Commentary on Joel Amos Obadiah Jonah Micah and Nahum John Calvin
Commentary on Joel, Amos, Obadiah,
Jonah, Micah, and Nahum
John Calvin
Translated from the original Latin
by the Rev. John Owen
Monergism Books
Commentary on Joel, Amos, Obadiah,
Jonah, Micah, and Nahum
John Calvin
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Contents
Translator's Preface to Joel, Amos, and Oba… vii
Joel 3:15 83
Joel 3:16 83
Translator's Preface to Jonah, Micah, and Na… xii
Joel 3:17 84
Commentary on Joel 1
Joel 3:18-19 85
Commentary on Joel 2
Joel 3:20 87
Joel 1 4
Joel 3:21 87 Commentary on Amos 90
Joel 1:1-4 4
Joel 1:5 8
Commentary on Amos 91
Joel 1:6-7 9
Amos 1 92
Joel 1:8 11
Amos 1:1 92
Joel 1:9 12
Amos 1:2 94
Joel 1:10 12
Amos 1:3-5 96
Joel 1:11 13
Amos 1:6-8 101
Joel 1:12 14
Amos 1:9-10 103
Joel 1:13-15 14
Amos 1:11-12 104
Joel 1:16-17 17
Amos 1:13-15 106 Amos 2 108
Joel 1:18 18
Joel 1:19-20 19 Joel 2 22
Amos 2:1-3 108
Amos 2:4-5 110
Joel 2:1-11 22
Amos 2:6 113
Joel 2:12-13 30
Amos 2:7 115
Joel 2:14 35
Amos 2:8 117
Joel 2:15-17 37
Amos 2:9-12 119
Joel 2:18-19 43
Amos 2:13 124
Joel 2:20 44
Amos 2:14-16 125 Amos 3 127
Joel 2:21 46
Joel 2:22 47
Amos 3:1-2 127
Joel 2:23 48
Amos 3:3-8 129
Joel 2:24 50
Amos 3:9 136
Joel 2:25 50
Amos 3:10 138
Joel 2:26 51
Amos 3:11-12 138
Joel 2:27 52
Amos 3:13-14 140
Joel 2:28 53
Amos 3:15 142 Amos 4 144
Joel 2:29 57
Joel 2:30-31 58
Amos 4:1 144
Joel 2:32 63 Joel 3 68
Amos 4:2 146
Amos 4:3 147
Joel 3:1-3 68
Amos 4:4-6 148
Joel 3:4-6 73
Amos 4:7 151
Joel 3:7 76
Amos 4:8 152
Joel 3:8 77
Amos 4:9 153
Joel 3:9-11 78
Amos 4:10 155
Joel 3:12 80
Amos 4:11 156
Joel 3:13 81
Amos 4:12-13 157 Amos 5 161
Joel 3:14 81
Amos 5:1 161
Amos 5:2 162
Amos 5:3 163
iii
MINOR PROPHETS
Amos 5:4-6 164
Amos 8:11-12 247
Amos 5:7 167
Amos 8:13-14 251 Amos 9 253
Amos 5:8 168
Amos 5:9 171
Amos 9:1 253
Amos 5:10 172
Amos 9:2-4 256
Amos 5:11 173
Amos 9:5 258
Amos 5:12 174
Amos 9:6 259
Amos 5:13 175
Amos 9:7 261
Amos 5:14 177
Amos 9:8-9 262
Amos 5:15 178
Amos 9:10 265
Amos 5:16 180
Amos 9:11 266
Amos 5:17 182
Amos 9:12 269
Amos 5:18 183
Amos 9:13 270
Amos 5:19 184
Amos 9:14 271
Amos 5:21-23 185
Amos 9:15 272 Commentary on Obadiah 274
Amos 5:24 188
Amos 5:25-26 190
Commentary on Obadiah 275
Amos 5:27 194 Amos 6 196
Obadiah 1 277
Obadiah 1:1 277
Amos 6:1 196
Obadiah 2-4 278
Amos 6:2 198
Obadiah 5 281
Amos 6:3 199
Obadiah 6 282
Amos 6:4 200
Obadiah 7-8 283
Amos 6:5 202
Obadiah 9 287
Amos 6:6-7 203
Obadiah 10-11 288
Amos 6:8 204
Obadiah 12-14 290
Amos 6:9 206
Obadiah 15 292
Amos 6:10 206
Obadiah 16 294
Amos 6:11 209
Obadiah 17 294
Amos 6:12 209
Obadiah 18 296
Amos 6:13 211
Obadiah 19-20 297
Amos 6:14 212 Amos 7 214
Obadiah 21 298 Commentary on Jonah 301
Amos 7:1-3 214
Commentary on Jonah 302
Amos 7:4-6 218
Jonah 1 304
Amos 7:7-9 219
Jonah 1:1-2 304
Amos 7:10-13 222
Jonah 1:3 308
Amos 7:14-15 231
Jonah 1:4 312
Amos 7:16 233 Amos 8 237
Jonah 1:5 313
Jonah 1:6 317
Amos 8:1-2 237
Jonah 1:7 319
Amos 8:3-4 238
Jonah 1:8-10 322
Amos 8:5 240
Jonah 1:11-12 326
Amos 8:6 242
Jonah 1:13-14 329
Amos 8:7 242
Jonah 1:15 332
Amos 8:8 244
Jonah 1:16 332
Amos 8:9 245
Jonah 1:17 336 Jonah 2 339
Amos 8:10 246
MINOR PROPHETS
Jonah 2:1-2 339
Micah 2:7 419
Jonah 2:3 341
Micah 2:8 422
Jonah 2:4 342
Micah 2:9 424
Jonah 2:5-6 344
Micah 2:10 424
Jonah 2:7 345
Micah 2:11 426
Jonah 2:8-9 347
Micah 2:12-13 427 Micah 3 431
Jonah 2:10 350 Jonah 3 351
Micah 3:1-3 431
Jonah 3:1-2 351
Micah 3:4 434
Jonah 3:3 352
Micah 3:5 436
Jonah 3:4 354
Micah 3:6-7 438
Jonah 3:5 355
Micah 3:8 441
Jonah 3:6-8 357
Micah 3:9-10 444
Jonah 3:9 363
Micah 3:11-12 447 Micah 4 453
Jonah 3:10 364 Jonah 4 368
Micah 4:1-2 453
Jonah 4:1 368
Micah 4:3 459
Jonah 4:2 369
Micah 4:4 464
Jonah 4:3 374
Micah 4:5 465
Jonah 4:4 376
Micah 4:6-7 468
Jonah 4:5 378
Micah 4:8 471
Jonah 4:6-8 379
Micah 4:9-10 472
Jonah 4:9 382
Micah 4:11-13 475 Micah 5 481
Jonah 4:10-11 383 Commentary on Micah 387
Micah 5:1-2 481
Micah 5:3 487
Commentary on Micah 388
Micah 5:4 488
Micah 1 389
Micah 5:5 490
Micah 1:1 389
Micah 5:6 493
Micah 1:2 391
Micah 5:7-8 494
Micah 1:3-4 392
Micah 5:9 497
Micah 1:5 395
Micah 5:10-15 497 Micah 6 505
Micah 1:6 398
Micah 1:7 399
Micah 6:1-2 505
Micah 1:8-9 400
Micah 6:3 507
Micah 1:10 402
Micah 6:4 508
Micah 1:11 404
Micah 6:5 509
Micah 1:12 405
Micah 6:6-8 511
Micah 1:13 406
Micah 6:9 516
Micah 1:14 406
Micah 6:10-11 518
Micah 1:15 408
Micah 6:12 520
Micah 1:16 409 Micah 2 411
Micah 6:13-14 521
Micah 6:15 523
Micah 2:1 411
Micah 6:16 523 Micah 7 526
Micah 2:2 412
Micah 2:3 413
Micah 7:1-2 526
Micah 2:4 414
Micah 7:3 528
Micah 2:5 416
Micah 7:4 530
Micah 2:6 417
MINOR PROPHETS
Micah 7:5-6 531
Nahum 3:7 610
Micah 7:7 532
Nahum 3:8-10 611
Micah 7:8 534
Nahum 3:11 614
Micah 7:9 536
Nahum 3:12 615
Micah 7:10 539
Nahum 3:13 615
Micah 7:11-12 541
Nahum 3:14-15 616
Micah 7:13 544
Nahum 3:16-17 618
Micah 7:14 545
Nahum 3:18 620
Micah 7:15 548
Nahum 3:19 621 Historical Scripture Translations 623
Micah 7:16-17 549
Micah 7:18 551
Translation: Joel 1 624
Micah 7:19 555
Translation: Joel 2 626
Micah 7:20 556 Commentary on Nahum 559
Translation: Joel 3 629
Translation: Amos 1 631
Commentary on Nahum 560
Translation: Amos 2 633
Nahum 1 563
Translation: Amos 3 635
Nahum 1:1 563
Translation: Amos 4 637
Nahum 1:2 564
Translation: Amos 5 639
Nahum 1:3 566
Translation: Amos 6 641
Nahum 1:4 568
Translation: Amos 7 643
Nahum 1:5 569
Translation: Amos 8 645
Nahum 1:6 570
Translation: Amos 9 647
Nahum 1:7 571
Translation: Obadiah 1 649
Nahum 1:8 572
Translation: Jonah 1 651
Nahum 1:9 573
Translation: Jonah 2 653
Nahum 1:10 575
Translation: Jonah 3 654
Nahum 1:11 576
Translation: Jonah 4 655
Nahum 1:12 578
Translation: Micah 1 657
Nahum 1:13 580
Translation: Micah 2 659
Nahum 1:14 581
Translation: Micah 3 661
Nahum 1:15 583 Nahum 2 586
Translation: Micah 4 663
Translation: Micah 5 665
Nahum 2:1-2 586
Translation: Micah 6 667
Nahum 2:3 589
Translation: Micah 7 669
Nahum 2:4 590
Translation: Nahum 1 671
Nahum 2:5 591
Translation: Nahum 2 673
Nahum 2:6 592
Translation: Nahum 3 675
Nahum 2:7 592
Addenda to Joel 677
Nahum 2:8 594
Addenda to Amos 680
Nahum 2:9 595
Index of Scripture References 683
Nahum 2:10 597
Index of Scripture Commentary 702
Nahum 2:11-12 599
Greek Words and Phrases 704
Nahum 2:13 601 Nahum 3 604
Hebrew Words and Phrases 708
Latin Words and Phrases 725
Nahum 3:1 604
French Words and Phrases 730
Nahum 3:2-3 605
Nahum 3:4 606
Nahum 3:5-6 608
Translator's Preface to Joel, Amos, and
Obadiah
Translator's Preface
This volume contains the Writings of three Prophets. Joel exercised his office among the Jews; Amos, though a native of Judea, was yet appointed a Prophet of The Ten Tribes; and Obadiah's prophecy refers only to Edom.
The great master of Hebrew criticism, Bishop Lowth, speaking, in his twenty-first Prelection, of Joel, says, that though he differs much in style from Hosea, he is yet "equally poetical." He represents him as "elegant, clear, diffuse, and flowing, and also very sublime, severe, and fervid." Admitting
the perspicuity of his diction, and the clearness of his arrangements, he yet confesses that the matter which he handles is sometimes obscure, especially towards the end of his Prophecy.
With regard to the style of Amos, the Bishop differs widely from Jerome, who has characterized the Prophet as "unskillful in speech, but not in knowledge," (imperitum sermone, set non in scientia.) Lowth, on the contrary,
regarded him as "not a whit behind the very chiefest Prophets, being in elevation of sentiment and nobleness of mind almost equal to the very firsts and hardly inferior to any of them in splendor of diction and elegance of composition." 1
Of Obadiah, nothing more is said by the Bishop than that he left but a small monument of his genius, and that a considerable portion of that is contained in the prophecy of Jeremiah. Of his composition Dr. Henderson says, "Its principal features are animation, regularity, and perspicuity."
1— Pastoreum nostrum {μηδεν} {ὑστερηκεναι} {των} {ὑπερ} {λιαν} {προφητων}; ut sensuum elatione et mag-
nificentia spiritus prope summis parem, ita etiam dictionis splendore et composititonis elegantia vix quoquam inferioreum. ---
Lowth, Prael. xxi.
vii
MINOR PROPHETS
There is especially one subject in connection with the present Volume, which seems to require particular notice — The interpretation of those prophecies which speak of the future restoration of the Jews to their own land. Calvin viewed some passages, as having been already accomplished in their return from Babylon, which in the estimation of others are yet to be fulfilled; while he interpreted those which evidently refer to what is future, in such a way as clearly shows that he did not consider that the Jews are to be restored again to their own country. That justice may be done to him, we must know and bear in mind the principles by which he was guided: for it is not to be supposed, that one so versed in Scripture, who had studied it with so much labor, and manifested, as it is commonly admitted, so much penetration and discernment as an expounder, would have taken such a view of this subject on slight grounds, without adopting a rule of interpretation, which, according to what he thought, was countenanced by Scriptural examples.
It must first be observed, that Calvin, in common with others, regarded the history as well erg the institutions of the people of Israel, as in great measure typical of things under the Gospel. Their temporal evils and blessings, their temporal oppressions and deliverances, were intended to set forth the spiritual state and condition of the Christian Church. The free choice of the people by God, their Egyptian bondage, their passage through the wilderness and their possession of the land of Canaan, were events symbolical of things connected with that spiritual community afterwards formed by the preaching of the Gospel; and of the same character was the subsequent captivity of that people in Babylon, and their restoration afterwards to their own land.
The next thing to be noticed is, that Promises of Blessings made to the people of Israel had in some instances a twofold meaning, and had reference to two things — the one temporal and the other spiritual. The restoration, for instance, from Babylon, was a prelude of the restoration or redemption by Christ. It was not only typical, but a kind of an initiative process, which was to be completed, though in a sublimer sense, by the Savior of man. The first was a restoration from temporal evils; the second was still a restoration, but from evils of a spiritual kind. The performance of the promise, in one case, was the commencement of a restorative work, which was to be completed in the other: the temporal restoration was eventually succeeded by that which is spiritual.
But the most material point in interpreting the Prophecies is The Language which is Used: rightly to understand this language forms the main difficulty. There are Promises which, as admitted by Calvin, look beyond the restoration from Babylon; and they are couched in terms, which, if taken literally, most evidently show that there is to be a second restoration. What is there, it may be asked, which can justify a departure from the letter of the promises? This is the chief question, on which the whole matter depends. Calvin evidently thought that the literal sense cannot be taken, as that
viii
JOHN CALVIN
would be inconsistent with the general character of the ancient prophecies; for he considered that many of the prophecies, which relate to the Church of the New Testament, were conveyed in a language suitable to the institutions then existing, and in consistency with the notions which then prevailed, as to religion and divine worship. Hence the Temple, Mount Sion, sacrifices, offerings, the priests, as well as the restoration of the people to their own land, and their perpetual establishment in it, are often spoken of in those very promises which incontestably refer to the Gospel dispensation. Now, if in some cases, as confessed by most, if not by all, the language is not to be taken literally, but as representing the success, the extension and the blessings of the Gospel, why should it be taken literally in other similar cases? The possession of the land of Canaan was to the people of Israel one of their chief blessings, and was a signal token of the divine favor. Banishment from it was not only a temporal loss, but involved also the loss of all their religious privileges. Nothing, therefore, could have conveyed to their minds a higher idea of redemption than the promise of restoration to their own land, and a perpetual possession of it.
The foregoing seem to have been the views by which Calvin was guided in his interpretation: and the Editor must be allowed to express his concurrence, though he is fully aware, that there have been, and that there are still, many celebrated men of a contrary opinion.
There is another idea which Calvin suggests, in connection with this subject. He regarded The Promises made in some instances by the Prophets as to the future prosperity of the people of Israel, and the perpetuity of their institutions and privileges, as Conditional, even when no condition is expressed. Instances of the same kind are to be found in the writings of Moses and of the earlier Prophets. Promises of perpetuity are made, (as for instance, respecting the priesthood,) and often unaccompanied by any conditions; and yet they were conditional, as the event proved, and in accordance with the tenor of the covenant under which the Israelites lived. The same view may also be taken of such promises as are found in the later Prophets, that is, such as bear on them a national stamp: they were announced unconditionally; but as they included blessings which belonged to the people as subjects of the Mosaic covenant, they were necessarily conditional, dependent as to their accomplishment on their obedience. Hence Jeremiah, who had himself announced promises of this kind, says, that the time would come when God would establish another covenant; and for this reason, because the people of Israel had broken the former covenant.
The Editor feels it to be his duty to say generally of Calvin's Expositions that the more maturely he considers them, after having compared them with those of others, both modern and ancient, the more satisfied he is with them, and the more he admires the acuteness and solid judgment they display. Perhaps no individual, possessing his high qualifications, natural, acquired, and spiritual, has ever, either in ancient or modern times, exercised himself
MINOR PROPHETS
so much in the study of the Holy Scriptures, and produced Comments so original and so valuable.
What is remarkable in Calvin as an Expositor is his unvarying attention to the context. This was his polar star, which enabled him to steer clear and safe through many intricacies and ambiguities no to the meaning of particular words, and even of sentences. His first object seems to have been to ascertain the general drift of a passage or of a chapter; and his next, to harmonize its several parts. There are many words which have various meanings, and the surest way of ascertaining their meaning in any given sentence, is to inquire what comports with the context. There is indeed no other way by which we can make a choice, when a word admits of different senses. Probably no Commentator has ever paid so much attention to this canon of interpretation as Calvin did. The ground on which he almost at all times rejects a sense given by others to words or to sentences is, that it does not suit the place, or, to adopt an expression he frequently uses, that it does not square (non quadrat) with the passage.
It has been often thought that more difficulty attends the Hebrew language than other languages, owing to the variety of meaning which belongs to some of its words. But this variety exists quite as much, and indeed much more, in many other languages, and even in our own. What enables us in numberless instances to ascertain the meaning of a word, and even often of a sentence, is what stands connected with it, that is, the context. It is what goes before and comes after, not only in a sentence, but often in a long passage, that explains the precise meaning of many words. To transfer the meaning of a word from one passage to another, and to say that because it has a certain meaning in one place, it must have the same in another, (except the word has but one meaning,) is certainly not the way to explain
Scripture or any other writing. The best expositor in this respect is no doubt the context.
It is well known that these Lectures were delivered extempore, and were taken down by some of those who heard them; and we have them now as thus taken down, and afterwards corrected by Calvin. This circumstance accounts for the occasional defect of order and for occasional repetitions. But these drawbacks seem to have been more than compensated by the freshness and vigor, the life and animation which these spontaneous effusion of his mind exhibit. In none of his other writings, as it appears to the Editor, has Calvin shone forth with so much lustre as an able, clear, plain, and animated an Expounder, as in these Lectures. There is a flow and energy to be found in them not equaled in those productions which he composed in private, and finished with more careful attention to order and style. When the mind is well stored and the memory retentive, as was the case in no ordinary degree with Calvin, a public auditory has usually the effect of calling into action all the powers of the mind; and, as frequently in the present instance, the consequence is, that the finest and the most striking thoughts are elicited,
JOHN CALVIN
and are expressed in a language the most energetic, calculated to produce the deepest impressions.
J.O. Thrussington November, 1846.
Translator's Preface to Jonah, Micah, and
Nahum
TRANSLATOR'S PREFACE
Contained in this Volume, as in the last, are the Writings of three Prophets: and they are explained and elucidated in the Author's peculiar manner; every sentence being dissected and examined, and the meaning ascertained according to the context, without the introduction of any extraneous matters. The main object throughout seems to have been to exhibit the genuine sense and design of the Sacred Writers.
The Book of Jonah is a plain narrative, and no part is supposed to have been written in the style of poetry except the prayer in the second chapter.
Some things in this Book have furnished Infidels with objections, and have induced some learned men, bearing at least the name of believers, to indulge in inventions. To satisfy Infidels or themselves, they have endeavored to prove, that this Book is either an historical allegory, or a parable, or a dream, or a moral fiction, or something else still more absurd and extravagant. But all these are mere vagrant conjectures, wholly groundless, rendered plausible only by a show of learning, and calculated to do tenfold more mischief than all the sneers and cavils of Infidels. The Bible Is A Book Of Miracles as well as of Prophecies; and an attempt to divest it of its Miracles is an attempt to divest it of one of its distinctive properties. Its Prophecies, which are continued Miracles, capable in many instances of ocular demonstration, attest those Miracles which were confined to certain times and occasions, as these were also in some cases performed for the purpose of gaining credit at the time to what was predicted. But there are no Miracles recorded in Scripture, which involve as much exercise of divine power as the fulfillment of Prophecies,
xii
JOHN CALVIN
though less visible in its operation. 2
The fact that Miracles of some sort form a part of the records of false religions and of superstitious times, is no reason for disbelieving the Miracles of Scripture. Almost all errors are imitations of truth, and superstition is man's substitute for true Religion. The existence of a false coin is no evidence that there is no genuine coin, but, on the contrary, proves that it exists. Independently of the general character of the Miracles recorded in Scripture, what has been just stated, their connection with indubitable Prophecies is an argument in their favor, which neither heathen nor Christian superstition is capable of adducing. Both must stand or fall together. If the truth of Prophecies be allowed, then the reality of Miracles cannot with any reason be denied. They are so connected together, that they cannot possibly be separated.
Learned men, being driven back, as it were, by manifest and palpable absurdities, have sometimes resiliated beyond the limits of reason and truth; being disgusted, and justly so, by Heathen and Popish Miracles, they have often been imperceptibly led to doubt all Miracles, as when we are frequently deceived, we are tempted to conclude that there is no such a thing as honesty in the world. And hence has arisen the attempt to obliterate Miracles from Scripture; and various hypotheses have been suggested, and supported in some instances by no small measure of ingenuity and learning: but it is an attempt which ought in the strongest manner to be deprecated and condemned as being nothing less than a sacrilege, the robbing of God's Word of one of its peculiar characteristics, even of that by which God has visibly proved his supreme power; for by reversing and changing those laws of nature, which at the creation he had fixed and established, he has given a manifest demonstration of his Omnipotence and Sovereignty. He has made it known to the world by Miracles, that He who has constructed the wonderful mechanism of nature, can alter, change, and reconstruct it whenever He pleases.
"The opinion," says Dr. *Henderson, "which* has been most generally entertained is that which accords to the Book a strictly historical character; in other words, which affirms that it is a relation of facts which actually took place in the life and experience of the Prophet. Nor can I view it in any other light while I hold fast an enlightened belief in the divine authority of the Books composing the Canon of the Old Testament, and place implicit reliance on the authority of the Son of God. Into the fixed and definite character of the Canon I need not here enter, having fully discussed the subject elsewhere; but assuming that all the Books contained in it possess the divine sanction, the test to which I would bring the question, and by
2"Prophecy is of a prodigious extent; it commenced from the fall of man, and reaches to the consummation of all things. So many illustrious events falling in, one after another, just as the word of prophecy foretold they should, must afford the most convincing proof that our Religion is, as it claims to be, of divine institution, — a proof the more convincing, because it is continually growing upon us; and the farther we are removed from the source of our religion, the clearer is the evidence of its truth." — Bishop Hurd.
xiii
MINOR PROPHETS
which, in my opinion, our decision must be mainly formed, is the unqualified manner in which the personal existence, miraculous fate, and public ministry of JONAH are spoken of by our Lord. He not only explicitly recognizes the prophetic office of the son of Amittai, ({Ιωνα} {του} {προφητου},) just as he does that of Elisha, Isaiah, and Daniel, but represents his being in the belly of the fish as a real miracle, ({το} {σημειον},) grounds upon it, as a fact, the certainty of the future analogous fact in his own history; assumes the actual execution of the commission of the Prophet at Nineveh; positively asserts that the inhabitants of that city repented at his preaching; and concludes by declaring respecting himself, "Behold! a greater than Jonah is here," (Matthew 12:39-41; 16:4.) Now is it conceivable that all these historical circumstances would have been placed in this prominent light, if the person of the Prophet, and the brief details of his narrative, had been purely fictitious? On the same principle that the historical bearing of the reference in this ease is rejected, may not that to the Queen of Sheba, which follows in the connection, be set aside, and the portion in the First Book of Kings, in which the circumstances of her visit to Solomon are recorded, be converted into an allegory, a moral fiction, or a popular tradition? The two eases, as adduced by our Lord, are altogether parallel; and the same may be affirmed of the allusion to Tyre and Sidon, and that to Sodom in the preceding chapter."
This reasoning is conclusive on the subject, and cannot be fairly evaded. Our learned author adds another consideration: —
"Certainly in no other instance in which our Savior adduces passages out of the Old Testament for the purpose of illustrating or confirming his doctrines, can it be shown that any point or circumstance is thus employed which is not historically true. He uniformly quotes and reasons upon them as containing accounts of universally admitted facts, stamps them as such with the high sanction of his own authority, and transmits them for the confident belief of mankind in all future ages."
That the preservation of Jonah in the bowels of the fish was an impossibility according to the course and nature of things, as they now exist, is quite evident: but it was no greater reversion of nature than the parting of the Red Sea, or the dividing of the streams of Jordan, or the sustentation of life in Moses during his stay on the Mount for forty days. The laws of nature were equally suspended in all these instances; and to deny to Him, who made these laws to be what they are, the power of changing them, is an inconsistency which no reason can justify.
The next Prophet is Micah; and his Book is especially interesting on account of the prediction it contains of the birth-place of our Savior, and also of the establishment of his Kingdom, and the spread of his Gospel. The prophecy recorded in the fourth chapter is one of the most splendid in all the Writings of the Prophets. We find the same in the second chapter of Isaiah;
but it is fuller and given more at large by Micah. The idea of borrowing seems not compatible with the fact, that each declares that what they delivered
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JOHN CALVIN
was conveyed to them by a vision: and there is nothing unreasonable in the thought, that the Divine Spirit communicated the very same things, to a certain extent, to two individual Prophets; and the fact that more, on the same subject, was revealed to one than to the other, seems to favor the notion, that the whole was communicated to each separately.
It is a subject worthy of being noticed, — that it was not the practice of the Prophets to refer to the testimony of one another, or even expressly to the commandments included in the Law of Moses. Isaiah indeed once said, "To the Law and to the Testimony." Though the sins which generally prevailed were distinctly condemned in the Law, especially the idolatry which was so common, they yet never quoted the commandments, and brought them to bear on the reigning corruptions. This may appear singular: but the way to account for it seems to be this, — that the Prophets' authority was the same with that of Moses: Their communications proceeded from the same Author; and there was no necessity to confirm what they said by referring to what the Law sanctioned. The same God, who gave the Law by Moses, sent his messages to the people by his Prophets. And hence arises a strong, though, as it were, an incidental, proof of the Divine character of what they have written.
The style of Micah much resembles, in some respects, the style of Hosea. His transitions are sometimes abrupt, and the sudden change of persons is not unfrequent. Lowth in his Prelections describes him as "being brief in words, sententious, concise, pointed, — sometimes bordering on the obscurity of Hosea, — in many parts lofty and fervid, and highly poetical." 3
Marckius says, that, "his diction is elegant, not very unlike that of Isaiah." 4
Henderson's account is more extensive, but on the whole just, as well as dis-
criminating, — "His style is concise, yet perspicuous, 5 nervous, vehement, and energetic; and, in many instances, equals that of Isaiah in boldness and sublimity. He is rich and beautiful in the varied use of tropical language, indulges in paranomasias, preserves a pure and classical diction, is regular in the formation of parallelisms, and exhibits a roundness in the construction of his periods, which is not surpassed by his more celebrated contemporary. Both in administering threatenings and communicating promises, he evinces great tenderness, and shows that his mind was deeply affected by the subjects of which he treats. In his appeals he is lofty and energetic. His description of the character of Jehovah, chap. 7:18-20, is unrivalled by any contained elsewhere in Scripture."
"Some of his prophecies," says *Newcome, "are distinct and illustrious ones, as Micah 2:12, 13; Micah 3:12; 4:1-4, 10; Micah 5:2, 3, 4; Micah 6:13; 7:8-10. We may justly admire the beauty* and elegance of his manner —
3"Michas plerumque brevis est, pressns, concisus, acutus; nonnunquam ad Hoseae obscuritatem prope accedens; in multis elatus et fervidus, valdeque poeticus." — Prael. 21
4"Dictio elegans, non admodum dissimilis isti Iesaiae." 5This must be qualified; in most parts it is so, but in some, it borders, as Lowth says, on the obscurity of Hosea's style.
MINOR PROPHETS
Micah 2:12, 13; Micah 4:1, 2, 3, and particularly the two first lines of verse 4; his animation, — Micah 1:5, lines 3, 4; Micah 2:7, 10, line 1; Micah 4:9; his strength of expression, — Micah 1:6, 8; Micah 2:3, lines 3, 4; Micah 3:2, 3, 12; Micah 7:1, 2, 4, line 1, 19, line 2; his pathos, — Micah 1:16; Micah 2:4; his sublimity, — Micah 1:2, 3, 4; Micah 3:6, 12; Micah 4:12, lines 3, 13; Micah 5:8; Micah 6:1, 9-16; Micah 7:16, 17."
The three first chapters are throughout comminatory, in which judgments are denounced on both nations, the Jews and the Israelites, and in which are also enumerated the various evils which prevailed, idolatry as the chief, and its accompanying sins — injustice, oppression, and cruelty. — The fourth and the fifth chapters are of an opposite character, being prophetic of blessings, appertaining more especially to the Kingdom of Christ, while at the same time the previous sufferings and trials of the Church are graphically described. — In the sixth chapter the people are summoned to a trial; the Lord had a controversy with them. Being proved guilty of ingratitude, ignorance, injustice, and idolatry, they are threatened with awful judgments. — In the seventh and last chapter the Prophet bewails the paucity of good
men, deplores the faithlessness and perfidy of the people, turns to the Lord, entertains hope, foretells the restoration of the Church and the fall of its enemies, and ends with a rapturous exclamation, having been evidently favored with a glimpse of the rich and abundant mercies which God had in reserve for his people.
The Prophet Nahum has but one subject — the Fall Of Nineveh — and he keeps to his subject without diverging to any other. In mentioning the sins of Nineveh, the first thing he states is a wicked design against the Lord, referring no doubt to the purpose formed of entirely destroying the Kingdom of Judah. In describing afterwards the vices of the people of Nineveh, he especially mentions their rapaciousness, deceit, injustice, oppression, and barbarous cruelty, and compares Nineveh to the den of lions.
The special design of the Prophet in the description he gives, at the beginning of the first chapter, of the character of the Almighty, was to delineate him as He is to his enemies, as the God of vengeance, who vindicates his own honor, and defends his own cause against profane and rebellious opponents. He only makes a transient allusion to his goodness towards his people. The other subject was that which was suitable to his purpose. He was going to denounce irrevocable judgment on God's adversaries; he therefore described Him as the God of vengeance: and the extremely awful character here presented to us by one who spoke, as he was inspired from above, ought to be well weighed and seriously considered, especially by all those who are not become God's friends, but still continue his enemies.
The second chapter contains a vivid description of the fierce assailants of Nineveh, of their success, of the plunder of the city, and of the captivity of its people, with an exultation over the den of lions. To prevent, as it were, any hope of escape, the Prophet, in the third chapter, gives, according to Calvin
xvi
JOHN CALVIN
and many other Commentators, a graphic view of the ransack of the city, as though he were an eye-witness; then he states the reasons for this dreadful overthrow, reminds the Ninevites of what had happened to another powerful and well fortified city, shows the uselessness of resistance, and declares the doom of the city to be irrevocable and irremediable. How wonderfully exact has been the fulfillment of this Prophecy! 6 Who can contemplate it without acknowledging that He who spoke by the Prophets is the supreme, who rules and overrules all the events of time?
The style of Nahum has been admired by all critics. Lowth says, that *"no* one of the minor Prophets seems to equal the sublimity, the vehemence and the boldness of Nahum: besides, his Prophecy is a complete and finished poem; his exordium is magnificent, and indeed majestic; the preparation for the destruction of Nineveh, and the description of its ruin, and its greatness, are expressed in most vivid colors, and possess admirable perspicuity and fulness." 7
This Volume contains a very interesting portion of The Minor Prophets. The History of Jonah is in many respects very instructive. 8 The Prophecies of Micah are some of the most remarkable in the Old Testament. Nahum exhibits in language the most awful the vengeance of the Almighty against the enemies of his Church. And readers will find that our Commentator continues to exercise his talents in that capacity with his wonted vigor, penetration, and judgment. An impartial consideration of his labors cannot fail to impress our minds with veneration for his character, and especially with gratitude to the only Giver of all good for having so richly endued his servant, and for having employed him in services so conducive to the interest of true religion. Such was the respect in which he was held by Bishop Horsley, whose learning and acuteness were not of an ordinary kind, that in quoting his comment on a portion of the eighteenth chapter of Isaiah, he calls him" The Venerable Calvin."
J.O. Thrussington, July 1847.
6Those who wish to see this proved at large, may consult Bishop Newton on the Prophecies. Vol. 1: Diss. 9.
7"Verum ex omnibus minoribus Prophetis nemo videtur aequare sublimitatem, ardorem et audaces spiritus Nahumi: adde quod vaticinium integrum et justum est poema; exordium magnificum est et plane angus-tum; apparatus ad excidium Ninivae, ejusque excidii descriptio et amplificatio, ardentissimis coloribus exprimatur, et admirabilem habet evidentiam et pondus." — Prael. 21.
8It has been made the groundwork of a most interesting volume of Essays by the late Revelation Thomas Jones of Creaton, under the title of "Jonah's Portrait."
xvii
MINOR PROPHETS
xviii
Commentary on Joel
Commentary on Joel
Calvin's Preface to Joel
I proceed now to explain The Prophet Joel. The time in which he prophesied is uncertain. Some of the Jews imagine that he exercised his office in the time of Joram, king of Israel, because a dreadful famine then prevailed through the whole land, as it appears evident from sacred history; and as the Prophet record a famine, they suppose that his ministry must be referred to that time. Some think, that he taught under Manasseh, but they bring no reason for this opinion; it is, therefore, a mere conjecture. Others think that he performed his office as a teacher not only under one king, but that he taught, at the same time with Isaiah, under several kings.
But as there is no certainty, it is better to leave the time in which he taught undecided; and, as we shall see, this is of no great importance. Not to know the time of Hosea would be to readers a great loss for there are many parts which could not be explained without a knowledge of history; but as to Joel there is, as I have said, less need of this; for the import of his doctrine is evident, though his time be obscure and uncertain. But we may conclude that he taught at Jerusalem, or at least in the kingdom of Judah. As Hosea was appointed a Prophet to the kingdom of Israel, so Joel had another appointment; for he was to labor especially among the Jews and not among the Ten Tribes: this deserves to be particularly noticed.
Now the sum of the Book is this: At the beginning, he reproves the stupidity of the people, who, when severely smitten by God, did not feel their evils, but on the contrary grew hardened under them: this is one thing. Then he threatens far more grievous evils; as the people became so insensible under all their punishments, that they were not humbled, the Prophet declares that there were evils at hand much worse than those they had hitherto experienced: this is the second thing. Thirdly, he exhorts
JOHN CALVIN
the people to repentance, and shows that there was required no common evidence of repentance; for they had not lightly offended God, but by their perverseness provoked him to bring on them utter ruin: since, then, their obstinacy had been so great, he bids them to come as suppliants with tears, with sackcloth, with mourning, with ashes, that they might obtain mercy; for they were unworthy of being regarded by the Lord, except they thus submissively humbled themselves: this is the third subject. The fourth part of the Book is taken up with promises; for he prophesies of the Kingdom of Christ, and shows, that though now all things seemed full of despair, yet God had not forgotten the covenant he made with the fathers; and that therefore Christ would come to gather the scattered remnants, yea, and to restore to life his people, though they were now lost and dead.
This is the sum and substance. But we shall see, as we proceed, that the chapters have been absurdly and foolishly divided. He thus begins —
Chapter 1 Lecture Thirty-eighth
Joel 1
Joel 1:1-4
1. The word of the Lord that came to Joel the son of Pethuel. 1. Verbum Jehovae quod fuit ad Joel, filium Pethuel. 2. Hear this, ye old men, and give ear, all ye inhabitants of the land. Hath this been in your days, or even in the days of your fathers?
2. Audite hoc senes, et auscultate omnes incolae terrae, an fuerit hoc diebus vestris, et si diebus patrum vestrorum.
3. Tell ye your children of it, and let your children tell their children, and their children another generation.
3. Super hoc filiis vestris narrate, et filii vestri filiis suis, et filii ipsorum generationi posterae.
4. That which the palmerworm hath left hath the locust eaten; and that which the locust hath left hath the cankerworm eaten; and that which the cankerworm hath the caterpiller eaten.
4. Residuum locustae comedit (est alia species) bruchus (ita ponamus, quoniam non possumus certo scire quaenam fuerint istae species) et residuum bruchi comedit locusta et residuum locustae comedit eruca (alii primo loco ponunt Erucam, est proprie chenille, et puto potius esse hoc posterius. Picardi vocant casee, quasi {:{ליסחverisimile est deductum fuisse nomen illud
vulgare ab Hebraeis, quia est fere idem: sed tamen ego non anxie sudo in istis
nominibus, quia de sensu Prophetae satis constabit. Nunc venio ad inscriptionem
libri.)
The word of Jehovah which came to Joel, the son of Pethuel. He names here his
father; it is hence probable that he was a man well known and of some celebrity. But
who this Pethuel was, all now are ignorant. And what the Hebrews hold as a general
rule, that a prophet is designated, whenever his father's name is added, appears
to me frivolous; and we see how bold they are in devising such comments. When
JOHN CALVIN
no reason for any thing appears to them, they invent some fable, and allege it as
a divine truth. When, therefore, they are wont thus to trifle, I have no regard for
what is held by them as a rule. But yet it is probable, that when the Prophets are
mentioned as having sprung from this or that father, their fathers were men of some
note.
Now what he declared by saying, that he delivered the word of the Lord, is worthy
of being observed; for he shows that he claimed nothing for himself, as an individual,
as though he wished to rule by his own judgment, and to subject others to his own
fancies; but that he relates only what he had received from the Lord. And since
the Prophets claimed no authority for themselves, except as far as they faithfully
executed the ofÏce divinely committed to them, and delivered, as it were from hand
to hand, what the Lord commanded, we may hence feel assured that no human
doctrines ought to be admitted into the Church. Why? Because as much as men trust
in themselves, so much they take away from the authority of God. This preface then
ought to be noticed, which almost all the Prophets use, namely, that they brought
nothing of their own or according to their own judgment, but that they were faithful
dispensers of the truth intrusted to them by God.
And the word is said to have been to Joel; not that God intended that he alone
should be his disciple, but because he deposited this treasure with him, that he might
be his minister to the whole people. Paul also says the same thing, --- that to the
ministers of the Gospel was committed a message for Christ, or in Christ's name,
to reconcile men to God, (2 Corinthians 5:20;) and in another place he says, `He
has deposited with us this treasure as in earthen vessels,' (2 Corinthians 4:7.) We
now understand why Joel says, that the word of the Lord was delivered to him, it
was not that he might be the only disciple; but as some teacher was necessary, Joel
was chosen to whom the Lord committed this ofÏce. Then the word of God belongs
indeed indiscriminately to all; and yet it is committed to Prophets and other teachers;
for they are, so to speak, as it were trustees (depositarii --- depositories.)
As to the verb {}היהeie, there is no need of philosophizing so acutely as Jerome
does: ``How was the word of the Lord made?'' For he feared lest Christ should be
said to be made, as he is the word of the Lord. These are trifles, the most puerile.
He could not, however, in any other way get rid of the difÏculty but by saying that
the word is said to be made with respect to man whom God addresses, and not with
respect to God himself. All this, as ye must see, is childish; for the Prophet says
here only, that the word of the Lord was sent to him, that is, that the Lord employed
him as his messenger to the whole people. But after having shown that he was a
fit minister of God, being furnished with his word, he speaks authoritatively, for he
represented the person of God.
We now see what is the lawful authority which ought to be in force in the Church,
and which we ought to obey without dispute, and to which all ought to submit. It
is then only that this authority exists, when God himself speaks by men, and the
Holy Spirit employs them as his instruments. For the Prophet brings not forward any
empty title; he does not say that he is a high priest of the tribe of Levi, or of the first
order, or of the family of Aaron. He alleges no such thing, but says that the word of
MINOR PROPHETS
God was deposited with him. Whosoever then demands to be heard in the Church,
must of necessity really prove that he is a preacher of God's word; and he must not
bring his own devices, nor blend with the word any thing that proceeds from the
judgment of his own flesh.
But first the Prophet reproves the Jews for being so stupid as not to consider that
they were chastised by the hand of God, though this was quite evident. Hence they
pervert, in my judgment, the meaning of the Prophet, who think that punishments
are here denounced which were as yet suspended; for they transfer all these things
to a future time. But I distinguish between this reproof and the denunciations which
afterwards follow. Here then the Prophet reproaches the Jews, that having been so
severely smitten, they did not gain wisdom; and yet even fools, when the rod is
applied to their backs, know that they are punished. Since then the Jews were so
stupid, that when even chastised they did not understand that they had to do with
God, the Prophet justly reproves this madness. ``Hear'', he says, ``ye old men;
give ear, all ye inhabitants of the land, and declare this to your children''. But the
consideration of this passage I shall put off till tomorrow.
Prayer.
Grant, Almighty God that as almost the whole world give such loose reins to their
licentiousness, that they hesitate not either to despise or to regard as of no value
thy sacred word --- Grant, O Lord that we may always retain such reverence as is
justly due to it and to thy holy oracles and be so moved whenever thou deignest to
address us that being truly humbled, we may be raised up by faith to heaven, and
by hope gradually attain that glory which is as yet hid from us. And may we at the
same time so submissively restrain ourselves, as to make it our whole wisdom to
obey thee and to do thee service, until thou gatherest us into thy kingdom, where
we shall be partakers of thy glory, through Christ our Lord. Amen.
Lecture Thirty-ninth.
Hear this, ye old men; and give ear, all ye inhabitants of the land: has this been
in your days, and in the days of your fathers? This declare to your children and your
children to their children, and their children to the next generation: the residue of
the locust has the chafer eaten, and the residue of the chafer has the cankerworm
eaten, and the residue of the cankerworm has the caterpillar eaten 9 I have in the
last Lecture already mentioned what I think of this passage of the Prophet. Some
think that a future punishment is denounced; but the context sufÏciently proves
that they mistake and pervert the real meaning of the Prophet; for, on the contrary,
he reproves here the hardness of the people, --- that they fell not their plagues.
And as men are not easily moved by God's judgments, the Prophet here declares
that God had executed such a vengeance as could not be regarded otherwise than
miraculous; as though he said, ``God often punishes men, and it behooves them
to be attentive as soon as he raises up his finger. But common punishments are
wont to be unheeded; men soon forget those punishments to which they have been
9All these are different kinds of locusts. There are in Hebrew ten names for them, designative probably of so many kinds. There are four here: {,{גזםgizam, the young locust; ,{}ארבהarebe, so called from
their number, one on the wing; ,{}ילקilak, one of the hairy bristly kind; and {λψσ᾿}, chesil, one unfledged. Following the probable
ideal meaning of the words, we may give them these names, ---the cutter, the multiplier, the licker, and the devourer. --- Ed.
JOHN CALVIN
accustomed. God has, however, treated you in an unusual manner, having openly
as it were put forth his hand from heaven, and brought on you punishments nothing
less than miraculous. Ye must then be more than stupid, if ye perceive not that you
are smitten by God's hand.'' This is the true meaning of the Prophet, and may be
easily gathered from the words.
Hear, ye old men, he says. He expressly addresses the old, because experience
teaches men much; and the old, when they see any thing new or unusual, must know,
that it is not according to the ordinary course of things. He who has past his fiftieth
or sixtieth year, and sees something new happening which he had never thought of,
doubtless acknowledges it as the unusual work of God. This is the reason why the
Prophet directs here his discourse to the old; as though he said, ``I will not terrify
you about nothing; but let the old hear, who have been accustomed for many years
to many revolutions; let them now answer me, whether in their whole life, which
has been an age on the earth, have they seen any such thing'' We now perceive the
design of the Prophet; for he intended to awaken the Jews that they might understand
that God had put forth his hand from heaven, and that it was impossible to ascribe
what they had seen with their eyes to chance or to earthly causes, but that it was a
miracle. And his object was to make the Jews at length ashamed of their folly in not
having hitherto been attentive to God's punishments, and in having always flattered
themselves, as though God slept in heaven, when yet he so violently thundered
against them, and intended by an extraordinary course to move them, that they
might at last perceive that they were summoned to judgment.
He afterwards adds, And all ye inhabitants of the land. Had the Prophet addressed
only the old, some might seize on some pretext for their ignorance; hence he ad-
dressed and from the least to the greatest; and this he did, that the young might not
exempt themselves from blame in proceeding in their obstinacy and in thus mock-
ing God, when he called them to repentance. Hear, he says, all ye inhabitants of
the land; has this been in your days or in the days of your fathers? He says first,
has such a thing been in your days, for doubtless what happens rarely deserves a
greater consideration. It is indeed true that foolish men are blind to the daily works
of God; as the favor of God in making his sun to rise daily is but little thought of by us.
This happens through our ingratitude; but our ingratitude is doubled, and is much
more base and less excusable, when the Lord works in an unwonted manner, and
we yet with closed eves overlook what ought to be deemed a miracle. This dullness
the Prophet now reproves, Has such a thing, he says, ``happened in your days, or
in the days of your fathers? Ye can recall to mind what your fathers have told you.
It is certain that for two ages no such thing has happened. Your torpidity then is
extreme, since ye neglect this judgment of God, which from its very rareness ought
to have awakened your minds.''
He then adds, Tell it to your children, your children to their children, their children
to the next generation. In this verse the Prophet shows that the matter deserved to
be remembered, and was not to be despised by posterity, even for many genera-
tions. It appears now quite clear that the Prophet threatens not what was to be, as
some interpreters think; it would have been puerile: but, on the contrary, he expos-
MINOR PROPHETS
tulates here with the Jews, because they were so slothful and tardy in considering
God's judgments; and especially as it was a remarkable instance, when God em-
ployed not usual means, but roused, and, as it were, terrified men by prodigies. Of
this then tell: for {}עליהolie means no other thing than `tell or declare this thing
to your children;' and further, your children to their children. When any thing new
happens, it may be, that we are at first moved with some wonder; but our feeling
soon vanishes with the novelty, and we disregard what at first caused great aston-
ishment. But the Prophet here showed, that such was the judgment of God of which
he speaks, that it ought not to have been overlooked, no, not even by posterity. Let
your children, he says, declare it to those after them, and their children to the fourth
generation: it was to be always remembered.
He adds what that judgment was, --- that the hope of food had for many years
disappointed them. It often happened, we know, that locusts devoured the standing
corn; and then the chafers and the palmer worms did the same: these were ordinary
events. But when one devastation happened, and another followed, and there was
no end; when there had been four barren years, suddenly produced by insects, which
devoured the growth of the earth; --- this was certainly unusual. Hence the Prophet
says, that this could not have been chance; for God intended to show to the Jews
some extraordinary portent, that even against their will they might observe his hand.
When any thing trifling happens, if it be rare, it will strike the attention of men; for
we often see that the world makes a great noise about frivolous things. But this
wonder, says the Prophet, ``ought to have produced effect on you. What then will
ye do, since ye are starving, and the causes are evident; for God has cursed your
land, and brought these insects, which have consumed your food before your eyes.
Since it is so, it is surely the time for you to repent; and you have been hitherto very
regardless having overlooked God's judgments, which have been so remarkable and
so memorable.'' Let us now proceed.
Joel 1:5
5. Awake, ye drunkards, and weep; and howl, all ye drinkers of wine, because of
the new wine; for it is cut off from your mouth.
5. Awake, ye drunkards, and weep; and howl, all ye drinkers of wine, because of
the new wine; for it is cut off from your mouth.
The Prophet adds this verse for the sake of amplifying; for when God sees men
either contemptuously laughing at or disregarding his judgments, he derides them;
and this mode the Prophet now adopts. `Ye drunkards,' he says, `awake, and weep
and howl.' In these words he addresses, on the subject in hand, those who had
willfully closed their eyes to judgments so manifest. The Jews had become torpid,
and had covered themselves over as it were with hardness; it was then necessary
to draw them forth as by force into the light. But the Prophet accosts the drunkards
by name; and it is probable that this vice was then very common among the people.
However that might be, the Prophet by mentioning this instance shows more con-
vincingly, that there was no pretense for passing by things, and that the Jews could
not excuse their indifference if they took no notice; for the very drunkards, who had
degenerated from the state of men, did themselves feel the calamity, for the wine
JOHN CALVIN
had been cut off from their mouth. And this expression of the Prophet, ``Awake'',
ought to be noticed; for the drunkards, even while awake, are asleep, and also spend
a great portion of time in sleep. The Prophet had this in view, that men, though not
endued with great knowledge, but even void of common sense, could no longer flat-
ter themselves; for the very drunkards, who had wholly suffocated their senses, and
had become thus estranged in their minds, did yet perceive the judgment of God;
though drowsiness held them bound, they were yet constrained to awake at such a
manifest punishment. What then does this ignorance mean, when ye see not that
you are smitten by God's hand?
To the same purpose are the words, Weep and howl. Drunkards, on the contrary,
give themselves up to mirth, and intemperately indulge themselves; and there is
nothing more difÏcult than to make them to feel sorrow; for wine so infatuates their
senses, that they continue to laugh in the greatest calamities. But the Prophet says,
Weep and howl, ye drunkards! What then ought sober men to do? He then adds,
Cut off is the wine from your mouth. He says not, ``The use of wine is taken away
from you;'' but he says, from your mouth. Though no one should think of vineyards
or of winecellars or of cups, yet they shall be forced, willing or unwilling, to feel the
judgment of God in their mouth and in their lips. This is what the Prophet means. We
then see how much he aggravates what he had said before: and we must remember
that his object was to strike shame into the people, who had become thus torpid with
regard to God's judgments.
As to the word {}עסיסosis, some render it new wine. {}עססosas is to press; and
hence {}עסיסosis is properly the wine that is pressed in the wine-vat. New wine is
not what is drawn out of the bottle, but what is pressed out as it were by force. But
the Prophet, I have no doubt, includes here under one kind every sort of wine. Let
us go on.
Joel 1:6-7
6. For a nation is come up upon my land, strong, and without number, whose
teeth are the teeth of a lion, and he hath the cheek teeth of a great lion.
6. Quia gens ascendit super terram meam, robusta et absque numero, dentes
ejus dentes leonis, et maxillae (alii vertunt, molares) leonis illis (quanquam aliud est
nomen: alii vertunt, leunculum.)
7. He hath laid my vine waste, and barked my fig tree: he hath made it clean
bare, and cast it away; the branches thereof are made white.
7. Posuit vineam meam in vastitatem (vel, desolationem) et ficulneam meam in
decorticationem: nudando nudavit eam et disjecit, albi facti sunt rami ejus.
Of what some think, that punishment, not yet inflicted, is denounced here on the
people, I again repeat, I do not approve; but, on the contrary, the Prophet, according
to my view, records another judgment of God, in order to show that God had not only
in one way warned the Jews of their sins, that he might restore them to a right mind;
but that he had tried all means to bring them to the right way, though they proved
to have been irreclaimable. After having then spoke of the sterility of the fields and
of other calamities, he now adds that the Jews had been visited with war. 10 Surely
10But most commentators consider these two verses as containing a more particular descrip-
MINOR PROPHETS
famine ought to have touched them, especially when they saw that evils, succeeding
evils, had happened for several years contrary to the usual course of things, so that
they could not be imputed to chance. But when God brought war upon them, when
they were already worn out with famine, must they not have been more than insane
in mind, to have continued astonied at God's judgments and not to repent? Then the
meaning of the Prophet is, that God had tried, by every means possible, to find out
whether the Jews were healable, and had given them every opportunity to repent,
but that they were wholly perverse and untamable.
Then he says, Verily a nation came up. The particle {}כיki is not to be taken as
a causative, but only as explanatory, Verily, or surely, he says, a nation came up;
though an inference also is not amiss, if it be drawn from the beginning of the verse:
`Hear, ye old men, and tell your children;' what shall we tell? even this, that a nation,
etc. But in this form also {}כיki would be exegetical, and the sense would be the
same. This much as to the meaning of the passage.
A nation, then, came up over my land. God here justly claims the land of Canaan
as his own heritage, and does so designedly, that the Jews might more clearly know
that he was angry with them; for their condition would not have been worse than
that of other nations, had not God resolved to punish them for their sins. There
is here then an implied comparison between Judea and other countries, as though
the Prophet said, ``How comes it, that your land is wasted by wars and many other
calamities, while other countries are at rest? This land is no doubt sacred to God, for
he has chosen it for himself, that he might rule in it; he has here his own habitation: it
then must be that there is some cause for God's wrath, as your land is so miserably
wasted, when other lands enjoy tranquillity.'' We now perceive what the Prophet
means. A nation, he says, came up upon my land, and what then? God could surely
have prevented this; he could have defended his own land, of which he was the
keeper, and which was under his protection: how then had it happened that enemies
with impunity inundated this land, having marched into it and utterly laid it waste,
except that it had been forsaken by the Lord himself?
A nation, he says, came up upon my land, strong and without number; and further,
who had the teeth of a lion, the jaw-bones of a young lion. The nations had no
strength which God could not in an instant have broken down, nor had he need of
mighty auxiliaries, for he could by a nod only have reduced to nothing whatever men
might have attempted: when, therefore, the Assyrians so impetuously assailed the
Jews they were necessarily exposed to the wantonness of their enemies, for they
were unworthy of being protected, as hitherto, by the hand of God.
He afterwards adds, that his vine had been exposed to desolation and waste, his
fig-tree to the stripping of the bark. God speaks not here of his own vine, as in some
other places, in which he designates his Church by this term; but he calls everything
on earth his own, as he calls the whole race of Abraham his children: and he thus
reproaches the Jews for having reduced themselves to such wretchedness through
tion of the devastations produced by the locusts mentioned before. That they are called "a nation" is according to prophetic style, and what has been done by heathen poets: the wasting of the vine and the barking of the fig-tree seem more suitable to this view. It is true that {,{נוי
nation, and not {}וזםpeople, as in Proverbs 30:25, is here used; but, as Dr. Henderson observes, it seems to have been selected
on purpose ``to prepare the minds of the Jews for the allegorical use made of these insects in chapter 2.'' --- Ed.
JOHN CALVIN
their own fault; for they would have never been spoiled by their enemies, had not
God, who was wont to defend then, previously rejected them; for there was nothing
in their land which he did not claim as his own; as he had chosen the people, so he
had consecrated the land to himself. Whatsoever, then, enlisted in Judea, was, as it
were, sacred to God. Now when both the vines and the fig-trees were exposed to the
depredations of the unbelieving, it was certain that God no longer ruled there. How
so? Even because the Jews had expelled him. He afterwards enlarges on the same
subject; for what follows, By denuding he has denuded it and cast it away, is not a
mere narrative; the Prophet here declares not simply what had taken place; but as
we have already said, adduces more proof, and tries to awaken the drowsy senses
of the people, yea, to arouse them from that lethargy by which the minds of all had
been seized; hence it is that he uses in his teaching so many expressions. This is the
reason why he says that the vine and the fig-tree had been denuded, and also that
the leaves had been taken away, that the branches had been made bare and white;
so that there remained neither produce nor growth.
Many interpreters join these three verses with the former, as if the Prophet now
expressed what he had said before of the palmer worm, the chafer, and the locust;
for they think that he spake allegorically when he said that all the fruits of the land
had been consumed by the locusts and the chafers. They therefore add, that these
locusts, or chafers, or the palmer worms, were the Assyrians, as well as the Persian
and the Greeks, that is, Alexander of Macedon and the Romans: but this is wholly
a strained views so that there is no need of a long argument; for any one may eas-
ily perceive that the Prophet mentions another kind of punishments that he might
in every way render the Jews inexcusable who were not roused by judgments so
multiplied, but remained still obstinate in their vices. Let us now proceed.
Joel 1:8
8. Lament like a virgin girded with sackcloth for the husband of her youth.
8. Plange tanquam puella, accincta sacco, super marito adolescentiae suae.
The Prophet now addresses the whole land. Lament, he says; not in an ordinary
way, but like a widow, whose husband is dead, whom she had married when young.
The love, we know, of a young man towards a young woman, and so of a young
woman towards a young man, is more tender than when a person in years marries
an elderly woman. This is the reason that the Prophet here mentions the husband of
her youth; he wished to set forth the heaviest lamentation, and hence he says ``The
Jews ought not surely to be otherwise affected by so many calamities, than a widow
who has lost her husband while young, and not arrived at maturity, but in the flower
of his age.'' As then such widows feel bitterly their loss, so the Prophet has adduced
their case.
The Hebrews often call a husband {}בעלbol, because he is the lord of his wife and
has her under his protection. Literally it is, ``For the lord of her youth;'' and hence
it is, that they also called their idols {}בעליםbolim, as though they were as we have
often said in our comment on the Prophet Hosea, their patrons.
The sum of the whole is, That the Jews could not have continued in an uncon-
cerned state, without being void of all reason and discernment; for they were forced,
MINOR PROPHETS
willing or unwilling, to feel a most grievous calamity. It is a monstrous thing, when
a widow, losing her husband when yet young, refrains from mourning. Now then,
since God had afÒicted his land with so many evils, he wished to bring on them, as
it were, the grief of widowhood. It follows ---
Joel 1:9
9. The meat offering and the drink offering is cut off from the house of the Lord;
the priests, the Lord's ministers, mourn.
9. Succisa est oblatio et libamen e domo Jehovae: luxerunt sacerdotes, ministri
Jehovae.
Here, in other words, the Prophet paints the calamity; for, as it has been said, we
see how great is the slowness of men to discern God's judgments; and the Jews, we
know, were not more attentive to them than we are now. It was, therefore, needful
to prick them with various goads, as the Prophet now does, as though he said, ``If
ye are not now concerned for want of food, if ye consider not even what the very
drunkards are constrained to feel, who perceive not the evil at a distance, but taste
it in their lips --- if all these things are of no account with you, do at least look on
the temple of God, which is now destitute of its ordinary services; for through the
sterility of your fields, through so great a scarcity, neither bread nor wine is offered.
Since then ye see that the worship of God has ceased, how is it ye yourselves still
remain? Why is it that ye perceive not that God's fury is kindled against you? For
surely except God had been most grievously offended, he would at least have had
some regard for his own worship; he would not have suffered his temple to remain
without sacrifices.''
The Jews, we know, daily poured their libations, and offered meat-offerings.
When, therefore, Joel mentions {}מנחהmeneche and libation, he doubtless meant
to show that the worship of God was nearly abolished. But God would have never
permitted such a thing, had he not been grievously offended by the sins of men.
Hence the indifference, or rather the stupidity of the people, is more clearly proved,
inasmuch as they perceived not the signs of God's wrath made evident even in the
very temple. It follows ---
Joel 1:10
10. The field is wasted, the land mourneth; for the corn is wasted: the new wine
is dried up, the oil languisheth.
10. Vastatus est ager, luxit terra (hoc est, luxerunt terrae incolae;) quia vastatum
est (idem est verbum vel, quia periit) frumentum, aruit (est a verbo {,}יבשnon a
{,}בושquod significat pudefacere: quanquam utraque radix significationem hanc
admittit apud Hebraeos: quia ergo aruit) mustum et exterminatum est (infirmatum
ad verbum, ab {;}אמלsed significat debilitatum esse) oleum.
The Prophet goes on here with the same subject, and uses these many words to
give more effect to what he said; for he knew that he addressed the deaf, who, by
long habit, had so hardened themselves that God could effect nothing, at least very
little, by his word. This is the reason why the Prophet so earnestly presses a subject
so evident. Should any one ask what need there was of so many expressions, as
it seems to be a needless use of words; I do indeed allow that all that the Prophet
JOHN CALVIN
wished to say might have been expressed in one sentence, as there is here nothing
intricate: but it was not enough that what he said should be understood, except the
Jews applied it to themselves, and perceived that they had to do with God; and to
make this application they were not disposed. It is not then without reason that the
Prophet labors here, and enforces the same thing in many words.
Hence he says, The field is wasted, and the land mourns; for the corn has perished,
for dried up has the wine, for destroyed has been the oil. And by these words he
intimates that they seeing saw nothing; as though he said, ``Let necessity extort
mourning from you; ye are indeed starving, all complain of want, all deplore the
need of bread and wine; and yet no one of you thinks whence this want is, that it
is from the hand of God. Ye feel it in your mouth, ye feel it in your palate, ye feel
it in your throat, ye feel it in your stomach; but ye feel it not in your heart.'' In
short, the Prophet intimates that the Jews were void of right understanding; they
indeed deplored their famine, but they were like brute beasts, who, when hungry,
show signs of impatience. So the Jews mourned, because their stomach disquieted
them; but they knew not that the cause of their want and famine was their sins. It
afterwards follows ---
Joel 1:11
11. Be ye ashamed, O ye husbandmen; howl, O ye vinedressers, for the wheat
and for the barley; because the harvest of the field is perished.
11. Erubescite agricolae, ululate vinitores super tritico et hordeo; quia periit mes-
sis agri.
The Prophet says nothing new here, but only strengthens what he had said before,
and is not wordy without reason; for he intends here not merely to teach, but also
to produce an effect: And this is the design of heavenly teaching; for God not only
wishes that what he says may be understood, but intends also to penetrate into
our hearts: and the word of God, we know, consists not of doctrine only, but also
of exhortations, and threatenings, and reproofs. This plan then the Prophet now
pursues: Ye husband men, he says, be ashamed, and ye vinedressers, howl; for
perished has the harvest of the field. The sum of the whole is, that the Jews, as
we have already said, could by no excuse cover their indifference; for their clamor
was everywhere heard, their complaints everywhere resounded, that the land had
become a waste, that they were themselves famished that they were afÒicted with
many calamities; and yet no one acknowledged that God, who visited them for their
sins, was the author. But what remains I shall put off until to-morrow.
Prayer
Grant, Almighty God, that as thou invites us daily by various means to repentance,
and continues also to urge us, because thou sees our extreme tardiness, --- O grant
that we may at length be awakened from our indifference, and suffer us not to be
inebriated by the charms of Satan and the world; but by thy Spirit rouse us to real
groaning, that, being ashamed of ourselves, we may flee to thy mercy, and doubt
not but that thou wilt be propitious to us, provided with a sincere heart we call on
thee, and seek that reconciliation which thou daily offerest to us by thy Gospel in the
name of thy only begotten Son. Amen.
MINOR PROPHETS
Joel 1:12
12. The vine is dried up, and the fig tree languisheth; the pomegranate tree,
the palm tree also, and the apple tree, even all the trees of the field, are withered:
because joy is withered away from the sons of men.
12. Vitis exaruit, et ficulnea infirmata est (vel, periit;) malogranatum, etiam palma
et malus, omnes arbores exaruerunt: certe exaruit gaudium a filiis hominum.
Lecture Fortieth
The Prophet now concludes his subjects which was, that as God executed judg-
ments so severe on the people, it was a wonder that they remained stupefied, when
thus reduces to extremities. The vine, he says, has dried up, and every kind of fruit;
he adds the fig-tree, afterwards the {}רמוןremun, the pomegranate, (for so they
render it,) the palm, the apple-tree, 11 and all trees. And this sterility was a clear
sign of God's wrath; and it would have been so regarded, had not men either wholly
deceived themselves, or had become hardened against all punishments. Now this
{αναὶσθησὶα} (insensibility) is as it were the very summit of evils; that is, when men
feel not their own calamities, or at least understand not that they are inflicted by the
hand of God. Let us now proceed ---
Joel 1:13-15
13. Gird yourselves, and lament, ye priests: howl, ye ministers of the altar: come,
lie all night in sackcloth, ye ministers of my God: for the meat offering and the drink
offering is withholden from the house of your God.
13. Accingimini et plangete sacerdotes; ululate, ministri altaris; venite, pernoc-
tate cum saccis, ministri Dei mei: quia prohibita est a domo Dei vestri oblatio et
libamen.
14. Sanctify ye a fast, call a solemn assembly, gather the elders and all the
inhabitants of the land into the house of the Lord your God, and cry unto the Lord,
14. Sactificate jejunium, vocate coetum, congregate senes, omnes incoles terrae,
in domum Jehovae Dei vestri, et clamate ad Jehovam,
15. Alas for the day! for the day of the Lord is at hand, and as a destruction from
the Almighty shall it come.
15. Heus Diem! Quia propinquus est dies Jehovae, et tanquam vastitas ab Om-
nipotente veniet.
Now the Prophet begins to exhort the people to repentance. Having represented
them as grievously afÒicted by the hand of God, he now adds that a remedy was at
hand, provided they solicited the favor of God; and at the same tine he denounces
a more grievous punishment in future; for it would not have been enough that they
had been reminded of their calamities and evils, except they also feared in time to
come. Hence the Prophet, that he might the more move them, says, that the hand
of God was still stretched out, and that there was something worse nigh at hand,
except they of themselves anticipated it. This is the purport of the whole. I now
11Of the three foregoing trees we may add this account: The pomegranate, {,{רמוןgrows about
20 feet high, has a straight stem and spreading branches, and bears large red blossoms. Its fruit is about the size of an orange,
and is delicious and cooling. The palm or date-tree, ,{}תמרis sometimes as high as 100 feet, and remarkably straight. Its fruit
grows in clusters under its leaves, and is in taste very sweet. Palm branches were emblems of victory. What is called here the
apple-tree, ,{}תפוחwas no doubt the citron-tree. The word is derived from ,{}נפהto breathe, on account of the extreme fragrance
it emits. --- Ed.
JOHN CALVIN
come to the words.
Be girded, lament and howl, he says, ye priests, the ministers of the altar The
verb {}חגרוchegeru may be explained in two ways. Some understand it thus ``Gird
yourselves with sackcloth;'' for shortly after he says with sackcloth, or in sackcloth.
But we may take it as simply meaning, gird yourselves, that is, Hasten; for this
metaphorical expression often occurs. As to the drift of the passage, there is but
little difference, whether we read, ``Gird yourselves with sackcloth,'' or, ``Hasten.''
And he addresses the priests, though a common and general exhortation to the
whole people afterwards follows. But as God made them the leaders of his people,
it behaved them to afford others an example. It is the common duty of all the godly
to pray for and to further the salvation of their brethren; but it is a duty especially
enjoined on the ministers of the word and on pastors. So also, when God calls those
to repentance who preside over others, they ought to lead the way, and for two
reasons; --- first, because they have not been in vain chosen by the Lord for this
end, that they might outshine others, and be as luminaries; --- secondly, because
they who bear any public ofÏce ought to feel a double guilty when the Lord visits
public sins with judgment. Private men indeed sin; but in pastors there is the blame
of negligence, and still more, when they deviate even the least from the right way,
a greater offense is given. Rightly then does the Prophet begin with the priests,
when he bids the whole people to repent. And he not only bids them to put on
sackcloth, but commands them also, as we shall see, to proclaim a fast, and then
to call an assembly: ye priests, he says, be girded, and put on sackcloth, wail, howl,
and pass the night in sackcloth; and then he calls them the ministers of the altar and
the ministers of God, but in a different sense; for the Prophet does not substitute the
altar for God, as he would thus have formed an idol; but they are called the ministers
of the altar, because they offered there sacrifices to God. They are indeed with strict
propriety the ministers of God; but as the priests, when they sacrificed, stood in
the presence of God, and as the altar was to them as it were the way of access to
him, they are called the ministers of the altar. He calls them, at the same time, the
ministers of God, and, as it has been stated, they are properly so called.
But he says here {}אלהיalei (my God.) The iod, my, is by some omitted, as if
it were a servile letter, but redundant. I, however, doubt not but that the Prophet
here mentions Him as his God; for he thus intended to claim more authority for his
doctrine. His concern or his contest was with the whole people; and they, no doubt,
in their usual ways proudly opposed against him the name of God as their shield.
