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Amos Chapter
Four
New King James Version (NKJV)
INTRODUCTION TO AMOS 4
In
this chapter
the great ones
or the people of Israel
are threatened with
calamities for their oppression of the poor
Amos 4:1; and in an
ironic manner are reproved for their idolatry
Amos 4:4; then
follows an enumeration of several judgments that had been upon them
yet had had
no effect on them
to bring them to repentance
nor even mercies
Amos 4:6; and
notwithstanding all this
in a wonderful gracious manner
they are called upon
to prepare to meet their God
who is described by his power
greatness
and
goodness
Amos 4:12.
Amos 4:1 Hear this word
you cows of Bashan
who are on the mountain of Samaria
Who oppress the
poor
Who crush the needy
Who say to your husbands
[a] “Bring wine
let us drink!”
YLT
1Hear this word
ye kine of
Bashan
Who [are] in the mountain of Samaria
Who are oppressing the poor
Who
are bruising the needy
Who are saying to their lords: `Bring in
and we do
drink.'
Hear this word
ye kine of Bashan
.... Or "cows of
Bashan"F14פרות הבשן
"vaccae Basan"
Pagninus
Montanus
Junius & Tremellius
Piscator
Vatablus
Drusius
Mercerus
Grotius
Cocceius. ; a country beyond
Jordan
inhabited by the tribes of Gad and Reuben
and the half tribe of
Manasseh
very fruitful of pasturage
and where abundance of fat cattle were
brought up; to whom persons of distinction
and of the first rank
are here
compared. Aben Ezra
Jarchi
and Kimchi
interpret them of the wives of the
king
princes
ministers of state
and great men; and so it may be thought that
Amos
a herdsman
in his rustic manner
compliments the court ladies with this
epithet
for their plumpness
wantonness
and petulancy. Though it may be the
princes and great men themselves may be rather intended
and be so called for
their effeminacy
and perhaps with some regard to the calves they worshipped;
and chiefly because being fat and flourishing
and abounding with wealth and
riches
they became wanton and mischievous; like fat cattle
broke down their
fences
and would be under no restraint of the laws of God and man; entered
into their neighbours' fields
seized on their property
and spoiled them of
it. So the Targum paraphrases it
"ye
rich of substance.'
In
like manner the principal men among the Jews
in the times of Christ
are
called bulls of Bashan
Psalm 22:12;
that are in the mountains of Samaria; like cattle
grazing on a mountain; the metaphor is still continued: Samaria was the
principal city of Ephraim
the metropolis of the ten tribes
Isaiah 7:9;
situated on a mountain; Mr. MaundrellF15Journey from Aleppo to
Jerusalem
p. 59. Ed. 7. says
upon a long mount
of an oval figure
having
first a fruitful valley
and then a ring of hills running about it. Here the
kings of Israel had their palace
and kept their court
and where their princes
and nobles resided. Ahab is said to be king of Samaria
1 Kings 21:1;
which oppress the poor
which crush the needy; by laying
heavy taxes upon them; exacting more of them than they are able to pay;
lessening their wages for work done
or withholding it from them; or by taking
from them that little they have
and so reducing them to the utmost extremity
and refusing to do them justice in courts of judicature:
which say to their masters
bring
and let us drink; Kimchi
who interprets
these words of the wives of great men
supposes their husbands are here
addressed
who are
and acknowledged to be
their masters or lords; see 1 Peter 3:6; whom
they call upon to bring them money taken from the poor
or for which they have
sold them
that they may have wherewith to eat and drink
fare sumptuously
and
live in a grand manner
feasting themselves and their visitors: or these are
the words of inferior officers to superior ones
desiring they might have leave
to pillage the poor
that so they might live in a more gay and splendid manner
and in rioting and drunkenness
in chambering and wantonness. So the Targum
"give
us power
that we may spoil it.'
Or
rather these words are directed to the masters of the poor
who had power over
them
had them in their clutches
in whose debt they were; or they had
something against them
and therefore these corrupt judges
and wicked
magistrates
desire they might be brought before them; who for a bribe would
give the cause against them
right or wrong
so long as they got something to
feast themselves with; or they are spoken by the rich
to the masters of the
poor
to whom they had sold them
to bring them the purchase money
that they
might indulge and gratify their sensual appetites; see Amos 2:6.
Amos 4:2 2 The
Lord God
has sworn by His holiness: “Behold
the days shall come upon you When He will
take you away with fishhooks
And your posterity with fishhooks.
