Where no gin is set for him? Will a snare spring from the ground, And Jehovah hath not § inflicted it? Unto his servants the prophets. 8 The lion hath roared: who will not fear? The Lord Jehovah hath spoken : 9 Who will not prophesy? Publish it upon the palaces in Ashdod, Hebr. When taking it hath not taken. § done. 6. Shall a trumpet, &c -As the people run together through fear, when the signal of an approaching enemy is made; so let my warning strike the Israelites with terror. - evil.—Shall the evil of earthquakes, of unfruitful seasons, of hostile incursions, befall my people without my special appointment? 7. doeth.-The Hebrew future has often the frequentative force: "is wont to do." 8. The lion, &c.-The awful admonitions uttered by the prophets are as natural a consequence of God's command, as fear is of the lion's roaring. 9. "Fremitu leonis qualis audito tener Prædam minorem morsibus vastis premens Sen. Troad. 794. -upon the palaces.-i. e. the flat roofs of the palaces, the usual place of publishing events, Matth. x. 27. See Bishop Lowth on Isa. xxii. 1. in Ashdod.-Ev Aσovpois, ó. wx. Recte, ut videtur: nam sæpe σUOTOIXEL CUM : et Azoto excidium prædictum fuit; ch. i. 8. Secker. And say.-I suppose this to be extra metrum. See ch. viii. 5. 10 Gather yourselves together upon the mountains of Sa maria, And see great || tumults in the midst of her, And the oppressed within her. For they know not to do right, saith Jehovah ; They * treasure up † rapine and spoil in their palaces. 11 Therefore thus saith the Lord Jehovah : 12 An enemy shall encompass the land, And shall bring down thy strength from thee; Thus saith Jehovah : As the shepherd ‡ taketh out of the lion's mouth So shall the sons of Israel be § taken out, || Or, violences. * Hebr. treasuring up. Hebr. rescueth. + Or, violence. § rescued. Samaria.-The capital of the kingdom of Israel; situated on a hill, and surrounded by hills, Maundrell, p 58. 1 Kings xvi. 24. Some of the versions read the mountain. See ch. iv. 1. 11. — shall encompass.-Houbigant reads on: hostis circumsidens, vel. circumsidebit. Perhaps 110 circundabit; which exactly corresponds to the verb in the next line. See Syr. “F. 1. sequitur an.” Mr. Woide. Five MSS. have 30. 12. Who sit. See ch. vi. 4. Who now sit luxuriously on beds and couches, Jer. xxxvi. 15. Esth. i. 6. Harmer, ii. 60, endeavours to show that the corner of a bed was the most honourable place; and by л he thinks that we may understand a divan, or a part of a room raised above the floor, and spread with a carpet in the winter, and in the summer with fine mats. A mattress laid on this floor might serve for a bed. See p. He also thinks that pwn may signify something made at Damascus. 67. p. 67. Damascus.-This prophecy may have been delivered when Jeroboam the Second was in possession of Damascus, 2 Kings xiv. 28. Because pw in the Arabic version of Isa. iii. 22. is rendered peplum. Houbigant leads us to translate, "Who dwell in Samaria, In the extremity of a bed, and in the covering of a couch." 13 14 15 Hear [O ye priests,] and testify to the house of Jacob. That in the day when I visit the transgressions of I will also visit the altars of Bethel; And the horns of the altar shall be cut off, and shall fall to the ground: And I will smite the winter-house Together with the summer-house; And the houses of ivory shall be destroyed, And the great houses shall have an end, saith Jehovah. || Or, surely. Hebr. visit upon. + Or, fail. According to this conjectural rendering, the sense may be: So a very inconsiderable part shall escape, who hide themselves in the most retired places of their habitations. "Professor Michaelis observes, that MS. 93 reads w, which he renders in latibulo lecti, from the Arab. abdidit, occultavit." Mr. Woide. If we suppose the word pwn properly to signify the covering of a couch, this name may have been given to it because probably it was generally made of a species of silk so called. pontin Arab. signifies the threads spun from a silk-worm's thread; and the Hebrew word may be formed from it by the substitution of a cognate letter. Dr. Forsayeth. 13. · O ye priests.—The Seventy and Arab. supply this, and there seems to be a peculiar propriety in addressing the priests on this occasion. -hosts.—The word may comprehend the angelic host; the sun, moon, and stars, which are the heavenly host; and the hosts, or armies, of all nations; but particularly those of the Jews, whom God led forth to battle when his people observed his law. 14. Bethel.