Online Bible 1995 March/ROM-1025.iso/olb/gill/6_500.lzh/6_512.TXT

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truer friends to it, or .more quiet under it :-the land is
not able to'bear ali bis words; either to withstand the
power of them; they'll have such an influence upon
the people, if timely care is not taken, as to cause them
both to reject the established religion and worship at
Dan and Beth-el, and to rise up in arms against the
civil government, and dethrone him the king; such
terrible things he says to the people, as will frighten
them, and put them upon taking such measures as
these: or else the prophet's words were so intolerable,
that his good subjects, the inhabitants of the had,
Could not bear them,; and if he did not'give orders
himself to take away' his life, they would rise up against
him, and dispatch him themselves.
Ver. 11. For thus Amos saith, Jeroboam shah die by
the sword, &c.] Which was not saying truth; for Amos
said not that Jeroboam should die by the sword, but
that God would raise up the sword against his house or
family; nor did Jeroboam die by the sword, but his
son Zachariah did: and Israel shah surely be led away
captive out of their own land; this was true; Amos did
say this, and he afterwards confirms it. This is the
amonnt of the charge brought against the prophet,
which has some truth and some falsehood mixed to-
gether; and by which method the priest hoped to gain
his point, and get the prophet -either banished or -put
to death.
Ver. le. Also Amaziah said unto Amos, &c.] Either
at the same time; or, it may be, after he had waited
for the king's answer, and received none; or what did
not come up to his expectations and wishes. We have
no account of any answer the king returned;-who
either gave no heed to the representations of the priest,
or had a better opinion of,he prophet, and did not
credit the things imputed to him; which the priest ob-
serving, took another way to get rid of the pr.op. het,
and that by flattery: O thou seer; that seest visions,
and foretels things to come. This title, which of right
belonged to him, and is given to the true prophets of
God sometimes, is here given to Amos, either seriously
or ironically: go,flee thee away into the land of Judah ;
to which he belonged, and where the temple stood,
and the true worship of God was performed; and
where the king, princes, and people, were on his side
of,he ,question; and where his prophecies would be
.received, and he caressed for them, being against the
ten tribes, with whom they were at variance, and
· ,vhere also he would be safe; for he suggests, that, in
giving this advice, he consulted his good and safety; for,
if he stayed here long, King Jeroboam would certainly
take away his life;-and therefore he advised him to
flee with all haste to his own country: and there eat
bread, and prophesy there :he took him for a mercenary
man like himself, and that he prophealed for bread;
which he intimates he would never be able to get in
the land of Israel, but in all probability might in the
land of Judea.
Ver. 13. But prophesy not again any more at Beth-el,
&c.] He might .prophesy any where, if he did not
there, for what the priest cared, that so his henour.
and interest were not hurt. The.reasons he gave were,
for it is theking's chapel; or sanctuary {i}; where a tem-
ple .was built for the idol-calf, and where the king wet-
shipped it, and attended all other religious service:
and it is the king's court; or .the house of the kingdom {k} ;
the seat of it, where the king had a royal palace, and
.sometimes resided .here, and kept his court, as well as
at Samaria; often coming hither to worship, it being
nearer to him than Dan, where the other calf was
placed;. intimating hereby that the king would never
suffer such a troublesome man as he to be so near him;
and by prophesylug to interrupt him, either in his re-
ligious or civil affairs; and therefore advises him by
all means to depart, if he had any regard to his life or
peace.
Ver. 14. Then answered Amos, and said to Amaziah.
&c.] With much freedom, boldness, and intrepidity,
and yet with modesty and humility; not at all moved
by his frowns or his flatterlea: I was no prophet, neither
was I a prophet's son: he was not a prophet originally.
or from his youth, as Kimchi ; he was not born and bred
one; neither his father was a.prophet, by whom he
could get any instructions in the mystery of prophe.?
sying; nor was he a disciple of any of the prophets, or
brought up in any of their schools. as some were; he
was no prophet till the Lord called him .immediately,
at once, from his secular employment to this office,;
and therefore did not take it up to get a .livelihood by.
Jarchi and Aben Ezra interpret it, that he was. not one
of the false prophets that prophealed for hire, and took
a reward: but I was an herdsman, and a gatherer of
sycamore fruit; that is, orig!nally: this was the employ-
ment he was brought up in from his youth, .and was
in it when he was called to -be a prophet; he looked
after cattle, both great and small; and at a certain
time of the year used ,to gather sycamore fruit, which
was a kind of figs; and by ,its name had the resem-
blance both of figs and mulberries. Some take it to
be what were called Egyptian figs; these he gathered,
either for the use of his masters, or for food for himself,
or for the cattle, or both: or he was an opener of them,
as the Septuagint; he cut,them, and made incisions
in them; for, as PIthy {l}, Dioscorides {m}, and Theo--
phrastus {n] observe, this fruit must be cut or scratched,
either with the nail, or with iron, or it will not ripen;
but, four days after being scratched or cut, will become
ripe. Mr. Norden *, a late traveiler in Egypt, has given
us a very particular account of this tree and its fruit.
"This sycamore (he says) is of the height of a beech,
"and bears its fruit in a manner quite different from
"other trees; it has them on the trunk itself,-which
"shoots out little sprigs in form of grape-stalks; at the
"end of which ..grow the fruit close to one another,
"almost like bunches of grapes. The tree is always
"green, and bears fruit several times in the year, with-
" out observing any certain seasons: for I have seen
"(says he} some sycamores that have given fruit two
"months after others. The fruit has the figure and
"smell of real figs, but is inferior to them in the taste,
"having a disgustfui sweetness. Its colour is a yellow,

{i} \^vdqm\^ "sanctuarium", Pagninus, Montanus, Vatablus, Mercerus,
Junius & Tremellius, Piscator, Drusius, Cocceius.
{k} \^awh hklmm tybw\^ "& domus regni est", V.L., Pagninus, Montanus,
Mercerus, Cocceius; "domus regia", Junius & Tremellius", Piscator.
{l} Nat. Hist. I. 13. c. 7.
{m} L. l. c. 143.
{n} Hist. l. 4. c. 2.
{o} Travels in Egypt and Nubia, vol. I. p. 79, 80.