``What! are we not the very people of God?'' Hence the Prophet, in order to prove
this presumption false, sets forth God as being on his side. He therefore says, `The
ministers of my God.' Had any one objected and said, that he was in common the
God of the whole people, the Prophet had a ready answer, --- ``I am specially sent
by Him, and sustain his person, and plead the cause which he has committed to
me: He is then my God and not yours.'' We now then see the Prophet's meaning
in this expression. He now adds, for cut off is offering and libation from the house
of our God. He confesses Him at the same time to be their God with reference to
the priesthood; for nothing, we know, was presumptuously invented by the Jews, as
MINOR PROPHETS
the temple was built by Godly command, and sacrifices were offered according to
the rule of the law. He then ascribes to the priesthood this honor, that God ruled in
the temple; for God, as we have already said, approved of that worship as having
proceeded from his word: and to this purpose is that saying of Christ, `We know what
we worship.' But yet the priests did not rightly worship God; for though their external
rites were according to the command of God, yet as their hearts were polluted, it is
certain that whatever they did was repudiated by God, until, being touched with the
fear of his judgment, they fled to his mercy, as the Prophet now exhorts them to do.
He afterwards adds, sanctify a fast, call an assembly, gather the old, all the in-
habitants of the land. {}קדשkodash means to sanctify and to prepare; but I have
retained its proper meaning, sanctify a fast; for the command had regard to the end,
that is, sanctification. Then a fast proclaim --- for what purpose? That the people
might purge themselves from all their pollutions, and present themselves pure and
clean before God. Call an assembly. It appears that there was a solemn convoca-
tion whenever a fast was proclaimed among the people: for it was not enough for
each one privately at home to abstain from food, except all confessed openly, with
one mouth and one consent, that they were guilty before God. Hence with a fast
was connected a solemn profession of repentance. The uses and ends of a fast, we
know, are various: but when the Prophet here speaks of a solemn fast, he doubtless
bids the people to come to it suppliantly, as the guilty are wont to do, who would
deprecate punishment before a judge, that they may obtain mercy from him. In the
second chapter there will be much to say on fasting: I only wish now briefly to touch
on the subject.
He afterwards bids the old to be gathered, and then adds, All the inhabitants of
the land. But he begins with the old, and justly so, for the guilt of the old is always
the heaviest. But this word relates not to age as in a former instance. When he said
yesterday, `Hear ye, the aged,' he addressed those who by long experience had
learnt in the world many things unknown to the young or to men of middle age. But
now the Prophet means by the old those to whom was intrusted the public govern-
ment; and as through their slothfulness they had suffered the worship of God and
all integrity to fall into decay, rightly does the Prophet wish them to be leaders and
precursors to the people in their confession of repentance; and further, it behaved
them, on account of their ofÏce, as we have said of the priests, to lead the way. Joel
at the same time shows that the whole people were implicated in guilt, so that none
could be excepted, for he bids them all to come with the elders.
Call them, he says, to the house of Jehovah your God, and cry ye to Jehovah. We
hence learn why he had spoken of fasting and of sackcloth, even that they might
humbly deprecate God's wrath; for fasting of itself would have been useless, and
to put on sackcloth, we know, is in itself but an empty sign: but prayer is what
the Prophet sets here in the highest rank, and fasting is only an appendage, and
so is sackcloth. Whosoever then puts on sackcloth and withholds prayer, is guilty
of mockery; and no one can derive any good from mere fasting; but when fasting
and sackcloth are added to prayer, and are as it were handmaids, then they are not
uselessly practiced. We may then observe, that the end of fasting and sackcloth
JOHN CALVIN
was no other, than that the priests together with the whole people, might present
themselves suppliantly before God, and confess themselves worthy of destruction,
and that they had no hope except from his gratuitous mercy. This is the meaning.
It now follows, Alas the day! for nigh is the day of Jehovah. Here the Prophet,
as it was at first stated, threatens something worse in future than what they had
experienced. He has hitherto been showing their torpidity; now he declares that
they had not yet suffered all their punishments, but that there was something worse
to be feared, except they turned seasonably to God. And he now exclaims, as though
the day of Jehovah was before his eyes, and he calls it the day of Jehovah, because in
that day God would stretch-forth his hand to execute judgment; for while he tolerates
men or bears with their sins, he seems not to rule in the world. And though this mode
of speaking is common enough in Scripture, it ought yet to be carefully noticed; for all
seem not to understand that God calls that his own day, when he will openly shine
forth and appear as the judge of the world: but as long as he spares us, his face
seems to be hidden from us; yea, he seems not to govern the world. The Prophet
therefore declares here that the day of the Lord was at hand; for it cannot be, but
that the Lord must at length rise up and ascend his throne to punish men, though for
a time he may connive at them. But the interjection, expressive of grief, intimates
that the judgment, of which the Prophet speaks, was not to be despised, for it would
be dreadful; and he wished to strike terror into the Jews, for they were too secure.
And he says, The day is nigh, that they might not procrastinate, as they were wont to
do, from day to day: for though men be touched by God's judgments they yet even
desire time to be prolonged to them, and they come very tardily to God. Hence the
Prophet, that he might correct this their great slothfulness, says that the day was
nigh.
He adds, {}כשד{ }משדי{ }יבואkashed meshadi ibu `as a desolation from the
Almighty will it come.' The word {}שדיshadi signifies a conqueror; but it proceeds
from the verb {}שדדshadad; and this in Hebrew means ``to desolate,'' or ``to de-
stroy.'' The powerful and the conqueror is called {}שדיshadi; and hence they call
God {}שדיshadi, on account of his power. Some derive it from udder: then they
call God {}שדיshadi as though Scripture gave him this name, because from him
flows all abundance of good things as from a fountain. But I rather refer this name
to his strength and power, for the Jews, we know, gloried in the name of God as
one armed to defend their safety. Whenever then the Prophets said that God was
{}שדיshadi, the people laid hold on this as a ground for false confidence, ``God is
almighty, we are then secure from all evils.'' But yet this confidence was not founded
on the promises: and it was, we know, an absurd and profane presumption to have
thus abused the name of God. Since then the Jews foolishly pricked themselves on
this, that God had adopted them for his people, the prophet says here, ``There will
come a desolation from the Almighty;'' that is, ``God is Almighty, but ye are greatly
deceived in thinking that your safety is secured by his power; for he will, on the
contrary, be opposed to you, inasmuch as ye have provoked his wrath.'' It follows ---
Joel 1:16-17
16. Is not the meat cut off before our eyes, yea, joy and gladness from the house
MINOR PROPHETS
of our God?
16. An non coram oculis nostris cibus excisus est? e domo Dei nostri gaudium et
exultatio?
17. The seed is rotten under their clods, the garners are laid desolate, the barns
are broken down; for the corn is withered.
17. Putrefacta sunt grana subtus sulcos suos, desolata sunt reconditoria (vel,
apothecae desolatae sunt,) diruta sunt horrea, quia exaruit frumentum.
He repeats the same thing as before, for he reproaches the Jews for being so slow
to consider that the hand of God was against them. Has not the meat, he says,
been cut off before our eyes? joy and exultation from the house of our God? Here he
chides the madness of the Jews, that they perceived not things set before their eyes.
He therefore says that they were blind in the midst of light, and that their sight was
such, that seeing they saw nothing: they surely ought to have felt distressed, when
want reached the temple. For since God had commanded the first-fruits to be offered
to him, the temple ought not by any means to have been without its sacrifices; and
though mortals perish a hundred times through famine and want, yet God ought not
to be defrauded of his right. When, therefore, there was now no offering nor libation,
how great was the stupidity of the people not to feel this curse, which ought to have
wounded them more than if they had been consumed a hundred times by famine?
We see then the design of the Prophet's words, that is, to condemn the Jews for their
stupidity; for they considered not that a most grievous judgment was brought on
them, when the temple was deprived of its usual sacrifices.
He afterwards adds, that joy and gladness were taken away: for God commanded
the Jews to come to the temple to give thanks and to acknowledge themselves
blessed, because he had chosen his habitation among them. Hence this expression
is so often repeated by Moses, `Thou shalt rejoice before thy God;' for by saying this,
God intended to encourage the people the more to come cheerfully to the temple;
as though he said, ``I certainly want not your presence, but I wish by my presence
to make you glad.'' But now when the worship of God ceased, the Prophet says, that
joy had been also abolished; for the Jews could not cheerfully give thanks to God
when his curse was before their eyes, when they saw that he was their adversary,
and also when they were deprived of the ordinances of religion. We now then per-
ceive why the Prophet joins joy and gladness with oblations: they were the symbols
of thanksgiving.
He shows the cause of the evil, Rotted have the grains in the very furrows. For
they call seeds {}פרדותperedut from the act of scattering. He then calls grains by
this name, because they are scattered; and he says that they rotted in the fields
when they ought to have germinated. He then adds, The granaries halve become
desolated and the barns have been pulled down; for there was no use for them.
Hence we conclude, that sterility had become most grievousand perpetual; for if
the people had been only afÒicted by famine for a few harvests or for one year, the
Prophet would not have spoken thus. The famine must then have been, as it has
been already stated for a long time. Let us now proceed ---
Joel 1:18
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18. How do the beasts groan! the herds of cattle are perplexed, because they
have no pasture; yea, the flocks of sheep are made desolate.
18. Quomodo ingemuit bestia? Confusa sunt armenta boum? Quia desunt illis
pascua: etiam greges ovium desolati sunt.
The Prophet amplifies his reproof, that even oxen as well as other animals felt
the judgment of God. There is then here an implied comparison between the feeling
of brute animals and the insensibility of the people, as though he said, ``There is
certainly more intelligence and reason in oxen and other brute animals than in you;
for the herds groan, the flocks groan, but ye remain stupid and confounded. What
does this mean?'' We then see that the Prophet here compares the stupidity of the
people with the feeling of animals, to make them more ashamed.
How, he says, has the beast groaned? The question serves to show vehemence;
for if he had said in the form of a narrative, that the animals groaned, that the cat-
tle were confounded, and that the flocks perished, the Jews would have been less
affected; but when he exclaims and, moved with astonishment, speaks interroga-
tively, How does the beast groan? He, no doubt, wished to produce an effect on the
Jews, that they might perceive the judgment of God, which they had before passed
by with their eyes closed, though it was quite manifest. It follows ---
Joel 1:19-20
19. O Lord, to thee will I cry: for the fire hath devoured the pastures of the
wilderness, and the flame hath burned all the trees of the field.
19. Ad te Jehovam clamabo, quia ignis consumpsit pascua (vel, habitacula) de-
serti: et flamma accendit omnes arbores agri.
20. And the beasts of the field cry also unto thee: for the rivers of waters are
dried up, and the fire hath devoured the pastures of the wilderness.
20. Etiam bestiae agri clamabunt ad te (quanquam {}ערגproprium est cervi,
ut dicunt grammatici, sicuti etiam Psalmo 42 habetur: est illic idem verbum: clam-
abunt igitur bestiae ad te,) quia aruerunt decursus aquarum, quia ignis consumpsit
habitacula (vel, pascua) deserti.
When the Prophet saw that he succeeded less than he expected, leaving the peo-
ple, he speaks of what he would do himself, I will cry to thee, Jehovah. He had before
bidden others to cry, and why does he not now press the same thing? Because he
saw that the Jews were so deaf and listless as to make no account of all his exhorta-
tions: he therefore says, ``I will cry to thee, Jehovah; for they are touched neither by
shame nor by fear. Since they throw aside every regard for their own safety, since
they account as nothing my exhortations I will leave them, and will cry to thee;''
which means this, --- ``I see, Lord, that all these calamities proceed from thy hand;
I will not howl as profane men do, but I will ascribe them to thee; for I perceive thee
to be acting as a judge in all the evils which we suffer.'' Having then before declared
that the Jews were more tardy than brute animals and having reproached them for
feeling less acutely than oxen and sheep, the Prophet now says, that though they
all remained obstinate, he would yet do what a pious man and a worshipper of God
ought to do, I will cry to thee --- Why? Because the fire has consumed the pastures,
or the dwellings, of the wilderness.
MINOR PROPHETS
He here again gives an awful record of God's judgments. Though the heat may
burn up whole regions, yet we know that pasture-lands do not soon wither, especially
on mountains; and of such cold pastures he speaks here. We know that however
great may be the fertility of mountains, yet coolness prevails there, and that, in the
greatest drought, the mountainous regions are ever green. But the Prophet tells us
here of an unusual thing, that the dwellings of the wilderness were burnt up. Some
render {}נאותnaut pastures; others, dwellings: but as to the meaning, we may read
either; for the Prophet refers here to cold and humid regions, which never want
moisture in the greatest heats. Some render the word, the beautiful or fair spots
of the wilderness, but improperly. He doubtless means pastures, or dwellings, or
folds. The fire then has consumed the dwellings, or pastures of the wilderness. This
was not usual; it did not happen according to the ordinary course of nature: it then
follows that it was a miracle. This is the reason why the Prophet says, that it was
now time to cry to God; for it did not appear to be fortuitous, that the heat had burnt
up regions which were moist and well watered. The flame, he says hath burnt up all
the trees of the field.
He afterwards adds The beasts of the field will also cry (for the verb is in the plural
number;) the beasts then will cry. The Prophet expresses here more clearly what he
had said before that though the brute animals were void of reasons they yet felt
God's judgment, so that they constrained men by their example to feel ashamed,
for they cried to God: the beasts then of the field cry. He ascribes crying to them, as
it is elsewhere ascribed to the young ravens. The young ravens, properly speaking,
do not indeed call on God; and yet the Psalmist says so, and that, because they
confess, by raising up their bills, that there is no supply for their want except God
supports them. So also the Prophet mentions here the beasts as crying to God. It is
indeed a figure of speech, called personification; for this could not be properly said
of beasts. But when the beasts made a noise under the pressure of famine, was it
not such a calling on God as their nature admitted? As much then as the nature
of brute animals allows, they may be said to seek their food from the Lord, when
they send forth lamentable cries and noises, and show that they are oppressed with
famine and want. When, therefore, the Prophet attributes crying to beasts, he at the
same time reproaches the Jews with their stupidity, that they did not call on God.
``What do you mean,'' he says. ``See the brute animals; they show to you what
ought to be done; it is at least a teaching that ought to have effect on you. If I and
the other prophets have lost all our labor, if God has in vain performed the ofÏce of
a teacher among you, let the very oxen at least be your teachers; to whom indeed it
is a shame to be disciples, but it is a greater shame not to attend to what they teach
you; for the oxen by their example lead you to God.''
We now perceive how much vehemence there is in the Prophet's words, when he
says, Even the beasts of the field will cry to God; for the streams of waters have
dried up, and the fire has consumed the dwellings, or the pastures of the wilderness.
He again teaches what I have lately stated, that sterility proceeded from the evident
judgment of God, and that it ought to have struck dread into men, for it was a sort
of miracle. When, therefore the courses of waters dried up on the mountains, how
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could it be deemed natural? {}אפיקיםaphikim mean courses of waters or valleys
through which the waters run. The Prophet here refers, no doubt, to those regions
which, through the abundance of water, always retain their fertility. When, therefore,
the very valleys were burnt up, they ought surely to own that something wonderful
had happened. On this account, he ascribes crying to herds and brute animals, and
not any sort of crying, but that by which they called on God. What remains we shall
defer till to-morrow.
Prayer.
Grant, Almighty God, that as thou sees us to be surrounded with the infirmity of
our flesh, and so held by, and, as it were, overwhelmed with, earthly cares, that we
can hardly raise up our hearts and minds to thee, --- O grant, that being awaked by
thy word and daily warnings, we may at length feel our evils, and that we may not
only learn by the stripes thou inflictest on us, but also of our own accord, summon
ourselves to judgment, and examine our hearts, and thus come to thy presence,
being our own judges; so that we may anticipate thy displeasure, and thus obtain
that mercy which thou best promised to all, who, turning only to thee, deprecate thy
wrath, and also hope for thy favor, through the name of one Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.
Chapter 2
Lecture Forty-first
Joel 2
Joel 2:1-11
1. Blow ye the trumpet in Zion, and sound an alarm in my holy mountain: let all
the inhabitants of the land tremble: for the day of the Lord cometh, for it is nigh at
hand;
1. Clangite tuba in Sion, et clamate (alii vertunt, tantarizate: sed est generale
verbum: clamate igitur, vel, clamorem odite) in monte sancto meo: contremiscant
omnes incolae terrae, quia venit dies Jehovae, quia propinquus est.
2. A day of darkness and of gloominess, a day of clouds and of thick darkness,
as the morning spread upon the mountains: a great people and a strong; there hath
not been ever the like, neither shall be any more after it, even to the years of many
generations.
2. Dies tenebrarum et caliginis, dies nubis et obscuritatis, sicut aurora expandi-
tur super montes, populus magnus et robustus (vel, terribilis;) similis ei non fuit a
seculo, et post eum, non addet (hoc est, non erit amplius) ad annos generationis
et generationis (ego cogor uno contextu legere haec omnia; dicam postea suo loco
rationem.)
3. A fire devoureth before them; and behind them a flame burneth: the land is as
the garden of Eden before them, and behind them a desolate wilderness; yea, and
nothing shall escape them.
3. Coram facie ejus (coram ipso) devorans ignis, et post eum exuret flamma: sicut
hortus Eden terra coram ipso (ante faciem ejus ad verbum;) et post eum desertum
solitudinis (vel, vastitatis;) adeoque evasio non erit ei.
4. The appearance of them is as the appearance of horses; and as horsemen, so
shall they run.
4. Quasi aspectus equorum aspectus ejus, et tanquam equites current.
5. Like the noise of chariots on the tops of mountains shall they leap, like the
noise of a flame of fire that devoureth the stubble, as a strong people set in battle
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array.
5. Sicut vocem quadrigarum (sic {}מרכבותinterpretes vertunt: postea dicam de
hoc verbo,) super cacumina montium saltabunt, secundum vocem flammae ignis
vorantis stipulam, quasi populus robustus (vel, terribilis) paratus ad proelium.
6. Before their face the people shall be much pained: all faces shall gather black-
ness.
6. A facie ejus pavebunt populi, omnes facies colligent nigredinem.
7. They shall run like mighty men; they shall climb the wall like men of war; and
they shall march every one on his ways, and they shall not break their ranks:
7. Quasi gigantes (vel, fortes) discurrent, sicut viri proelii ascendent murum, et
vir (hoc est, quisque in viis suis ambulabit, et non tardabunt gressus suos (alii, non
inquirent de viis suis.)
8. Neither shall one thrust another; they shall walk every one in his path: and
when they fall upon the sword, they shall not be wounded.
8. Vir fratrem suum (hoc est, quisque socium suum) non premet, quisque in viis
suis ambulabit: usque in gladium cadent (hoc est, super gladium cadent) non vul-
nerabuntur (alii, non concupiscent.)
9. They shall run to and fro in the city; they shall run upon the wall, they shall
climb up upon the houses; they shall enter in at the windows like a thief.
9. Per urbem gradientur, per murum discurrent, in domos ascendent, usque ad
fenestras intrabunt tanquam fur.
10. The earth shall quake before them; the heavens shall tremble: the sun and
the moon shall be dark, and the stars shall withdraw their shining:
10. Coram eo contremiscet terra, et angentur coeli; sol et luna nigrescent, et
stellae retrahent splendorem suum.
11. And the Lord shall utter his voice before his army: for his camp is very great:
for he is strong that executeth his word: for the day of the Lord is great and very
terrible; and who can abide it?
11. Et Jehova edet vocem suam coram exercitu suo, quia magna valde castra ejus:
quia robustus qui facit (vel, exequitur) verbum ejus; quia magnus dies Jehovae, et
terribilis valde, et quis sustinebit eum?
This chapter contains serious exhortations, mixed with threatening; but the
Prophet threatens for the purpose of correcting the indifference of the people,
whom we have seen to have been very tardy to consider God's judgments. Now the
reason why I wished to join together these eleven verses was, because the design
of the Prophet in them is no other than to stir up by fear the minds of the people.
The object of the narrative then is, to make the people sensible, that it was now no
time for taking rest; for the Lord, having long tolerated their wickedness, was now
resolved to pour upon them in full torrent his whole fiery. This is the sum of the
whole. Let us now come to the words.
Sound the trumpet, he says, in Zion; cry out in my holy mountain; let all the in-
habitants of the earth tremble. The Prophet begins with an exhortation. We know,
indeed that he alludes to the usual custom sanctioned by the law; for as on festi-
vals trumpets were sounded to call the people, so also it was done when anything
MINOR PROPHETS
extraordinary happened. Hence the Prophet addresses not each individually; but as
all had done wickedly, from the least to the greatest, he bids the whole assembly to
be called, that they might in common own themselves to be guilty before God, and
deprecate his vengeance. It is the same as though the Prophet had said that there
was no one among the people who could exempt himself from blame, for iniquity had
prevailed through the whole body. But this passage shows that when any judgment
of God is impending, and tokens of it appear, this remedy ought to be used, namely,
that all must publicly assemble and confess themselves worthy of punishments and
at the same time flee to the mercy of God. This, we know, was, as I have already
said, formerly enjoined on the people; and this practice has not been abolished by
the gospel. And it hence appears how much we have departed from the right and
lawful order of things; for at this day it would be new and unusual to proclaim a
fast. How so? Because the greater part are become hardened; and as they know
not commonly what repentance is, so they understand not what the profession of
repentance means; for they understand not what sin is, what the wrath of God is,
what grace is. It is then no wonder that they are so secure, and that when praying for
pardon is mentioned, it is a thing wholly unknown at this day. But though people in
general are thus stupid, it is yet our duty to learn from the Prophets what has always
been the actual mode of proceeding among the people of God, and to labor as much
as we can, that this may be known, so that when there shall come an occasion for
a public repentance, even the most ignorant may understand that this practice has
ever prevailed in the Church of God, and that it did not prevail through inconsiderate
zeal of men, but through the will of God himself.
But he bids the inhabitants of the land to tremble. By these words he intimates,
that we are not to trifle with God by vain ceremonies but to deal with him in earnest.
When therefore, the trumpets sound, our hearts ought to tremble; and thus the
reality is to be connected with the outward signs. And this ought to be carefully
noticed; for the world is ever disposed to have an eye to some outward service, and
thinks that a satisfaction is given to God, when some external rite is observed. But
we do nothing but mock God, when we present him with ceremonies, while there is
no corresponding sincere feeling in the heart; and this is what we shall find handled
in another place.
The Prophet now adds threatening, that he might stir up the minds of the people:
For coming, he says, is the day of Jehovah for nigh it is. By these words he first
intimates that we are not to wait until God strikes us, but that as soon as he shows
signs of his wrath, we ought to anticipate his judgment. When God then warns us
of his displeasure, we ought instantly to solicit pardon: nigh, he says, is the day of
Jehovah. What follows has a regard to the end which we have mentioned; for the
Prophet paints the terrible judgment of God with the view of rousing minds wholly
stupid and indifferent.
And then he says, A day of darkness and of thick darkness, a day of clouds and
of obscurity, as the dawn which expands over the mountains. By calling it a dark
and gloomy day, he wished to show that there would be no hope of deliverance; for,
according to the common usage of Scripture, we know that by light is designated
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a cheerful and happy state, or the hope of deliverance from any afÒiction: but the
Prophet now extinguishes, as it were, every hope in this world, when he declares that
the day of Jehovah would be dark, that is, without hope of restoration. This is his
meaning. When he says afterwards, As the dawn which expands, etc., he mentions
this to signify the celerity with which it would come; for we know how sudden is the
rising of the dawn on the mountains: the dawn spreads in a moment on the moun-
tains, where darkness was before. For the light penetrates not immediately either
into valleys or even into plains; but if any one looks at the summits of mountains,
he will see that the dawn rises quickly. It is then the settle as though the Prophet
said, ``The day of the Lord is nigh, for the Lord can suddenly stretch forth his hand,
as the dawn spreads over the mountains.''
He then mentions its character, A people great and strong to whom there has not
been the like from the beginning, or from ages and after whom there will be no more
the like, to the years of a generation and a generation. Here the Prophet specifies
the kind of judgment that would be, of which he had generally spoken before; and
he shows that what he had hitherto recorded of God's vengeance ought not to be
so understood as that God would descend openly and visibly from heaven, but that
the Assyrians would be the ministers and executioners of his vengeance. In short,
the Prophet shows here that the coming of that people ought to have been as much
dreaded as if God had put forth his hand and executed on his people the vengeance
deserved by their sins. And by these words he teaches us, that men gain nothing
by being blind to the judgments of God; for God will notwithstanding execute his
works and use the instrumentality of men; for men are the scourges by which he
chastises his own people. The Chaldeans and the Assyrians were unbelievers; yet
God used them for the purpose of correcting the Jews. This the Prophet now shows,
that is, that God was the avenger in these very Assyrians, for he employed them
as the ministers and executioners of his judgment. We see at the same time that
the Prophet describes here the terrible wrath of God to shake off from the Jews their
tardiness; for he saw that they were not moved by all his threatening, and ever laid
hold on some new flattering pretenses. This is the reason why he gives such a long
description.
Before them, he says, the fire will devour, and after them the flame will burn.
He means that the vengeance of God would be such as would consume the whole
people: for God has in various ways begun to chastise the people, but, as we have
seen, without any advantage. The Prophet then says here that the last stroke re-
mained, and that the Lord would wholly destroy men so refractory, and whom he
could not hitherto restore to a sound mind by moderate punishments. For he had
in a measure spared them, though he had treated them sharply and severely, and
given them time to repent. Hence, when the Prophet saw that they were wholly ir-
reclaimable, he says, that it now only remained that the Lord should at once utterly
consume them.
He adds, As the garden of Eden the land is before them, and after them it is
the land of solitude; and so (and also) there will be no escape from them. Here the
Prophet warns the Jews, that though they inhabited a most pleasant country and one
MINOR PROPHETS
especially fruitful, there was no reason for them to flatter themselves, for God could
convert the fairest lands into a waste. He therefore compares Judea to the garden
of Eden or to Paradise. But such also was the state of Sodom, as Moses shows.
What did it avail the Sodomites that they dwelt as in Paradise, that they inhabited
a rich and fertile land, and thought themselves to be nourished as in the bosom of
God? So also now the Prophet says, ``Though the land is like Paradise, yet when
the enemy shall march through it, a universal waste shall follow, a scattering shall
everywhere follow, there shall be no cultivation, no pleasantness, no appearance of
inhabited land, for the enemy will destroy every thing'' His purpose was to prevent
the Jews, by confiding in God's blessing, which they had hitherto experienced, from
heedlessly disregarding in future his vengeance; for his wrath would in a moment
consume and devour whatever fruitfulness the land had hitherto possessed. This
is the meaning. He therefore concludes that there would be no escape from these
enemies, the Assyrians, because they would come armed with a command to reduce
to nothing the whole land.
He afterwards adds many similitudes, which any one of himself can sufÏciently
understand: I shall not therefore be long in explaining them, and many words would
be superfluous. As the appearance of horses their appearance, and as horsemen, so
will they run. This verse sets forth again the suddenness of vengeance, as though the
Prophet had said, that long distance would be no obstacle, for the Assyrians would
quickly move and occupy Judea; for distance deceived the Jews, and they thought
that there would be a long respite to them. Hence the Prophet here removes this
vain confidence, when he says that they would be like horses and horsemen. He
then adds, ---
Like the sound of chariots. They expound {}מרכבותmerecabut, chariots, though
the Hebrews rather think them to be harnesses or saddles as we call them; but yet
I prefer to view them as chariots; for what the Prophet says, that they shall leap on
the tops of mountains like the sound of chariots, would not be suitably applied to
the trappings of horses. They then shall leap on tops of mountains --- but how? as
chariots, that is, they shall come with great force, or make a great and terrible noise.
And he speaks of the tops of mountains for there we know the noise is greater when
there is any commotion. The Prophet, therefore, does in every way amplify God's
vengeance, that he might awaken the Jews, who by their indifference had too long
provoked the Lord's wrath.
Like the sound, he says, of the flame of fire, or of a fiery flame, devouring the
stubble. He compares the Assyrians to a flame, which consumes all things; and he
compares the Jews to stubble, though they thought themselves fortified by many
forces and strongholds.
At length he adds, As a strong people, prepared for battle; their face the people
will dread, and all faces shall gather blackness. By these words the Prophet intimates
that the Assyrians at their coming would be supplied with such power as would, by
report only, lay prostrate all people. But if the Assyrians should be so formidable
to all people, what could the Jews do? In short, the Prophet here shows that the
Jews would by no means be able to resist enemies so powerful; for they would by
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their fame alone so lay prostrate all people, that none would dare to rise up against
them. He then compares them to giants. As giants, he says, they will run here and
there; as men of war they will climb the wall, and man (that is, every one) in his
ways shall walk. The Prophet heaps together these various expressions, that the
Jews might know that they had to do with the irresistible hand of God, and that they
would in vain implore assistance here and there; for they could find no relief in the
whole world, when God executed his vengeance in so formidable a manner. He says
further, they shall not stop their goings, though some render the words, ``They shall
not inquire respecting their ways;'' for he had said before, ``They shall proceed in
their ways:'' then the meaning is, They shall not come like strangers, who, when they
journey through unknown regions, make anxious inquiries, whether any be lying in
wait, whether there be any turnings in the road, whether the ways be difÏcult and
perplexed: They shall not inquire, he says; they shall securely proceed, as though
the road was open to them, as though the whole country was known to them. This
part also serves to show celerity, that the Jews might dread the vengeance of God
the same as if it was quite nigh them.
He then adds, A man shall not push his brother. By this mode of speaking the
Prophet means that they would come in perfect order, so that the multitude would
create no confusion, as it is mostly the case: for it is very difÏcult for an army to
march in regular order without tumult, like two or three men walking together. For
when a hundred horsemen march together some commonly hinder others. When
therefore so large a number assemble together, it can hardly be possible for them
not to retard and impede one another. But the Prophet declares that this would not
be the case with the Assyrians, for the Lord would direct their goings. Though then
the Lord would bring so large a multitude, it would yet be so well arranged and in
such order, that no one would push his companion, or be any hindrance to him. A
man, he says, shall in his way proceed, even without any impediment.
And on swords they shall fall, and shall not be wounded: that is, they shall not
only be strong men of war, so that they shall intrepidly face every kind of danger;
but they shall also escape unhurt from all weapons; though they may rush on swords
like madmen and show no care for themselves, they shall not yet be wounded. But
this may be taken in a still simpler way, ``They shall not be wounded'' that is, as
if they could not be wounded. And it seems to me to be the genuine sense of the
Prophet, that they would not entertain any fear of death, so as cautiously to attack
their enemies, but would with impunity provoke death itself by casting themselves
on the very swords: they would not then fear any wound, but dare to face swords
as if they were wholly harmless to them. Some render the word, ``they shall not
covet;'' and then the word means as if the Prophet had said, that they would not be
covetous of money. But this meaning can hardly suit this place; and we see that the
best sense seems to be, that they would heedlessly rush on swords, as though they
could not be wounded.
It afterwards follows, Through the city shall they march; over the wall shall they
run here and there; into houses shall they climb; through the windows shall they
enter like a thief. The Prophet here shows that the Jews in vain trusted in their fortified
MINOR PROPHETS
cities, for the enemies would easily penetrate into them. They shall march, he says,
through the city, that is, as though there were no gates to it. The meaning then
is, that though Judea abounded in cities, which seemed impregnable and appeared
sufÏcient to arrest the course of enemies, as it had happened almost always, so that
great armies were forced to desist when any strong fortified city stood in their way;
yet the Prophet says that cities would be no impediment to the Assyrians at their
coming to Judea, for they would march through the city, as along a plain road, where
no gates are closed against them. They shall then march through the midst of cities
as through a plain or open fields. To the same purpose is what follows, They shall
run here and there over the wall, he says. These are indeed hyperbolical words; yet,
when we consider how slow men are to fear punishment, we must allow that the
Prophet in these expressions does not exceed moderation. They shall then run up
and down through the city; that is, ``In vain you expect that there will be to you any
rest or quietness, for ye think that you sill be able for a time to sustain the onsets
of your enemies: This,'' he says, ``will by no means be the case, for they shall run
here and there over the wall, as though it were a plain. Besides, they shall climb into
the houses, and enter in through the windows, and do this as a thief; that is, though
there should be no hostile attack, yet they shall stealthily and secretly penetrate into
your houses: when there will be a great tumult, when the whole regions shall meet
in arms, and when ye will think yourselves able to resist, they will then as thieves
quietly enter into your houses and come in through the windows, and ye shall not
be able to close up the passage against them.''
Then he adds, Before their face shall the earth tremble, and in anguish shall be
the heavens; the sun and the moon shall become dark, and the stars shall withdraw
their brightness. The Prophet speaks here more hyperbolically; but we must ever
remember that he addressed men extremely stupid: it then behaved him to speak
in an unusual manner, that he might touch their feelings; for it avails nothing to
speak in all ordinary way to perverse men, especially to those who have divested
themselves of all shame, and whom Satan has fascinated, so that they fear nothing
and grieve at nothing. When therefore each stupidity lays hold on the minds of men,
God must thunder that his word may be heard. As then the listlessness of the people
was monstrous, so it was necessary, so to speak, for the Prophet to utter monstrous
words. This is the reason why he now says, Before their face (namely, that of the
enemies) shall the land tremble; and then he adds, The heavens also shall be in
anguish; not that the heavens would fear the Assyrians; but the Prophet intimates
that such would be the vengeance, that it would terrify the whole world; and this he
intimates, that the Jews might cease to expect any subterfuges, for they flattered
themselves, as though they could fly on the clouds, or could find for themselves some
hiding-places or some corners at a distance. The Prophet gives them to understand
that the whole world would be full of horror, when the Lord would come furnished
with his army. He speaks also of the sun and the moon; as though he said, ``There
will be no more any hope of aid from created things; for the vital light itself shall fail,
when the Lord shall pour forth the flood of his fury: The sun and the moon, he says,
shall become dark; and the stars shall withhold their brightness. Though then ye lift
JOHN CALVIN
up your eyes, not even a spark of light will there be to comfort you, for darkness
on every side will cover you; and ye shall know by heaven as well as by earth that
God is angry with you. Here, in short, he shuts up against the Jews every avenue
to hope; for not only the Assyrian will rage on earth, but God will also give signs of
vengeance from heaven, so that the sun will be constrained to show such a sign, as
well as the moon and all the stars.
He at last adds, And Jehovah will utter his voice before his army. The Prophet
seems in this verse to anticipate whatever objection men might adduce. ``O! thou
denounces on us great terrors, and as if the Assyrians were not to be counted as
men, as if no other people were in the world, as if there was no other army, as if
there were no other forces, as if none else had courage; but if the Assyrians are
at this day formidable, they have yet neighbors who can gather a force sufÏcient
easily to oppose them'' And Egypt was then a populous country, and well fortified;
and who would not have said that the Egyptians were equal to the Assyrians? and
the Jews also thought themselves safe through a treaty with them. And then there
was Syria; and there were many kingdoms, with which the Jews might have boasted
that they were surrounded, so that no access to them was open to the Assyrians; for
however insufÏcient were the people of Moab or the people of Amman, yet they were
all joined together, even Edom, and Ammon, and Moab: and then Tyrus and Sidon,
and the many neighboring kingdoms, might certainly have been sufÏcient to resist
the Assyrians. Now, that no one might object all this, the Prophet shortly anticipates
it by saying, that God would be the leader of his army; as though he had said, ``I
have already declared this to be the hand of God: for the Assyrians will not come
here of their own accord; that is, without being stirred up by God: but as this truth
has not as yet sufÏciently moved your feelings, know that God will be the leader of
this army: God will send forth his voice before his army.'' Here he distinctly calls the
Assyrians the attendants of God; they shall not then come as soldiers hired by their
own king, they shall not come as carrying on war for an earthly king, but the Lord
himself shall guide them, and by his voice encourage them. By this expression the
Prophet shows that the Jews would not have a contest with one nation only, but also
with God himself and with all his celestial power.
He therefore says, God will utter his voice before his army; for very great will be
his camp. He again repeats that the multitude which was to execute the biddings of
God would be so great, that the Jews would seek forces in vain to resist it. Strong,
he says, is he who executes his word. He expresses more clearly what I have stated
already, that though cupidity impelled the Assyrians, that though they were intent on
rapine and plunder, yet they would not come merely through an impulse of their own,
but that the Lord would prepare them and use them as his instruments: ``Powerful,
then, is he who does the word of God; that is, who executes his command; not that
the Assyrians designed to show regard to God or to offer to him their service, as the
faithful do, who willingly devote themselves to Him; but that the Lord by his secret
providence guided them and employed them to punish his own people.
He afterwards adds in the last place, For great will be the day of Jehovah and
terrible, and who will endure it? In this clause he shows that the vengeance would
MINOR PROPHETS
be such as would reduce the Jews to nothing, and that it was now time to repent,
and that if they still turned a deaf ear to what the Prophet denounces, God would
punish their perverseness.
Now with regard to what he says, that strong is he who does the word of God,
we have elsewhere reminded you that men serve God in two ways, --- they either
execute his commands willingly, or are led to do so by a blind impulse. The angels
and the faithful perform God's commands, because they are guided by the spirit of
obedience; but the wicked also, and the devil who is their head, fulfill God's biddings;
this, however, is not to be imputed to them as obedience, for they are only led
by their own wicked purposes, and seek to destroy, as far as they can, the whole
government of God; but they are constrained, willing or unwilling, to obey God, not
of their own accord or willingly, as I have said, but the Lord turns all their efforts
to answer the end which he has decreed. Whatever, then, Satan and the wicked
attempt to do, they at the same time serve God and obey his commands; and though
they rage against God, he yet holds them in by his bridle, and also so guides their
attempts and their purposes as to answer his own ends. In this sense, then, it is, that
Joel says, that the Assyrians would do the word of God; not that it was their purpose
to obey God, not that God had commanded them anything, but he puts the word
of the Lord here for his secret purpose. As, then, the wicked perform no voluntary
obedience to God, but constrained, when they execute God's commands; so there is
a twofold command or word of God: there is the command by which he teaches his
own children and leads them to obey him; and there is another, a hidden command,
when he deigns not to address men, and shows not what pleases him or what he
means to do, but suffers them to be led by their own sinful desires; in the meantime,
he has his own secret purpose, which by them he executes though without their
intention.
Prayer.
Grant, almighty God, that as thou invites us daily with so much kindness and love,
and makes known to us thy paternal goodwill, which thou didst once show to us in
Christ thy Son, --- O grant, that, being allured by thy goodness, we may surrender
ourselves wholly to thee, and become so teachable and submissive, that wherever
thou guidest us by thy Spirit thou mayest follow us with every blessing: let us not,
in the meantime, be deaf to thy warnings; and whenever we deviate from the right
way, grant that we may immediately awake when thou warnest us, and return to the
right path, and deign thou also to embrace us and reconcile us to thyself through
Christ our Lord. Amen.
Lecture Forty-second
Joel 2:12-13
12. Therefore also now, saith the Lord, turn ye even to me with all your heart,
and with fasting, and with weeping, and with mourning:
12. Atque etiam nunc dicet Jehova, convertimini ad me in toto corde vestro, et in
jejunio, et in fletu, et in planctu.
13. And rend your heart, and not your garments, and turn unto the Lord your God:
for he is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and of great kindness, and repenteth
JOHN CALVIN
him of the evil.
13. Et scindite cor vestrum, et non vestimenta vestra, et convertimini ad Jeho-
vam Deum vestrum, quia ipse propitius et misericors, longus ad iram, et multus
clementia, et poenitebit eum super malo.
The Prophet, having proclaimed the dreadful judgment which we have noticed,
now shows that he did not intend to terrify the people without reason, but, on the
contrary, to encourage them to repentance; which he could not do without offering
to them the hope of pardon; for as we have said before, and as it may be collected
from the whole of Scripture, men cannot be restored to the right ways except they
entertain a hope of God's mercy inasmuch as he who has been ungodly, when he
despairs, wholly disregards himself, observing no restraint. Hence the Prophet now
represents God as propitious and merciful, that he might thus kindly allure the people
to repentance.
He says first, And even now the Lord says, Turn ye to me. The Prophet exhorts
the people, not in his own name, but speaks in the person of God himself. He might
indeed have borne witness to the favor which he proclaimed; but the discourse be-
comes more striking by introducing God as the speaker. And there is a great im-
portance in the words, even now; for when one considers what we have noticed in
the beginning of the chapter, a prospect of relief could hardly have been deemed
possible. God had, indeed, in various ways, tried to restore the people to the right
way; but, as we have seen, the greater part had become so void of feeling, that the
scourges of God were wholly ineffectual; there remained, then, nothing but the utter
destruction which the Prophet threatened them with at the beginning of the second
chapter. Yet, in this state of despair, he still sets forth some hope of mercy, provided
they turned to him; even now, he says. The particles {}וגםugam are full of empha-
sis, ``even now'' that is, ``Though ye have too long abused God's forbearance, and
with regard to you, the opportunity is past, for ye have closed the door against your-
selves; yet even now, --- which no one could have expected, and indeed what ought
to be thought incredible by yourselves, --- even now God waits for you, and invites
you to entertain hope of salvation.'' But it was necessary that these two particles,
even now, should be added; for it is not in the power of men to fix for themselves, as
they please, the season for mercy. God here shows the acceptable time, as Isaiah
says (Isaiah 49:8) to be, when he has not yet rejected men, but when he offers to be
propitious. We must then remember that the Prophet gives not here liberty to men
to delay the time, as the profane and scorners are wont to do, who trifle with God
from day to day; but the Prophet here shows that we must obey the voice of God,
when he invites us, as also Isaiah says, `Behold now the time accepted, behold the
day of salvation: seek God now, for he is near; call on him while he may be found.'
So then, as I have reminded you, these two particles, even now, are added, that men
may be made attentive to the voice of God when he invites them, that they may not
delay till tomorrow, for the Lord may then close the door, and repentance may be
too late. We at the same time see how indulgently God bears with men, since he left
a hope of pardon to a people so obstinate and almost past recovery.
Even now, he says, turn ye to me with your whole heart. The Prophet here reminds
MINOR PROPHETS
us that we must not act feignedly with God; for men are ever disposed to trifle with
him. We indeed see what almost the whole world is wont to do. God graciously meets
us and is ready to receive us unto favor, though we have a hundred times alienated
ourselves from him; but we bring nothing but hypocrisy and disguise: hence the
Prophet declares here distinctly, that this dissimulation does not please God, and
that they can hide nothing, who only pretend some sort of repentance by external
signs, and that what is required is the serious and sincere feeling of the heart. This
is what he means by the whole heart; not that perfect repentance can be formed
in men, but the whole or complete heart is opposed to a divided heart: for men
well understand that God is not ignorant; yet they divide their heart, and when they
bestow some portion on God, they think that he is satisfied; and in the meantime
there remains an interior and some hidden perverseness, which separates them far
from God. This vice the Prophet now condemns, when he says, Turn with the whole
heart. He then shows that it is an hypocrisy abominable to God, when men keep the
greater part of their heart, as it were, closed up, and think it enough, if only they
bring, so to speak, some volatile feeling.
He afterwards adds, fasting, and weeping, and mourning; and by these words he
shows how grievously they had sinned; as though he said, that they deserved not
only one kind of destruction, but were worthy of hundred deaths; that God therefore
would not now be content with any common repentance, and except they came
suppliantly and deeply felt their own guilt. It is indeed true, that we ought daily
and even constantly to sigh, because we continue almost every hour to provoke
God's wrath against us; but the Prophet here speaks of solemn fasting, because the
people had so grievously offended God that there was required some extraordinary
confession, such as he here describes. Come then to me with fasting, and weeping,
and wailing'' that is ``Show at length that you are guilty and submissively deprecate
the vengeance which ye have through your wickedness deserved.'' He speaks like a
judge, when he tells the criminal, not to act dissemblingly, but simply to confess his
fault. The guilty are indeed wont to weave many excuses to avoid punishment; but
when the judge deems a man guilty, and he is abundantly proved to be so, he says,
``What good can you do? for these your shufÒing and subterfuges make your case
worse: for now I hold you bound, and you cannot escape by these shifts, and will only
the more provoke my displeasure. If then you wish me to show you favor, own how
grievously you have offended, and without any coloring; confess now that you are
worthy of death, and that nothing else remains for you, except I mercifully pardon
you: for if you try to extenuate your crime, if you attempt by some excuse to seek
reprief, you will gain nothing.'' So now does the Lord deal with this people: Turn
to me, he says; first, sincerely; then with fasting, with weeping, and with wailing;
that is, ``Let it appear that you suppliantly deprecate the destruction which ye have
deserved, for moderate repentance will not do, inasmuch as ye are guilty before me
of so many crimes.'' We now apprehend the Prophet's meaning.
He then subjoins, Rend your heart, and not your garments, and turn to Jehovah
your God. The Prophet again repeats that we ought to deal sincerely with God; for all
those ceremonies, by which men imagine that they discharge their duties, are mere
JOHN CALVIN
mockeries, when they are not preceded by a pure and sincere heart. But as they
were wont under mournful circumstances to rend their garments, he therefore says,
``God has become now insensible to these customs; for with regard to men, ye are
ceremonious enough, and more than enough: ye indeed rend your garments, and
thus draw pity from men, and yet your heart remains whole, there is no rending, no
opening; Rend then your heart,'' that is, ``Leave off thus to mock God, as ye have
been wont to do, and begin with your heart.'' It is indeed certain that the orientals
were given to many ceremonies; but the vice the Prophet here condemns in the Jews
is natural as it were to all men; so that every one of us is inclined to hypocrisy, and
has need of having his attention drawn to the sincerity of the heart. We must then
remember that this truth is to be set forth at all times and to all nations. Let any one
search himself and he will find that he labors under this evil, --- that he would rather
reed his garment than his heart. And since the Jews usually observed this custom,
the Prophet does not without reason deride it, and say, that it was of no account with
God except they rent their hearts. But when he bids them to rend their hearts and
not their garments, though he seems to repudiate that external practice, he does not
yet distinctly condemn it, but intimates that it was a lawful thing, provided the heart
was rent. Now this expression, Rend the heart, ought not to be deemed harsh, for it
is to be referred to the external practice: when they rent the garments, they made
themselves naked before God and put off all ornaments; but he wished them to be
displeased with themselves, and rather to make bare the heart itself. The heart of
hypocrites, we know, is wrapped up, and they ever have recourse to hiding places,
that they may avoid the presence of God. Then the similitude is most suitable, when
the Prophet bids them to rend the heart. Besides, the passage is clear enough, and
needs not many remarks; it means, that God regards the real feeling of the heart,
as it is said in Jeremiah [4:14]; he is not content with ocular obedience, such as men
exhibit, but he would have us to deal with him in sincerity and truth.
Hence he repeats again, Turn to Jehovah your God. Here the Prophet shows,
from what God is, that men foolishly and grossly deceive themselves when they
would please God with their ceremonies: ``What!'' he says, ``have you to do with a
child?'' For the import of the words is this, --- ``When an offense against man is to be
removed, ye anxiously come to him: now when ye perceive that God is angry with
you, ye think that he will be propitious to you, if ye only trifle with him; can God bear
such a reproach?'' We hence see what the Prophet means when he says, Turn to
Jehovah your God; that is, ``Remember that you have not to do with a block of wood
or with a stone, but with your God, who searches hearts, and whom mortals can by
no crafts deceive'' The same is said by Jeremiah, `Israel, if thou turnest, turn to me,'
(Jeremiah 4:1;) that is, ``Pretend not to turn by circuitous courses and windings, but
come in a direct way, and with a real feeling of heart, for I am he who calls thee'' So
also now the Prophet says, Turn to Jehovah your God
Then follows the promise of pardon, For he is propitious and merciful. We have
already said that repentance is preached in vain, except men entertain a hope of
salvation; for they can never be brought to fear God truly, unless they trust in him
as their Father, as it is stated in Psalm 130:4 `With thee is propitiation that thou
MINOR PROPHETS
mayest be feared.' Hence, whenever the Prophets were anxious to effect anything by
their doctrine, while exhorting the people to repentance, they joined to the invitation
``Come,'' the second part, ``Ye shall not come in vain.'' This ``Come,'' comprehends
all exhortations to repentance; ``Ye shall not come in vain,'' includes this testimony
respecting God's grace, that He will never reject miserable sinners, provided they
return to him with the heart. The Prophet then now engaged on this second head;
God, he says, is propitious and merciful. And this connection is to be observed by us;
for as Satan fills us with insensibility when God invites us, so also he draws us away
into despair when God denounces judgment, when he shows that it is not time for
sleep. ``What good will you gain?'' Thus Satan by his craft disheartens us, that we
may labor in vain, when we seek to be reconciled to God. Hence, whenever Scripture
exhorts us to repentance, let us learn to join this second part, ``God invites us not
in vain.'' If then we return to him, he will be instantly inclined to grant forgiveness;
for he wills not that miserable men should labor in vain or be tormented. This is
the benefit of which the Prophet speaks when he says that God is propitious and
merciful.
He afterwards adds, that he is slow to wraths and abundant in goodness. These
testimonies respecting God occur often in other places; and all the Prophets, as well
as David, have borrowed these declarations from Exodus 34:6; where the nature of
God is described; and He is said there to be propitious and merciful, slow to wrath,
and abundant in goodness. Though there is no need of dwelling longer on these
words, as we perceive the Prophet's design; yet more extended remarks will not
be superfluous since the Prophet so much at large recommends the mercy of God.
Though men too much indulge themselves in security, yet when God calls them
to himself, they are not able to receive his favor; though he may testify twice or
thrice that he will be propitious to them, yet he cannot persuade them but with
great difÏculty. This is the reason why the Prophet, after having said that God is
propitious and merciful, adds, that he is slow to wrath, and abundant in goodness;
it was, that the Jews might overcome their distrust, and that however much despair
might keep them back, they might not yet hesitate to come to God, seeing that he
declares himself to be so merciful.
He at last adds, He will repent of the evil. The Prophet here not only describes the
nature of God, but goes further and says, that God, who is by nature placable, will
not remain fixed in his purpose, when he sees people returning to him in sincerity;
but that he suffers himself to be turned to show favor, so as to remit the punishment
which he had previously denounced. And it is a mode of speaking which often occurs
in Scripture, that God repents of evil; not that he really changes his purpose, but this
is said according to the apprehensions of men: for God is in himself immutable, and
is said to turn from his, purpose, when he remits to man the punishment he has
previously threatened. Whatever proceeds from God's mouth ought to be regarded
as an inviolable decree; and yet God often threatens us conditionally, and though
the condition be not expressed it is nevertheless to be understood: but when he is
pacified to us and relaxes the punishment, which was in a manner already decreed
according to the external word, he is then said to repent. And we know, that as we
JOHN CALVIN
do not apprehend God such as he is, he is therefore described to us in such a way
as we can comprehend, according to the measure of our infirmity. Hence God often
puts on the character of men, as though he were like them; and as this mode of
speaking is common, and we have spoken of it elsewhere, I now pass it by more
briefly. It follows ---
Joel 2:14
14. Who knoweth if he will return and repent, and leave a blessing behind him;
even a meat offering and a drink offering unto the Lord your God?
14. Quis novit an revertatur et poeniteat eum, et relinquat post se (alii vertunt,
post eum; ego tamen malo sic transferre, Relinquat post se) benedictionem, obla-
tionem et libamen Jehovae Deo vestro?
The Prophet seems at first sight to leave men here perplexed and doubtful; and
yet in the last verse, as we have seen, he had Offered a hope of favor, provided they
sincerely repented. Hence the Prophet seems not to pursue the same subject, but
rather to vary it: and we have already said, that all exhortations would be frigid,
nay, useless, by which God stirs us up to repentance, except he were to testify that
he is ready to be reconciled. Seeing then that the Prophet here leaves the minds of
men in suspense, he seems to rescind what he has before alleged respecting God's
mercy. But we must understand that this is a mode of speaking which often occurs
in Scripture. For wherever God is set forth to us as one hardly willing to pardon, it
is done to rouse our slothfulness, and also to shake off our negligence. We are at
first torpid when God invites us, except he applies his many goads; and then we
act formally in coming to him: it is hence needful that both these vices should be
corrected in us, --- our torpor must be roused, --- and those self-complacences, in
which we too much indulge ourselves, must be shaken off. And this is the object of
the Prophet; for he addresses, as we have seen, men almost past recovery. If he had
only said, God is ready to pardon, if he had used this way of speaking, they would
have come negligently, and would not have been sufÏciently touched by the fear
of God: hence the Prophet here, as it were, debates the matter with them, ``Even
though we ought justly to despair of pardon, (for we are unworthy of being received
by God,) yet there is no reason why we should despair; for who knows'' which means
``God is placable and we must not despair.''
The Prophet then sets forth here the difÏculty of obtaining pardon, not to leave
men in suspense, for this would be contrary to his former doctrine; but to create in
them a desire for the grace of God, that they might by degrees gather courage, and
yet not immediately rise to confidence, but that they might come anxiously to God,
and with much deliberation, duly considering their offenses. We now understand the
purpose of the Prophet.
But this will be easier understood by supposing two gradations in repentance.
Then the first step is, when men feel how grievously they have offended. Here sor-
row is not to be immediately removed after the manner of impostors, who cajole the
consciences of men, so that they indulge themselves, and deceive themselves, with
empty self-flatteries. For the physician does not immediately ease pain, but consid-
ers what is more necessary: it may be he will increase it, for a thorough clearing
MINOR PROPHETS
may be needful. So also do the Prophets of God, when they observe trembling con-
sciences, they do not immediately apply soothing consolations, but on the contrary
show that they ought not, as we have already said, to trifle with God, and exhort
them while willingly running to God, to set before them his terrible judgment, that
they may be more and more humbled. The second step is, when the Prophets cheer
the minds of men, and show that God now willingly meets them, and desires nothing
more than to see men willing to be reconciled to him.
The Prophet is now urging them to take the first step, when he says, Who knows
whether the Lord will turn? But some may object and say, ``Then the Prophet has
spoken inconsistently; for first he has described God as merciful, and has spoken of
his goodness without any reserve; and then he throws in a doubt: he seems here
to observe no consistency.'' I answer, that the Prophets of God do not always very
anxiously hold to what seems consistent in their discourses; and farther, that the
Prophet has not spoken here in vain or inconsiderately; for he, in the first place,
generally sets forth God as merciful, and afterwards addresses particularly a people
who were almost past recovery, and says, ``Though ye think that it is all over with
you as to your salvation, and ye deserve to be rejected by God, yet ye ought not to
continue in this state; rather entertain a hope of pardon'' This is what the Prophet
had in view; he throws in no doubt, so as to make the sinner uncertain, whether or
not he could obtain pardons; but as I have said, he wished only to rouse torpidity,
and also to shake off vain self-flatteries.
He then adds, And leave after him a blessing. We here see more clearly what
I have already said, that the Prophet, considering the state of those whom he ad-
dressed, states a difÏculty; for the Jews were not to escape temporary punishment,
and the Prophet did not intend to dismiss them in a secure state, as though God
would inflict on them no punishment; nay, he wished to bend their necks that they
might receive the strokes of God, and calmly submit to his correction. But all hope
might have been lost, when the Jews saw, that though the Prophet had declared that
God would be propitious, they were yet not spared, but suffered severe punishment
for their sins, --- ``What does this mean? Has God then disappointed us? We hoped
that he would be propitious, and yet he ceases not to be angry with us.'' Hence the
Prophet now subjoins, Who knows whether he will leave behind him a blessing?
What is this --- behind him? What does it mean? Even this, that as God was to be
a severe judge to punish the people's wickedness, the Prophet now says, ``Though
God beats you with his rods, he can yet relieve you by administering comfort. Ye
indeed think that you are beaten almost to death; but the Lord will temperate his
wrath, so that a blessing will follow these most grievous punishments'' We now, then,
understand the purpose of the Prophet: for he does not simply promise pardon to the
Jews, but mitigates the dread of punishment, that is, that though God would chastise
them, he would yet give place to mercy. Then God will leave behind him a blessing;
that is ``These strokes shall not be incurable'' And this admonition is very necessary,
whenever God deals severely with us; for when we feel his wrath, we then think that
there is no grace remaining. It is then not without reason that the Prophet says, that
God leaves behind him a blessing; which means, that when he shall pass by us with
JOHN CALVIN
his rod, he will yet restrain his severity, so that some blessing will remain.
He afterwards adds, {}מנחה{ }ונסך{ }ליהוה{ }אלהיכםmeneche unesac laIeuve
Aleicam, an offering and a libation, he says, to Jehovah your God. This has been
designedly added, that the Jews might entertain more hope. For with regard to them,
they had deserved to be wholly exterminated a hundred times; yea, they deserved
to pine away utterly through famine: but the Prophet intimates here, that God would
have a regard for his own glory and his worship. ``Though,'' he says, ``we have
deserved to perish by famine, yet God will be moved by another consideration, even
this, --- that there may be some offering, that there may be some libation in the
temple: since then God has chosen us a people to himself, and has required the
first-fruits to be offered to him, and has consecrated for himself all our provision and
all our produce in the first-fruits, and also in the daily offerings, though he has now
resolved to consume us with famine and want, yet that his worship may continue, he
will make the land fruitful to us, corn and wine will yet be produced for us,'' But the
Prophet does not mean that there would only be so much corn as would be enough for
offerings, or only so much wine as would be sufÏcient for libations; but he means, as
I have already said, that though God would not provide for the safety of the people,
he would yet have a regard for his own glory. God required the corn and the wine to
be offered to him, not that he needed them, but because he consecrated to himself
our provision. As then he would have the food and provisions, on which we live, to
be sacred to him, he will not allow them wholly to fail. ``God will yet surely pity us,
and he will pity us, because he has deigned to choose us a people to himself, and so
to join us with himself, that he wishes to eat, as it were, with us.'' For God seemed
then to partake, as it were, of the same table with his people; for the law required
bread or the ears of corn, and also wine, to be offered to God: not that he, as I have
said, needed such supports; but that he might show that he had all things in common
with his people. This communion then, or fellow-participation of God with his chosen
people, gave them more hope; and this is what the Prophet had in view.
Prayer.
Grant, Almighty God, that as thou seest us so foolish in nourishing our vices, and
also so ensnared by the gratifications of the flesh, that without being constrained
we hardly return to thee, --- O grant, that we may feel the weight of thy wrath, and
be so touched with the dread of it, as to return gladly to thee, laying aside every
dissimulation, and devote ourselves so entirely to thy service, that it may appear
that we have from the heart repented, and that We have not trifled with thee by an
empty pretense, but have offered to thee our hearts as a sacrifice, so that we and
all our works might be sacred offerings to thee through our whole life, that thy name
may be glorified in us through Christ our Lord. Amen.
Lecture Forty-third
Joel 2:15-17
15. Blow the trumpet in Zion, sanctify a fast, call a solemn assembly:
15. Clangite tuba in Sion, sanctificate jejunium, indicite conventum:
16. Gather the people, sanctify the congregation, assemble the elders, gather
the children, and those that suck the breasts: let the bridegroom go forth of his
MINOR PROPHETS
chamber, and the bride out of her closet.
16. Colligite populum, sanctificate coetum, coedunate senes, colligite parvulos
et sugentes ubera, et egrediatur sponsus e penetrali suo et sponsa e thalamo suo.
17. Let the priests, the ministers of the Lord, weep between the porch and the
altar, and let them say, Spare thy people, O Lord, and give not thine heritage to
reproach, that the heathen should rule over them: wherefore should they say among
the people, Where is their God?
17. Inter atrium et altare plorent sacerdotes, ministri Jehovae, et dicant, Propitius
esto Jehova super populum tuum; et ne des haereditatem tuam in opprobrium, ut
dominentur super eos gentes: cur dicent in populis, Ubi est Deus corum?
Here again the Prophet reminds them that there was need of deep repentance;
for not only individuals had transgressed, but the whole people had become guilty
before God; and we also know how many and grievous their sins had been. There is
no wonder then that the Prophet requires a public profession of repentance.
He bids them first to sound the trumpet in Zion. This custom, as we have seen at
the beginning of the chapter, was in common use under the Law; they summoned
their meetings by the sound of trumpets. There is then no doubt but that the Prophet
here refers to an extraordinary meeting. They sounded the trumpets whenever they
called the people to the festivals. But it must have been unusual for the Jews to
proclaim a fast on account of God's heavy judgment, which was to come on them
unless it was prevented. He then shows the purpose of this, bidding them to sanctify
a fast By this word {}קדשkodesh, he means a proclamation for a holy purpose.
Sanctify, then a fast, that is, Proclaim a fast in the name of God.
We slightly touched on the subject of fasting in the first chapter, but deferred a
fuller discussion to this place. Fasting, we know, is not of itself a meritorious work, as
the Papists imagine it to be: there is, indeed, strictly speaking, no work meritorious.
But the Papists dream that fasting, in addition to its merit and worth, is also by itself
of much avail in the worship of God; and yet fasting, when regarded in itself is an
indifferent work. 12 It is not then approved by God, except for its end; it must be
connected with something else, otherwise it is a vain thing. Men, by private fastings
prepare themselves for the exercise of prayer, or they mortify their own flesh, or
seek a remedy for some hidden vices. Now I do not call fasting temperance; for the
children of God, we know, ought through their whole life to be sober and temperate
in their habits; but fasting, I regard that to be, when something is abstracted from
our moderate allowance: and such a fast, when practiced privately, is, as I have
said, either a preparation for the exercise of prayer, or a means to mortify the flesh,
or a remedy for some vices.
But as to a public fast, it is a solemn confession of guilt, when men suppliantly
approach the throne of God, acknowledge themselves worthy of death, and yet ask
pardon for their sins. Fasting then, with regard to God, is similar to black and mean
garments and a long beard before earthly judges. The criminal goes not before the
judge in a splendid dress, with all his fine things, but casts away every thing that was
before elegant in his appearance, and by his uncombed hair and long beard he tries
12Medium opus, "a middle work, neutral, neither good nor bad". — Ed.
JOHN CALVIN
to excite the compassion of his judge. There is, at the same time, another reason for
fasting; for when we have to do with men, we wish to please their eyes and conciliate
their favor; and he who fasts, not only testifies openly that he is guilty, but he also
reminds himself of his guilt; for as we are not sufÏciently touched by the sense of
God's wrath, those aids are useful which help to excite and affect us. He then who
fasts, excites himself the more to penitence.
We now perceive the right use of fasting. But it is of public fasting that the Prophet
speaks here. For what purpose? That the Jews, whom he had before summoned,
might present themselves before God's tribunal, and that they might come there,
not with vain excuses, but with humble prayer. This is the design of fasting. We now
see how foolishly the Papists have abused fasting; for they think it to be a meritorious
work; they imagine that God is honored by abstinence from meat; they also mention
those benefits of fasting to which I have referred; but they join fasts with festivals,
as if there was some religion in abstaining from flesh or certain meats. We now then
perceive by what gross puerilities the Papists trifle with God. We must then carefully
notice the end in view, whenever the Scripture speaks of fasting; for all things will be
confounded, except we lay hold on the principle which I have stated --- that fasting
ought ever to be connected with its end. We shall now proceed.
Proclaim, he says, a meeting {}עצרהotsare is not properly an assembly, but the
deed itself: 13 hence also the word is transferred to festivals. Proclaim, then, a
meeting, call the people, sanctify the assembly. The word, sanctify, seems to be
taken here in a sense different from what it had been before. The people, in order
to engage in holy services, performed those rites, as it is well known, by which they
cleansed themselves from their pollutions. No one entered the temple without wash-
ing; and no one offered a sacrifice without abstaining from an intercourse with his
wife. The Prophet then alludes to these legal purgations when he says Sanctify the
assembly.
He afterwards adds, Bring together the old, gather the young sucking the breasts.
With regard to the old, we have said before that they are separately named, because
they ought to have taken the lead by their example; and further a greater guilt
belonged to them, for we know that it is a duty incumbent on the old to govern
others, and, as it were, to hold the reins. But when the old themselves become
dissolute, and restrain not the lusts of the young, they are doubly culpable before
God. It is no wonder then that the Prophet bids here the old to be called; for it became
them to be the leaders of others in confessing their repentance. But what follows
seems strange. He would have the young, sucking the breasts, to be assembled.
Why are these brought in as involved in guilt? Besides, the people were to own their
repentance; and yet infants are without understanding and knowledge; so that they
could not humble themselves before God. It must, then, have been a mockery and a
vain show; nay, the Prophet seems to encourage the people in hypocrisy by bidding
young infants to assemble together with men and women. To this I answer, that
children ought to have been brought together, that those grown up and advanced
13That is, restraint. Literally it is, Proclaim a restraint. And as it means a restraint generally from labor as well as from food, it is applied to designate a feast-day, when men are detained or restrained from labor. — Ed.
MINOR PROPHETS
in years might through them perceive what they deserved; for the wrath of God,
we know, reached to the very infants, yea, and to brute animals: when God puts
forth his hand to punish any people, neither asses nor oxen are exempt from the
common scourge. Since, then, God's wrath comes upon brute animals and upon
young infants, it is no wonder that the Lord bids all to come forth publicly and to
make a confession of repentance; and we see the same to have been the case with
brute animals; and when, if the Lord grants, we shall come to the Prophet Jonah,
we shall then speak on this subject. The Ninevites, when they proclaimed a fast,
not only abstained themselves from meat and drink, but constrained also their oxen
and horses to do the same. Why? Because the very elements were involved, as it
were, with them in the same guilt: ``Lord, we have polluted the earth; whatever
we possess we have also polluted by our sins; the oxen the horses, and the asses,
are in themselves innocent, but they have contracted contagion from our vices: that
we may therefore obtain mercy, we not only offer ourselves suppliantly before thy
face, but we bring also our oxen and horses; for if thou exercises the fullest severity
against us, thou wilt destroy whatever is in our possession.'' So also now, when
the Prophet bids infants to be brought before God, it is done on account of their
parents. Infants were in themselves innocent with regard to the crimes of which
he speaks; but yet the Lord could have justly destroyed the infants together with
those of advanced age. It is then no wonder that in order to pacify God's wrath the
very infants are summoned with the rest: but as I have already said, the reason is
on account of their parents, that the parents themselves might perceive what they
deserved before God, and that they might the more abhor their sins by observing
that God would take vengeance on their children, except he was pacified. For they
ought to have reasoned from the less to the greater: ``See, if God exercises his own
right towards us, there is destruction not only hanging over us, but also over our
children; if they are guilty through our crimes, what can we say of ourselves, who
are the authors of these evils? The whole blame belongs to us; then severe and
dreadful will be God's vengeance on us, except we be reconciled to him.''
We now then perceive why infants were called, together with their parents; not
that they might confess their penitence, as that was not compatible with their age,
but that their parents might be more moved, and that such a sight might touch their
feelings, and that dread might also seize them on seeing that their children were
doomed to die with them for no other reason, but that by their contagion and wicked-
ness they had infected the whole land and everything that the Lord had bestowed
on them.
He afterwards subjoins, Let the bridegroom go from his closet, or recess, and the
bride from her chamber. It is the same as though the Prophet had bidden every joy
to cease among the people; for it was of itself no evil to celebrate nuptials; but it
behooved the people to abstain from every rejoicing on seeing the wrath of God now
suspended over them. Hence, things in themselves lawful ought for a time to be laid
aside when God appears angry with us; for it is no season for nuptials or for joyful
feasts, when God's wrath is kindled, when the darkness of death spreads all around.
No wonder, then, that the Prophet bids the bridegroom and the bride to come forth
JOHN CALVIN
from their chamber, that is, to cast aside every joy, and to defer their nuptials to a
more suitable time, and now to undergo their delights, for the Lord appeared armed
against all. It would have been then to provoke, as it were, His wrath, to indulge
heedlessly in pleasures, when he wished not only to terrify, but almost to frighten to
death those who had sinned; for when the Lord threatens vengeance, what else is
indifference but a mockery of his power? ``I have called you to weeping and wailing;
but ye have said, `We will feast:' as I live, saith the Lord, this iniquity shall never be
blotted out.'' We see how extremely displeased the Lord appears there to be with
those who, having been called to weeping and fasting, did yet indulge themselves in
their pleasures; for such, as I have said, altogether laugh to scorn the power of God.
