_Hear ye_, &c. It is justly observed by Grotius, that this verse would be translated more according to the Hebrew thus; _Hear ye this word, even a lamentation, which I take up over you_ It alludes to the lamentations made at funerals: so here the prophet bemoans the state of the kingdom of Israel as... [ Continue Reading ]
_For_ Or rather, _nevertheless, seek ye me, and ye shall live _ That is, ye shall be prosperous again; for life, in the Scripture language, is used to express prosperity, or happiness. This shows, that what was said in the 2d verse, of their being fallen _to rise no more_, is to be taken as it is th... [ Continue Reading ]
_Seek the Lord, and ye shall live_ He repeats his exhortation, and also the promise of a good issue on their complying with it. _Lest he break out like fire in the house of Joseph_ That is, the kingdom of the ten tribes, the chief whereof was Ephraim the son of Joseph. _And there be none to quench i... [ Continue Reading ]
_Ye who turn judgment to wormwood_ Or into hemlock, as the word here used is translated, Amos 6:12. Ye judges and rulers that pervert the law that was designed to protect innocence, and under colour of it exercise the greatest oppression. True or just judgment is _sweet_ or _pleasing;_ corrupt judgm... [ Continue Reading ]
_They hate him that rebuketh in the gate_ The usual place of administering justice, and of reproving and passing judgment on iniquity. The prophet now, after having descanted upon God's wondrous power, returns to enumerate the crimes of the Israelites; and begins with telling them, that they in gene... [ Continue Reading ]
_Forasmuch, therefore, as your treading is upon the poor_ It appears by this, that their acts of oppression were more than ordinarily proud and tyrannical. They were the effect of fraud executed with insolence, as the word _treading_, and the subsequent clause, added in explanation of it, signify. _... [ Continue Reading ]
_Seek good, and not evil_ Give your minds to the practice of true piety and virtue. Do that which is just and good, and endeavour to make others do the same. _That ye may live_ That it may be well with you, your families, and the whole kingdom. _And so the Lord God of hosts _ The eternal, glorious G... [ Continue Reading ]
_Therefore the Lord saith thus_ The prophet, foreseeing their obstinacy, proceeds in denouncing judgments against them: and the word _therefore_, which introduces his threatenings, is to be referred to the twelfth verse, and not to the verses immediately foregoing. As if he had said, It is on accoun... [ Continue Reading ]
_Wo unto you that desire the day of the Lord_ Scoffingly, not believing any such day will come: for this seems to be spoken of some among them, who, in mockery, expressed a desire of seeing those things which the prophet predicted brought to pass. Or, it may respect those who, notwithstanding all th... [ Continue Reading ]
_I hate and despise your feast-days_ This and the three following verses are the same in sense with Isaiah 1:11, and the other texts referred to in the margin, on which the reader is desired to consult the notes. They all show of how little signification the external rites of religion are, unless th... [ Continue Reading ]
_Have ye offered_ Or, _did you offer, unto me sacrifices and offerings_ “Verborum emphasis in MIHI sita est,” says Spencer: The emphasis of the passage lies in ME. “Did ye offer such sacrifices as were acceptable to ME; such an entire and undivided service as I enjoin?” Newcome. Certainly they did n... [ Continue Reading ]
_But ye have borne_, or _did bear, the tabernacle of your Moloch and Chiun_ Your ancestors manifested their want of true devotion toward me, in that they were so prone to practise those idolatries which they learned in Egypt, or which they saw practised in the countries through which they passed: se... [ Continue Reading ]
_Therefore will I cause you to go into captivity beyond Damascus, saith the Lord, whose name is_, &c. Ye shall be removed further from your own country, than when Hazael, king of Syria, carried away so many Israelites captives to Damascus, (see 2 Kings 10:32,) and consequently shall have less hopes... [ Continue Reading ]