Woe to them that devise iniquity, and work evil upon their beds! when the morning is light, they practise it, because it is in the power of their hand. Ver. 1. _Woe to them that devise iniquity_] Or, labour, affliction, vanity, a lie. The Hebrew word _Aven_ is of large use; applied to all kinds of... [ Continue Reading ]
And they covet fields, and take [them] by violence; and houses, and take [them] away: so they oppress a man and his house, even a man and his heritage. Ver. 2. _And they covet fields, and take them by violence_] See here the several degrees of sin, and what descents covetous men dig to hell, and be... [ Continue Reading ]
Therefore thus saith the LORD; Behold, against this family do I devise an evil, from which ye shall not remove your necks; neither shall ye go haughtily: for this time [is] evil. Ver. 3. _Behold, against this family do I devise an evil_] They had devised iniquity, Micah 2:1, and now he deviseth the... [ Continue Reading ]
_In that day shall [one] take up a parable against you, and lament with a doleful lamentation, [and] say, We be utterly spoiled: he hath changed the portion of my people: how hath he removed [it] from me! turning away he hath divided our fields._ Ver. 4. _In that day shall one take up a parable, &c... [ Continue Reading ]
Therefore thou shalt have none that shall cast a cord by lot in the congregation of the LORD. Ver. 5. _Therefore thou shalt have none that shall cast a cord by lot_] Fields were divided with cords of old, and inheritances also. See Psalms 16:5; Psalms 105:11; Psalms 78:55 2 Samuel 8:2. This hope is... [ Continue Reading ]
Prophesy ye not, [say they to them that] prophesy: they shall not prophesy to them, [that] they shall not take shame. Ver. 6. _Prophesy ye not, say they to them that prophesy_] Prodigious impudence thus to silence the prophets, or else to prescribe to them, according to the other reading of the tex... [ Continue Reading ]
O [thou that art] named the house of Jacob, is the spirit of the LORD straitened? [are] these his doings? do not my words do good to him that walketh uprightly? Ver. 7. _O thou that art named the house of Jacob_] That hast a name to live but art dead, Revelation 3:1; that art called a Jew, and make... [ Continue Reading ]
Even of late my people is risen up as an enemy: ye pull off the robe with the garment from them that pass by securely as men averse from war. Ver. 8. _Even of late my people is risen up as an enemy_] Heb. yesterday, no longer ago; to all their former flagitious practices they have now newly added t... [ Continue Reading ]
The women of my people have ye cast out from their pleasant houses; from their children have ye taken away my glory for ever. Ver. 9. _The women of my people_] Or, the wives; once wives, but now widows, and therefore calamitous, friendless, comfortless, as a vine whose root is uncovered, as a wande... [ Continue Reading ]
Arise ye, and depart; for this [is] not [your] rest: because it is polluted, it shall destroy [you], even with a sore destruction. Ver. 10. _Arise ye and depart_] _Veteres migrate coloni,_ make up your fardels and prepare for a deportation. Here is no longer being for you unless ye were better. Beh... [ Continue Reading ]
If a man walking in the spirit and falsehood do lie, [saying], I will prophesy unto thee of wine and of strong drink; he shall even be the prophet of this people. Ver. 11. _If a man, walking in the spirit, &c._] _Si vir ventosus,_ so Junius rendereth it, if a windy and false man lie, saying, &c. Le... [ Continue Reading ]
I will surely assemble, O Jacob, all of thee; I will surely gather the remnant of Israel; I will put them together as the sheep of Bozrah, as the flock in the midst of their fold: they shall make great noise by reason of [the multitude of] men. Ver. 12. _I will surely assemble, O Jacob, all of thee... [ Continue Reading ]
The breaker is come up before them: they have broken up, and have passed through the gate, and are gone out by it: and their king shall pass before them, and the LORD on the head of them. Ver. 13. _The breaker is come up before them_] The πτολιπορθος, τειχεσιπλητης, breach maker shall handle them h... [ Continue Reading ]