THE THIRD ADDRESS 1-6. A lament, a warning, and an invitation. 7, 10-20. Denunciation of injustice and oppression, with threats of pestilence and judgment. 21-27. A repudiation of their attempt to please God by mere ritual. 1, 2. LAMENTATION] a technical term for mournful poetry consisting of sh... [ Continue Reading ]
PASS NOT TO BEER-SHEBA] People living in the northern kingdom would have to 'pass,' to cross over, the territory of Judah to reach the famous sanctuary in the extreme S. of the land. In the reference to GILGAL there is one of those plays on sound which are so common in impassioned speech: '_Hag-Gilg... [ Continue Reading ]
THE SEVEN STARS] RV 'the Pleiades,' lit. 'the heap.' THE SHADOW OF DEATH] RM 'deep darkness,' is better. 10. The subject of Amos 5:7 is now resumed: they who turn justice into wormwood, etc., hate in the gate the man who reproves injustice. The GATE is the broad, open space before the city wall, wh... [ Continue Reading ]
BURDENS OF WHEAT] RV 'exactions of wheat.' These remind us of the way in which the French nobility used to 'grind down the peasantry to the utmost farthing to extort money to spend in debauchery and riot in Paris': cp. also 2 Samuel 12:3. Houses of hewn stone were a mark of great wealth (Isaiah 9:10... [ Continue Reading ]
RV 'For I know how manifold are your transgressions and how mighty are your sins; ye that afflict the just, that take a bribe, and that turn aside the needy,' etc. BRIBE] The word means 'ransom' (see Exodus 21:30; Proverbs 6:35); on many occasions it would defeat the ends of justice if a ransom was... [ Continue Reading ]
AS YE HAVE SPOKEN] RV 'as ye say,' i.e. as ye say He is, as ye flatter yourselves He is.... [ Continue Reading ]
THE REMNANT] At best a mere fraction will escape. 16, 17. STREETS] RV 'broad ways': what we call squares and open spaces. The WAILING is the tremulous, high-pitched lament for the dead. The most necessary occupations are suspended because of the great number of deaths. Where the merry shout of the... [ Continue Reading ]
DAY OF THE LORD] see Intro., and cp. Isaiah 5:30; Isaiah 8:22; Joel 2:2; Obadiah 1:15. 21. Festivals such as Tabernacles (1 Kings 12:33) are meant. I WILL NOT SMELL] RV 'I will take no delight.' The original words refer to the smelling the pleasant odour of the sacrifice (Genesis 8:21; Leviticus 26... [ Continue Reading ]
HAVE YE OFFERED?] RV 'Did ye bring?' The answer is 'No.' So far is God from being influenced by sacrifices that all the time when His Providential care over them was most marked they were in the habit of presenting Him no oblations at all: cp. Joshua 5:5; 1 Samuel 15:22; Jeremiah 7:22; Jeremiah 7:23... [ Continue Reading ]