Amos 4:5

offer make into sweet smoke (the Homeric κνίση, Il.I. 319), a term used technically of the consumption of sacrifices upon the altar (Leviticus 1:9, &c.). The idea is that of a repast: comp. Genesis 8:19. The root ḳatarain Arabic signifies to exhale an odour in roasting.

a sacrifice of thanksgiving The tôdâh, or thanksgiving-offering, of Jeremiah 17:26; Jeremiah 33:11; Leviticus 7:12-13; Leviticus 7:15; Lev 22:29; 2 Chronicles 29:31; 2 Chronicles 33:16; Psalms 56:12, c. title, Psalms 107:22; Psalms 116:17.

with leaven of that which is leavened (R.V.). "Leaven," a term including, as Leviticus 2:11 shews, not only yeast, but also dibsor grape-honey, was forbidden as an ingredient in sacrifices (Exodus 23:18; Leviticus 2:11; Leviticus 6:17) on account of its liability to putrefy. In Leviticus 7:14 cakes of leavened bread are, it is true, to be offered withthe thanksgiving offering: they are not, however, to be consumed upon the altar, but to be eaten by the offerer, with the flesh of the offering, at a sacrificial feast: the leaven was thus not a part of the sacrifice itself. The custom of not offering leaven prevailed, it may be inferred, at Beth-el: the Israelites of Amos's day, however, with mistaken zeal, thought to make their thanksgiving-offerings more acceptable by using yeast or grape-honey in their preparation. It is not improbable that luscious sacrifices of this kind were a feature in the Canaanite worship of Baal, and were for this reason viewed with particular disfavour by the prophet (cf. Hosea 3:1; W. R. Smith, O.T.J.C.1, p. 434; Rel. Sem. 2 p. 220 f.).

proclaim free-will offerings and publish them] i.e. announce them ostentatiously (cf. Matthew 6:2; Matthew 23:5), and invite all the world to the sacrificial feast accompanying them. The free-willofferings are such as were prompted by the spontaneous devotion of the worshipper: they are mentioned in Deuteronomy 12:6; Deuteronomy 12:17 as a common form of sacrifice.

this liketh you lit. so ye love(Jeremiah 5:31): this is what pleases you; act accordingly: it is not Jehovah's choice, and will not deliver you from the impending doom. To likein Old English = to please: so Deuteronomy 23:16; Esther 8:8.