Adam Clarke

“ Verse 1
Against the whole family - That is, all, both the kingdoms of Israel and Judah. In this all the twelve tribes are included.
Verse 2
You only have I known - I have taken no other people to be my own people. I have approved of you, loved you, fed, sustained, and defended you; but because you have forsaken me, have become idolatrous and polluted, therefore will I punish you. And the punishment shall be in proportion to the privileges you have enjoyed, and the grace you have abused. ”

“ Thou sayest, Prophesy not against Israel, and drop not thy word against the house of Isaac. Therefore thus saith the Lord, Thy wife shall be a harlot in the city, and thy sons and thy daughters shall fall by the sword, and thy land shall be divided by line; and thou shalt die in a polluted land, and Israel shall surely go into captivity forth of his land."
After this the prophet retired into the kingdom of Judah, and dwelt in the town of Tekoa, where he continued to prophesy. ”

“ So shall the children of Israel be taken out - Those of them that escape these judgments shall escape with as great difficulty, and be of as little worth, as the two legs and piece of an ear that shall be snatched out of the lion's mouth. ”

“ Verse 12
Therefore thus will I do unto thee - I will continue my judgments, I will fight against you; and, because I am thus determined: -
Prepare to meet thy God, O Israel - This is a military phrase, and is to be understood as a challenge to come out to battle. As if the Lord had said, I will attack you immediately. Throw yourselves into a posture of defense, summon your idols to your help: and try how far your strength, and that of your gods, will avail you against the unconquerable arm of the Lord of hosts! This verse has been often painfully misapplied by public teachers ”

“ Verse 2
By whom shall Jacob arise? - The locusts, the symbols of the many enemies that had impoverished Jerusalem, having devoured much of the produce of the land, were proceeding, till, at the intercession of the prophet, they were removed. Then, seeing in the light of prophecy the nation in every sense brought low, he cries, "By whom shall Jacob arise? for he is small." Calmet justly remarks: "After the death of Jeroboam the second, the kingdom, so flourishing and powerful before, was reduced to such weakness that it was obliged to have recourse to strangers for support. ”

“ Verse 19
As if a man did flee from a lion, and a bear met him - They shall go from one evil to another. He who escapes from the lion's mouth shall fall into the bear's paws: -
Incidit in Scyllam, cupiens vitare Charybdim.
The Israelites, under their king Menahem, wishing to avoid a civil war, called in Pul, king of Assyria, to help them. This led to a series of evils inflicted by the Syrian and Assyrian kings, till at last Israel was ravaged by Shalmaneser, and carried into captivity. Thus, in avoiding one evil they fell into another still more grievous. ”

“ Have we not taken to us horns - We have arrived to power and dignity by our strength. Horns were the symbols of power and authority. So Horace: -
Vina parant animos: tum pauper cornua sumet. "Wine repairs our strength, and furnishes the poor with horns."
At such times they think themselves as great as the greatest.
Verse 14
I will raise up against you a nation - The Assyrians under Pul, Tiglath-pileser, and Shalmaneser, who subdued the Israelites at various times, and at last carried them away captive in the days of Hosea, the last king of Israel in Samaria. ”

“ Verse 12
O thou seer - He pretends kindness to the prophet, and counsels him to go into Judea, and prophesy there and be safe, even in the time that he had accused him of high treason against Jeroboam. Hireling priests of this kind have ever been the great enemies of the true prophets of God; and when they could bring no charge of false doctrine or immorality against them, have accused them of conspiring against the government; and because they have preached against sin, have held them up as exciting insurrection among the people. ”

“ Verse 10
All the sinners of my people - Those who are the boldest and most incredulous; especially they who despise my warnings, and say the evil day shall not overtake nor prevent us; they shall die by the sword. It is no evidence of a man's safety that he is presumptuously fearless. ”