YLT
2Sworn hath the Lord Jehovah
by His holiness
That lo
days are coming upon you
And he hath taken you away
with hooks
And your posterity with fish-hooks.
The Lord God hath sworn by his holiness
.... That is
by himself
holiness being his nature
and an essential attribute of his; this
is done to ascertain the truth of what is after said
and that men may be
assured of the certain performance of it. Some render it
"by his holy
place"; and interpret it of heaven; so Aben Ezra and Kimchi; which is not
likely; see Matthew 5:34. The
Targum is
"the
Lord God hath sworn by his word in his holiness;'
that
lo
the days shall come upon you; speedily
swiftly
and at an unawares:
that he will take you away with hooks
and your posterity with
fish hooks; the enemy
the king of Assyria
or God by him
would take them
out of their own land
as fish out of water
out of their own element
and
carry them captive into a strange land
both them and their posterity; and
which should be as easily done as fish are taken with the hook
even though
they were as the kine of Bashan. The word for fish hooks signifies
"thorns"F16בסירות
"spinis"
Mercerus
Liveleus
Drusius
Grotius.
and is by some so
rendered; these perhaps being used in angling
before iron hooks were invented.
The Targum is
"that
people shall take you away on their shields
and your daughters in fishermen'sF17So
it is interpreted by R. Sol Urbin Ohel Moed
fol. 65. 2. likewise Elias says
the word signifies a small ship
or a boat that is in a large ship
Tishbi
p.
59. So Vatablus interprets it
"scaphas piscatorias
sive
cymbas"; and some in Munster. boats;'
see
Jeremiah 16:16.
Amos 4:3 3 You
will go out through broken walls
Each one straight ahead of her
And you will be cast into Harmon
” Says the Lord.
YLT
3And [by] breaches ye go
forth
A woman [at that] over-against her
And ye have cast down the high
place
An affirmation of Jehovah.
And ye shall go out at the breaches
.... Not at the gates of
the city
as they had used to do at pleasure; but at the breaches of the walls
of it
made by the enemy
in order to make their escape
if possible; they who
had broke down the fences of law and justice
and injured the poor and needy
shall now have the walls of their city broken down and they themselves exposed to
the most imminent danger
and glad to get out of them to save their lives:
every cow at that which is before her; every woman
as Jarchi and Kimchi; or every great person
compared to the kine of Bashan
shall make up as fast as he can to the breach before him
to get out; shall
follow one another as quick as they can
and clamber on one another's backs
as
such cattle do
to get out first; which shows the hurry and confusion they
should be in
upon the taking of their city Samaria:
and ye shall cast them into the palace
saith the Lord; either their
children
or their substance
which they shall cast into the royal palace
or
fort
or citadel
for safety. Some render it
"ye shall cast
yourselves"; so Abarbinel; that is
such as could not get out at the
breaches should betake themselves to the palace or fort for their security. The
Targum of the whole is
"and
they shall break down the wall upon you
and bring you out
gathered everyone
before him
and carry you beyond the mountains of Armenia.'
And
so some others
taking it to be the name of a place
render it
"ye shall
be cast into Armon"
or Mona; which BochartF18Geograph. Sacr.
l. 1. c. 3. col. 20. suspects to be the same with Minni
mentioned with Ararat
a mountain in Armenia
Jeremiah 51:27.
Amos 4:4 4 “Come
to Bethel and transgress
At Gilgal multiply transgression; Bring your
sacrifices every morning
Your tithes every three days.[b]
YLT
4Enter ye Beth-El
and
transgress
At Gilgal multiply transgression
And bring in every morning your
sacrifices
Every third year your tithes.
Come to Bethel and transgress
.... and what follows
are ironic and sarcastic speeches
not giving liberty to sin
but in this way
reproving for it: Bethel was one of the places where the calves were placed and
worshipped: and here they are bid to go thither
and go on with and continue in
their idolatrous worship
by which they transgressed the law of God
and mark
what would be the issue of it. The sense is the same with Ecclesiastes 11:9;
see Ezekiel 20:29;
at Gilgal multiply transgression; that is
multiply acts
of idolatry: Gilgal was a place where high places and altars were erected
and
idols worshipped; as it had formerly been a place of religious worship of the
true God
the ten tribes made use of it in the times of their apostasy for
idolatrous worship; see Hosea 4:15;
and bring your sacrifices every morning; and offer
them to your idols
as you were wont formerly to offer them unto the true God
according to the law of Moses
Exodus 29:38;
and your tithes after three
years; the third year after the sabbatical year was the year of
tithing; and after the tithe of the increase of the fruits of the earth
there
was "maaser sheni"
the second tithe
the same with "maaser
ani"
the poor's tithe
which was given to the Levite
the stranger
the
fatherless; and the widow
to eat with them
Deuteronomy 14:22;
and this they are sarcastically bid to observe in their idolatrous way. It is
in the Hebrew text
"after three days"; and so the Targum
"your
tithes in three days;'
days
being put for years
as Kimchi and Ben Melech observe. It may be rendered
"after three years of days"F19לשלשת
ימים "post tres annos dierum"
Piscator. ; three complete years.