The Prophet's exhortation ought then to be noticed, when he bids the bridegroom
and the bride to leave their nuptials, and to put on the same mournful appearance
as the rest of the people. He thus shook off heedlessness from all, since God had
appeared with tokens of his wrath. This is the sum of the whole.
Then it follows, Between the court and the altar let the priests, the ministers
of Jehovah, weep. It was the priests' ofÏce, we know, to pray in the name of the
whole people; and now the Prophet follows this order. It was not, indeed, peculiar
to the priests to pray and to ask pardon of God; but they prayed in the name of all
the people. The reason must be well known to us; for God intended by these legal
types to remind the Jews, that they could not offer prayers to him, except through
some mediator; the people were unworthy to offer prayers by themselves. Hence
the priest was, as it were, the middle person. The whole of this is to be referred
to Christ; for by him we now pray; he is the Mediator who intercedes for us. The
people stood then afar off, we now dare to come nigh to God; for the vail is rent, and
through Christ we are all made priests. Hence, we are allowed in familiar way and in
confidence to call God our Father: and yet without Christ's intercession, no access
to God would be open to us. This then was the reason for the legal appointment.
Hence the Prophet now says, Let the priests weep; not that he wished the people in
the meantime to neglect their duty; but he expresses what had been prescribed by
the law of God; that is, that the priests should offer supplications in the name of the
people.
And he says, Between the court and the altar; for the people remained in the court,
the priests themselves had a court by its side which they called the sacerdotal court;
but the people's court was over against the sanctuary. Then the priest stood, as it
were, in the middle between God, that is, the ark of the covenant, and the people:
the people also were standing there. We now perceive that what the Prophet meant
was, that the people had the priests as their mediators to offer prayers; and yet the
confession of them all was public. He calls the priests the ministers of Jehovah, as
we have before found. He thus designates their ofÏce; as though he had said, that
they were not more worthy than the rest of the people, as though they excelled by
their own virtue or merits; but that the Lord had conferred this honor on the tribe of
Levi by choosing them to be his ministers. It was then on account of their ofÏce that
they came nearer to God, and not for any merit in their own works.
He further adds, Spare, Lord, or be propitious to, thy people; and give not thy
MINOR PROPHETS
heritage to reproach, that the Gentiles may rule over them. Here the Prophet leaves
nothing to the priests, but to flee to God's mercy; as though he had said that now no
plea remained for the people, and that they were greatly deceived if they pretended
any excuse, and that their whole hope was in God's mercy. He afterwards shows the
ground on which they were to seek and to hope for mercy; and he calls their attention
to God's gratuitous covenant, Give not thy heritage for a reproach to the Gentiles.
By these words he shows, that if the Jews depended on themselves, they were past
recovery; for they had so often and in such various ways provoked God's wrath, that
they could not hope for any pardon: they had also been so obstinate that the door as
it were had been closed against them on account of their hardness. But the Prophet
here reminds them, that as they had been freely chosen by God as his peculiar
people, there remained for them a hope of deliverance, but that it ought not to have
been sought in any other way. We now then understand the design of the Prophet,
when he speaks of God's heritage; as though he had said, that the people could
now undertake nothing to pacify God, had they not been God's heritage: Give not
then thy heritage to reproach. He had in view the threatening, which he had before
mentioned; for it was an extreme kind of vengeance, when the Lord determined to
visit his people with utter destruction; after having worn them out and consumed
them by famine and want, God resolved wholly to consume them by the sword of
enemies. It is then to this vengeance that he now alludes when he says, That the
Gentiles may not rule over them. It is therefore absurd, as many do, to connect with
this the discourse concerning the locusts: such a thing is wholly inconsistent with
the design of the Prophet. 14
It is then added, Why should they say among the people, Where is their God? The
Prophet now adduces another reason, by which the Jews might propitiate God, and
that is, because his own glory is concerned: this reason has indeed an afÏnity to
the former, for God could not expose his heritage to the reproaches of the Gentiles
without subjecting also his holy name to their blasphemies. But the Prophet shows
here more distinctly that God's glory would be subject to reproach among the na-
tions, if he dealt with the people according to the full demands of justice; for the
Gentiles would contemptuously deride him, as though he could not save his people.
Hence in this second clause he reminds us, that when engaged in seeking pardon,
we ought to place before our eyes The glory of God, that we ought not to seek our
own salvation without remembering the holy name of God, which ought of right to
be preferred to all other things. And at the same time he strengthens also the hope
of the people, when he teaches that the glory of God is connected with the salvation
of those who had sinned; as though he had said, ``God, that he may provide for his
own glory, will have mercy on you.'' They must then have come more willingly to
God's presences when they saw that their salvation was connected with the glory of
14Dr. Henderson, in his learned work on the Minor Prophets, lately published, agrees with Calvin in rejecting the interpretation alluded to here, though adopted by many learned men. He considers that the Assyrians, and not locusts, are described in the beginning of this chapter and that the Prophet "employs language borrowed from the appearance and movements of these insects, in order to make a deeper impression upon his hearers, whose minds were full of ideas derived from them as instruments of the calamity under which they were suffering." The locusts in the first chapter are spoken of as having already appeared; but the judgment detailed in this chapter is represented as future. — Ed.
JOHN CALVIN
God, and that they would be saved that the name of God might be preserved safe
and free from blasphemies.
We now then perceive what the Prophet meant in this verse: he first strips the Jews
of all confidence in works, showing that nothing remained for them except they fled
to God's free mercy. He then shows that this mercy is folded on God's gratuitous
covenant, because they were his heritage. In the third place, he shows that God
would be merciful to them from a regard to his own glory, lest he should expose it to
the reproaches of the Gentiles, if he exercised extreme severity towards his people.
Let us now proceed ---
Joel 2:18-19
18. Then will the Lord be jealous for his land, and pity his people.
18. Et aemulatus est (aemulabitur, ad verbum) Jehova (hoc est, zelo ducetur
Jehova) super terram suam, et propitius erit (et miserabitur, vel, parcet; nam {}חמל
est parcere) populo suo.
19. Yea, the Lord will answer and say unto his people, Behold, I will send you corn,
and wine, and oil, and ye shall be satisfied therewith: and I will no more make you a
reproach among the heathen.
19. Et respondit Jehova (vel, respondebit) et dicit (vel, dicet) populo suo, Ecce
ego mitto vobis triticum et mustum et oleum, et saturabimini eo (vel illis potius, est
mutatio numeri,) et non dabo vos amplius opprobium inter Gentes.
The Prophet here again repeats, that prayers would not be in vain, provided the
Jews truly humbled themselves before God. Then God, he says, will be jealous for
his land and spare his people. He confirms what I have already said that God would
deal mercifully with his people, because they were his heritage, that is because
he had chosen them for himself. For the title of heritage, whence does it proceed
except from the gratuitous covenant of God? for the Jews were not more excellent
than others, but election was the only fountain from which the Jews had to draw any
hope. We now then see why these words, God will be jealous for his land, are added;
as though he said ``Though this land has been polluted by the wickedness of men,
yet God has consecrated it to himself: He will, therefore, regard his own covenant,
and thus turn away his face from looking on their sins.'' He will spare, he says, his
people, that is, his chosen people: for, as I have said, the Prophet no doubt ascribes
here the safety of the people, and the hope of their safety, to the gratuitous election
of God; for the jealousy of God is nothing else but the vehemence and ardor of his
paternal love. God could not, indeed, express how ardently he loves those whom
he has chosen without borrowing, as it were, what belongs to men. For we know
that passions appertain not to him; but he is set forth as a father, who burns with
jealousy when he sees his son ill-treated; he acknowledges his own blood, his bowels
are excited, --- or, as a husband, who, on seeing dishonor done to his wife, is moved;
and though he had been a hundred times offended, he yet forgets every offense; for
he regards that sacred union between himself and his wife. Such a character, then,
does God assume, that he might the better express how much and how intensely
he loves his own elect. Hence he says, God will be jealous for his land. As he has
hitherto been inflamed with just wrath, so now a contrary feeling will overcome the
MINOR PROPHETS
former; not that God is agitated by various passions, as I have already said, but this
mode of speaking transferred from men, is adopted on account of our ignorance.
He afterwards says, God has answered 15 and said to his people, Behold, I will
send to you corn, wine, and oil. The Prophet does not here recite what had been
done, but, on the contrary, declares, that God in future would be reconciled to them;
as though he said, ``I have hitherto been a herald of war, and bidden all to prepare
themselves for the coming evil: but now I am a messenger to proclaim peace to you;
if only you are resolved to turn to God, and to turn unfeignedly, I do now testify to
you that God will be propitious to you; and as to your prayers know that they are
already heard; that is, know that as soon as they were conceived, they were heard by
the Lord.'' Hence he says, He has answered; that is ``If, moved by my exhortation,
ye return with sincerity to God, he will meet you, nay, he has already met you; he
waits not until ye have done all that ye ought to do; but when he bids you to come
to his temple and to weep, he at the same time wipes off your tears, he removes
every cause of sorrow and anxiety.'' God, then, has answered; that is, ``I am to you a
certain and sufÏcient witness, that your prayers have been already accepted before
God, though, as I have before reminded you, ye have not offered them.''
And, at the same time, he speaks of the effect, Behold, I will send to you corn,
wine, and oil; and ye shall be satisfied. Here, by the effects, he proves that God
would be propitious; for want of food was the first evidence of God's displeasure, to
be followed by the destruction which the Prophet had threatened. What does he say
now? God will restore to you abundance of corn, wine, and oil; and he says further,
I will not give you to the Gentiles for a reproach that they may rule over you
We now then apprehend the meaning of the Prophet; for he not only promises
that God would be placable but also declares that he was already placable; and this
he confirms by external tokens; for God would immediately remove the sins of his
wrath, and turn them into blessings. Hence he says, `He will give you abundance of
corn, wine, and oil, so as fully to satisfy you.' As they had perceived that God was
angry with them by the sterility of the land, and also by its produce being consumed
by chafers, by locusts, and other animals or insects; so now the Lord would testify
his love to them by the abounding fruitfulness of every thing. And then he joins
another sentence, I will not give you any more for a reproach to the Gentiles. When
he says, ``any more,'' he intimates that they had been before exposed to reproach;
and we indeed know that they were then suffering many evils; but there remained
that destruction of which we have heard. God does then here promise, that they
should no more be subject to the reproaches of the Gentiles provided they repented;
for the Prophet ever speaks conditionally. It now follows ---
Joel 2:20
20. But I will remove far off from you the northern army, and will drive him into
a land barren and desolate, with his face toward the east sea, and his hinder part
toward the utmost sea, and his stink shall come up, and his ill savour shall come up,
15There is no reason for rendering this in the past tense: it is in the same predicament with the verb, "will be jealous," in the former verse, and ought to be rendered like it in the future time, "will answer." The comment founded on this rendering, though true in itself, is yet too refined, and suits not this place. — Ed.
JOHN CALVIN
because he hath done great things.
20. Et Aquilonarem procul abigam a vobis, et disjiciam eum ad terram desertam
et siccitatis: facies ejus ad mare orientale, et terminum ejus (disjiciam; ego enim
{απο} {του} {κοινου} repeto) ad mare novissimum: et ascend et foetor ejus, et
ascendet putredo ejus; quia magnificavit ad faciendum (hoc est, quia magnifice se
extulit ad faciendum.)
In this verse he more fully confirms the Jews, that they might not be afraid of
reproach from the Gentiles. It may have been that the Assyrians were now in readi-
ness, prepared for war; it was then difÏcult to free the Jews from every fear. The
Prophet had said generally that they would be no more subject to the mockeries of
the Gentiles; but yet fear could not but be felt by them. ``We see the Assyrians
already armed; and what can we expect but to be devoured by them? for we are not
able to resist them.'' Anxiety then must have constantly tormented the Jews, had
he not distinctly and in express words declared, ``It is in God's power to drive away
the Assyrians, and to confound all their attempts.'' The Prophet, therefore, is now on
this subject. The Northlander, 16 he says, will I remove far from you. The Chaldeans
and the Assyrians, we know, were northward of Judea. He then means here by the
North those enemies, whose preparations terrified the Jews. Hence he says, I will
drive them from you, and drive them far into a land of desert and of drought 17 . By
these words he intimates, that though furnished with the greatest forces, and gap-
ing for the land of Judea, and ready in their cupidity to devour it, the Syrians would
yet return home without effecting anything; I will cast them into a desert land. In
vain, he says, they covet your abundance, and desire to satisfy themselves with the
fertility of your land; for I will drive them and their dread away.
He then adds, His face to the east sea, and his rear to the hindmost sea; that is,
I will scatter them here and there, so that his front shall be to one sea, (supposed
to be the Salt Sea,) and his extremity to the hindermost sea, which was doubtless
the Mediterranean: for the Salt Sea was east to the Jews, that is, it lies, as it is well
known, towards the east. We now perceive in part what the Prophet means. But
it must, at the same time, be added, that the Prophet removes fear from the Jews,
which occupied their minds by observing the power of the Assyrians so great and
extensive. ``What is to be done? though God is present with us, and protects us
by his help, yet how will he resist the Assyrians, for that army will fill the land''.
``God will yet find means,'' says the Prophet; ``though the Assyrians should occupy
the whole land, from the Salt or the East Sea to the Meridian or Mediterranean Sea,
yet will God drive away this vast multitude: there is no reason then that ye should
fear.'' Hence the Prophet has designedly set forth how terrible the Assyrian forces
would be, that he might show that they could not be resisted, unless the Lord should
16Dr. Henderson agrees with Calvin in rendering this word, Northern or Highlander, and quotes Coverdale as rendering it, Him of the North. He considers this word as of "prime importance in the interpretation of this prophecy." Locusts visited Palestine not from the north, but from the south. "That, however," he adds, "which determines the question, is the addition of the patronymic {{יto ,{}צפוןindicating that the North was not merely the quarter whence the subject of
the discourse came, but that its native country lay to the North of Palestine; just as ,{}התימניthe Temanite, means the Southern,
etc. --- Ed.
17Literally, "Into a land dry and desolate." — Ed.
MINOR PROPHETS
disperse them and disappoint all their efforts. At last he adds, And his ill savor shall
ascend: but I am not able to finish to-day.
Prayer.
Grant, Almighty God, that as we continue to excite thy wrath against us, and are
so insensible, though thou exhortest us daily to repentance, --- O grant, that what thy
Prophet teaches may penetrate into our hearts, and be like a sounding trumpet, that
we may be really and sincerely made humble before thee, and be so touched with
the sense of thy wrath, that we may learn to put off all the depraved affections of our
flesh, and not merely to deplore the sins we have already committed: and do thou
also look upon us in future, that we may diligently walk in thy fear, and consecrate
ourselves wholly to thee; and as thou hast deigned to choose us for thine inheritance,
and gather us under thy Christ, may we so live under him as our leader, until we be at
length gathered into thy celestial kingdom to enjoy that happy rest, which thou hast
promised to us, and which thou promisest also daily, and which has been purchased
by the blood of the same, our Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.
Lecture Forty-fourth
Yesterday the Prophet spake of the northern enemy, and said that it was in God's
power to drive him far away, that he might not hurt the people, that his vast army
would not prevent the dispersion of his power and enterprises. Now he adds this,
which we could not finish yesterday, Ascend will his ill savor, and ascend will his
rottenness; for highly has he borne or exalted himself to do his purpose The Prophet
expresses here more than in the former sentence, and that is, that God would turn
to reproach the whole power of the Assyrian. The reason he subjoins deserves to
be noticed, `He has highly exalted himself in his doings,' which means, that he was
elated with great pride, thinking he could do anything; therefore he says, `Ascend
will his rottenness and ill savor.' This contains a very striking allusion; for when men
deliberate about great things, it is the game as if they were to raise up themselves
on high; and we also observe that hither tend their designs, who are engaged in
difÏcult and arduous undertakings; for they are not content with their lots but try to
climb above the clouds. Since then the design of all mortals is to rise aloft, when
they seek for themselves more than what is just, the Prophet, deriding this folly,
says, ``Ascend will the ill savor of the Assyrian, as a bad smell ascends from a putrid
carcass. He thinks,'' he says, ``that he can do what he pleases, as though heaven
and earth were under his control: his power, enterprises forces and splendor, shall
not ascend; but his ill savor only shall ascend as from a dead carcass.'' Why so?
``He has mightily exalted himself,'' he says, ``to do his purpose.''
He now understand the design of the Prophet: and hence this useful instruction
may be gathered, that God so checks the foolish confidence of those who pride
themselves on their own strength, that he not only casts them down, but also turns
their glory into shame, so that nothing ascends from them but ill savor and the smell
of rottenness. Now follows what is of an opposite character: ---
Joel 2:21
21. Fear not, O land; be glad and rejoice: for the Lord will do great things.
21. Ne timeas terra, exulta et laetare; quia magnifice extulit se Jehova ad facien-
JOHN CALVIN
dum.
Here he shows that God would have his turn to exalt himself, which the Assyrian
presumptuously attempted to do. For God seems for a time to lie still, when he
withholds himself, when he puts not forth his power, but waits to see the tendency
of the insane conspiracies and the Satanic madness of those who rise up against him
and his Church. But having for a time thus restrained himself, he at length comes
forth; and this is what the Prophet means when he says, God has highly exalted
himself to do his purpose. The Assyrian first attempted this; but now the Lord in his
turn will raise up himself. God indeed could have done this before, but he would not;
and we see this to be his usual mode of proceeding, to connive at the presumption of
men, till the ripened time comes which he has predetermined; and then he dissipates
in a moment their enterprises.
God, then, has now nobly exalted himself; therefore rejoice and exult, O Land. But
he says first, Fear not, O Land; and then, Exult and rejoice For it was necessary, in
the first place, to remove the fear with which the minds of all were now seized. The
Prophet, then, begins with consolation; for the Jews could have hardly entertained
any joy, except the fear that oppressed them was first shaken off. Hence the Prophet
maintains due order by saying, ``Fear not, O Land, but rather exult and rejoice.'' He
afterwards subjoins ---
Joel 2:22
22. Be not afraid, ye beasts of the field: for the pastures of the wilderness do
spring, for the tree beareth her fruit, the fig tree and the vine do yield their strength.
22. Ne timeatis bestiae agri, quia germinarunt pascua deserti, quia arbor protulit
fructum suum, ficulnea et vitis protulerunt virtutem (vel, substantiam) suam.
Here the Prophet turns his address to the beasts; not that his instruction suited
them; but it was a more efÏcacious mode of speaking, when he invited the very
beasts to a participation of the people's joy; for except the Jews had been made
to know that God's wrath was now nigh at hand, no consolation which the Prophet
has hitherto applied would have been of any weight with them. But now since they
perceived that God's wrath did not only suspend over them, but extended much
farther, even to the beasts, and since the Lord would have mercy on them, so that
his blessing would be partaken in common by the beasts and brute animals, the
address was far more impressive. We hence see that the Prophet, for the best reason,
directed his discourse to the very beasts, though destitute of mind and discernment.
For in addressing brute animals he addressed men with double force; that is, he
impressed their minds more effectually, so that they might seriously confess how
great was God's wrath, and also how great would be his blessing.
Beasts, he says, fear not. Then the beasts of the field ought to have dreaded
the judgment of God which he had before denounced; for except God had been
pacified to his people, the fire of his wrath would have consumed the whole land,
trees and pastures; so all the beasts must have been famished. But now when God
is reconciled to his people, his blessing will smile on the brute animals. What then is
to be said of men? For God is properly propitious to them, and not to brute animals.
We hence see that the fruit of reconciliation is made more evident, when it is in part
MINOR PROPHETS
extended to the brute creation.
He therefore says, Fear not, ye beasts of the field: for the pastures of the desert
will grow, the trees will bring forth their fruit. By these words the Prophet intimates,
that had God's wrath toward his people been implacable, the sterility of the land
would not have been improved. Now then whence came so sudden a change that
the pastures grew, that the trees produced their fruits, both the fig-tree and the
vine, except that God was pleased to bless the land, after having received men into
favor? We now then apprehend the meaning of the Prophet, even this, --- that the
land would be made by an angry God to execute his judgment, and that there would
be no remedy for the barrenness of the land until men propitiated God. This is the
sum of the whole. It now follows ---
Joel 2:23
23. Be glad then, ye children of Zion, and rejoice in the Lord your God: for he
hath given you the former rain moderately, and he will cause to come down for you
the rain, the former rain, and the latter rain in the first month
23. Et filii Sion exultate, et gaudete in Jehova Deo vestro, quia dedit vobis plu-
viam ad justitiam (alii vertunt, doctorem justitiae; sed de eo paulo post dicemus)
et descendere faciet vobis imbrem pluviam (vel, pluviam tempestivam, ut vertunt:
dicemus etiam de hac voce) et pluviam in mense primo.
He now exhorts the Jews also to rejoice, but in a way different from that of the
land and of the beasts. Rejoice, he says, in your God. For the beasts and the sheep,
while rejoicing, cannot raise their thoughts higher than to their food: hence, the joy
of brute animals, as they say, terminates in its object. But the Prophet sets forth God
before the Jews as the ground of their joy. We then see how he distinguishes them
from brute animals from the land and other elements; for he not only bids them to
rejoice in meat and drink, in the abundance of provisions, but he also bids them to
rejoice in the Lord their God; and he says no more, ``The land will yield its strength,
or the vines and fig-trees, or the trees, will produce their fruit, and the pastures will
grow;'' no, he speaks not now in this manner, but he says ``God himself will give
you rain:'' for he had to do with men, endued with understanding, yea, with those
very Jews who had been from their childhood taught in the law of God: he speaks,
not only of the land, not only of bread and wine, but of the Giver himself.
He then reminds them of God's blessing, and declares that God would be so pro-
pitious to them as to pour down his grace upon them, and act the part of a father
and a guardian towards them. God then, he says, will bring forth or give to you rain
according to what is necessary. Some translate {}המורהemure a teacher; and the
meaning of the word, we know, is doubtful. At the same time {}מורהmure is very
often taken for rain, and sometimes generally, and sometimes for a particular kind
of rain, as we shall presently see. Though then {}מורהmure signifies a teacher, yet
the context here seems not to allow that sense. They who have thus taken it seem to
have been led by this one reason, --- that it is absurd to set in the first place, and as it
were on a higher grade, those fading blessings which belong only to the support and
nourishment of the body. But this reason is very foolish; for the Prophets, we know,
lead children as it were by initial principles to a higher doctrine. No wonder then that
JOHN CALVIN
the Prophet here affords them a taste of God's favor in blessings belonging to the
body; he afterwards ascends higher, as we shall see: and this view is certainly what
the context demands; for the Prophet says at last, ``I will hereafter pour my Spirit on
all flesh,'' etc. In these words the Prophet commends the favor of God, which ought
to be held as the most valuable: but he begins now with temporal benefits, that he
might lead by degrees, and by various steps, a people, rude and weak, to something
higher.
Then the word, teacher, by no means suits this place; and we must mark also what
immediately follows. He introduces a word derived from {}מורהmure; he afterwards
adds {}מורהmure the second time, which no doubt, means rain; all confess this,
and confess it to be taken for rain in the same verse. When all agree then on this
point, it seems somewhat strained to render it in the same verse a teacher and also
rain; especially since we find that the Prophet's object is this, --- to make the people
to recognize God's blessing in outward things. There is also another thing which
has lead astray these interpreters. There follows immediately the word {}לצדקה
latsadke, according to what is just. When they join together these word, {}המורה
}לצדקה{emure latsadke, they ask, What is the rain of righteousness? They have
hence thought that a teacher is here meant. But we know that {}משפטand {}צדקה
meshapheth and tsadke are often taken in Scripture for a just measure, for equity.
``God then will not deal with you unequally as hitherto; but having been reconciled
to you, he will reassume the part of a father, and will also observe towards you a
legitimate order; for things have been on both sides in confusion, inasmuch as ye
have been carrying on war against God, and your wickedness has subverted the
whole order of nature. But now, God being pacified towards you, there will be on
both sides an equable state of things, everything will be in a fitting condition; he
will not deal with you any more in an irregular manner.'' We now then perceive the
real meaning of the Prophets and see how frivolous are the reasons which influenced
these interpreters, who have rendered the words, ``Teacher of righteousness.'' I do
not love strained expositions.
Let us now return to the words of the Prophet: He will give to you, he says, rain
according is what is fit; then he adds, He will make to descend on you showering rain,
(using another word;) and he adds again the word {}מורהmure, which, no doubt,
means rain, and no one denies this. But yet it seems that the word {}גשםgeshem
has here a specific meaning, and some think it to be a violent shower, occasioned
by a storm or tempest; and yet we may gather from many parts of Scripture that the
word means rain in general. Now {}מורהmure seems here to be taken for the rain of
September, which the Greeks call {τξωιμον}, {προιμον}; and so they call {}מלקוש
melkush {οψιμον}, opsimon, or the latter rain, as a common interpreter has rendered
it. And the cultivated land, we know, needs these two rains, that is, after sowing,
and when the fruit is ripening, --- after sowing, that the ground by receiving moisture
may make the seed to grow; for it then wants moisture to nourish the roots. Hence,
the rain of September or October, which is after sowing, is rightly called seasonable
rain; and the Greeks, as I have already said, call it {πρωιμον} proimon; and James,
following them, so calls it in James 5, `He will give you rain,' he says, `both of the first
MINOR PROPHETS
time and the late rain,' that is, of the month of March. For in those warm climates
the harvests we know, is earlier than with us. We here gather the corn in July but
they gather it there in May. The fruit then ripens with them in March, when they
need the late rain. And in Jeremiah 5 it appears quite evident, that {}מורהmure, as
in this place, is called the rain, which comes down after sowing; for God says there,
`I will give you,' etc., and first he uses the general word {}גשםgeshem, and then he
adds the two kinds of rain, which are also mentioned here; and afterwards he adds,
`In their time,' that is, each rain in its time and season. --- Then {}מורהmure has
its time, and {}מלקושmelkush also has its time; otherwise the words of the prophet
would not be consistent.
We now see what the Prophet means. Of the word {}מלקוםmelkush we have said
something in Hosea. Then the Prophet says now, that God would be so propitious to
the Jews, as to neglect no means of testifying his favor towards them; for he would
give them rain in the month of October and in the month of March, to fertilize the
ground after sowing, and before the harvest or before the fruit came to maturity.
Here then is promised to the Jews that the land would be made fertile by natural
means. It now follows ---
Joel 2:24
24. And the floors shall be full of wheat, and the fats shall overflow with wine and
oil.
24. Et implebuntur horrea frumento et resonabunt torcularia vino (musto, ad
verbum: diximus de hac voce prius,) et oleo.
He goes on with the same subject in this verse, and shows the effects of rain; for
when the earth is irrigated and satiated with sufÏcient moisture, it brings forth fruit,
rich and plentiful. God then will cause that the rains shall not be useless, for the
floors shall be full of wheat, and the fats shall overflow with wine as well as oil. He
afterwards adds ---
Joel 2:25
25. And I will restore to you the years that the locust hath eaten, the cankerworm,
and the caterpiller, and the palmerworm, my great army which I sent among you.
25. Et reddam vobis annos (pro aliis annis, subaudiendum est) quibus comedit
locusta, bruchus, eruca ({,}חסילalii vertunt, rubiginem: sed dixi primo capite me
non adeo solicitum esse de istis vocibus, quia etiam ignotae sunt hodie ipsis Judaeis;
sed certum est esse insecta, quae corrumpunt omnes terrae fruges, ut tunc diximus,)
exercitus meus magnus, quem miseram ad vos.
The Prophet confirms what he had previously said, and states what is of an oppo-
site character, --- that God can as easily restore a rich fruitfulness to the land as he
had before rendered it barren by sending devouring insects. I will give you years,
(for the other years,) he says; and that the Jews might more fully understand that
all this was in God's hand, he expressly declares that the cankerworms, the chafers,
and the locusts 18 , were his army and as it were his hired army, whom he had em-
ployed as it seemed good to him. The spoilers, then, which had destroyed the whole
18There are four sorts mentioned in Hebrew as in the first chapter: one of them is omitted here and in the Latin text. — Ed.
JOHN CALVIN
produce of the land, were, as the Prophet declares, the messengers of God: it was
not, he says, by chance that the locusts, or the cankerworms, or the chafers came;
but God hired these soldiers, they were his forces and his army to distress the whole
people; then famine and want consumed them. It is not then to no purpose that the
Prophet mentions here that these destructive insects were God's army; it is to show
more fully what is here promised; for God, who had by this army devoured the whole
increase of the land, can now easily restore plenty for the barrenness of past years.
Now, when any one lays down his arms, the land is afterwards cultivated, and brings
forth its usual fruit: so the Lord also now shows, that the land had been barren, be-
cause he had sent forth his army, which laid waste its whole produce. But now, he
says, when I shall restore you to favor, there will be no army to devour your fruit:
the land then will nourish you, for there will be nothing to prevent you to receive its
wonted produce.
Had not the Jews been made assured that the land had been sterile, because
the locusts, and the chafers, and the cankerworms, were the army which the Lord
had prepared they might have ever dreaded these spoilers: ``Surely the locusts will
spring up, the chafers and the cankerworms will come, to devour all the fruit.'' The
Prophet shows that this happened not by chance: ``Now then, when God shall be
reconciled to you, the land will yield its increase, and nothing shall hinder you from
enjoying its abundance.''
By calling this army great, he shows that God has no need of strong forces to
subdue men; for when he prepares locusts and insects, which are but little things,
they snatch food from the mouths of men and leave them in want; though no one
puts forth a sword against them, they yet pine away with hunger. The Prophet then
derides here the arrogance of men, and shows that God needs not do much, when
he intends to reduce them to nothing. Let us now proceed ---
Joel 2:26
26. And ye shall eat in plenty, and be satisfied, and praise the name of the
Lord your God, that hath dealt wondrously with you: and my people shall never
be ashamed.
26. Et comedetis comedendo et vos satiando, et laudabitis nomen Jehovae Dei
vestri; quia egit vobiscum mirabiliter (ad miraculum,) et non pudefiet populus meus
in perpetuum.
He now concludes what he has hitherto said of God's blessing. As the Jews were
starving while God was offended, so he promises that when reconciled to him they
should have abundance of produce from the land: Ye shall eat plentifully, he says,
and satisfy yourselves. But he mentions also their gratitude; for it was an evidence
of true repentance when they praised the name of God, whom they understood to be
the giver of their abundance; for he had before proved that the land was under his
power, when he consumed its whole substance, so that none of it came to supply the
wants of man. Hence the Prophet exhorts them to give thanks, that they might thus
declare that they from the heart repented. Ye shall then praise the name of Jehovah
your God''. Why? ``Because he will deal with you wonderfully. He takes away here
every plea for ignorance. We know how difÏcult it is to lead men to do this act
MINOR PROPHETS
of religion, for which we yet confess that we were born; for what is more natural
than to acknowledge God's bounty towards us, when we enjoy many blessings? But
yet, though God in various ways stimulates us, he cannot draw from us genuine
gratitude. This is the reason why the Prophet now says, ``God will deal with you
wonderfully: though ye are stupid, God will yet by his power awaken you; for he will
not deal with you in a common way.'' He then mentions something miraculous, that
he might leave to the Jews no excuse, in case they considered not God's bounty and
perceived not in this change, first, what they had deserved and then how merciful
God had been to them: for this change could not have been ascribed to chance;
nor was it a common thing, that when the Jews had been for four successive years
nearly consumed with wants and when the enemy was at hand, they should see the
land now fruitful, that they should see it freed from destructive insects, that they
should be also at peace, and not disturbed by the dread of any foreign enemy. Since
the Lord, then, would beyond hope give them a serene instead of a turbulent sky,
should not such a wonderful change deeply affect them? This is what the Prophet
now means, --- ``As the Lord will deal with you wonderfully, there will be no excuse
for your torpidity, if ye will not be diligent in praising his name.''
Not ashamed, he says, shall my people be for ever. The Jews are here reminded by
implication of their former disgrace; for they had been greatly confounded; though
enemies touched them not, no, not even with their finger, they yet died through
famine; an enemy was also prepared, as we have seen, to destroy them. They
were therefore frightened with dread, and also perplexed with their own evils, by
which God had almost worn them out. The Prophet says now, My people shall not be
ashamed for ever, intimating that God would at length relieve his people from their
evils, that they might not, as hitherto, be ashamed. He at last subjoins ---
Joel 2:27
27. And ye shall know that I am in the midst of Israel, and that I am the Lord your
God, and none else: and my people shall never be ashamed.
27. Et cognoscetis, quia in medio Israel ego, et ego Jehova Deus vester, et nullus
praeterea: et non pudefiet populus meus in seculum.
He repeats the same sentence; and in the beginning of the verse he unfolds what
I have already said --- that the miracle would be such as to constrain the people to
praise God. Ye shall know that I am in the midst of Israel: and this was the case,
because God showed not in an ordinary way his kindness to them, and especially
because it had been foretold, and also because this reason had been adduced ---
that God was mindful of his covenant. The manner, then, in which he dealt with
them, and farther, the prediction itself, left to the people no pretext for ignorance.
Hence the Prophet now says, `Ye shall know that I am in the midst of Israel,' and still
more, `that I am Jehovah your God.' By these words the Prophet reminds us, that the
deliverance of the people from their evils was to be wholly ascribed to the gratuitous
mercy of God; for we have already seen, that things would have been past hope, had
not this consolation been added --- `Turn ye even now to me.' The Prophet therefore
repeats, that there would be no other reason why God would deal so kindly with his
people, and so mercifully spare them, but this --- that he dwelt in the midst of Israel:
JOHN CALVIN
but whence was this dwelling, except that God had gratuitously chosen this people?
This indeed availed much to raise up the people; for how could they have hoped that
God would be propitious to them, had they not been reminded of this truth that God
was dwelling in the midst of them? Not because they were worthy, but because he
deigned to come down to them.
He afterwards adds, And none else. By this sentence the Prophet more sharply
stimulates them to return immediately to God; for if they deferred longer disappoint-
ment would be in delay. That the Jews, then, might not, after their usual manner,
procrastinate, he says that there is no other God; and thus he shows that there was
no remedy for their evils, except they sought to be reconciled to God. ``There is
then no God besides me, and I dwell in the midst of thee.'' The Lord claims to him-
self every power, and then kindly invites the people to himself, and for this reason, ---
because he dwells in the midst of them. That the people, then, might not form other
expectations, God shows that all their hope was in him alone. He farther shows, that
salvation was not to be sought afar off, provided the people had not forgotten the
covenant, that God was dwelling in the midst of them. But a higher doctrine follows
---
Joel 2:28
28. And it shall come to pass afterward, that I will pour out my spirit upon all
flesh; and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream
dreams, your young men shall see visions:
28. Et accidet post sic (hoc est, postea,) effundam Spiritum meum super
omnem carnem: et prophetabunt filii vestri et filiae vestrae: senes vestri somnia
sommabunt: juvenes vestri (aut, viri electi) visiones videbunt.
We have explained why the Prophet began with earthly blessings. One may in-
deed think that this order is not regular; for Christ does not in vain remind us, that
the kingdom of God ought to be first sought, and that other things shall be added in
their place, (Matthew 6;) for food, and every thing that belongs to this frail life, are,
as it were, additions to the spiritual life. But the Prophet designedly mentioned first
the evidence of God's favor in outward benefits; for we see how slow the perceptions
of men are, and how slothful they are in seeking spiritual life. As, then, men rise to
things above with so much difÏculty, the Prophet makes use of the best helps; and
we must indeed be dealt with as we usually deal with children. For as there is not
so much discernment in them as to be influenced by reasons, we set before them
what is suitable to their weak and simple comprehension; so the Prophet did; for he
showed first that God would be kind to the Jews in food for the body, and having
used this as a help, he then added, Afterwards I will pour my Spirit upon all flesh.
By these words the Prophet reminds us, that people act absurdly when they are
satisfied with vanishing things, when they ask of God nothing more excellent than to
be pampered like brute animals; for in what do the children of God differ from asses
and dogs, except they aspire after spiritual life? The Prophet, then, after having set
before them lower things, as though they were children, now brings before them
a more solid doctrine, (for thus they were to be led,) and affords them a taste of
the favor of God in its external signs. ``Ascend, then, now,'' he says, ``to spiritual
MINOR PROPHETS
life: for the fountain is one and the same; though when earthly benefits occupy and
engross your attention, ye no doubt pollute them. But God feeds you, not to fill and
pamper you; for he would not have you to be like brute animals. Then know that
your bodies are fed, and that God gives support to you, that ye may aspire after
spiritual life; for he leads you to this as by the hand; be this then your object.'' We
now, then, understand why the Prophet did not at first speak of the spiritual grace
of God; but he comes to it now. He began with temporal benefits, for it was needful
that an untutored people should be thus led by degrees, that on account of their
infirmity, sluggishness, and dullness, they might thus make better progress, until
they understood that God would for this end be a Father to them.
Prayer.
Grant, Almighty God, that since we want so many aids while in this frail life, and
as it is a shadowy life, we cannot pass a moment, except thou dost continually, and
at all times, supply through thy bounty what is needful, --- O grant, that we may so
profit by thy so many benefits, that we may learn to raise our minds upwards, and
ever aspire after celestial life, to which by thy gospel thou invites us so kindly and
sweetly every day, that being gathered into thy celestial kingdom, we may enjoy
that perfect felicity, which has been procured for us by the blood of thy Son, our
Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.
Lecture Forty-fifth
And it shall be, that I shall afterwards pour my Spirit upon all flesh, and prophesy
shall your sons and your daughters and your old men shall dreams dream, and your
young men shall visions see. We mentioned in our last lecture why the Prophet now at
length speaks of the spiritual grace of God, having before spoken of earthly blessings.
The order may seem indeed irregular; but it can be easily accounted for. The Prophet
said first that God, being reconciled to the people, would openly manifest this by
external proofs, by restoring abundance of wine and corn; for the almost wearing
out of the people by famine and want, being the evidence of God's vengeance, the
Prophet made the testimony of reconciliation to be in tokens of a contrary kind. But
as the restoration of the Church consists not either in the fruitfulness of the land, or
in the abundance of provisions, the Prophet now raises higher the thoughts of the
godly, and makes them to look for the spiritual grace of God: hence he says, I shall
afterwards pour my Spirit upon all flesh
The Prophet, no doubt, promises here something greater than what the fathers
under the Law had experienced. The gift of the Spirit, we know, was enjoyed even
by the ancients; but the Prophet promises not what the faithful had before found;
but, as we have said, something greater: and this may easily be gathered from the
word here used, ``pour out;'' for {}שפךshephek means not to distill, but to pour
forth in great abundance; and God did not pour out his Holy Spirit so abundantly and
so largely under the law as after the manifestation of Christ. Since, then, the gift
of the Spirit was more copiously given to the Church after the advent of Christ, the
Prophet uses here an unwonted expression --- that God would pour out his Spirit.
Another circumstance is added, upon all flesh. Though the Prophets, as we know,
had formerly their colleges, yet they were but few in number. As then the gift of
JOHN CALVIN
prophecy was rare among the Jews, the Prophets in order to show that God would
deal more bountifully to his new Church when restored, says, that he would pour out
his Spirit upon all flesh. He then intimates that all in common would be partakers
of the gift of the Spirit, and of its rich abundance, while under the law a few had
but a sparing taste of it. We now then perceive the design of the Prophet; it was to
make a manifest difference between the state of the ancient people and the state of
the new Church, of the restoration of which he now speaks. The comparison is, that
God would not only endow a few with his Spirit, but the whole mass of the people,
and then that he would enrich his faithful with all kinds of gifts, so that the Spirit
would seem to be poured forth in full abundance: I will then pour out my Spirit upon
all flesh. We hence learn how absurdly the Greek interpreter has rendered this, ``I
will pour out from my Spirit:'' for he diminishes this promise by saying, ``From my
Spirit,'' as though God promised here some small portion of his Spirit; while, on the
contrary the Prophet speaks of abundance, and intended to express it.
It follows, Prophesy shall your sons and your daughters. The Prophet now pro-
ceeds to explain what he had said, unfolding at large what he meant by the expres-
sion, ``upon all flesh,'' which was this, --- that the whole people would prophesy, or
that the gift of prophecy would be common and prevail every where among all the
Jews, in a new and unusual manner. The ancients had also Prophets though in num-
ber few; but now the Prophet extends this gift and favor to all orders: Prophesy then
shall your sons and your daughters, he says, so that he does not exclude women.
He afterwards mentions two kinds of prophesying, Your old men shall dreams
dream, and your young men shall visions see. ``Young men'' mean literally
``chosen,'' {}בחוריםbechurim: but as in middle age strength prevails most in
man, those who possess vigor and judgment, and as yet retain their strength, are
called ``chosen:'' hence by ``chosen'' he means those of mature age. When God
manifested himself to the Prophets, it was usually done, we know, by dreams and
visions, as it is said in Numbers 12: this was, as we may say, the ordinary method.
The Prophet now refers to these two modes of communication, and says, that the
gift of prophecy would be common to men and women, to the old and those of
middle age. We now perceive the import of this verse. There is then no difference
between dreams and visions, only the Prophet mentions these two kinds, that
readers might better understand, that what the Prophet had stated before generally
would be common to all.
But I have already said that this prophecy must be referred to the advent of Christ;
for we know that what is here described was not fulfilled until after Christ appeared
in the world: and the Prophet now preaches of the new restoration of the Church,
which we know, was suspended until the Gospel was proclaimed. Let us now then
see whether God, after Christ was revealed, performed what he had spoken by his
Prophet. Peter, in Acts 2, says, that this prophecy was fulfilled when the Spirit was
sent. But it may be objected, that all were not endued with the gift of prophecy, even
when God opened all the treasures of his grace; and Paul says that they were not
all prophets even when the Church especially flourished; and experience proves the
same. How then could Peter say, that this --- that God would pour out his Spirit upon
MINOR PROPHETS
all flesh, was fulfilled? To give a reply to this is not difÏcult: let us only remember,
that the Prophet speaks comparatively, as the Scripture is wont to do. He afÏrms
not in express terms that all would be partakers of this gift, but that in comparison
with the ancient Church, this gift would be as it were common, and that it was so is
well known: for if any one compares the ancient Church with that abundance which
God vouchsafed to his people after Christ's advent, he will certainly find true what I
say --- that the Spirit of God, who was given only to few under the law, was poured
out upon all flesh. True then is what the Prophet says, provided this contrast is to
be understood --- that God was much more bountiful towards his new Church than
formerly towards the fathers: for the Prophets then were not many, but they were
many under the gospel.
We must also remember that the Prophet hyperbolically extols the grace of God;
for such is our stupidity and dullness, that we can never sufÏciently comprehend
the grace of God, except it is set forth to us in hyperbolical language; nor is there
indeed any excess in the thing itself, if we take a right view of it: but as we hardly
understand the hundredth part of God's gifts, when he presents them before our
eyes, it was needful to add a commendation, calculated to elevate our thoughts. The
spirit of God is then constrained to speak hyperbolically on account of our torpidity
or rather carelessness. We need not however to fear, lest our thoughts should go
beyond the words; for when God would carry us above the heavens, we can hardly
ascend two or three feet.
We now then perceive why the Prophet mentions all flesh without exception: first,
there were more Prophets, as I have said, under the gospel than under the law;
hence, the comparison is very suitable; --- and, secondly the Prophet speaks not
here of the public ofÏce of teaching, for he calls those Prophets who had not been
called to teach, but who were endued with so much of the light of truth, that they
might be compared with the Prophets; and certainly the knowledge which flourished
in the primitive Church was such, that the meanest were in many respects equal to
the ancient Prophets; for what did God confer on the ancient Prophets except the
power of foretelling something to come? It was a special gift, and very limited. Be-
sides these predictions are hardly worthy to be compared with the celestial wisdom
made known in the gospel. Faith then after the coming of Christ, if rightly estimated
according to its value, far excels the gift of prophecy. And so the Prophet here, not
without reason, dignifies with so honorable name those who were private men, and
to whom was not intrusted the ofÏce of teaching among the people, but who were
only illuminated; for their light was much superior to the gift of prophecy in many of
those who lived under the law. We now understand what the Prophet means when
he makes the Spirit of God to be common, without distinction, to all the godly, so
that they possess what excels the gift of prophesying.
Now as to the two kinds of gifts mentioned here, it must be observed, that the
Prophet spoke according to what was commonly known among the people: for as
the Jews were accustomed to dreams and visions, the Prophet therefore made use
of these terms; and this manner of speaking occurs often in the Prophets, and it ought
to be borne in mind by us. When they speak of the worship of God, they mention
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sacrifices, `They shall come and bring frankincense and gold; they shall lead camels
laden with the wealth of the land.' In short, in their prophecies they raise altars and
build a temple: and yet no such things were seen after Christ appeared: for the
Gentiles came not to Jerusalem to offer sacrifices; nay, shortly after the temple was
destroyed, there was no altar among them, and the whole legal worship ceased.
What then is to be understood by such expressions, as --- that people shall come
from all places to sacrifice together? Even this --- They set forth under a visible form
the spiritual worship of God. It is so in this place; as it was the usual way among the
ancients that God manifested himself by dreams and visions to the Prophets, so he
says, your old men shall dreams dream, and your young men shall visions see: but
the Prophet no doubt sets forth under these forms of speech that light of knowledge
in which the new Church excelled after Christ appeared: he indeed compares the
light of faith to prophecy, as we have already stated; but he accommodates his
manner of speaking or his discourse to the comprehension of his people, for he knew
whom he addressed. All the Prophets have followed the same rule; `There shall be
offered a sacrifice,' says Malachi, `from the rising to the setting of the sun.' What is
this sacrifice? The Papists take this for the mass; ``Then under the kingdom of Christ
there is to be some sacrifice; and we do not now offer to God sheep and calves; it
therefore follows, that there is to be the sacrifice of bread and wine:'' and this is
said, as though the Prophet had thus refinedly philosophized on the word, sacrifice,
while he was teaching a rude people according to what they could bear. But what
he meant was, that the worship of God would be universal among all nations. The
same thing is intended by Joel when he says, I shall pour forth my Spirit upon all
flesh: your old men shall dreams dream, and your young men shall visions see. We
now see the whole meaning of the Prophet. Now it follows ---
Joel 2:29
29. And also upon the servants and upon the handmaids in those days will I pour
out my spirit.
29. Atque etiam super servoset super ancillas in diebus illis effundam Spiritum
meam.
As the particle {}גםgam amplifies in Hebrew, it seems singular that the Prophet
now limits to a few a gift common to all; for he had previously said, ``Upon all flesh
will I pour out my Spirit;'' and now, ``Upon servants and handmaids;'' and he puts
down ``Also''. If he had simply said ``Upon servants and handmaids will I pour out
my Spirit,'' there would have been no inconsistency, for it would have been the ex-
planation of his former statement; for we know that what the Prophet says of all men
must be taken with exception, inasmuch as many who were unbelievers were with-
out this gift, and even those who before excelled in some sort of divine knowledge;
we indeed know that the Jews were blinded, and we also know that not all among the
common people were partakers of this excellent gift. There is no doubt, therefore,
but that this which is said of ``all flesh,'' must be limited to the Church. It would
not, then, have appeared strange, had the Prophet now added, ``Upon servants and
handmaids;'' but the particles {}וגםugam, ``And also,'' create difÏculty: it is a way
of speaking to enlarge on what has been said, but here it seems not to enlarge; for
MINOR PROPHETS
to pour out the Spirit upon all the people, is more than to pour it out on servants
and handmaids. The solution is twofold: the particles {}וגםugam are sometimes to
be taken confirmatively. `I have blessed him,' said Isaac of his son Jacob, `and also
blessed shall he be.' So in this place we may take the words of the Prophet to be, yea
surely, being a repetition serving to confirm what had been said: but I prefer another
sense; for the Prophet, I doubt not, meant here to add something more incredible
than what he had previously said, ``Upon servants and maid-servants will I pour
out my Spirit,'' that is, even upon those who were before Prophets; for they shall be
enriched with a new gift, and shall gain increasing knowledge after the restoration
of the Church, which is now approaching. We apprehend this to be the meaning of
the Prophet. He had promised the grace of the Spirit to the whole body of the faith-
ful, which appears, as I have said, from comparing the ancient state with our own:
but now, after having spoken of the mass or the common people, he comes to the
Prophets, who were superior to others who before performed the ofÏce of teaching,
who attained rank and degree in the Church; these also shall gain accessions; that
is, ``My Spirit shall not only be conspicuous in the ignorant and the common people,
but also in the Prophets themselves.''
Surely it is a greater thing when they are taught who were before superior to
others, and whom the Lord had set over the Church, and when they appear as new
men, after having received a gift which the Lord had not previously conferred on
them. When, therefore, new light appears in such men, it is certainly a greater thing
than when the Spirit is poured out on the common people. We now then see the
Prophet's meaning as to the servants and the handmaids. 19
He then repeats, In those days, intimating that so sudden and incredible the
change will be, that Prophets will seem to have been before untaught men; for a
much more excellent doctrine shall be given them. Then God shall so pour out his
Spirits that all the ancient prophecies will appear obscure and of no value, com-
pared with the great and extraordinary light which Christ, the Sun of Righteousness,
will bring at his rising. And he mentions ``handmaids'', for there were, we know,
Prophetesses under the Law. Let us now go on ---
Joel 2:30-31
30. And I will shew wonders in the heavens and in the earth, blood, and fire, and
pillars of smoke.
30. Et ponam (statuam) prodigia in coelis et terra, sanguinem et ignem et colum-
nas nubis.
31. The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before the
19However true in itself is what is here advanced, yet the exposition seems rather too refined, and what the passage does not require. The difficulty stated will vanish, when we consider that "all flesh" is a general expression, afterwards particularized and limited: and "and all flesh," according to what is subsequently specified, evidently means all conditions of men, men in all states and of every age, and not the whole of mankind. "And also," in verse 29, is very emphatical, as the persons afterwards mentioned were of the lowest grade, "servants and handmaids," that is, slaves: and such were many of the first converts to Christianity. See Galatians 3:28; Colossians 3:11. Though the word for 'servants' does not necessarily mean those in a servile condition, yet it has that meaning. The same is true of the word for handmaids. Hagar, expressly called a bondwoman by Paul, is called by this name, Genesis 16:1. And to view the words as signifying slaves, would make the prophecy more striking, as being literally fulfilled at the first promulgation of the Gospel.
JOHN CALVIN
great and the terrible day of the Lord come.
31. Sol vertetur in tenebras et luna in sanguinem, antequam veniat dies Jehovae
magnus et terribilis.
The Prophet seems here to contradict himself; for he had hitherto promised that
God would deal kindly and bountifully with his people; and every thing he has said
tended to elevate the spirits of the people and fill them with joy: but now he seems
again to threaten them with God's wrath and to strike miserable men with fear;
who had not as yet a breathing time; for at the time the Prophet spoke, the Jews,
we know, were in the greatest sorrow. What then is his purpose in adding a new
cause of grief, as though they had not sorrow and lamentation enough? But it is
rather an admonition than a threatening. The Prophet warns them of what would be,
lest the faithful should promise themselves some happy condition in this world, and
an exemption from all cares and troubles; for we know how prone men are to self-
indulgence. When God promises any thing, they flatter themselves and harbor vain
thoughts, as though they were beyond the reach of harm, and free from every grief
and every evil. Such indulgence the flesh contrives for itself. Hence the Prophet
reminds us, that though God would bountifully feed his Church, supply his people
with food, and testify by external tokens his paternal love, and though also he would
pour out his Spirit, (a token far more remarkable,) yet the faithful would continue
to be distressed with many troubles; for God designs not to deal too delicately with
his Church on earth; but when he gives tokens of his kindness he at the same time
mingles some exercises for patience, lest the faithful should become self-indulgent
or sleep on earthly blessings, but that they may ever seek higher things.
We now then understand the Prophet's design: he intends not to threaten the
faithful, but rather to warn them, lest they should deceive themselves with empty
dreams, or expect what is never to be, that is, to enjoy a happy rest in this world.
Besides, the Prophet regards also another thing: we know indeed that men are hardly
led to seek the grace of God, except when they are, as it were, forcibly drawn; hence
spiritual life is neglected, and whatever belongs to the celestial kingdom, when we
have all kinds of supplies on earth. The Prophet then commends here the spiritual
grace of which he speaks, for this reason, --- that the condition of men would be
miserable, were not the Lord to exhilarate their minds and refresh them with the
comfort which we have already noticed. --- How so? There will be prodigies in heaven
and on earth, the sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, and
all things shall be in disorder and in horrible darkness. What then would become of
men, were not God to shine on them by the grace of his Spirit, to support them under
such a confusion in heaven and on earth, and to show himself to be their Father?
We then see that this was added for the fuller commendation of God's grace, that
men might know, that they would be much more miserable if God called them not
to himself by the shining light of his Spirit. And that this was the Prophet's design,
we may learn from the discourse of Christ, which he made to his disciples a short
time before his death. They asked what would be the sign of his coming, when
he reminded them of the destruction of the temple, (Matthew 24:3-25:46). They
thought that he would immediately accomplish that triumph of which they had heard,
MINOR PROPHETS
that they would be made participators of that eternal beatitude of which Christ had
so often spoken to them. Christ then warned them not to be deluded with so gross
a notion. He spoke of the destruction of Jerusalem, and then declared that all these
things would be only the presages of evils --- ``These,'' he says, ``shall be only the
preludes; for tumults will arise, wars shall be, and all places will be full of calamities;
in a word, there will be an immense mass of all evils.'' As Christ then corrected the
mistake, with which the minds of the disciples were imbued, so the Prophet here
checks vain imaginations, lest the faithful should think that Christ's kingdom would
be earthly, and fix their minds on corn and wine, on pleasures and quietness, on the
conveniences of the present life: I will give you, he says, prodigies in heaven and on
earth blood, fire, and dark clouds; the sun all be turned into darkness, and the moon
into blood, before it shall come --- the day of Jehovah, great and terrible
We now see why the Prophet adds here this sad catalogue, and how well these
things harmonize together, --- that God would testify his paternal love by the mani-
festation of Christ, --- and that he would exhibit tokens of his wrath, which would fill
the whole world with anxiety and fear.
What he says of blood and darkness is, no doubt, to be taken metaphorically
for a disordered state of things; for we know that calamities are often compared to
obscurity and darkness. It is the same as though he said, ``So great will be the
succession of evils, that the whole order of nature will seem to be subverted that
the very elements will put on a new form; the sun, which illuminates the earth, will
be turned into darkness, the moon into blood; the calamities which shall come will
take away every token of God's kindness. Then nothing will remain, but that men,
sunk, as it were, in the deepest abyss of all evils, will seek some spark of grace from
God and never find it; for heaven will be dark, the earth will be covered with thick
darkness.'' We then see that the Prophet does not express what would be, word for
word, nor is he to be understood as speaking, as they say, literally, but he uses a
figurative mode of speaking, by which he sets forth such a dreadful state of things,
that the very elements would put on a new appearance; for the sun would not any
more perform its ofÏce, and the moon would refuse its light to the earth. As God,
then, would take away all tokens of his favor, so the Prophet, by blood, by darkness
and by dark clouds, sets forth metaphorically that sorrows by which the minds of
men would necessarily be possessed.
Now if any one asks, why by the coming of Christ was God's wrath more stirred
up against men? for this may seem to be without reason. To this I answer, that it
was, as it were accidental: for if Christ had been received as he ought to have been,
if all embraced him with due reverence, he would have certainly been the giver, not
only of spiritual grace, but also of earthly happiness. The felicity of all, then, would
have in every respect been made complete by the coming of Christ, had not their
wickedness and ingratitude kindled up anew the wrath of God; and we see what a
flood of evils burst forth immediately after the preaching of the gospel. Now when
we consider how severely God afÒicted his people formerly, we cannot but say that
much heavier have been the calamities inflicted on the world since the manifestation
of Christ, --- whence this? Even because the world's ingratitude had arrived to its
JOHN CALVIN
highest point, as indeed it is at this day: for the light of the gospel has gone forth
again, and God has exhibited himself to the world as a Father, and we see how great
is the wickedness and perversity of men in rejecting the gifts of God; we see some
contemptuously rejecting the Gospel, and others impelled by satanic fury to resist
the doctrine of Christ; we see them making a boast of their blasphemies, and we
see them kindled with cruel rage and breathing slaughters against the children of
God; we see the world full of ungodly men and of the despisers of God; we see an
awful contempt of God's grace prevailing everywhere: we see such an unbridled
licentiousness in wickedness, that it ought to make us ashamed of ourselves and
weary of our life. Since, then, the world is so ungrateful for such a favor, is it a
wonder that God should show more dreadful tokens of his vengeance? For certainly
at this day, when we closely examine the condition of the world, we find that all are
miserable, and even those who applaud themselves, and whom the world admire as
semigods. How can it be otherwise? The common people, doubtless, groan under
their miseries, and that because God thus punishes the contempt of his grace, which
he has again offered to us, and which is so unworthily rejected. Inasmuch, then, as
so base an ingratitude on the part of men has provoked God's wrath, it is no wonder
that the sound of his scourges is everywhere heard: for the servant who knows his
lord's will and does it not, is worthy, as Christ declares, of heavier stripes, (Luke
12.) And what happens through the whole world is, that after God has shone by
his gospel, after Christ has everywhere proclaimed reconciliation, they now openly
fall away, and show that they prefer having God angry than propitious to them: for
when the gospel is rejected, what else is it but to declare war against God, and to
scorn and not to receive the reconciliation which God is ready to give, and of which
he treats of his own accord with men?
It is then no wonder that the Prophet says here, that the world would be full of
darkness after the appearance of Christ, who is the Sun of Righteousness, and who
has shone upon us with his salvation: but it was, as it were, accidental, that God
exhibited himself with so much severity to the world, when yet it was the acceptable
time, when it was the day of salvation and of good-will; for the world suffered not
that to be fulfilled which God had promised to us by the Prophet Joel, nor received the
Spirit of adoption, when they might have safely fled to God; nay, when God was ready
to cherish them in his own bosom. But since they were refractory and untractable,
it was necessary for God to visit such perverseness in an unusual manner. It is no
wonder then that the Prophet says, that in those days there shall be prodigies in
heaven and on earth, for the sun shall be turned into darkness, etc., before it shall
come --- the day of Jehovah, great and terrible
It may be asked what day the Prophet refers to: for he has hitherto spoken of
the first coming of Christ; and there seems to be some inconsistency in this place. I
answer, that the Prophet includes the whole kingdom of Christ, from the beginning
to the end; and this is well understood, and in other places we have stated that the
Prophets common speak in this manner: for when the discourse is concerning Christ's
kingdom, they sometimes refer to its commencement only, and sometimes they
speak of its termination; but they often mark out by one delineation the whole course
MINOR PROPHETS
of the kingdom of Christ, from its beginning to its end; and such is the case here.
The Prophet, by saying, `After those days I will pour out my Spirit,' no doubt meant
that this, as we have explained, would be fulfilled when Christ should commence
his kingdom, and make it known through the teaching of the gospel: Christ poured
out then his Spirit. But as the kingdom of Christ is not for a few days, or for a
short time, but continues its course to the end of the word, the Prophet turns his
attention to that day or that time, and says, ``There shall, in the meanwhile, be
the greatest calamities: and whosoever shall not flee to the grace of God shall be
very miserable; they shall never find rest nor comfort, nor the light of life, for the
world shall be sunk in darkness; and God shall take away from the sun, the moon,
the elements, and all other aids, the tokens of his favor; and he will show himself
everywhere to be angry and offended with men.'' The Prophet further shows, that
these evils of which he speaks would not be for a few days or a few years, but
perpetual; `Before,' he says, `the day of Jehovah, great and terrible, shall come.'
In short, he means that all the scourges of God, which he had hitherto mentioned,
would be, as it were, preparations to subdue the hearts of men, that they might with
reverence and submission receive Christ. As, therefore, men carry by nature a high
spirit, and cannot bend their neck to recede the yoke of Christ, hence the Prophet
says here that they were to be subdued by severe scourges, when God would remove
all evidences of his love, and fill heaven and earth with dread. Thus, then, he would
in a manner change the hardness and contumacy which is innate in men, that they
might know that they had to do with God. And, at the same time, the Prophet reminds
them, that unless they were amended by these scourges, something more dreadful
remained for them, --- the Judge would at last come from heaven, not only to clothe
the sun and moon in darkness, but to turn life into death. It would, indeed, be far
better for the reprobate to die a hundred times than always to live and thus to sustain
eternal death in life itself.
The Prophet then means, that men persisting in their obstinacy shall meet with
something more grievous and more ruinous than the evils of this life, for they must all
at last stand before the tribunal of the celestial Judge: for the day of Jehovah, great
and terrible, will come. He refers, in this sentence, to unbelievers and rebels against
God; for when Christ shall come, he will be a Redeemer to the godly; no day in their
whole life will shine on them so pleasantly; so far will this day be from bringing terror
and fear to them, that they are bidden, while expecting it, to lift up their heads, which
is a token of cheerfulness and joy. But as the Prophet Joel's object was to humble the
confident pride of the flesh, and as he addressed the refractory and the rebellious,
it is no wonder that he sets before them what is terrific and dreadful.
Prayer.
Grant, Almighty God, that as we are now surrounded on every side by so many
miseries, and as our condition is such, that amidst groans and continual sorrows,
our life could be hardly sustained without being supported by spiritual grace, --- O
grant, that we may learn to look on the face of thine Anointed, and seek comfort
from him, and such a comfort as may not engross our minds, or at least not retain
us in the world, but raise our thoughts to heaven, and daily sell to our hearts the
JOHN CALVIN
testimony of our adoption, and that though many evils must be borne by us in this
world, we may yet continue to pursue our course, and to fight and to strive with
invincible perseverance, until having at length finished all our struggles, we reach
that blessed rest, which has been obtained for us by the blood of thy only-begotten
Son, our Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.
Lecture Forty-sixth
Joel 2:32
32. And it shall come to pass, that whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord
shall be delivered: for in mount Zion and in Jerusalem shall be deliverance, as the
Lord hath said, and in the remnant whom the Lord shall call.
32. Et erit, quisquis invocaverit nomen Jehovae liberabitur: quia in monte Sion et
in Jerusalem erit evasio, sicuti promisit Jehova, et in residuis quos Jehova vocaverit.
We said yesterday that the Prophet denounced future calamities, that he might
thus stimulate men, distressed by many evils, to seek God: we indeed know how
tardy we are by nature, except the Lord goads us continually. The subject, then, on
which we discoursed yesterday tended to show, that as so many and so grievous
calamities would press on the Jews, all would be miserable who fled not to God,
and that this consolation only would remain to them in their extreme evils: but now
the Prophet seasonably adds, Whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall
be delivered. Having then stimulated men to seek God, he now gives them firm
assurance of being saved, provided they in sincerity and from the heart fled to God.
This is indeed a remarkable passage, for God declares that the invocation of his
name in a despairing condition is a sure port of safety. What the Prophet had said was
certainly dreadful, --- that the whole order of nature would be so changed, that no
spark of light would appear, and that all places would be filled with darkness. What,
therefore, he says now is the same as though he declared, that if men called on the
name of God, life would be found in the grave. They who seem to be even in despair,
and from whom God seems to have taken away every hope of grace, provided they
call on the name of God, will be saved, as the Prophet declares, though they be in
so great a despair, and in so deep an abyss. This circumstance ought to be carefully
noticed; for if any one takes this sentence of the Prophet by itself, though then it
would not be frigid, it would not yet be so striking; but when these two things are
joined together, --- that God will be the judge of the world, who will not spare the
wickedness of men, but will execute dreadful vengeance, --- and that yet salvation
will be given to all who will call on the name of the Lord, we see how efÏcacious the
promise is; for God offers life to us in death, and light in the darkest grave.
There is, therefore, great importance in the expression, {}והיהueie, `Then it shall
be;' for the copulative is to be regarded as an adverb of time, `Then whosoever
shall invoke the name of the Lord,' etc. And he uses the word ``deliver;'' for it was
needful to show that the saved differ nothing from the lost. Had the Prophet used the
word ``preserve,'' he would have spoken less distinctly; but now when he promises
deliverance, he bids us to set up this shield against trials even the heaviest; for God
possesses power sufÏciently great to deliver us, provided only we call on him.
We now then understand what the Prophet had in view: He shows that God would
MINOR PROPHETS
have us to call on him not only in prosperity, but also in the extreme state of despair.
It is the same as though God had called to himself the dead, and declared that it
was in his power to restore life to them and bring them out of the grave. Since then
God invites here the lost and the dead, there is no reason why even the heaviest
distresses should preclude an access for us or for our prayers; for we ought to break
through all these obstacles. The more grievous, then, our troubles are, the more
confidence we ought to entertain; for God offers his grace, not only to the miserable,
but also to those in utter despair. The Prophet did not threaten a common evil to
the Jews, but declared that by the coming of Christ all things would be full of horror:
after this denunciation he now subjoins, `Whosoever shall call on the name of the
Lord shall be delivered.'
But as Paul cites this place in Romans 10, and extends it to the Gentiles, we must
inquire in what sense he takes the testimony of the Prophet. Paul means to prove
that adoption was common to the Gentiles, that it was lawful for them to flee to God,
and familiarly to invoke him as a Father: `Whosoever,' he says, `shall call on the
name of the Lord shall be saved.' He hence proves that the Gospel ought to have
been preached even to the Gentiles, as invocation arises from faith: for except God
shines on us by his word, we cannot come to him; faith, then, is ever the mother of
prayer. Paul seems to lay stress on the universal particle, Whosoever; as though he
said, that Joel did not speak of the Jews only, but also of the Gentiles, that he testified
that God would indiscriminately, and without exception, receive all who would seek
him. But Paul appears to misapply the Prophet's words; for Joel no doubt addresses
here the people, to whom he was appointed as a teacher and prophet. What Paul
then applies generally to all mankind seems not to have been so intended by the
Prophet. But to this there is an easy answer; for the Prophets after having spoken of
the kingdom of Christ, had no doubt this truth in view, that the blessing in the seed
of Abraham had been promised to all nations; and when he afterwards described the
miserable state in which the whole world would be, he certainly meant to rouse even
the Gentiles, who had been aliens from the Church, to seek God in common with his
elect people: the promise, then, which immediately follows, is also addressed to the
Gentiles, otherwise there would be no consistency in the discourse of the Prophet.
We therefore see that Paul most fitly accommodates this place to his subject: for
the main thing to be held is this, that the blessing in Christ was promised not only
to the children of Abraham but also to all the Gentiles. When, therefore, the Prophet
describes the kingdom of Christ, it is no wonder that he addresses the Jews and
Gentiles in common: and then, what he said of the state of the world, that it would
be full of horrible darkness, undoubtedly refers, not to the Jews only, but also to the
Gentiles. Why was this done, except to show that nothing else remains for them but
to flee to God? We then see that an access is here opened to the Gentiles that they
may with one consent call on God together with the Jews.
If there is promised salvation and deliverance to all who shall call on the name
of the Lord, it follows as Paul reasons that the doctrine of the Gospel belongs to
the Gentiles also; for their mouths must have otherwise been closed, yea, and the
mouths of us all: had not God himself anticipated us by his word, and exhorted us
JOHN CALVIN
to pray, we must have been dumb. It would have been a great presumption in us to
present ourselves before God, except he had given us confidence and promised to
hear us. If then the liberty of praying is common to all, it follows that the doctrine of
salvation is common to all. We must now also add, that as deliverance is promised
to all who shall call on the name of God, his own power is taken from God, when
salvation is sought in any other but in him alone: and we know that this is an offering
which he claims exclusively for himself. If, then, we desire to be delivered, the only
remedy is, to call on the name of Jehovah.