-See 1 Kings xii. 29, 32. Its destruction is also foretold ch. v. 5, and may be referred to Jer. xlviii. 13. 15. - horns.-See Ps. cxviii. 27. Ex. xxvii. 2. - winter-house.-See Jer. xxxvi. 22. of ivory.—Inlaid with ivory in some parts of them. Χρυσου τ', ηλεκτρου τε, και αργύρου, ηδ' ελεφαντος.” Odyss. iv. 72. "Non ebur, neque aureum Mea renidet in domo lacunar." Hor. Od. L. II. xviii. 1. See Harmer, i. 181, and Boch. Hieroz. L. II. xxiv. 252. 1 CHAPTER IV. HEAR this word, O ye kine of Bashan, That oppress the poor, that crush the needy; That say to their masters, Bring, and let us drink. 2 The Lord Jehovah hath sworn by his holiness, That, behold, the days shall come upon you, ye shall be taken away with hooks, And your posterity, with nets of fishers. 3 When * And ye shall go out at the openings, every one at that which is before it : * Or, fishing instruments. CHAP. IV. 1. Hear.—It should regularly be л: and Houbigant suggests that this word may have been originally written wow, according to Gen. iv. 23. O ye kine of Bashan.-Bashan was famous for its flocks and herds, Deut. xxxii. 14. Ezek. xxxix. 18. The proud and luxurious matrons of Israel may be here described. Or if the reader supposes that the men of Israel are addressed, wow may be construed with л Kara Tо onμaivoμevov, or according to the sense; and may be the reading, v. 2. 2. to their masters.—Houbigant reads 1775; and V. Syr. Ar. 757785. "Masters, or Lords, are husbands." Gen. xviii. 12. Secker. ye shall be taken away.-Literally: one shall take you away. See on Jon. iii. 7. -hooks.—The original word in the masculine is used for thorns; but in the feminine it signifies shields. In Buxt. Lex. Rabb. x signifies canistrum, corbis; and is equivalent to x in Hebrew, the x and being often changed. So that perhaps a fishing instrument may be denoted, which, like some now in use, resembled a shield, or a basket, in its form. Our translators render hooks, from their analogy to thorns. ·nets of fishers.-The original word in the masculine is used for thorns, and in the feminine for pots; and the sense of hooks is assumed by the English translators, as before. Perhaps the prophet means vessels of fishing resembling pots, with nets annexed to them. Those who think that the women of Israel are understood v. 1, may read אתכן and עליכן .in this w 3. at the openings.-The apertures of the fishing instrument in And I will cast it forth, and will utterly destroy it, saith Jehovah. 4 Go to Bethel, and transgress; 5 At Gilgal multiply + transgression : And bring your sacrifices every morning; And burn a thank-offering of leaven, And proclaim, publish abroad, free-will offerings. + Hebr. to transgress. which ye were caught. Houbigant reads 1, because Vulg. Syr. actually supply the preposition; which in Hebrew is very often understood. • every one. —лwx sc. п fish. ·utterly destroy.-Houbigant proposes; "et projiciemini in sagenas." Possibly bwn, "et projiciam eam perdendo eam.” From Chald. Syr. we may collect, or ", "to the mountains of Mini or Armenia." In v. 2, 3, the image is changed from that of v. 1, in the irregular eastern manner; and I suppose it continued through these two verses, and not interrupted by a second transition. 4. - Gilgal.—See ch. v. 5. That this place, which lay between the river Jordan and Jericho, was the scene of idolatry, appears from the contemporary prophet Hosea; ch. iv. 15. ix. 15. xii. 11. It was so called, because at that place God ↳ rolled away the reproach of uncircumcision from the Israelites, Josh. v. 9. -years.—So sometimes signifies. See Ex. xiii. 10. Numb. ix. 22. 1 Sam. i. 3. xxvii. 7. 2 Sam. xiv. 26. See the law of offering tithes at the end of three years, Deut. xxvi. 12. means by or on the third day without implying any repetition, Ex. xix. 15. Ezr. x. 8, 9. The tithes of the third year were to be given by the Jews to the Levites and the poor, to be eaten within their gates, Deut. xiv. 28. xxvi. 12: but those mentioned here were brought to the temple, and the third day bears some proportion to the preceding every morning; but three years do not.-Michaelis, whom see, understands days, and all the old versions translate so. 5. And burn.-V. 6. Syr. read ropi. Secker. of leaven.—Though of leaven, in contempt of the law, Lev. ii. 11, makes a good sense; yet the Chaldee, by reading pan, from violence, suggests a better sense. · proclaim.—Inviting many to feast on these sacrifices. See Spencer de leg. Hebr. 1. iii. ch. vii. The sense of these two verses is: With the |