“ He foretold the death of King Zechariah; the invasion of the lands belonging to Israel by Pul and Tiglath-pileser, kings of Assyria; and speaks of the captivity of the ten tribes, and of their return into their own country. He makes sharp invectives against the sins of Israel; against their effeminacy and avarice, their harshness to the poor, the splendor of their buildings, and the delicacy of their tables. He reproves the people of Israel for going to Beth-el, Dan, Gilgal, and Beer-sheba, which were the most famous pilgrimages of the country; and for swearing by the gods of these places. ”

“ And the houses of ivory - Those remarkable for their magnificence and their ornaments, not built of ivory, but in which ivory vessels, ornaments, and inlaying abounded. Thus, then, the winter houses and the summer houses, the great houses and the houses of uncommon splendor, shall all perish. There should be a total desolation in the land. No kind of house should be a refuge, and no kind of habitation should be spared. ”

“ Verse 11
He will smote the great house with breaches - The great and small shall equally suffer; no distinction shall be made; rich and poor shall fall together; death has received his commission, and he will spare none. ”

“ The meaning of the verse is this: Do not presume on my having brought you out of the land of Egypt and house of bondage, into a land flowing with milk and honey. I have brought other nations, and some of your neighbors, who are your enemies, from comparatively barren countries, into fruitful territories; such, for instance, as the Philistines from Caphtor, and the Syrians from Kir.
Verse 8
The eyes of the Lord God are upon the sinful kingdom - The kingdom of Israel, peculiarly sinful; and therefore to be signally destroyed by the Assyrians. ”

“ They pant after the dust of the earth on the head of the poor; or, to put it on the head of the poor; or, they bruise the head of the poor against the dust of the earth. Howsoever the clause is understood, it shows them to have been general oppressors of the poor, showing them neither justice nor mercy. ”

“ Verse 10
For they know not to do right - So we may naturally say that they who are doing wrong, and to their own prejudice and ruin, must certainly be ignorant of what is right, and what is their own interest. But we say again "There are none so blind as those who will not see." ”

“ They were saints then, when compared to multitudes called Christians, who keep their shops either partially or entirely open on the Lord's day, and buy and sell without any scruples of conscience. Conscience! alas! they have none; it is seared as with a hot iron. The strong man armed, in them, is quiet, for all his goods are in peace. ”

“ I will send a fire upon Judah - This fire was the war made upon the Jews by Nebuchadnezzar, which terminated with the sackage and burning of Jerusalem and its palace the temple.
Verse 6
For three transgressions of Israel, etc. - To be satisfied of the exceeding delinquency of this people, we have only to open the historical and prophetic books in any part; for the whole history of the Israelites is one tissue of transgression against God. Their crimes are enumerated under the following heads: -
1. Their judges were mercenary and corrupt. They took bribes to condemn the righteous ”

“ Carmel was a very fruitful mountain in the tribe of Judah, [21] ; [22] .
This introduction was natural in the mouth of a herdsman who was familiar with the roaring of lions, the bellowing of bulls, and the lowing of kine. The roaring of the lion in the forest is one of the most terrific sounds in nature; when near, it strikes terror into the heart of both man and beast.
Verse 3
For three transgressions of Damascus, and for four - These expressions of three and four, so often repeated in this chapter, mean repetition, abundance, and any thing that goes towards excess. ”

“ They leaned confidently on Zion; supposing that, notwithstanding their iniquities they should be saved for Zion's sake. Thus the former clause will agree better with the latter, "leaning upon Zion," and "trusting in the mountain of Samaria." Those that are at ease may mean those who have no concern about the threatened judgments, and who have no deep concern for the salvation of their own souls. Houbigant would read, "Go to them who despise Zion, and trust in Samaria." ”

“ The virgin of Israel - The kingdom of Israel, or the ten tribes, which were carried into captivity; and are now totally lost in the nations of the earth.
Verse 3
The city that went out by a thousand - The city that could easily have furnished, on any emergency, a thousand fighting men, can now produce scarcely one hundred - one in ten of the former number; and now of the hundred scarcely ten remain: so reduced was Israel when Shalmaneser besieged and took Samaria, and carried the residue into captivity. ”

