. 11. set forth] Open our repositories of wheat for sale. 9 Buying them that are brought low for silver, And § selling the refuse of wheat. Jehovah hath sworn by the excellency of Jacob; And shall not all mourn that dwell therein? And be driven out of its place, and sink down, And it shall come to pass in that day, Saith the Lord Jehovah, That I will cause the sun to go down at noon, + Hebr. to buy. that we may sell. If I will forget forever. * day of light buying] His labour, or his person. See on c. vi. 10. for the construction. 6. ---sandals] See c. ii. 6. 7. excellency] By the state of exaltation to which he raised Jacob and his posterity. Or, By Jacob's most Eminent and incommunicable One. J. Mede. fol. p. 8. 8. ---be shaken] See c. i. 1. .ביאור ---as the river] Five MSS. read ; two read so originally; and perhaps three more. And six MSS. and one edition read So c. ix. 5. eleven MSS. and five editions read That the Nile was called the river, by way of eminence, see Præl. Hebr. xxiv. p. 325. On Gussetius observes, "Radii lucis e luminari, ut e fonte suo rivi, exeunt. Quapropter & nomen alterum ex altero effictum suspicor." In Cast. lex. I find that the Arabic word signifies fudit. ---and be driven out]" non agnoscunt ó. nec habetur c. ix. 5. qu. an w any." Secker. The word is wanting in MS. 96 and MS. 154 reads . ---sink down] Sixteen MSS. read with Keri nypun. See c. ix. 5. The rising and falling of the ground with a wave-like motion, and its leaving its proper place and bounds on occasion of an earthquake, are justly and beautifully compared to the swelling, the overflowing, and the subsiding of the Nile. mouvement qu'elles impriment à la terre est tantôt une espece d' undulation semblable à celle de vagues." Encycl. 4to. vid. tremblement de terre. "Le |