| Back to Home Page | Back to Book Index
|
Amos Chapter
Three
New King James Version (NKJV)
INTRODUCTION TO AMOS 3
In
this chapter the prophet goes on with his prophecy against Israel, whom God had
highly favoured, and yet sinned against him, and therefore must expect to be
punished by him; and the rather, since he and they were not agreed; and
therefore there could be no communion between them, Amos 3:1; and by
various similes are set forth the cause of divine judgments, the certain design
of them, and their continuance, till the end is answered; which should be
attended to, since every thing of this kind is of God, who giving his prophets
notice of it, they are under an absolute necessity of declaring it; nor should
they be blamed for it, Amos 3:4; and even
the Heathen nations are appealed unto as witnesses of the sins of Israel, that
caused such a denunciation of wrath; their tumults, oppression, injustice,
violence, and robbery, Amos 3:9; wherefore
an adversary is threatened to be sent among them, that should utterly destroy
them, so that few should escape, Amos 3:11;
particularly their idolatry and luxury seem to have been reigning sins, which
had a great hand in bringing on their rum, and for which the Lord would punish
them, Amos 3:13.
Amos 3:1 Hear this word
that the Lord
has spoken against you, O children of Israel, against the whole family which I
brought up from the land of Egypt, saying:
YLT
1Hear ye this word that
Jehovah hath spoken concerning you, O sons of Israel, concerning all the family
that I brought up from the land of Egypt, saying:
Hear this word that the Lord hath spoken against you, O children
of Israel,.... The prophecy against Israel begins in the preceding chapter,
where notice is taken of their sins, at least some of them, and of their
aggravated circumstances, and sure destruction; and here they are called upon
to hearken and listen to what the Lord by his prophet had spoken, and was about
to speak unto them; and to "receive" this word, as the Targum; to
receive it as the word of God, and not men, and with all humility and
reverence; and to take it, and apply it to themselves, to whom it justly belonged;
and to make a proper use and improvement of it by humiliation and reformation.
A word this was,
against the whole family which I brought up from the land of Egypt; it was but a
family that went down into Egypt, and, though it greatly increased there, it
was no more when it was brought up from thence: a family under the peculiar
care of Jehovah, as the bringing them out of Egypt, out of the house of
bondage, when greatly distressed there, abundantly shows; and which was a
wonderful blessing and favour; and therefore often mentioned, and led on to
many other blessings and mercies: a family which was the Lord's own, and
therefore he had a right to chastise and correct them for their sins. It seems
by this phrase, "the whole family", as if the two tribes of Judah and
Benjamin were included: though the prophecy seems chiefly intended against the
ten tribes, which went by the name of Israel, ever since the breach in
Rehoboam's time, as distinct from Judah;
saying; as follows:
Amos 3:2 2 “You
only have I known of all the families of the earth; Therefore I will punish you
for all your iniquities.”
YLT
2Only you I have known of
all families of the land, Therefore I charge on you all your iniquities.
You only have I known of all the families of the earth,.... All the
families or nations of the earth, and all the inhabitants of it, are known by
the Lord, as he is the omniscient God; but none had been known by him as a
family, or a nation, with that love and affection as this family had been, or
distinguished by his favours and blessings as they, not only temporal, but
spiritual; besides the land of Canaan, and all the good things in it, they had
the law of the Lord, his word, worship, and ordinances, among them; he chose
them for himself above all people, and gave peculiar marks of his affection to
them, and special instances of his goodness, and of his care over them, and
concern for them; see Deuteronomy 4:6;
therefore I will punish you for all your iniquities; or
"visit upon you"F3אפקד עליכם "visitabo super vos", V. L. Pagninus,
Montanus; "visito", i.e. "visitare soleo", Mercerus;
"super vobis", Cocceius; "contra vos", Piscator. ; or
"against you"; in a way of chastisement and correction; they were a
family he had highly favoured, and yet departed from him; children he had
brought up in a tender manner, and brought out of a most miserable condition,
and yet rebelled against him; he had followed and loaded them with his
benefits, and they had proved ungrateful to him; he had given them a revelation
of his mind and will, and they had rejected it, and therefore knowing, and not
doing it, were worthy of more stripes; their sins were more aggravated than
others, being against goodness and mercy, light and knowledge; and therefore
the Lord was determined to make an example of them; see 1 Peter 4:17.
Amos 3:3 3 Can
two walk together, unless they are agreed?
YLT
3Do two walk together if
they have not met?