He afterwards adds, For in mount Zion and in Jerusalem shall be deliverance, as
Jehovah has promised. The Prophet here intimates, that though the people might
seem apparently to have been destroyed, yet God would be mindful of his covenant
so as to gather the remnant. Such, indeed, was the slaughter of the people, that no
hope whatever, according to the flesh, remained; for they were scattered through
various parts of the world; there was no social body, no distinct nation, no civil gov-
ernment, no worship of God. Who, then, could have thought that the Church of God
would survive? Nay, the probability was, that after thirty or fifty years, the name of
Abraham and of his seed would have become wholly extinct; for they had joined in
one body with the Chaldees and the Assyrians. That scattering then was, as it were,
the death of the whole nation. But God, by Joel, declares here, that there would yet
be deliverance in mount Zion and in Jerusalem; that is, ``Though I shall for a time
exterminate this people, that the land may remain desolate, there shall yet be a
restoration, and I will again gather a certain body, a Church, on mount Zion and in
Jerusalem.'' This is the substance.
We learn from this place, that however much God may afÒict his Church, it will
yet be perpetuated in the world; for it can no more be destroyed than the very truth
of God, which is eternal and immutable. God indeed promises, not only that the
state of the Church shall be perpetual, but that there will be, as long as the sun
and moon shall shine in heaven, some people on earth to call on his name. Since
it is so, it follows, that the Church cannot be utterly subverted or wholly perish,
however severely and heavily the Lord may chastise it. However great then the
scattering of the Church may be, the Lord will yet gather members, that there may
be a people on earth to show, that he who is in heaven is true and faithful to his
promises. And this truth deserves a careful attention; for when we see the Church
scattered, immediately this doubt creeps into our minds, ``Does God intend wholly
to destroy all his people, --- does he mean to exterminate all the seed of the faithful?''
Then let this passage be remembered, ``In mount Zion there will be deliverance,''
after the Lord shall have punished the profane despisers of his name, who abused
his patience, and falsely professed his name.
But he adds, As Jehovah has promised, which serves for confirmation; for the
Prophet bids us here to regard God rather than our own state. When indeed we be-
lieve our eyes, we cannot but think sometimes that it is all over with the Church; for
when God inflicts heavy punishment on his servants, there seems to us no remedy;
and when we believe the diseases of the Church to be incurable, our hearts imme-
diately fail us, except God's promise comes to our minds. Hence the Prophet recalls
MINOR PROPHETS
our thoughts to God, as though he had said, ``Judge not of the safety of the Church
by sight, but stand and rely on the word of God: he has spoken, he has said, that the
Church shall be perpetual.'' Let us plant our foot on this promise, and never doubt
but that the Lord will perform what he has declared.
But it is subjoined by the Prophet as a sort of correction, And in the remnant
whom Jehovah shall call: and it was necessary to state this distinctly, lest hypocrites,
as they usually do, abuse what had been said. They who occupy high stations in
the Church, and pass in name for the children of God, swell, we know, with great
confidences and boldly trifle with God; for they think that he is bound to them, when
they make a show either of external badges or of profession, in which they glory
before men: they think this display sufÏcient. We may indeed gather from many
parts of Scripture, that the Jews were inflated with this false presumption of the flesh,
that they imagined God to be bound to them. Hence the Prophet shows, that he
did not address all the Jews indiscriminately, because many of them were spurious
children of Abraham, and had become degenerated. If then under this pretense
alone they wished to lay hold on the promise of salvation, the Prophet shows that
they were excluded from the Church of God, since they were not legitimate children,
after having departed from the faith and piety of their father Abraham. He therefore
mentions remnant: and by this word be means, in short, that the whole multitude
could not be saved, but only a small number.
When therefore we speak of the salvation of the Church, we ought not to gather
into one bundle all who profess themselves to be the children of God; for we see
that hardly one in a hundred worship God in truth and without hypocrisy, for the
greater part abuse his name. We see, at this day, how dishonest is the boasting of
the Papists; for they think that the Church of God dwells among them, and they scorn
us because we are few. When we say that the Church of God is to be known by the
word and the pure administration of the sacraments, ``Indeed,'' they say, ``could
God have forsaken so many people among whom the gospel has been preached?''
They think that after Christ has been once made known, his grace remains fixed, and
cannot by any means be taken away whatever may be the impiety of men. Since
then the Papists so shamefully lay claim to the name of Church, because they are
many in number, it is no wonder that the Prophet, who had the same contest with the
Jews and Israelites, had here expressly mentioned a remnant; as though he said, ``In
vain do the ungodly boast of God's name, since he regards them not as his people.''
The same truth we observe in Psalm 15, and in Psalm 24; where the citizens of the
Church are described; they are not those who pride themselves on external symbols,
but who worship God with a sincere heart, and deal honestly with their neighbors;
such dwell on the mountain of God. It was not a difÏcult thing for hypocrites to thrust
themselves into the sanctuary, and to present there their sacrifices to God; but the
Prophet shows that none are owned by God, but those who have a sincere heart and
pure hands. So also in this place Joel says, that this Church indeed would be saved,
but not the vast multitude, --- who then? the remnant only.
But the clause which follows must be noticed, Whom Jehovah shall call. We have
already seen that the Church of God consists often of a very small number; for God
JOHN CALVIN
counts not any his children, but those who devote themselves sincerely and from
the heart to his service, as Paul says `Whosoever calls on the name of God, let him
depart from iniquity;' and many such are not found in the world.
But it is not enough to hold, that the Church of God is only in the remnant; it must
be also added that the remnant abide in God's Church for no other reason but that
the Lord has called them. Whence then is it that there is a portion in the Church,
which shall remain safe, while the whole world seems to be doomed to destruction?
It is from the calling of God. And there is no doubt but that the Prophet means by
the word, call, gratuitous election. The Lord is indeed often said to call men, when
he invites them by the voice of his gospel; but there is what surpasses that, a hidden
call, when God destines for himself those whom he purposes to save. There is then
an inward call, which dwells in the secret counsel of God; and then follows the call,
by which he makes us really the partakers of his adoption. Now the Prophet means,
that those who will be the remnant shall not stand by their own power, but because
they have been called from above, that is, elected. But that the election of God is
not to be separated from the outward call, I allow; and yet this order ought to be
maintained, that God, before he testifies his election to men, adopts them first to
himself in his own secret counsel. The meaning is, that calling is here opposed to all
human merits, and also to virtue and human efforts; as though he said, ``Men attain
not this for themselves, that they continue a remnant and are safe, when God visits
the sins of the world; but they are preserved by his grace alone, because they have
been chosen.'' Paul also speaks of the remnant in Romans 11, and wisely considers
that passage, `I have kept for myself seven thousand.' [1 Kings 19:18.]
It is then God's peculiar province to keep those who fail not: and hence Paul says
that they are the remnant of grace; for if God's mercy were taken away, there would
be no remnant among the whole human race. All, we indeed know, are worthy of
death, without any difference: it is therefore the election of God alone which makes
the difference between some and others. Thus we see that the gratuitous goodness
of God is extolled by the Prophet, when he says that a remnant shall be saved, who
shall be called by the Lord: for it is not in the power of men to keep themselves
unless they are elected; and the gratuitous goodness of God is the security as it
were of their salvation. Now follows ---
Chapter 3
Joel 3
Joel 3:1-3
1. For, behold, in those days, and in that time, when I shall bring again the cap-
tivity of Judah and Jerusalem,
1. Quia ecce, diebus illis et tempore illo, quo convertam captivitatem Jehudah et
Jerusalem;
2 I will also gather all nations, and will bring them down into the valley of Je-
hoshaphat, and will plead with them there for my people and for my heritage Israel,
whom they have scattered among the nations, and parted my land.
2 Et congregabo (tunc congregabo) omnes gentes, et descendere faciam in vallem
Jesephat, et disceptabo illic cum ipsis super populo meo et super haereditate mea
Israel, quia disperserunt inter gentes et partiti sunt terram meam (addemus et hunc
etiam versum.)
3 And they have cast lots for my people; and have given a boy for an harlot, and
sold a girl for wine, that they might drink.
3 Et super populo meo jecerunt sortem et posuerunt, puerum pro scorto (hoc est,
addixerunt pro scorto) et pullam vendiderunt pro vino ut biberunt.
The Prophet confirms in these words what he had before taught respecting the
restoration of the Church; for it was a thing difÏcult to be believed: when the body of
the people was so mutilated, when their name was obliterated, when all power was
abolished, when the worship of God also, together with the temple, was subverted,
when there was no more any form of a kingdom, or even of any civil government,
who could have thought that God had any concern for a people in such a wretched
condition? It is then no wonder that the Prophet speaks so much at large of the
restoration of the Church; he did so, that he might more fully confirm what would
have otherwise been incredible.
He therefore says, Behold, in those days, and at that time, in which I shall restore
the captivity of Judah and Jerusalem, I shall then make all Gentiles to come down
JOHN CALVIN
into the valley of Jehoshaphat. And the Prophet says this, because the Jews were
then hated by all people, and were the execration and the dregs of the whole world.
As many nations as were under heaven, so many were the enemies of the Jews. A
fall then inter despair was easy, when they saw the whole world incensed against
them: ``Though God may wish to redeem us, there are yet so many obstacles, that
we must necessarily perish; not only the Assyrians are enraged against us, but we
have found even greater hatred in our own neighbors.'' We, indeed, know that the
Moabites, the Ammonites, the Syrians, the Sidonians, the Idumeans, the Philistines,
and, in short, all in the surrounding countries, were very hostile to the Jews. Seeing
then every access to their land was closed up to the Jews, it was difÏcult to entertain
any hope of deliverance, though God encouraged them. For this reason the Prophet
now says, that God would be the judge of the whole world, and that it was in his
purpose and power to call together all the Gentiles, as though he said, ``Let not the
number and variety of enemies frighten you: the Assyrians alone, I know, are not
your enemies, but also all your neighbors; but when I undertake the defense of your
cause, I shall be alone sufÏcient to protect you; and however much all people may
oppose, they shall not prevail. Then believe that I shall be a sufÏcient defender, and
shall deliver you from the hand of all the nations'' We now perceive the Prophet's
design when he declares, that God would come to the valley of Jehoshaphat, and
there call together all nations.
But the Prophet says, In those days, and at that time, when the Lord shall restore
the captivity of Judah and Jerusalem, etc. This time the Jews limit to their return:
they therefore think, that when liberty to return was granted them by Cyrus and
Darius, what the Prophet declares here was then fulfilled; Christian doctors apply
this prediction to the coming of Christ; but both interpret the words of the Prophet
otherwise than the drift of the passage requires. The Prophet, no doubt, speaks here
of the deliverance we have just noticed, and at the same time includes the kingdom
of Christ; and this, as we have seen in other parts, is very commonly done. While
then the prophets testify that God would be the redeemer of his people, and promise
deliverance from Babylonian exile, they lead the faithful, as it were, by a continuous
train or course, to the kingdom of Christ. For what else was the Jewish restoration,
but a prelude of that true and real redemptions afterwards effected by Christ? The
Prophet then does not speak only of the coming of Christ, or of the return of the Jews,
but includes the whole of redemption, which was only begun when the Lord restored
his people from the Babylonian exile; it will then go on from the first coming of Christ
to the last day; as though he said, ``When God will redeem his people, it will not
be a short or momentary benefit, but he will continue his favor until he shall visit
with punishment all the enemies of his Church.'' In a word, the Prophet here shows,
that God will not be a half Redeemer, but will continue to work until he completes
everything necessary for the happy state of his Church, and makes it in every respect
perfect. This is the import of the whole.
We also see that the Prophet Haggai speaks in the same manner of the second
temple, --- that the glory of the second temple shall be greater than that of the first,
(Haggai 2) He, however referred, no doubt, to the prophecy of Ezekiel; and Ezekiel
MINOR PROPHETS
speaks of the second temple, which was to be built after the return of the people
from exile. Be it so, yet Ezekiel did not confine to four or five ages what he said
of the second temple: on the contrary he meant that the favor of God would be
continued to the coming of Christ: so also Joel means here, when he says, When
God shall restore the captivity of Judah and Jerusalem, he will then call together all
the nations; as though he said, ``God will pour out not a small portion of grace,
but will become the complete Redeemer of his people; and when the whole world
shall rise against him, he will yet prevail; he will undertake the cause of his Church,
and will secure the salvation of his people. Whosoever then will attempt to delay or
hinder the restoration of the Church, shall by no means succeed; for the Lord, the
defender of his people, will judge all nations.''
Let us now see why the Prophet particularly mentions the valley of Jehoshaphat.
Many think that valley to be intended, which was called the Valley of Blessing, where
Jehoshaphat obtained a signal and a memorable victory, when yet he was not pro-
vided with large forces, and when many nations conspired against him. Though
Jehoshaphat fought against a large army with a few people, he yet wonderfully suc-
ceeded; and the people there presented thanks to God, and gave a name to the
place. Hence, many think that this valley is mentioned, that the Prophet might re-
mind the Jews how wonderfully they were saved; for their enemies had come for
the very purpose of destroying the whole of God's people, and thought that this was
wholly in their power. The memory then of this history must have animated the
minds of the godly with a good hope; for God then undertook the cause of a small
number against a vast multitude; yea, against many and powerful nations. And this
view seems to me probable. Some place this valley of Jehoshaphat half way between
the Mount of Olives and the city; but how probable their conjecture is I know not.
Unquestionably, with regard to this passage, their opinion, in my judgment, is
the most correct, who think that there is here a recalling to mind of God's favor,
which may in all ages encourage the faithful to entertain hope of their salvation.
Some, however, prefer to take the word as an appellative; and no doubt {}יהושפט
ieushaphath means the judgment of God; and so they render it, ``The valley of the
judgment of God.'' If this is approved I do not oppose. And, doubtless, though it
be a proper name, and the Prophet speak here of that holy King, to encourage the
Jews to follow his example, he yet alludes, no doubt, to the judgment of God, or to
the contest which he would undertake for the sake of his people: for it immediately
follows {}וכ{ }שפטתי{ }עמם{ }שםuneshaphathti omem shim, ``And I will contend
with them there:'' and this verb is derived from {}שפטshephath. Hence also, if it
be the proper name of a place, and taken from that of the King, the Prophet here
meant, that its etymology should be considered; as though he said, ``God will call all
nations to judgment, and for this end, that he may dwell in the midst of his people,
and really testify and prove this.''
Some apply this passage to the last judgment, but in too strained a manner.
Hence also has arisen the figment, that the whole world shall be assembled in the
valley of Jehoshaphat: but the world, we know, became infected with such delirious
things, when the light of sound doctrine was extinguished; and no wonder, that the
JOHN CALVIN
world should be fascinated with such gross comments, after it had so profaned the
worship of God. 20
But with respect to the intention of the Prophets he, no doubt, mentions here
the valley of Jehoshaphat, that the Jews might entertain the hope that God would
be the guardian of their safety; for he says everywhere that he would dwell among
them, as we have also seen in the last chapter, ``And God will dwell in the midst of
you.'' So also now he means the same, I will assemble all nations, and make them
to come down to the valley of Jehoshaphat; that is, though the land shall for a time
be uncultivated and waste, yet the Lord will gather his people, and show that he is
the judge of the whole world; he will raise a trophy in the land of Judah, which will
be nobler than if the people had ever been safe and entire: for how much soever
all nations may strive to destroy the remnant, as we know they did, though few
remained; yet God will sit in the valley of Jehoshaphat, he will have there his own
tribunal, that he may keep his people, and defend them from all injuries. At the same
time, what I have before noticed must be borne in mind; for he names here the valley
of Jehoshaphat rather than Jerusalem, because of the memorable deliverance they
had there, when God discomfited so many people, when great armies were in an
instant destroyed and without the aid of men. Since God then delivered his people
at that time in an especial manner through his incredible power, it is no wonder that
he records here the name of the valley of Jehoshaphat.
I will contend, he says, with them there for my people, and for my heritage, Israel.
By these words the Prophet shows how precious to God is the salvation of his chosen
people; for it is no ordinary thing for God to condescend to undertake their cause,
as though he himself were offended and wronged; and God contends, because he
would have all things in common with us. We now then, see the reason of this
contention, --- even because God so regards the salvation of his people, that he
deems himself wronged in their person; as it is said in another place, ``He who
toucheth you toucheth the apple of mine eye''. And to confirm his doctrine still
more, the Prophet adds, For mine heritage, Israel. God calls Israel here his heritage,
to strengthen distressed minds, and also to comfort them; for if the Jews had only
fixed their minds on their own state, they could not but think themselves unworthy
of being regarded by God; for they were deemed abominable by all nations; and we
also know that they were severely chastised for having departed from all godliness
and for having, as it were, wholly alienated themselves from God. Since, then, they
were like a corrupted body, they could not but despond in their adversity: but the
Prophet here comes to their assistance, and brings forward the word heritage, as
though he said, ``God will execute judgment for you, not that ye are worthy, but
because he has chosen you: for he will never forget the covenant which he made
with your father Abraham'' We see, then, the reason he mentions heritage: it was,
that the Jews might not despair on account of their sins; and at the same time he
commends, as before, the gratuitous mercy of God, as though he had said, ``The
20"To this valley or glen, in which is the celebrated burying-place of the Jews, the Rabbins have appropriated the name, (the valley of Jehosaphat,) and maintain, that in it the final judgment of the world is to be held; — a conceit in which they have been followed by many Christian writers, as well as by the Mohammedans." — Dr. Henderson.
MINOR PROPHETS
reason for your redemption is no other, but that God has allotted to himself the
posterity of Abraham and designed them to be his peculiar people'' What remains
we must defer until to-morrow.
Prayer
Grant, Almighty God, that as thou not only invites us continually by the voice of
thy Gospel to seek thee, but also offerest to us thy Son as our Mediator, through
whom an access to thee is open, that we may find thee a propitious Father, --- O
grant, that relying on thy kind invitation, we may through life exercise ourselves in
prayer: and as so many evils disturb us on all sides, and so many wants distress and
oppress us, may we be led more earnestly to call on thee, and, in the meantime,
be never wearied in this exercise of prayer; that, being through life heard by thee,
we may at length be gathered to thy eternal kingdom, where we shall enjoy that
salvation which thou hast promised to us, and of which also thou daily testifiest to
us by thy Gospel, and be for ever united to thy only begotten Son, of whom we are
how members; that we may be partakers of all the blessings, which he has obtained
for us by his death. Amen.
Lecture Forty-seventh.
We said in our yesterday's Lecture, that God proves the singular love he has to
his Church by condescending to undertake her cause, and contend as a worldly man
would do for his paternal inheritance. He says, that his heritage, Israel, had been
dispersed among the nations; as though he said, that it was an intolerable thing that
enemies should, like robbers, thus divide his heritage. He speaks first of the people,
then of the land; for God, as it is well known, consecrated the land to himself, and he
would not have it occupied by profane nations. There was then a twofold sacrilege,
--- the people were carried away into distant lands, and others were sent to inhabit
and possess their land, which God had destined for his children and elect people.
There follows now another indignity still greater; for they cast lot on God's people,
--- On my people they have cast lot, and prostituted a boy for a harlot, and a girl have
they sold for wine, that they might drink. By these words the Prophet enhances the
injury done them; for the Jews had been reproachfully treated. Some measure of
humanity is mostly shown when men are sold; but the Prophet here complains in
the person of God, that the Jews had been exposed to sale, as though they were the
off scourings of mankind, and of no account. They have cast lots he says; and this
was to show contempt; and the Prophet expresses more clearly what he meant, and
says, that a boy had been given for a harlot, and a girl for wine. Some consider the
Prophet as saying, that boys were prostituted to base and scandalous purposes; but
I prefer another view, --- that the enemies sold them for a mean price to gratify their
gluttony, or their lust; as though the Prophet had said, that the Jews had to endure
a grievous reproach by being set to sale, as they say, and that at the lowest price.
He farther adds another kind of contempt; for whatever price the enemies procured
by selling, they spent it either on harlot or on feasting. We hence see that a twofold
injury is here mentioned, --- the Jews had been so despised as not to be regarded
as men, and had been sold not for the usual prices, but had been disposed of in
contempt by their enemies almost for nothing; --- and the other reproach was, that
JOHN CALVIN
the price obtained for them was afterwards spent on gluttony and whoredom: yet
this people was sacred to God. Now this contumelious treatment, the Prophet says,
God would not endure, but would avenge such a wrong as if done to himself. This is
then the meaning.
But the reason which induces me thus to interpret the Prophet is because he says
that a girl was sold for wine, as the boy for a harlot; and the construction of the
Prophet's words is the same. It is indeed certain that in the latter clause the Prophet
meant nothing else but that the price was wickedly spent for vile and shameful pur-
poses; then the former clause must be understood in the same way. Let us proceed
---
Joel 3:4-6
4. Yea, and what have ye to do with me, O Tyre, and Zidon, and all the coasts of
Palestine? will ye render me a recompence? and if ye recompense me, swiftly and
speedily will I return your recompence upon your own head;
4. Atque etiam, quid vobis mecum Tyre et Sidon, et cuncti termini Palestinae? An
mercedem vobis rependitis mihi? Etsi confertis hoc in me, velox (subito) rependam
mercedem vestram in caput vestrum;
5. Because ye have taken my silver and my gold, and have carried into your
temples my goodly pleasant things:
5. Quia argentum meum et aurum meum abstulistis, et desiderabilia mea bona
transtulistis in templa vestra (alii, palatia.)
6. The children also of Judah and the children of Jerusalem have ye sold unto the
Grecians, that ye might remove them far from their border.
6. Et filios Jehudah et filios Jerusalem vendidistis filiis Graecorum, ut elongaretis
eos a termino suo (hoc est, procul abduceretis eos a finibus suis.)
God expostulates here with Tyre and Sidon, and other neighboring nations, and
shows that they vexed his people without cause Had they been provoked some ex-
cuse might have been made; but since they made war of their own accord, the wrong
was doubled. This is what God means these words. What have ye to do with me, O
Tyre and Sidon? He indeed continues the subject before explained: but he speaks of
the concern here as hid own; he seems not now to undertake the protection of his
own people, but detents his own cause. ``What have ye to do with me?'' he says.
God then interposes himself; as though he said, that the Syrians and Sidonians were
not only called by him to judgment because they had unjustly wronged his people,
and brought many troubles on men deserving no such things; but he says also, that
he stood up in his own defense. ``What have I to do with you, O Syrians and Sido-
nians?'' as we say in French, Qu'avons-nous a desmeller? (what have we to decide?)
Now the Prophet had this in view, that the Syrians and Sidonians became voluntary
enemies to the Jews, when they had no dispute with them; and this, as we have said,
was less to be borne. ``What then have ye to do with me, O Syrians and Sidonians?
Do I owe anything to you? Am I under any obligation to you? Do ye repay me my
recompense?'' that is, ``Can you boast of any reason or just pretense for making,
war on my people?'' He then means, that there had been no wrong done to the
Syrians and Sidonians, which they could now retaliate, but that they made an attack
MINOR PROPHETS
through their own wickedness, and were only impelled by avarice or cruelty thus to
harass the miserable Jews: ``Ye repay not,'' he says, ``a recompense to me; for ye
cannot pretend that any wrong has been done to you by me.''
But if ye repay this to me, he says, I will swiftly return the recompense on your
head. {}גמלgimel means not only to repay, as the Hebrew scholars ever render it,
but also to confer, to bestow, (conferre, ut loquuntur Latine) as it has been stated
in another place. `What shall I repay to the Lord for all the things which he has
recompensed to me?' This is the common version; but it is an improper and incon-
sistent mode of speaking. David no doubt refers to God's benefits; then it is, `What
shall I repay for all the benefits which the Lord has bestowed on me?' Then he who
first does wrong, or bestows good, is said to recompense; and this is the sense in
this place. `If ye,' he says, `thus deal with me, ``swiftly'', {}מהרהmere suddenly
(for the word is to be taken as an adverb,) will I return recompense on your head;'
that is, ``Ye shall not be unpunished, since ye have acted so unjustly with me and
my people.'' We now perceive the whole meaning of the Prophet: He enhances the
crime of the Syrians and Sidonians, because they willfully distressed the Jews, and
joined themselves to their foreign enemies, for the purpose of seizing on a part of
the spoil. As, then, vicinity softened not their minds, their inhumanity was on this
account more fully proved. But, as I have said, the Lord here places himself between
the two parties, to intimate, that he performs his own proper ofÏce when he takes
care of the safety of his Church.
He afterwards shows that this wickedness should not be unpunished --- If ye deal
thus with me, he says, I shall swiftly (suddenly) return the recompense on your heads.
This passage contains a singular consolation; for God declares that whatever evils
the faithful endure belong to him, and also that he will not suffer those under his
protection and defense to be distressed with impunity, but will quickly return recom-
pense on the heads of those who unjustly injure his heritage. We now understand
the Prophet's design: he doubtless intended to support the minds of the godly with
this thought, --- that their afÒictions are objects of concern with God and that he will
shortly be the avenger of them, however necessary it may be that they should for a
time be thus violently and reproachfully treated by wicked men.
Let us now proceed: He says that their silver and their gold had been taken away
by the Syrians and the Sidonians. All who were the neighbors of that people, no
doubt, derived gain from their calamity, as is usually the case. They were at first ill
disposed towards them; there was then a new temptation; they gaped after booty:
and they showed themselves openly their enemies, when they saw that there was
hope of gain. Such was the case with the Syrians and Sidonians. There is no doubt,
but that they sedulously courted the favor of the Assyrians, that they helped them
with provisions and other things, that they might partake of the spoil. It was, there-
fore, no wonder that gold and silver was taken away by them, for the carriage of
them to Assyria would have been tedious: and, as I have just hinted, it is usually the
case, that conquerors gratify those by whom they have been assisted. Many extend
this plunder generally to the whole wealth of the people; that is, that the enemies
plundered what gold and silver there was in Judea, and that the Sidonians got a por-
JOHN CALVIN
tion of it for themselves. But there seems to have been a special complaint, that the
sacred vessels of the temple were taken away by the Syrians and Sidonians: I there-
fore prefer to render the word, temples, rather than palaces. Some say, `Ye have
carried away my silver and my gold to your palaces.' Though the word is capable
of two meanings, yet the Prophet, I have no doubt, refers here to the temples. The
Syrians, then, and the Sidonians profaned the silver and the gold of the temple by
dedicating them to their idols; they adorned their idols with spoils taken from the
only true God. This was the reason why God was so exceedingly displeased. There
was, indeed, a cause why God, as we have said, contended for the whole nation
of Israel: but it was a far more heinous wrong to spoil the temple, and to strip it
of its ornaments, and then to adorn idols with its sacred vessels; for God was thus
treated with scorn; and in contempt of him, the Syrians and Sidonians built, as it
were, a trophy of victory in their own dens, where they performed sacrilegious acts
in worshipping fictitious gods.
Ye have taken away, he says, my gold and silver, and my desirable good things.
God speaks here after the manner of men; for it is certain that even under the law
he stood in no need of gold or silver, or of other precious things; he wished the
temple to be adorned with vessels and other valuable furniture for the sake of the
ignorant (rudis --- rude) people; for the Jews could not have been preserved in pure
and right worship, had not God assisted their weak faith by these helps. (adminiculis
--- props, aids) But yet, as obedience is acceptable to him, he says that whatever was
an ornament in the temple was a desirable thing to him; while, at the same time, by
speaking thus, he put on, as I have said, a character not his own, as he has no need
of such things, nor is he delighted with them. We ought not, indeed, to imagine God
to be like a child, who takes delight in gold and silver and such things; but what is
said here was intended for the benefit of the people, that they might know that God
approved of that worship, for it was according to his command. He therefore calls
every thing that was in the temple desirable, Ye have, he says, carried away into
your temples my desirable good things.
It follows, And the children of Judah, and the children of Jerusalem, have ye sold
to the children of the Grecians 21 . There is here another complaint subjoined, ---
that the Syrians and Sidonians had been sacrilegious towards God, that they had
cruelly treated God's afÒicted people. In the last verse, God inveighed against the
Syrians, and Sidonians for having prostituted to their idols gold and silver stolen from
him; he now again returns to the Jews themselves, who, he says, had been sold to
the children of the Grecians; that is, to people beyond the sea: for as Javan passed
into Europe, he includes under that name the nations beyond the sea. And he says,
that they sold the Jews to the Greeks that they might drive them far from their own
borders, so that there might be no hope of return. Here the cruelty of the Syrians
and Sidonians becomes more evident; for they took care to drive those wretched
men far away, that no return to their country might be open to them, but that they
might be wholly expatriated.
We now perceive what the Prophet had in view: He intended that the faithful
21{{}היונים{, לבניto the children of the Ivanites, or Javanites. --- Ed.
MINOR PROPHETS
though trodden under foot by the nations, should yet have allayed their grief by
some consolation, and know that they were not neglected by God; and that though
he connived at their evils for a time, he would yet be their defender, and would
contend for them as for his own heritage, because they had been so unjustly treated.
He afterwards adds ---
Joel 3:7
7. Behold, I will raise them out of the place whither ye have sold them, and will
return your recompense upon your own head:
7. Ecce ego excitabo eos e loco in quem vendidistis eos, et rependam mercedem
vestram in caput vestrum.
The Prophet declares here more fully and expressly, that God had not so deserted
the Jews, but that he intended, in course of time, to stretch forth his hand to them
again. It was indeed a temporary desertion: but it behaved the faithful in the mean-
time to rely on this assurance, --- that God purposed again to restore his people:
and of this the Prophet now speaks, Behold, he says, I will raise them from the place
unto which ye have sold them; as though he said ``Neither distance of place, nor the
intervening sea, will hinder me from restoring my people.'' As then the Syrians and
Sidonians thought that the Jews were precluded a return to their country, because
they were taken away into distant parts of the world, God says that this would be no
obstacle in his way to collect again his Church.
But it may he asked, When has this prediction been fulfilled? as we indeed know
that the Jews have never returned to their own country: for shortly after their return
from exile, they were in various ways diminished; and at length the most grievous
calamities followed, which consumed the greatest part of the people. Since this
then has been the condition of that nation, we ought to inquire whether Christ has
collected the Jews, who had been far dispersed. We indeed know that they were
then especially scattered; for the land of Judea never ceased to be distressed by
continual wars until Jerusalem was destroyed, and the people were almost wholly
consumed. Since then it has been so, when can we say that this prediction has been
fulfilled? Many explain the words allegorically, and say, that the Prophet speaks of
apostles and martyrs, who, through various persecutions, were driven into different
parts; but this is a strained view. I therefore do not doubt, but that here he refers to
a spiritual gathering: and it is certain that God, since the appearance of Christ, has
joined together his Church by the bond of faith; for not only that people have united
together in one, but also the Gentiles, who were before alienated from the Church,
and had no intercourse with it, have been collected into one body. We hence see, that
what the Prophet says has been spiritually fulfilled; even the children of Judah and
the children of Jerusalem have been redeemed by the Lord, and restored again, not
on foot or by sea; for Jerusalem has been built everywhere as it is said in Zechariah.
I will therefore gather them, he says; and he adds, I will return recompense on
your head He again confirms what he said before, --- that though the ungodly should
exult, while ruling over the children of God, their cruelty would not be unpunished;
for they shall find that the Church is never neglected by God; though he may subject
it to various troubles, and exercise its patience, and even chastise it, he will yet be
JOHN CALVIN
ever its defender. It follows ---
Joel 3:8
8. And I will sell your sons and your daughters into the hand of the children of
Judah, and they shall sell them to the Sabeans, to a people far off: for the LORD hath
spoken it
8. Et vendam filios vestros et filias vestras in manum filiorum Jehadah, et vendent
eos Sabaeis, genti lonquinquae, quia Jehovah loquutus est.
The Prophet describes here a wonderful change: the Syrians and Sidonians did
sell the Jews; but who is to be the seller now? God himself will take this ofÏce, ---
I, he says, will sell your children, as though he said, ``The Jews shall subdue you
and reduce you to bondage,'' --- by whose authority? ``It shall be, as if they bought
you at my hands.'' He means that this servitude would be legitimate; and thus he
makes the Jews to be different from the Syrians and Sidonians, who had been violent
robbers, and unjustly seized on what was not their own: and hence the manner of
the sale is thus described, --- ``I myself shall be the author of this change, and the
thing shall be done by my authority, as if I had interposed my own name;'' and the
Jews themselves shall sell, he says, your sons and your daughters to the Sabeans,
a distant nation; that is, the people of the East: for the Prophet, I doubt not, by
mentioning a part for the whole, meant here to designate Eastern nations, such as
the Persians and Medes; but he says, that the Tyrians and Sidonians shall be driven to
the meet distant countries; for the Sabeans were very far distant from the Phoenician
Sea, and were known as being very nigh the Indians. 22
But it may be asked here, When has God executed this judgment? for the Jews
never possessed such power as to be able to subdue neighboring nations, and to
sell them at pleasure to unknown merchants. It would indeed be foolish and puerile
to insist here on a literal fulfillment: at the same time, I do not say, that the Prophet
speaks allegorically; for I am disposed to keep from allegories, as there is in them
nothing sound nor solid: but I must yet say that there is a figurative language used
here, when it is said, that the Syrians and Sidonians shall be sold and driven here
and there into distant countries, and that this shall be done for the sake of God's
chosen people and his Church, as though the Jews were to be the sellers. When God
says, ``I will sell,'' it is not meant that he is to descend from heaven for the purpose
of selling, but that he will execute judgment on them; and then the second clause, ---
that they shall be sold by the Jews, derives its meaning from the first; and this cannot
be a common sake, as if the Jews were to receive a price and make a merchandise of
them. But God declares that the Jews would be the sellers, because in this manner
he signifies his vengeance for the wrong done to them; that is, by selling them to the
Sabeans, a distant nation. We further know, that the changes which then followed
were such that God turned upside down nearly the whole world; for he drove the
Syrian and the Sidonians to the most distant countries. No one could have thought
22"This prophecy was fulfilled before and during the rule of the Maccabees, when the Jewish affairs were in so flourishing a state, and the Phoenician and Philistine powers were reduced by the Persian arms under Artaxerxes Mnemon, Darius Ochus, and especially Alexander and his successors. On the capture of Tyre by the Grecian monarch, 13,000 of the inhabitants were sold into slavery. When he took Gaza also, he put 10,000 of the citizens to death and sold the rest, with the women and children, for slaves." — Dr. Henderson.
MINOR PROPHETS
that this was done for the sake of the Jews, who were hated and abominated by
all. But yet God declares, that he would do this from regard to his Church even sell
the Syrians and the Sidonians, though it was commonly unknown to men; for it was
the hidden judgment of God. But the faithful who had been already taught that God
would do this, were reminded by the event how precious to God is his heritage, since
he avenges those wrongs, the memory of which had long before been buried. This
then is the import of the whole. The Prophet now subjoins ---
Joel 3:9-11
9. Proclaim ye this among the Gentiles; Prepare war, wake up the mighty men,
let all the men of war draw near; let them come up:
9. Publicate hoc in Gentibus, sanctificate proelium, excitate robustos, venient,
ascendent omnes viri bellatores.
10. Beat your plowshares into swords, and your pruninghooks into spears: let the
weak say, I am strong.
10. Concidite vomeres vestros in gladios et falces vestras in lanceas; debilis dicat,
Ego sum robustus.
11. Assemble yourselves, and come, all ye heathen, and gather yourselves to-
gether round about: thither cause thy mighty ones to come down, O Lord.
11. Congregamini et venite omnes gentes, congregamini in circuitu (hoc est,
undique congregamini;) illic prosteruet Jehova fortes tuos.
Some think these words were announced lest the people, being terrified by their
evils, should become wholly dejected; and they elicit this meaning, --- that God
placed this dreadful spectacle of evils before their eyes, that the Jews might pre-
pare and strengthen themselves for enduring them; that though nations should ev-
erywhere rise up, they might yet abide arm in the hope, that God would be the
defender of his own Church. But the Prophet, I doubt not, continues the same dis-
course, and denounces war on the heathen nations, who had molested the Church
with so many troubles; Publish this, he says, among the nations, proclaim war, rouse
the strong; let them come, let them ascend: and we know how necessary it was by
such means to confirm what he had previously said: for the ungodly are moved by
no threats, nay, they laugh to scorn all God's judgments; while the faithful yielding
to their evils, can hardly raise up their minds, even though God promises to be a
helper to them. Except, then, the matter had been set forth as painted before their
eyes they would not have experienced the power of consolation. Hence the lively
representation we see here was intended for this end, --- that the people, being led
to view the whole event, might entertain hope of their future salvation, while they
now saw God collecting his army, and mustering his forces to punish the enemies
of his Church. The faithful, then not only hearing by mere words that this would be,
but also seeing, as it were, with their eyes what the Lord sets forth by a figure, and
a lively representation, were more effectually impressed and felt more assured that
God would become at length their deliverer.
We now then see why the Prophet here bids war to be everywhere announced
and proclaimed, and also why he bids the strong to assemble, and all warlike men
to ascend; as though he said, ``The Lord will not disappoint you with empty words,
JOHN CALVIN
but will come provided with an army to save you. When ye hear, then, that he will
be the author of your salvation, think also that all nations are in his power, and that
the whole world can in a moment be roused up by his rod, so that all its forces may
from all quarters come together, and all the power of the world meet in obedience
to him. Know, then, that being provided with his forces, he comes not to you naked,
nor feeds you with mere words, as they are wont to do who have no help to give but
words only: this is not what God does; for he can even to-day execute what he has
denounced; but he stays for the ripened time. In the meanwhile, give him his honor,
and know that there is not wanting the means to protect you, if he wished; but he
would have you for a time to be subject to the cross and to tribulations that he may
at length avenge the wrongs done to you.''
It may be now asked who are the nations meant by the Prophet? for he said
before, that God would visit all nations with punishment, whereas, there was then
no nation in the world friendly to the Jews. But in this there is nothing inconsistent;
for God caused all the enemies of the Church to assail one another on every side,
and to destroy themselves with mutual slaughters. Hence, when he designed to take
vengeance on the Tyrians and Sidonians, he roused up the Persian and Medes; and
when he purposed to punish the Persian and Medes, he called the Greeks into Asia;
and he had before brought low the Assyrians. Thus he armed all nations, but each in
its turn; and one after the other underwent the punishment they deserved. And so
the expression of the Prophet must not be taken in a too restricted sense, as though
the Lord would at the same time collect an army from the whole world, to punish
the enemies of his Church; but that he rouses the whole world, so that some suffer
punishment from others; and yet no enemy of the Church remains unpunished. We
now perceive the Prophet's objects in saying, Publish this among the nations; that
is, God will move dreadful tumults through the whole world, and will do this for the
sake of his Church: for though he exposes his people to many miseries, he will yet
have the remnant, as we have before seen, to be saved.
He afterwards adds, Beat your plowshares into swords. When Isaiah and Micah
prophesied of the kingdom of Christ, they said, `Beat your swords into pruninghooks,
and your spears into plowshares', (Isaiah 2:4, Micah 4:3.) This sentence is now in-
verted by Joel. The words of Isaiah and Micah were intended figuratively to show
that the world would be at peace when Christ reconciled men to God, and taught
them to cultivate brotherly kindness. But the Prophet says here, that there would
be turbulent commotions everywhere, so that there would be no use made of the
plough or of the pruninghook; husbandmen would cease from their labor, the land
would remain waste; for this is the case when a whole country is exposed to vio-
lence; no one dares go out, all desert their fields, cultivation is neglected. Hence
the Prophet says, `Turn your plowshares into swords, and your pruninghooks into
spears;' that is, field labor will cease, and all will strenuously apply themselves to
war. And let the weak say, I am strong, for there will then be no exemption from
war. Excuses, we know, availed formerly on the ground of age or disease, when sol-
diers were collected; and if any one could have pleaded disease, he was dismissed;
but the Prophet says, that there will be no exemption then; ``God'', he says, ``will
MINOR PROPHETS
excuse none, he will compel all to become warriors, he will even draw out all the
sick from their beds; all will be constrained to put on arms''. It hence appears how
ardently the Lord loves his Church, since he spares no nations and no people, and
exempts none from punishment; for all who have vexed the Church must necessarily
receive their recompense. Since then God so severely punishes the enemies of his
Church, he thereby gives a singular evidence of his paternal love to us.
At length he concludes, There will Jehovah overthrow thy mighty ones. Though
the Prophet uses the singular number, ``thy'', he no doubt refers to the whole earth;
as though he said, ``Whatever enemies there may be to my people, I will cut them
down, however strong they may be.'' We now perceive that everything the Prophet
has hitherto said has been for this end --- to show, that God takes care of the safety of
his Church, even in its heaviest afÒictions, and that he will be the avenger of wrongs,
after having for a time tried the patience of his people and chastised their faults ---
that there will be a turn in the state of things, so that the condition of the Church will
be ever more desirable, even under its greatest evils, than of those whom the Lord
bears with and indulges, and on whom he does not so quickly take vengeance.
Prayer.
Grant, Almighty God, that as we are assailed on every side by enemies, and as
not only the wicked according to the flesh are incensed against us, but Satan also
musters his forces and contrives in various ways to ruin us, --- O grant, that we
being furnished with the courage thy Spirit bestows, may fight to the end under thy
guidance and never be wearied under any evils. And may we, at the same time, be
humbled under thy mighty hand when it pleases thee to afÒict us and so sustain all
our troubles that with a courageous mind we may strive for that victory which thou
promises to us, and that having completed all our struggles we may at length attain
that blessed rest which is reserved for us in heaven through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Amen.
Lecture Forty-eighth
Joel 3:12
12. Let the heathen be wakened, and come up to the valley of Jehoshaphat: for
there will I sit to judge all the heathen round about.
12. Expergefiant et ascendant gentes ad vallem Josaphat: quia illic sedebo ad
judicandum omnes gentes ex circuitu.
The Prophet proceeds with the same subject, --- that God will at length become an
avenger of the wrongs of his people, when they shall be unjustly harassed by profane
men. We indeed know that God does not immediately succor his servants but rests
as though he did not regard their troubles; but this he does to try their patience;
and then at a suitable time he declares that he had not been indifferent, but had
noticed the evils done to them, and deferred punishment until the wickedness of
his enemies had been completed. So he says now, that God will at length be the
defender of his people against all the nations assembled from every quarter in the
valley of Jehoshaphat. Of this valley we have said enough already. But the chief
thing is, that the afÒictions of the Church shall not go unpunished; for God at the
right time will ascend his tribunal, and cause all nations from every part of the earth
JOHN CALVIN
to assemble and to be there judged. Now it follows ---
Joel 3:13
13. Put ye in the sickle, for the harvest is ripe: come, get you down; for the press
is full, the fats overflow; for their wickedness is great.
13. Mittite falcem, quia maturuit messis: venite, descendite, quia plenum est
torcular, refertae sunt cuppae, quia multiplicata est malitia ipsorum.
As God defers his judgments when miserable men groan under their burdens, the
Prophet uses a form of speech, which represents God as not delaying, but, on the
contrary, as hastening to judgment, though this be not perceived by carnal minds; for
these two things well agree together --- God waiting his opportunity as to the ungodly
and suspending the punishment they deserve --- and yet quickly accelerating their
destruction; for he is said to defer with respect to men, because one day with us is
like a hundred years; and he is said to hasten, because he knows the exact points
of time. So he says in this place, Put forth the sickle, for the harvest has ripened.
He uses metaphorical words, but he afterwards expresses without a figure what he
means and says, that their wickedness had multiplied
But there are here two metaphors, the one taken from the harvest, and the other
from the vintage. The Prophet calls those reapers who have been destined to execute
his judgment; for God makes use as it were of the hired work of men, and employs
their hands here and there as he wills. He afterwards adds another metaphor, taken
from the vintage, Full, he says, are the presses and the vats overflow; and at last he
expresses what they mean, --- that their wickedness had multiplied, that is, that it
was overflowing. God said to Abraham, that the wickedness of the Canaanites was
not then completed; and long was the space which he mentioned for he said that
after four hundred years he would take vengeance on the enemies of his people:
that was a long time; and Abraham might have objected and said ``Why should God
rest for so long a time?'' The answer was this, --- that their wickedness was not as
yet completed. But the Prophet says here, that their wickedness had multiplied; he
therefore gives to God's servants the hope of near vengeance, as when the harvest
approaches and the vintage is nigh at hand; for then all have their minds refreshed
with joy. Such is the Prophet's design; to encourage the faithful in their hope and
expectation of a near deliverance, he declares that the iniquities of their enemies
had now reached their full measure, so that God was now ready to execute on them
his vengeance. This is the purport of the whole. It follows ---
Joel 3:14
14. Multitudes, multitudes in the valley of decision: for the day of the Lord is near
in the valley of decision.
14. Populi, populi in vale concisionis (vel, tribulae,) quia propinquus dies Jehovae
in valle concisionis.
The Prophet confirms the same truth; but he multiplies words, because the dev-
astation of the Church might have taken away all hope from God's servants; for who
could have said that the Church could be restored when it was so miserably wasted,
yea, almost reduced to nothing? For the people were so scattered that the name of
Israel was of no account. The people then had ceased to exist, for they had lost their
MINOR PROPHETS
name; in short, the constitution of the Church was dissolved, and all might have said,
that the people were given up to thousand modes of destruction, as all execrated
the name of Israel. Since it was so, whatever the Prophets said of the restoration
of the people might certainly have seemed incredible. The repetition then is not su-
perfluous, when the Prophet in various forms of words testifies and afÏrms that God
would abide faithful, and that, though Israel should perish according to what men
could see, yet God had power enough to vivify the people when dead: hence the
Prophet speaks emphatically, Nations! Nations! for he assumes here the character
of a herald, as indeed this ofÏce had been committed to him, and shows that his
predictions would not be fruitless, that he declared not words which would vanish
into air, but that whatever he declared in God's name was full of power and energy.
It might indeed have appeared ridiculous in the Prophet to summon all nations since
his doctrine was laughed to scorn, even at Jerusalem. How could his voice penetrate
to the utmost borders of the world and be there heard? Though hidden then was the
power of this prediction, it yet showed itself at last, and it was really made evident
that the Prophet spoke not in vain.
Besides, he addresses the nations as though they could hear; but he raises thus
his voice, and nobly triumphs over all the wicked for the sake of the godly, though
the wicked then proudly ruled and with high disdain: ``They shall come,'' he says,
``at length before God's tribunal, though they now tread the Church under foot; yea,
the nations, the nations.'' He does not now mention the valley of Jehoshaphat, but of
concision. {}חרוףcheruts some take for a fixed decree; but the word means a sledge
or an instrument for threshing. We know not the mode of threshing used by the Jews,
but it is evident from several passages that {}חרוףcheruts was an instrument with
which they were wont to thresh; and I am inclined to adopt this sense; for the Prophet
had first called God's judgment a harvest, then he compared it to presses. But if the
word ``concision'' is more approved, I object not; at the same time, I do not doubt
but that the Prophet alludes to threshing, as he ascribes to God his own ofÏce, that
of scattering nations, who seem now to have conspired for the destruction of the
Church. If any one considers it to mean a fixed decree, or a cutting off, as it means
in Isaiah, I make no objection; for many give this interpretation. I have, however,
explained what I most approve.
As to the drift of the subject, there is no ambiguity; the meaning of the Prophet
is, --- that God will so punish all the ungodly, that he will cut down and scatter them
all, as when the corn is threshed on the floor.
At last he adds, that nigh was the day of Jehovah in the valley of the sledge.
He intimates, that though God as yet connived at their wickedness, yet the day
was coming on, unknown indeed to men, and that he would come at length to that
valley, that is, that he would inflict such punishment as would prove that he was the
protector of his people. Of this valley we have spoken already; and no doubt he has
throughout a reference to it, otherwise he would not have used a suitable language,
when he said, Ascend into the valley. But what is to ascend into the valley? for, on
the contrary, he ought to have spoken of descending. But he compares Judea with
other parts of the world; and it is, as it is well known elevated in its situation. Then
JOHN CALVIN
the higher situation of Judea well agrees with the ascent of which the Prophet speaks.
But he ever means that God would so punish the nations as to make it evident that
he did this in favor of his Church, as we shall soon see more clearly. But he says ---
Joel 3:15
15. The sun and the moon shall be darkened, and the stars shall withdraw their
shining.
15. Sol et luna obscurabuntur (vel, contrahent nigredinem,) et stellae retrahent
splendorem suum.
I have already explained this verse in chapter 2: the Prophet, as we then stated,
describes in these words the terrible judgment of God, in order to shake off the
indifference of men, who carelessly hear and despise all threatening, except the Lord
storms their hearts. These figurative expressions then are intended to awaken the
ungodly, and to make them know that it is a serious matter when the Lord proclaims
his judgment. Let us now go on with the passage ---
Joel 3:16
16. The LORD also shall roar out of Zion, and utter his voice from Jerusalem; and
the heavens and the earth shall shake: but the LORD will be the hope of his people,
and the strength of the children of Israel.
16. Et Jehova e Sion rugiet, et e Jerusalem dabit (edat) vocem suam; et contrem-
iscent coeli et terra: et Jehova spes erit populo suo, et fortitudo filiis Israel.
The Prophet explains here more clearly his object, or the end for which he had
hitherto spoken of God's judgment; for what we have heard served only to spread
terror: but now the Prophet shows that his purpose was to console the faithful, and
to give some relief to their troubles and sorrows. This is the reason why he intro-
duces God as roaring from Zion and crying from Jerusalem. Roaring is ascribed to
God, inasmuch as he compares himself in another place to a lion, when representing
himself as the faithful protector of the salvation of his people: ``I will be,'' he says,
``like the lion, who suffers not the prey to be taken from him, but boldly defends it
with all the fierceness he possesses: so also will I do, I will not suffer my people to
be taken from me.'' In this sense does the Prophet now say, that God will roar from
Zion. God had been for a time despised; for the nations had prevailed against his
chosen people, and plundered them at their pleasure; and God then exercised not
his power. Since God had been for a time still, the Prophet says now, that he will not
always conceal himself, but that he will undertake the defense of his people, and be
like a lion; for he will rise up in dreadful violence against all his enemies.
And tremble, he says, shall the heaven and the earth. As almost the whole world
was opposed to his elect people, the Prophet carefully dwells on this point, that
nothing might hinder the faithful from looking for the redemption promised to them:
``Though the heaven and the earth,'' he says, ``raise oppositions God will yet prevail
by his wonderful power. Tremble, he says, shall all the elements; what, then, will men
do? Though they muster all their forces, and try all means, can they close up the
way against the Lord, that he may not deliver his people?'' We now understand the
Prophet's design in speaking of the shaking of heaven and earth.
He at last adds, God will be a hope to his people, and strength to the children
MINOR PROPHETS
of Israel. In this part he gives a sufÏcient proof of what I have stated, --- that he
denounces extreme vengeance on the nations for the sake of his Church; for the
Lord will at length pity his people, though they may seem to have perished before
he succors them. However past hope then the people may be in their own estimation
and in that of all others, yet God will again raise up the expectation of all the godly,
who shall remain, and will inspire them with new courage. He speaks in general
of the children of Israel; but what he says belongs only to the remnant, of which
the Prophet had lately spoken; for not all, we know, who derive their origin from
the fathers according to the flesh, were true Israelites. The Prophet refers here to
the true Church; and hence Israel ought to be taken for the genuine and legitimate
children of Abraham; as Christ, in the person of Nathanael, calls those true Israelites
who imitated the faith of their father Abraham. I shall to-day finish this Prophet; I do
not therefore dwell much on every sentence. It now follows ---
Joel 3:17
17. So shall ye know that I am the Lord your God dwelling in Zion, my holy moun-
tain: then shall Jerusalem be holy, and there shall no strangers pass through her any
more.
17. Et cognoscetis quod ego sim Jehova Deus vester, habitans iu Sion, monte
sanctitatis meae: et erit Jerusalem sanctitas, et alieni non transibunt per eam am-
plius.
This is a confirmation of the preceding doctrine, ye shall know, he says, that I am
your God. The Prophet intimates that the favor of God had been so hidden during
the afÒictions of the people, that they could not but think that they were forsaken by
God. His word ought indeed to be sufÏcient for us in the greatest evils; for though
God may cast us into the deepest gulfs, yet when he shines upon us by his word, it
ought to be a consolation abundantly available to sustain our souls. But yet, unless
God really appears, we are confounded, and ask where is his power. For this reason
the Prophet now says, that the faithful shall at length know, that is, really know him
as their God.
There is a twofold knowledge, --- the knowledge of faith, received from his word,
--- and the knowledge of experience, as we say, derived from actual enjoyment. The
faithful ever acknowledge that salvation is laid up for them in God; but sometimes
they stagger and suffer grievous torments in their minds, and are tossed here and
there. However it may be with them, they certainly do not by actual enjoyment
know God to be their Father. The Prophet therefore now treats of real knowledge,
when he says, that they shall know that they have a God, --- how are they to know
this? By experience. Now this passage teaches us, that though God should not put
forth his hand manifestly to help us, we ought yet to entertain good hope of his
favor; for the Prophet spoke for this end, --- that the godly might, before the event or
the accomplishment of the prophecy should come, look to God and cast on him all
their cares. Then the faithful, before they had real knowledge, knew God to be their
Father, and hence hesitated not to flee to him though what the Prophet testified had
not yet been visibly accomplished.
Dwelling in Zion, the mountain of my holiness: This has been designedly added,
JOHN CALVIN
that the faithful might know, that God made not a covenant in vain with Abraham,
that mount Zion had not in vain been chosen, that they might there call on God; for
we must have our attention called to the promises, otherwise all doctrine will become
frigid. Now we know that all the promises have been founded on a covenant, that is,
because God had adopted the people, and afterwards deposited his covenant in the
hand of David, and then he designated mount Zion as his sanctuary. Since, then,
all the promises flow from this fountain, it was necessary to call the attention of the
Jews to the covenant: and this is the reason why the Prophet says now that God
dwells in Zion; for otherwise this doctrine would no doubt only lead to superstition.
God, indeed, we know, cannot be included within the circumference of any place,
much less could he be confined to the narrow limits of the temple; but he dwelt on
mount Zion on account of his own law, because he made a covenant with Abraham,
and afterwards with David.
It then follows, And Jerusalem shall be holy, and aliens shall not pass through it
any more. While he declares that Jerusalem shall be holy, he exempts it at the same
time from profanation. We know that it is a common mode of speaking in Scripture,
and what often occurs, that God's heritage is holy, and also, that they profaned it.
Hence, when the people were exposed as a prey to the pleasure of their enemies,
the heritage of God became forsaken and polluted, profane men trod Jerusalem as
it were under foot. But now the Prophet exempts the holy city from this pollution, as
though he said, ``The Lord will not allow his people to be thus miserably harassed,
and will show that this city has been chosen by him, and that he has in it his dwelling.
Aliens then shall no more pass through it --- Why? For it is first the holy city of God,
and then, of his Church.
But as this promise extends to the whole kingdom of Christ, God doubtless makes
here a general promise, that he will be the protector of his Church, that it may not be
subject to the will of enemies; and yet we see that it often happens otherwise. But
this ought to be imputed to our sins, for we make the breaches. God would, indeed
be a wall and a rampart to us, as it is said elsewhere, (Isaiah 26:1;) but we betray
his Church by our sins. Hence aliens occupy a place in it: Ye we see at this day;
for Antichrist, as it has been foretold, has now for ages exercised dominion in God's
sanctuary. Since it is so, we ought to mourn at seeing God's holy Church profaned.
Let us yet know, that God will take care to gather his elect, and to cleanse them from
every pollution and defilement. It follows ---
Joel 3:18-19
18. And it shall come to pass in that day, that the mountains shall drop down
new wine, and the hills shall flow with milk, and all the rivers of Judah shall flow with
waters, and a fountain shall come forth of the house of the Lord, and shall water the
valley of Shittim.
18. Et erit in die illa, stillabunt montes mustum, et colles decurrere facient lac;
et omnes rivi Jehudah emittent aquas (hoc est, descendere facient,) et fons e domo
Jehovae egredietur et irrigabit vallem Sittim.
19. Egypt shall be a desolation, and Edom shall be a desolate wilderness, for the
violence against the children of Judah, because they have shed innocent blood in
MINOR PROPHETS
their land.
19. Aegyptus in solitudinem erit, et Edom in desertum solitudinis erit, propter
vexationem filiorum Jehudah; quia fuderunt sanguinem innoxium (vel, purum) in
terra sua (vel, ipsorum.)
The Prophet here declares that God will be so bountiful to his people, that no
good things will be wanting to them either in abundance or variety. When God then
shall restore his Church, it will abound, he says, in every kind of blessing: for this
is the meaning of this language, Distill new wine shall the mountains, and the hills
shall make milk to run down; and all rivers also shall have abundant waters, and
a fountain shall arise from the house of Judah to irrigate the valley of Shittim. We
now perceive the design of Joel. But we must remember that when the Prophets so
splendidly extol the blessings of God, they intend not to fill the minds of the godly
with thoughts about eating and drinking; but profane men lay hold on such passages
as though the Lord intended to gratify their appetite. We know, indeed, that God's
children differ much from swine: hence God fills not the faithful with earthly things,
for this would not be useful for their salvation. At the same time, he thus enlarges
on his blessings, that we may know that no happiness shall in any way be wanting
to us, when God shall be propitious to us. We hence see that our Prophet so speaks
of God's earthly blessings, that he fills not the minds of the godly with these things
but desires to raise them above, as though he said, that the Israelites would in every
way be happy, after having in the first place been reconciled to God. For whence
came their miseries and distresses of every kind, but from their sins? Since, then,
all troubles, all evils, are signs of God's wrath and alienation, it is no wonder that the
Lord, when he declares that he will be propitious to them, adds also the proofs of
his paternal love, as he does here: and we know that it was necessary for that rude
people, while under the elements of the Law, to be thus instructed; for they could
not as yet take solid food, as we know that the ancients under the Law were like
children. But it is enough for us to understand the design of the Holy Spirit, namely,
that God will satisfy his people with the abundance of all good things, as far as it will
be for their benefit. Since God now calls us directly to heaven, and raises our minds
to the spiritual life, what Paul says ought to be sufÏcient, --- that to godliness is given
the hope, not only of future life, but also of that which is present, (1 Timothy 4;) for
God will bless us on the earth, but it will be, as we have already observed, according
to the measure of our infirmity.
The valley of Shittim was nigh the borders of the Moabites, as we learn from
Numbers 25:1, and Joshua 2:1. Now when the Prophet says, that waters, flowing
from the holy fountains would irrigate the valley of Shittim, it is the same as though
he said, that the blessing of God in Judea would be so abundant, as to diffuse itself
far and wide, even to desert valleys.
But he afterwards joins, that the Egyptians and Idumeans would be sterile and dry
in the midst of this great abundance of blessings, for they were professed enemies to
the Church. Hence God in this verse declares that they shall not be partakers of his
bounty; that though all Judea would be irrigated, though it would abound in honeys
milk, and wine, yet these would remain barren and empty; Mizraim, then, shall be a
JOHN CALVIN
solitude, Edom shall be a desert of solitude. Why? Because of the troubles, he says,
brought on the children of Judah. God again confirms this truth, that he has such a
concern for his Church, that he will avenge wrongs done to it. God, then, does not
always come to our help when we are unjustly oppressed, though he has taken us
under his protection; but he suffers us for a time to endure our evils; and yet the
end will show, that we have been ever dear to him and precious in his sight. So he
says now, that for the harassments which the Egyptians and Idumeans occasioned
to the children of Judah, they shall be destitute, notwithstanding the abundance of
all good things.
Because they shed, he says, innocent blood in their (or, in their own) land. If
we refer this to Egypt and Idumea, the sense will be, that they had not protected
fugitives, but, on the contrary, cruelly slew them, as though they had been sworn
enemies. Many, we know, during times of distress, fled to Egypt and Idumea, to seek
refuge there. As, then, the Egyptians had been so inhuman towards the distressed,
the Prophet threatens them with vengeance. But I prefer to view what is said as
having been done in Judea; they have then shed innocent Blood, that is, in Judea
itself. As God had consecrated this land to himself to pollute it with unjust slaughters
was a more atrocious crime. Forasmuch then as the Egyptians and Idumeans thus
treated the Jews, and slew them in their own country in a base manner, though they
were abiding quietly at home, it is no wonder that God declares, that he would be
the avenger of these wrongs. It follows ---
Joel 3:20
20. But Judah shall dwell for ever, and Jerusalem from generation to generation.
20. Et Jehudah in aeternum habitabit (alii passive accipiunt, habitabitur) et
Jerusalem erit in generationem et generationem.
God here testifies that his redemption would not be for a short time, but that
its fruit would be for a long, period, yea, perpetual: for it would be but a small
thing for the Church to be redeemed, except God kept it safe under his own power.
This second thing the Prophet now adds, --- that Judah shall always remain safe,
and that Jerusalem shall be for a continued succession of ages. The ungodly, we
know, sometimes flourish for a time, though before God they are already doomed
to destruction. But the Prophet here declares, that the fruit of the redemption he
promises will be eternal: for God is not led to deliver his Church only for a moment,
but he will follow it with perpetual favor, and remain constant in his purpose and
ever like himself; he is therefore the eternal and faithful protector of his people. The
last verse follows ---
Joel 3:21
21. For I will cleanse their blood that I have not cleansed: for the Lord dwelleth
in Zion.
21. Et mundabo sanguinem corum, non mundavi: et Jehova habitans in Sion.
The beginning of the verse is in various ways explained. Some make a stop after
cleanse thus, ``I will cleanse, yet their blood I will not cleanse;'' as though God had
said, that he would forgive heathen nations all their other wrongs, but could not
forgive them the great cruelty they had exercised against his elect. So the sense
MINOR PROPHETS
would be, ``Avarice may be borne, I could pass by robberies; but, since they slew
my people, I am in this case wholly unforgiving.'' Hence, according to this view, God
shows how precious to him is the life of his saints, inasmuch as he says, that he will
not be pacified towards those ungodly men who have shed innocent blood. But this
sense seems rather too forced. Others render thus, ``Their blood will I cleanse, and
will not cleanse,'' that is, ``I will cleanse the Jews from their defilements, but I will
not use extreme severity;'' as he says also in Isaiah 48, `I will not refine thee as gold
or silver, for thou wouldest turn all into dross.' They hence think that God promises
here such a cleansing of the Church, as that he would not use extreme rigor, but
moderate his cleansing, as it is needful with regard to our defilements, of which we
are all so full.
But this sense seems to me more simple, --- that God would cleanse the blood
which he had not cleansed; as though he said, ``I have not hitherto cleansed the
pollutions of my people; they are then become, as it were, putrid in their sins; but
now I will begin to purify all their wickedness, that they may shine pure before me.''
There is a relative understood as is often the case in Hebrew. But {}נקהneke is
taken in Jeremiah 30:11, in another sense, that God will exterminate his Church:
but we cannot in this place elicit any other meaning than that God will cleanse his
Church from pollutions; for the Prophet, no doubt, means the defilements of which
the people were full. They will not, then, be able to enjoy the favor of God while lying
in their filth. Now God, in promising to be a Redeemer, comes to the very fountain
and the first thing, --- that he will wash away their filth; for how could God be the
Redeemer of the people, except he blotted out their sins? For as long as he imputes
sins to us, he must necessarily be angry with us, we must be necessarily altogether
alienated from him and deprived of his blessing. He then does not say in vain that
he will be a purifier; for when pollutions are cleansed, there follows another thing,
which we have already noticed as to this, future redemption, and with this ---
He at last concludes and says And Jehovah shall dwell in Zion. The Prophet recalls
again the attention of the people to the covenant; as though he said, ``God has will-
ingly and bountifully promised all that has been mentioned, not because the people
have deserved this, but because God has deigned long ago to adopt the children of
Abraham, and has chosen mount Zion as his habitation.'' He shows then this to be
the reason why God was now inclined to mercy, and would save a people, who had
a hundred times destroyed themselves by their sins.
Prayer.
Grant, Almighty God, that as we have, in this world, to fight continually, not only
with one kind of enemies, but with numberless enemies, and not only with flesh and
blood, but also with the devil, the prince of darkness, --- O grant, that, being armed
with thy power, we may persevere in this contest; and when thou afÒictest us for
our sins, may we learn to humble ourselves, and so submit to thy authority, that we
may hope for the redemption promised to us; and though tokens of thy displeasure
may often appear to us, may we yet ever raise up our minds by hope to heaven, and
from thence look for thy only begotten Son, until, coming as the Judge of the world,
he gathers us and brings us to the fruition of that blessed and eternal life, which he
JOHN CALVIN
has obtained for us by his own blood. Amen.
End of the Commentaries on Joel.
Commentary on Amos
Commentary on Amos
Lecture Forty-ninth
He shows himself the time when he began to discharge his ofÏce of a teacher; but
it does not appear how long he prophesied. The Jews indeed, think that his course
was long; he continued his ofÏce, as they write, under four kings. But he mentions
here only the reigns of Uzziah and Jeroboam. His purpose was to mark the time when
he began to execute his ofÏce of a Prophet, but not to express how long he labored
for God in that ofÏce; and why he mentions only the beginning, we shall in its proper
place notice. It is, indeed, certain, that he commenced his work under king Uzziah,
and under king Jeroboam: and this also is to be noticed, that he was appointed a
Prophet to the kingdom of Israel. For though he arose from the tribe of Judah, yet
the Lord, as we shall see set him over the kingdom of Israel. He sometimes turns
his discourse to the tribe of Judah, but only, as it were, accidentally, and as occasion
led him; for he mainly addressed the Ten Tribes. I now come to his words.
Chapter 1.
Amos 1
Amos 1:1
1. The words of Amos, who was among the herdmen of Tekoa, which he saw
concerning Israel in the days of Uzziah king of Judah, and in the days of Jeroboam
the son of Joash king of Israel, two years before the earthquake.
1. Verba Amos, qui fuit inter pastores (vel, pecuarios) ex Tucua: quae vidit super
Israel diebus Uzziah regis Juhudah, et diebus Jarobeam filii Joas regis Israel, bien-
nio ante motum (vel {χασμα}) terrae. nominibus, quia de sensu Prophetae satis
constabit. Nunc venio ad inscriptionem libri.)
Amos boasts not here, in speaking of his own words, that he adduced anything as
from himself, but avows himself to be only the minister of God; for he immediately
adds that he received them by a vision. God himself raised up the Prophets and em-
ployed their labor; And, at the same time, guided them by his Spirit, that they might
not announce anything but what had been received from him, but faithfully deliver
what had proceeded from him alone. These two things then, well agree together, ---
that the prophecies which follow were the words of Amos and that they were words
revealed to him from above; for the word {,}חזהchese, which Amos uses, properly
means, to see by revelation; 23 and these revelations were called prophecies.
But he says, that he was among the shepherds of Tekoa. This was a mean towns
and had been shortly before surrounded by walls and had ever been previously a
village. He then mentions not his country, because it was celebrated, or as though
23There is an incongruity in our language in saying, "The words of Amos, which he saw." To see words, except when written, is no proper expression. To avoid this, Newcome has paraphrased the passage thus, — "Which had come to him in a vision." There would be no necessity for this, had we a suitable term for "words," which in Hebrew has the same latitude of meaning with {λογος} in Greek. Dathius renders it, Effata, oracles. They were the things, the matters, the events, which
the Prophet saw, or were discovered to him in a supernatural manner. The faculty of sight seems to have been used, because
scenes were presented often to the prophets, when these communications were made to them; and then seeing became the
term to designate these divine revelations, when nothing but messages, either of mercy or of judgment, were conveyed to the
prophets. --- Ed.
JOHN CALVIN
he could derive thereby more authority or renown: but, on the contrary he calls
himself a Tekoan, because God drew him forth from an obscure place, that he might
set him over the whole kingdom of Israel. They are therefore mistaken, as I think,
who suppose that Amos was called one of the shepherds on account of his riches,
and the number of his flocks; for when I weigh every thing, I see not how could this
be. I indeed allow that {,}נקדיםnukodim are not only shepherds who do the work,
but men possessing flocks, carrying on a large business; for the king of Moab is
said to have been a {,}נקדnukod, and that he fed large flocks; but it was by hired
shepherds. As to the Prophets I do not see how this can be applied to him; for Tekoa
was not a place famous for wealth; and as I have said, it was a small town, and of
no opulence. I do not then doubt, but that Amos, by saying that he was a shepherd,
pours contempt on the pride of the king of Israel, and of the whole people; for as
they had not deigned to hear the Prophets of God, a keeper of sheep was sent to
them.
