which was accounted defiled, because the inhabitants
of it were uncircumcised and idolaters, and he was no
better; perhaps the land of Assyria, whither he might
with others be carried captive; or some other land he
was forced to flee into: and .lsrael shall surely go into
captivityJbrth of his land; as he had before prophesied,
and here confirms it; and which was fulfilled in the
times of Hoshea king of Israel, by Saimaneser king of
Assyria, 2 Kings xvii. 6.

C H A P. VIII.

In this chapter a fourth vision is delivered, the vision
of a basket of summer-fruit; signifying the dest. ruction
of the ten tribes, for which they were ripe, and which
would quickly come upon them, vet. 1, 2, 3. the rich
are reproved for their oppression of the poor, their
covetousness and earthly-mindedness, yet. 4, 5, 6. for
which they are threatened with entire ruin, sudden
calamities, and very mournful times, instead of light,
joy, and gladness, ver. 7, 8, .9, 10. and particularly
with a famine of hearing the word of God, ver. 11, l2.
the consequence of which would be, a fainting of ttte
young men and virgins for thirst, and the utter and
irrecoverable ruin of all idolaters, yet. 13, 14.
Ver. 1. Thus hath the Lord God shewed unto me, &c.]
Another vision, which is the fourth, and after the fol-
lowing manner: and, behold, a basket of summer-fruit;
not of the first ripe fruit, but of such as were gathered
at the close of the summer, when autumn began. So
the Targum, "the last of the summer-fruit ;" such as
were fully ripe, and would not keep till winter; or, if
kept, would rot; but must be eaten directly, as some
sort of apples, grapes, &c.; denoting the people of
Israel being ripe for destruction, and would be quickly
devoured by their ehemies; and that, as they had had
a summer of prosperity, they would now have a sharp
winter of adversity.
Ver. c2.. And he said, Amos, what seest thou? &c.]
To quicken his attention, who might disregard it as a
common thing; and in order to lead him into the de-
sign of it, and shew him what it was an emblem of:
and I said, a basket of summer-fruit ; some render it a
hook {w}, such as they pull down branches with to gather
the fruit; and the word so signifies in the Arabic lan-
guage {x}; but the other is the more received sense of
the word: then said the Lord unto me; by way of ex-
planation of the vision: the end is come upon my people
Israel: the end of the kingdom of Israel; of their com-
monwealth and church-state; of all their outward hap-
piness and glory; their summer was ended, and they
not saved, Jer. viii. c20. all their prosperity was over;
and, as theTargum, their" final punishment wascotne,"
the last destruction threatened them {y}: I will not again
pass by them any more; pass by their offences, and
forgive their sins; or pass by their persons, without
taking notice of them, so as to afflict and punish them
for their iniquities: or, pass through them an!! more {}
now making an utter end of them; see the note on ch.
vii. 8.
Vet. 3. And the songs of the temple shall be howlings
in that day, saith the Lord God, &c.] Not the songs
sung by the Levites in the temple of Jerusalem,
this prophecy respects the ten tribes only; but those
in imitation of them, sung in the temple at Beth-el,
and other idol-temples; or profane songs in the palaces
of princes and nobles; that. is, instead of these, there
should be howlings for the calamities come upon them.
So the Targum, "they shall howl, instead of a song,
"in their houses then ;" particularly because of the
slain in them, as follows; see ch. v. 23: there shall be
many dead bodies in every place; in all houses and
palaces, in all towns and cities; and especially in
Samaria, during the siege, and when taken, partly
through the famine, and partly through the sword:
they shall cast them forth with silence; they that have the
care of burying the dead bodies shall either cast them
out of the houses upon the bier or cart in which they
are carried to the grave, or into the pit or grave without
any funeral lamentation: or,-they shall cast them forth,
and say, be silent; that is, as Kimchi explains it,
"one of them that casts them forth shall say to his
"companion, be silent ;" say not one word against God
and his providence, since this is righteously come upon
us; or say nothing of the number of the dead, lest the
hearts of those that hear shonld become tender, and be
discouraged, as Aben Ezra; or the enemy should be
encouraged to go on with the siege.
Ver. 4. Hear this, 0 ye that swallow up the needy,
&c.] Like a man that pants after a draught of water
when thirsty; and, when he has got it, greedily swal-
lows it down at one gulp; so these rich men swallowed
up the poor, their labours, gains, and profits, and
persons too; got all into their own hands, and made
them bondsmen and slaves to them; see ch. ii. 7. these
are called upon to hear this dreadful calamity threatened,
and to consider what then would become of them and
their ill-got riches; and suggesting, that their oppres-
sion of the needy was one cause of this destruction of
the land: even to make the poor of the land to .fail; or
cease {}; to die for want of the necessaries of life, being
obliged to such hard labour; so unmercifully used,
their faces ground, and pinched with necessity; and
so sadly paid for their work, that they could not live
by it.
Ver. 5. Sayin.if, when will the new moon be gone, that
we may sell corn ? &c.] The first day of every month,
on which it was forbid to sell any thing, or do any
worldly business, being appointed and used for re-
ligious service; see 2 Kings iv. 23. and which these

{w} \^bwlk\^ ucinus, V.L.
{x} **** "ferramentum incurvum, seu uncus ex quo de sella com-
meatum suspendit viator", Giggeius apud Golium, col. 2055.
{y} There is an elegant paronomasia in the words \^Uyq\^, summer, and \^Uq\^,
the end.
{z} So Mercerus, Crotius.
{a} \^twbvl\^ "ad cessare faciendum", Mercerus;  "& facitis cessare",
Munster, Drusius,