John Wesley's Notes on the Bible

Chapter 5: | Darby | Geneva | Gill | Jamieson Faussett Brown | Matthew Henry | Matthew Henry Concise | Wesley | Index | Bible Gateway |

Introduction   1   2   3   4   5   6   7   8   9   Joel   Obadiah
Amos 5
The deplorable condition of Israel, ver. 1-3. An exhortation to seek God, ver. 4-15. Judgments denounced, ver. 16-20. Notwithstanding their outward services, ver. 21-27.

Verse 2.   The virgin - So she was, when first espoused to God. Upon her land - Broken to pieces upon her own land, and so left as a broken vessel.

Verse 3.   By a thousand - That sent out one thousand soldiers. An hundred - Shall lose nine parts of them.

Verse 4.   Ye shall live - It shall be well with you.

Verse 5.   Seek not - Consult not, worship not the idol at Bethel, Gilgal, or Beersheba.

Verse 6.   The house of Joseph - The kingdom of the ten tribes, the chief whereof was Ephraim, the son of Joseph. In Beth-el - If once this fire breaks out, all your idols in Beth-el shall not be able to quench it.

Verse 7.   Ye - Rulers and Judges. Judgment - The righteous sentence of the law. To wormwood - Proverbially understood; bitterness, injustice and oppression. Leave off - Make to cease in your courts of judicature.

Verse 8.   The seven stars - A constellation, whose rising about September was usually accompanied with sweet showers. Orion - Which arising about November brings usually cold, rains and frosts intermixt very seasonable for the earth. The shadow of the earth - The greatest adversity into as great prosperity. Dark with might - Changes prosperity into adversity. That calleth - Commands the vapor to ascend, which he turns into rain; and then pours from the clouds to make the earth fruitful.

Verse 9.   The strong - The mighty, victorious and insolent. Shall come - Shall rally and form a siege against their besiegers.

Verse 10.   They - The Judges and people. In the gate - Where Judges sat, and where the prophets many times delivered their message.

Verse 11.   Your treading - You utterly oppress the helpless. Ye take - Ye extort from the poor great quantities of wheat, on which he should live.

Verse 12.   In the gate - In their courts of justice.

Verse 13.   Shall keep silence - Be forced to it. Evil - Both for the sinfulness of it, and for the troubles, wars, and captivity now at hand.

Verse 14.   With you - To bless and save you yet.

Verse 15.   The evil - All evil among the people, and yourselves. Love - Commend, encourage, defend: let your heart be toward good things, and good men. Remnant - What the invasions of enemies, or the civil wars have spared, and left in Samaria and Israel.

Verse 16.   Therefore - The prophet foreseeing their obstinacy, proceeds to denounce judgment against them. The husbandman - This sort of men are little used to such ceremonies of mourning, but now such also shall be called upon; leave your toil, betake yourselves to publick mourning.

Verse 17.   Vineyards - In these places were usually the greatest joy. Pass through - To punish all every where.

Verse 18.   That desire - Scoffingly, not believing any such day would come. To what end - What do you think to get by it? Is darkness - All adversity, black and doleful. Not light - No joy, or comfort an it.

Verse 19.   And a bear - You may escape one, but shall fall in another calamity. Into the house - At home you may hope for safety, but there other kind of mischief shall meet you.

Verse 21.   I hate - Impure and unholy as they are. Will not smell - A savour, of rest or delight, I will not accept and be pleased with.

Verse 23.   Thy songs - Used in their sacrifices, and solemn feasts; herein they imitated the temple-worship, but all was unpleasing to the Lord. Will not hear - Not with delight and acceptance. Thy viols - This one kind of musical instrument is put for all the rest.

Verse 24.   Let judgment - Let justice be administered constantly. Righteousness - Equity. Stream - Bearing down all that opposes it.

Verse 25.   Have ye - Their fathers and they, tho' at so great a distance of time, are one people, and so the prophet considers them. Unto me - Was it to me, or to your idols, that you offered, even in the wilderness?

Verse 26.   Ye have born - Ye carried along with you in the wilderness; the shrine, or canopy in which the image was placed. Moloch - The great idol of the Ammonites. Chiun - Another idol.

Verse 27.   Therefore - For all your idolatry and other sins, in which you have obstinately continued.


Chapter 5: | Darby | Geneva | Gill | Jamieson Faussett Brown | Matthew Henry | Matthew Henry Concise | Wesley | Index | Bible Gateway |

Introduction   1   2   3   4   5   6   7   8   9   Joel   Obadiah

This version of Wesley's Notes on the Bible is a derivative of an electronic version, Copyright 1997, by Sulu D. Kelley. All rights reserved. Used by permission. It may not be modified or used commercially without permission of Wesleyan Heritage Publishing and Sulu Kelley. A special thanks to Mr. Kelley and Wesleyan Heritage Publishing for permission to create and post this version of Wesley's Notes on the Bible.

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