“Thus hath the Lord GOD shewed unto me; and, behold, he formed grasshoppers in the beginning of the shooting up of the latter growth; and, lo, it was the latter growth after the king's mowings. grasshoppers: or, green worms”
The locust, &c. These judgments by locusts and fire, which by the prophet’s intercession were moderated, signify the former invasions of the Assyrians under Phul and Theglathphalassar, before the utter desolation of Israel by Salmanasar. (Challoner) — Locusts denoted the Assyrian invaders, 4 Kings xviii. (Worthington) — Formed. Literally, “the maker of the locust, in the beginning of the herbs shooting,” &c., (Haydock) in spring. (St. Jerome) — They pasture in our January: yet the grass of autumn may be meant. The king took the best which grows in summer. (Calmet) — Septuagint, “and lo, a swarm of locusts coming in the morning; and lo, one bruchus, Gog, the king,” (Haydock) or “against king Gog.” (Calmet) — Aquila has, “of the king of Gaza.” He probably left the original term, (St. Jerome) gizze. (Haydock) — The invasion of the Assyrians, Chaldeans, and Scythians is insinuated. (Theodoret) — The latter came the year after the earthquake, chap. i. (Pezron.) — This was the first vision of Amos. (Calmet) — He saw the first and last inroads of the Assyrians, as well as the prosperity of Jeroboam. (Menochius)
“And it came to pass, that when they had made an end of eating the grass of the land, then I said, O Lord GOD, forgive, I beseech thee: by whom shall Jacob arise? for he is small. by: or, who of (or, for,) Jacob shall stand?”
When. Septuagint, “If it shall eat up,” &c. (Haydock) — Little. After Jeroboam II, the kingdom fell to decay, when Manahem called in the Assyrians. (Calmet)
“The LORD repented for this: It shall not be, saith the LORD.”
The. Septuagint, “Repent, O Lord, on this head, and this shall,” &c. — Not be: the grass shall not be totally devoured. (Haydock) — The king of the Assyrians invaded Juda in vain, 4 Kings xix. (Worthington)
“Thus hath the Lord GOD shewed unto me: and, behold, the Lord GOD called to contend by fire, and it devoured the great deep, and did eat up a part.”
Part of the land, if the prophet had not interposed; (ver. 6.; Calmet) or rather civil wars desolated a great part of the kingdom, before the Lord was appeased. (Haydock) — The fire foreshewed the captivity of the two tribes, 4 Kings xxiv. (Worthington)
“The LORD repented for this: This also shall not be, saith the Lord GOD.”
The. Septuagint, as ver. 3. (Haydock) — We read not of locusts being sent, ver. 1. But fire of war certainly raged before the final catastrophe of Jehu’s family, when Sellum slew Zacharias, 4 Kings xv. 8. (Calmet)
“Thus he shewed me: and, behold, the Lord stood upon a wall made by a plumbline, with a plumbline in his hand.”
Plastered. Hebrew, “wall, made by a plumb-line, with a plumb-line in his hand.” (Protestants) (Haydock) — But Septuagint, Syriac, &c., seem more literal, (Calmet) “on a wall of adamant, and a diamond in his hand.” Hebrew anac, (Haydock) whence a diamond was called anactites, (Orpheus) or anachites. (Pliny, [Natural History?] xxxvii. 4.) — Saturn had a scythe of adamant, and walls of this kind were deemed impervious even to the inhabitants of heaven. Thus Virgil describes the gates of hell:
“And the LORD said unto me, Amos, what seest thou? And I said, A plumbline. Then said the Lord, Behold, I will set a plumbline in the midst of my people Israel: I will not again pass by them any more:”
Plaster. Septuagint, “I will no more pass over it,” the adamantine wall. I will hide their faults no longer. (Haydock) — This third vision alluded to the distress of the ten tribes, 4 Kings xv. 20. (Worthington)
“And the high places of Isaac shall be desolate, and the sanctuaries of Israel shall be laid waste; and I will rise against the house of Jeroboam with the sword.”