Can two walk together except they be agreed? Unless they
meet together, and appoint time and place, when and where they shall set out,
what road they will take, and whither they will go; without such consultation
and agreement, it cannot be thought they should walk together; and not
amicably, unless united in friendship, and are of the same affection to each
other, and of the same sentiments one with another; or it is much if they do
not fall out by the way. The design of these words is to show, that without
friendship there is no fellowship, and without concord no communion; as this is
the case between man and man, so between God and man; and that Israel could not
expect that God should walk with them, and show himself friendly to them, and continue
his favours with them, when they walked contrary to him; when they were so
disagreeable to him in their sentiments of religion, in their worship, and the
rites of it, and in the whole of their conduct and behaviour. And to a
spiritual walk with God, and communion with him, agreement is requisite. God
and man were originally chief friends, but sin set them at variance; a
reconciliation became necessary to their walking together again; which was set
on foot, not by man, who had no inclination to it, nor knew how to go about it
if he had, and much less able to effect it; but by the Lord, the offended
party: it began in his thoughts, which were thoughts of peace; it was set on
foot by him in the council of peace, and concluded in the covenant of peace; and
his Son was sent to bring it about; and through his obedience, sufferings, and
death, through his sacrifice and satisfaction, the agreement is made on the
part of God, his justice is satisfied; but still it is necessary man should be
agreed too; this is brought out by the Spirit of God, who shows the sinner the
enmity of his mind, the sin and danger of it, slays this enmity, and puts in
new principles of light, life, and love; when the soul is reconciled to God's
way of salvation, and loves the Lord, and delights in him; and both being thus
agreed, the one by the satisfaction of Christ, and the other by the Spirit of
Christ, see Romans 5:10; they
walk comfortably together: the saint walks with God, not only as in his sight
and presence, but by faith, and in his fear, in the ways and ordinances of the
Lord; and particularly is frequent in prayer and meditation, in which much of
his walk with God lies: and God walks with him; he grants his gracious
presence; manifests his love and favour to him; talks with him by the way;
discloses the secrets of his heart; and indulges him with nearness and
communion with him; but all is founded on mutual agreement. And so it must be between
men and men, that walk in a religious way; regenerate and unregenerate persons
cannot walk together, there being no concord, 2 Corinthians 6:14;
nor can all sorts of professors; they must agree in the way Christ, and in the
fundamental principles of religion; and in worship, and the manner of it; and
in all the ordinances of the Gospel, and the manner of administering them.
Amos 3:4 4 Will
a lion roar in the forest, when he has no prey? Will a young lion cry out of
his den, if he has caught nothing?
YLT
4Roar doth a lion in a
forest and prey he hath none? Give out doth a young lion his voice from his
habitation, If he hath not caught?
Will a lion roar in the forest when he hath no prey?.... He will
not, unless he has it in his sight, or in his paws; he roars when he first sees
it, whereby he terrifies the creature, that it cannot move till he comes up to
it; and when he has got it in his paws, he roars over it, to invite others to
partake with him. Now prophecy from the Lord is compared to the roaring of a
lion, Amos 1:2; and this
is never in a way of judgment without a cause; the sin of men, or of a nation,
which makes them a prey to the wrath and fury of God;
will a young lion cry, or "give forth his
voice";
out of his den, if he have taken nothing? that is, if
the old lion has taken nothing, and brought nothing unto him; which signifies
the same as before; unless by the young lion is meant the prophets of the Lord,
who never prophesy but when they have a commission from him, and a people are
pointed out to them as the just prey of his wrath and vengeance. All the images
here used are very natural; the lion is for the most part in woods and forests,
hence called the "lion out of the forest", Jeremiah 5:6; as he
is by TheocritusF4 εκ
δρυμοιο λεων, Theocrit. Idyll. 1. ; where his voice is heard, but not unless
he is in sight of his prey, or has got it, even though ever so hungry; but when
he has it in view, he roars so terribly, that, as BasilF5In
Hexaemeron, Homil. 9. observes, many animals that could escape him through
their swiftness, yet are so frightened at his roaring, that they have no power
to move; and they have their dens either in caves or in thickets, where are the
she lioness and the young lions, to whom the prey is brought; see Nahum 2:11.
Amos 3:5 5 Will
a bird fall into a snare on the earth, where there is no trap for it? Will a
snare spring up from the earth, if it has caught nothing at all?