“ This chapter begins with reproving the twelve tribes in general, [54] , [55] ; and then particularly the kingdom of Israel, whose capital was Samaria. Thee prophet assures them that, while they were at variance with God, it would be unreasonable in them to expect his presence or favor, [56] . Other neighboring nations are then called upon to take warning from the judgments about to be inflicted upon the house of Israel, which would be so general that only a small remnant should escape them, [57] . ”

“ On the contrary, it is the opinion of others, that he prophesied a long time at Tekoa after the adventure he had with Amaziah: and the prophet taking no notice of the ill treatment which he is said to have received from Uzziah, his silence is no argument that he suffered nothing from him.
St. Jerome observes, that there is nothing great and sublime in the style of Amos. ”

“ They have been punished; so shall you. Why then will ye trust in their gods, that could not save their own cities?
Verse 3
Ye that put far away the evil day - Wo to you who will not consider the day of approaching vengeance; but continue in your iniquity, and harden your hearts. Ye bring your iniquities nearer, and still suppose your punishment to be at a greater distance.
Verse 4
That lie upon beds of ivory - The word הוי hoi, wo, is understood at the beginning of each of the first, third, fourth, fifth, and sixth verses. ”

“ Some old authors relate that Amaziah, priest of Beth-el, whom we have spoken of, provoked by the discourses of the prophet, had his teeth broken in order to silence him. Others say that Hosea, or Uzziah, the son of Amaziah, struck him with a stake upon the temples, and knocked him down, and almost killed him; that in this condition he was carried to Tekoa, where he died, and was buried with his fathers. ”

“ The jaws of the trap opening backward, press strongly upon a spring so as to keep it down; and a key passing over one jaw, and hooking on a table in the center, the trap continues with expanded jaws, till any thing touch the table, when the key, by the motion of the table, being loosened, the spring recovers all its elastic power, and throws up the jaws of the trap, and their serrated edges either close in each other, or on the prey that has moved the table of the trap. ”

“ With the first that go captive - The house of Israel shall be carried into captivity before the house of Judah.
Verse 8
The Lord God hath sworn by himself - בנפשו benaphsho, by his soul, his being, existence.
Verse 9
Ten men - they shall die - All shall be cut off by the sword, or by captivity, or by famine.
Verse 10
A man's uncle shall take him up - Bp. Newcome says, this obscure verse seems to describe the effects of famine and pestilence during the siege of Samaria. ”

“ Or this may refer to their heads - chief men, who were principals in these transgressions. Mark their temples, their priests, their prophets, and their princes, for destruction.
He that fleeth - shall not flee away - He shall be caught before he can get out of the reach of danger.
And he that escapeth (that makes good his flight) shall not be delivered - Captivity, famine, or sword, shall reach him even there.
Verse 2
Though they dig into hell - Though they should get into the deepest caverns; though they climb up to heaven - get to the most inaccessible heights ”

“ He asks if their lands or their lot be better than their own, [96] , that they should choose to worship the gods of the heathen, and forsake Jehovah. Then follows an amplification of the sin which the prophet reproves, [97] ; to which he annexes very awful threatenings, confirmed by the oath of Jehovah, [98] , [99] . He next particularly specifies the punishment of their sins by pestilence, [100] ; by famine, or a drought that should harden the earth so that it could not be tilled, [101] ”

“ This chapter denounces judgments against the nations bordering on Palestine, enemies to the Jews, viz., the Syrians, [1] ; Philistines, [2] ; Tyrians, [3] , [4] ; Edomites, [5] , [6] ; and Ammonites, [7] . The same judgments were predicted by other prophets, and fulfilled, partly by the kings of Assyria, and partly by those of Babylon; though, like many other prophecies, they had their accomplishment by degrees, and at different periods. The prophecy against the Syrians, whose capital was Damascus, was fulfilled by Tiglath-pileser, king of Assyria ”