Amos 4:11

Ye were as a fire-brand, &c.— A proverbial expression, used both by sacred and prophane writers to signify a narrow escape out of imminent danger. The comparison expresses perfectly well the state to which the Syrians reduced the Israelites in the war here referred to. "They shall see one part of their kingdom seized upon by the Syrians, their cities taken, their fields plundered, their troops defeated. That which shall be saved, shall escape with difficulty, and as it were half burned: a fire-brand "plucked out of the burning." See Isaiah 7:4. Zechariah 3:2. 1 Corinthians 3:15 and Calmet.