YLT
5Doth a bird fall into a
snare of the earth, And there is no gin for it? Doth a snare go up from the
ground, And prey it captureth not?
Can a bird fall in a snare upon the earth, where no gin is
for him?.... No, there must be a snare set, or a bird can never be taken
in it; and that is done, not by chance, but with the design of the fowler; yea,
with the knowledge and will of God himself, Matthew 10:29; the
design of this is to show, that no judgment or affliction comes upon a people,
or they into one, by chance, or without the appointment of God; they are his
nets and snares, which he on purpose spreads and sets for persons, to take them
in; and unless he did do so, they would not fall into any; see Job 5:6;
shall one take up a snare from the earth; the Targum
adds, out of its time:
and have taken nothing at all? when men set a snare to
catch anything, do they take it up before anything is caught? they do not; they
let it stand till something is ensnared in it, and so their end answered, and
then they take it up, and not before. And thus when God denounces or brings a
judgment, or an affliction, upon a people, does he remove it before the end is
answered by it? he does not; if the end is to bring men to a sense of sin, and
humiliation for it; or to bring near to God who have been wandering from him;
or to try their graces, or take away their sin; when such an end is answered,
then, and not till then, is the snare taken up, or the affliction removed; tilt
such an end is brought about, the distress is continued, or the threatening of
it; and of this Israel is hereby assured.
Amos 3:6 6 If
a trumpet is blown in a city, will not the people be afraid? If there is
calamity in a city, will not the Lord have done it?
YLT
6Is a trumpet blown in a
city, And do people not tremble? Is there affliction in a city, And Jehovah
hath not done [it]?
Shall a trumpet be blown in the city,.... Meaning
not any trumpet blown, as the silver trumpet for the gathering of the people to
worship, or the jubilee trumpet, which proclaimed liberty to them, or any other,
expressive of joy and gladness; but the sound of the trumpet, the alarm of war,
or what is blown by the watchmen on the walls, descrying an enemy, or some
danger, near:
and the people not be afraid? they must, they usually
are, lest their lives, and their children's, should be taken away, and their
substance become a prey to the enemy: or, "and the people not run
together"F6לא יחרדו
"non accurrit", Drusius, Tarnovius. ; into some one place for
shelter, or to consult together how to provide for their safety, and secure
themselves from danger. So when the prophets of the Lord, by his order, lift up
their voice like a trumpet, to show his people their transgressions; or when,
as watchmen, they blow the trumpet, to give notice of approaching danger; can they
hear such denunciations of his wrath for their sins, and not tremble at them,
or not take some ways and methods to escape it?
shall there be evil in a city, and the Lord hath not done it? which is not
to be understood of the evil of sin, of which God is not the author, it being
contrary to his nature and will; and though he permits it to be done by others,
yet he never does it himself, nor so much as tempts men to it, James 1:13; unless
the words should be rendered, as they may be, "shall there be evil in a
city, and shall not the Lord do" or "work"F7ויהוה לא עשה
"and shall not the Lord do somewhat?" margin of our
Bibles. ? shall sin be committed in a city, all sorts of sin, in the most bold
and extravagant manner, and will not the Lord do something to show his
resentment of it? is it not time for him to arise and work for his name's sake?
will he not visit for these things, and be avenged on such a city, and the
inhabitants of it? but this may be interpreted of the evil of affliction or
judgment; which, wherever it comes, is by the order and appointment of God, and
is inflicted by him; thus evil, as well as good, comes out of the mouth and
hand of the most High; and he creates the evil of adversity, as well as makes
peace and prosperity; see Job 2:10.
Amos 3:7 7 Surely
the Lord God
does nothing, Unless He reveals His secret to His servants the prophets.
YLT
7For the Lord Jehovah doth
nothing, Except He hath revealed His counsel unto His servants the prophets.