Idol. Hebrew, “Isaac.” (Calmet) — Septuagint, “laughter.” (Haydock) — Isaac had resided for some time at Bersabee, which was a place frequented by idolaters, chap. v. 5., and viii. 14. Josias overthrew (4 Kings xxiii. 8.; Calmet) the profane “altars.” (Haydock) — Sword. His son Zacharias was slain after six months reign, ver. 6, 11.
“Then Amaziah the priest of Bethel sent to Jeroboam king of Israel, saying, Amos hath conspired against thee in the midst of the house of Israel: the land is not able to bear all his words.”
Words. Nothing could be more unfounded. Amos had indeed denounced many judgments; but he was not wanting in respect to the king. (Calmet)
“For thus Amos saith, Jeroboam shall die by the sword, and Israel shall surely be led away captive out of their own land.”
Sword. The prophet did not say this, but that the Lord would rise up against the house of Jeroboam with the sword; which was verified when Zacharias, the son and successor of Jeroboam, was slain by the sword, 4 Kings xv. 10. (Challoner) — The false prophet was therefore guilty of a lie. They accuse the preachers of truth as traitors. (Worthington) — Thus many missionary priests have been traduced in England. (Haydock)
“Also Amaziah said unto Amos, O thou seer, go, flee thee away into the land of Judah, and there eat bread, and prophesy there:”
Seer. This was the ancient title of prophets; (1 Kings ix. 9.; Calmet) but it is here used contumeliously. (Haydock) — We know not whether Amasias acted by the king’s order or not. He was less afraid of the predictions than of losing his employment. (Calmet)
“But prophesy not again any more at Bethel: for it is the king's chapel, and it is the king's court. chapel: or, sanctuary king's court: Heb. house of the kingdom”
Sanctuary, or “palace.” (Kimchi) — The kings resided commonly in Samaria; but they came hither to practise their religion, and had a palace. (Calmet) — The king’s choice was all that Amasias regarded, as many seem still to do, without examining whether the religion be true or false! Will the king screen them from the indignation of the just Judge at the hour of death? (Haydock)
“Then answered Amos, and said to Amaziah, I was no prophet, neither was I a prophet's son; but I was an herdman, and a gatherer of sycomore fruit: sycomore: or, wild figs”
I am not a prophet. That is, I am not a prophet by education: nor is prophesying my calling or profession: but I am a herdsman, whom God was pleased to send hither to prophesy to Israel. (Challoner) — He speaks with the like humility as [John] the baptist, John i. 21., and Luke vii. 26. It seems the prophets usually left their trade, and applied to meditation, Zacharias viii. 5. Septuagint, “I was not a prophet, nor,” &c. — Plucking. Septuagint (Theodotion), “pricking.” (Calmet) — This was requisite to make the fruit ripen in four days’ time. (Pliny, [Natural History?] xiii. 7., and xvi. 27. — Wild fig-trees have three sorts of fruits. The flies which proceed from some of them, prick the sweet figs, and make them ripen. (Tournefort i. let. 8.) — Amos probably conveyed such wild figs to be near those of the garden, while at other times he fed his cattle.
“Now therefore hear thou the word of the LORD: Thou sayest, Prophesy not against Israel, and drop not thy word against the house of Isaac.”
Drop; menaces, Ezechiel xx. 46. Septuagint, “thou shalt not disturb (Calmet) or threaten the house of Jacob.” (St. Jerome) — Idol; the calf, worshipped in Bethel. (Challoner) — Hebrew, “Isaac,” as [in] ver. 9. (Haydock)
“Therefore thus saith the LORD; Thy wife shall be an harlot in the city, and thy sons and thy daughters shall fall by the sword, and thy land shall be divided by line; and thou shalt die in a polluted land: and Israel shall surely go into captivity forth of his land.”
Play. Symmachus has better, “shall be treated as a harlot.” A “husband would rather hear that his wife had been slain than defiled.” (St. Jerome) — Line, and divided among strangers. — Land, out of Palestine. All other countries were deemed unclean. Amasias was probably exiled, or led captive by Theglathphalassar, as Salmanasar did not come till sixty-two years after the death of Jeroboam. We know no more of the history of Amasias. The martyrologies say he slew Amos. (Calmet) — His name means “rigid,” and he was a true image of a heretic. “All that he possesses shall fall to the share of devils.” (St. Jerome)