*H I saw the Lord standing upon the altar, and he said: Strike the hinges, and let the lintels be shook: for there is covetousness in the head of them all, and I will slay the last of them with the sword: there shall be no flight for them: they shall flee, and he that shall flee of them shall not be delivered.
Ver. 1. Altar, in Jerusalem. C. viii. 3. and i. 2. God is going to punish Israel, (C.) or the two tribes. Chal. S. Jer. — The ruin of the altar and temple, imply the abolishing of sacrifices during the captivity, at Babylon. W. — But Amos speaks rather of Israel. C. — Sword. The princes and people are all guilty. Sept. "strike or cut on the heads of all." H.
*H Though they go down even to hell, thence shall my hand bring them out: and though they climb up to heaven, thence will I bring them down.
Ver. 2. Hell; to the deepest caves, where they used to flee. Ps. cxxxviii. 8.
* Footnote * Psalms 138 : 8
If I ascend into heaven, thou art there: if I descend into hell, thou art present.*H And though they be hid in the top of Carmel, I will search and take them away from thence: and though they hide themselves from my eyes in the depth of the sea, there will I command the serpent and he shall bite them.
Ver. 3. Top, in woods, or caverns. — Serpent. Fishes and sea monsters are so called.
* Footnote * Jeremias 44 : 11
Therefore thus saith the Lord of hosts the God of Israel: Behold I will set my face upon you for evil: and I will destroy all Juda.*H And the Lord the God of hosts is he who toucheth the earth, and it shall melt: and all that dwell therein shall mourn: and it shall rise up as a river, and shall run down as the river of Egypt.
Ver. 5. A river. Sept. "the river of Egypt." C. viii. 8. and v. 24. C. — Grabe's ed. has "its consummation (or utter ruin) shall rise up as a river." H.
*H He that buildeth his ascension in heaven, and hath founded his bundle upon the earth: who calleth the waters of the sea, and poureth them out upon the face of the earth, the Lord is his name.
Ver. 6. Ascension, or his high throne. Ch. — Sept. "the ascent, and hath founded the declaration (H.) or promise upon," &c. which must be explained in a moral sense. C. — Bundle. That is, his Church, bound up together by the bands of one faith and communion, (Ch.) which God will protect, and punish sinners. W. — Heb. "his apartments in heaven, and his assembly (or footstool) on earth." — Sea, by floods, or rather by rain. C. v. 8. C.
*H Are not you as the children of the Ethiopians unto me, O children of Israel, saith the Lord? did not I bring up Israel, out of the land of Egypt: and the Philistines out of Cappadocia, and the Syrians out of Cyrene?
Ver. 7. Ethiopians. That is, as black as they, by your iniquities. Ch. — Chus was father of the Scythians, Arabs, &c. Yet none of these nations were under the peculiar protection of God. The Israelites depended too much on this prerogative, (C.) which they deserved to lose by their sins. H. — God brought them out of Egypt. But he also took the Philistines from Caphtor, (C.) and enabled them to settle in the country. H. — Cappadocia. Cyprus, (Gen. x. 14.) or rather Crete. 1 K. C. — Cyrene, (Sym.) "wall," (Th.) or "pit." Sept. Theglathphalassar took Aram or the people of Damascus into captivity. C. — Their future return is represented as already past. Vat. Mercer.
* Footnote * Deuteronomy 2 : 25
This day will I begin to send the dread and fear of thee upon the nations that dwell under the whole heaven: that when they hear thy name they may fear and tremble, and be in pain like women in travail.* Footnote * Jeremias 47 : 4
Because of the coming of the day, in which all the Philistines shall be laid waste, and Tyre and Sidon shall be destroyed, with all the rest of their helpers. For the Lord hath wasted the Philistines, the remnant of the isle of Cappadocia.*H For behold I will command, and I will sift the house of Israel among all nations, as corn is sifted in a sieve: and there shall not a little stone fall to the ground.
Ver. 9. Ground, to be mixed with the good corn. — Israel shall be purified in captivity. C. — Though many perished, God still preserved his Church. W.
*H All the sinners of my people shall fall by the sword: who say: The evils shall not approach, and shall not come upon us.
Ver. 10. Us. Such infidels delayed repentance, (H.) or laughed at the menaces of impending ruin. C. v. 18. C.
*H In that day I will raise up the tabernacle of David, that is fallen: and I will close up the breaches of the walls thereof, and repair what was fallen: and I will rebuild it as in the days of old.
Ver. 11. David. S. James, after S. Peter, explains this of the vocation of the Gentiles. Acts xv. 15. W. — After the fall of Israel, Juda still flourished: but this cannot be meant. The prosperity after the return from Babylon, or rather under Jesus Christ, must fulfil the prediction. Zorobalel had a very precarious authority, and the Machabees were not of the tribe of Juda, nor was their kingdom so flourishing or durable. C.
* Footnote * Acts 15 : 16
After these things I will return and will rebuild the tabernacle of David, which is fallen down: and the ruins thereof I will rebuild. And I will set it up:*H That they may possess the remnant of Edom, and all nations, because my name is invoked upon them: saith the Lord that doth these things.
Ver. 12. Edom, subdued by Hircan, with the surrounding nations. The same letters may be read Adam, "man," as the Sept. have, agreeably to Acts xv. 17. C. — "That the rest of men might seek the Lord, (Grabe substitutes me) and all the nations upon whom my," &c. Edom and all mankind shall receive the glad tidings of salvation. H.
*H Behold the days come, saith the Lord, when the ploughman shall overtake the reaper, and the treader of grapes him that soweth seed: and the mountains shall drop sweetness, and every hill shall be tilled.
Ver. 13. Shall overtake, &c. By this is meant the great abundance of spiritual blessings; which, as it were, by a constant succession, shall enrich the Church of Christ. Ch. — Munster, and his imitator, Clarius, see nothing but an allegory in this abundance and return, v. 14. Yet the literal sense ought to be adopted, when it involves no contradiction. Houbigant, pref. p. 297. — God promised a succession of crops to the faithful Israelites, (Lev. xxvi. 5.) and the return of the ten tribes is frequently specified. C.