Online Bible 1995 March/ROM-1025.iso/olb/gill/6_400.lzh/6_493.TXT

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were made wholly of ivory, only covered with it, as the
Targum here paraphrases it;, or .they .were' cieled or
wainscotted with it, or were inlaid and entraiied with
it, and were reckoned very curious work; but should
be demolished, and perish in the general ruin: and the
great houses shall have an end, saith the Lord; the
houses of princes, nobles, and other persons of figu.re
and distinction; houses great in building, or many m
number, as Kimchi observes, and as the word {m} will
bear. to be rendered; these, which the builders and
owners of them thought would have continued many
ages, and have perpetuated their names to posterity,
should now be-thrown down, and be no more; of
which they might assure themselves, since the Lord
had said it.

CHAP. IV.

IN this chapter, the great ones, or the people of
Israel, are threatened with calamities for their oppres-
sion of the poor, ver. 1, 2, 3, and in an ironical manner
are reproved for their idolatry, ver. 4, 5. then follows
an enumeration of several judgments that had-been
upon them, yet had had no effect on'them, to bring
them to repentance, nor even mercies, ver. 6---11. and
notwithstanding all this, in a Wonderful gracious man-
net, they are called upon to prepare to meet their God,
who is described by his power, greatness, and goodness,
yet. I2, 13.
Vet. 1. Hear this word, ye k!ne of Bashan, &c.] Or
cows of Bashan n; a country beyond Jordan, inhabited
by the tribes of Gad and Reuben, and the half-tribe of
Manasseh, very fruitful of pasturage, and where abun-
dance of fat cattle were brought up; to whom persons
of distinction, and of the first rank, are here compared..
Aben Ezra, Jarchi, and Kimchi, interpret them of the
wives of the king, princes, ministers of state, and great
men; and so it may be thought that Amos, a herdsman,
in his rustic manner,. compliments the court-ladies
with this epithet, for their plumpness, wantonness,
and petulancy. Though it may be the princes and
great men themselves may be rather intended, and be
so called for their effeminacy, and perhaps with some
regard to the calves they worshippeal; and chiefly be-
cause being fat and flourishing, and abounding with
wealth and riches, they became wanton and mis-
chievous; like fat cattle, broke down their fences, and
would be under no restraint of the laws Of God and
man; entered into their neighbours' fields, seized on
their property, and spoiled them of it. So the Targum
paraphrases it," ye rich of substance." In like manner
the principal men among the Jews, in the times of
Christ, are called bulls of Bashan, Psal. xxii. I2. That
are in the mountains of Samaria ; like cattle grazing on
a mountain; the metaphor is still continued.: Samaria
was the principal city of Ephraim, the metropolis of the
ten tribes, Isa. vii. 9. situated on a mountain; Mr. Maun-
drell° says, upon a long mount, of an oval figure, having
first a fruitful valley, and then a ring of hills running
about it. Here the kings of Israel had their palace,
and kept their court, and where their princes and
nobles resided. Ahab is .said to be king of Samaria,
I Kings xxi. 1. Which oppress the poor,' which crush
the needy; by laying heavy taxes upon them; ex-
acting more of them than they are able to pay; lessen-
ing their wages for work done, or withholding it from
them; or by taking from them that little they have,
and so reducing them to the utmost extremity, and re-
fusing to do them justice in courts of judicature: which
say to their masters, bring, and let us drink; Kimchi,
who interprets these words of the wives of great men,
supposes their husbands are here addressed, who are,
and acknowledged to be, their masters or lords; see
I Pet. iii. 6. whom they call upon to bring them money
taken from the poor, or for which they have sold them,
that they may have wherewith to eat and drink, fare
sumptuously, and live in a grand manner, feasting
themselves and their visitors: or these are the words
of inferior officers. to superior ones, desiring they
might have leave to pillage the poor, that so they
might live in a more gay and splendid manner, and
in rioting and drunkenness, in chambering and wanton-
ness. So the Targum, "give us power, that we may
"spoil it." Or rather these words are directed to the
masters of the poor, who had power over them, had
them in their clutches, in whose debt they were; or
they had something against them, and therefore these
corrupt judges, and wicked magistrates, desire they
might-be brought before them; who for a bribe would
give the cause against them, right or wrong, so long
as they got something to feast themselves with; or
they are spoken by the rich, to the masters of the
poor, to whom they had sold them, to bring them
the purchase-money, .that they might indulge and
gratify their sensual appetites; see ch. iS. 6, 7. and
Mic. iii. 1, 2, 3.
Vet. 2. The Lord God hath sworn by his holiness, &c.]
That is, by himself, holiness being his nature, and an
essential attribute of his; this is done to ascertain the
truth of what is after said, and that men may be as-
sured of the certain performance of it. Some render
it, by his holy place; and interpret it of heaven; so
Abeu I£zra and-Kimchi; which is not likely; see Matt.
v. 34. Jam. v. l2. The Targum is, "the Lord God
"hath sworn by his word in his holiness." That,
the days shall come upon you; speedily, swiftly, and at
an unawares: that he will take you away with hooks,
and your posterity withfish-hooks; the enemy, the king
of Assyria, or God by him, would take them out of
their own land, as fish out of water, out of their own
element, and carry them captive into a strange }and,
both them and their posterity; and which should be

{m} \^Mybr Mytb\^ "aedes multi", V. L.; "domus multae", Pagninus, Mon-
tanus, Mercerus, Cocceius, Burkius.
{n} \^Nvbh twrp\^ "vaccae Basan", Pagninus, Montanus, Junius & Tremel-
lius, Piscator, Vatablus, Drusius, Mercerus, Grotius, Cocceius.
{o} Journey from Aleppo to Jerusalem, p. 59. Ed. 7.