It must be further noticed, that he is not called a shepherd of Tekoa, but from
Tekoa; and interpreters have not observed this preposition. We shall see in chapter
seven, that though Amos sprang from the tribe of Judah, he yet dwelt in the kingdom
of Israel: for the priest, after he had slandered him before the king, bade him to go
elsewhere, and to eat his own bread, and not to disturb the peace of the country.
He therefore dwelt there as a stranger in a land not his own. Had he been rich,
and possessing much wealth, he would have surely dwelt at home: why should he
change his place? Since then it appears evident, that he was a sojourner in the land
of Israel, he was, no doubt, one of the common people. So that his low condition
(ignobilitias---ignobility) was intended for this purpose, --- that God might thereby
repress the arrogance of the king of Israel, and of the whole people; for we know
how much inflated they were on account of the fruitfulness of their land and their
riches. Hence Amos was set over them as a Prophet, being a shepherd, whom God
had brought from the sheepfolds.
The time also is to be observed, when he is said to have seen these prophecies;
it was in the days of Uzziah king of Judah, two years before the earth-quake, and in
the days of Jeroboam, the son of Joash. What the state of that time was, I described
in explaining the prophecies of Hosea. Sacred history relates that the kingdom of
Israel flourished under the second Jeroboam; for though he was an ungodly and
wicked man, yet God spared then his people, and caused that not only the ten tribes
should remain entire, but also that Jeroboam should enlarge his kingdom; for he had
recovered some cities which had been lost. The state of the people was then tranquil,
and their prosperity was such as filled them with pride, as it commonly happens.
Uzziah also so reigned over the tribe of Judah, that nothing adverse prevailed there.
Shortly after followed the earthquake. The time this earthquake happened, sacred
history does not mention. But Josephus says, that it was when Uzziah seized on
the priestly ofÏce, and was smitten with leprosy. He therefore makes that stroke
of leprosy and the earthquake to be at the same time. But Amos, as well as other
Prophets, spoke of it as a thing well known: thus Zechariah, after the people's return,
refers to it in chapter 14: (Zechariah 14:5),
MINOR PROPHETS
`There shall be to you a terror,
such as was in the earthquake under king Uzziah.'
He states not the year, but it was then commonly known.
Then the Prophet meant nothing more than to show by this event, that he de-
nounced God's vengeance on the Israelites, when they were in prosperity, and were
immersed, as it were, in their pleasures. And satiety, as it ever happens, made
them ferocious; hence he was not well received; but his authority is hereby more
confirmed to us; for he did not flatter the people in their prosperity, but severely re-
proved them; and he also predicted what could not be foreseen by human judgment,
nay, what seemed to be altogether improbable. Had he not then been endued with
the heavenly Spirit, he could not have foretold future calamities, when the Jews, as
I have already said, as well as the Israelites, and others, promised themselves all
kinds of prosperity; for God then spared the kingdom of Israel and the kingdom of
Judah, nor did he execute his judgment on neighboring nations.
We must now observe this also, that the words which he saw were concerning
Israel. We hence learn, as I have already said that the Prophet was specifically ap-
pointed for the Israelites, though born elsewhere. But how and on what occasion he
migrated into the kingdom of Israel, we know not; and as to the subject in hand, it
matters not much: but it is probable, as I have said before, that this was designedly
done, that God might check the insolence of the people, who flattered themselves
so much in their prosperity. Since, then, the Israelites had hitherto rejected God's
servants, they were now constrained to hear a foreigner and a shepherd condemn-
ing them for their sins, and exercising the ofÏce of a judge: he who proclaims, an
impending destruction is a celestial herald. This being the case, we hence see that
God had not in vain employed the ministry of this Prophet; for he is wont to choose
the weak things of the world to confound the strong, (1 Corinthians 1) and he takes
Prophets and teachers from the lowest grade to humble the dignity of the world, and
puts the invaluable treasure of his doctrine in earthly vessels, that his power, as Paul
teaches us, may be made more evident (2 Corinthians 4:7.)
But there was a special reason as to the Prophet Amos; for he was sent on purpose
severely to reprove the ten tribes: and, as we shall see, he handled them with great
asperity. For he was not polite, but proved that he had to do with those who were not
to be treated as men, but as brute beasts; yea, worse in obstinacy than brute beasts;
for there is some docility in oxen and cows, and especially in sheep, for they hear
the voice of their shepherd, and follow where he leads them. The Israelites were
all stubbornness, and wholly untamable. It was then necessary to set over them a
teacher who would not treat them courteously, but exercise towards them his native
rusticity. Let us now proceed; for of the kingdom of Uzziah and of Jeroboam the son of
Joash, the second of that name, we have spoken on the in Hosea 1:1. It now follows
---
Amos 1:2
2. And he said, The Lord will roar from Zion, and utter his voice from Jerusalem;
and the habitations of the shepherds shall mourn, and the top of Carmel shall wither.
2. Et dixit, Jehova e Sion ruget, et e Jerusalem edet (vel, emittet) vocem suam;
JOHN CALVIN
et lugebunt (vel, disperibunt) habitacula pastorum; et arescet (vel, pudefiet) vertex
Carmeli. 24
He employs here the same words which we explained yesterday in the Lecture
on Joel; but for another purpose. By saying, `Jehovah from Zion shall roar,' Joel
intended to set forth the power of God, who had been for a time silent, as though
he was not able to repel his enemies. As God was then despised by the ungodly,
Joel declares that he had power, by which he could instantly break down and destroy
all his enemies and defend his Church and chosen people. But now Amos, as he
addresses the Israelites, does here defend the pure worship of God from all contempt
and declares to the Israelites, that how much soever they wearied themselves in
their superstitions they still worshipped their own devices; for God repudiated all the
religion they thought they had. There is, then, to be understood an implied or indirect
contrast between mount Zion and the temples which the first Jeroboam built in Dan
and Bethel. The Israelites imagined that they worshipped the God of their father
Abraham; and there were in those places greater displays (pompae --- pomps) than
at Jerusalem. But the Prophet Amos pours contempt on all these fictitious forms of
worship; as though he said, ``Ye indeed boast that the God of Abraham is honored
and worshipped by you; but ye are degenerate, ye are covenant breakers, ye are
perfidious towards God; he dwells not with you, for the sanctuaries, which you have
made for yourselves, are nothing but brothels; God has chosen no habitation for
himself, except mount Zion; there is his perpetual rest: Roar then will Jehovah from
Zion.''
We now see what the Prophet had in view: for he not only shows here, that God
was the author of his doctrine, but at the same time distinguishes between the true
God and the idols, which the first Jeroboam made, when by this artifice he intended
to withdraw the ten tribes from the house of David and wholly to alienate them
from the tribe of Judah: it was then that he set up the calves in Dan and Bethel.
The Prophet now shows that all these superstitions are condemned by the true God:
Jehovah then shall roar from Zion, he will utter his voice from Jerusalem. He no doubt
wished here to terrify the Israelites, who thought they had peace with God. Since,
then, they abused his long-suffering, Amos now says that they would find at length
that he was not asleep. ``When God then shall long bear with your iniquities, he will
at last rise up for judgment.''
By roaring is signified, as we said yesterday, the terrible voice of God; but the
Prophet here speaks of God's voice, rather than of what are called actual judgments
really executed, that the Israelites might learn that the examples of punishments
which God executes in the world happen not by chance, or at random, but proceed
from his threatening; in short, the Prophet intimates that all punishments which God
inflicts on the ungodly and the despisers of his word, are only the executions of
what the Prophets proclaimed, in order that men, should there be any hope of their
24Rendered literally from the Hebrew, this verse is a fine specimen of sublime simplicity: the poetical inversion of words is preserved: — And he said,— Jehovah from Zion will roar, And from Jerusalem will he send forth his voice; Then mourn with the inhabitants of shepherds, And wither will the top of Carmel. The roarings of lions are dreadful to shepherds. God's voice is either of mercy or of judgment; it is the latter here, and evidently that of drought, (see Amos 5:6,) as the withering of Carmel was to be the effect. — Ed.
MINOR PROPHETS
repentance, might anticipate the destruction which they hear to be nigh. The Prophet
then commends here very highly the truth of what God teaches, by saying that it is
not what vanishes, but what is accomplished; for when he destroys nations and
kingdoms, it comes to pass according to prophecies: God then shall utter his voice
from Jerusalem
Then it follows, And mourn shall the habitations of shepherds {,}אבלabel, means
to mourn, and also to be laid waste, and to perish. Either sense will well suit this
place. If we read, mourn, etc., then we must render the following thus, and ashamed
shall be the head, or top, of Carmel. But if we read, perish, etc., then the verb {}בש
besh must be translated, wither; and as we know that there were rich pastures on
Carmel, I prefer this second rendering: wither then shall the top of Carmel; and the
first clause must be taken thus, and perish shall the habitations of shepherds
As to what is intended, we understand the Prophet's meaning to be, that whatever
was pleasant and valuable in the kingdom of Israel would now shortly perish, because
God would utter his voice from Zion The meaning then is this, --- ``Ye now lie secure,
but God will soon, and even suddenly, put forth his power to destroy you; and this
he will do, because he denounces on you destruction now by me, and will raise up
other Prophets to be heralds of his vengeance: this will God execute by foreign and
heathen nations; but yet your destruction will be according to these threatening
which ye now count as nothing. Ye indeed think them to be empty words; but God
will at length show that what he declares will be fully accomplished.''
With respect to Carmel, there were two mountains of this name; but as they were
both very fertile, there is no need to take much trouble to inquire of which Carmel
the Prophet speaks. SufÏcient is what has been said, --- that such a judgment is
denounced on the kingdom of Israel as would consume all its fatness; for as we shall
hereafter see, and the same thing has been already stated by the Prophet Hosea,
there was great fertility as to pastures in that kingdom.
We must, at the same time, observe, that the Prophet, who was a shepherd,
speaks according to his own character, and the manner of life which he followed.
Another might have said, `Mourn shall the whole country, tremble shall the palaces,'
or something like this; but the Prophet speaks of mount Carmel, and of the habita-
tions of shepherds, for he was a shepherd. His doctrine no doubt was despised, and
many profane men probably said, ``What! he thinks that he is still with his cows and
with his sheep; he boasts that he is God's prophet, and yet he is ever engrossed by
his stalls and his sheepfolds.'' It is then by no means improbable, but that he was
thus derided by scornful men: but he purposely intended to blunt their petulance, by
mingling with what he said as a Prophets those kinds of expressions which savored
of his occupation as a shepherd. Let us now proceed ---
Amos 1:3-5
3. Thus saith the LORD; For three transgressions of Damascus, and for four, I
will not turn away the punishment thereof; because they have threshed Gilead with
threshing instruments of iron:
3. Sic dixit Jehova, Super tribus sceleribus Damasci et super quatuor non ero
propitius ei; quia trituraverunt serris (vel, tribulis ferreis) Gilead.
JOHN CALVIN
4. But I will send a fire into the house of Hazael, which shall devour the palaces
of Benhadad.
4. Et mittam ignem in domum Chasael, et vorabit palatia Ben-Adad.
5. I will break also the bar of Damascus, and cut off the inhabitant from the plain
of Aven, and him that holdeth the sceptre from the house of Eden: and the people
of Syria shall go into captivity unto Kir, saith the Lord.
5. Et confringam vectem Damasci et excidam habitatorem ex Bikath-Aven (vel,
ex planitie Aven, vel, molestiae vel, doloris: alii vertunt, ex templo idoli) et tenentem
sceptrum e domo Eden (alii appellative accipiunt, e domo voluptatis;) et transferetur
populus Syriae Kirah (in Kir) dicit Jehova.
It is singular that Amos said that his words were concerning Israel, and that he
should now turn to speak of Damascus and the country of Syria. This seems incon-
sistent; for why does he not perform the ofÏce committed to him? why does he not
reprove the Israelites? why does he not threaten them? why does he not show their
sins? and why does he speak of the destruction then nigh to the people of Syria?
But it is right here to consider what his design was. He shows briefly, in the last
verse, that ruin was nigh the Israelites; for God, who had hitherto spared them, was
now resolved to ascend his tribunal. But now, that he might better prepare the Is-
raelites, he shows that God, as a judge, would call all the neighboring nations to an
account. For had the Prophet threatened the Israelites only, they might have thought
that what they suffered was by chance, when they saw the like things happening to
their neighbors: ``How is it credible that these evils and calamities have flowed from
God's vengeance, since the Idumeans, the Moabites, the Ammonites, the Syrians,
and the Sidonians, are implicated in these evils in common with ourselves? For if
God's hand pursues us, it is the same with them: and if it is fate, that with blind
force exercises its rule over the Moabites, the Idumeans, and the Syrians, the same
thing, doubtless, is to be thought of our case.'' Thus all the authority of the Prophet
must have lost its power, except the Israelites were made to know that God is the
judge of all nations.
We must also bear in mind, that the kingdom of Israel was laid waste, together
with other neighboring countries, as war had spread far and wide; for the Assyrian,
like a violent storm, had extended through the whole of that part of the world. Not
only, then, the Israelites were distressed by adversities at that time, but all the na-
tions of which Amos prophesied. It was hence necessary to add the catalogue which
we here find, that the Israelites might have as many confirmations respecting God's
vengeance, as the examples which were presented to their eyes, in the dire calami-
ties which everywhere prevailed. This is to be borne in mind. And then the Prophet
regarded another thing: If the Idumeans, the Moabites, the Syrians, and Ammonites,
were to be treated so severely, and the Prophet had not connected the Israelites with
them, they might have thought that they were to be exempted from the common
punishments because God would be propitious to them; for hypocrites ever harden
themselves the more, whenever God spares them: ``See, the Ammonites and the
Moabites are punished; the Idumeans, the Syrians, and other nations, are visited
with judgment: God then is angry with all these; but we are his children, for he is
MINOR PROPHETS
indulgent to us.'' But the Prophet puts here the Israelites in the same bundle with the
Moabites, the Idumeans, and other heathen nations; as though he said, ``God will
not spare your neighbors; but think not that ye shall be exempt from his vengeance,
when they shall be led to punishment; I now declare to you that God will be the judge
of you all together.''
We now apprehend the design of the Prophet. He wished here to set before the
eyes of the Israelites the punishment of others to awaken them, and also to induce
them to examine themselves for we often see, that those who are intractable and
refractory in their disposition, when directly addressed are not very attentive; but
when they hear of the sins of others, and especially when they hear something of
punishment, they will attend. The Prophet therefore designed by degrees to lead the
Israelites to a teachable state of mind, for he knew them to be torpid in their indul-
gences, and also blinded by presumption, so that they could not be easily brought
under the yoke: hence he sets before them the punishment which was soon to fall
on neighboring nations.
We must yet observe that there was another reason I do not throw aside what
I have already mentioned; but the Prophet no doubt had this also in view, --- that
God would punish the Syrians, because they cruelly raged against the Israelites es-
pecially against Gilead and its inhabitants. As God, then, would inflict so grievous a
punishment on the Syrians, because they so cruelly treated the inhabitants of Gilead,
what was to be expected by the Israelites themselves who had been insolent towards
God, who had violated his worship who had robbed him of his honor, who had in their
turn destroyed one another! For, as we shall hereafter see, there was among them
no equity, no humanity; they had forgotten all reason. Since, then, the Israelites
were such, how could they hope that so many and so detestable crimes should go
unpunished, when they saw that the Syrians, though uncircumcised, were not to be
spared, because they so cruelly treated professed enemies, on whom they lawfully
made war?
I now come to the words of the Prophet: Thus saith Jehovah, For three transgres-
sions of Damascus, and for four, will not be propitious to it; literally, I will not convert
it 25 : but I take this actively that God would not turn himself to mercy, or that he
would not be propitious to Damascus. We know that Damascus was the capital of
Syria; And the Prophet here, by mentioning a part for the whole, threatens the whole
people, and summons all the Syrians to God's tribunal, because they had inhumanely
treated, as we shall see, the city of Gilead. But he says, God will not be propitious
for three and four transgressions of Damascus. Some take this meaning, ``For three
transgressions I have been propitious, for four I will not be.'' But there is no need of
25Eam non restituam — 'I will not restore it.' — Bishop Lowth. Of all commentators, Dathius gives the best explanation of the first part of this verse. His remarks are these: — "There is here mentioned a fourth sin, for which God would no longer defer punishment. The three sins, which had preceded the fourth, signify all those sins which they had besides committed, a definite number being put for a number indefinite." But as to the phrase, {{}אשיבנו{, לא
non avertam illud --- `I will not turn it away,' so as to forgive it, that is, the fourth sin, he seems not to have been so felicitous; for
the reference is evidently to Damascus. It will admit of either these renderings, --- ``I will not restore it,'' that is, to favor; or ``I
will not turn away from it,'' so as to let it go unpunished. The whole verse I would render thus: --- Thus saith Jehova, --- For three
transgressions of Damascus, Yea, for the fourth, I will not turn away from it; For it threshed Gelead with iron wains. Literally, it
is, ``they threshed;'' for it is usual with the prophets, when speaking of a city or people, to pass from the singular to the plural
number. --- Ed.
JOHN CALVIN
adding anything to the Prophet's words; for the most suitable sense here is that for
the many sins of Damascus God would not be propitious to it: and the Prophet, I have
no doubt, intended by the two numbers to set forth the irreclaimable perverseness
of the Syrians. Seven in Scripture is an indefinite number, and is taken, as it is well
known, to express what is countless. By saying then, three and four transgressions,
it is the same as if he had said seven: but the Prophet more strikingly intimates the
progress the Syrians made in their transgressions, until they became so perverse
that there was no hope of repentance. This then is the reason, that God declares
that he would no more forgive the Syrians, inasmuch as without measure or limit
they burst forth into transgressions and ceased not, though a time for change was
given them. This is the true meaning. And the Prophet repeats the same form of
speech in speaking of Gaza, of Amman, of Edom, and of other nations.
Let us learn from this place, that God, whom the world regards as too cruel, when
he takes vengeance on sins, shows really and by sure proof the truth of what he
declares so often of himself in Scripture, and that is, that he bears long and does not
quickly take vengeance: though men are worthy to perish yet the Lord suspends his
judgments. We have a remarkable proof of this in these prophecies; for the Prophet
speaks not only of one people but of many. Hence God endured many transgressions
not only in the Syrians, but also in other nations: there was not then a country in
which a testimony to God's forbearance did not exist. It hence appears, that the
world unjustly complains of too much rigor, when God takes vengeance, for he ever
waits till iniquity, as it was stated yesterday, reaches its highest point.
There is besides presented to us here a dreadful spectacle of sins among so many
nations. At the same time, when we compare that age with ours, it is certain that
greater integrity existed then: all kinds of evils so overflow at this day, that com-
pared with the present, the time of Amos was the golden age; and yet we hear him
declaring here, that the people of Judah and of Israel, and all the other nations, were
monstrously wicked, so that God could not bring them to repentance. For he testifies
not here in vain, that he would punish wickedness wholly obstinate since they had
not turned to him, who had advanced to the number seven; that is, who had sinned,
as it has been before stated, without measure or limits: and this ought also to be
noticed in the Prophet's words; but I cannot now proceed farther.
Prayer.
Grant, Almighty God, that as thou seest us to be of a disposition so hard and
rebellious, that we are not, without great difÏculty, drawn to thee, --- O grant, that
we may at least be subdued by the threatenings thou daily denouncest on us, and be
so subdued, that being also drawn by thy word, we may give up ourselves to thee,
and not only suffer ourselves to be constrained by punishments and collections, but
also obey thee with a willing mind, and most readily offer ourselves to thee as a
sacrifice of obedience, so that being ruled by the Spirit of thy Son, we may at length
attain that blessed rest, which has been prepared for us by the same thy Son our
Lord. Amen.
Lecture Fiftieth
We explained in yesterday's Lecture, that what the Prophet means by the three
MINOR PROPHETS
and four transgressions of Damascus, is perverse and incurable wickedness; for God
here declares that he had borne long enough with the sins of Damascus, and that
now he is in a manner forced to proceed to extreme rigor, seeing that there was
no hope of amendment. But what follows may seem strange; for immediately the
Prophet subjoins, Because they have threshed Gilead with iron wains, or serrated
machines. He records here only one wickedness: where, then, were the seven of
which he spoke? The answer may be easily given. By naming the three and four sins
of Damascus, he means not different kinds of sins, but rather the perverseness which
we have mentioned; for they had been extremely rebellious against God, and God
had suspended his vengeance, till it became evident that they were unhealable. It
was, therefore, not necessary to mention here seven different sins; for it was enough
that Damascus, which means the kingdom of Syria, was held bound by such a degree
of obstinacy, that no remedy could be applied to its transgressions; for it had for a
long time tried the patience of God.
Now the Prophet subjoins, I will send fire unto the house of Hazael, which will
devour the palaces of Ben-hadad. The Prophet speaks still of the kingdom of Syria;
for we know that both Ben-hadad and Hazael were kings of Syria. But Jerome is much
mistaken, who thinks that Ben-hadad was here put in the second place, as if he had
been the successor of Hazael, 26 while sacred history relates that Hazael came to
Elisha when Ben-hadad was ill in his bed, (2 Kings 8:9;) and he was sent to request
an answer. Now the Prophet declared that Hazael would be the king of Syria, and
declared this not without tears; for he pitied his own people, of which this Syrian
would be the destroyer. After he returned home, he strangled Ben-hadad, and took
to himself the royal dignity. But it is common enough in Scripture to speak of a thing
present, and then, as in this place, to add what has past, I will send fire into the
house of Hazael, and this fire will devour the palaces of Ben-hadad; as though he
said, ``I will destroy the kingdom of Syria, I will consume it as with burning.'' But
he first names the house of Hazael, and then the palaces of Ben-hadad; as though
he said, ``No ancientness shall preserve that kingdom from being destroyed.'' For,
metaphorically, under the word fire, he designates every kind of consumption; and
we know how great is the violence of fire. It is then as though he said, that no wealth,
no strength, no fortifications, would stand in the way to prevent the kingdom of Syria
from being destroyed.
He then adds, I will break in pieces the bar of Damascus The Prophet confirms
what he had already said; for Damascus, being strongly fortified, might have
seemed unassailable. By bar, the Prophet, mentioning a part for the whole, meant
strongholds and everything which could keep out enemies. Nothing, then, shall
prevent enemies from taking possession of the city of Damascus. How so? Because
the Lord will break in pieces its bars.
It is then added, I will cut off, or destroy, the inhabitant from Bikoth Aven, or from
the plain of Aven. It is uncertain whether this was the proper name of a place or
26There were two Ben-hadads: the one whom Hazael strangled, 2 Kings 8:15; and his son who succeeded him, 2 Kings 13:3. But ben-hadad seems to have been the name of many of the kings of Syria, as Pharaoh was the common name of the kings of Egypt. Hence the palaces of Ben-ha-dad were probably those built by several kings of that name. — Ed.
JOHN CALVIN
not, though this is probable; and yet it means a plain, derived from a verb, which
signifies to cut into two, or divide, because a plain or a valley divides or separates
mountains; hence a valley or plain is called in Hebrew a division. Now, we know that
there were most delightful plains in the kingdom of Syria, and even near Damascus.
Aven also may have been the name of a place, though it means in Hebrew trouble
or laborer. But whatever it may have been, the Prophet no doubt declares here, that
all the plains nigh Damascus, and in the kingdom of Syria, would be deprived of
their inhabitants. I will then destroy the inhabitant from the plain of Aven, and the
holder of the scepter from the house of Eden, or from the house of pleasure. This
also may have been the name of a place, and from its situation a region, which, by
its pleasantness greatly delighted its inhabitants. But the Prophet, I have no doubt,
alludes, in these two words, to trouble and pleasure Removed, he says, shall be the
people of Syria into Kir. The purport of this is, that the kingdom of Syria would be
wasted, so that the people would be taken into Assyria; for the Prophet declares
that the Assyrians would be the conquerors, and remove the spoils into their own
kingdom, and lead away the people as captives; for the word city, as a part for the
whole, is put here for the whole land. It now follows ---
Amos 1:6-8
6. Thus saith the Lord; For three transgressions of Gaza, and for four, I will not
turn away the punishment thereof; because they carried away captive the whole
captivity, to deliver them up to Edom:
6. Sic dicit Jehova, Super tribus sceleribus Gazae et super quatuor, non ero pro-
pitius ei, quia transtulerunt captivitatem perfectam, ut concluderent in Edom:
7. But I will send a fire on the wall of Gaza, which shall devour the palaces thereof:
7. Et mittam ignem in murum Gazae, qui devorabit palatia ejus:
8. And I will cut off the inhabitant from Ashdod, and him that holdeth the sceptre
from Ashkelon, and I will turn mine hand against Ekron: and the remnant of the
Philistines shall perish, saith the Lord God.
8. Et excidam habitatorem de Azoto et tenentem sceptrum de Ascalon; et conver-
tam (vel, reducam) manum meam super Ekron, et peribunt reliquiae Philistinorum,
dicit Dominus Jehova.
Amos directs here his discourse against Gaza, which the Philistine occupied. It
was situated in the tribe of Judah, towards the sea; but as the Anakims were its
inhabitants, the Philistine kept possession of it. Then the Jews had these enemies
as {ακτωρηκους}, (guardians of the shore), who had a greater opportunity of do-
ing harm from being so near: and we may learn from the Prophet's words, that the
Philistines, who dwelt at Gaza, when they saw the Israelites oppressed by their ene-
mies, joined their forces to foreign allies, and that the Jews did the same. God then
now denounces punishment on them.
As to the word, Gaza, some think that it was given to the city, because Camby-
ses, when warring with the Egyptians, had deposited there his money and valuable
furniture; and because the Persian call a treasure, gaza; but this is frivolous. We in-
deed know that the Greek translators ever put {γ} (gamma) for an {( ,}עoin); as of
Omorrha they make Gomorrha, so of Oza they make Gaza. Besides, the city had this
MINOR PROPHETS
name before the time of Cambyses. It was then more probably thus called from its
strength: and that the Greeks rendered it Gaza was according to their usual practice,
as I have said as to other words. But there were two Gazas; when the first was de-
molished, the inhabitants built another near the sea. Hence Luke, in the 8th chapter
of the Acts says, that Gaza was a desert; and he thus makes a difference between
Gaza on the sea-side and the old one, which had been previously demolished. But
Amos speaks of the first Gaza; for he threatens to it that destruction, through which
it happened that the city was removed to the shores of the Mediterranean.
I come now to the Prophet's words: ``God, he says, will not be propitious to Gaza
for three and four transgressions, as the Philistine had so provoked God, that they
were now wholly unworthy of pardon and mercy. I reminded you in yesterday's Lec-
ture, that there is presented to us here a sad spectacle, but yet useful; for we here
see so many people in such a corrupted state, that their wickedness was become to
God intolerable: but at this day the state of things in the world is more corrupt, for
iniquity overflows like a deluge. Whatever then men may think of their evils, the Lord
from heaven sees how great and how irreclaimable is their obstinacy. It is nothing
that some throw blame on others, or look for some alleviation, since all are ungodly
and wicked: for we see that God here declares that he would, at the same time, take
vengeance on many nations. The Idumeans might then have objected, and said,
that their neighbors were nothing better; others might have made the same excuse;
every one might have had his defense ready, if such a pretext availed, that all were
alike implicated in the same guilt and wickedness. But we see that God appears here
as a judge against all nations. Let us not then be deceived by vain delusions, when
we see that others are like us; let every one know that he must bear his own burden
before God: I will not then be propitious for three and for four transgressions
Because they carried away, he says, a complete captivity The Prophet records
here a special crime, --- that the Gazites took away Jews and Israelites, and removed
them as captives into Idumea, and confined them there. I have already said that it
was not the Prophet's design to enumerate all their sins, but that he was content to
mention one crime, that the Israelites might understand that they were involved in
a heavier guilt, because they had grievously offended both God and men. If then
so severe a vengeance was to be taken on Gaza, they ought to have known, that
a heavier vengeance awaited them, because they were guilty of more and greater
sins. But he says that they had effected a complete captivity, inasmuch as they had
spared neither women, nor children, nor old men; for captivity is called perfect or
complete, when no distinction is made, but when all are taken away indiscriminately,
without any selection. They then carried away a complete captivity, so that no pity
either for sex or for age touched them: that they might shut them up, he says, in
Edom.
Now follows a denunciation of punishment, --- that God would send a fire on the
wall of Gaza, to devour its palaces. And it hence appears that Gaza was a splendid
town, and sumptuously built; and for this reason the Prophet speaks of its palaces.
He shows, at the same time, that neither strength nor wealth would prevent God from
executing the punishment which the Gazites deserved. He names also other cities of
JOHN CALVIN
Palestine, even Ascalon and Azdod, or Azotus, and Ecron. These cities the Philistine
then possessed. The Prophet then intimates, that wheresoever they might flee, there
would be no safe place for them; for the Lord would expose as a prey to enemies,
not only Gaza, but also all the other cities. We may conclude that Ascalon was the
first city; for there was the royal residence, though Gaza was the capital of the whole
nation; it might yet be that the pleasantness of its situation, and other attractions,
might have induced the king to reside there, though it was not the metropolis; Him
then who holds the scepter I will cut off from Ascalon. He at last concludes, that all
the remnants of Palestine would be destroyed. Now, whenever God denounces de-
struction on the Jews, he ever gives some hope, and says that the remnant would be
saved: but here the Prophet declares that whatever remained of that nation would be
destroyed; for God purposed to destroy them altogether, and also their very name.
He therefore adds, that Jehovah Lord had spoken, saith the Lord Jehovah This was
added for confirmation; for the Philistine were then in possession of many and strong
defenses, so that they boldly laughed to scorn the threatening of the Prophet. He
therefore brings forward here the name of God. Now follows the prediction respecting
Tyrus: ---
Amos 1:9-10
9. Thus saith the Lord; For three transgressions of Tyrus, and for four, I will not
turn away the punishment thereof; because they delivered up the whole captivity to
Edom, and remembered not the brotherly covenant:
9. Sic dicit Jehova, Super tribus sceleribus Tyri et super quatuor non ero ei propi-
tius, quia concluserunt captivitatem perfectam in Edom, et non recordati sunt foed-
eris fratrum:
10. But I will send a fire on the wall of Tyrus, which shall devour the palaces
thereof.
10. Et mittam ignem in murum Tyri, qui comedet palatia ejus.
He uses nearly the same words respecting Tyrus which he did respecting Gaza,
and charges it with the same sin, which was that of removing the Jews from their
country, as refugees and exiles, into Idumea, and of selling them as captives to
the Idumeans. As of all the rest, he declares the same of Tyrus, that they had not
lightly sinned, and that therefore no moderate chastisement was sufÏcient; for they
had for a long time abused God's forbearance, and had become stubborn in their
wickedness.
But what he says, that they had not been mindful of the covenant of brethren,
some refer to Hiram and David; for we know that they had a brotherly intercourse,
and called each other by the name of brothers; so great was the kindness between
them. Some then think that the Tyrians are here condemned for having forgotten
this covenant; for there ought to have remained among them some regard for the
friendship which had existed between the two kings. But I know not whether this is
too strained a view: I rather incline to another, and that is, that the Syrians delivered
up the Jews and the Israelites to the Idumeans, when yet they knew them to be
brethren: and they who implicate themselves in a matter of this kind are by no
means excusable. When I see one conspiring for the ruin of his own brother, I see a
MINOR PROPHETS
detestable and a monstrous thing; if I abhor not a participation in the same crime, I
am involved in the same guilt. When therefore the Syrians saw the Idumeans raging
cruelly against their brethren, for they were descended from the same family, they
ought doubtless to have shown to the Idumeans how alienated they were from all
humanity and how perfidious they were against their own brethren and relatives.
Now the Prophet says, that they had been unmindful of the covenant of brethren,
because they made themselves assistants in so great and execrable a crime as that
of carrying away Jews into Idumea, and of shutting them up there, when they knew
that the Idumeans sought nothing else but the entire ruin of their own brethren. This
seems to be the real meaning of the Prophet.
But he adds, that God would send a fire on the wall of Tyrus to consume its palaces.
When this happened, cannot with certainty be known: for though Tyrus was demol-
ished by Alexander, as Gaza also was, these cities, I doubt not, suffered this calamity
long before the coming of Alexander of Macedon; and it is probable, as I have already
reminded you, that the Assyrians laid waste these countries, and also took posses-
sion of Tyrus, though they did not demolish that city; for in Alexander's time there
was no king there, it had been changed into a republic; the people were free, and
had the chief authority. There must then have been there no small changes, for the
state of the city and its government were wholly different from what they had been.
We may then conclude that Tyrus was laid waste by the Assyrians, but afterwards
recovered strength, and was a free city in the time of Alexander the Great. Let us
now proceed: for I dwell not on every word, as we see that the same expressions
are repeated by the Prophet.
Amos 1:11-12
11. Thus saith the Lord; For three transgressions of Edom, and for four, I will not
turn away the punishment thereof; because he did pursue his brother with the sword,
and did cast off all pity, and his anger did tear perpetually, and he kept his wrath for
ever:
11. Sic dicit Jehova, Super tribus sceleribus Edom et super quatuor non ero ei
propitius, quia persequutus est gladio fratrem suum, et violavit misericordias suas,
et diripuit in seculum ira ejus, et indignationem servavit perpetuo:
12. But I will send a fire upon Teman, which shall devour the palaces of Bozrah.
12. Et mittam ignem in Theman, qui comedet palatia Bozrah.
The Prophet now passes to the Idumeans themselves. He had denounced ruin on
the uncircumcised nations who delivered up the Jews into their hands: but they de-
served a much heavier punishment, because their crime was much more atrocious.
The Idumeans derived their origin, as it is well known, from their common father Isaac
and bore the same symbol of God's covenant, for they were circumcised. Since near-
ness of blood, and that sacred union, could not make them gentle to the Jews, we
hence perceive how brutal was their inhumanity. They were then unworthy of being
forgiven by God, when he became so severe a judge against heathen nations. But
the Prophet says now, that the Idumeans had sinned more than their neighbors, and
that their obstinacy was unhealable and that hence they could no longer be borne,
for they had too long abused God's forbearance, who had withheld his vengeance
JOHN CALVIN
until this time.
He charges them with this crime, that they pursued their brother with the sword.
There is here an anomaly of the number, for he speaks of the whole people. Edom
then pursued his brother, that is, the Jews. But the Prophet has intentionally put the
singular number to enhance their crime: for he here placed here, as it were, two
men, Edom and Jacob, who were really brothers, and even twins. Was it not then
a most execrable ferocity in Edom to pursue his own brother Jacob? He then sets
before us here two nations as two men, that he might more fully exhibit the barbarity
of the Idumeans in forgetting their kindred, and in venting their rage against their
own blood. They have then pursued their brother with the sword; that is, they have
been avowed enemies, for they had joined themselves to heathen nations. When the
Assyrians came against the Israelites, the Idumeans put on arms: and this, perhaps,
happened before that war; for when the Syrians and Israelites conspired against the
Jews, it is probable that the Idumeans joined in the same alliance. However this may
have been, the Prophet reproaches them with cruelty for arming themselves against
their own kindred, without any regard for their own blood.
He afterwards adds, They have destroyed their own compassions; some render
the words, ``their own bowels;'' and others in a strained and improper manner trans-
fer the relative to the sons of Jacob, as though the Prophet had said, that Edom had
destroyed the compassions, which were due, on account of their near relationship,
from the posterity of Jacob. But the sense of the Prophet is clearly this, --- that
they destroyed their own compassions, which means, that they put off all sense of
religion, and cast aside the first affections of nature. He then calls those the com-
passions of Edom, even such as he ought to have been influenced by: but as he had
thrown aside all regard for humanity, there was not in him that compassion which
he ought to have had.
He then adds, His anger has perpetually raged He now compares the cruelty of the
Idumeans to that of wild beasts; for they raged like fierce wild animals, and spared
not their own blood. They then raged perpetually, even endlessly, and retained their
indignation perpetually. The Prophet seems here to allude to Edom or Esau, the
father of the nation; for he cherished long, we know, his wrath against his brother;
as he dared not to kill his brother during his father's life. Hence he said, I will wait
till my father's death, then I will avenge myself, (Genesis 27:41) Since Esau then
nourished this cruel hatred against his brother Jacob, the prophet here charges his
posterity with the same crime; as though he had said, that they were too much like
their father, or too much retained his perverse disposition, as they cherished and
ever retained revenge in their hearts, and were wholly implacable. There may have
been other causes of hatred between the Idumeans and the posterity of Jacob: but
they ought, notwithstanding, whatever displeasure there may have been, to have
forgiven their brethren. It was a monstrous thing past endurance, when a regard
for their own blood did not reconcile those who were, by sacred bonds, connected
together. We now perceive the object of the Prophet: and we here learn, that the
Idumeans were more severely condemned than those mentioned before, and for this
reason, --- because they raged so cruelly against their own kindred.
MINOR PROPHETS
He says in the last place, I will send fire on Teman, to consume the palaces
of Bozrah By fire he ever means any kind of destruction. But he compares God's
vengeance to a burning fire. We know that when fire has once taken hold, not only
on a house, but on a whole city, there is no remedy. So now the Prophet says, that
God's vengeance would be dreadful, that it would consume whatever hatred there
was among them: I will then send fire on Teman; which, as it is well known, was the
first city of Idumea. Let us now proceed ---
Amos 1:13-15
13. Thus saith the Lord; For three transgressions of the children of Ammon, and
for four, I will not turn away the punishment thereof; because they have ripped up
the women with child of Gilead, that they might enlarge their border:
13. Sic dicit Jehova, Super tribus sceleribus filiorum Ammon, et super quatuor
non ero ei propitius; quia secuerunt gravidas (praegnantes) Gilead, ut propagarent
suum terminum:
14. But I will kindle a fire in the wall of Rabbah, and it shall devour the palaces
thereof, with shouting in the day of battle, with a tempest in the day of the whirlwind:
14. Et accendam ignem in muro Rabbah, qui vorabit palatia ejus in clamore (vel,
jubilo) in die proelii, in turbine die tempestatis:
15. And their king shall go into captivity, he and his princes together, saith the
LORD.
15. Et transibit rex eorum in captivitatem, ipse et principes ejus simul, dicit Je-
hova.
He now prophesies against the Ammonites, who also derived their origin from the
same common stock; for they were the posterity of Lot, as it is well known; and Lot
was counted as the son of Abraham, as Abraham, having taken him with him from his
country brought him up, no doubt, as his own son. Then Abraham was the common
father of the Jews and of the Ammonites. Now, when the children of Ammon, without
any regard to relationship, joined their forces to those of enemies, and conspired
together, their cruelty admitted of no excuse. And there is no doubt but that they
were guilty of many other crimes; but God, by his Prophet, enumerates not all the
sins for which he had purposed to punish them, and only points out distinctly, as
in passing, but one sin, and generally declares, that such people were utterly past
hope, for they had hardened themselves in their wickedness.
He therefore says of the children of Ammon, that they rent the pregnant women
Some take {,}הרותerut, for {,}הריםerim, mountains; but I see not what can induce
them, unless they think it strange that pregnant women were rent, that the Am-
monites might extend further their borders; and for this ends it would be more suit-
able to regard the word as meaning mountains; as though he said, ``They have cut
through mountains, even the earth itself; there has been no obstacle through which
the Ammonites have not made their way: an insatiable cupidity has so inflamed
them, that they have rent the very mountains, and destroyed the whole order of na-
ture.'' Others take mountains metaphorically for fortified cities; for when one seeks
to take possession of a kingdoms cities stand in his way like mountains. But this
exposition is too strained.
JOHN CALVIN
Now, since {,}הרותerut, mean women with child, the word, I doubt not, is to be
taken in its genuine and usual sense, as we see it to be done in Hosea. [Hoseah
13:16.] But why does the Prophet say, that the Ammonites had rent pregnant
women? It is to show, that their cupidity was so frantic, that they abstained not
from any kind of cruelty. It is possible that one be so avaricious as to seek to devour
up the whole earth, and yet be inclined to clemency. Alexander, the Macedonian,
though a bloody man, did yet show some measure of kindness: but there have been
others much more cruel; as the Persian, of whom Isaiah speaks, who desired not
money, but shed blood, (Isaiah 13:17) So the Prophet says here of the Ammonites,
that they not only, by unlawful means, extended their borders, used violence and
became robbers who spoiled others of their property, but also that they did not
spare even women with child. Now this is the worst thing in the storming of towns.
When a town has wearied out an enemy, both pregnant women, and children, and
infants may, through fury, be destroyed: but this is a rare thing, and never allowed,
except under peculiar circumstances. He then reproaches the Ammonites, not only
for their cupidity, but also for having committed every kind of cruelty to satisfy their
greediness: they have then torn asunder women with child, that they might extend
their borders.
I will therefore kindle a fire in the wall of {,}רבהRabe, which shall devour its
palaces, (the Prophet adds nothing new, I shall therefore go on,) and this by tumult,
or by clamour, in the day of war. The Prophet means that enemies would come and
suddenly lay waste the kingdom of Ammon; and that this would be the case, as
a sudden fire lays hold on wood, in the day of war; that is as soon as the enemy
attacked them, it would immediately put them to fight, and execute the vengeance
they deserved, by a whirlwind in the day of tempest By these figurative terms the
Prophet intimates that the calamity destructive to the Ammonites, would be sudden.
He finally adds, And their king shall go into captivity, he and his princes together
As {,}מלכםmelcam, was an idol of the people, some regard it here as a proper
name; but he says, {,}מלכם{ }הוא{ }ושריוmelcam eva ushariu, `their king, he and
his princes;' hence the Prophet, no doubt, names the king of Ammon, for he joins
with him his princes. He says then that the ruin of the kingdom would be such, that
the king himself would be led captive by the Assyrians. This prediction was no doubt
fulfilled, though there is no history of it extant.
Prayer.
Grant, Almighty God, that since thou hast designed, by so many examples, to
teach the world the fear of thy name, we may improve under thy mighty hand, and
not abuse thy forbearance, nor gather for ourselves a treasure of dreadful vengeance
by our obstinacy and irreclaimable wickedness, but seasonably repent while thou in-
vites us, and while it is the accepted time, and while thou offerest to us reconciliation,
that being brought to nothing in ourselves, we may gather courage through grace,
which is offered to us through Christ our Lord. Amen.
Lecture Fifty-first
Amos 2
Amos 2:1-3
1. Thus saith the LORD; For three transgressions of Moab, and for four, I will not
turn away the punishment thereof; because he burned the bones of the king of Edom
into lime:
1. Sic dicit Jehova, Super tribus sceleribus Moab et super quatuor non convertam
eum (vel, non convertam me, sicut prius diximus,) quia ipse combussitossa regis
Edom in calcem:
2. But I will send a fire upon Moab, and it shall devour the palaces of Kerioth: and
Moab shall die with tumult, with shouting, and with the sound of the trumpet:
2. Et mittam ignem in Moab qui comedet palatia, ({,}קריותalii vertunt urbium
appellative: sed magis arbitror esse proprium nomen loci) et morietur in tumultu
Moab, in strepitu, in clangore tubae.
3. And I will cut off the judge from the midst thereof, and will slay all the princes
thereof with him, saith the Lord.
3. Et excidam judicem e medio ejus, et omnes principes ejus occidam cum eo,
dicit Jehova.
Now Amos prophesies here against the Moabites, and proclaims respecting them
what we have noticed respecting the other nations, --- that the Moabites were wholly
perverse, that no repentance would be hoped for, as they had added crimes to
crimes, and reached the highest pitch of wickedness; for, as we have said, the num-
ber, seven, imports this. The Prophet then charges the Moabites here with perverse-
ness: and hence we learn that God's vengeance did not come hastily upon them,
for their wickedness was intolerable since they thus followed their crimes. But he
mentions one thing in particular, --- that they had burnt the bones of the king of
Edom.
Some take bones here for courage, as though the Prophet had said, that the whole
strength of Edom had been reduced into ashes: but this is a strained exposition; and
JOHN CALVIN
its authors themselves confess that they are forced to it by necessity, when yet
there is none. The comment given by the Rabbis does not please them, --- that the
body of a certain king had been burnt, and then that the Moabites had strangely
applied the ashes for making a cement instead of lime. Thus the Rabbis trifle in
their usual way; for when an obscure place occurs, they immediately invent some
fable; though there be no history, yet they exercise their wit in fabulous glosses;
and this I wholly dislike: but what need there is of running to allegory, when we
may simply take what the Prophet says, that the body of the king of Edom had been
burnt: for the Prophet, I doubt not, charges the Moabites with barbarous cruelty. To
dig up the bodies of enemies, and to burn their bones, --- this is an inhuman deed,
and wholly barbarous. But it was more detestable in the Moabites, who had some
connection with the people of Edom; for they descended from the same family; and
the memory of that relationship ought to have continued, since Abraham brought up
Lot, the father of the Moabites; and thus the Moabites were under an obligation to
the Idumeans. If then any humanity existed in them, they ought to have restrained
their passions, so as not to treat so cruelly their brethren. Now, when they exceeded
all moderation in war, and raged against dead bodies, and burnt the bones of the
dead, it was, as I have said, an extremely barbarous conduct. The meaning then
is, that the Moabites could no longer be borne with; for in this one instance, they
gave an example of savage cruelty. Had there been a drop of humanity in them,
they would have treated more kindly their brethren, the Idumeans; but they burnt
into lime, that is, into ashes, the bones of the king of Edom, and thereby proved
that they had forgotten all humanity and justice. We now understand the Prophet's
meaning.
He therefore adds a threatening, I will send a fire on Moab, which shall devour
the palaces of {,}קריותKoriut We have stated that what the Prophet means by these
modes of speaking is that God would consume the Moabites by a violent punishment
as by a burning fire, that fortified places could not hinder him from executing his
vengeance, and that though they were proud of their palaces, yet these would avail
them nothing.
And he subjoins, Moab shall die with tumult, with noise, with the sound of the
trumpet; that is, I will send strong enemies, who will come and make no peace with
the Moabites, but will take possession of every place, and of fortified cities, by force
and by the sword. For what the Prophet means by tumult, by shouting, by the sound
of the trumpet, is, that the Moabites would not come under the power of their ene-
mies by certain agreements and compacts, as when a voluntary surrender is made,
which usually mitigates the hostile rage of enemies; no, he says, it shall not be so;
for their enemies shall have not only their wealth but their lives also.
He finally adds, And I will cut off the judge from the midst of her, and will slay
her princes, saith Jehovah. God here declares, that the kingdom of the Moabites and
the people shall be no more; for we know that men cannot exist as a body without
some civil government. Wherever then there is an assemblage of men, there must
be princes to rule and govern them. Hence, when God declares that there would
be no more a judge among the Moabites, it is the same thing as if he had said, that
MINOR PROPHETS
their name would be blotted out; for had the people of Moab continued, some princes
must have necessarily, as we have said, remained among them. When princes then
are destroyed, the people must also perish, for there is no security for them. The
Prophet then denounces not here a temporary punishment on the Moabites, but utter
ruin, from which they were never to rise. This is the meaning. Let us now proceed
---
Amos 2:4-5
4. Thus saith the LORD; For three transgressions of Judah, and for four, I will not
turn away the punishment thereof; because they have despised the law of the Lord,
and have not kept his commandments, and their lies caused them to err, after the
which their fathers have walked:
4. Sic dicit Jehova, Super tribus sceleribus Jehudah, et super quatuor non con-
vertam cum; quia spreverunt (vel, abjecerunt) legem Jehovae, et statuta ejus non
custodierunt; et errare eos fecerunt mendacia sua, post quae ambulaverunt patres
ipsorum:
5. But I will send a fire upon Judah, and it shall devour the palaces of Jerusalem.
5. Et mittam ignem in Jehudah, qui devorabit palatia Jerusalem.
Amos turns now his discourse to the tribe of Judah, and to that kingdom, which
still continued in the family of David. He has hitherto spoken of heathen and uncir-
cumcised nations: what he said of them was a prelude of the destruction which was
nigh the chosen people; for when God spared not others who had through ignorance
sinned, what was to become of the people of Israel, who had been taught in the
law? For a servant, knowing his master's will, and doing it not, is worthy of many
stripes, (Luke 12:47) God could not, then, forgive the children of Abraham, whom he
had adopted as his peculiar people, when he inflicted each grievous punishments
on heathen nations, whose ignorance, as it is commonly thought by men, was ex-
cusable. It is indeed true, that all who sin without law will justly perish, as Paul
says in Romans 2, but when a comparison is made between the children of Israel
and the wretched heathens, who were immersed in errors, the latter were doubt-
less worthy of being pardoned, when compared with that people who had betrayed
their perverseness, and, as it were, designedly resolved to bring on themselves the
vengeance of God.
The Prophet then having hitherto spoken of the Gentiles, turns his discourse now
to the chosen people, the children of Abraham. But he speaks of the tribe of Judah,
from which he sprang, as I said at the beginning; and he did this, lest any one should
charge him with favoring his own countrymen: he had, indeed, migrated into the
kingdom of Israel; but he was there a stranger. We shall now see how severely he
reproved them. Had he, then, been silent as to the tribe of Judah, he might have been
subject to calumny; for many might have said, that there was a collusion between
him and his own countrymen and that he concealed their vices, and that he fiercely
inveighed against their neighbors, through a wicked emulation, in order to transfer
the kingdom again into the family of David. Hence, that no such suspicion might
tarnish his doctrine, the Prophet here summons to judgment the tribe of Judah, and
speaks in no milder language of the Jews than of other nations: for he says, that they,
JOHN CALVIN
through their stubbornness, had so provoked God's wrath, that there was no hope
of pardon; for such was the mass of their vices, that God would now justly execute
extreme vengeance, as a moderate chastisement would not be sufÏcient. We now
then understand the Prophet's design.
I come now to the words: For they have despised, he says, the law of Jehovah.
Here he charges the Jews with apostasy; for they had cast aside the worship of God,
and the pure doctrine of religion. This was a crime the most grievous. We hence see,
that the Prophet condemns here freely and honestly as it became him, the vices of
his own people, so that there was no room for calumny, when he afterwards became
a severe censor and reprover of the Israelites; for he does not lightly touch on some-
thing wrong in the tribe of Judah, but says that they were apostates and perfidious,
having cast aside the law of God. But it may be asked, why the Prophet charges the
Jews with a crime so atrocious, since religion, as we have seen in the Prophecies of
Hosea, still existed among them? But to this there is a ready answer: the worship
of God was become corrupt among them, though they had not so openly departed
from it as the Israelites. There remained, indeed, circumcision among the Israelites;
but their sacrifices were pollutions, their temples were brothels: they thought that
they worshipped God; but as a temple had been built at Bethel contrary to God's
command, the whole worship was a profanation. The Jews were somewhat purer;
but they, we know, had also degenerated from the genuine worship of God. Hence
the Prophet does not unjustly say here, that they had despised the law of God.
But we must notice the explanation which immediately follows, --- that they kept
not his statutes. The way then by which Amos proves that the Jews were covenant-
breakers, and that having repudiated God's law, they had fallen into wicked supersti-
tions, is by saying, that they kept not the precepts of God. It may, however, appear
that he treats them here with too much severity; for one might not altogether keep
God's commands either through ignorance or carelessness, or some other fault, and
yet be not a covenant-breaker or an apostate. I answer, --- That in these words of
the Prophet, not mere negligence is blamed in the Jews; but they are condemned
for designedly, that is, knowingly and willfully departing from the commandments of
God, and devising for themselves various modes of worship. It is not then to keep
the precepts of God, when men continue not under his law, but audaciously contrive
for themselves new forms of worship; they regard not what God commands, but lay
hold on anything pleasing that comes to their minds. This crime the Prophet now
condemns in the Jews: and hence it was that they had despised the law of God. For
men should never assume so much as to change any thing in the worship of God; but
due reverence for God ought to influence them: were they persuaded of this --- that
there is no wisdom but what comes from God --- they would surely confine them-
selves within his commands. Whenever then they invent new and fictitious forms
of worship, they sufÏciently show that they regard not what the Lord wills, what he
enjoins, what he forbids. Thus, then, they despise his law, and even cast it away.
This is a remarkable passage; for we see, first, that a most grievous sin is con-
demned by the Prophet, and that sin is, that the Jews confined not themselves to
God's law, but took the liberty of innovating; this is one thing: and we also learn how
MINOR PROPHETS
much God values obedience, which is better, as it is said in another place, than all
sacrifices, (1 Samuel 15:22) And that we may not think this a light or a trifling sin, let
us notice the expression --- that they despised the law of God. Every one ought to
dread this as the most monstrous thing; for we cannot despise the law of God with-
out insulting his majesty. And yet the Holy Spirit declares here, that we repudiate
and reject the law of God, except we wholly follow what it commands, and continue
within the limits prescribed by it. We now perceive what the Prophet means.
But he also adds, that their own lies deceived or caused them to go astray. He
here confirms his preceding doctrine; for the Jews had ever a defense ready at hand,
that they did with good intent what the Prophet condemned in them. They, for-
sooth! sedulously worshipped God, though they mixed their own leaven, by which
their sacrifices were corrupted: it was not their purpose to spend their substance
in vain, to undergo great expenses in sacrifices, and to undertake much labor, had
they not thought that it was service acceptable to God! As then the pretense of
good intention, (as they say,) ever deceives the unbelieving, the Prophet condemns
this pretense, and shows it to be wholly fallacious, and of no avail. ``It is nothing,''
he says, ``that they pretend before God some good intention; their own lies de-
ceive them.'' And Amos, no doubt, mentions here these lies, in opposition to the
commands of God. As soon then as men swerve from God's word, they involve
themselves in many delusions, and cannot but go astray; and this is deserving of
special notice. We indeed see how much wisdom the world claims for itself: for as
soon as we invent anything we are greatly delighted with it; and the ape, according
to the old proverb, is ever pleased with its own offspring. But this vice especially
prevails, when by our devices we corrupt and adulterate the worship of God. Hence
the Prophet here declares, that whatever is added to God's word, and whatever men
invent in their own brains is a lie: ``All this,'' he says, ``is nothing but imposture.''
We now see of what avail is good intention: by this indeed men harden themselves;
but they cannot make the Lord to retract what he has once declared by the mouth
of his Prophet. Let us then take heed to continue within the boundaries of God's
word, and never to leap over either on this or on that side; for when we turn aside
ever so little from the pure word of God, we become immediately involved in many
deceptions.
It then follows, After which have walked their fathers; literally it is, Which their
fathers have walked after them: 27 but we have given the sense. The Prophet here
exaggerates their sin, the insatiable rage of the people; for the children now followed
their fathers. This vice, we know, prevailed in all ages among the Jews; leaving the
word of God, they ever followed their own dreams, and the delusions of Satan. Since
God had now often tried to correct this vice by his Prophets, and no fruit followed, the
Prophet charges them here with hardness, and by this circumstance enhances the
27This is one of the peculiarities of the Hebrew language — the use of two pronouns, the one before, and the other after the verb; and the preposition, when necessary, is given with the latter, and not the former. There is a similar peculiarity in the Welsh, exactly the same and of common occurrence. There are several instances of likeness between the two languages, and even an identity of idiom, and that in those things in which they differ from other languages. In the present instance the Welsh is literally, word for word, the Hebrew — y shai yr aeth eich tadau ar eu hol — which your fathers have gone after them. — Ed.
JOHN CALVIN
sin of the Jews: ``It is nothing new,'' he says, ``for children to imitate their fathers,
and to be wholly like them: they are then the bad eggs of bad ravens.'' So also said
Stephen,
`Ye are hard and uncircumcised in heart, and resist the Holy Spirit, as your fathers
also did formerly,' (Acts 7:51.)
We now understand the intention of the Prophet.
But we hence learn of what avail is the subterfuge resorted to by the Papists,
when they boast of antiquity. For they set up against the Law, the Prophets, and the
Gospel, this shield, --- that theirs is the old religion, that they have not been the first
founders, but that they follow what has been handed down to them from early times,
and observed for many ages. When the Papists boastingly declare all this, they think
that they say enough to put God to silence, and wholly to reject his Word. But we see
how frivolous is this sort of caviling, and how worthless before God: for the Prophet
does not concede to the Jews the example of the fathers as an excuse, but sets forth
their sin as being greater because they followed their perfidious fathers, who had
forsaken the Law of the Lord. The same thing is also said by Ezekiel,
`After the precepts of your fathers walk not,'
(Ezekiel 20:18.)
We now see what sort of crime is that of which the Prophet speaks. At last a
threatening follows, ``The Lord saith, Fire will I send on Judah, which shall devour the
palaces of Jerusalem.' But all this we have already explained. Let us now proceed ---
Amos 2:6
6. Thus saith the LORD; For three transgressions of Israel, and for four, I will not
turn away the punishment thereof; because they sold the righteous for silver, and
the poor for a pair of shoes;
6. Sic dicit Jehova, Super tribus sceleribus Israel et super quatuor non convertam
cum (vel, ad eum,) quia emerunt (vel, vendiderunt: quidam enim deducunt a {,}כרת
et putant {}מesse literam formalem nominis: alii autem deducunt a {}מכרquod
est vendere vel mercari; sed sensus Prophetae eodem redit, quia intelligit quasi ad
nundinationem expositos fuisse justos; ideoque proestabit vertere, pretium ipsorum;
quasi diceret, commercium non secus ac de merce voenale fuisse habitum; quoniam
ergo emerunt) justum pro argento, et miserum pro calceamentis.
The Prophet here assails the Israelites, to whom he had been sent, as we have said
at the beginning. He now omits every reference to other nations; for his business was
with the Israelites to whom he was especially appointed a teacher. But he wished
to set before them, as in various mirrors, the judgment of God, which awaited them,
that he might the more effectually awaken them: and he wished also to exhibit in
the Jews themselves an example of the extreme vengeance of God, though there
was greater purity among them, at least a purer religion, and more reverence for
God prevailed as yet among them. He in this way prepared the Israelites, that they
might not obstinately and proudly reject his doctrine. He now then addresses them,
and says that they continued unmoved in their many sins. The import of the whole
is, that if the Moabites, the Idumeans, the Tyrians, the Sidonians, and other nations,
and that if the Jews as well as these were irreclaimable in their obstinacy, so that their
MINOR PROPHETS
diseases were incurable, and their wickedness such as God could no longer endure,
the Israelites were also in the same condition; for they also continued perverse in
their wickedness, and provoked God, and repented not, though God had waited long,
and exhorted them to repent.
It is now meet for us to bear in mind what we have before said, --- that if impiety
was so rampant in that age, and the contempt of God so prevailed, that men could
not be restored to a sane mind, and if iniquity everywhere overflowed, (for Amos
accuses not a few people, but many nations,) let us at this day beware, lest such
corruptions prevail among us; for, certainly, the world is now much worse than it
was then: nay, since the Prophet says here, that both the Israelites and the Jews
were wholly irreclaimable in their obstinacy, there is no excuse for us at this day
for deceiving ourselves with an empty name, because we have the symbol of faith,
having been baptized; and in case we have other marks, which seem to belong to
the Church of God, let us not think that we are therefore free from guilt, if we allow
ourselves that unruliness condemned here by the Prophet both in the Israelites and in
the Jews; for they had become hardened against all instructions, against all warnings.
Let, then, these examples rouse our attention, lest we, like them, harden ourselves
so much as to constrain the Lord to execute on us extreme vengeance.
Let us now especially observe what the Prophet lays to the charge of Israel. He
begins with their cruel deeds; but the whole book is taken up with reproofs; there
is to the very end a continued accusation as to those crimes which then prevailed
among the people of Israel. He does not then point out only one particular crime,
as with respect to the other nations; but he scrutinizes all the vices of which the
people were guilty, as though he would thoroughly anatomize them. But these we
shall notice in their proper order.
Now as to the first thing, the Prophet says, that the just among the Israelites
was sold for silver, yea, for shoes. It may be asked, Why is it that he does not
begin with those superstitions, in which they surpassed the Jews? for if God had
resolved to destroy Jerusalem and his own temple, because they had fallen away
into superstitious and spurious modes of worship, how much more ought such a
judgment to have been executed on the Israelites, as they had perverted the whole
law, and had become wholly degenerate; and even circumcision was nothing but a
profanation of God's covenant? Why, then, does not the Prophet touch on this point?
To this I answer, --- That as superstition had now for many years prevailed among
them, the Prophet does not make this now his subject; but we shall hereafter see,
that he has not spared these ungodly deprivations which had grown rampant among
the Israelites. He indeed sharply arraigns all their superstitions; but he does this in
its suitable place. It was now necessary to begin with common evils; and this was
far more opportune than if he had at first spoken of superstitions; for they might
have said, that they did indeed worship God. He therefore preferred condemning
the Jews for alienating themselves from the pure commandments of God; and as
to the Israelites, he reproves here their gross vices. But after having charged them
with cruelty, shameless rapacity, and many lusts, after having exposed their filthy
abominations, he then takes the occasion, as being then more suitable of exclaiming
JOHN CALVIN
against superstitions. This order our Prophet designedly observed, as we shall see
more fully from the connection of his discourse.
I now return to the words, that they sold the just for silver, and the poor for shoes.
He means that there was no justice nor equity among the Israelites, for they made
a sale of the children of God: and it was a most shameful thing, that there was no
remedy for injuries. For we hence, no doubt, learn, that the Prophet levels his reproof
against the judges who then exercised authority. The just, he says, is sold for silver:
this could not apply to private individuals, but to judges, to whom it belonged to
extend a helping hand to the miserable and the poor, to avenge wrongs, and to
give to every one his right. It is then the same as though the Prophet had said,
that unbridled licentiousness reigned triumphant among the Israelites, so that just
men were exposed as a prey, and were set, as it were, on sale. He says, first, that
they were sold for silver, and then he adds for shoes: and this ought to be carefully
observed; for when once men begin to turn aside from the right course, they abandon
themselves to evil without any shame. When an attempt is first made to draw aside
a man that is just and upright and free from what is corrupt, he is not immediately
overcome; though a great price may be offered to him, he will yet stand firm: but
when he has sold his integrity for ten pieces of gold, he may afterwards be easily
bought, as the case is usually will women. A woman, while she is pure, cannot be
easily drawn away from her conjugal fidelity: she may yet be corrupted by a great
price; and when once corrupted, she will afterwards prostitute herself, so that she
may be bought for a crust of bread. The same is the case with judges. They, then,
who at first covet silver, that is, who cannot be corrupted except by a rich and fat
bribe, will afterwards barter their integrity for the meanest reward; for there is no
shame any more remaining in them. This is what the Prophet points out in these
words, --- That they sold the just for silver; that is, that they sold him for a high price,
and then that they were corrupted by the meanest gift, that if one offered them a
pair of shoes, they would be ready without any blush of shame to receive such a
bribe.
We now then see the crime of which Amos accused the Israelites. They could not
raise an objection here, which they might have done, if he touched their supersti-
tions. He wished therefore to acquire authority by reprobating first their manifest and
obvious crimes. He afterwards, as it has been stated, speaks in its proper place, of
that fictitious worship, which they, after having rejected the Law of God, embraced.
It follows ---
Amos 2:7
7. That pant after the dust of the earth on the head of the poor, and turn aside
the way of the meek: and a man and his father will go in unto the same maid, to
profane my holy name:
7. Anhelantes super pulverem terrae ad caput inopum, viam miserorum (vel,
pauperum) deflectere facient: vir et pater ejus ingredientur ad puellam ut profanent
nomen sanctum meam (vel, nomen sanctitatis meae.)
Here Amos charges them first with insatiable avarice; they panted for the heads of
the poor on the dust of the earth. This place is in my judgment not well understood.
MINOR PROPHETS
{,}שאףshaph, means to pant and to breathe, and is taken often metaphorically as
signifying to desire: hence some render the words, ``They desire the heads of the
poor to be in the dust of the earth;'' that is, they are anxious to see the innocent cast
down and prostrate on the ground. But there is no need of many words to refute this
comment; for ye see that it is strained. Others say, that in their cupidity they cast
down the miserable into the dust; they therefore think that a depraved cupidity is
connected with violence, and they put the lust for the deed itself.
But what need there is of having recourse to these extraneous meanings, when
the words of the Prophet are in themselves plain and clear enough? He says that
they panted for the heads of the poor on the ground; as though he had said, that they
were not content with casting down the miserable, but that they gaped anxiously,
until they wholly destroyed them. There is then nothing to be changed or added in
the Prophet's words, which harmonize well together, and mean, that through cupidity
they panted for the heads of the poor, after the poor had been cast down, and were
laid prostrate in the dust. The very misery of the poor, whom they saw to be in
their power, and lying at their feet, ought to have satisfied them: but when such an
insatiable cupidity still inflamed them, that they panted for more punishment on the
poor and the miserable, was it not a fury wholly outrageous? We now perceive the
Prophet's meaning: He points out again what he has said in the former verse, --- that
the Israelites were given to rapacity, avarice, and cruelty of every kind.
He adds at last, and the way of the miserable they pervert. He still inveighs
against the judges; for it can hardly comport with what belongs to private individu-
als, but it properly appertains to judges to pervert justice, and to violate equity for
bribery; so that he who had the best cause became the loser, because he brought
no bribe sufÏciently ample. We now see what was the accusation he alleged against
the Israelites. But there follows another charge, that of indulgence in lusts.
Prayer.
Grant, almighty God, that since we see so grievous punishments formerly exe-
cuted on unbelievers who had never tasted of the pure knowledge of thy word, we
may be warned by their example, so as to abstain from all wickedness, and to con-
tinue in pure obedience to thy word; and that, as thou hast made known to us that
thou hatest all those superstitions and depravations by which we turn aside from
thy word, --- O grant, that we may ever be attentive to that role which has been
prescribed to us by thee in the Law, as well as in the Prophets and in the Gospel,
so that we may constantly abide in thy precepts, and be wholly dependent on the
words of thy month, and never turn aside either to the right hand or to the left, but
glorify thy name, as thou has commanded us, by offering to thee a true, sincere, and
spiritual worship, through Christ our Lord. Amen.
Lecture Fifty-second
It follows, in the seventh verse, that the son and the father entered in into the
same maid. The Prophet here charges the people of Israel with the unbridled lusts
which prevailed then among them; which were promiscuous and even incestuous. It
is, we know, a detestable monstrosity when a father and a son have connection with
the same woman; for the common feeling of mankind abhors such flagitousness.
JOHN CALVIN
But the Israelites were so much addicted to their own lusts, that the father and
the son had the same woman in common; as indeed it must happen when men
allow themselves excessive indulgences. A strumpet will, indeed, readily admit a
son and a father without any difference, for she has no shame; and no fear of God
restrains abandoned women given up to filthiness. It hence becomes a common
thing for a father and a son to pollute themselves by an incestuous concubinage.
But it is no diminution of guilt before God, when men, blinded by their lusts, make
no difference, and without any discrimination, and without any shame, follow their
own sinful propensities. Whenever this happens, it certainly proves that there is
no fear of God, and that even the common feeling of nature is extinct. Hence the
Prophet now justly condemns in the Israelites this crime, that the father and the son
entered in into the same woman.
An amplification of this crime is also added, --- that they thus polluted the holy
name of God. We indeed know that the people of Israel were chosen for this end
--- that the name of God might be supplicated by them; and well known is that
declaration, often repeated by Moses,
`Be ye holy, for I am holy' (Leviticus 11:44)
Hence the children of Israel could not defile themselves without polluting at the
same time the name of God, which was engraven on them. God then complains here
of this profanation; for the children of Israel not only contaminated themselves, but
also profaned whatever was sacred among them, inasmuch as the name of God was
exposed to reproach, when the people thus gave way to their filthy lusts. We now
understand what the Prophet means. It follows ---
Amos 2:8
8. And they lay themselves down upon clothes laid to pledge by every altar, and
they drink the wine of the condemned in the house of their god.
8. Et super vestes oppignoratas accubuerunt prope omne altare, et vinum damna-
torum biberunt in domo Dei sui.
Here the Prophet again inveighs against the people's avariciousness, and ad-
dresses his discourse especially to the chief men; for what he mentions could not
have been done by the common people, as the lower and humbler classes could not
make feasts by means of spoils gained by judicial proceedings. The Prophet then
condemns here, no doubt, the luxury and rapacity of men in high stations. They lie
down, he says, on pledged clothes nigh every altar. God had forbidden, in his law,
to take from a poor man a pledge, the need of which he had for the support of life
and daily use, (Exodus 22:26) For instance, it was prohibited by the law to take from
a poor man his cloak or his coat, or to take the covering of his bed, or any thing else
of which he had need. But the Prophet now accuses the Israelites, that they took
away pledges and clothes without any distinction, and lay down on them nigh their
altars. This belonged to the rich.