Amos 4:5 5 Offer
a sacrifice of thanksgiving with leaven
Proclaim and announce the
freewill offerings; For this you love
You children of Israel!” Says the
Lord God.
YLT
5And perfume with leaven a
thank-offering
And proclaim willing gifts
sound ye! For so ye have loved
O
sons of Israel
An affirmation of the Lord Jehovah.
And offer a sacrifice of thanksgiving with leaven
.... Which
some observe was contrary to the law
which forbids all leaven in a meat
offering; or "burning" it in any offering
Leviticus 2:11;
which the wordF20קטר
"incendendo"
Munster
Tigurine version; "incendito
incensum"
Vatablus. here used suggests was done by these idolaters
as
well as eaten by them
their priests not liking to eat unleavened bread; but;
though it was forbidden in the meat offering
was allowed
yea
ordered
with
the sacrifice of thanksgiving
Leviticus 7:13. So
Abarbinel understands it here
as what was according
to law
but ironically
commanded to be offered to idols:
and proclaim and publish the free offerings; let all know
of them when you make your freewill offerings
and invite them to partake of
them:
for this liketh you
O ye children of Israel
saith the Lord God; or ye love to
offer such sacrifices to your idols
rather than to the Lord God; preferring
these to him
and delighting more in the worship of them than of him.
Amos 4:6 6 “Also
I gave you cleanness of teeth in all your cities
And lack of bread in all your
places; Yet you have not returned to Me
” Says the Lord.
YLT
6And I also -- I have given
to you cleanness of teeth in all your cities
And lack of bread in all your
places
And ye have not turned back unto Me
an affirmation of Jehovah.
And I also have given you cleanness of teeth in all your cities
.... Meaning a
famine
having no food to foul them with
or to stick in them. This was not the
famine in Samaria
2 Kings 6:25; for
that was only in that city
and for a short time
while besieged; whereas this
was in all the cities in Israel; rather therefore it designs the famine
predicted by Elisha
which should be upon the land for seven years
2 Kings 8:1;
and want of bread in all your places: this is the
same with the former clause
and explains it
and still makes the famine more
general
not only in their cities
but in all their places of abode
their
towns and villages:
yet have ye not returned unto me
saith the Lord; this judgment
had no influence upon them
to bring them to a sense of their evils
particularly their idolatry
and to repentance them
and to reclaim them from
them
and return them to the Lord
and to his worship
as the Targum
paraphrases it.
Amos 4:7 7 “I
also withheld rain from you
When there were still three months to the
harvest. I made it rain on one city
I withheld rain from another city. One part
was rained upon
And where it did not rain the part withered.
YLT
7And I also -- I have
withheld from you the rain. While yet three months to harvest
And I have sent
rain on one city
And on another city I do not send rain
One portion is rained
on
And the portion on which it raineth not withereth.
And also I have withholden the rain from you
.... As he did
for the space of three years successively in the days of Ahab
as predicted by
Elijah
1 Kings 17:1; the
consequences of which are very bad to men and beast
and bring on a scarcity of
food for both
and a famine if long withheld:
when there were yet three months to the harvest; that is
three months before the harvest
as Jarchi; when
as Kimchi observes
there was
need of rain: this was the latter rain which was usually given and expected
about this time
and on which the goodness of the crop
and so of the harvest
greatly depended; these three months before barley harvest were December
January
and February
that being in March; and before the wheat harvest
February
March
and April
that being in May usually:
and I caused it to rain upon one city
and caused it not to rain
upon another city; so that it might appear to be not by the course of nature
or
through the influence of the planets
or by chance; but was according to the
direction of divine Providence
the hand of God was manifestly in it: yea
one piece was rained upon
and the piece whereupon it rained not
withered; one piece of ground or field had a plentiful shower on it
whereby it became fruitful; and another field or close on the other side of the
hedge or partition had none
whereby what did spring up withered away and came
to nothing: or "one inheritance"F21חלקה
"fundus"
Mercerus
Vatablus; "hereditas"
Targum.
or
farm
as some render it; one man's estate was well watered with rain from
heaven
and brought forth much fruit; and another man's estate
for want of it
was barren
and brought forth nothing: thus God was pleased to do in his
providence
to show his sovereignty
and to chastise men for their sins; and in
such a manner as that they might
if not blind easily perceive his hand in it.