Surely the Lord God will do nothing,.... In the world, in a
nation or city; no remarkable event has happened, or shall happen, to the sons
of men:
but he revealeth his secret unto his servants the prophets; what he
willed and determined to do, which was a secret in his own breast, till
revealed; and this generally, and for the most part, he makes known to those
that fear and serve him; and especially to whom he employs in public service,
as his prophets and ministers, previous to his accomplishment of it: thus he
revealed to Noah the drowning of the old world by the flood; to Abraham the
burning of Sodom and Gomorrah; and to the same servant and friend of his the
affliction of his posterity four hundred years in a strange land, and then to
be brought out with great substance; to Abijah the Shilonite the rending of ten
tribes from the house of David; to Jeremiah the seventy years' captivity of the
Jews in Babylon; to Isaiah their deliverance from thence, through Cyrus by
name; to Daniel the four monarchies, the nature, rise, and fall of them; and to
John, the disciple of Christ, all the material things that should come to pass,
relating to the church and world, from the first times of the Gospel to the
second coming of Christ; which that book is a revelation of that bears that
name; see Genesis 18:17; and
so that grand affair, which God has brought about in the world, the salvation
of his people by his Son, which was a secret hid in his heart before the world
began, this he revealed to his servants before it was effected; not only the
scheme of it, but the author of it, whom he very early gave notice of; and who
was spoken of by the mouth of all the prophets, from the beginning of the
world; declaring who and what he was, the Son of God; that he should be
incarnate, and born of a virgin; when he should appear, and where, and in what
part of the world; also in what way and manner he should obtain salvation, by
his obedience and sufferings; and all the circumstances relating thereunto are
most minutely and exactly declared by him. Yea, God reveals unto his saints in
common the secret of his purposes, respecting their election, redemption, and
regeneration, which is made known in the effectual calling; and of the
blessings of his grace in the covenant, and also of his providences; and of his
love, grace, and mercy; and of his Gospel, and the mysteries of it; thus he
deals with them as his friends, rather than as his servants; see Psalm 25:14.
Amos 3:8 8 A
lion has roared! Who will not fear? The Lord God has spoken! Who
can but prophesy?
YLT
8A lion hath roared -- who
doth not fear? The Lord Jehovah hath spoken -- who doth not prophesy?
The lion hath roared, who will not fear?.... Amos said
this from his own experience, who, having been a herdsman in the wilderness of
Tekoa, had often heard a lion roar, which had put him into a panic, both for
himself, and the cattle he kept; the figure is explained in the next clause:
the Lord God hath spoken, who can but prophesy? whether it be
to foretell future events, which the Lord has made known shall come to pass; or
to preach the word, which is to prophesy to edification, to exhortation, and
comfort, 1 Corinthians 14:3;
or to perform the more private exercises of religion, as singing of psalms,
praying, &c. 1 Chronicles 25:1;
these things who can forbear doing, to whom the Lord has spoken either in a
dream or vision, or in his word, and by his Spirit; and to whom he has given a
call and commissions, and gifts and graces, qualifying them for such service?
who that has the fear of God in his heart, and his glory in view, and the good
of others, that can refrain from it? nay, it is of dangerous consequence to
refuse it; for if the roaring of a lion is so terrible, and if the wrath of an
earthly king is as the roaring of a lion, much more the wrath and displeasure
of the King of kings. Jonah declined prophesying when the Lord spoke to him, but
what was the consequence of it? the prophet by this seems to justify himself in
prophesying, and that he ought not to be blamed for it, seeing the Lord had
given him the word, and therefore he ought to publish it. This may be
particularly applied to the ministers of the word, who have a call, a charge
and gifts from Christ, and on whom there is a necessity laid to preach the
Gospel; and who should not shut, to declare it on any account; nor can they,
who have it in their hearts, and as fire in their bones; who have seen and
heard, and handled of the word of life, let what will be the consequence of it;
see Psalm 68:11.
Amos 3:9 9 “Proclaim
in the palaces at Ashdod,[a] And in the
palaces in the land of Egypt, and say: ‘Assemble on the mountains of Samaria; See
great tumults in her midst, And the oppressed within her.
YLT
9Sound ye unto palaces in
Ashdod, And to palaces in the land of Egypt, and say: Be ye gathered on
mountains of Samaria, And see many troubles within her, And oppressed ones in
her midst.
Publish in the palaces at Ashdod, and in the palaces in the land
of Egypt,.... This is spoken to the prophets, to publish and declare in
all the courts of the Philistines and Egyptians, and among all the princes and
great men therein, the sins of the people of Israel, and the punishment God
threatened them with; and let them, even these very Heathens, judge whether
there was not a just proportion between them, and whether their sins did not
deserve such calamities to be brought upon them, the Lord by his prophets had
denounced;
and say, assemble yourselves on the mountains of Samaria; the
metropolis of the ten tribes, Isaiah 7:9; and
which was built upon a mountain, and several others were about it, and joined
to it; where these princes of Ashdod or Azotus in Palestine, and of Egypt, are
called to leave their courts, and meet together, to behold the iniquities
committed by Israel, and to sit in judgment upon them, and declare their sense
of what was just and fitting to be done to such a people:
and behold the great tumults in the midst thereof; the riots of
its inhabitants, the noise of the mob committing all manner of outrages and
wickedness:
and the oppressed in the midst thereof; the poor, the
fatherless, and the widow, injured in their persons and properties, plundered
of their substance, or defrauded of it.