Then follows another clause, which, strictly speaking, must be restricted to the
judges and governors, They have drunk the wine of the condemned in the house, or
in the temple, of their God This may also be understood of the rich, who were wont
to indulge in luxury by means of ill-gotten spoils: for they litigated without cause;
MINOR PROPHETS
and when they gained judgment in their favor, they thought it lawful to fare more
sumptuously. This expression of the Prophet may therefore be extended to any of the
rich. But he seems here to condemn more specifically the cruelty and rapaciousness
of the judges. We now then perceive what the Prophet had in view by saying, that
they lay down on pledged garments.
He then says that they drank wine derived from fines, which had been laid on
the condemned. But this circumstance, that is added, ought to be observed, --- that
they lay down near altars and drank in the very temple: for the Prophet here laughs
to scorn the gross superstition of the Israelites, that they thought that they were
discharging their duty towards God, provided they came to the temple and offered
sacrifices at the altar. Thus, indeed, are hypocrites wont to appease God, as if one
by puppets played with a child. This has been a wickedness very common in all
ages, and is here laid to the charge of the Israelites by the Prophet: they dared with
an open front to enter the temple, and there to bring the pledged garments, and
to feast on their spoils. Hypocrites do ever make a den of thieves of God's temple,
(Matthew 21:13) for they think that all things are lawful for them, provided they
put on the appearance, by external worship, of being devoted to God. Since, then,
the Israelites promised themselves impunity and took liberty to sin, because they
performed religious ceremonies, the Prophet here sharply reproves them: they even
dared to make God a witness of their cruelty by bringing pledged garments and by
blending their spoils with their sacrifices, as though God had a participation with
robbers.
We hence see that rapaciousness and avarice are not alone condemned here
by the Prophet, but that the gross superstition of the Israelites is also reprobated,
because they thought that there would be no punishment for them, though they
plundered and robbed the poor, provided they reserved a part of the spoil for God,
as though a sacrifice from what had been unjustly got were not an abomination to
him.
But it may be asked, Why does the Prophet thus condemn the Israelites for they
had no sacred temple; and we also know (as it has been elsewhere stated) that
the temples, in which they thought that they worshipped God, were filthy brothels,
and full of all obscenity. How is it, then, that the Prophet now so sharply inveighs
against them, because they mingled their spoils with their impure sacrifices? To
this the answer is, That he had regard to their views, and derided the grossness of
their minds, that they thus childishly trifled with the God whom they imagined for
themselves. We say the same at this day to the Papists, --- that they blend profane
with sacred things, when they prostitute their masses, and also when they trifle with
God in their ceremonies. It is certain that whatever the Papists do is an abomination;
for the whole of religion is with them adulterated: but they yet cease not to wrong
God, whose name they pretend to profess. Such also were then the Israelites: though
they professed still to worship God, they were yet sacrilegious; though they offered
sacrifices to the calves in Dan and in Bethel, they yet reproached God, for they ever
abused his name. This, then, is the crime the Prophet now condemns in them. But
what I have said must be remembered, --- that this blind assurance is reprehended
JOHN CALVIN
in the Israelites, that they thought spoils to be lawful provided they professed to
worship God: but they thus rendered double their crime, as we have said; for they
tried to make God the associate of robbers, mingling as they did their pollutions with
their sacrifices. Let us proceed ---
Amos 2:9-12
9. Yet destroyed I the Amorite before them, whose height was like the height of
the cedars, and he was strong as the oaks; yet I destroyed his fruit from above, and
his roots from beneath.
9. Et ego exterminavi Amorrhaeum a facie ipsorum, cujus proceritas erat sicut
proceritas cedrorum, et qui fortis erat sicut quercus; et perdidi fructum ejus superne
et radicem ejus subtus.
10. Also I brought you up from the land of Egypt, and led you forty years through
the wilderness, to possess the land of the Amorite.
10. Et ego eduxi vos e terra Egypti, et deduxi vos (ambulare feci vos ad verbum)
in deserto per quadraginta annos ad possidendam terram Amorrhaei.
11. And I raised up of your sons for prophets, and of your young men for Nazarites.
Is it not even thus, O ye children of Israel? saith the Lord
11. Et suscitavi ex filiis vestris prophetas, et ex juvenibus vestris Nazaraeos:
annon etiam hoc, filii Israel? dicit Jehovah.
12. But ye gave the Nazarites wine to drink; and commanded the prophets, say-
ing, Prophesy not.
12. Et propinastis Nazaraeis vinum, et super prophetis mandastis, dicendo, Non
prophetabitis.
God expostulates here with the Israelites for their ingratitude. He records the
benefits he had before conferred on that people; and then shows how unworthily and
disgracefully they had conducted themselves; for they forgot their many blessings
and proudly despised God, and acted as if they were like other nations, and not
bound to God for the singular benefit of adoption. The sum then is that God here
complains that he had ill bestowed his blessings; and he reproves the people for
their impiety, inasmuch as they did not lead a holier life after having been freely
redeemed.
He says first, I have exterminated the Amorite before their face. God shows here
that he was disgracefully defrauded by the Israelites, for whose sake he had pre-
viously destroyed the Amorites. For why were the Amorites exterminated, but that
God would cleanse the land, and also, that he might give there a dwelling to his own
people, that he might be purely worshipped? Then the people of Israel ought to have
given up themselves wholly to the service of God; but as they neglected to do this,
they frustrated the purpose of God, who had expelled the Amorites from that land,
yea, and entirely destroyed them. The first complaint then is, that the children of
Israel were nothing better than the Amorites, though God had given them the land,
which was taken from its natives, that they might dwell in it, and on the condition,
that his name should be there worshipped. Hence the Prophets say elsewhere, that
they were Amorites. They ought to have been a new people; but as they followed
the examples of others, in what did they differ from them? They are therefore called
MINOR PROPHETS
their posterity. But the Prophet speaks not here so severely; he only reproves the
Israelites, because they differed in nothing from the Amorites, whom they knew to
have been destroyed that they might be introduced into their place, and succeed to
their inheritance.
It is then added, that the Amorites were tall in stature, and also that they were
strong men. By these words the Prophet intimates that the Amorites were not con-
quered by the people's valor, but by the wonderful power of God. We indeed know
that they were dreaded by the people of Israel, for they were like giants. Then the
Prophet speaks here of their height and strength, that the Israelites might consider
that they overcame them not by their own valor, but that the land was given them
by a miracle, for they had to do with giants, on whom they could hardly dare to look.
It was then God who prostrated the cedars and the oaks before his people. We hence
learn, that the Israelites could not boast of their own strengths as though they took
possession of the land, because by means of war they ejected their enemies; for this
was done by the singular kindness of God. They could not indeed have contended
with their enemies, had not that been fulfilled which the Lord had so often foretold,
`For you, while still, I will fight,' (Exodus 14:14) We now perceive the Prophet's inten-
tion. But we may hence farther learn, that the Israelites had not possessed the land,
because they were more excellent than the Amorites, its ancient inhabitants; but
because it so pleased God. There was therefore no reason for the people of Israel
to be proud on account of any excellency. It hence appears that they, who did not
consider this remarkable kindness done to them, were more than doubly ungrateful
to God.
He says that their fruit above and root below were destroyed. By this metaphor
God enlarges on what he said before, that the Amorites had been exterminated, so
that none of them remained. ``I have demolished,'' he says, or, ``I have entirely
destroyed the root beneath and the fruit above; I have extinguished the very name
of the nation.'' And yet the Israelites were not better, though the Amorites were
thus destroyed; but having succeeded in their place, they became like them: this
was utterly inexcusable. The more severe God's vengeance had been towards the
Amorites, the more ought the Israelites to have extolled his favor: but when with
closed eyes they passed by so remarkable a testimony of God's paternal love, it
appears that they were extremely wicked and ungrateful.
He afterwards subjoins, I have made you to ascend from the land of Egypt; I have
made you to walk in the desert for forty years, in order to possess the land of the
Amorite. The circumstances here specified are intended to confirm the same thing,
that God had miraculously redeemed his people. Men, we know, for the most part
extenuate the favors of God; nay, this evil is innate in us. This is the reason why
the Prophet so largely describes and extols the redemption of the people. Hence
he says now that they had been led out of the land of Egypt. And they ought to
have remembered what had been their condition in Egypt; for there they were most
miserably oppressed. When therefore that coming out was set before them, it was
the same as if God had reminded them how shamefully they had been treated, and
how hard had been their bondage in Egypt. That beginning ought to have humbled
JOHN CALVIN
them, and also to have stimulated them to the cultivation of piety. When now they
proudly exulted against God, when no recollection of their deliverance laid hold on
them, this vice is justly laid to their charge by the Prophet: ``See,'' he says, ``I
have brought you forth from the land of Egypt; what were ye then? what was your
nobility? what was your wealth or riches? what was your power? For the Egyptians
treated you as the vilest slaves; your condition then was extremely ignominious; ye
were as lost, and I redeemed you: and now buried is the recollection of so illustrious
a kindness, which deserved to be for ever remembered.''
He afterwards adds, I have made you to walk, etc. The Prophet here reminds them
of the desert, that the Israelites might know that God might have justly closed up
against them an entrance into the land, though he had promised it for an inheritance
to Abraham. For how was it that the Lord led them about for so long a time, except
that they, as far as they could, had denied God, and rendered themselves unwor-
thy of enjoying the promised land? Then the Prophet indirectly blames the Israelites
here for having been the cause why God detained them for forty years without in-
troducing them immediately into the promised land; which might have easily been
done, had they not closed the door against themselves by their ingratitude. This is
one reason why the Prophet now speaks of the forty years. And then, as God had in
various ways testified his kindness towards the Israelites, he had thus bound them
the more to himself; but an ungodly forgetfulness had buried all his favors. God
daily rained manna on them from heaven; he also gave them drink from a dry rock;
he guided them during the day by a pillar of cloud, and in the night by fire: and we
also know how often God bore with them, and how many proofs he gave them of
his forbearance. The Prophet, then, by speaking here of the forty years, meant to
counsel the Israelites to call to mind the many favors, by which they were bound to
God, while they were miraculously led by him for forty years in the desert.
He now subjoins, I have raised from your sons Prophets, and Nazarites from your
young or strong men, (for {,}בחריםbecharim, as we have elsewhere said, are called
by the Hebrews chosen men;) then from your youth or chosen men have I raised
Nazarites. Was it not so, O children of Israel? or certainly it was so: for the particle
{,}אףaph, sometimes is a simple afÏrmation, and sometimes an addition. Is not
then all this true, O children of Israel? saith Jehovah. God first reminds them that he
had raised up Prophets from their sons. It if a remarkable proof of God's love, that
he deigns to guide his people by Prophets: for if God were to speak himself from
heaven, or to send his angels down, it would apparently be much more dignified;
but when he so condescends as to employ mortal men and our own brethren, who
are the agents of his Spirit, in whom he dwells, and by whose mouth he speaks,
it cannot indeed be esteemed as highly as it deserves, that the Lord should thus
accommodate himself to us in so familiar a manner. This is the reason why he now
says, that he had raised up Prophets from their sons. They might have objected and
said, that he had introduced the Law, and that then the heaven was moved, and that
the earth shook: but he speaks of his daily favor in having been pleased to speak
continually to his people, as it were, from mouth to mouth, and this by men: I have
raised up, he says, Prophets from your sons; that is, ``I have chosen angels from the
MINOR PROPHETS
midst of you.'' The Prophets are indeed, as it were, celestial ambassadors, and God
commands them to be heard, the same as if he himself appeared in a visible form.
Since then he choose angels from the midst of us, is not this an invaluable favor?
We hence see how much force is contained in this reproof, when the Lord says, that
Prophets had been chosen from his own people.
And he mentions also the Nazarites. It appears sufÏciently evident from Numbers
6:1-8, why God appointed Nazarites. Nothing is more difÏcult, we know, than to
induce men to follow a common rule; for they ever seek something new; and hence
have arisen so many devices, so many additions, in short, so many leavenings by
which God's worship is corrupted; for each wishes to be more holy than another, and
affects some singularity. In case then any one had a wish to consecrate himself to
God beyond what was commonly required, the Lord instituted a peculiar observance,
that the people might not attempt any thing without at least his permission. Hence,
when any one wished to consecrate himself to God, though they were all holy, he yet
observed certain regulations: he abstained from wine; he allowed his hair to grow;
in a word, he observed those ceremonial rites which we find in the chapter already
referred to. God now reminds the Israelites that he had omitted nothing calculated
to preserve them pure and holy, and entire in his worship.
After having related these two things, he asks them, Is not all this true? The facts
were indeed well known: then the question, it may be said, was superfluous. But
the Prophet designedly asked the Israelites the question here --- Is it not so? that he
might more deeply touch their hearts. We indeed often despise things well known,
and we see how many heedlessly allow what they hear, and pass by things without
any thought. Such must have been the torpidity of the Israelites; they might have
confessed without disputing that all this was true, --- that the Lord had raised up
Prophets from their children, and that he had given to them that peculiar service
of which we have spoken; but they mighty at the same time, have contemptuously
overlooked the whole, had not this been added: ``What do ye mean, O Israelites? ye
do indeed see that nothing has been left undone by me to retain you in my service:
how then is it now, that your lust leads you away from me, and that having shaken
off the yoke, ye grow thus wanton against me?'' We now perceive why the Prophet
inserted this clause, for it was necessary that the Israelites should be more sharply
roused, that being convicted, they might acknowledge their guilt.
But it now follows, Ye have to the Nazarites quaffed wine, and on the Prophets ye
have laid a command, that they should not prophesy God complains here that the
service which he had instituted had been violated by the people. It seems indeed a
light offense, that wine had been given to the Nazarites; for the kingdom of God, we
know, is not meat and drink, (1 Corinthians 8:8) though this saying of Paul was not
yet made known, it was yet true in all ages. It was then lawful for the Nazarites to
drink wine, provided they used moderation. To this the simple answer is that it was
lawful to drink wine, for they of their own accord undertook to abstain from it. In
similar manner God forbade the priests to drink wine or strong drink whenever they
entered the temple. God indeed did not wish to be served with this kind of ceremony;
but his intention was to show, by such a rite, that a greater temperance is required
JOHN CALVIN
in priests than in the people in general. His purpose then to withdraw them from the
common mode of living, when they entered the temple; for they were as mediators
between God and his people: they ought then to have consecrated themselves in a
special manner. We now see that the priests were reminded by this external symbol,
that greater holiness was required in them than in the people. The same thing must
be also said of the Nazarites. The Nazarites might drink wine; but during the time
they consecrated themselves to God, they were not allowed to drink wine, that they
might thereby acknowledge that they were in a manner separated from the common
habits of men, and were come nearer to God. We now understand why it was not
lawful for the Nazarites to drink wine.
But it is frivolous for the Papists to pretend this example, and to introduce it in de-
fense of their superstitions, and of their foolish and rash vows, which they undertake
without any regard to God: for God expressly sanctioned and confirmed whatever
the Nazarites did under the law. Let the Papists show a proof for their monastic
vows, and foolish rites, by which they now trifle with God. We also know that there
is a great difference between the Nazarites and the Papal monks; for the monks vow
perpetual celibacy; others vow abstinence from flesh during life; and these things
are done foolishly and rashly. They indeed think that the worship of God consists in
these trifles. They promise what is not in their own power; for they renounce mar-
riage, when they know not whether they are endued with the gift of chastity. And
to abstain from flesh all their life is more foolish still, because they make this to be
a part of God's service. I do, at the same time, wonder that they bring forward this
example, since there are none so holy under the Papacy as to abstain from wine.
As for the Carthusians and other monks of the holier sort, they seem determined to
take revenge on abstinence from flesh, for they choose the sweetest and the liveliest
wine; as though they intended to get a compensation for the loss and deprivation
they undergo, when they pledge to God their abstinence from flesh, by reserving
the best wine for themselves. These things are extremely ludicrous. Besides it is a
sufÏcient reply if we adduce what I have already said, that the Nazarites did nothing
under the law but what God in his word approved and sanctioned.
Since God then so sharply and severely reproved the Israelites for giving wine to
the Nazarites, what must be expected now, when we transgress the chief command-
ments of God, when we corrupt his whole spiritual worship? It seemed apparently but
a venial sin, so to speak, in the Nazarites to drink wine. Had they become wanton or
robbed, or had they done wrong to their brethren, or committed forgery, the charge
against them would have doubtless been much more atrocious. Yet the Prophet
does not now abstain from bitterly complaining that they drank wine. Then, since
God would have us to worship him in a spiritual manner, a much heavier charge lies
against us, if we violate his spiritual worship. As, for instance, if we now pollute the
sacraments, if we corrupt the purity of divine worship, if we treat his word with scorn,
yea, if we transgress as to these main points of religion, much less is our excuse.
Let us then remember that the Prophet here reproves the Israelites for giving wine
to the Nazarites.
He then adds, that they commanded the Prophets not to prophesy. It is certain
MINOR PROPHETS
that the Prophets were not forbidden to speak, at least expressly forbidden: but
when the liberty of teaching faithfully as they ought to do is taken away from God's
servants, and a command to this effect is given them, it is the same thing as to reject
wholly their doctrine. The Israelites wished Prophets to be among them; and yet they
could not endure their plain reproofs. But when they had polluted the worship of God,
when their whole conduct became dissolute, the Prophets sharply inveighed against
them: this freedom could not be endured by the Israelites; they wished to be spared
and flattered. What then the Prophet now lays to their charge is that they forbade
God's servants to declare the word freely and honestly as God had commanded
them. Hence he says, On the Prophets they have laid a charge, that they should not
prophesy.
This evil reigns in the world at this day. It would indeed be an execrable audacity
wholly to reject the Lord's word; this is what even ungodly men dare not openly
to do: but they wish at the same time some middle course to be adopted, that God
might not fully exercise authority over them. They then would gladly put restraint on
the Holy Spirit, so as not to allow him to speak but within certain limitations: ``See,
we willingly allow thee some things, but this we cannot bear: so much asperity is
extremely odious.'' And under the Papacy at this day the liberty of prophesying is
wholly suppressed: and among us how many there are who wish to impose laws on
God's servants beyond which they are not to pass? But we see what the Prophet
says here, --- that the word of God is repudiated when the freedom of teaching is
restrained, and men wish to be flattered, and desire their sins to be covered, and
cannot bear free admonitions.
Let us also notice the word command, which the Prophet uses. {,}צוהtsue, means
to order, to command, or to determine, in an authoritative manner. The Prophet
then does not expostulate with them, because there were many who clamored, who
murmured against the Prophets, as it is always the case; but he rather condemns the
audacity of the chief men for daring to consult how they might silence the Prophets,
and not allow them the free liberty of teaching, as we find it to be done even now.
For not only in taverns and lurking-places do the ungodly clamor when their sins are
severely reproved, but they also go forth publicly and complain that too much liberty
is allowed the ministers of the word, and that some course ought to be adopted to
make them speak more moderately. It is then this sacrilege that the Prophet now
rebukes, when he says, that the ungodly commanded the Prophets, that they should
not prophecy, as though they made a law, as though they wished to proclaim a
decree, that the Prophets should not speak so boldly and so freely. It now follows ---
Amos 2:13
13. Behold, I am pressed under you, as a cart is pressed that is full of sheaves.
13. Ecce ego angustians (vel, angustiatus, constrictus, vel, constringens) in loco
vestro (vel, sub vobis,) sicuti constringitur plaustrum quod plenum est manipulo (id
est, manipulis.)
The verb {,}עיקoik, in Hebrew is often transitive, and it is also a neuter. This place
then may admit of two interpretations. The first is, that God was pressed under the
Israelites, as a wagon groans under too much weight; and so God expostulates by
JOHN CALVIN
Isaiah, that he was weighed down by the Israelites, `Ye constrain me,' he says, `to la-
bor under your sins' (Isaiah 1:14) The sense then, that God was pressed down under
them, may be viewed as not unsuitable: and yet the more received interpretation
is this, ``Behold, I will bind you fast as a wagon is bound.'' I am, however, more in-
clined to take the first meaning, --- that God here reprehends the Israelites, because
he had been pressed down by them: for {,}תחתיכםtacheticam, properly signifies,
``Under you,'' which some render, but strainedly, ``Is your place:'' for when the
verb is transitive, they say, that {,}תחתיכםtacheticam, must be rendered ``In your
place:'' but this is frigid and forced; and the whole passage will run better, if we say,
``I am bound fast under you, as though ye were a wagon full of sheaves; 28'' that is,
``Ye are to me intolerable.'' For God carried that people on his shoulders; and when
they loaded him with the burden of iniquities, it is no wonder that he said that they
were like a wagon --- a wagon filled with many sheaves: ``Ye are light as wind, but
ye are also to me very burdensome, and I am forced at length to shake you off:'' and
this he afterwards shows.
Prayer.
Grant, Almighty God, that as thou hast not only redeemed us by the blood of thy
only begotten Son, but also guides us during our earthly pilgrimage, and suppliest us
with whatever is needful, --- O grant, that we may not be unmindful of so many favors,
and turn away from thee and follow our sinful desires, but that we may continue
bound to thy service, and never burden thee with our sins, but submit ourselves
willingly to thee in true obedience, that by glorifying thy name we may carry thee
both in body and soul, until thou at length gatherest us into that blessed kingdom
which has been obtained for us by the blood of thy Son. Amen.
Lecture Fifty-third
Amos 2:14-16
14. Therefore the flight shall perish from the swift, and the strong shall not
strengthen his force, neither shall the mighty deliver himself:
14. Peribit fuga a veloce, et fortis non roborabit vires suas, et robustus non serv-
abit (non liberabit) animam suam:
15. Neither shall he stand that handleth the bow; and he that is swift of foot shall
not deliver himself: neither shall he that rideth the horse deliver himself.
15. Et tenens arcum non stabit, et velox pedibus suis non liberabit, neque ascen-
sor equi liberabit animam suam.
16. And he that is courageous among the mighty shall flee away naked in that
28This verse has caused great labor to commentators; and many have been the views given. The first difficulty is in the words rendered in our version, "under you." {{תחתand with the Iod commonly
added when there is a sufÏx, often occurs, and means on doubt, an place, a spot, a standing, as in the following passages: Exodus
10:23; 16:29; 1 Samuel 14:9; Habakkuk 3:16; and this seems to be its meaning here. Then the second difÏculty is about ``the
cart'' or wagon. Some consider it to be the vehicle to carry corn; and others, the machine to thresh it as Newcome and others
do: but this view is not consistent with the other expressions used in this clause. A critic, quoted by Poole, evidently gives the
meaning in these words, Sensus est, q.d. Ego vos in eas angustas adducam, unde vos ipsos mimime expedire valeatis --- ``The
sense is, as though he said, I will bring you to those straits, from which ye will by no means be able to deliver yourselves.'' I would
then translate the verse thus: --- Behold, I will confine you in your place, As a wagon confines its load---the sheaves; or word for
word, As a wagon confines the filling of it --- the sheaf. The rendering of the last line by Newcome is certainly not what the original
will bear; his translation of the whole verse is this: --- Therefore, behold I will press your place, As a loaded corn-wain presseth its
sheaves. It is not pressing or crushing that corresponds with the contents of the following verses, but confining and reducing to
straits from which they could not escape. --- Ed.
MINOR PROPHETS
day, saith the Lord
16. Et qui robustus est corde suo inter fortes nudus fugiet die illa, dicit Jehova.
I explained yesterday the verse, in which the Prophet says, in the name of God,
that the people were like a grievous and heavy burden, as though they were a wagon
laden with many sheaves. I stated that the Prophet's words are differently explained
by many interpreters, who give this view, --- that God compares himself to a loaded
wagon, under which the people were to be crushed. But no necessity constrains us
to take the same verb in two senses, active and neuter, as they do; and then the
comparison seems not quite suitable; and farther, it is better, as I have said, to say,
that God complains, that he was loaded and pressed down under the people, than to
render {,}תחתיכםtacheticm, ``In your place;'' for this is wholly a strained rendering.
But most suitable is the Prophet's meaning, when understood as the complaint of
God, that it was a grievous thing to bear the burdens of the people, when he saw
that they were men of levity, and, at the same time, burdensome.
Hence the Prophet now denounces vengeance such as they deserved; and he
says first, Perish shall flight from the swift, etc., that is, no one will be so swift as to
escape by fleeing; and the valiant shall do nothing by fighting; for it is to confirm
strength when one resists an adversary and repels assaults. The valiant, therefore,
shall fight with no advantage; and then, The strong shall not deliver his own life: he
who holds the bow shall not stand; that is, he who is equipped with a bow, and repels
his enemy at a distance, shall not be able to stand in his place. He who is swift on
foot shall not be able to flee, nor he who mounts a horse; which means that whether
footmen or horsemen, they shall not, by their celerity, be able to escape death. And,
lastly, he who is stout and intrepid in heart among the valiant shall flee away naked,
being content with life alone, and only anxious to provide for his own safety.
The Prophet intimates by all these words, that so grievous would be the slaughter
of the people, that it would be a miracle if any should escape.
We now then see how severely the prophet at the very beginning handled this
people. He no doubt observed their great obduracy: for he would not have assailed
them so sharply at first, had they not been for a long time rebellious and had despised
all warnings and threatening. Amos was not the first who addressed them; but the
Israelites had hardened themselves against all threatenings before he came to them.
It therefore behaved him sharply to reprove them, as God treats men according to
their disposition. I come now to the third chapter.
Chapter 3.
Amos 3
Amos 3:1-2
1. Hear this word that the Lord hath spoken against you, O children of Israel,
against the whole family which I brought up from the land of Egypt, saying,
1. Audite verbum hoc quod pronunciat Jehova super vos, filii Israel, super totam
familiam eduxi (vel, ascendere feci) e terra Aegypti, dicendo,
2. You only have I known of all the families of the earth: therefore I will punish
you for all your iniquities.
2. Tantummodo vos cognovi ex omnibus familiis terrae: propterea visitabo super
vos omnes iniquitates vestras.
The Prophet wished doubtless by these words to confirm his own authority, for he
saw that his doctrine was regarded with contempt: and it is probable that the words
recited here were not only once delivered by him, but had been often repeated. We
know how great was the pride and confidence of that people: it was therefore needful
to beat it down, that they might be habituated to dread and fear, when God reproved
them by his Prophets.
It was then the common mode of speaking, when he said, Hear the word which
God has spoken concerning your, O children of Israel. He brings forward here the
name of God, that they might know that they had not to do with a mortal man, or with
a shepherd, such as he was. We then observe here, what I have just referred to, and
that is, that the Prophet seeks to strengthen his authority as a teacher, that he might
gain more respect among the people. But he adds, concerning the whole family
which I brought up out of Egypt It is certain that this discourse was not addressed
except to the ten tribes; why, then, does the Prophet speak here so generally? Even
because the kingdom of Israel formed the greater portion of the race of Abraham, and
on this account they boasted that the adoption continued to be possessed by them.
Since, then, they despised the tribe of Judah, and the half-tribe of Benjamin, which
was connected with it, and had ever boasted of their great number, the Prophet says
MINOR PROPHETS
here, by way of concession, that they were indeed the blessed seed, the posterity of
Abraham; in a word, the elect people, whom God had redeemed from Egypt. Then
the Prophet includes not here the kingdom of Judah, but concedes to the Israelites
what they boasted, --- that they were the elect people, the holy race of Abraham,
the very nation which had been miraculously delivered. ``Let, then,'' he says, ``all
these boastings be granted, yet God will not, on this account, desist from executing
his judgment upon them.''
We now apprehend the design of the Prophet: he first seeks to gain respect for his
doctrine, and takes occasion to speak of his own vocation, that he brought nothing
of his own, but only discharged faithfully the ofÏce committed to him; yea, that he
was the organ of the Holy Spirit, and adduced nothing from his own mind, but only
spoke what the Lord had commanded him. And then, as the Israelites, relying on
their large number, thought that wrong was done them, when they were severely
reprehended by the Prophets, and as there was an absurd rivalship between them
and the kingdom of Judah, the Prophet concedes to them that for which they were
foolishly proud; but, at the same time, he shows that they in vain confided in their
number, inasmuch as God summoned them to judgment, though they were the elect
people, and the holy seed, and the redeemed nation. These are the main points.
The Prophet afterwards declares what he had in charge, Only you have I known
of all the families of the earth: I will therefore visit you for your iniquities. Many
think that he still concedes to the Israelites what they were wont to boast of, ---
that they were separated from the common class of men, because the Lord had
adopted them: but it seems rather to be a reproach cast on them. God then brings
forward here his benefits, of which we noticed yesterday a similar instance, that he
might enhance the more the sin of the people, in returning the worst recompense to
God, by whom they had been so liberally and so kindly treated: ``I,'' he says, ``have
loved you only.'' It is indeed true, that the Israelites, as we have in other places often
observed, gloried in their privileges; but the Prophet seems not to have this in view.
God then expostulates with them for being so ungrateful: You only, he says, have
I known. It is indeed certain that God's care is extended to the whole human race,
yea even to oxen and asses, and to the very sparrows. Even the young of ravens
cry to him, and the smallest bird is fed by him. We hence see that God's providence
extends to all mortal beings; but yet not in an equal degree. God has ever known all
men so as to give what is needful to preserve life. God has, therefore, made his sun
to rise on all the human race, and has also made the earth to produce food. Then as
to the necessaries of life, he performs the ofÏce of a Father towards all men. But he
has known his chosen people, because he has separated them from other nations,
that they might be like his own family. Israel, then, is said to be known, because God
favored them alone with a gratuitous adoption, and designed them to be a peculiar
people to himself. This is the knowledge of which the Prophet now speaks.
But by saying that they only, {,}רקrek, had been known, he shows that they
had been chosen through God's singular favor, for there was no difference between
the seed of Abraham and other nations, when regarded in themselves, otherwise
this exception would have been superfluous. For if there had been any superiority or
JOHN CALVIN
merit in the people of Israel, this objection might have readily been made, ``We have
indeed been chosen, but not without cause, for God had respect to our worthiness.''
But as they in nothing differed from other nations, and as the condition of all was alike
by nature, the Lord upbraids them with this, that he had known them only; as though
he said ``How has it happened, that ye are my peculiar possession and heritage?
Has it been by your merit? Has it been because I was more bound to you than to
other nations? Ye cannot allege these things. It has therefore been my gratuitous
adoption. Ye are then the more bound to me, and less excusable is your ingratitude
for rendering to me so unjust a recompense.'' So also Paul says, `Who makes thee to
differ?' (1 Corinthians 4:7) He wished to show that every excellency in men ought to
be ascribed to God. For the same purpose it is said here, you only have I loved and
known of all the families of the earth: ``What were you? Ye were even the children
of Adam, as all other nations; the same has been the beginning of all. There is then
no reason for you to say, that I was attached to you by any prepossession; I freely
chose you and chose you alone.'' All this tends to amplify grace; and ingratitude on
their part does hereby appear more evident. For had God spoken these words of his
general benefits, the guilt of his chosen people would not have been so great: but
when he says that they only had been chosen, when others were passed by, their
impiety seemed doubtless more base and wicked in not acknowledging God in their
turn, so as to devote themselves wholly to Him, to whom they owed every thing.
And the bounty of God shines forth also in this respect, that he had known the
Israelites alone, though there were many other nations. Had God owed any thing to
men, he would not have kept it from them; this is certain. But since he repudiated
all other nations, it follows, that they were justly rejected, when he made no account
of them. Whence then was it that he chose the Israelites? We here see how highly
is God's grace exalted by this comparison of one people with all other nations. And
the same thing also appears from these words, of all the families of the earth; as
though God had said, ``There were many nations in the world, the number of men
was very great; but I regarded them all as nothing, that I might take you under my
protection; and thus I was content with a small number, when all men were mine;
and this I have done through mere favor, for there was nothing in you by which ye
excelled others, nor could they allege that they were unjustly rejected. Since then I
preferred you of my own will, it is evident that I was under no obligation to you.'' We
now then understand the design of the Prophet's words.
He then subjoins, I will therefore visit upon you your iniquities. God declares here,
that the Israelites would have to suffer a heavier judgment, because they acknowl-
edged not their obligations to God, but seemed willfully to despise his favor and to
scorn him, the author of so many blessings. Since then the Israelites were bound
by so many and so singular benefits, and they at the same time were as wicked as
other nations the Prophet shows, that they deserved a heavier punishment, and that
God's judgment, such as they deserved, was nigh at hand. This is the substance of
the whole. It now follows ---
Amos 3:3-8
3. Can two walk together, except they be agreed?
MINOR PROPHETS
3. An duo ambulabunt simul nisi inter ipsos conveniat?
4. Will a lion roar in the forest, when he hath no prey? will a young lion cry out of
his den, if he have taken nothing?
4. An rugiet leo in sylva et praeda non erit ei? an dabit leo (vel, leunculus edet,
vel, emittet) vocem suam e cubili suo (vel, lustro) quum nihil ceperit?
5. Can a bird fall in a snare upon the earth, where no gin is for him? shall one
take up a snare from the earth, and have taken nothing at all?
5. An cadet avis super laqueum ad terram absque aucupe (et auceps non erit ei?
Ad verbum;) an tollet auceps laqueum ex terra priusquam capturam ceperit? (ad
verbum, et capiendo non capiet: sed ego redidi sensum Prophetae.)
6. Shall a trumpet be blown in the city, and the people not be afraid? shall there
be evil in a city, and the Lord hath not done it?
6. An clanget tuba in urbe et populus non contremiscet? An erit malum in urbe
quod Jehova non fecerit?
7. Surely the Lord God will do nothing, but he revealeth his secret unto his ser-
vants the prophets.
7. Quia (vel, certe) non faciet Dominator Jehova quidquam nisi revelaverit secre-
tum suum servis suis Prophetis.
8. The lion hath roared, who will not fear? the Lord God hath spoken, who can
but prophesy?
8. Leo rugivit, quis non timeat? Dominator Jehova locutus est, quis non
prophetet?
The Prophet here accumulates similitudes which may, however, be reduced to five
particulars. He first shows that he uttered no empty words, but had God's authority
for what he said; and he appeals to him as his witness and approver: this is one thing.
Then he shows that God designedly announces the punishment he would inflict on
transgressors, that they might in time repent, and that he does not cry out for no
reason, as unreflecting men grow angry for nothing, but that he is driven to anger
by just causes, and therefore terrifies them by his Prophets. He teaches, thirdly, that
nothing happens by chance, that the Israelites might thereby be made to consider
more attentively the judgments of God. In the fourth place, he declares that men are
extremely stupid, when they are not moved by the threats which they hear proceed
from God. He intimates, in the fifth place, that the execution of them was ready to
take place, and that when God has denounced anything, his threatenings are not
vain, such as those by which children are terrified.
These, then, are the five points, which we shall hereafter notice in their due order.
He at the same time confirms what he said at the beginning of the chapter, --- that
God did not suddenly take vengeance on the Israelites, but called them to repen-
tance, provided they were healable. He had indeed spoken before more distinctly,
`For three transgressions, and for four, I will not be propitious to them:' but now he
demands attention from the people of Israel, ``Hear this ye children of Israel, Will
two men walk together, except they agree among themselves?'' By these words
he teaches, that though God might have immediately and unexpectedly brought
punishment on them, he yet spared them and suspended his judgment, until they
JOHN CALVIN
repented, provided they were not wholly irreclaimable. Amos now then confirms the
truth, that God would not punish the Israelites, as he might justly, but would first try
whether there was any hope of repentance.
Let us now come to the first similitude; he asks Will two walk together without
agreeing? Some forcibly misapply the Prophet's words, as though the meaning was,
that God was constrained to depart from that people, because he saw that they were
going astray so perversely after their lusts. The sense, according to these, would
be, ``Do you wish me to walk with you?'' that is ``Do you wish that my blessing
should dwell among you, that I should show to you, as usual, my paternal love, and
bountifully support you? Why then do ye not walk with me, or, why should there not
be a mutual consent? Why do ye not respond to me? for I am ready to walk with
you.'' But this exposition, as ye see, is too strained. There are other two, which are
these, --- either that the Prophet intimates here that so many of God's servants did
not, as it were with one mouth, threaten the Israelites in vain, --- or, that the consent
of which he speaks was that of God with his Prophets. This last exposition being
rather obscure, requires to be more clearly explained. Some, then, take the sense
of this verse to be the following, --- ``I am not alone in denouncing punishment on
you; for God has before warned you by other Prophets; many of them still live; and
ye see how well we agree together: we have not conspired after the manner of men,
and it has not happened by any agreements that Isaiah and Micah denounce on you
what ye hear from my mouth. It is then a hidden accordance, which proceeds from
the Holy Spirit.'' This sense is not unsuitable.
But there is a third equally befitting, to which I have briefly referred, and that
is, that the Prophet here afÏrms that he speaks by God's command, as when two
agree together, when they follow the same road; as when one meets with a chance
companion, he asks him where he goes, and when he answers that he is going to
a certain place, he says I am going on the same road with you. Then Amos by this
similitude very fitly sets forth the accordance between God and his Prophets; for
they did not rashly obtrude themselves so as to announce anything according to
their own will, but waited for the call of God, and were fully persuaded that they
did not by any chance go astray, but kept the road which the Lord had pointed out.
This could not itself have been a sufÏciently satisfactory proof of his call; but the
Prophet had already entered on his course of teaching; and though nearly the whole
people clamored against him, he yet had given no obscure proofs of his call. He
does not then here mention the whole evidence, as though he intended to show
that he was from the beginning the Prophet of God; but he only confirms, by way
of reproof, what his teaching had before sufÏciently attested. Hence he asks, Will
two walk together except they agree among themselves? as though he said, ``Ye
are mistaken in judging of me, as though I were alone, and in making no account of
God: ye think me to be a shepherd, and this is true; but it ought to be added, that I
am sent by God and endued with the gift of prophecy. Since then I speak by God's
Spirit, I do not walk alone; for God goes before, and I am his companion. Know then
that whatever I bring forward proceeds not from me, but God is the author of what I
teach.''
MINOR PROPHETS
This seems to be the genuine meaning of the Prophet: by this similitude he afÏrms
that he faithfully discharged his ofÏce, for he had not separated himself from God,
but was his companion: as when two agree together to travel the same road; so also
he shows that he and God were agreed. If, however, the former interpretation be
more approved, I will not dispute the point; that is, that the Prophet here confirms his
own doctrine by alleging that he was not alone, but had other colleagues; for it was
no common confirmation, when it appeared evident that the other Prophets added
their testimony to what he taught. As, however, he does not apply this similitude in
this way, I know not whether such was his design: I have therefore brought forward
what seems to me to be a simpler view.
The second similitude follows, Will a lion roar in the forest without a prey? Will
a lion send forth his voice from his den when he has caught nothing? By this verse
he intimates that God does not cry out for nothing by his Prophets; for ungodly men
supposed that the air was only made to reverberate by an empty sound, when the
Prophets threatened, ``These,'' they said, ``are mere words;'' as though indeed they
could not find that the necessity of crying arose from themselves, because they had
provoked God by their vices. Hence the Prophet, meeting their objection, says, ``If
lions roar not, except when they have obtained a prey, shall God cry from heaven
and send forth his voice as far as the earth, when there is no prey?'' The meaning is,
that the word of God was very shamefully despised by the Israelites, as though there
was no reason for crying, as though God was trifling with them. His word is indeed
precious, and is not thrown heedlessly into the air, as if it were a mere refuse; but
it is an invaluable seed. Since the Lord cries, it is not, says Amos, without a lawful
cause. How so? The lions do not indeed roar without prey; God then does not cry
by his Prophets, except for the best reason. It hence follows that the Israelites were
hitherto extremely stupid inasmuch as they did not listen with more earnestness and
attention to the teaching of the Prophets, as though God had uttered only an empty
sound.
The third similitude now follows, Will a bird fall on the earth, he says, without a
fowler? The Prophet means here that nothing happens without being foreseen by
God; for as nets are laid for birds, so God ensnares men by his hidden punishments.
Unexpectedly indeed calamity comes, and it is commonly ascribed to chance; but
the Prophet here reminds us that God stretches his nets, in which men are caught,
though they think that chance rules, and observe not the hand of God. They are
deceived, he says; for the bird foresees not the ensnaring prepared for him; but
yet he falls not on the earth without the fowler: for nets weave not themselves by
chance, but they are made by the industry of the man who catches birds. So also
calamities do not happen by chance, but proceed from the secret purpose of God.
But we must observe, that similitudes ought not to be too strictly applied to the
subject in hand. Were one to asks how God could compare himself here to a fowler,
as there is craft and artifice employed in catching innocent birds, when nets are laid
for them, it would be a frivolous question; for it is evident enough what the Prophet
meant, and that the design of his words was to show, that punishments fall on men,
and that they are ensnared through the secret purpose of God; for God has long
JOHN CALVIN
ago foreseen what he will do, though men act heedlessly, as the birds who foresee
nothing.
Then it follows in the fourth place, Will the fowler remove his snare before he has
made a capture? In this second clause the Prophet intimates that the threatening
of God would not be without effect; for he will execute whatever he declares. It is
indeed certain, that fowlers often return home empty, and gather their nets though
they have taken nothing; but the Prophet, as I have said, in using these similitudes,
only states what fowlers usually do, when they are in hope of some prey. As for
instance, when one spreads his nets, he will wait, and will not gather his nets until
he takes some prey, if so be that a prey should come; he may indeed wait in vain
all night. Then as fowlers are not wearied, and wish not to lose their labor after they
have spread their nets, so also the Prophet says that God does not in vain proclaim
his threatenings to serve as empty bugbears, but that his nets remain until he has
taken his prey; which means, that God will really execute what he has threatened
by his Prophets. The meaning then is, that God's word is not ineffectual, but when
God declares any thing, it is sure to be accomplished: and hence he reproves the
Israelites for receiving so heedlessly and with deaf ears all God's threatening, as
though he was only trifling with them. ``It will not be,'' he says, ``as you expect; for
God will take his prey before he takes up his nets.''
He adds, in the last place, Shall a trumpet sound and the people tremble not? Here
he reprehends, as I have said, the torpidity of the people, to whom all threatening
were a sport: ``When a trumpet sounds,'' he says, ``all tremble; for it is a signal of
danger. All then either fly for aid or stand amazed, when the trumpet sounds. God
himself cries, his voice deserves much more attention than the trumpet which fills
men's minds with dread; and yet it is a sound uttered to the deaf. What then does
this prove, but that madness possesses the minds of men? Are they not destitute
of all judgment and of every power of reason?'' We hence see that the Prophet in
these words intended to show, that the Israelites were in a manner fascinated by the
devil, for they had no thought of evils; and though they knew that God sounded the
trumpet and denounced ruin, they yet remained heedless, and were no more moved
than if all things were in a quiet state. What remains I cannot now finish.
Prayer.
Grant, Almighty God, that as thou art pleased daily to exhort us to repentance,
and dost not suddenly execute thy judgment by which we might be in an instant
overwhelmed, but givest us time to seek reconciliation, --- O grant, that we may now
attend to thy teaching, and all thy admonitions and threatenings, and become teach-
able and obedient to thee, lest thou be constrained on finding us hardened against
thy threatening, and wholly irreclaimable, to bring on us extreme vengeance: make
us then so to submit ourselves to thee in the spirit of teachableness and obedience,
that being placed under the protection of thy Son, we may truly call on thee as our
Father, and find thee to be so in reality, when thou shalt show to us that paternal
love, which thou hast promised, and which we have all experienced from the begin-
ning, who have truly and from the heart called on thy name, through the same, even
Christ our Lord. Amen.
MINOR PROPHETS
Lecture Fifty-fourth
In our last Lecture were noticed these words of Amos --- that a whole people
tremble at the sound of a trumpet; he now seems to add a sentence wholly differ-
ent, and says, No calamity happens, except through God. But he had before said
what we already noticed respecting the sound of the trumpet, that the people might
understand that nothing happens by accident, and that punishments are, for just
reasons, inflicted by the Lord; and this he soon after confirms by saying, that God
did nothing, without having first revealed his secret to his Prophets. The meaning
then is that the people at Israel were extremely stupid for not having repented after
so many warnings; nay, they remained still in their perverseness, though they had
been constrained by the most powerful means.
We now then comprehend what the Prophet means; but that the whole subject
may be made more clear, let us notice this intervening sentence, there is no evil
in the city which God has not done. By these words the Prophet reminds us, that
calamities happen not by chance, as the vulgar of mankind believe; for the words,
``Prosperous or adverse fortunes'' are, we know, in the mouths of all, as though God
was idle in heaven, and took no care of human affairs. Hence, whatever happens, the
world usually ascribes it to fortune. But the Prophet here shows that the government
of this world is administered by God, and that nothing happens except through his
power. He does not, indeed, treat here of sin: but the Prophet, according to the
usual practice, calls whatever is adverse to us, {,}רעהroe, evil. Whatever, then,
we naturally shun, is usually called an evil; and this mode of speaking Amos follows
here, as God is said by Isaiah to have in his power night and day, light and darkness,
good and evil, (Isaiah 45:7) When good and evil are spoken of there, it is certain that
what is referred to is prosperity and adversity. So also here, the Prophet teaches that
men are chastised by God whenever anything adverse happens to them, as though
he said that fortune rules not, as the world imagines, and that things do not take
place at random; but that God is at all times the judge of the world. In short, Amos
wished to recall the people to an examination of their lives, as though he summoned
them to the tribunal of God; and he showed by evident external tokens that God was
justly offended with the Israelites: ``Ye see that you are severely dealt with, do you
think that God sleeps idly in heaven? Since nothing happens but by the will of God,
he now designs to awaken you by treating you with so much sharpness and severity,
so that you may know your vices.'' We now then perceive the design of the Prophet
in saying, that there was no evil in the city which God had not done.
In a similar manner, also, does God by Jeremiah sharply expostulate with the
people, because they imputed slaughters in war, famine, and other evils, to fortune.
When, therefore, any calamity happened, the Jews complained of bad fortune, as the
world are wont to do. God was displeased and severely reproved this profane notion;
for the government of the world was thus taken away from him: for, were any thing to
take place against his will, so much would be abstracted from his power; and farther
men would grow hardened in their sins; for however grievously he might punish
them, they would not yet acknowledge his hand: they might indeed cry out under
the strokes, and feel how severe his scourges were; but they would not regard the
JOHN CALVIN
hand of the striker, which is the principal thing, as it is stated elsewhere, (Isaiah 9:13)
Then the Prophet takes this as granted, that, whenever any calamity happens, men
are extremely stupid, if they are not roused and reflect on their sins, and consider
the tokens of God's wrath, so as to flee to him, and confess themselves guilty and
implore his mercy.
But he had before spoken of the sound of the trumpet; for every excuse was
thereby taken away from the Israelites, as God had not only recalled them to the
right way by his scourges but also preceded these by his word: and he shows how
justly he was displeased with them; hence the Prophet adds another sentence, For
the Lord Jehovah will do nothing without revealing his secret to his servants, the
Prophets. The Prophet declares in this verse, that God dealt not with the Israelites
as with heathen nations; for God punished other people without warning them by his
word; he summoned to judgment neither the Idumeans, nor the Ammonites, nor the
Egyptians, but executed his vengeance, though he never addressed them. Different
was his dealing with the Israelites; for God not only brought on them such punish-
ment as they deserved, but he preceded it by His word, and showed beforehand
what evil was nigh them, that they might anticipate it; he indeed gave them time
to repent, and was ready to pardon them, had they been capable of being restored.
Now then the Prophet aggravates the guilt of the people, because they had not only
been chastised by the Lord, but they might, if they chose, have turned aside their
punishment; instead of doing so they hardened themselves in their wickedness.
God then will do nothing without revealing his secret to his servants, the Prophets.
This ought to be confined to that people, and it ought also to be confined to the
punishments of which the Prophet speaks. It is certain that God executes many
judgments which are hid both from men and angels; and Amos did not intend to
impose a necessity on God, as if he was not free to do any thing without previously
revealing it; such was not the Prophet's design; but his object was simply to condemn
the Israelites for their irreclaimable perverseness and obstinacy, that, having been
warned, they did not seriously think of repenting, but despised all God's threatening,
and even scorned them. God then will do nothing, that is, ``God will not treat you in
an ordinary way, as he does with other nations, whom he chastises without speaking
to them. They, for the most part, understand not what is done; but God in a paternal
manner kindly reminds you of your sins, shows why he resolves to chastise you and
forewarns you, that you may have time to seek and ask forgiveness.''
God therefore reveals his secret to his Prophets; that is, ``He does not suddenly
or unexpectedly punish you, as he might do, and as ye see that he does with respect
to others; but he proclaims what he will do, and sends his messengers, as though
they were heralds sent to denounce war on you; and at the same time they open
a way for reconciliation, provided ye are not wholly past recovery, and perverse in
your wickedness. Ye are then doubly inexcusable, if God can do nothing by his word
and by the punishment which he afterwards subjoins to his word.'' We now compre-
hend the object of the Prophet. Then foolish is the question, at least unreasonable,
``Does God here bind himself by a certain law, that he will do nothing, but what he
previously reveals to his Prophets?'' For Amos means not this, but only afÏrms that
MINOR PROPHETS
it was the common method which the Lord adopted in chastising that people. It is
certain, that the Prophets did not know many things; for God distributed his Spirit to
them by measure: all things then were not revealed to the Prophets. But Amos here
only intimates that God did not deal with his chosen people as he did with heathen
nations; for these often found God unexpectedly displeased with them, and had no
time to reflect, that they might repent. Much more kindly and mercifully has God
acted, says Amos, with that people; for God was unwilling suddenly to overwhelm
or to surprise them, but has warned them by his Prophets. We see how widely this
doctrine opens; but it is enough to understand the Prophet's design, and to know the
purpose to which his discourse ought to be applied.
God then will do nothing without revealing first his secret to the Prophets. He calls
it a secret, because men are perplexed when God executes vengeance on them, and
stand amazed: but when they are in time warned, then what God designs becomes
evident to them, and they know the cause and the source of punishment. Thus then
the secret is revealed which was hid from miserable men: and the guilt of the people
is doubled, when, after these threatening, they do not repent.
It now follows, The lion roars who would not fear? The Lord Jehovah speaks,
who would not prophesy? In this verse the Prophet reproved the Israelites for their
usual contentions with the Prophets when their sins were sharply reprehended. Thus
indeed are men wont to do; they consider not that Prophets are sent from above,
and that there is a charge committed to them. Hence, when Prophets are severe in
their words, the world clamors and wrangles: ``What do these men intend? Why do
they urge us so much? Why do they not allow us to rest quietly? for they provoke
against us the wrath of God.'' Whenever then men are roused, they immediately
menace God's Prophets with strife and contention, and regard not threatening as
coming from God himself. This vice the Prophet now condemns: The lion roars, he
says, who would not fear? God speaks, who would not prophesy? ``Ye think that I
am your adversary; but ye can gain nothing by quarreling with me: were I silent, the
voice of God would of itself be formidable enough. The evil then proceeds not from
my mouth, but from God's command; for I am constrained, willing or unwilling, to
obey God: he has chosen me to be a Prophet, and has showed what he intends that
I should proclaim. What can I do, he says? I am not at liberty to invent revelations;
but I faithfully bring forth to you what has been delivered to me by the Lord. How
great then is your madness, that ye contend with me, and consider not that your
strife and contention is with God himself?'' We now see what the Prophet meant,
and also understand, why he adduced the four similitudes, of which we have already
spoken. I now proceed with the remaining context.
Amos 3:9
9. Publish in the palaces at Ashdod, and in the palaces in the land of Egypt,
and say, Assemble yourselves upon the mountains of Samaria, and behold the great
tumults in the midst thereof, and the oppressed in the midst thereof.
9. Promulgate in palatiis Asdod, et in palatiis terrae Aegypti, et dicite, Con-
gregamini super montes Samaria, et videte tumultus multos (vel, concussiones mul-
tas) in medio ejus, et oppressiones in medio ejus.
JOHN CALVIN
Amos begins here to set judges over the Israelites; for they would not patiently
submit to God's judgment: and he constitutes and sets over them as judges the
Egyptians and Idumeans. This prophecy no doubt increasingly exasperated the
minds of the people, who were already very refractory and rebellious; but yet this
was necessary. God, indeed, had cited them to his tribunal, as long as a hope of
reconciliation remained: when they became angry on account of God's threatening,
clamored against his servants, yea, and obstinately disputed, as though they were
guilty of no fault, what remained, but that God should constitute judges over them,
whom the Prophet names, even the Egyptians and Idumeans? ``Ye cannot bear my
judgment; unbelievers, who are already condemned, shall pronounce sentence upon
you. I am indeed your legitimate judge; but as ye have repudiated me, I will prove
to you how true my judgment is; I will be silent, the Egyptians shall speak.'' And who
were these Egyptians? Even those who were equally guilty with the Israelites, and
labored under the same charges, or were at least not far from deserving a similar
punishment; and yet God would compel the Israelites to hear the sentence that was
to be pronounced on them by the Egyptians and Idumeans. We know how proudly
the Israelites gloried in their primogeniture; but the Lord here exposes to scorn this
arrogance, because they made such bad use of his benefits. We now then perceive
the Prophet's intention.
Publish, he says, in the palaces of Ashdod, in the palaces of the land of Egypt,
and say --- what? ``Assemble on the mountains of Samaria.'' He would have the
Egyptians and the Idumeans to meet together, and the mountains of Samaria to be
as it were the theater, though the idea of a tribunal is more suitable to the similitude
that is used. It was then, as though the Egyptians and Idumeans were to be seated on
an elevated place; and God were to set before them the oppressions, the robberies
and iniquitous pillages, which prevailed in the kingdom of Israel. Assemble then
on the mountains of Samaria. The Prophet alludes to the situation of the country:
for though Samaria was situated on a plain, 29 there were yet mountains around it;
and they thought themselves hid there, and were as wine settled on its lees. God
says now, ``Let the Egyptians and Idumeans meet and view the scene; I will allot
them a place, from which they can see how greatly all kinds of iniquity prevail in the
kingdom of Israel. They indeed dwell in their plain, and think themselves sufÏciently
defended by the mountains around; but from these mountains even the very blind
will be able to see how abominable and shameful is their condition.''
Let them come and see, he says, the oppressions in the midst of her. The word he
uses is {,}מהומתmeumet, tumults; but he means oppressions, committed without
any regard to reason or justice, when all things are done with glamour and violence.
``Let them see then the oppressions, let them see the distresses.'' He speaks of
their deeds; he afterwards mentions the persons; but the Prophet means the same
thing, though he uses different forms of expression, that is, that the kingdom of Israel
was filled with many crimes; for plunder of every kind prevailed there and men kept
within no bounds of moderation, but by tumult and clamor pillaged the poor and the
29This is a mistake: Samaria was situated on a hill, and not on a plain: but there were hills or mountains surrounding it; so that what is said here equally applies to the place. — Ed.
MINOR PROPHETS
miserable. It now follows ---
Amos 3:10
10. For they know not to do right, saith the Lord, who store up violence and
robbery in their palaces.
10. Et non noverunt facere rectum, dicit Jehova, thesaurizantes rapinam et
praedam in palatiis suis.
In this verse he confirms what I have already said of oppressions: he says that
they despised every thing right. But not to know this lessens not their guilt, as though
they ignorantly offended; but the Prophet means, on the contrary, that they had cast
away far from them everything that was just and allowed themselves all liberty in
sinning, without any discrimination, without any shame; as though he said, ``They
are brute animals, who are void of all judgments of all reason, and of all shame;
for they seek not to have a light understanding any more.'' here then he accuses
the Israelites of wilful blindness; for they hardened themselves in every evil, and
extinguished all judgments shame and reasons so that they no longer distinguished
between what was just and unjust: and he mentions one thing in particular --- that
they accumulated much wealth by plunder and robbery. The Israelites were no doubt
guilty of many other crimes; but by stating a part for the whole, he mentions one
thing which includes other things, and intimates, that the people were wholly given
to all kinds of crimes, and that as they had cast aside every shame, obliterated every
distinction, and repudiated every regard for justice, they abandoned themselves to
every kind of wickedness. This, is the import of the Prophet's words.
But our Prophet points out here the gross sins of the Israelites, because he had
previously constituted the blind as their judges. Hence it was the same as though he
had said, ``Though the Egyptians and the Idumeans are void of light, yet your iniquity
is so palpable, that they will be able to perceive it. There is indeed no necessity of any
subtle disputation, since plunders and pillages are carried on with so much violence,
since no moderation or equity is any longer observed, and no shame exists; but men
rush headlong with blind impetuosity into every kind of evil; so that the very blind,
though without eyes, can know what your state is. Then the Egyptians and Idumeans
will perceive your vices, when located on the neighboring mountains.'' This is the
meaning. It now follows ---
Amos 3:11-12
11. Therefore thus saith the Lord God; An adversary there shall be even round
about the land; and he shall bring down thy strength from thee, and thy palaces shall
be spoiled.
11. Propterea sic dicit Dominus Jehova, Adversarius et quidem in circuitu terrae,
et tollet abs te robur tuum et diripientur palatia tua.
12. Thus saith the Lord; As the shepherd taketh out of the mouth of the lion two
legs, or a piece of an ear; so shall the children of Israel be taken out that dwell in
Samaria in the corner of a bed, and in Damascus in a couch.
12. Sic dicit Jehova, Quemadmodum eripit pastor ex ore leonis duo crura vel
externam partem auris, sic eripientur filii Israel qui habitant in Samaria in angulo
lecti, et in Damasco tanquam in grabato.
JOHN CALVIN
The Prophet here announces the punishment God would inflict on the Israelites.
An enemy, he says, and indeed one around you, etc. Some think {,}צרtsar, to
be a verb in the imperative mood; but this cannot be maintained. But Amos, here
declares that an enemy was near the Israelites, who would besiege them on every
side. The ungodly are ever wont to seek escapes, and if they see the smallest hole,
they think that they can escape. Strange is the presumption of men with regard to
God: when they see themselves hemmed in, they are really frightened, yea, they
become wholly disheartened; but yet they seek subterfuges on the right hand and on
the left, and never submit to God except when constrained. This is the reason why
the Prophet now says, that an enemy was near, and indeed around them; as though
he said, ``You have no reason to think that there is any way of escape open to you; for
God has hemmed you in on every side; there is therefore a siege which so confines
you, that you in vain hope to escape.'' An enemy, he says, is indeed around ---
around the whole land, who will take away from thee thy strength. Here the Prophet
removes from the Israelites their vain confidence; for they could not think of God's
vengeance, while looking on their own power. They indeed thought that they had
sufÏcient protection in their own large number, riches, and arms, as men are wont
to set up against God what proceeds from himself, as though creatures could do
anything against him, and as though God could not take away, when he pleases,
what he has given: and yet such is the blindness of men. Hence the Prophet says,
that all the wealth and all the strength in which the Israelites excelled would be
useless, inasmuch as an enemy, he says, armed by God, shall take from thee thy
strength; and thy palaces shall be plundered.
In the next verse he leaves some hope, though this is not avowedly done. For
when he says that some would be saved, as when a shepherd snatches from the
jaws of a lion the ear of a sheep or two legs, it is not the Prophet's design to mitigate
the severe judgment of which he had before spoken; but shows, on the contrary,
that when any should be saved, it would not be because the people would defend
themselves, or were able to resist; but that it would be as when a trembling shepherd
snatches some small portion of a spoil from the lion's mouth. We must bear in mind
what I have just said of the proud confidence of the people; for the Israelites thought
that they were safe enough from danger; and therefore despised all threatenings.
But what does Amos say? ``Think not,'' he says, ``that there will be any defense
for you, for your enemies will be like lions, and there will be no more strength in you
to resist them than in sheep when not only wolves but lions, seize them and take
them as their prey.'' When any thing is then saved, it is as it were by a miracle; the
shepherd may perhaps take a part of the ear or two legs from the lion's mouth when
he is satisfied. The shepherd dares not to contend with the lion; he always runs
away from him, but the lion will have his prey and devour it at his pleasure; when he
leaves a part of the ear or two legs, the shepherd will then seize on them, and say,
``See, how many sheep have been devoured by lions:'' and these will be the proof's
of his loss. So now the Prophet says, ``The Lord will expose you as a prey to your
enemies, and their rapacity will not be less dreaded by you than that of a lion: in
vain then ye think yourselves defended by your forces; for what is a sheep to a lion?
MINOR PROPHETS
But if any part of you should remain, it will be like an ear or a leg: and still more, ---
as when a lion devours a sheep, and leaves nothing after having taken his prey until
he is satisfied, so shall it happen to you''.
They are then mistaken who think that the preceding commination is here de-
signedly mitigated; for the Prophet does not do this, but continues the same subject,
and shows that the whole people would become a prey, that their enemies would be
like lions, and that they would have no strength to resist. Some hope, I indeed allow,
is here given to the people; for, as it has been before seen, God intended that there
should ever be some remnant as a seed among that chosen people. This, I admit, is
true: but we must yet regard what the Prophet treats of; and what he had in view.
He then did not intend here expressly to console the Israelites; though incidentally
he says, that some would remain, yet his object was to show that the whole kingdom
was now given up as a prey to lions, and that nothing would be saved except a very
small portion, as when a shepherd carries away an ear when the wolves and lions
had been satiated. 30 It follows ---
Amos 3:13-14
13. Hear ye, and testify in the house of Jacob, saith the Lord GOD, the God of
hosts,
13. Audite et testificamini in domo Jacob, dicit Dominus Jehova, Deus exercituum,
14. That in the day that I shall visit the transgressions of Israel upon him I will
also visit the altars of Bethel: and the horns of the altar shall be cut off, and fall to
the ground.
14. Quia die quo visitabo scelera Israel super ipsum, etiam visitabo super altaria
Bethel: et scindentur cornua altaris et cadent ad terram.
Amos, I have no doubt, added this passage, to show that the superstitions, in
which he knew the Israelites falsely trusted, would be so far from being of any help
to them, that they would, on the contrary, lead them to ruin, because the people were
by them provoking God's wrath the more against themselves. When the Israelites
heard that God was offended with them, they looked on their sacrifices and other su-
perstitions, as their shield and cover: for thus do hypocrites mock God. But we know
that the sacrifices offered at Bethel were mere profanations; for the whole worship
was spurious. God had indeed chosen to himself a place where he designed sacri-
fices to be offered. The Israelites built a temple without any command, nay, against
the manifest prohibition of God. Since then they had thus violated and corrupted the
whole worship of God, strange was their madness to dare to obtrude on God their
superstitions, as though they could thus pacify his displeasure! The Prophet then
rebukes now this stupidity and says, In the day when God shall visit the sins of Is-
rael, he will inflict punishment on the altars of Bethel By the sins, which the Prophet
mentions, he means plunder, unjust exactions, robbery, and similar crimes; for there
prevailed then, as we have seen, among the people, an unbridled cruelty, avarice,
and perfidiousness.
Hence he says now, When God shall visit the sins of Israel; that is, when he shall
punish avarice, pride, and cruelty; when he shall execute vengeance on pillages
30For further commentary on the end of this verse, see this selection in Lecture 55. — fj.
JOHN CALVIN
and robberies, he shall then visit also the altars of Bethel. The Israelites thought
that God would be propitious to them while they sacrificed though they were wholly
abandoned in their lives: they indeed thought that every uncleanness was purified
by their expiations; and they thought that God was satisfied while they performed
an external worship. Hence, when they offered sacrifices, they imagined that they
thus made a compact with God, and presented such a compensation, that he dared
not to punish their sins. Their own fancy greatly deceives them,'' says Amos. For, as
we know, this was, at the same time, their principal sin, --- that they rashly dared to
change the worship of God, that they dared to build a temple without his command;
in short, that they had violated the whole law. God then will begin with supersti-
tions in executing judgment for the sins of the people. We now then understand the
Prophet's design in saying, that God would visit the altars of Bethel when inflicting
punishment on the sins of Israel.
But as it was difÏcult to produce conviction on this subject, the Prophet here in-
vites attention, Hear ye, and testify, he says, in the house of Jacob. Having bidden
them to hear, he introduces God as the speaker: for the Israelites, as we know they
were wont to do, might have pretended that Amos had, without authority, threat-
ened such a punishment. ``Nothing is mine,'' he says. We then see the design of
this address, when he says, Hear: he shows God to be the author of this prophecy,
and that nothing was his own but the ministration. Hear ye, then, and testify in the
house of Jacob By the word testify, he seals his prophecy that it might have more
weight, that they might not think that it was a mere mockery, but might know that
God was dealing seriously with them, Then testify ye in the house of Jacob. And for
the same purpose are the titles which he ascribes to God, The Lord Jehovah, he says,
the God of hosts He might have used only one word, ``Thus saith Jehovah,'' as the
prophets mostly do; but he ascribes dominion to him, and he also brings before them
his power, --- for what end? To strike the Israelites with terror, that vain flatteries
might no longer, as heretofore, take possession of them; but that they might under-
stand, that so far were they from doing anything towards pacifying God's wrath by
their superstitions, that they thereby the more provoked him.
Prayer.
Grant, Almighty God, that inasmuch as we so provoke thee daily by our sins, that
we are worthy of eternal destruction, and no good remains in us, and though we
are severely chastised with temporal punishments, thou dost not yet take from us
the hope of that mercy, which thou hast promised in thy Son to those who truly and
from the heart repent and call on thee as their Father, --- O grant, that being touched
with the sense of our evils, we may, in true humility, and with the genuine feeling of
penitence, offer ourselves as a sacrifice to thee, and seek pardon with such groaning,
that having undergone temporal punishments, we may finally enjoy that grace which
is laid up for all sinners, who truly and from the heart turn to thee and implore that
mercy which has been prepared for all those who really prove themselves to be the
members of thine only begotten Son. Amen.
Lecture Fifty-fifth
One thing escaped me yesterday: pain in my head prevented me to look on the
MINOR PROPHETS
book. The Prophet says in the twelfth verse, that the children of Israel would be
so delivered as when a shepherd rescues only an ear, or some part of a sheep: he
adds, ``So the children of Israel shall be rescued who dwell in Samaria in a corner of
a bed, and at Damascus on a couch This similitude I did not explain. Some think that
Damascus is here compared with Samaria, as the more opulent city; for Jeroboam
the Second had extended the limits of his kingdom to that city, and subdued some
portion of the kingdom of Syria: they then suppose, that Samaria is called a corner of
a bed on account of its confined state, and Damascus a couch; but there is no reason
for this. He might have better called Damascus a bed. Others give this exposition,
``They who shall escape among the people of Israeli shall not be the valiant and
the brave, who will oppose the attack of the enemy, or with arms in hand defend
themselves; but those shall be safe who will hide themselves and flee to their beds.''
But the Prophet seems here to compare Damascus and Samaria to beds for this
reason, because the Israelites thought that they would find in them a safe receptacle:
``Thought then ye dwell at Samaria and Damascus as in a safe nest, it will yet be
a miracle if a few of you will escape; it will be as when a shepherd carries away the
ear of a sheep, after the lion has satiated himself.'' This seems to be the genuine
meaning of the Prophet; for I doubt not but that he derides the foolish confidence
in which the Israelites indulged themselves, thinking that they were secure from all
danger when shut up within the gates of Samaria or of Damascus. ``Ye think that
these nests will be safe for you; but lions, shall break through, and hardly one in a
hundred, or in a thousand, shall in a corner of a bed escape; it will be as when a lion
leaves an ear or part of a leg.'' Let us now proceed ---
Amos 3:15
15. And I will smite the winter house with the summer house; and the houses of
ivory shall perish, and the great houses shall have an end, saith the Lord.
15. Et percutiam domum hyemalem cum domo aestiva, et peribunt domus
eburneae et deficient domus magnae, dicit Jehova.
Amos shows again that in vain the great people trusted in their wealth and forti-
fied places; for these could not hinder God from drawing them forth to punishment.