Amos 4:8 8 So
two or three cities wandered to another city to drink water
But they
were not satisfied; Yet you have not returned to Me
” Says the Lord.
YLT
8And wandered have two or
three cities
Unto the same city to drink water
And they are not satisfied
And ye have not turned back unto Me
An affirmation of Jehovah.
So two or three cities wandered unto one city
to drink
water
.... Two or three cities
that is
the inhabitants of them
being
without water
went up and down in quest of any city or place where they could
find water for themselves and cattle to drink:
but they were not satisfied; could not get enough for
their present use and much less to carry back with them to supply them for any
length of time; such a scarcity there was of it in other parts; see 1 Kings 18:5;
yet have ye not returned unto me
saith the Lord; this had no
more effect upon them than the other to relinquish their former courses
and
return unto the Lord by humiliation and repentance.
Amos 4:9 9 “I
blasted you with blight and mildew. When your gardens increased
Your
vineyards
Your fig trees
And your olive trees
The locust devoured them; Yet
you have not returned to Me
” Says the Lord.
YLT
9I have smitten you with
blasting and with mildew
The abundance of your gardens and of your vineyards
And of your figs
and of your olives
Eat doth the palmer-worm
And ye have not
turned back unto Me
An affirmation of Jehovah.
I have smitten you with blasting and mildew
....
"Blasting" is what we commonly call "blights"
generally
occasioned by an east wind; and so Kimchi interprets the word here used; and
the Vulgate Latin version renders it
"a burning wind"; which causes
the buds and leaves of trees to shrivel up as if they were burnt with fire.
"Mildew" is a kind of clammy dew
which falling upon corn
&c.
corrupts and destroys by its moisture; and is a kind of jaundice to the fruits
of the earth; and has its name as that
from yellowness
in the Hebrew language:
when the Lord is said to smite them with these the sense is
that he sent these
upon the fruits of their gardens
fields and vineyards
which consumed them:
when your gardens and your vineyards and your fig trees and your
olive trees increased
the palmer worm devoured them; just when
they were budding and blossoming
and bringing forth fruit; and so what the
blasting and mildew did not consume
that the palmer worm
a kind of locust
did; which has its name from its biting and cutting off the leaves and branches
of trees
as of those mentioned vines
olives and fig trees
with which the
land of Canaan abounded
the cutting off which was a great calamity. The Targum
is
"the
multitude of your gardens
&c. the palmer worm hath eaten:'
yet have ye not returned unto me
saith the Lord; this
dispensation of Providence was also without its desired fruit and effect; See
Gill on Amos 4:6.
Amos 4:10 10 “I
sent among you a plague after the manner of Egypt; Your young men I killed with
a sword
Along with your captive horses; I made the stench of your camps come
up into your nostrils; Yet you have not returned to Me
” Says the Lord.
YLT
10I have sent among you
pestilence by the way of Egypt
I have slain by sword your choice ones
With
your captive horses
And I cause the stink of your camps to come up -- even
into your nostrils
And ye have not turned back unto Me
An affirmation of
Jehovah.
I have sent among you the pestilence
after the manner of Egypt
.... Like that
which was sent among the firstborn of Egypt
and cut them off in one night; or
when in the way of Egypt
as the Targum; either as in the wilderness
when they
came out of Egypt
so Jarchi interprets it; see Numbers 16:46; or
the Lord sent the pestilence as they went in the way to Egypt for help and
assistence
or for shelter
for food in time of famine; for they went thither
as Kimchi says
because of the famine
to fetch food
from thence; and this was
displeasing to the Lord
and he sent the plague among them
which cut them off
in the way:
your young men have I slain with the sword; of the enemy
in battle; or as they were in the way to Egypt
being sent there to fetch food
but were intercepted by the enemy:
and have taken away your horses; on which they rode to
Egypt on the above errand; or rather which they brought up from thence
contrary to the command of God:
and have made the stink of your camps to come up unto your
nostrils; such numbers of their armies being slain
and these lying
unburied
the smell of them was very noisome:
yet have ye not returned unto me saith the Lord; still they
continued obstinate and impenitent; See Gill on Amos 4:6.