Amos 3:10 10 For
they do not know to do right,’ Says the Lord, ‘Who store up violence
and robbery in their palaces.’”
YLT
10And they have not known to
act straightforwardly, An affirmation of Jehovah, Who are treasuring up
violence and spoil in their palaces.
For they know not to do right, saith the Lord,.... What is
just and fight between man and man, no, not in one single instance; they did not
regard it, or advert to it; they were under no concern about it; and were so
much under the power of their lusts, that they knew not how to do it; and had
used themselves so long to such wicked and unjust ways, that they had lost at
least the practical knowledge of doing justice; they knew what was right in the
theory, but not in the practice; bribes blinded their eyes; for this seems to
design judges, civil magistrates, such who had the administration of justice
and the execution Of the laws in their hands. The Targum is,
"they
know not to execute the law;'
see
Jeremiah 4:22;
who store up violence and robbery in their palaces; treasured up
riches in their palaces, gotten in a violent way, by oppression and injustice;
and which was no other, nor better, than robbery. This shows that persons in
power and authority, that lived in palaces, in great splendour and grandeur,
are here meant.
Amos 3:11 11 Therefore
thus says the Lord God:
“An adversary shall be all around the land; He shall sap your strength
from you, And your palaces shall be plundered.”
YLT
11Therefore, thus said the
Lord Jehovah: An adversary -- and surrounding the land, And he hath brought down
from thee thy strength, And spoiled have been thy palaces.
Therefore thus saith the Lord God,.... Because of these
tumults and riots, oppression and injustice, violence and robbery:
an adversary there shall be even round about the land: not Tyre, as
Theodoret renders the word; but the king of Assyria, who invaded the land of
Israel in the days of Hoshea, took Samaria, and carried Israel captive, and
placed them in foreign countries, 2 Kings 17:6;
and he shall bring down thy strength from thee; take away
their riches, demolish their fortresses, and strip them of everything in which
they put their confidence:
and thy palaces shall be spoiled; plundered of the treasures
laid up in them, and pulled down to the ground; and a just retaliation this for
their being the repositories of ill gotten substance and wealth.
Amos 3:12 12 Thus
says the Lord:
“As a shepherd takes from the mouth of a lion
Two legs or a piece of an ear, So shall the children of Israel
be taken out Who dwell in Samaria— In the corner of a bed and on the edge[b] of a
couch!
YLT
12Thus said Jehovah: As the
shepherd delivereth from the lion's mouth Two legs, or a piece of an ear, So
delivered are the sons of Israel, Who are sitting in Samaria on the corner of a
bed, And in Damascus [on that of] a couch.
Thus saith the Lord, as the shepherd taketh out of the mouth of
the lion,.... Or what the lion has left, to show to his master that it had
been seized and torn by a beast of prey; for otherwise it is a most daring
thing, and not usual, for a shepherd to take anything out of a lion's mouth,
though David did: and here it is said to be not a whole sheep, or a lamb, but
two legs, or a piece of an ear; the body of the creature
being devoured by the lion, only some offal left he cared not for; two shanks
of the legs that had no flesh upon them, and the gristle of the ear, as the
Targum; having satisfied his hunger with the best of it: signifying hereby that
only a few of the Israelites should escape the enemy, and those poor and
insignificant, he made no account of; and this in a miraculous manner, it being
like taking anything out of the mouth of a lion, to which a powerful enemy is
compared, and particularly the king of Assyria, Jeremiah 50:17;
so shall the children of Israel be taken out that dwell in Samaria; only a few of
them, and those the poorest; and their escape will be next to a miracle, when
the city will be taken; even such as are weak and sickly, or faint hearted:
being
in a corner of a bed; who either through
sickness lie there, or slothfulness, danger being near; or through poverty,
having only a corner or a piece of a bed to lie on; or through cowardice they
hid themselves in one part of it:
and in Damascus in a couch; or "in a bed of
Damascus"F8בדמשק ערש
"in sponda Damasci", Tigurine version; "in grabbato
Damasci", so some in Drusius; "in lectis Damascenis", Castalio;
so Abendana. ; the chief city in Syria, taken much about the same time as
Samaria was; and where some of the Israelites might betake themselves, and
think themselves secure as persons laid on a couch: or at the bed's feetF9"In
crure spondae", Junius & Tremellius, Piscator, Tarnovius. , as some
render it; or "in a corner of a couch"F11"Angulo
grabati", Pagninus; "in angulo strati", Montanus. So R. Sol.