As then abundance blinds men, and as they imagine themselves to be as it were
inaccessible, especially when dwelling in great palaces, the Prophet here declares,
that these houses would be no impediment to prevent God's vengeance to break
through; I will then destroy the winter-house together with the summer-house. Amos
no doubt intended by this paraphrase to designate the palaces. The poor deem it
enough to have a cottage both for winter and summer; for they change not the parts
of their buildings, so as to inhabit the hotter in winter, and to refresh themselves in
the colder during summer: no such advantage is possessed by the poor, for they
are content with the same dwelling through life. But as the rich sought warmth in
winter, and had their summer compartments, the Prophet says, that their large and
magnificent buildings would be no protection to the rich, for God's vengeance would
penetrate through them; I will destroy then the winter with the summer house
And then he says, Fail shall the houses of ivory. We now see more clearly that
the Prophet speaks here against the rich and the wealthy, who inhabited splendid
JOHN CALVIN
and magnificent palaces. Perish then shall the houses of ivory and fail shall the
great houses; some say, many houses, but improperly; for the Prophet continues the
same idea; and as he had before mentioned houses of ivory so he now calls them
great houses; for they were not only built for use and convenience, like common and
plebeian houses, but also for show and display; for the rich, we know, are ever lavish
and profuse, not only in their table and dress, but also in their palaces. This is the
meaning. Now follows ---
Chapter 4.
Amos 4
Amos 4:1
1. Hear this word, ye kine of Bashan, that are in the mountain of Samaria, which
oppress the poor, which crush the needy, which say to their masters, Bring, and let
us drink.
1. Audite verbum hoc vaccae Basan, qui estis in monte Samariae, quae opprimitis
pauperes, quae conteritis egenos, quae dicitis dominis eorum, Affer et bibemus.
He who divided the chapters seems not to have well considered the Prophet's
argument: for he pursues here his reproof of the rich, and he had been prophesying
against the chief men in the kingdom of Israel. We indeed know how much ferocity
there is in the rich, when they become formidable to others by their power. Hence the
Prophet here laughs to scorn their arrogance: Hear, he says, this word; as though he
said, ``I see how it will be; for these great and pompous men will haughtily despise
my threatening, they will not think themselves exposed to God's judgment; and they
will also think that wrong is done to them: they will inquire, `Who I am,' and ask,
`How dares a shepherd assail them with so much boldness?' ``Hear then ye cows; as
though he said, that he cared not for the greatness in which they prided themselves.
``What then is your wealth? It is even fatness: then I make no more account of
you than of cows; ye are become fat; but your power will not terrify me; your riches
will not deprive me of the liberty of treating you as it becomes me and as God has
commanded me.'' We hence see that the Prophet here assails with scorn the chief
men of the kingdom, who wished to be sacred and untouched. The Prophet asks by
what privilege they meant to excuse themselves for not hearing the word of the Lord.
If they pleaded their riches and their own authority; ``These,'' he says, ``are fatness
and grossness; ye are at the same time cows and I will regard you as cows; and I will
not deal with you less freely than I do with my cattle.'' We now then perceive the
Prophet's intention.
But he goes on with his similitude: for though he here accuses the chiefs of the
JOHN CALVIN
kingdom of oppressing the innocent and of distressing the poor, he yet addresses
them in the feminine gender, who dwell, he says, on the mountain of Samaria, who
oppress the poor, who consume the needy, who say, etc. He does not think them
worthy of the name of men; and yet they wished to be viewed a class separate from
the common people, as though they were some heroes or halfgods. The Prophet,
by way of contempt, calls them here cows; and he also withholds from them the
name of men. Bashan, we know, derived its name from fatness; it was a very rich
mountain, and celebrated for its pastures: as the fertility of this mountain was well
known among that people, the Prophet gave the name of the cows of Bashan to those
fat and full men: and it was right that they should be thus roughly handled, because
through fatness, as it is usually the case, they had contracted dullness; for when
men abound in riches, when they become great in power, they forget themselves
and despise God, for they think themselves beyond the reach of danger. As then this
security makes the rich torpid and inattentive to any threatenings, and disobedient to
God's word, so that they regard all counsels superfluous, the Prophet here rebukes
them with greater asperity, and addresses them, by way of reproach, under the
name of cows. And when he says that they were on the mountain of Samaria, this
is still ironical; for they might have made this objection, that they dwelt in the royal
city, and were watchful over the state of the whole nation, and that the kingdom
stood through their counsels and vigilance: ``I see how it is,'' he says; ``Ye are not
on mount Bashan, but on the mount of Samaria; what is the difference between
Samaria and Bashan? For ye are there inebriated with your pleasures: as cows,
when fattened, are burdened with their own weight, and can hardly draw along their
own bodies; so it is with you, such is your slowness through your gluttony. Samaria
then, though it may seem to be a watch-tower, is yet nothing different from mount
Bashan: for ye are not there so very solicitous (as ye pretend) for the public safety;
but, on the contrary, ye devour great riches; and as your cupidity is insatiable, the
whole government is nothing else to you than fatness or a rich pasturage.''
But the Prophet chiefly reproves them, because they oppressed the poor and
consumed the needy. Though the rich, no doubt, did other wrongs, yet as they
especially exercised cruelty towards the miserable, and those who were destitute of
every help, this is the reason why the Prophet here elates expressly that the poor
and the needy were oppressed by the rich: and we also know, that God promises
special aid to the miserable, when they find no help on earth; for it more excites the
mercy of God, when all cruelly rage against the distressed, when no one extends to
them a helping hand or deigns to aid them.
He adds, in the last place, what they say to their masters. I wonder why inter-
preters render this in the second person, who say to your masters; for the Prophet
speaks here in the third person: they seem therefore designedly to misrepresent
the real meaning of the Prophet; and by masters they understand the king and his
counselors, as though the Prophet here addressed his words to these chief men of
the kingdom. Their rendering then is unsuitable. But the Prophet calls those masters
who were exactors, to whom the poor were debtors. The meaning is, that the king's
counselors and judges played into the hands of the rich, who plundered the poor; for
MINOR PROPHETS
when they brought a bribe, they immediately obtained from the judges what they
required. They are indeed to be bought by a price who hunt for nothing else but a
prey.
They said then to their masters, Bring and we shall drink; that is, ``Only satiate my
cupidity, and I will adjudge to thee what thou wouldest demand: provided then thou
bringest me a bribe, care not, I will sell all the poor to thee.'' We now comprehend
the design of the Prophet: for he sets forth here what kind those oppressions were
of which he had been complaining. ``Ye then oppress the poor, --- and how? Even
by selling them to their creditors, and by selling them for a price. Hence, when a
reward is offered to you, this satisfies you: Ye inquire nothing about the goodness
of the cause, but instantly condemn the miserable and the innocent, because they
have not the means of redeeming themselves: and the masters to whom they are
debtor; who through your injustice hold them bound to themselves, pay the price:
there is thus a mutual collusion between you.'' It now follows ---
Amos 4:2
2. The Lord God hath sworn by his holiness, that, lo, the days shall come upon
you, that he will take you away with hooks, and your posterity with fishhooks.
2. Juravit Dominus Jehova per sanctuarium suum, quia ecce dies veniunt super
vos, et tollet vos in clypeo (vertunt quidam; alii, in hamo,) et residuum vestrum in
spina piscationis.
Here Amos declares what sort of punishment awaited those fat cattle, who being
well fed despised God, and were torpid in their fatness. He therefore says, that the
days were nigh, when they should be taken away together with all that they had,
and all their posterity, as by a hook of a fisher.
But to give more effect to his combination, he says that God had sworn by his
sanctuary. 31 The simple word of God ought indeed to have been sufÏcient: but as
we do not easily embrace the promises of God, so also hypocrites and the reprobate
are not easily terrified by his threatening; but they laugh to scorn, or at least re-
gard as empty, what God's servants declare. It was then necessary that God should
interpose this oath, that secure men might be more effectually aroused.
``The Lord then has sworn by his sanctuary''. It is singular that God should swear
by his temple rather than by himself: and this seems strange; for the Lord is wont to
swear by himself for this reason, --- because there is none greater by whom he can
swear, as the Apostle says, (Hebrews 6:13.) God then seems to transfer the honor
due to himself to stones and wood; which appears by no means consistent. But the
name of the temple amounts to the same thing as the name of God. God then says
that he had sworn by the sanctuary, because he himself is invisible, and the temple
was his ostensible image, by which he exhibited himself as visible: it was also a
sign and symbol of religion, where the face of God shone forth. God did not then
divest himself of his own glory, that he might adorn with it the temple; but he rather
accommodated himself here to the rude state of men; for he could not in himself be
31This word is commonly rendered 'holiness,' though it is also used to denote 'the sanctuary.' Calvin has been blamed for taking it here in the latter sense. What induced him to do so is evident from his comment: and when we consider all the circumstances of the passage, we may perhaps be disposed to think him right. — Ed.
JOHN CALVIN
known, but in a certain way appeared to them in the temple. Hence he swore by the
temple.
But the special reason, which interpreters have not pointed out, ought to be no-
ticed, and that is, that God, by swearing by his sanctuary, repudiated all the fictitious
forms of worship in which the Israelites gloried, as we have already seen. The mean-
ing is this, --- ``God, who is rightly worshipped on mount Zion, and who seeks to be
invoked there only, swears by himself; and though holiness dwells in himself alone,
he yet sets before you the symbol of his holiness, the sanctuary at Jerusalem: he
therefore repudiates all your forms of worship, and regards your temples as stews
or brothels.'' We hence see that there is included in this expression a contrast be-
tween the sanctuary, where the Jews rightly and legitimately worshipped God, and
the spurious temples which Jeroboam built, and also the high places where the Is-
raelites imagined that they worshipped him. We now then understand what is meant
by the words, that God sware by his sanctuary
And he sware by his sanctuary, that the days would come, yea, were nigh, in
which they should be taken away with hooks, or with shields. {,}צנהtsane, means
in Hebrew to be cold: 32 but {,}צנותtsanut denotes shields in that language, and
sometimes fishing-hooks. Some yet think that the instrument by which the flesh is
pulled off is intended, as though the Prophet still alluded to his former comparison.
But another thing, which is wholly different, seems to be meant here, and that is,
that these fat cows would be drawn out as a little fish by a hook; for afterwards he
mentions a thorn or a hook again. It is the same as though he had said, ``Ye are
indeed of great weight, and ye are very heavy through your fatness; but this your
grossness will not prevent God from quickly taking you away, as when one draws
out a fish by a hook.'' We see how well these two different similitudes harmonize:
``Ye are now trusting in your own fatness, but God will draw you forth as if ye were
of no weight at all: ye shall therefore be dragged away by your enemies, not as fat
cows but as small fishes, and a hook will be sufÏcient, which will draw you away into
remote lands.'' This change ought to have seriously affected the Israelites, when
they understood that they would be stripped of their fatness and wealth, and then
taken away as though they were small fishes, that a hook was enough, and that
there would be no need of large wagons. It follows ---
Amos 4:3
3. And ye shall go out at the breaches, every cow at that which is before her; and
ye shall cast them into the palace, saith the LORD.
3. Et per rupturas exibitis unaquaeque coram se (coram facie sua,) et projicietis
vos ab excelso (vel, ex palatio,) dicit Jehova.
The Prophet expresses now, in different words, what would be the future calamity
of that kingdom; but he still speaks of the rich and the chief men. For though he
threatened also the common people and the multitude, it was not yet needful ex-
pressly to name them, inasmuch as when God fulminates against the chief men,
terror ought surely to seize also the humbler classes. The Prophet then designedly
32It is once applied in Proverbs 25:13, to denote the piercing cold of snow; but its ideal meaning seems to be, pointed, piercing, penetrating: hence it means a thorn, a goad, and also a fishing-hook. — Ed.
MINOR PROPHETS
directs his discourse still to the judges and the king's counselors, Ye shall go forth at
the breaches, every one of you. We see that he continues as yet the same mode of
speaking, for he counts not those pompous and haughty masters as men, but still
represents them as cows, ``Every one'', that is, every cow, he says, shall go forth
through the breaches over against it. We know how strictly the rich observe their
own ranks and also how difÏcult it is to approach them. But the Prophet says here,
that the case with them would be far different: ``There will not be,'' he says, ``a
triple wall or a triple gate to keep away all annoyances, as when ye live in peace and
quietness; but there will be breaches on every side, and every cow shall go forth
through these breaches; yea, shall throw herself down from the very palace: neither
the pleasures nor the indulgence, in which ye now live, shall exist among you any
more; no, by no means, but ye will deem it enough to seek safety by flight. Each
of you will therefore rush headlong, as when a cow, stung by the gadfly or pricked
by goads runs madly away.'' And we know how impetuous is the flight of cows. So
also it will happen to your says the Prophet. We now then perceive the import of the
words.
Some take {,}הרמונהermune, for Armenian because the Israelites were led away
into that far country; and others, take it for the mount Amanus; but for this there
is no reason. I do not take its as some do, as meaning, ``In the palace,'' but, on
the contrary, ``From the palace,'' or, from the high place. Ye shall then throw your-
selves down from the palace; that is, ``Ye shall no more care for your pomps and
your pleasures, but will think it enough to escape the danger of death, even with an
impetuosity like that of beasts, as when cows run on headlong without any thought
about their course.''
It was not without reason that he repeated the name of God so often; for he
intended to shake off from the Israelites their self-complacencies; inasmuch as the
king's counselors and the judges, as we have already stated, were extremely secure
and careless; for they were in a manner stupefied by their own fatness. It follows ---
Amos 4:4-6
4. Come to Bethel, and transgress; at Gilgal multiply transgression; and bring
your sacrifices every morning, and your tithes after three years:
4. Ita in Bethel et scelerate agite, in Gilgal adjicite scelerate agendum, et adducite
mane sacrificia vestra, ad tres dies (hoc est, tertio anno) decimas vestras;
5. And offer a sacrifice of thanksgiving with leaven, and proclaim and publish the
free offerings: for this liketh you, O ye children of Israel, saith the Lord God
5. Et adolete e fermento laudem et adducite voluntarias oblationes, publicite;
quia sic vobis libuit, filii Israel, dicit Adonai Jehova.
6. And I also have given you cleanness of teeth in all your cities, and want of
bread in all your places: yet have ye not returned unto me, saith the LORD.
6. Atque etiam ego dedi vobis mundiciem dentium (alii vertunt, obtusiones, sed
male) in omnibus oppidis vestris, et penuriam panis in omnibus regionibus vestris;
et non estis reversi usque ad me, dicit Jehova.
The Prophet here again pours contempt on the perverse confidence, in which the
Israelites were become hardened. They thought, indeed, that their worship was fully
JOHN CALVIN
approved by God, when they offered Sacrifices in Bethel and Gilgal. But the Prophet
here shows, that the more sedulously they labored in performing sacred things, the
more grievously they offended God, and the heavier judgment they gained for them-
selves. ``What do you obtain by wearying yourselves, when ye so strictly offer sac-
rifices, and omit nothing that is prescribed in the law of God? Only this --- that you
provoke God's wrath more and more.'' But he condemns not the Israelites for think-
ing that they rendered a compensation, as hypocrites were wont to think, and were
on this account often reproved by the Prophets; but he denounces their modes of
worship as vicious and false, and abominable before God. The Prophets reprobated
sacrifices for two reasons; --- first, because hypocrites brought them before God as
a compensation, that they might escape the punishment they deserved, as though
they paid God what they owed. Thus at Jerusalem, in the very temple, they profaned
the name of God; they offered sacrifices according to what the law prescribed, but
disregarded the true and legitimate end; for they thought that God was pacified by
the blood of beasts, by incense, and other external rites: it was therefore a prepos-
terous abuse. Hence the Prophets often reproved them, inasmuch as they obtruded
their sacrifices on God as a compensation, as though they were real expiations for
cleansing away sins: this, as the Prophets declared, was extremely puerile and fool-
ish. But, secondly, Amos now goes much farther; for he blames not here the Israelites
for thinking that they discharged their duty to God by external rites, but denounces
all their worship as degenerate and perverted, for they called on God in places where
he had not commanded: God designed one altar only for his people, and there he
wished sacrifices to be offered to him; but the Israelites at their own will had built
altars at Bethel and Gilgal. Hence the Prophet declares that all their profane modes
of worship were nothing but abominations, however much the Israelites confided in
them as their safety.
This is the reason why he now says Go ye to Bethel. It is the language of in-
dignation; God indeed speaks ironically, and at the same time manifests his high
displeasure, as though he had said, that they were wholly intractable, and could not
be restrained by any corrections, as we say in French, Fai du pis que to pouvras So
also God speaks in Ezekiel 20:39, `Go, sacrifice to your idols.' When he saw the
people running headlong with so much pertinacity into idolatry and superstitions, he
said, ``Go;'' as though he intended to inflame their minds. It is indeed certain, that
God does not stimulate sinners; but he thus manifests his extreme indignation. After
having tried to restrain men, and seeing their ungovernable madness, he then says,
``Go;'' as though he said, ``Ye are wholly irreclaimable; I effect nothing by my good
advice; hear, then, the devil, who will lead you where you are inclined to go: Go then
to Bethel, and there transgress; go to Gilgal, and transgress there again; heap sins
on sins.''
But how did they transgress at Bethel? Even by worshipping God. We here see
how little the pretense of good intention avails with God, which hypocrites ever bring
forward. They imagine that, provided their purpose is to worship God, what they do
cannot be disapproved: thus they wanton in their own inventions, and think that
God obtains his due, so that he cannot complain. But the Prophet declares all their
MINOR PROPHETS
worship to be nothing else than abomination and execrable wickedness, though the
Israelites, trusting in it, thought themselves safe. ``Add, then, to transgress in Gil-
gal; and offer your sacrifices in the morning; be thus diligent, that nothing may be
objected to you, as to the outward form.''
After three years, 33 that is, in the third year, ``bring also your tenths''; for thus
it was commanded, as we read in Deuteronomy 14:28. Though, then, the Israelites
worshipped God apparently in the strictest manner, yet Amos declares that the whole
was vain and of no worth, yea, abominable before God, and that the more they
wearied themselves, the more they kindled the wrath of God against themselves.
And to the same purpose is the next verse.
And burn incense with the leaven of thank offering He speaks of peace-offerings;
sacrifices of thanksgiving were wont to be offered with leaven; but with other sacri-
fices they presented cakes and unleavened bread. It was lawful in peace-offerings to
offer leaven. However sedulous, then, the Israelites were in performing these rites,
the Prophet intimates that they were in no way approved by God inasmuch as they
had departed from the pure command of the law. Some take leaven in a bad sense,
as meaning a vicious and impure sacrifice, which the law required to be free from
leaven; but this view seems not suitable here; for nothing is here condemned in the
Israelites, but that they had departed from what the law prescribed, that they had
presumptuously changed the place of the temple, and also raised up a new priest-
hood. They were in other things careful and diligent enough; but this defection was
the chief abomination. It could not then be, that God would approve of deprivations;
for obedience, as it is said elsewhere, is of more account before him than all sac-
rifices, (1 Samuel 15:22) Proclaim, he says, {,}נדבותnudabut, voluntary oblations.
What he means is, ``Though ye not only offer sacrifices morning and evenings as it
has been commanded you, though ye not only present other sacrifices on festivals,
but also add voluntary oblations to any extent, yet nothing pleases me.''
Bring forth then, and proclaim voluntary offerings; that is, ``Appoint solemn as-
semblies with great pomp; yet this would be nothing else than to add sin to sin: ye
are acting wickedly for this reason, --- because the very beginning is impious.''
But the last part of the verse must be noticed, For so it has pleased you, O children
of Israel, saith the Lord Jehovah. By saying that the Israelites loved to do these
things, he reprobates their presumption in devising at their own will new modes of
worship; as though he said, ``I require no sacrifices from you except those offered at
Jerusalem; but ye offer them to me in a profane place. Regard then your sacrifices
as offered to yourselves, and not to me.'' We indeed know how hypocrites ever
make God a debtor to themselves; when they undertake any labor in their frivolous
ceremonies, they think that God is bound to them. But God denies that this work
was done for him, for he had not enjoined it in his law. ``It has thus pleased you,''
he says, ``Vous faites cela pour votre plaisir et bien mettez le sur vos comptes``.
We then see what Amos meant here by saying, `It has so pleased you, O children of
Israel:' it is, as if he had said, ``Ye ought to have consulted me, and simply to have
33Literally, "on the third of days," {{}ימים{: לשלשתbut days here are evidently for years. ``I cannot doubt,''
says Dr. Henderson, ``but that the Prophet has in view the enactment recorded in Deuteronomy 14:29, 26:12 ,{}ימיםdays, mean
here, as in Leviticus 25:29, Judges 17:10, the fullest complement of days, i.e., a year.'' --- Ed.
JOHN CALVIN
obeyed my word, to have regarded what pleased me, what I have commanded; but
ye have despised my word, neglected my law, and followed what pleased yourselves,
and proceeded from your own fancies. Since, then, your own will is your law, seek
a recompense from yourselves, for I allow none of these things. What I require is
implicit submission, I look for nothing else but obedience to my law; as ye render
not this but according to your own will, it is no worship of my name.''
Prayer.
Grant, Almighty God, that as thou wouldest have our life to be formed by the
rule of thy law, and hast revealed in it what pleaseth thee, that we may not wander
in uncertainty but render thee obedience, --- O grant, that we may wholly submit
ourselves to thee, and not only devote our life and all our labors to thee, but also
offer to thee as a sacrifice our understanding and whatever prudence and reason
we may possess, so that by spiritually serving thee, we may really glorify thy name,
through Christ our Lord. Amen
Lecture Fifty-sixth
But I gave you cleanness of teeth in all your cities, and want of bread in all your
borders; and ye turned not to me, saith Jehovah. God here expostulates with the
people on account of their incurable perverseness; for he had tried to restore them
to the right way, not only by his word, but also by heavy punishments; but he effected
nothing. This hardness doubled the guilt of that people, as they could not be subdued
by God's chastisements.
The Prophet now says, that the people had been chastised with famine, I gave
them, he says, cleanness of teeth. It is a figurative expression, by which Amos
means want, and he explains it himself by want of bread The whole country then la-
bored under want and deficiency of provisions, though the land, as it is well known,
was very fruitful. Now since the end of punishment is to turn men to God and his
service, it is evident, when no fruit follows, that the mind is hardened in evil. Hence
the Prophet shows here, that the Israelites were not only guilty, but had also pertina-
ciously resisted God, for their vices could be corrected by no punishment. We have
just mentioned famine, another kind of punishment follows ---
Amos 4:7
7. And also I have withholden the rain from you, when there were yet three months
to the harvest: and I caused it to rain upon one city, and caused it not to rain upon
another city: one piece was rained upon, and the piece whereupon it rained not
withered.
7. Atque etiam ego prohibui a vobis pluviam, quum adhuc essent tres menses ad
messem; et plui super urbem unam, et super alteram urbem non feci pluere; pars
una compluebatur, et super quam non pluebat exaruit.
I have said that another kind of punishment is here recorded by the Prophet; it is
not, however, wholly different: for whence comes the want we have noticed, except
through drought? For when God intends to deprive men of support, he shuts up
heaven and makes it iron, so that it hears not the earth, according to what we have
noticed elsewhere. Yet these words of the Prophet are not superfluous; for God would
have the punishment he inflicts on men to be more attentively considered. When
MINOR PROPHETS
men are reduced to want, they will indeed acknowledge it to be the curse of God,
except they be very stupid; but when a drought precedes, when the earth disappoints
its cultivators, and then a want of food follows, more time is given to men to think
of God's displeasure. This is the reason why the Prophet now distinctly speaks of
rain being withheld, after having said that the people had been before visited with
a deficiency of provisions; as though he said ``Ye ought to have returned, at least
after a long course of time, to a sound mind. If God had been offended with you
only for one day, and had given tokens of his displeasure, the shortness of time
might have been some excuse for you: but as the earth had become dry; as God
had restrained rain, and as hence sterility followed, and afterwards there came want,
how great was your stupidity not to attend to so many and so successive tokens of
God's wrath?'' We now perceive why the Prophet here connects drought with want of
food, the cause with the effect: it was, that the stupidity of the people might hence
be more evident.
But he says that God had withheld rain from them, when three months still re-
mained to the harvest. When it rains not for a whole month, the earth becomes dry,
and men become anxious, for it is an ill omen: but when two months pass without
rain, men begin to be filled with apprehension and even dread; but if continual dry-
ness lasts to the end of the third month, it is a sign of some great evil. The Prophet,
then, here shows that the Israelites had not been in an ordinary way chastised, and
that they were very stupid, as they did not, during the whole three months, apply
their minds to consider their sins, though God urged them, and though his wrath had
been manifested for so long a time. We now then see that the hardness of the people
is amplified by the consideration of time, inasmuch as they were not awakened by
a sign so portentous, When there were yet three months, he says, to the harvests I
withheld rain from you.
Another circumstance follows, ``God rained on one city, on another he did not
rain; one part was watered, and no drop of rain fell on another This difference could
not be ascribed to chance: except men resolved to be willfully mad, and to reject all
reason, they must surely have been constrained to confess these to have been man-
ifest signs of God's wrath. How came it, that one place was rained upon, and another
remained dry? that two neighboring cities were treated so differently? Whence was
this, except that God appeared angry from heaven? The Prophet then does here
again condemn the obstinacy of the people: they did not see in this difference the
wrath of God, which was yet so very conspicuous. The import of the whole is, that
God shows that he had to do with a people past recovery; for they were refractory
and obstinate in their wickedness, and could bear the application of no remedy. It
follows ---
Amos 4:8
8. So two or three cities wandered unto one city, to drink water; but they were
not satisfied: yet have ye not returned unto me, saith the LORD.
8. Et venerunt duae tres urbes ad unam urbem, ut biberent aquas, et non satiatae
sunt: et non reversi estis usque ad me, dicit Jehova.
Marking the difference, the Prophet relates, that two or three cities had come
JOHN CALVIN
to one, to seek drink, and that they were not satisfied, because the waters failed
on account of so large a number: for though the fountains could have supplied the
inhabitants, yet when such a multitude flowed from every quarter, the very fountains
became exhausted. The Prophet thus aggravates the punishment brought by God on
the Israelites; for so great was the thirst, that whole cities had recourse to fountains,
where they heard that there was any water. It was indeed an unusual thing for
inhabitants to leave their own city and to run to another to seek water, like wild
beasts who, when satiated with prey, run far for water: but it is an unwonted thing
for men to undertake a long journey for the sake of finding drink: for they dig wells
for themselves, and seek water by their own industry, when rivers do not flow, or
when fountains do not supply them with drink. When therefore men are forced to
leave their own homes and to seek water at a distance, and when they exhaust the
fountains, it is a portend which ought to be observed.
But how was it that the Israelites took no notice of God's hand, which was then as
it were visible? Hence then, as they repented not, their obstinate blindness became
quite evident. They were no doubt terrified with fear and harassed by grief; but all
this produced no effect, for they continued in their sins, took delight in their own
superstitions, and pursued the same life as before. Since then they divested not
themselves of their own character, nor ceased to provoke continually the wrath of
God, their hopeless and incorrigible obstinacy is here manifestly proved. This was
the Prophet's design. It follows ---
Amos 4:9
9. I have smitten you with blasting and mildew: when your gardens and your vine-
yards and your fig trees and your olive trees increased, the palmerworm devoured
them: yet have ye not returned unto me, saith the Lord
9. Percussi vos Orientali vento et rubigine; magnos 34 hortos vestros et vites
vestros et ficulneas vestras et oliveta vestra voravit bruchus (vel, eruca;) et non
reversi estis usque ad me, dicit Jehova.
Though one kind of punishment may not convince men, they are yet thereby
proved with sufÏcient clearness to be guilty before God. But when in various ways
he urges them, and after having tried in vain to correct them in one way, he has
recourse to another, and still effects nothing, it hence more fully appears that they,
who are thus ever unmoved, and remain stupid whatever means God may adopt
to lead them to repentance, are altogether past recovery. This is the drift of what
the Prophet now adds: he says that they had been smitten by the east wind He
shows that want of food does not always proceed from one cause; for men become
hardened when they feel only one evil: as the case is when a country labors under
a drought, it will be thought to be as it were its fate. But when God chastises men in
various ways, they ought then no doubt to be touched and really affected: when, on
the contrary, they pass by all punishments with their eyes closed, it is certain, that
they are wholly obstinate and so fascinated by the devil, that they feel nothing and
discern nothing. This is the reason why the Prophet records the various punishments
34The words are, {{`` }גנותיכם{, הרבותthe abundance of your gardens,'' and not your great or large gardens. I would
thus render the verse --- I smote you with blight and with mildew; The abundance of your gardens and of your vineyards, And
your figs and your olives, the locust devoured; yet ye turned not to me, saith Jehovah. --- Ed.
MINOR PROPHETS
which had been already inflicted on the people.
Hence he says now, that they had been smitten by the east wind, and by the
mildew. What mischief the mildew does to the standing corn, we know; when the
sun rises after a cold rain, it burns out its substance, so that the ears grow yellow,
and rottenness follows. God then says, that the standing corn of the people had been
destroyed by this blasting, after dryness had already prevailed though not through
the whole land in an equal degree; for God rained on one part, while a neighbor-
ing region was parched through want of rain: the Prophet having stated this, now
mentions also the mildew.
He says further, that the fig-trees and vines had been consumed, that the gar-
dens had been destroyed, and that the olive trees had been devoured by chafers or
palmer worms. Since then the Israelites had been in so many ways warned, was it
not a strange and monstrous blindness, that being affrighted they could bear these
chastisements of God, and be not moved to return to the right way? If the first chas-
tisement had no effect, if the second also had been without fruit, they ought surely
at last to have repented; but as they proceeded in their usual course, and contin-
ued like themselves in that contumacy of which we have spoken, what any more
remained for them, but to be wholly destroyed as those who had trifled with God?
We now then understand what the Prophet means.
Moreover, this passage teaches, as other similar passages do, that seasons vary
not by chance; that now drought prevails, and then continual rains destroy the fruits
of the earth, that now chafers are produced, and then that heaven is filled with
various infections, --- that these things happen not by chance, is what this passage
clearly shows: but that they are so many tokens of God's wrath, set before our eyes.
God indeed does not govern the world, according to what profane men think, as
though he gave uncontrolled license both in heaven and earth; but he now withholds
rain, then he pours it down in profusion; he now burns the corn with heat, then
he temperates the air; he now shows himself kind to men, then he shows himself
angry with them. Let us then learn to refer the whole order of nature to the special
providence of God. I mention his special providence, lest we should dream only of
some general operation, as ungodly men do: but let us know that God would have
himself to be seen in daily events, so that the tokens of his love may make us to
rejoice, and also that the tokens of his wrath may humble us, to the end that we
may repent. Let this then be learnt from the present words of the Prophet.
Amos further teaches us, that wind and rain, hail and droughts heat and cold,
are arms or weapons by which God executes vengeance on account of our sins.
Whenever God then intends to inflict punishment on us, he puts on his armor, that
is, he sends either rain, or wind, or drought, or heat, or hail. Since it is so, let us not
think that either rain or heat is fortuitous, or that they depend on the situation of the
stars as ungodly men imagine. Let us therefore know, that all nature so obeys God's
command, that when rain falls seasonably, it is a token of his love towards us, and
that when it is unseasonable, it is a proof of his displeasure. It is meet to think the
same of heat and of cold, and of all other things. Let us now go on with the words of
the Prophet ---
JOHN CALVIN
Amos 4:10
10. I have sent among you the pestilence after the manner of Egypt: your young
men have I slain with the sword, and have taken away your horses; and I have made
the stink of your camps to come up unto your nostrils: yet have ye not returned unto
me, saith the Lord.
10. Misi in vos pestem secundum rationem Aegypti; percussi gladio robustos
vestros, cum captivitate equorum vestrorump; ascendere feci foetorem castrorum
vestrorum et ad nares vestras (vel, usque ad nares vestras, ut copula supervacua
sit;) et non reversi estis usque ad me, dicit Jehova.
God now expostulates with the people, because their perverseness had not been
subdued even by additional punishments; for he had in vain exhorted and stimu-
lated them to repentance. He says, that they had been smitten with pestilence.
The Prophet has hitherto spoken only of the sterility of the land, and of the fruit be-
ing destroyed by infections; he has hitherto mentioned want only with its causes;
this only has been stated: but now he adds that the people had been afÒicted with
pestilence, and also with war, and that they had still persevered in their wickedness.
Whatever measures then God had adopted to correct the vices of the people, the
Prophet now complains and deplores, that they all had been tried in vain. But so
many upbraidings are mentioned, that God might show that there was no more any
hope of pardon, inasmuch as they thus continued to be untractable and perverse.
He then says that he had sent pestilence according to the manner of Egypt {,}דרך
darec, means a way, but is taken for mode or manners as the 10th chapter of Isaiah 35 `I will smite him according to the manner of Egypt,' says God, speaking of Sen-
nacherib, as though he said, ``Ye know how formerly I checked the fury of Pharaoh;
I will now put on the same armor, that I may drive far from you your energy Sen-
nacherib.'' But the Prophet says here, that God had exercised towards the Israelites
the same extreme rigor which he had used towards the Egyptians; as though he
said, ``I have been forced by your obstinacy to turn my power against you: ye know
how Egypt was formerly smitten by me from kindness to your fathers; I then showed
how dear to me was your preservation, by putting forth my strength to destroy the
Egyptians: how is it that I now turn my weapons against you for your destruction? I
have been indeed always ready to oppose your enemies, and kindly to cherish you
in my paternal bosom. As then ye are become to me like the Egyptians, how is this
and whence this change, except that ye have constrained me by your irreclaimable
wickedness?''
We now then see why the Prophet speaks here expressly of the Egyptians. He
intimates that God could not show favor to the Israelites, which he would have con-
tinued to show, had they not closed the door against it; as though he said, ``I had
chosen you from other nations; but now I chastise you, not as I do the uncircumcised
Gentiles, but I avowedly carry on war with you, as though ye were Egyptians.'' We
see how much it serves for amplification, when Amos compares the Israelites to the
Egyptians, as though he had said that they, by their perverse wickedness, had ex-
tinguished all God's favor, so that the memory of their gratuitous adoption was of no
35See Isaiah 10:24,26. — fj.
MINOR PROPHETS
more avail to them. I have therefore sent among you pestilence after the manner of
Egypt.
And he adds, I slew with the sword your strong men. It was a different kind of
punishment, that all the strong had been slain, that their horses had been led into
captivity, and that, finally, the foetor of dead bodies had ascended to suffocate them.
These were certainly unusual tokens of God's wrath. As the people had not repented,
it became now again quite evident, that their diseases were not healable; for God
had effected nothing by the application of so many remedies. These different kinds
of punishments ought to be carefully noticed, because the Lord has collected them
together, as so many arguments to prove the contumacy of the people.
By saying that the foetor of camps had ascended to their nostrils, it was the same
as if he had said, ``There has been no need of external force; though no enemy
had been hostile to you, ye have yet been suffocated by your own foetor; for this
came up from your own camps into your nostrils, and deprived you of life. Since
God then had raised up this intestine putridity, ought you not to have been at length
seriously affected, and to have returned to a right mind? Inasmuch then as no fruit
followed, who does not see, that you have been in vain chastised, and that what
alone remains for you is utter destruction? As God has hitherto stimulated you in
vain by punishments, were he to proceed, he would lose all his labor. Since then
God has hitherto to no purpose visited you with his scourges, there is no reason why
he should chastise you more moderately: you must now then be utterly destroyed.''
This is the meaning: and he further adds ---
Amos 4:11
11. I have overthrown some of you, as God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah, and
ye were as a firebrand plucked out of the burning: yet have ye not returned unto
me, saith the Lord
11. Subverti vos secundum subversionem Dei contra (vel, in) Sodomam et Gom-
orrham; et fuistis quasi torris ereptus ab incendio: et non reversi estis ad me, dicit
Jehova.
Amos proceeds further, and says, that God had used a severity towards his chosen
people similar to that which formerly he showed towards Sodom and Gomorrah.
That, we know, was a memorable evidence of God's wrath, which ought to have filled
all ages with dread, as it ought also at this day: and Scripture, whenever it graphically
paints the wrath of God, sets Sodom and Gomorrah before our eyes. It was indeed
a dreadful judgment, when God destroyed those cities with fire from heaven, when
they were consumed, and when the earth, cleaving asunder, swallowed up the five
cities. But he says that nearly the same ruin had taken place among the people of
Israel, only that a few escaped, as when any one snatches a brand from the burning;
for the second clause of the verse ought no doubt to be taken as a modification; for
had Amos only said, that they had been overthrown as Sodom and Gomorrah, he
would have said too much. The Prophet then corrects or modifies his expression by
saying, that a few had remained, as when one snatches a brand from the burning.
But in the meantime, they ought to have been at least moved by punishments so
grievous and dreadful, since God had manifested his displeasure to them, as he did
JOHN CALVIN
formerly to Sodom and Gomorrah.
History seems, at the same time, to militate against this narrative of Amos; for
he prophesied under Jeroboam the second, the son of Joash; and the state of the
people was then prosperous, as sacred history records. How then could it be, that
the Israelites had been destroyed like Sodom and Gomorrah? This difÏculty may be
easily solved, if we attend to what sacred history relates; for it says that God had pity
on the Israelites, because all had been before consumed, the free man as well as the
captive, (2 Kings 14:25, 26) When, therefore, there was so deplorable a devastation
among the people, it was God's purpose to give them some relief for a time. Hence he
made king Jeroboam successful, so that he recovered many cities; and the people
flourished again: but it was a short prosperity. Now Amos reminds them of what
they had suffered, and of the various means by which God had stimulated them to
repentance though they proved wholly untamable.
Then these two things are in no way inconsistent, --- that the Israelites had been
consumed before God spared them under Jeroboam, --- and that they had yet been
for a time relieved from those calamities, which proved ruinous both to the captive
and to the free, as it is expressly declared. We must, at the same time, remember,
that there was some residue among the people; for it was God's design to show
mercy on account of his covenant. The people were indeed worthy of complete de-
struction; but it was God's will that some remnant should continue, lest any one
should think that he had forgotten his covenant. We hence see why God had pre-
served some; it was, that he might contend with the wickedness of the people, and
show that his covenant was not wholly void. So the Lord observed a middle course,
that he might not spare hypocrites, and that he might not abolish his covenant; for
it was necessary for that to stand perpetually, however ungodly and perfidious the
Israelites may have been. The Prophet then shows, that God had been faithful even
in this case, and constantly kept his covenant, though all the Israelites had fallen
away from him. He at length concludes ---
Amos 4:12-13
12. Therefore thus will I do unto thee, O Israel: and because I will do this unto
thee, prepare to meet thy God, O Israel.
12. Propterea sic faciam tibi Israel; et quia hoc faciam tibi, praepara te in occur-
sum Dei tui Israel.
13. For, lo, he that formeth the mountains, and createth the wind, and declareth
unto man what is his thought, that maketh the morning darkness, and treadeth upon
the high places of the earth, The LORD, The God of hosts, is his name.
13. Quia ecce formans montes, creans spiritum (aut, ventum,) annuntians homini
quae sit cogitatio ejus, faciens auroram, tenebras (et tenebras, subaudienda est
copula,) ambulans super excelsa loca terrae, Jehova, Deus exercituum, nomen ejus.
Amos here declares, in the person of God, that the people in vain hoped for par-
don, or for a modification, or an abatement, or an end to their punishment; for God
had in vain made the attempt, by many scourges and chastisements, to subdue their
extreme arrogance: therefore, he says, thus will I do to you. What does this parti-
cle {,}כהke, thus, mean? Some think that God here denounces on the Israelites
MINOR PROPHETS
the punishments they had before experienced: but the Prophet, I doubt not, means
something much more grievous. He now removes the exception which he lately
mentioned as though be had said, that God would execute extreme punishment on
this reprobate people without any mitigation. This will I do to thee, Israel: ``Thou
hast already perceived with how many things I armed myself to take vengeance on
the despisers of my law; I will now deal more severely with thee, for thy obstinacy
compels me. Since, then, I have hitherto produced no effect on you, I will now bring
the last punishment: for remedies cannot be applied to men past recovery.'' Thus,
then, he says, will I do to thee Israel. 36
And because I will do this to thee, etc {,}עכבokob, means often a reward or
an end: this place may then be thus rendered: `I will at length surely do this to
you;' but the sense the most suitable seems to be this, Because I will this do to
you, prepare to meet thy God. The passage may be explained in two ways: either
as an ironical sentence, or as a simple and serious exhortation to repentance. If
we take it ironically, the sense will be of this kind, ``Come, now, meet me with all
your obstinacy, and with whatever may serve you; will you be able to escape my
vengeance by setting up yourselves against me, as you have hitherto done?'' And
certainly the Prophet, in denouncing final ruin on the people, seems here as though
he wished designedly to touch them to the quick, when he says, ``Meet now thy
God and prepare thyself:'' that is, ``Gather all thy strength, and thy forces, and
thy auxiliaries; try what all this will avail thee.'' But as in the next chapter, the
Prophet exhorts again the Israelites to repentance, and sets before them the hope
of favor, this place may be taken in another sense, as though he said, ``Since thou
seest thyself guilty, and also as thou seest that thou art seeking subterfuges in vain,
being not able by any means to elude the hand of thy judge, then see at last, that
thou meet thy God, that thou mayest anticipate the final ruin which is impending.''
The Prophets, we indeed know, after having threatened destruction to the chosen
people, ever moderate the asperity of their doctrine, as there were at all times some
remnant seed, though hidden. And similar passages we have seen both in Joel and
in Hosea. It is not, therefore, improper to explain the words of Amos in this sense, ---
that though the people were almost past hope, he yet exhorted them to anticipate
God's wrath. Prepare then thyself to meet thy God, as though he said, ``However
worthy thou art of being destroyed and though the Lord seems to have closed up the
door of mercy, and despair meets thee on every side, thou can't yet mitigate God's
wrath, provided thou prepares to meet him.''
But this preparation includes real renovation of the heart: it then takes place,
when men are displeased with themselves, when with a changed mind they submit
to God, and humbly pray for forgiveness. There is then an important meaning in the
Prophet's words, Prepare thyself. With regard to meeting God, we know what Paul
says in 1 Corinthians 9: ,
`If we judge ourselves, we shall not be judged by the Lord.'
How comes it, then, that God deals severely with us, except that we spare our-
36There seems to be a reference in "thus" to the judgment denounced on Israel in the 2nd and 3rd verses of this chapter: he declares that he will deal with Israel "thus," or in the manner before described. — Ed.
JOHN CALVIN
selves? Hence this indulgence, with which we flatter ourselves, provokes God's wrath
against us. We cannot then meet God, except we become our own judges, and con-
demn our sins and feel real sorrow. We now see what the Prophet means, if we
regard the passage as not spoken ironically.
But that he might rouse careless men more effectually, he then magnificently
extols the power of God; and that he might produce more reverence and fear in
men, especially the hardened and the refractory, he adorns his name with many
commendations. As it was difÏcult to turn the headstrong, the Prophet accumu-
lates many titles, to move the people, that they might entertain reverence for God.
``God,'' he says, ``has formed the mountains, and created the spirit,'' and further,
``he knoweth hearts, and men themselves understand not what they think of, ex-
cept as far as God sets before them their thoughts; God maketh the morning and
the darkness, and walketh in the high places of the earth; and his name is, Jehovah,
God of hosts.'' Why were all these encomiums added, but that the hearts of men
might be touched, who were before void of thought and sunk in blind stupidity? We
now understand the Prophet's object. But what remains to be said on the words will
be added in tomorrow's lecture.
Prayer.
Grant, Almighty God, that since by thy word thou kindly invites us to thyself, we
may not turn deaf ears to thee, but anticipate thy rod and scourges; and that when,
for the stupidity and thoughtlessness by which we have become inebriated, thou
addest those punishments by which thou sharply urgest us to repent, --- O grant, that
we may not continue wholly intractable, but at length turn our hearts to thy service
and submit ourselves to the yoke of thy word, and that we may be so instructed by
the punishments, which thou hast inflicted on us and still inflictest, that we may truly
and from the heart turn to thee, and offer ourselves to thee as a sacrifice, that thou
mayest govern us according to thy will, and so rule all our affections by thy Spirit,
that we may through the whole of our life strive to glorify thy name in Christ Jesus,
thy Son our Lord. Amen.
Lecture Fifty-seventh
We have explained the last verse of the fourth chapter, except that there remains
something to be said of the glorious representation given of God by the Prophet. He
says first, that he had formed the mountains then that he had created the spirits,
afterwards that he declares to man what is his thoughts, makes the morning and the
darkness, and walks on the high places of the earth Such an accumulation of words
might seem superfluous, only this main thing must be borne in mind, that it was
necessary for men, whose minds were exceedingly torpid to be aroused that they
might seriously consider what we have seen had been denounced on them. Hence
the Prophet sought to shake off from the Israelites their thoughtlessness, by setting
God before them in his greatness; for when his name only is announced, he is wholly
neglected by the greatest part of men. It was therefore necessary that something
should be added, that they who were asleep might be awakened, and understand
how great and how fearful the power of God is. This is the design of all that we read
here.
MINOR PROPHETS
The word {,}רוחruch, is interpreted in two ways. Some refer it to the wind, and
others to the soul of man. If we take it for the wind, it will join suitably with the
creation of mountains, for the winds emerge from them on account of their cavity. If
you understand it of man's soul, it will agree with the following clause. It appears to
me more probable that the Prophet speaks of man's soul; though one may possibly
choose to connect both, so that there is an allusion to wind, and that yet Amos, about
to speak of thought, first mentions the spirit.
But what the Prophet says, that God announces to men what their thought is ---
this is done in various ways. We indeed know that the end of teaching is, that men
may confess their guilt, who before flattered themselves; we know also that the word
of God is like a two-edged sword, which penetrates into the bones and marrow, and
distinguishes between thoughts and feelings, (Hebrews 4:12) God then thus draws
men out of their recesses into the light; and he also convinces them without the word;
for we know how powerful are the secret movements (instinctus --- influences) of the
Spirit. But the Prophet meant only here, that the Israelites had to do with God, who
is the searcher of hearts, and from whom nothing is hid, however concealed it may
be. Each one is to himself the best witness of his own thoughts; but the Prophet
ascribes to God a higher degree, for he understands whatever any one conceives in
his mind, better than he who seems to have all his own thoughts well understood. 37
Since men therefore craftily hide themselves, the Prophet here reminds them that
they cannot succeed, for God understands what they inwardly think better than they
themselves. We now then perceive what he substantially means.
Some explain the words, that God makes the morning darkness, as if Amos had
said, that he converts light into darkness; but we ought rather to consider a copula-
tive to be understood; for he here declares the power of God, not only as displayed
in once creating the world, but also in preserving the order of nature, and in minutely
regulating the changes of times and seasons. Let us now proceed to the fifth chapter.
Chapter 5
37This conjecture is fully borne out by the fact, that the copulative {,{וvau, is found in more than
twenty MSS., as given by Kennicott: it is also found in the Septuagint. --- Ed.
Amos 5
Amos 5:1
1. Hear ye this word which I take up against you, even a lamentation, O house of
Israel.
1. Audite verbum hoc quod ego tollo super vos, lamentum domus Israel.
Some render the verse thus, ``Hear ye this word, because upon you, or for you,
I raise a lamentation:'' but we shall hereafter speak more at large as to the proper
rendering. Let us see what the subject is. The Prophet here denounces on the Is-
raelites the punishment they had deserved; and yet they did not think that it was
nigh; and they ferociously despised, I have no doubt, the denunciation itself, because
no chance had as yet taken place, which might have pointed out such a destruction.
Hence the Prophet and his threatenings were both despised.
He however threatens them here in severe terms with the judgment of God, which
they feared not: and this is the reason why he says, Hear ye. It was not, indeed, with-
out reason that he thus began and intimated that they greatly flattered themselves,
nay, that they stopped their ears against wholesome counsels: the admonition would
have been otherwise superfluous. The Prophet then indirectly reproves that supine
indifference in which the Israelites indulged themselves.
But with regard to the words, some, as I have before mentioned, refer this lamen-
tation to Amos himself, as though he had said, that he lamented the state of the
people, finding that they were so stupid, and did not perceive how dreadful the
wrath of God is. Since, then, they thus flattered themselves in their sins, those in-
terpreters think that the Prophet here assumes the character of a mourner for that
irreclaimable people. Hear, he says, this word even because I lament over you. For
the more refractory the people were, the more touched with grief the prophet no
doubt was: for he saw how horrible the judgment of God was, which was nigh them,
on account of their stubbornness. No wonder then that the Prophet says here, that
he undertook or raised lamentation for the people; and this mode of speaking is
MINOR PROPHETS
common in Scripture.
But yet I rather think that another sense is more suitable to this place, which
becomes evident by putting in an exegetic particle, Hear ye then this word which I
raise upon you, even a lamentation, etc. The word {,}משאmesha, rendered burden,
is derived from the verb {,}נשאnusha, which means to raise up: and there is a
striking allusion to the subject treated of here. For the Prophet does not here simply
teach the people, nor comfort them, nor does he only warn them, but he denounces
on them the last punishment. We hence see the import of the expression, to raise
up a word; it was the same as though he said, ``I lay on you this prophecy:'' for a
burden is laid on the shoulders of men when God's wrath is denounced.
It afterwards follows, Even a lamentation, O house of Israel; which means, ``I raise
upon you a word, which will constrain you to mourn and lament: though now ye are
so refractory against God, that ye spurn all warnings, and reject all threatening; yet
this word shall at last prove mournful to you.'' This seems to be the genuine sense
of the Prophet: in the first place, he reproves the stupidity of the people of Israel,
by demanding a hearing; then he reproves their contempt of God in despising all
threatenings; and he shows also that this prophecy would prove mournful to them
for having so long trifled with God, ``The lament of the house of Israel shall be this
word, which I now raise up upon you.'' it follows ---
Amos 5:2
2. The virgin of Israel is fallen; she shall no more rise: she is forsaken upon her
land; there is none to raise her up.
2. Cecidit nec adjiciet ut resurgat virgo Israel: relicta est super terram suam; non
est qui attollat.
This was substantially the vengeance which was now nigh the Israelites, though
they rested securely, and even scorned all the threatening of God. The virgin of Is-
rael, he says, has fallen Expounders have too refinedly explained the word virgin;
for they think that the people of Israel are here called a virgin, because God had
espoused them to himself, and that though they ought to have observed spiritual
chastity towards God, they yet abandoned themselves to all kinds of pollutions: but
a virgin, we know, is a title given for the most part by the Prophets to this or that
people on account of their delicacies; for Babylon, no less than Samaria or the peo-
ple of Israel, is called a virgin. Certainly this refined interpretation cannot be applied
to Babylon, to Egypt, to Tyre, and to other places. I have therefore no doubt but the
Prophet here arraigns the Israelites, because they, relying on their strength, indulged
themselves. They were quiet in their own retreats, and when all kinds of blessings
abounded, they lived daintily and sumptuously. As then they were indulging them-
selves in such pleasures he calls them a virgin. The virgin of Israel then has fallen,
and shall no more rise again.
A condition may be here included, as an exhortation to repentance immediately
follows: we may then fitly regard this as being understood, ``except they timely
repent:'' otherwise the Israelites must have fallen without hope of restoration. But
we may also refer this to the body of the people: fallen then had the virgin of Is-
rael, not so however that they were all destroyed, as we shall hereafter see; for the
JOHN CALVIN
Prophet says that the tenth part would remain: but this is rightly said of the people
generally; for we know that the kingdom had so fallen, that it never afterwards did
rise. A remnant of the tribe of Judah did indeed return to Jerusalem; but the Israelites
are at this day dispersed though various parts of the world; yea, they are hid either
in the mountains of Armenia, or in other regions of the East. Since then what the
Prophet here denounces has been really fulfilled as to the whole kingdom, we may
take the place without supposing any thing understood, ``Fallen has the virgin of
Israel.'' For as God showed mercy when the people as a body were destroyed, that
some remained, is what does not militate with the prophecy, that the whole body
had fallen. Fallen then has the virgin of Israel, nor will she any more rise again; that
is, the kingdom shall not by way of recovery be restored; and this, we know, has
never taken place.
Forsaken is she, he says, on her own land, and there is none to raise her up; which
means, that she will continue fallen: though she may remain in her own place, she
will not yet recover what she had lost. We now understand the Prophet's meaning;
and, at the same time, we see that that people had so fallen, as never to rise again,
as it has been stated, into a kingdom. Let us now proceed ---
Amos 5:3
3. For thus saith the Lord God; The city that went out by a thousand shall leave
an hundred, and that which went forth by an hundred shall leave ten, to the house
of Israel.
3. Quia sic dicit Dominus Jehova, Urbs e qua egrediebantur mille, manebunt in ea
centum; et e qua egrediebantur centum, manebunt (ad verbum, restabunt) decem
domui Israel.
The Prophet now expresses more clearly what he had before said, --- that the
kingdom would perish and yet so that the Lord would preserve some remnants. Then
as to the body of the people, Israel had fallen; but as to a few remnants they were
saved; but they were a small numbers such as the Prophet mentions. We hence
see that some hope of mercy was given to God's chosen people, and that in the
meantime destruction was denounced on the whole nation. We have already seen
that their wickedness was past hope; it was therefore necessary to announce to them
the sentence of final ruin; but it was so done, as not to drive to despair the faithful
few, who remained hid among the multitude.
The city then, from which a thousand went forth, shall have a hundred remaining;
and the city from which went forth a hundred, shall have ten. Armies were wont
formerly to be decimated, when any sedition had been made: but God threatens
the Israelites here with a much heavier judgment, that only the tenth part would be
saved from ruin. We now then perceive the design of the Prophet. Now this could
not alleviate the grief of the people; but the hypocrites were more exasperated, on
hearing that few would be saved, and that all hope of deliverance was cut off from
them. When, therefore, they saw that God dealt with them with so much severity,
envy increased their griefs and more embittered their minds; and this was what the
Prophet designed; for it was of no use to apply any solace to the despisers of God: but
as God knew that there were some seed remaining among the people, he intended to
MINOR PROPHETS
provide for the miserable, who would have been a hundred times swallowed up with
grief, had no mitigation been offered them. The Prophet then directs his discourse to
the few, when he says, ``In the city from which a thousand had gone forth there will
be a hundred; and in that from which a hundred went forth, ten will remain alive.'' It
now follows ---
Amos 5:4-6
4. For thus saith the Lord unto the house of Israel, Seek ye me, and ye shall live:
4. Quia sic dicit Jehova domui Israel, Querite me, et vivetis.
5. But seek not Bethel, nor enter into Gilgal, and pass not to Beersheba: for Gilgal
shall surely go into captivity, and Bethel shall come to nought.
5. Et ne quaeratis Bethel, et in Gilgal ne eatis, et ne transeatis in Berseba; quia
Gilgal migrando migrabit, et Bethel erit in nih ilum (vel, in molestiam.)
6. Seek the Lord, and ye shall live; lest he break out like fire in the house of
Joseph, and devour it, and there be none to quench it in Bethel.
6. Quaerite Jehovam et vivetis; ne transeat (vel, scindat) quasi ignis domum
Joseph, et absorbeat, et non sit extinguens in Bethel.
Amos here again exhorts the Israelites to repentance; and it was an address com-
mon to all, though the greater part, as we have said, were altogether past recovery;
but it was necessary, as long as they continued a chosen people, to call them to
repentance; for they had not been as yet abdicated. We further know, that the
Prophets preached in order to invite some to God, and to render others inexcusable.
With regard to the end and design of public teaching, it is, that all should in common
be called: but God's purpose is different; for he intends, according to his own secret
counsel, to draw to himself the elect, and he designs to take away all excuse from the
reprobate, that their obstinacy may be more and more apparent. We must further
bear in mind, that while the people of Israel continued, the doctrine of repentance
and faith was preserved among them; and the reason was that to which I have al-
luded, because they remained as yet in the fold of God. It is no wonder then that the
Prophet gives again to the Israelites the hope of pardon, provided they repented.
Thus saith Jehovah to the house of Israel, Seek me, and ye shall live. This sentence
has two clauses. In saying, Seek me, the Prophet exhorts the Israelites to return to
a sane mind: and then he offers them the mercy of God, if only they sought from
the heart to reconcile themselves to him. We have elsewhere said that men cannot
be led to repentance, unless they believe that God will be propitious to them; for all
who think him to be implacable, ever flee away from him, and dread the mention of
his name. Hence, were any one through his whole life to proclaim repentance, he
could effect nothing, except he were to connect with this the doctrine of faith, that
is, except he were to show that God is ready to give pardon, if men only repent from
the heart. These two parts, then, which ought not to be separated, the Prophet here
connects together very wisely and for the best reason, when he says, Seek me, and
ye shall live; intimating that the gate of mercy was still open, provided the Israelites
did not persevere in their obstinacy. But, at the same time, he lays this to their
charge, --- that they willfully perished through their own fault; for he shows that in
themselves was the only hindrance, that they were not saved; for God was not only
JOHN CALVIN
ready to receive them into favor, but also anticipated and exhorted them, and of his
own free will sought reconciliation. How then was it, that the Israelites despised the
salvation offered to them? This was the madness which he now charges them with;
for they preferred ruin to salvation, inasmuch as they returned not to God when he
so kindly invited them, Seek me, and ye shall live The same thing is stated in another
place, where it is said, that God seeketh not the death of a sinner, (Ezekiel 18:32)
But as we have already said, the Prophets spoke thus in common to all the peo-
ple, but their doctrine was not to all efÏcacious; for the Lord inwardly attracted his
elect, and others were rendered inexcusable. But still this is true, that the whole
blame, that they perished, were in the children of Israel, for they refused the salva-
tion offered to them. What indeed was the cause of their destruction, but their own
obstinacy? And the root of the evil, was it not in their own hearts? Then none of
them could evade the charge made against them by the Prophet, --- that they were
the authors of their own ruin, for each of them must have been conscious of his own
perverseness.
But Amos afterwards defines the character of true repentance, when he says,
Seek not Bethel, go not to Gilgal, pass not over to Beersheba Some think that the
Prophet here repudiates all the disguises, which are usually pretended by hypocrites.
We indeed know that when God calls such men to himself, that they seek indirect and
tortuous courses; for none of them return sincerely and willingly to God. Men indeed
see that they are justly reproved for having departed from God: but when they are
called back to him they take a circuitous course, as I have said, and not the straight
road. Thus, though they pretend to seek God, they seek subterfuges that they may
not present themselves to him. All this is no doubt true; but the Prophet advances
farther; for he shows here, that the Israelites by going to Bethel not only lost all their
labor, but also grievously offended God; for superstition was in itself condemnable.
If Amos had preached at Jerusalem, he might have said, ``Go not into the temple, for
in vain ye offer sacrifices;'' as indeed he does say hereafter, ``Come not with your
flock.'' For he there shows, that God is not to be pacified by ceremonies; nay, in
that very chapter, he rejects feast-days and sacrifices; but in this place he ascends
higher, and says that these two things are wholly contrary --- to seek God, and to
seek Bethel; as though he said, ``If ye from the heart return to me, renounce all the
superstitions to which you have been hitherto attached.''
It is indeed a proof of true conversion, when the sinner is displeased with himself
on account of his sins and hates the things which before pleased him and with a
changed mind devotes himself wholly to God. It is of this that the Prophet now
treats; as though he said, ``If there is in you a purpose to return to God, cast away
all your superstitions; for these two things --- true religion and idolatry, cannot be
joined together. As long then as ye remain fixed in that false worship, to which you
have accustomed yourselves, ye continue alienated from God. Then reconciliation
with him demands that you bid adieu to all your corrupt forms of worship.'' The
import of the whole then is this, --- that the Israelites could not be reconciled to God,
except they departed from their superstitions. Let them turn away, he says, from
Bethel, and Gilgal, and Beersheba
MINOR PROPHETS
We indeed know that the calves were made at Bethel; and Gilgal, no doubt, be-
came celebrated for the passing of the people over Jordan, and also, as it is well
known, for the circumcising of the children of Abraham; and as to Beersheba, we
know that Abraham dwelt there for a long time, and frequently offered sacrifices to
God. Now, this vicious zeal ({κακοζηλία} --- evil zeal or affectation) ever prevails
in the world; without reason or judgment it lays hold on something special, when it
undertakes to set up the worship of God, as we see to be the case under the Papacy.
But God has prescribed to us a certain rule according to which he is to be worshipped;
it is not then his will that there should be a mixture of our inventions. When there-
fore the posterity of Abraham presumptuously availed themselves of his example,
and when they extolled the memorable event of the circumcision, God repudiated
all contrivances of this kind; for as it was well known, it was expressly his will to be
worshipped at Jerusalem; and by appointing one tabernacle and one altar, he de-
signed to cherish unity and concord among the people. We now then understand
that it was the intention of Amos to show, that the conversion of the people would
be fictitious, until they turned away from all the superstitions and vicious modes of
worship, in which they had habituated themselves: hence, Seek not Bethel, come
not is Gilgal, pass not over to Beersheba.
The same thing may be said at this day to those who wish to blend the dregs of
the Papacy with the pure and holy worship of God; for there are at this day many go-
betweens, (mediatores) who, while they see that our doctrine cannot be disapproved
of, yet wish to contrive some middle course; that is, they wish to reconcile Popery
with the doctrine of the Gospel. But the Prophet shows that such a mixture cannot
be endured by God. How so? Because light cannot agree with darkness. Hence,
corruptions, except they be abolished, will always subvert the true worship of God.
We now see, that the lesson conveyed by this doctrine is, that the pure worship of
God cannot be restored while the corruptions of the world, which are contrary to his
word, prevail.
Come not then to Gilgal, for by migrating it shall migrate There is an alliteration
in the words of the Prophet, ``Gilgal by rolling shall be rolled;'' for Gilgal means
rolling. Were such a phraseology allowable, it would be this, ``Gilgal by gilling shall
be gilled;'' that is, it shall be rolled with quick rolling. God intimates that this place,
under the protection of which the Israelites thought themselves safe, would be de-
stroyed, as it had been already destined for destruction. Gilgal then be migrating
shall migrate; not that the place could remove, but that it would be wholly demol-
ished, so that nothing should remain there but dreadful tokens of God's vengeance.
He then adds, Seek Jehovah, and ye shall live This repetition is not superfluous:
the Prophet confirms what I have already stated, that such was the opposition be-
tween the true and legitimate worship of God, and idolatry and superstition, that
the people of Israel, as long as they retained their corruptions, proved that they had
nothing to do with God, whatever they may have pretended with their mouths and by
their ceremonies. Seek God, he says, and ye shall live; and this repetition was very
useful for this end, that hypocrites might know that they were justly condemned,
inasmuch as they did not consecrate themselves wholly to God; for they were ever
JOHN CALVIN
ready to contend with God whenever they could. ``Why does God deal so strictly
with us? why does he not concede to us at least something? for we do not deny
him every thing. But if we do what we think to be right, why does he not indulge us
at least on this account?'' But when God not only urges hypocrites by his doctrine,
but visits them also with punishments then they become angry, and even raise a
clamor. Hence the Prophet, the second time, calls them to this duty, Seek Jehovah,
and ye shall live; as though he said, ``Ye will gain nothing by evasion; for if any one
seeks God truly and from the heart, God will not disappoint him; he will receive him
into favor and will bless him. That ye then pine away in your calamities, impute this
to your own obstinacy and stubbornness: it is so, because ye do not truly seek God;
for while ye retain your corruptions, as I have said before, ye do not seek him.''
But he adds Lest he pass on like a fire. {,}צלחtselach, means to pass on, to
advance; it means also to break out, and sometimes to prosper; but, in this place,
the Prophet no doubt meant what I have said. Then it is, Lest he advance like fire
upon the house of Joseph and consume it, and there be none to extinguish it in
Bethel. The kind of vengeance which God threatened is not here expressed, but it
may be easily understood. There is, therefore, in the meaning no obscurity; for he
declares, that if the Israelites hardened their hearts against God, a burning was nigh
at hand, which would seize on them, devour, and consume them. There shall come
then or shall advance, a fire upon the house of Joseph; some say, shall burst out,
which amounts to the same thing. By the house of Joseph is meant Ephraim; for
he was, we know, the second son of Joseph; and, by taking a part for the whole,
the Prophets usually include the ten tribes, as it is well known, when they mention
Ephraim; and the kingdom of Israel is sometimes called the house of Joseph. Lest
then he ascend as fire into the house of Joseph, and consume it, and there be none to
extinguish it: this was said, because the Israelites never thought that they should be
thus consumed by a sudden burning. The fire then shall devour the house of Joseph,
and there will be none to quench it.
In the verse before I omitted one thing, to which I shall now advert. The Prophet
said, that Bethel would be for a trouble, or be nothing. Bethel, we know, is called
in another place Bethaven, the house of iniquity; and Aven means in Hebrew some-
times iniquity, sometimes grief or trouble, sometimes labor or difÏculty, and some-
times nothing. It is not to be taken for iniquity in this place; this is certain: but Amos,
on the contrary, speaks of punishment, which awaited that place, since it was abom-
inable in the sight of God. As then he had said of Gilgal, that it would be rolled; so
now he says of Bethel, that it would be for a trouble or grief, or be nothing. Either
senses would be appropriate; --- that Bethel, from which the Israelites hoped for a
remedy to all their evils, would be to them a trouble, that is, the cause of their ruin, or
that it would be nothing; as though he had said, that their hopes would be fallacious
and empty in expecting any relief from Bethel. It afterwards follows ---
Amos 5:7
7. Ye who turn judgment to wormwood, and leave off righteousness in the earth.
7. Qui convertunt in absynthium judicium, et justitiam in terra dimittunt.
Here the Prophet, after having inveighed against superstitions, comes to the
MINOR PROPHETS
second table of the law. The Prophets are sometimes wont to shake off self-
complacencies from hypocrites, when they spread before God their external veils,
by saying that all their ceremonies are useless, except accompanied with integrity
of heart: but in this place the Prophet expressly condemns in the Israelites two
things; that is, that they had corrupted the true worship of God, departed from the
doctrine of the law, and polluted themselves with ungodly superstitions; and he also
reprehends them for their wicked and dishonest conduct towards men, --- for their
disregard of what was right and equitable, --- for plunder, cruelty, and fraud. This
second subject the Prophet handles, when he says, that they converted judgment
into wormwood and allowed righteousness to fall on the ground. But the rest I must
defer till tomorrow.
Prayer.
Grant, Almighty God, that as thou seest us to be so entangled, not only by de-
praved lusts, but also by the allurements of Satan, and by our own ignorance and
blindness, --- O grant, that being roused by thy word we may at the same time learn
to open our eyes to thy wholesome warnings by which thou callest us to thyself: and
since we cannot do this without thy Spirit being our guide and leader, grant that he
may enlighten our eyes, to the end that, being truly and from the heart tarried to
thee, we may know that thou art propitious and ready to hear all who unfeignedly
seek thee, and that, being reconciled to thee in Christ, we may also know that thou
art to us a propitious Father, and that thou wilt bestow on us all kinds of blessings,
until thou at length gatherest us to thy celestial kingdom, through Christ our Lord.
Amen.
Lecture fifty-eighth
Ye who convert judgment into wormwood, and leave righteousness on the ground.
We stated yesterday why the Prophet added this sentence: he wished in every way
to prove the Israelites guilty. Having inveighed against their superstitions, he now
adds, that they acted also falsely and iniquitously towards men. And he attacks
the chiefs who ruled the people, not because they were alone culpable, but because
they drew with them the whole community. We know that diseases descend from the
head to the whole body: and this is the reason why the Prophet directs his address
especially to the rulers. He says that they turned judgment to wormwood. This
similitude often occurs. Nothing, we know, is sweeter than justice, when every one
gains his own right; for this serves much to preserve peace. Hence nothing can be
more gratifying to us, than when uprightness and equity prevail. This is the reason
why the Prophet calls that iniquitous state of things bitterness, when no regard is
had for justice and rectitude. He says also that righteousness was cast down on
the ground, or thrown to the ground. Now the judges ought to have defended what
was right among the people: for this, we know, is the duty enjoined them: and the
Prophet now lays this to their charge that they left justice on the ground --- that they
suffered it to lie prostrate. We now perceive the Prophet's design. It follows ---
Amos 5:8
8. Seek him that maketh the seven stars and Orion, and turneth the shadow of
death into the morning, and maketh the day dark with night: that calleth for the
JOHN CALVIN
waters of the sea, and poureth them out upon the face of the earth: The LORD is his
name:
8. Qui facit Pleiades et Orionem, qui convertit in lucem matutinam tenebras,
et diem in noctem obtenebrescere facit: qui vocat aquas maris et effundit super
superficiem terrae: Jehova nomen ejus.
