The Pulpit Commentary — Amos — Section 83

CHAPTER V, Ver. 1.-Hear ye this word. To show the certainty of the judgment e.nd his own feel- Ver.I-eh. vi. 14.-§ 3. Third addreBB~ the ing about it, the prophet utters his prophecy prophet utters a lamentaiion cn;er the fall of in the form of a dirge (kinah, 2 Sam. i. 17; IBTael. (Vers.1-3.) He calls her to repent- 2 Chron. uxv. 25). Whioh I take up against you ; or, whioh I raise OfJer you, as anoe, while he shows wherein she has de- if the end had come. 0 house of· Israel ; elined from the right way. To make this in the vocative. The Vnlgnte has, DomtlB plain, he contrasts God's power and majesty 18f"ael eecidit; so the LXX. But the pre• with the people's iniquity, imta.nces of sent Hebrew text is most suit.able, making which he gives (vers. 4-12). The only the dirge begin at ver. 2. The ten tribes are addressed u.s in ver. 6. condition of safety is amendment (vers. 13- Ver. 2.-The virgin of Israel; i.e. the 15); and as they refuse to reform, they shall virgin Israel ; eo co.lied, not u.s having been hne ca1111e to lament (vers. 16, 17). This pure and faithful to God, but as tenderly threat is enforced by tl!e two emphatic treated and guarded from enemies (comp. "woes" tba.t follow, the first of which lea. x.xiii. 12; xlvii. 1; Jer. xiv. 17). I1 fallen (comp. 2 Sam. i. 19); she shall no rlemonstrate.s the baselessness of their trust more rue. This is apparently a contradio- in their covenant relation to God (vers. lS- tion to the promise of restoration elsewhere 27); the second denounces tlie careless Ii ves expressed, but is to be explained .either •as of "the chiefs, who, revelling in luxury, be- referring exclusively to the ten tribes, very lit:ved not in the coming judgment (eh. vi- few of whom returned from exile, and to the kingdom of Israel, which was never re- 1-6). Thereferethey she.llgo into captivity, established; or, as. Pseudo-Rufl.nus says, and ihe kingdom shall .be utterly overthrown "Ita debemus accipere, quod lugt:ntis aft'ectu (Tel8. 7-11), because they er,t iniquitously cumulatius mstimavit illota discrimina, &Dd are aelf-confidtut (vcrs. 12-14). Bicque funditlll appellasse deletos, 4uos ex (lIJ. v. 1-27.] TUE BOOK OF AMOS. 83