Urbin. Ohel Moed, fol. 75. 1. , as before. The Targum paraphrases it,
"that
dwell in Samaria, in the strength of power, trusting in Damascus.'
Amos 3:13 13 Hear
and testify against the house of Jacob,” Says the Lord God, the God of hosts,
YLT
13Hear ye and testify to the
house of Jacob, An affirmation of the Lord Jehovah, God of Hosts.
Hear ye, and testify in the house of Jacob,.... The
prophets and priests, whose business it was to speak to the people from the
Lord, and declare his will to them, and to admonish them of their sin and
danger, are here called upon to hearken to what the Lord was about to say, and
to testify and publish it to the people of Israel, the posterity of Jacob,
though sadly degenerated:
saith the Lord God, the God of hosts; the eternal
Jehovah, the Being of beings, the God of the whole earth, the God of the armies
above and below; and, being so great, ought to be heard with the greatest
attention and reverence in what follows.
Amos 3:14 14 “That
in the day I punish Israel for their transgressions, I will also visit destruction
on the altars of Bethel; And the horns of the altar shall be cut off And fall
to the ground.
YLT
14For in the day of My
charging the transgressions of Israel on him, I have laid a charge on the
altars of Beth-El, And cut off have been the horns of the altar, And they have
fallen to the earth.
That in the day that I shall visit the transgressions of Israel
upon him,.... The three or four mentioned in the preceding chapter, the
great multitude of them, their profaneness, uncleanness, and luxury, their
injustice and oppression of the poor; when he should visit and punish for these
sins, as he would by the hand of the Assyrian, he would not forget their
idolatry; though no notice is taken of this before, in the appeal to the
Heathen princes, who were likewise guilty of it:
I will also visit the altars of Bethel; where one of
the calves Jeroboam made was set up and worshipped; and where was an altar
erected, and sacrifice offered on it, 1 Kings 12:28; and
here the plural number is put for the singular; though it may be, that in
process of time more altars might be set up as they increased in idolatry, and
as seems from Hosea 8:11; and now
the Lord would show his resentment at them, and punish those that worshipped
and sacrificed there. So the Targum,
"that
worship at the altars in Bethel;'
and the horns of the altar shall be cut off, and fall to the
ground; for it seems this altar was made after the form of that at
Jerusalem, with four horns at the four corners of it; and which were reckoned
the more principal parts of it, and the more sacred, where the blood of the
sacrifices was poured, and to which persons in distress fled and laid hold of
for refuge; but now these should be of no use unto them, since they would be
entirely demolished by the enemy, and laid level with the ground.
Amos 3:15 15 I
will destroy the winter house along with the summer house; The houses of ivory
shall perish, And the great houses shall have an end,” Says the Lord.
YLT
15And I have smitten the
winter-house with the summer-house, And perished have houses of ivory, And
consumed have been many houses, An affirmation of Jehovah!
And I will smite the winter house with the summer house,.... Both the
one and, the other shall fall to the ground, being beat down by the enemy, or
shook and made to fall by the earthquake predicted, Amos 1:1; as Kimchi
thinks: kings and great personages had houses in the city in the winter season,
in which they lived for warmth; and others in the country in the summertime, to
which they retired for the benefit of the air; or they had, in one and the same
house, a summer and a winter parlour; see Judges 3:20; it
signifies that the destruction should reach city and country, and deprive them
of what was for their comfort and pleasure:
and the houses of ivory shall perish; or "of
the tooth"F12בתי השן
"domus dentis", Montanus, Mercerus, Vatablus. ; the elephant's tooth,
of which ivory is made. Ahab made a house of ivory; and perhaps more were made
by others afterwards, following his example, 1 Kings 22:39; not
that these houses 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 covered 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 figure and distinction; houses great in
building, or many in number, as Kimchi observes, and as the wordF13בתים רבים "aedes
multi", V. L. "domus multae", Pagninus, Montanus, Mercerus,
Cocceius, Burkius. 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.
──《John Gill’s
Exposition of the Bible》
New King James
Version (NKJV)