Amos 4:11 11 “I
overthrew some of you
As God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah
And you were
like a firebrand plucked from the burning; Yet you have not returned to Me
” Says
the Lord.
YLT
11I have overturned among
you
Like the overturn by God of Sodom and Gomorrah
And ye are as a brand
delivered from a burning
And ye have not turned back unto Me
An affirmation
of Jehovah.
I have overthrown some of you
as God overthrew Sodom and
Gomorrah
.... Either their houses were burnt
or their bodies consumed by
fire from heaven
with lightning; not whole cities
but the habitations of some
particular persons
or they themselves:
and ye were as a firebrand plucked out of the burning; some escaped
such an awful calamity
their houses were not consumed
while others were; and
their persons were safe
while others
just by them
were struck dead at once:
yet have ye not returned unto me
saith the Lord; neither the
judgments of God on themselves and others had any effect upon them to humble
and reclaim them: such dispensations
without the grace of God is exerted
rather harden than soften; and
instead of bringing men to repentance
cause
them to blaspheme; see Revelation 16:8;
nor will the mercy and goodness of God
which should lead persons to
repentance
attain that end
unless accompanied with the Spirit and grace of
God; who
notwithstanding such mercies and deliverances
will remain senseless
stupid obdurate
and impenitent; see Revelation 9:20.
Amos 4:12 12 “Therefore
thus will I do to you
O Israel; Because I will do this to you
Prepare to meet
your God
O Israel!”
YLT
12Therefore
thus I do to
thee
O Israel
at last
Because this I do to thee
Prepare to meet thy God
O
Israel.
Therefore thus will I do unto thee
O Israel
.... What he
would do is not expressly and particularly said; it is commonly understood to
be something in a way of judgment
and worse than what he had done
since they
had no effect upon them; or these things should be done over again
until an
utter end was made of them; or the reference is to Amos 3:11; and the
following words are usually interpreted
either
ironically
since the Lord was
coming forth as an enemy to issue the controversy with them; they are called
upon to meet
him in a hostile way
and muster up all their forces
exert all
their power and strength
and make use of their best weapons and military skill
and see what would be the consequence of all this; feeble worms set in
opposition to the mighty God; thorns and briers he can easily go through
and
burn up quickly: or else they are seriously addressed
and exhorted to meet the
Lord in the way of his judgments
by humiliation
repentance
and reformation;
not knowing but that after all he may be gracious and merciful to them
and
turn away the fierceness of his anger from them; see Amos 5:15; but I
rather think the words are a promise or intimation of doing something to Israel
in a way of special grace and kindness
notwithstanding their conduct and
behaviour
and the ineffectualness both of judgments and providential mercies;
for the words may be rendered
as the same particle should be in Hosea 2:14;
"notwithstanding"
or "nevertheless
thus will I do unto
thee"F23לכן "nihilominus
tamen". Vid. Noldium
p. 507. ; what I have from all eternity purposed and
resolved to do
and what I have promised again and again
by the mouth of all
the holy prophets
from the beginning of the world
I would do; namely
send my
Son to be thy Saviour and Redeemer:
and because I will do this
unto thee
prepare to meet thy God
O Israel; the Messiah that was
then to come was God
and so equal to the work of redemption and salvation he
was to do; and the God of spiritual and mystical Israel
even all the elect
Jews and Gentiles
to be redeemed by him; was to be their Immanuel
God in
their nature
and therefore to be met with the utmost joy and pleasure; see Zechariah 9:9; for
this meeting him is not to be understood in a hostile way
and as spoken
ironically to the enemies of Christ to oppose him
encounter with him
and mark
the issue of it
who in time would cause them to be brought before him and slain
as some interpret the words; but in a friendly manner
as he was met by those
that were waiting for his coming
such as Simeon and others; and by those John
the Baptist called upon to prepare the way of the Lord; and as he was by his
own disciples
who embraced him by faith
received him with joy
and left all
and followed him; and as all such are prepared to meet him who are made truly
sensible of sin
and of their own righteousness as insufficient to justify from
it
and have seen the glory
fulness
and suitableness of his salvation. Christ
is to be met with in his house and ordinances; and men are prepared for it when
the desires of their hearts are towards him
and their graces are exercised on
him; which preparation is from himself: he will be met at his second coming by
his spiritual Israel; and they will be prepared for it who believe it
love it
and long for it; have their loins girt
and their lights burning
and they
waiting for their Lord's coming; see Matthew 25:1; and
so at the hour of death
which is the day of the Lord; a preparation and
readiness for which lies not in external humiliation
outward reformation
a
moral righteousness
or a bare profession of religion
and submission to
ordinances; but in regeneration
in faith in Christ
and spiritual knowledge of
him; in a being washed in his blood
and clothed with his righteousness; for
which readiness all truly sensible sinners will be concerned
and which is all
from the grace of God; see Matthew 24:43. The
Septuagint
Syriac
and Arabic versions
read it
"prepare to call upon
thy God"; and the Targum paraphrases it
"to
receive the doctrine of the law of thy God;'
rather
the doctrine of the Gospel; but the former sense is best; for the confirmation
of which it may be observed
that when God is said to do a thing to any
it is
usually in a way of grace; and that when preparation is made to meet a divine
Person
it is always meant of the Son of God; and that it is a common thing in
prophecy
that when the Lord is threatening men with his judgments
to throw in
a promise or prophecy of the Messiah
for the comfort of his people.
