The Pulpit Commentary — Amos — Section 158

einnel"I! kept the fest:ival11, indeed, bnt they dormiat et vigi!Bntibus vl~llet: hlsque qul grnrlged the timo given to them, and oon- sibi thesaurizaverunt imm rn die irm, dioatur eider<>rl it ae WRsted. The aabb&th. Com• irasci" (St. Jerome). pore the difficulties with which Nehemiah Ver. 8.-Shall not the land tremble for llRd to contend in upholding the ee.notity this t "This" ie the coming judgment, or of the sabbath (Neh. x. 31; xiii. 15-22). the oath with which God o.nnounoed it in May set forth; literally, open; so Septuagint, the pre"rious verso; o.nd the prophet n;ska, ,cal a.vo(~oµ,v 871uaup&v. The word ex presses "Shull not the land tremble as with o.n earth- the opening of the granaries and storehouses. quake when the Lord comes to judgment?" The ephah, by which corn was measured The LXX., rendering l,rl -roo-roir, takes the (ree not<> on Micnh vi. 10). This they reference to be to the " works" or sins of made smr.11, and so gave less thun was the people (ver. 7) ; but the thought in paid for. The shekel The weight by which these two verses is the punishment of the money was weighed. This they made great, transgressions, not the trnnsgressors them• anti thus gained too high a price for the selves. And it ahall rise up wholly as a quantity of corn. Coined money of dete!'- flood (eh. ix. 5). The LXX., pointing mined value seems not to have been 118ed differently, renders, Kai l,vaf3-/1u,,.,-a1 &s ,roTaµ.bs before the return from Captivity, all payments uvv,.b,,.a, "And destruotion shall come up of fixed amount previous to that period being as a river;" the Vulgate, Et ascendet quari made by wei1ching (comp. Gen. niii. 16; flurJius unitiersua; it is best, however, to xxxiii. 19; xii ii. 21; E:rnd. xxx. 13; Isa. refer both clauses to the Nile: "Yea, it xh-i. 6). Falsifying the b&lanoes by deoeit; shall rise up wholly like the river"-the helter, as in the Revised Version, dealing land shall heave and swell like the waters falsely ,aitJ1 bal.ancu of deceit. To increase of the Nile at its annual rising. And it their gains they falsified their scales or shall be cast out and drowned, as by the used fraudulent weights (see Lev. xix. 36). flood of Egypt ; better, it shall be tossed up Thus they cheated the poor probably in and sink again, like the ril/6T of Egypt-fl, three ways-by small measure, exorbit&nt picturesque comparison, which would allude price, and light weight. to a phenomenon well known to the Israelites. Ver. 6.-llny the poor for silver (comp. It is as though the whole earth were turned eh. il. 6). The probable meaning is that into a sea, tossing and labouring under e. they 8(1 reduced the poor man by their tempestuoll8 wind (comp. Isa. xxiv. 4). exactions and injustice, that be was com- Ver. 9.-I will co.nee the sun to go down pelled to pay bis debt by selling himsell at noon. This is probably to be taken into slavery (Lev. :nv. 39; Dent. xv. 12). metaphorically of a sudden calamity oo- For a pair of shoeL For the smallest debt curring in the very height of seeming they would deal in this harsh manner. The prosperity, such o.s the fate of Isrnel in refuse; literally, that 1/JJ.ich fell through the Pekah's time, flnd Pekah's own murder rierJe; Septuagint, 'A11'b -..-a,,.,.br -y<vlft/µa-ror (2 Kings xv. 29, 30; see nlso 2 Kings lµ.11'op,11uoµ.,8a., "We will trade in every kind xvii. 1-6). A like metaphor is common of prodnoe;" Vnlgate, Quisquilias frumenti enough; e.g. Joel ii. 2; iii. 15; Micah iii. t,eudamus, "Let us sell the re(ll88 of corn." 6; Job v. 14; Isa. xiii. 10; Jer. xv. 9. Ver. 7.-Sucb crimes as these, which sap Hind calculates that there were two solar the very foundations of social life, shall eclipses visible in Palestine in Amos's time, meet with vengeance. The Excellency of viz. J nne 15, B. o. 763, and February 9,B.O. 784. .Jacob. This is a title of God himself, as Some have suggested that the prophet here in Hos. v. 5; viL 10, where it is rendered predicts the latter in the year of J eroboe.m's "pride." Thus the Lord is said to swear death; but this, it is discovered, would hove by his holiness (eh. iv. 2), by liis soul been so partial as hardly to be noticeable (eh. vi 8; comp. 1 Sam. xv. 29). So here at Samaria. And it is improbable that such Le swears by himself, who is the Glory and natural phenomena, unconnected with God's Prirle of Israel ; as truly a.a be is this, he moral government, should be the subject of will punish. The Vulgate treats the sentence the prophet's prediction (Pusey). Doubtless differeutly, Juraflit in superbium Jacob, a sudden reverse is signified (comp. Matt.. i.e. "The Lord bath sworn against tbe pride xxiv. 29, etc.), expreesed in terms rendered of Ja.cob," against the arrogancy with which particularly appropriate by some late o.nd they treat the poor, and trust in their riches, well-remembered eclipse. The Fathers note and deem themselves secure. So the Sep- here how the earth was darkened at the tuogint, 'Oµvlm K{,p,or Ka-ra. -r,js Vll'<tnitf>avla.s Passion of our Lord. 'Ja,cd,/3. I will never forget, so as to Ver. 10.-I will turn your feasts into lenve unpunished. Literally, if I forget, mourning, etc. (comp. ver. 8; oh. v. 16, equivalent to a most decided denial, as 17; Lam. v. 15; Ho~. ii. 11; Tobit ii. 6), H<,l.,_ iv. 8, 5, etc. "Nee mirum est, si Saokoloth. A token of mourning (1 Kings D~us jurare dicatur; quum donnientibue xx. 81; Isa. :x:v. 3; Joel i. 8, 13). llaldu.0911; OH. vm. 1-14.] THE BOOK OF AMOS. 159