Thus saith the LORD; For three transgressions of Moab, and for four, I will not turn away [the punishment] thereof; because he burned the bones of the king of Edom into lime: Ver. 1. _For three transgressions, &c._] Or malicious wickedness with a high hand committed, and heaped up to that height. S... [ Continue Reading ]
But I will send a fire upon Moab, and it shall devour the palaces of Kerioth: and Moab shall die with tumult, with shouting, [and] with the sound of the trumpet: Ver. 2. _But I will send a fire_] See Amos 1:4 . _ And it shall devour the palaces of Kerioth_] A city so fair and large that it hath a... [ Continue Reading ]
And I will cut off the judge from the midst thereof, and will slay all the princes thereof with him, saith the LORD. Ver. 3. _And I will cut off the judge_] _i.e._ the king, who sometimes sits himself in judgment, as King Henry VIII did here, at the condemnation of Lambert, martyr; as the king of P... [ Continue Reading ]
Thus saith the LORD; For three transgressions of Judah, and for four, I will not turn away [the punishment] thereof; because they have despised the law of the LORD, and have not kept his commandments, and their lies caused them to err, after the which their fathers have walked: Ver. 4. _For three t... [ Continue Reading ]
But I will send a fire upon Judah, and it shall devour the palaces of Jerusalem. Ver. 5. _But I will send a fire upon Judah_] They shall also bear the punishment of their iniquities; yet, is it not said, as Amos 2:2, that Judah shall "die with tumult?" &c. God will make a difference in his dealings... [ Continue Reading ]
Thus saith the LORD; For three transgressions of Israel, and for four, I will not turn away [the punishment] thereof; because they sold the righteous for silver, and the poor for a pair of shoes; Ver. 6. _For three transgressions of Israel, &c._] The ten tribes come in last, lest they (with whom hi... [ Continue Reading ]
That pant after the dust of the earth on the head of the poor, and turn aside the way of the meek: and a man and his father will go in unto the [same] maid, to profane my holy name: Ver. 7. _That pant after the dust of the earth on the head of the poor_] Covetousness is craving and cruel; it rides... [ Continue Reading ]
And they lay [themselves] down upon clothes laid to pledge by every altar, and they drink the wine of the condemned [in] the house of their god. Ver. 8. _And they lay themselves down upon clothes_] _i.e._ table carpets, or bed coverlets, laid under those that sit at a meal; whether on the ground, w... [ Continue Reading ]
Yet destroyed I the Amorite before them, whose height [was] like the height of the cedars, and he [was] strong as the oaks; yet I destroyed his fruit from above, and his roots from beneath. Ver. 9. _Yet destroyed I the Amorite before them_] It is not usual with God to hit men in the teeth with what... [ Continue Reading ]
Also I brought you up from the land of Egypt, and led you forty years through the wilderness, to possess the land of the Amorite. Ver. 10. _Also I brought you up from the land of Egypt_] Which lies lower than Judea; as doth also mystical Egypt than Jerusalem, which is above, which is the mother of... [ Continue Reading ]
And I raised up of your sons for prophets, and of your young men for Nazarites. [Is it] not even thus, O ye children of Israel? saith the LORD. Ver. 11. _And I raised up your sons for prophets_] The ministry is worthily instanced as a singular mercy, Psalms 147:19,20. Other nations had their prophe... [ Continue Reading ]
But ye gave the Nazarites wine to drink; and commanded the prophets, saying, Prophesy not. Ver. 12. _But ye gave the Nazarites wine to drink_] _Opponit iam Propheta pessimam gratiam,_ saith Gualther. Here was the ill requital they made the Lord for all his benefits; they corrupted his young Nazarit... [ Continue Reading ]
Behold, I am pressed under you, as a cart is pressed [that is] full of sheaves. Ver. 13. _Behold I am pressed under you, &c._] A country comparison (such as this prophet is full of), plain, but pithy; to show how God is pressed and oppressed with people's sins, wearied as it were, Isaiah 43:24, and... [ Continue Reading ]
Therefore the flight shall perish from the swift, and the strong shall not strengthen his force, neither shall the mighty deliver himself: Ver. 14. _Therefore the flight shall perish from the swift_] Men are apt to bless themselves when God curseth, Deuteronomy 29:19, and to bind upon impurity in a... [ Continue Reading ]
Neither shall he stand that handleth the bow; and [he that is] swift of foot shall not deliver [himself]: neither shall he that rideth the horse deliver himself. Ver. 15. _Neither shall he stand that handleth the bow_] Arcitenens, though he can do it never so dexterously, yet if he trust in his bow... [ Continue Reading ]
And [he that is] courageous among the mighty shall flee away naked in that day, saith the LORD. Ver. 16. _And he that is courageous_] Heb. strong of his heart, a _Coeur de Lion,_ as one of our kings was called, _Egregie cordatus homo,_ one of a Roman resolution to vanquish, or die; they were wont t... [ Continue Reading ]