Amos 4:13 13 For
behold
He who forms mountains
And creates the wind
Who declares to man what
his[c] thought is
And makes the morning darkness
Who treads the high places of the earth— The
Lord God of hosts is
His name.
YLT
13For
lo
the former of
mountains
and creator of wind
And the declarer to man what [is] His thought
He is making dawn obscurity
And is treading on high places of earth
Jehovah
God of Hosts
[is] His name!
For
lo
he that formeth the mountains
.... These
words are a description of the glorious Person
"thy God" and
Saviour
to be met; he is the Creator of all things
that formed the mountains
and so was before them
as in Proverbs 8:25; and
able to surmount and remove all mountains of difficulties that lay in his way
of working out salvation for his people:
and createth the wind; or "spirit";
not the Holy Spirit
which is uncreated; but either angels
whom he makes
spirits; or the spirit and soul of man he is the Creator of; or rather the
natural wind is meant
which is his creature
he holds in his fists
restrains
and commands
at his pleasure
Matthew 8:26;
and declareth unto man what is his thought; not what is
man's thought
though he knows what is in man without any information
and is a
discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart
and can reveal them to men
and convince them that he knows them
Matthew 9:4; but
rather the thought of God
the meditation of his heart
concerning the
salvation of men; his thoughts of peace
which are the deep things of God
and
which Christ
lying in the bosom of his Father
was privy to
and has declared
John 1:18. The
Septuagint and Arabic versions
reading the words wrong
render them
"declaring to men his Christ"; which
though true of God
is not the
sense of this clause. The Targum is
"what
are his worksF24So Kimchi and R. Sol. Urbin. Ohel Moed
fol. 4. 5.
?'
his
works of creation
providence
redemption
and grace:
that maketh the morning darkness; or "darkness
morning"
or "the morning out of darkness"F25עושה שחר עיפה
"faciens obscuritatem auroram"
Drusius. ; being the dayspring from
on high
the morning star
the sun of righteousness
that
rising
made the
Gospel day
after a long night of Jewish and Gentile darkness; and who made the
same dispensation a morning to one
and darkness to another
John 9:39. The
Septuagint version is
"making the morning and the cloud"; the
Vulgate Latin version
"making the morning cloud"; his coming was as
the morning
Hosea 6:3;
and treadeth upon the high places of the earth; the land of
Israel
which is Immanuel's land
is said by the Jews to be higher than other
lands; Jerusalem higher than any part of Judea
and the mountain the temple was
built on higher than Jerusalem: here Christ trod in the days of his flesh
and
from the mount of Olives ascended to heaven
after he had trampled upon and
spoiled principalities and powers
spiritual wickednesses in high places
and
when he led captivity captive. Jarchi interprets it of humbling the mighty and
proud
who are compared to the high places of the earth. The Targum is
"to
declared to men what are his works
to prepare light for the righteous as the
morning light
who goes and prepares darkness for earth;'
the Lord
the God of hosts
is his name; he is the
Jehovah
the Lord our righteousness
the God and Governor of the armies of
heaven the hosts of angels
and to whom all creatures on earth are subject; all
power in heaven and earth belongs unto him; this is Israel's God
his Redeemer
and Saviour he is called upon to prepare to meet.
──《John Gill’s
Exposition of the Bible》
New King James
Version (NKJV)