·nncl their treatment by the Assyrians may course of nature or the use of things or be Lhus symbolized, nature, than the course of God's providence Vera. 12-14.-The prophet shows the or Ver the laws of his just retributiou." .. 13.-~ a thing of nought; a 11othi111 folly of these evil-doers who think in their -a tlnng which does not really exist, viz. own strength to defy judgment o.nd to resist your prosperity and power. Koma; symbols the enemy whom God is sending against of strength (Dent. xxxiii. 17; I Kings xxii. them. 11); the idea. being derived from the wilJ buil, the strongest animal of their fauna. Ver.12.~Bhall horses run upon the rook 1 Their boast was a consequence of the snc- Can horses gallop safely over ple.ces coverecl cessful wars with the Syrians (2 Kings xiv. with rocks and stones? Will one plough 25-28). The prophet proceeds to demoli,l.t there with oxen 1 Do men plough the rock their proud vaunt. with their oxen? The answer, of course, is Ver. H:.-I will raise up (comp. I Kings "No." Yet your conduct is equally foolish, xi. H:, 23; Hab. i. 6, where see note). A your labour is equally lost. Some, dividing nation. The Assyriana. From the anter..ng the words differently, translate, "Does one in of Hamath. A district in the upper part plough the sea with oxen?" which reminds of Cmle-Syria, hod. El-Bukaa, the northl'rn one of the Latin prornrb, "Lit us arare boundary of the kingdom of Israel (Numb. bubus.'' Thus Ovid, 'Ep. Heroid,' v. 115- xxxiv. 8; see on ver. 2). The river of the " Quid facis CEnone? Quid e.renie semina. wilderneas ; rather, the tarrent of /,h,e Arabah, which is the curious depression in which mandas? • the Jordan flows, e.nd which contiuues. Non profecturis litora bubus aras," though now on a higher level, south of tho l!'or ye have turned; or, that ye have turned. Dead Sea, towards \he Gulf of Ake.ha. The J'udgment into gall (see note on eh. v. 7). torrent is probably the W ady es Safieh, just Xemlook. Some plant with an acrid juice. south of the Dead Sea. The limits named Ye turn the administration of justice, which de.fine the territory which Jeroboam re- is "the fruit of righteousness," into the covered (2 Kings xiv. 25). The LXX. gives, bitterest injustice and wrong. It were 'l'oii X"µdppou .,.,;;., 6urrJJ,riiv, "the torreut of ~• more easy," says Pusey, "to change the the west."
HOMILETICS. Vere. 1-7.-,- Wantonness the way to woe. God's thoughts are not as ours. He sees things all round; we see but one side of them. He sees the inner reality of thin,;s ; we see but their outward semblance. He sees the tendency and ultimate result of things; we but guess their probable tendency, knowing nothing of distant results whatever. Hence, in their estimates of. life and of good, "the wi~dom of men i~ foolishness with God." The passage before us is an illustration of this. Th!J -eonditions of being desiderated by carnal wisdom are here declared utterly baneful, .its calculations fallacious, and its canons of judgment false. We see here- I. 'l'HE GREATNESS OF TilE WICKED. This is DO uncommon sight (Ps. xxxvii. 35), nor one whose lesson is hard to read (Ps. xcii. 7). 1. Israel was first of the nations. -(Ver. 1.) In its palmy days, and even now, it would have compared favourably witll -the neighbouring heathen states (ver. 2). It had the power of unique knowledge. It had the greatness of a unique culture. It had the glory of a unique Divine connec- i.ion (Exod. xix. 5; 2 Sam. vii. 23). With an equal numerical, financial, aud terri- torial strength, it held, in virtue of these advantages, a pre-eminrnce above any other people. Its wealth and magnificence were the admiration of even Oriental sovereigns ,(1 Kings x.); its armies, under normal circumstances, could hold their own witll any of the time (1 Sam. xv. 1-8); and the white wings of its commerce gleamed on -every sea. In spite of national unfaithfulness and rebellion and wickedness, God'll promise to Abraham to make of him "a great nation" had been, in the fullest sense, -accomplished. 2, These were the chiefs of Israel. (Ver. 1.) They were magistrates, rulers, and judges of the people. They occupied the position of princes, and the house ,of Israel came to them for the regulation of its alfairs. "They were the do!cendants uf ,those tribe-princes who had onci: been honoured to conduct the affairs of the chosen family along with Moses and Aaron, and whose light shone forth from that better age -.as brilliant examples of what a truly theocratical character was" (llengstenberg). 'This was a proud position, and it had brou3ht the usual amount of arrog,1n.c~ with it.. 116 THE BOOK OF AMOS. [c11. VI. 1-U.