Some interpreters connect this verse with the former, and think that what the
Prophet had said before is here explained; but they are greatly mistaken, and mis-
represent the meaning of the Prophet. We have indeed said, that the Prophet shows
in that verse that the Israelites were not only perfidious and covenant-breakers with
regard to God, having fallen away from his pure worship, but that they also acted
iniquitously and dishonestly towards men: but these interpreters think that God is,
by a metaphor, called righteousness and that religion is called judgment. This is in
no way the mind of the Prophet; nay, it is, as I have already said, wholly different.
What, then, does the Prophet mean? I take this verse by itself; but yet we must
see why the Prophet proclaims to us, in such sublime terms, the power of God. We
know how heedlessly hypocrites trifle with Gods as though they had to do with a
child: for they imagine a god according to their own fancy; yea, they transform him
whenever they please, and think him to be delighted with frivolous trifles. Hence it
is, that the way of pacifying God is with them so easy. When in various ways they
provoke God's wrath, there is in readiness some little expiation, and they think that
it is a satisfaction to God. As then hypocrites imagine that God is similar to a dead
idol, this is the reason why the Prophet, in order to banish these delusions, shows
that the nature of God is far different. ``What sort of being,'' he says, ``do you think
God to be? for ye bring your worthless and frivolous expiations as though God would
be satisfied with these trifles, as though he were a child or some silly woman: but
God is He who makes the Pleiades and Orion, who turns darkness into morning, who
changes day into night, who pours forth on the earth the waters of the sea 38 Go
to now, and set forth your play-things, as though access to God were open to you,
when ye labor to pacify him with your trifles.'' We now perceive the Prophet's object:
we see how this verse ought to be taken separately, and yet to be connected with
the main discourse of the Prophet; for after having inveighed against the gross vices
of the people, seeing he had to contend with the headstrong, yea, with the mockers
of God, he grows angry and sharply exclaims, ``What do ye think or feign God to
be?'' Then the Prophet sets forth the character of God as being far different from
what hypocrites imagine him to be in their own fancies. ``What are your notions of
him?'' he says. ``You indeed make God to be like a child; but he made the Pleiades
and Orion.''
Some translate {,}כימהkime, Arcturus. There is no need of laboring much about
such names; for the Jews, ignorant of the liberal sciences, cannot at this day certainly
38The verse, as evidently understood by Calvin, is to be thus rendered — "He who made the Pleiades and Orion, Who turns darkness into morning, And darkens the day to night, Who calls the waters of the sea, And pours them on the face of the earth, — Jehovah is his name." This is the rendering of the Septuagint. It is not consonant with the character of Hebrew to borrow a word, as it is done in our version, from a preceding verse. Newcome has prefixed the words, "That have forsaken;" on what authority it does not appear. The obvious construction of the passage given above. — Ed.
MINOR PROPHETS
determine what stars are meant; and they show also their complete ignorance as to
herbs. They are indeed bold enough; they define what every word means; but yet
they betray, as I have said, their own want of knowledge. And our Prophet was
a shepherd, and had never learnt astronomy in his youth, or in his manhood. He
therefore speaks of the stars according to the common notions of his age: but he,
no doubt, selected two stars of an opposite influence. The Pleiades (which are also
called the seven Stars) are, we know, mild; for when they rise, they moderate the
rigor of the cold, and also bring with them the vernal rain. But Orion is a fiercer star,
and ever excites grievous and turbulent commotions both at its rising and setting. 39 This being the case, the Prophet names here those stars most commonly known.
He says ``Since the Lord changes the seasons, so that the mildness of the spring
follows the rigor of winter, and since days succeed nights, and darkness comes after
the light, and since it is God who renders a serene heaven suddenly cloudy by raising
vapors from the veins of the earth, or from the sea, since all these changes manifest
to us the wonderful power of God, how is it that men so presumptuously trifle with
him? Whence is this so great a stupidity, unless they wholly overlook the works of
God, and leave him a name only, and see not what is before their eyes?'' We hence
see how beautifully and how strikingly the Prophet does here set forth the power of
God, and how opportunely he speaks of it. He then maketh the Pleiades and Orion
And he adds, He changeth darkness into the morning, he maketh the day to grow
dark into night Here he brings before us the various changes of times. The night
turns not into day by chance, nor does darkness come over the earth by chance
when the sun has ceased to shine. Since then this variety ought to awaken even the
unwilling, and to constrain them to adore God, how is it that his majesty is treated by
men with such mockery, that they bring their frivolous expiations, and think him to
be no more angry with them when they present to him what is worthless and childish,
as when a nurse by a pleasing sound soothes an infant? I say again, whence is this
so great a stupor, except that men willfully close their eyes to so bright a display,
by which God shows himself to us, that he might constrain us all to adore his name?
We now see why the Prophet describes the various changes which daily take place.
He speaks also of the waters of the sea, Who calleth, he says, the waters of the
sea, and poureth them on the surface of the earth Some explain this of fountains;
for they think that all waters proceed from the sea, and that fountains are nothing
39Commentators are not agreed as to the meaning of the words rendered here, Pleiades and Orion, {,{כימהand .{}כסילThey are found only in two other places, Job 9:9, and Job 38:31; and in the first of these in
conjunction with ,{}עשin our version, Arcturus, and also in the second with ,{}מזרותMazzaroth. Most think that all these were
names given by the Hebrews to certain stars or constellations. It is evident, that with the exception of the last, Mazzaroth, the
words, Pleiades, etc., are names borrowed from the Greek poets, and first introduced by the translators of the Septuagint: but they
observe no consistency; for in Job 9:9, they render ,{{ }כימהΑρκτουρος}, and in Job 38:31; {πλειας} and in Amos the sentence
is paraphrased and the word is left out. Again, {}כסילis rendered {ἕσπερος}, the evening star, in Job 9:9 and {Ωρίωνος} in
Job 38:31 while {}עשis translated {ἕσπερος}, and in Job 9:9, {πλειας}. This confusion proves that the translators exercised no
discrimination. The Vulgate exhibits a similar inconsistency. Parkhurst's view is the most satisfactory, and corresponds with the
terms used in connection with the words in Job 38:31, and with the context here. The genial heat, according to him, is ,{}כימהand
the cold is .{}כסילThe passage in Job is, ``Canst thou bind the sweet influences of Pleiades, ,{}כימהor loose the bands of Orion?
'';{}כסילwhich influences ,{}מעדנותthe delights, the pleasures, the delicacies) of the genial heat, or{,}כימהopen contradictions
of the cold? {}כסילIn the present passage what things God is continually doing are referred to, and not his past works, which
would be the case where the constellations intended. Then the first line would run this: --- He who makes the genial heat and the
cold. Thus the whole passage would agree well together, as relating the various acts of God as the supreme agent in the material
world. --- Ed.
JOHN CALVIN
else but as it were the eyes of the sea: but this passage ought rather to be viewed
as referring to rains; for the power of God is not so conspicuous in the waters which
come from the earth, as when he suddenly darkens the heavens with vapors. For
whence is it, that the heavens, a while ago clear, is now cloudy? We see clouds
rising, --- but at whose command? Philosophers indeed assign some natural causes;
they say that vapors are drawn up both from the earth and the sea by the heat of
the sun: but why is this done to-day rather than yesterday? Whence is this diversity,
except that God shows that the element of water is under his control, and also the
air itself, as veil as the vapors, which are formed as it were out of nothing? For what
is vapor but gross air, or air condensed? and yet vapors arise from the hollow places
of the earth as well as from the sea. Certainly the water could not of itself produce
a new element: it is ponderous, and vapors rise up on high: how is it that water
thus loses its own nature? But vapors are in a middle state between air and water,
and yet they ascend above the air, and arise from the earth to the heavens. The
Prophet therefore does not without reason say, that waters are called, that is, that
these vapors are called, from the sea, and are afterwards poured on the surface of
the earth. This may be understood of the clouds as well as of rain; for clouds extend
over the earth and surround us; and rain is poured on the earth. This is doubtless
the wonderful work of God.
Hence the Prophet concludes, Jehovah is his name It is not the idol which you have
devised for yourselves; for your expiations might indeed draw a smile from a child
but they cannot satisfy the judgment of God. Then think that you have to do with
God himself, and let these fallacious delusions deceive you no longer.'' It follows ---
Amos 5:9
9. That strengtheneth the spoiled against the strong, so that the spoiled shall
come against the fortress.
9. Qui fortificat vastatorem super robustum, et vastator super munitiones ascen-
det. 40
The Prophet speaks not now of the ordinary works of God, in which his majesty,
inspiring the highest reverence, as well as his dread power, shines forth; but he more
closely urges the Israelites, who had become so hardened in their vices, that they
were wholly inflexible. Here then the Prophet charges them with contumacy and
says, ``What, think you, will take place? Ye are strong; but God will stir up robbers
against you, who will prevail, and beat down and chatter in pieces that obduracy,
through which you now resist God.'' Thus after having filled them with dread by
setting before them the course of nature, he now holds forth this threats that they
would themselves have to feel the power of God: for however callous they were, and
though in their ferocity they dared to rise up against God, he declares that it would
avail them nothing; inasmuch as there was in God's hand a waster, who would prevail
40This version differs widely from ours, but is no doubt nearer the meaning of the original. Newcome's translation is as follows — Who scattereth desolation over the strong, And bringeth desolation over the fortress. What comes nearest the original is the rendering proposed by Parkhurst, and is striking and poetical: the first line is this — Who causeth the waster to laugh at strength. The verb here used means primarily to laugh or to smile, and in a secondary sense, to be refreshed or made cheerful, or to be comforted. It is here in Hiphil, the causative mood. The whole verse may be thus rendered: — Who causeth the waster to laugh at strength; And a waster on the fortress he will bring. — Ed.
MINOR PROPHETS
against their obduracy.
And a waster, he says, shall ascend on the very fortresses, or shall enter the
fortresses. The Prophet here, in an indirect way, laughs to scorn the vain confidence
which filled the Israelites, on observing that they were inclosed in fortified cities and
had defenses and a powerful army. All this, he says, will be wholly useless to them
when God will raise up strong depredators, who will penetrate through well fortified
gates, and leap over walls, and enter strongly defended cities. We now apprehend
what the Prophet had in view in these words.
It will now be easy to apply this doctrine to our own instruction: Whenever we
are not suitably moved, either by the truth, or by warnings, or by threatenings, let
this come to our minds which the Prophet teaches here, namely, that God cannot be
mocked, and that hypocrites gain nothing by their delusive ceremonies, when they
sacrifice and present their expiations, which by no means please God, --- how so?
We may indeed easily learn the reason from the nature of God himself. Hence, that
we may not transform God, let us learn to raise up our eyes to behold him, and also
to look on all things around us; and this will constrain us to adore and fear his great
power. It follows ---
Amos 5:10
10. They hate him that rebuketh in the gate, and they abhor him that speaketh
uprightly.
10. Oderunt (odio habent) in porta corripientem, et loquentem rectum abominan-
tur.
It is probable that in this verse also, the judges are reproved by the Prophet,
though what is here said may be extended to the whole people: but as nearly the
whole discourse is leveled against the judges, I readily subscribe to the opinion, that
the Prophet now accuses the judges on this account, --- because they could not bear
to be reproved for the great license they allowed themselves, but, on the contrary,
abhorred all those who reproved them. What then he says as to the reprover being
hated in the gate, is to be thus explained: When judges sat in the gate and perverted
justice and right, and when any one reminded them of their duty, they haughtily
rejected all admonitions, and even hated them. In the gate then, that is, They who
ought to rule others, and to correct whatever vice there may be among the people,
cannot themselves bear any reprover, when their own vices require strong remedies.
And well would it be, if this disease were healed at this day. We indeed see that
kings, and those in authority, wish to be deemed sacred, and they will allow no
reproof. Instantly the majesty of God is violated in their person; for they complain and
cry out, whenever teachers and God's servants dare to denude their wicked conduct.
This vice then, which the Prophet condemns, is not the vice of one time; for, even in
the present day, those who occupy the seats of judgment wish to be exempt from all
reproofs, and would claim for themselves a free liberty in sinning, inasmuch as they
think not that they belong to the common class of men, and imagine themselves
exempt from all reprehension; in short, they wish to rule without any equity, for
power with them is nothing but unbridled licentiousness. We now understand the
Prophet's meaning. It now follows ---
JOHN CALVIN
Amos 5:11
11. Forasmuch therefore as your treading is upon the poor, and ye take from him
burdens of wheat: ye have built houses of hewn stone, but ye shall not dwell in them;
ye have planted pleasant vineyards, but ye shall not drink wine of them.
11. Quia calcastis pauperem (vel, onus imposuistis,) et onus frumenti abstulistis
ab eo, domos excisionis (hoc est, ex lapide quadrato) aedificabitis, et non habitabitis
in illis; vineas desiderabiles plantabitis, et non bibetis vinum earum.
The Prophet here declares, that though the judges enriched themselves by plun-
der, yet God would not allow them to enjoy their booty, but that he would deprive
them of the great wealth they had accumulated. This is the import of the whole. We
hence see that the Prophet contends not here with the common people, but profess-
edly attacks the chief men, inasmuch as from them did proceed all the prevailing
evil.
The first thing is, they imposed burdens on the poor, and then, they took away
corn from them He says first, ``A burden have you laid'', or, ``ye have trodden on the
poor;'' for the verb may be taken in either sense, and it matters not which as to the
import of the passage. It is not indeed often that we meet with a verb of four letters; 41 but interpreters explain this as meaning to tread under foot or to lay a burden.
The Prophet, I doubt not, accuses here the judges of not sparing miserable men, but
of burdening them with tributes and exactions; for this is to burden the poor. Then
he adds, ``Ye have taken a load of corn''. The Prophet had doubtless fixed here on a
species of cruelty in robbing others, the most detestable. When judges take money,
or any other gift, it is less odious than when the poor are compelled to carry corn to
them on their shoulders. It was the same as though they surrendered their very life
to their plunderers; for when judges constrained loads of corn to be brought to them,
it was as though they strangled the poor, or drew blood from their veins, inasmuch
as they robbed them of their food and support. We now perceive what the Prophet
meant: You have, he says, oppressed the poor, and taken from them a load of corn.
Some render {,}ברber, chosen, but improperly.
Ye shall therefore build, etc. He declares here that they would not realize their
hope, though they plundered on all sides to build palaces, and though they got great
possessions to enrich themselves and their heirs: ``This self-love,'' he says, ``will
deceive you; defraud, rob, plunder; but the Lord will at length strip you of all your
robberies: for after having been venal, and prostituted not only your souls but your
shame for gain, and after having spent much labor and expense in building, ye shall
not dwell in your palaces; and when ye shall have planted vineyards with great ex-
pense and care, ye shall not drink their wine.'' Isaiah also speaks in the same strain,
`O plunderer, thou shalt be exposed to plunders'
(Isaiah 33:1)
Experience also teaches the same thing; for we see how the Lord transfers from
41The verb is {,{בושסכםfrom {}בושםbut in ten MSS. Of Kennicott, and in five of D'Rossi, the {}וis left out: and then
{}שis supposed to be put for ,{}סas Amos in another place, Amos 7:14, puts {}סfor .{}שThe verb ,{}בסand in its reduplicate
form ,{}בססoccurs in other places, and means to tread or trample under foot. The expression here literally is, ``your trampling;''
but such a form may often be expressed in our language, ``ye trample.'' The connection of the whole verse will be better seen
by the following version: --- Therefore, as ye trample on the poor, And tribute of corn extort from him, --- Houses of hewn stone
you may build, But ye shall not dwell in them; Vineyards of delight ye may plant, But ye shall not drink their wine. --- Ed.
MINOR PROPHETS
one to another the possessions of this world: he who seems to provide riches after
his death for his heirs for ever, passes his whole life, as we see, without enjoying
his own property; for he is hungry in the midst of the greatest abundance, and even
famishes himself. This is very frequently the case. And then when his abundance
comes to his heirs, it falls into the hands of prodigals, who soon dissipate the whole.
And sometimes the Lord allows not that such vast wealth should have heirs, and it
is scattered here and there, and the very name is extinguished, though the name
to such haughty and wealthy men is a great object, as they commonly wish it to be
eminent in the world for some hundred ages after their death.
This passage of the Prophet ought therefore to be especially noticed. He tells us
that unjust gains were laid up by these robbers and wicked plunderers, in order to
amass great riches; but he adds, ``The Lord will spoil them, and will not suffer them
to enjoy their abundance, however anxiously they had collected it from all quarters.''
Let us now proceed ---
Amos 5:12
12. For I know your manifold transgressions and your mighty sins: they afÒict the
just, they take a bribe, and they turn aside the poor in the gate from their right
12. Quia cognosco magnas iniquitates vestras (vel, multas, {)}רביםet robusta
scelera vestra; efÒictores justi, sublatores redemptionis, et pauperes in porta de-
clinare faciunt (hoc est, causa cadere faciunt.)
The Prophet introduces God here as the speaker, that the threatening might be
more authoritative: for we know, at it has been before stated, that the Prophets
were despised by haughty men; but when God himself appeared as it were before
them, it was strange if no fear laid hold on them; they had at least no excuse for
their presumption, if God's name did not touch their hearts and humble them.
I know, he says, your iniquities; as though he said, ``Ye do not think yourselves
bound to render an account to men, as probably no such account; will be rendered
by you; but how will you be able, think you, to escape my tribunal? for I am your
judge, and mine is the government: however ferociously ye now tread on the poor,
and evasively contend with me, your crimes must necessarily be judged by me; I
know your crimes. And as the rich by their splendor covered every wickedness,
particularly the magistrates, who were adorned with a public character, God says
that their turpitude was fully known to him: as though he said ``Contend as much as
you please, still your iniquities are sufÏciently apparent to me; ye will gain nothing by
your subtle evasions.'' Moreover, he reprehends them not merely for slight offenses,
but says that they were wholly past being borne with. When something is done amiss
by the highest power, indulgence is commonly granted; for nothing is more difÏcult
than for one who sustains so great and heavy a burden, to retain so much integrity
as to be free from every blame: but the Lord shows here that they were not lightly
culpable, but that their crimes were so grievous and flagrant that they could not be
endured. We now then understand what was the object of the Prophet.
When therefore their own greatness dazzles the eyes of proud men, let us know
that they cannot deprive God of his right; for though he may not judge them to-day,
he will yet shortly ascend his tribunal: and he reminds them, that those pompous
JOHN CALVIN
displays by which they cover their many crimes, are only shadows which will vanish.
This is what the Prophet means.
Then he calls them, The oppressors of the just He enumerates here some partic-
ulars, with regard to which, the iniquity of the judges whom he now addresses might
be, as it were, felt to be gross and abominable. Ye oppress he says, the just; this was
one thing: then follows another, They take {,}כפרcapher, expiation, or, the price
of redemption. The Prophet, I have no doubt, meant to point out here something
different from the former crime. Though interpreters blend these two things, I yet
think them to be wholly different; for these mercenary judges made an agreement
with the wicked, whenever any homicide or other violence was perpetrated; in short,
whenever any one implicated himself in any grievous sin, they saw that there was a
prey taken, and anxiously gaped for it: they wished murders to be committed daily,
that they might acquire gain. Since, then, these judges were thus intent on bribery,
the Prophet accuses them as being takers of ransom. They ought to have punished
crimes; this they did not; but they let go the wicked unpunished; they spared mur-
derers, and adulterers, and robbers, and sorcerers not indeed without rewards, for
they brought the price of redemption, and departed as if they were innocent.
We now perceive what the Prophet means here; and well would it be were this
crime not so common: but at this day, the cruelty of many judges appears especially
in this --- that they hunt for crimes for the sake of gain, which seems to be as it were
a ransom; for this is the proper meaning of the word {,}כפרcapher. As then this
evil commonly prevails it is no wonder that the Prophet, while reprehending the
corruptions of his time, says, that judges took a ransom.
Then he adds, The poor they turn aside from judgment in the gate This is the
third crime: the Prophet complains, that they deprived miserable men of their right,
because they could not bring so large a bribe as the rich; though relying on the good-
ness of their cause, they thought themselves sure of victory. The Prophet complains,
that they were disappointed of their hope, and their right was denied them in the
gate, that is, in the court of justice; for we know that it was an ancient custom for
judges to sit in the gates, and there to administer justice; And hence Amos mentions
here gate twice: and what he complains of was the more disgraceful, inasmuch as
the judicial court was, as it were, a sacred asylum, to which injured men resorted,
that they might have their wrongs redressed. When this became the den of robbers,
what any more remained for them? We now then see that the Prophet speaks not
here of the common people, but that he mainly levels his reproofs against the rulers.
Let us go on ---
Amos 5:13
13. Therefore the prudent shall keep silence in that time; for it is an evil time.
13. Propterea prudens in tempore hoc silebit, quia tempus hoc malum est. 42
42This verse literally rendered from the Hebrew is as follows: — Therefore, the prudent at that time will be silent; For a time of evil will that be. It is a rule, which may be viewed as nearly if not wholly, universal, that the substantive verb, to be, whenever understood and not expressed in the original, is to be rendered in the same tense with the other verbs in the sentence. So here, "A time of evil will that be," and not, "is;" for the previous verb is in the future tense. There are many instances of the neglect of this rule in our version, as in Psalm 23:4, "I will fear no evil: for thou art with me;" it ought to be, "for thou wilt be with me." And
MINOR PROPHETS
Some interpreters think that a punishment is here denounced on the people of
Israel, and that is, that the Lord would deprive them of Prophets and teachers. We
indeed know that nothing is more to be dreaded, than that the Lord should extin-
guish the light of sound doctrine, and suffer us to go astray in darkness, yea, to
stumble, and to rush headlong to ruin, as they do who are destitute of wholesome
counsels. But I think that the meaning is quite different. Another exposition may be
deemed probable, which is this, that the prudent dared not to speak on account of
the prevailing tyranny; for Amos had said before that the judges, who then ruled,
would not bear reproof. Hence, the prudent were forced to be silent at that time, for
that time was evil; and every liberty of teaching was taken away. And this meaning
opens still wider; for the silent would have to bear the wrongs done to them, and
to devour inwardly their own groans, for they dared not to complain; nay, the very
teachers did not oppose the torrent, for they saw that it was not the time to resist
haughty and violent men. But this view may be also fitly applied to God's judgment,
that the prudent would be silent, being put in fear: for silence is often connected
with fear: and it is a dreadful judgment of God, when the prudent closes his mouth,
or puts his hand, as it is said elsewhere, on his mouth.
As to the first exposition, I have already rejected it, and it has certainly nothing
in its favor: but the second may be accommodated to the general meaning of the
Prophet, that is, the prudent shall be silent at that time, because all liberty shall
be taken away. I am, at the same time, unwilling thus to restrict it, as they do; for
it became not a wise man to pass by in silence sins so grievous: though tyrants
threatened hundred deaths, yet those on whom was laid the necessity of teaching
ought not to have been silent. But the Prophet here speaks not of what the prudent
would do or omit to do; on the contrary, he intimates, that whenever they began to
speak, the arrogance of the judges would be so great as to repel all reproofs. The
prudent then shall be silent, not willingly; for that, as I have said, would have been
unworthy of wise men. And the Prophet here, by way of honor, calls those prudent
who rightly discern things, who are not led away by corruptions, but remain upright;
who, though they see the whole order of things collapsing, and though they see
heaven and earth, as it were, mingled together, yet retain a sound judgment. Since
the Prophet speaks of such men, he certainly does not mean that they would be
willingly silent; for it would have been a base indolence in them thus to betray the
truth and a good cause. What then does he mean? Even this --- that the wickedness
of tyrants would be so great, as not to allow one word to be declared by the prudent;
when any one came forth to reprove their vices, he was not suffered.
When therefore he says, that the time would be evil, he means, that such audac-
ity would prevail, that all liberty would be denied to wise men. They would then be
forced to be silent, for they could effect nothing by speaking, nay, they would have no
freedom of speech allowed them: and though they attempted to discharge their of-
fice, yet tyrannical violence would instantly impose silence on them. Similar was the
case with Lot, of whom it is said that he groaned and vexed his own heart, (Genesis
then the line which follows ought be rendered in the same way, for the verb is in the future tense, — "Thy rod and thy staff, they will comfort me." — Ed.
JOHN CALVIN
16:1) He was constrained, I have no doubt, to be silent after having often used free
reproofs; nay, he doubtless exposed himself to many dangers by his attempts to re-
prove the Sodomites. Such seems to me to be the meaning of the Prophet, when he
says, that the prudent would be silent, because these tyrants would impose silence
on all teachers, --- now throwing them into prisons, then banishing them, --- now
denouncing death on them, then visiting them with some punishment, or loading
them with reproaches, or treating them with ridicule as persons worthy of contempt.
We now understand the Prophet's, design. We may further observe, that men have
then advanced to the extremity of evil, when reception is no more given to sound
doctrine and salutary counsels, and when all liberty is sternly suppressed, so that
prudent men dare not to reprove vices, however rampant they may be, which even
children observe, and the blind feel. When licentiousness has arrived to this pitch,
it is certain that the state of things is past recovery and that there is no hope of
repentance or of a better condition: and this was the meaning of the Prophet.
Prayer
Grant, Almighty God, that as we cannot see with our eyes thy infinite and incom-
prehensible glory, which is hid from us, we may learn at least by thy works, what
thy great power is, so as to be humbled under thy mighty hand, and never trifle
with thee as hypocrites are wont to do; but to bring a heart really sincere, and also
pure hands, that our whole life may testify that a true fear of thy name prevails,
in our hearts: and grant, that whilst we devote ourselves wholly to thy service, we
may courageously and with invincible hearts, fight against all these corruptions, by
which we are on every side beset, until, having finished our warfare, we attain to
that celestial rest, which has been prepared for us by Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
Lecture Fifty-ninth
Amos 5:14
14. Seek good, and not evil, that ye may live: and so the Lord, the God of hosts,
shall be with you, as ye have spoken.
14. Quaerite bonum et non malum, ut vivatis; et erit hoc modo Jehova, Deus
exercituum, vobiscum, quemadmodum dixistis.
The Prophet again repeats, that it was only owing to the Israelites themselves
that it was not well with them; for God was ready to grant them his blessing; but
they designedly sought a curse for themselves. Inasmuch, then, the hypocrites are
wont to put away from themselves the blame of every evil, and to complain of their
miseries, as though the Lord afÒicted them unjustly, the Prophet here shows, that
no evil happened to the Israelites, but what they procured by their vices: and at
the same time he exhorts them to repentance, and gives them the hope of pardon,
provided they hardened not their hearts to the last. He therefore bids them to seek
good; but by adding, seek not evil, his words are full of meaning, as though he had
said, that they were so fixed in their own wickedness, that they could not be torn
away from it. The import of the whole, then, is this --- that the Israelites could not
complain of being too severely treated by God, because they suffered not themselves
to be kindly dealt with. And the Prophet assigns this as the reason --- that they were
not only alienated from what was good, but that they also with avidity and eager
MINOR PROPHETS
desire followed what was evil: in the meantime he exhorts them to repentance and
adds a promise the more to encourage them.
Seek then good, he says, that ye may live; And then he adds, And thus God will be
with you, as ye have said. Here the wickedness of the people is reproved who sought
to bind God to themselves; for hypocrites are wont to misapply the promises: when
they presumptuously reject God himself, they still wish him to be under an obliga-
tion to them. Thus they gloried that they were the children of Abraham, an elect
people; circumcision was to them like a royal diadem; they sought to be superior
to all other nations: and thus they abused the name of God, and at the same time
they petulantly scorned both the word of God and his Prophets. As, then, they ever
boasted that God was dwelling in the midst of them, the Prophet says, ``Then and
thus will God be with you if ye seek what is good or the doing of good;'' for to seek
good is nothing else than to endeavor to do good; as though he said ``Change your
nature and your manners; for hitherto iniquity has prevailed among you; you have
been violent, and rapacious, and fraudulent: begin now to do good, then God will be
with you.''
There is therefore a great emphasis to be laid on the particle {,}כןcan, thus will
God be with you: for the Prophet reminds them of what so often occurs in the law,
``Be ye holy, for I am holy,'' who dwell in the midst of you, (Leviticus 11:44) God
shows, in these words, that it could not be that he would dwell with the Israelites
except they sanctified themselves, that there might be a mutual agreement. But
they had no regard for holiness, and yet wished God to be bound to them. This false
confidence the Prophet derides, and says, that a certain condition is fixed in the law,
according to which God would dwell in the midst of them. Thus then will God be
in the midst of you; that is, when he sees that you strive after uprightness and the
doing of good.
I have already explained what this means, as ye have said; for he proves that
foolish vaunting to be false which was heard among the Israelites: ``Has not the Lord
chosen and adopted us as his people? Is not the ark of the covenant a sure pledge of
his presence? How then could he depart from us? God would deny himself, were he
not to keep his pledged faith; for he covenanted with our fathers, that we should be
his flock even to the end of the world.'' Since, then, they thus foolishly boasted, and
were, at the same time, covenant breakers, the Prophet says, ``Ye boast, indeed, by
your mouth that God is in the midst of you, but see what he in his turn stipulates and
requires from you. If, then, ye respond to his call, he will not surely be wanting to
his pledged faith; but as ye willfully depart from him, he must necessarily become
alienated from you.'' We now then perceive the meaning of the Prophet in these
words. It follows ---
Amos 5:15
15. Hate the evil, and love the good, and establish judgment in the gate: it may
be that the Lord God of hosts will be gracious unto the remnant of Joseph.
15. Odio habete malum et dilligite bonum; et statuite in porta judicium, si forte
misereatur Jehova Deus exercituum reliquiarum Joseph.
The Prophet inculcates the same truth; and he did this designedly; for he saw that
JOHN CALVIN
nothing was more difÏcult than to bring this people to repentance, who, in the first
place, were by nature refractory; and, in the second place, were hardened by long
habit in their vices. For Satan gains dominion by degrees in the hearts of men, until
he renders them wholly stupid so that they discern not between right and wrong.
Such, then, was the blindness which prevailed among the people of Israel: it was
therefore necessary often to goad them as Amos does here.
Hence he bids them to hate evil and to love good. And this order ought to be
preserved, when we desire really to turn to God and to repent. Amos here addresses
perverse men, who were so immersed in their own wickedness, that they distin-
guished no longer between light and darkness: it was therefore not without reason
that he begins with this sentence, that they should hate evil; as though he had said,
that there had been hitherto a hostile disagreement between them and God, and
that therefore a change was necessary, in order that they might return to him. For
when any one has already wished to devote himself to God's service, this exhortation
to hate evil is superfluous: but when one is sunk still in his own vices, he has need of
such a stimulant. The Prophet therefore does here reprove them; and though they
flattered themselves, he yet shows that they were greatly addicted to their vices.
He afterwards adds, Love good. He intimates, that it would be a new thing for
them to cultivate benevolence, and to apply themselves to what was right. The
import of the whole is this, --- that the Israelites would have no peace with God, until
they were wholly changed and became new men; for they were now strangers to
goodness, and given to wickedness and depravity. But Amos mentions here only a
part of repentance: for {,}טובthub, no doubt means the doing of good, as iniquity
is properly called {,}רעro [the doing of evil.] He speaks not here of faith, or of
prayer to God, but describes repentance by its fruits; for our faith, as it has been
stated in other places, is proved in this way; it manifests itself, when sincerity and
uprightness towards one another flourish in us, when we spontaneously love one
another and perform the duties of love. Thus then by stating a part for the whole, is
repentance here described; that is, the whole, as they commonly say, is shown by a
part.
But now the Prophet adds, And set up judgment in the gate He here glances at the
public state of things, of which we have largely spoken in our yesterday's lecture.
A deluge of iniquity had so inundated the land, that in the very courts of justice,
and in the passing of judgments, there was no longer any equity, any justice. Since
then corruption had taken possession of the very gates, the Prophet exhorts them
to set up judgment in the gate; it may be, he says, that God will show mercy to
the remnants of Joseph. The Prophet shows here that it was hardly possible that
the people should continue safe; nay, that this was altogether hopeless. But as the
common degeneracy, like a violent tempest, carried away the good along with it,
the Prophet here admonishes the faithful not to despond, though they were few in
number, but to retake themselves to God, to suffer others to fall away and to run
headlong to ruin, and at the same time to provide for their own safety, as those who
flee away from the burning.
We now then understand the object of the Prophet: for when the whole multitude,
MINOR PROPHETS
given up to destruction, had laid aside every care for their safety, a few remained,
who yet suffered themselves to be borne along, as though a tempest, as it has been
said, had carried them away. The Prophet then does here give comfort to such good
men as were still alive, and shows that though the people were sinking, there was
no reason for them to despair, for the Lord still promised to be propitious to them.
What this doctrine teaches is this, --- that ten ought not to regard what a thousand
may do; but they ought to hear God speaking, rather than to abandon themselves
with the multitude; when they see men blindly and impetuously running headlong to
their own ruin, they should not follow them, but rather listen to God, and not reject
his offered salvation. However much then their small number may dishearten them,
they ought not yet to suffer God's promises to be forced or snatched away from
them, but fully to embrace them.
The expression, it may be, is not one of doubt, as it has been stated in another
place, (Joel 2:1) but the Prophet, on the contrary, intended sharply to stimulate the
faithful, that he might, as it was needful, increase their alacrity. Whenever then {,}פן
pen, lest perhaps or {,}אוליauli, it may be, is set down, let us know, that they are not
intended to leave men's minds in suspense or perplexity, that they may despond or
come to God in doubt; but that a difÏculty is thereby implied, in order to stir them
up and to increase the ardor of their desire: and this is necessary in a mixed state of
things, for we see how great is the indolence of our flesh. Even they who desire to
return to God, do not hasten with that ardor which becomes them, but creep slowly,
and hardly draw themselves along; and then when many obstacles meet them, they
who would have been otherwise full of courage, almost despair at every step. It is
therefore necessary to apply such goadings as these, ``Take heed; for when any one
is beset on every side by fire, he will not long delay, nor think with himself how he
may escape without any hurt and without any inconvenience; but he will risk danger
rather than that he should by delay or tardiness deprive himself of a way of escape.
So also ye see, that iniquity surrounds you on every side; what then is to be done
except that each of you must quickly flee away?''
We now then perceive the design of the Prophet in saying, It may be that he will
show mercy. The sum of the whole is this, --- That there was need of a great change,
that they might become altogether new men, who had hitherto devoted themselves
to wickedness, --- and then, that the few should not wait until the whole multitude
joined them; for though the people resolved to go astray, yet God ought to have
been attended to, when recalling the few to himself and bidding them to escape, as
it were, from the burning, --- and, thirdly, that there is stated here a difÏculty, that
those still healable might not come tardily to God, but that they might strive against
impediments and quickly run to him seeing that they could not without great effort
extricate themselves; they were therefore to come to God, not slowly; but having
overcome all difÏculties, they were on the contrary, to flee to him. It now follows ---
Amos 5:16
16. Therefore the Lord, the God of hosts, the Lord, saith thus; Wailing shall be in
all streets; and they shall say in all the highways, Alas! alas! and they shall call the
husbandman to mourning, and such as are skilful of lamentation to wailing.
JOHN CALVIN
16. Quapropter dicit Jehova Deus exercituum, Dominus, In omnibus compitis
lamentum, et in omnibus viis dicent, Vae, vae; et vocabunt agricolam ad luctum,
et lamentum erit super omnes peritos luctus.
The particle of inference, set down here, confirms what has been already said,
--- that the Israelites vainly flattered themselves, though they were in the worst
condition. And as the Prophet knew that there would be no end to their evasions,
being, as they were, perverse hypocrites, he cuts off all their subterfuges by saying,
that God had now announced his purpose concerning them, and that however they
might object this or that, God's judgment could no longer be deferred by delay, for
their iniquity was more than sufÏciently proved.
Therefore Jehovah, he says, God of hosts, the Lord, saith. He again repeats the
attributes of God, in order to set forth his supreme power; as though he had said, that
the Israelites gained nothing by acting the part of sophisters with God; for that he
is the supreme judge, against whom there is no appeal, and whose sentence cannot
be revoked. Hence we see that what is here checked is that waywardness which
deceived the Israelites, while they continued to clamor against God. Thus then saith
Jehovah; this was said, that they might understand that they were depraved in their
disposition, corrupt in morals, wholly given to wickedness, and without a particle of
goodness in them.
Thus then saith God, In all the streets of concourse there shall be lamentation,
and in all the highways they shall say, Woe! Woe! 43 The Prophet disputes not here
with them, nor denounces their vices, but speaks only of punishment; as though he
had said, that the litigation was decided, that there was no need of an accuser; for
nothing now remained but that God should execute his vengeance on them, inas-
much as he had already contended more than enough with them. And this mode
of teaching frequently occurs in the Prophets; and it ought to be observed, that we
may not think that we can gain anything by our evasions, when the Lord regards us
as guilty. Let us then dread the punishment, which is prepared for all the intractable
and the obstinate. They shall say, he says, in all the highways, Woe! Woe! They
now prattle and think to prevail by their loquacity: when they murmur against God,
they think that a delay is thus attained, that he dares not to inflict punishment; but
God nevertheless proceeds with his judgment; they shall cry, Woe! Woe! there will
be no time then for devising shifts, but they will be wholly taken up with wailing.
They shall call, he says, the husbandman to mourning Some think {,}אכרacar,
derived from {,}נכרnucar, which is to own, or, to make, one's self a stranger: and
they are induced to regard it so only for this reason, because the Prophet immediately
mentions those who were skillful in mourning. But, as all the Hebrews agree as to
the meaning of this word, I am unwilling, without authority to make any change: and
it also harmonizes well with what the Prophet says. At the same time, those Hebrew
interpreters are wrong, who think that the order is inverted, as though it ought to
43Henderson gives a better rendering of these two lines, — In all the broad places there shall be wailing, And in all the streets, they shall say, Oh! Oh! {,{רחבותfrom ,{}רחבto be dilated, and
to be made broad or wide, mean broad places or broad streets: and ,{}חוצותfrom ,{}חצהto divide, signify the common streets,
by which the town is divided. The exclamations, ,{}הו{, }הוare rendered by Calvin, Vae! Vae! Eheu, in Latin, and Woe, in our
language come nearest to sound in the original. ---Ed.
MINOR PROPHETS
have been thus, ``The skillful in lamentation shall call husband men to mourning.''
But the Prophet, I doubt not, meant, that all were to be led together to mourning;
for, though the manner was different, yet, in the first place, he appoints mourning
to husbandmen, and then he shows that it would be common to all those who were
wont to mourn.
Let us then consider what the Prophet says, Lamentation to all the skillful in
mourning. Eastern nations we know, exercised themselves in acting grief, and so
they do at this day. We find, indeed, that they practiced all manner of gesticula-
tions: a greater moderation at least is seen among us, however heavy the grief may
be. And this custom in former times came also into Europe; for we know that there
were women hired to mourn at Rome; and we know that there were everywhere those
who lamented. They therefore mourned for wages. This vicious custom the Prophet
notices: but it is not discussed here whether this was done rightly or foolishly: for
the Prophet here only refers to a common custom; `There will be lamentations' he
says, `to all the skillful in mourning;' that is, all who are wont to employ their la-
bor in weeping will now be fully occupied. This is the first, though the last in order,
at least it is the middle between two other clauses. Now, the two others follow,
which are these, --- that the very husbandmen would be led to mourning, --- and
then that there would be lamentation in all the highways. But why does the Prophet
say, that all the skillful in mourning were to be occupied in lamentation? Because
the common calamity would thus constrain them. He further adds, that this grief
would not be feigned; but that as destruction would prevail through the cities and
fields none would be exempt. However much the husbandmen were unaccustomed
to such rites, they would yet wail and learn this new art, says the Prophet. We now
then see what these words mean: but the next verse must be joined to them ---
Amos 5:17
17. And in all vineyards shall be wailing: for I will pass through thee, saith the
Lord
17. Et in omnibus vineis lamentum, quia transibo in medio tui, inquit Jehova.
A reason is now added, why the whole country would be taken up with lamentation
and mourning; for the Lord would pass through the whole land. Surely nothing was
more to be desired, than that God should visit his own land; but he here declares
that he would pass through as an enemy. As then an enemy runs through a country
and spreads devastation wherever he comes, such would be the passing through,
which the Prophet now threatens. ``God, then, of whom ye boast, as dwelling in the
midst of you, will come forth, lay waste, and consume the whole land, as when an
enemy spreads ruin far and wide.''
But the Prophet seems to allude to the passing of God, described by Moses in
Exodus 11. The Lord then passed through the middle of Egypt; that is, his wrath
pervaded the whole land; no corner was safe or tranquil, for God's vengeance pen-
etrated through every part of it. So also now the Prophet intimates, that the land of
Israel would be like that of Egypt; for the Lord, who then testified his love towards
the children of Abraham, would now, on the contrary, show himself an enemy to
them, while passing through the midst of them. And the Prophet again indirectly
JOHN CALVIN
ridicules the vain confidence by which the Israelites were blinded, while they used
God's name as a pretext, as it will more clearly appear from what follows, for he says
---
Amos 5:18
18. Woe unto you that desire the day of the Lord! to what end is it for you? the
day of the Lord is darkness, and not light.
18. Vae desiderantibus diem Jehovae! Ad quid hoc vobis? Dies Jehovae ipse
tenebrae et non lux.
The Prophet expresses here more fully what he briefly and obscurely touched
upon as to the passing of God through the land; for he shows that the Israelites acted
strangely in setting up the name of God as their shield, as though they were under
his protection, and in still entertaining a hope, though oppressed with many evils,
because God had promised that they should be the objects of his care: he says that
this was an extremely vain pretense. He yet more sharply reproves their presumption
by saying, ``Woe to those who desire the day of Jehovah!'' This appears, even at
the firstview, to be very severe; but we need not wonder that the Prophet burns with
too much indignation towards hypocrites, from whom that security, through which
they became ferocious against God, could hardly be shaken off. And we see that the
holy Spirit treats hypocrites everywhere with much more severity than those who are
openly impious and wicked: for the despisers of God, how stupid soever they may
be, do not yet excuse their vices; but hypocrites seek ever to draw in God into the
quarrel, and they have their veils to cover their turpitude: it was therefore necessary
to treat them, as the Prophet does here, with sharpness and severity.
Woe, he says, to those who desire the day of Jehovah! Some expound this day of
Jehovah of the day of death, and pervert the meaning of the Prophet; for they think
that the Prophet speaks here of desperate men, who seek self-destruction, or lay vi-
olent hands on themselves. Woe, then, to those who desire the day of Jehovah, that
is, who have recourse to hanging or to poison, as no other remedy appears to them.
But the Prophet, as I have already reminded you, does here on the contrary rouse
hypocrites. Others think that the contempt which Amos has before noticed, is here
reproved; and this in part is true; but they do not sufÏciently follow up the Prophet's
design; for they do not observe what is special in this place, --- that hypocrites flat-
tered themselves, falsely assuming this as a truth, that they were the people of God,
and that God was bound to them. Though, then, the Israelites had been a hundred
times perfidious, they yet continued arrogantly to boast of their circumcision; and
then the law and the sacrifices, and all their ceremonies, were to them as banners,
--- ``O! we are a holy nation, and God's heritage; we are the children of Abraham,
and the redeemed of the Lord; we are a priestly kingdom.'' As then these things were
ready in the mouth of all, the Prophet says, ``Woe to those who desire the day of
Jehovah!'' And, indeed, when the Lord had begun to punish them for their sins, they
still said, ``The Lord, it may be, intends to try our constancy: but how can he destroy
us? for he would then be false; his covenant cannot be made void: it is then certain
that we shall be saved, and that he will be shortly reconciled to us.'' They did not
indeed expect that God would be propitious to them; but as they were overwhelmed
MINOR PROPHETS
with many evils, they sought to allay their sorrows by such a drug.
When therefore the Prophet saw, that the Israelites so waywardly flattered them-
selves, and so foolishly and wickedly laid claim to the name of God, he says, Woe to
those who desire the day of Jehovah! What will this be, he says, to you? The day of
Jehovah will be darkness and not light; as though he said, ``God is an enemy to you,
and the nearer he comes to you, the more grievously you must be afÒicted: he will
bring nothing to you but devastation, for he will come armed to destroy you. There
is therefore no reason for you to boast that you are a chosen people, that you are
a priestly kingdom, for ye are fallen away from the favor of God; and this is to be
imputed to your own misconduct. God then is armed for your destruction; and when-
ever he will appear, he will at the same time pursue you with cruelty and violence;
and it will be for your destruction that God will come thus armed to you. Whenever
then the Lord will come, your evils must necessarily be increased. The day then of
Jehovah will be darkness and not light.'' He afterwards confirms this truth ---
Amos 5:19
19. As if a man did flee from a lion, and a bear met him; or went into the house,
and leaned his hand on the wall, and a serpent bit him.
19. Quemadmodum si quis fugiat coram leone, et occurrat ei ursus; et veniat
domum suam, et nitatur manu sua super parietem, et eum mordeat coluber.
20. Shall not the day of the Lord be darkness, and not light? even very dark, and
no brightness in it?
20. Annon tenebrae dies Jehovae et non lux? et caligo et non splendor ei?
Here is expressed more clearly what the Prophet had said before, --- that hyp-
ocrites can have no hope, that the various changes, which may take place, will bring
them any alleviation. Hypocrites, while straying in circuitous courses, do indeed
promise better things to themselves, when the condition of the times is changed:
and as Satan transforms himself into an angel of light, so hypocrites imitate the true
servants of God. But it is a false imitation; for these are only fading flowers, no fruit
follows; and besides, they proceed not from a living root. When the children of God
are at any time pressed down by adverse events, they sustain and patiently nourish
their faith with this consolation, --- that clouds soon pass away: so also when the
Lord chastises them with temporal punishment, he will presently return into favor
with them. Hypocrites present the same outward appearance; but they widely differ
from the faithful: for when the faithful promise to themselves a prosperous issue,
they are at the same time touched with a sense of their own evils, and study to
reconcile themselves to God; but hypocrites continue immersed in their vices and
boldly despise God; and at the same time they see here and there, and when any
change happens they think that they have got rid of all evils. Inasmuch then as they
deceived themselves with vain consolation, the Prophet now says, ``You have no
cause to think that it will be better with you, when one calamity shall pass away; for
the same thing will happen to you, as when one flees away from a lion and meets
with a bear, as when one escapes from a bear, and betakes himself to his own house,
and there a serpent finds him: while he is leaning with his hand on the wall, a ser-
pent bites him. Thus the Lord has in readiness various and many ways, by which
JOHN CALVIN
he can punish you. When therefore ye shall have sustained one battle, when one
enemy departs, the battle will be immediately renewed and that by another enemy:
when a foreign power does not rage through the kingdom of Israel, the Lord will con-
sume you either by famine, or by want, or by pestilence.'' We then see how well the
context of the Prophet harmonizes together.
``You have no reason,'' he says, ``to hope for any light from the day of Jehovah.''
Why? ``For Jehovah will not come, except when armed; for, as ye conduct your-
selves in a hostile manner towards him, he must necessarily take vengeance. He
will, therefore, bring with him no light, except it may be to fulminate against you:
but his appearance will be dreadful, even darkness and thick darkness; and then,
when he ceases to pursue you in one way, he will assail you in another; and, when
foreign enemies spare you, God will find means by which he may destroy you in your
own land without the agency of men; for ye have already found what the sterility of
the land is, and what pestilence is: the Lord then has all such modes of vengeance
in his own hand. Think not, therefore, that there will be any alleviation to you, were
the world to change a hundred times, and were the condition of the country wholly
different.''
But the Prophet did not intend here to drive all those indiscriminately into despair,
who were guilty of grievous offenses, but his design was to shake off from hypocrites
their self-flatteries, that by such proofs they might be led to know that God would
be ever like himself. If, then, they wished to return into favor with him, he shows
that a change was needful: when they put off their perverse conduct, God would
be instantly ready to give them pardon; but, if they proceeded in their vices and
obstinate wickedness, and always continued in that hardness, in which they had
hitherto indulged, he declares, that the day of Jehovah would be ever to them dark
and gloomy, and that, though the Lord does not always use the same kind of rod, he
yet has means innumerable, by which he can destroy a perverse nation, such as the
Israelites then were.
Prayer.
Grant, Almighty God, that seeing we are so sleepy, yea, so fascinated by our sins,
that nothing is more difÏcult than to put off our own nature and to renounce that
wickedness to which we have become habituated, --- O grant, that we, being re-
ally awakened by thy scourgings, may truly return to thee, and that, having wholly
changed our disposition and renounced all wickedness, we may sincerely, and from
the heart, submit ourselves to thee, and so look forward to the coming of thy Son,
that we may cheerfully and joyfully wait for him, by ever striving after such a reno-
vations of life as may strip us of our flesh and all corruptions, until, being at length
renewed after thine image, we become partakers of that glory, which has been ob-
tained for us by the blood of the same, thy only-begotten Son. Amen.
Lecture Sixtieth
Amos 5:21-23
21. I hate, I despise your feast days, and I will not smell in your solemn assemblies.
21. Odi, reprobavi dies festos vestros, et non olfaciam in solennitatibus vestris
(alii legunt, sacrificia vestra, et non olfaciam in congregationibus vestris; sed de
MINOR PROPHETS
vocibus postea dicam suo loco.)
22. Though ye offer me burnt offerings and your meat offerings, I will not accept
them: neither will I regard the peace offerings of your fat beasts.
22. Certe si obtuleritis mihi holocausta et munera vestra, grata non habebo: et
pacifica pinguium vestrorum non respiciam.
23. Take thou away from me the noise of thy songs; for I will not hear the melody
of thy viols.
23. Tolle a me multitudinem canticorum tuorum; et concertum lyrarum tuarum
non audiam.
Here the Prophet, anticipating an objection, shows that the Israelites deceived
themselves, for they believed that God was pacified by their sacrifices: he declares
all these to be useless; not only, as I think, because they themselves were impure;
but because all their sacrifices were mere profanations. We have said elsewhere
that sacrifices are often reprehended by the Prophets, when not accompanied by
godliness and sincerity: for why did God command sacrifices to be offered to him
under the law, except as religious exercises? It was hence necessary that they should
be accompanied with penitence and faith. But hypocrites thought, as we have seen,
that they thereby discharged their whole duty: it was then a profanation of divine
worship. Though the Jews, as to the external form, had not departed from the rule
of the law, yet their sacrifices were vicious, and repudiated by God: ``I cannot bear
them --- they are a weariness to me --- I repudiate them --- I loathe them,'' --- these are
expressions we meet with every where in Isaiah. And yet hypocrites regarded their
worship as conformable to the law; but impurity of heart vitiated all their works, and
this was the reason that God rejected every thing which the Jews thought available
for holiness. But different, as I think, was the design of our Prophet: for it was not only
for this reason that he blamed the Israelites, --- because they falsely pretended God's
name in their sacrifices, but because they were apostates; for they had departed
from the teaching of the law, and built for themselves a spurious temple.
It is yet true that they were deluded with this false notion, that their sins were
expiated by sacrifices: but God reproved the Israelites, not only for this gross error,
with which the Jews were also infected but for having renounced his true and lawful
worship. Hence the external form of their worship deserved to be condemned; for
it was not right to offer sacrifices except on mount Zion: but they, without having
the ark of the covenant, devised a worship else-where, and even there worshipped
the calves. We now understand the design of the Prophet: and this ought to be
carefully observed, for interpreters think that the Prophet had nothing else in view,
but to condemn a false presumption in the Israelites, because they sought to satisfy
God with external sacrifices, while they were yet continuing obstinately in their sins.
But the other evil ought to be added, which was, that they had corrupted the true
worship of God even in its outward form.
Having now pointed out the prophet's object, I come to consider his words, I have
hated, I have rejected, etc. The word {,}חגגchegig, means to leap and to dance:
hence {,}חגcheg, signifies a sacrifice as well as a festal day. Some then render
the words, ``I have rejected your sacrifices,'' and those which follow, thus, ``I will
JOHN CALVIN
not smell at your solemnities.'' Others render the last word, ``assemblies.'' {,}עצר
otser, means to restrain, and sometimes to gather: hence {,}עצרהostare, means
an assembly or a congregation. But {,}עצרתosteret, means a festal day, because
the people, as it is well known, were then restrained from work, and also, because
they were detained in the sanctuary. But with respect to the subject itself, it makes
but little difference, whether we read assembly or a festal day: we see that what
the Prophet meant was this, --- that God rejected all the rites, by which the Israelites
thought that he was pacified, as though they were the most effectual expiations.
He does not simply declare that they were of no account before God; but he speaks
much stronger and says, that God despised and abhorred them. I regard, he says,
with hatred your festal days. He speaks also of burnt offerings,
When ye offer me sacrifices and your gift, etc. {,}מנחהmeneche, properly means
a gift of flour, which was an addition to the sacrifice; but it is often taken generally
for any kind of offering. It is indeed certain that the Prophet meant, that however
much the Israelites accumulated their ritual observances, they did nothing towards
appeasing God, inasmuch as they observed not the law that was given them; and
they turned also to a wrong purpose their sacrifices; for they did not exercise them-
selves in piety and in the spiritual worship of God, but, on the contrary, spread veils
before God, that by presenting a fictitious form of worship, they might cover all their
sins; for they thought themselves to be hidden from God.
This is the reason why the Prophet declares that these offerings would not be
received by God, {,}לא{ }ארצהla areste, I will not accept them. The Prophet no
doubt alludes here to those promises, which are to be found everywhere in the law,
as he did when he said in the last verse, {,}לא{ }אריחla arich, I will not smell {,}רוחה
ruch, means to smell; and Moses often uses the expression, that God is delighted
with the odour of sacrifices, or with the smell of incense. But when the Lord declares
that odour is pleasant to him, he means that it is so, provided the people sacrificed
rightly, that is, when they brought not sacrifices as false veils to cover their sins, but
as true and real evidences of their faith and repentance; God promised in that case
that sacrifices would be a sweet odour to him. Now, on the contrary, he declares that
the perfume would not be acceptable to him, nor sacrifices appeasing. But sacrifices
not only were acceptable to God, but also pacified him. Since then the Lord had so
often said, that he would be propitious to his people, when sacrifices were offered,
it was necessary expressly to cut off this confidence from the Israelites, when they
dealt not faithfully with God. God never disappointed his true worshipers, but ever
received them into favor, provided they approached him in sincerity. But as these
hypocrites dealt falsely with him, they were necessarily disappointed of their hope,
as the Prophet here declares.
The peace-offerings of your fat things, he says, I will not regard God indeed
promised in the law that he would regard their sacrifices provided they were law-
ful; but as the Israelites had in two ways departed from pure worship, God now justly
says, I will not look on your sacrifices, nor on the peace-offerings of your fat things
He calls them the peace-offerings of fat things, intimating, that though the beasts
were the choicest, they would not yet be acceptable to him; for the Lord regards not
MINOR PROPHETS
fatness, as he needs neither meat nor drink. Then, in a word, the Prophet here sets
this fatness in opposition to true godliness and obedience too. In both respects there
was, as we have seen, a defect among the Israelites; for they obeyed not the law as
to its outward requirements, and their hearts were impure and perverse: hence all
their sacrifices were necessarily polluted and corrupt.
It follows, Take away from me the multitude of thy songs By speaking of multitude,
he aims at hypocrites, who toil much in their devices without measure or end, as we
see done at this day by those under the Papacy; for they accumulate endless forms of
worship, and greatly weary themselves, morning and evening; in short, they spend
days and nights in performing their ceremonies, and every one devises some new
thing, and all these they heap together. Inasmuch, then, as men, when they have
begun to turn aside from the pure word of God, continually invent various kinds
of trifles, the Prophet here touches indirectly on this foolish laboriousness (stultan
sedulitatem --- foolish sedulity) when he says, Take away from me the multitude of
thy songs. He might have simply said, ``Thy songs please me not;'' but he mentions
their multitude, because hypocrites, as I have said, fix no limits to their outward
ceremonies: and a vast heap especially follows, when once they take to themselves
the liberty of devising this or that form of worship. Hence God testifies here, that
they spend labor in vain, for he rejects what he does not command, and whatever is
not rightly offered to him.
And the harmony of lyres, or of musical instruments. But {,}נבלnabel, was an
instrument, which, as to its kind, is unknown to us now. Take away, then, from me
the harmony of lyres; for the verb, take away, may refer to both clauses; though
some join them to the last the verb ``lo {,}לא{ }אשמעla ashimo, I will not hear. The
difference really is very little: but their view is the most probable, who join together
the two clauses, `Take away from me the multitude of thy songs and the harmony
of lyres;' with which thou thinkest me to be delighted. They afterwards take {}לא
`` }אשמע{I will not hear,'' by itself. But I contend not about such minute things: it is
enough to know the design of the Prophet. It now follows ---
Amos 5:24
24. But let judgment run down as waters, and righteousness as a mighty stream.
24. Et decurret quasi aquae judicium, et justitia quasi torrens violentus.
Interpreters variously expound this verse. To some it seems an exhortation, as
though the Prophet said, ``Ye thrust on me victims of beasts and various ceremonies;
but I regard not these things; for the interior purity of heart alone pleases me: take
away then all these things, which are of no moment with me, and bring what I espe-
cially require and demands even a pure and sincere heart.''
Some also think that newness of life is here described by its fruits or its evidences:
for the Prophet mentions not purity, speaks not of faith and repentance, but by the
fruits sets forth that renovation, which God always chiefly regards, and for the sake of
which he had required sacrifices under the law. The meaning then is, that hypocrites
are here recalled to true worship, because they vainly and absurdly tormented them-
selves with their own fictions: and by requiring from them righteousness and judg-
ment, he required a holy and pure life, or, in a word, uprightness.
JOHN CALVIN
Others think that the Prophet turns aside here to celebrate the grace of Christ,
which was to be made known in the gospel: and the verb {,}יגלigel, is rendered by
many ``shall be revealed;'' but others more correctly derive it from the root {,}גל
igel, to roll. Let justice then as it were, roll. But I will return to the second exposition.
Most think that there is here a prediction of that righteousness which God was to
make known by the coming of Christ; and some retain also the proper meaning
of the verb {,}גלgal, to roll. They then say that the gospel is here compared to an
impetuous river and a violent stream, because the Lord would rush on and penetrate
through all hindrances, how many soever Satan might attempt to throw in his way.
But this meaning seems not to harmonize with the Prophet's words and is in my
judgment, too refined.
Some again regard the verse as a threatening, and think that God here reproves
the Israelites, as though he had said, that since they were trifling with and mock-
ing him, he would at length show what was true righteousness and what was true
judgment: for hypocrites think that they come not short of a perfect state, when
they are veiled by their ceremonies, inasmuch as they flee to these lurking holes,
when they would cover all their flagitous deeds. Hence they think not that they
are guilty, for they hide their sins under their ceremonies as under Ajax's shield.
Seeing then that they thus trifle with God, some interpreters think that God here
sharply reproves them and says, that they were greatly deceived, for he would him-
self at length make known what was true righteousness. Righteousness then shall
run down or be rolled; and by this verb he expresses impetuosity; but he sets it forth
afterwards more clearly by {,}איתןaitan, ``Judgment shall be a violent stream.'' But
hypocrites amuse themselves as children do with their puppets. Inasmuch then as
they do nothing seriously, and yet desire to pacify God as with baubles, the Prophet
here shakes off such delusions, as though he said, ``Do you think that God is like a
child? Why do you set up these trifles? Do you think that righteousness is a fictitious
thing, or that judgment is a vain figment? The Lord will certainly show to you how
precious righteousness is. It shall therefore run down as violent waters, as an im-
petuous stream. ``Judgment,'' he says ``shall rush upon you and overwhelm you.''
This is the third meaning.
But the verse may be again explained in a different way, as though God obviated
an objection; for hypocrites, we know, always raise a clamor, and make no end of
contending; ``What! Have we then lost all our labor, while endeavoring to worship
God? Is all this to go for nothing? And further, we have not only offered sacrifices, but
sought also to testify that the glory of God is to us an object of concern. Since then
we have had a care for religion, why should God now reject us?'' The Prophet here
shortly answers, --- that if only they brought forth true righteousness, their course
would be free; as though he said, ``God will not put a check to your righteousness
and rectitude:'' and this must be referred to the fruit or remuneration; as though the
Prophet said, ``Only worship God in sincerity, and he will not disappoint you; for a
reward will be laid up for you; your righteousness shall run down as a river.'' As it
is said in another place, `Your righteousness shall shine as the dawn,' so it is also in
this, `Your righteousness shall run down as violent waters.' There was therefore no
MINOR PROPHETS
reason for hypocrites to expostulate and say that wrong was done them by God, or
that their performances were lightly esteemed, since God openly testified, that he
would provide for righteousness, that it might have a free course, like an impetuous
river: and this seems to be the genuine meaning of the Prophet. While I do not
wholly reject the other expositions, I do not yet follow them; but show what I mostly
approve. 44
Then the Prophet, after having bidden them to throw aside all their fictitious and
spurious forms of worship, does not now simply exhort the Israelites, as some think,
to exhibit righteousness and rectitude, but expresses this in the form of a promise,
``Run down shall your righteousness as impetuous waters, provided it be true, and
not an empty name. Whenever God shall see in you sincere rectitude, there will
certainly be prepared an ample reward for you.'' It follows ---
Amos 5:25-26
25. Have ye offered unto me sacrifices and offerings in the wilderness forty years,
O house of Israel?
25. An victimas et munus (est {)}מנחהobtulistis mihi in deserto quadraginta
annis, domus Israel?
26. But ye have borne the tabernacle of your Moloch and Chiun your images, the
star of your god, which ye made to yourselves.
26. Et sustulistis Sicuth Regem vestrum, et Chion, imagines vestras, stellam de-
orum vestrorum (vel, deos vestros,) quae fecistis vobis.
The Prophet shows in this place, that he not only reproved hypocrisy in the Is-
raelites in obtruding on God only external display of ceremonies without any true
religion in the heart; but that he also condemned them for having departed from the
rule of the law. He also shows that this was not a new disease among the people of
Israel; for immediately at the beginning their fathers mixed such a leaven as vitiated
the worship of God. He therefore proves that the Israelites had ever been given to
superstitions, and could not by any means be retained in the true and pure worship
of God.
Have ye then caused sacrifices, victims, or an oblation to come before me in the
desert for forty years? He addresses them as though they had perverted God's wor-
ship in the desert, and yet they were born many ages after; what does he mean?
Even this, --- the Prophet includes the whole body of the people from their first be-
ginning, as though he said, ``It is right to inclose you in the same bundle with your
fathers; for you are the same with your fathers in your ways and dispositions.'' We
hence see that the Israelites were regarded guilty, not only because they vitiated
God's worship in one age by their superstitions, but also from the beginning. And
44There appears here a great candor in our Author: but the first view of the passage seems the most natural and obvious, as presented in our version, with which that of Newcome and Henderson agrees. Having before exhorted them to "take away" what they thought much of, the Prophet now exhorts them to attend to judgment and justice. The two verses, 23 and 24, may be thus rendered: — 23. Remove from me the multitude of thy songs, And the music of thy harps; I will not hear them. 24. And let judgment roll down like waters, And righteousness like a mighty stream. I prefer rendering {,{`` המוןmultitude,'' with Calvin, rather than ``noise,'' with our version
and Newcome, or ``sound'' with Henderson. It forms a variety as to the next clause. In idiomatic English the expressions would
be---''thy many songs and thy harmonious harps.'' The two verses ought to be read as connected; and the 24th should begin with
``And,'' ,{}וand not ``But.'' --- Ed.
JOHN CALVIN
he asks whether they offered victims to him: it is certain that such was their in-
tention; for they at no time dared to deny God, by whom they had been not long
before delivered; and we know that though they made for themselves many things
condemned by the law, they ever adhered to this principle, ``The God, who hath
redeemed us, is to be worshipped by us:'' yea, they always proudly boasted of their
father Abraham. They had never then willingly alienated themselves from God, who
had chosen Abraham their father and themselves to be his people: and indeed the
Prophet shortly before had said, `Take away from me,' etc.; and then, `when ye offer
to me sacrifices and a gift of flour, I will not count them acceptable.' There seems
to be an inconsistency in this --- that God should deny that victims been offered to
him --- and yet say that they were offered to him by the people of Israel, when, as
we have stated, they had presumptuously built a profane and spurious altar. The
solution is easy, and it is even this, --- that the people had ever offered sacrifices to
God, if we regard what they pretended to do: for good intention, as it is commonly
called, so blinds the superstitious, that with great presumption they trifle with God.
Hence with respect to them we may say that they sacrificed to God; but as to God,
he denies that what was not purely offered was offered to him. We now then see
why God says now that sacrifices were not offered to him in the wilderness: he says
so, because the people blended with his worship the leaven of idolatry: and God
abhorred this depravation. This is the meaning.
But another objection may be again proposed. This defection did not prevail long,
and the whole people did not give their consent to idolatry; and still more, we know
what the impostor Balaam said, that Jacob had no idol; and speaking in the twentieth
chapter of Numbers, 45 by the prophetic spirit, he testifies that the only true God
reigned in Jacob, and that there were among them no false gods. How then does
the Prophet say now that idolatry prevailed among them? The answer is ready:
The greater part went astray: hence the whole people are justly condemned; and
though this sin was reproved, yet they relapsed continually, as it is well known, into
superstitions; and still more, they worshipped strange gods to please strumpets.
Since it was so, it is no wonder that they are accused here by the Prophet of not
having offered victims to God, inasmuch as they were contaminated with impure
superstitions: it could not then be, that they brought anything to God. At the same
time God's worship, required by his law, was of such importance, that he declared
that he was worshipped by Jacob, as also Christ says,
``We know what we worship,'' (John 4:22;)
and yet not one in a hundred among the Jews cherished the hope of eternal life in
his heart. They were all Epicureans or profane; nay, the Sadducees prevailed openly
among them: the whole of religion was fallen, or was at least so decayed, that there
was no holiness and no integrity among them; and yet Christ says, ``We know what
we worship;'' and this was true with regard to the law.
Now then we see that the Prophets speak in various ways of Israel: when they
regard the people, they say, that they were perfidious, that they were apostates, who
45Calvin is perhaps referring to Numbers 23:21, wherein the Douay version is: — 21. There is no idol in Jacob, neither is there an image god to be seen in Israel. etc. — fj.
MINOR PROPHETS
had immediately from the beginning departed from the true and legitimate worship
of God: but when they commend the grace of God, they say, that the true worship
of God shone among them, that though the whole multitude had become perverted,
yet the Lord approved of what he had commanded. So it is with Baptism; it is a
sacred and immutable testimony of the grace of God, though it were administered
by the devil, though all who may partake of it were ungodly and polluted as to their
own persons. Baptism ever retains its own character, and is never contaminated by
the vices of men. The same must be said of sacrifices.
I shall now return to the words of the Prophet: 46 Have you offered to me victims
for forty years in the desert? He enhances their sin by the circumstance of their
condition; for they were there shut up in a narrow and hard confinement, and yet
they turned aside after their superstitions. And it was certainly a monstrous thing:
God fed them daily with manna; they were therefore under the necessity, however
unwilling, of looking up to heaven every day; for God constrained their unwillingness
with no common favor. They knew, too, that water flowed for them miraculously from
a rock. Seeing then that God constrained them thus to look up to him, how was it
that they yet became vain through their own deceptions? It was, as I have said, a
prodigious blindness. Hence the Prophet speaks of the forty years and of the desert,
that the atrocity of their sin might more fully appear; for the Lord could not, by so
many bonds, keep the people from such a madness.
It now follows, And ye have carried Sicuth your king. This place, we know, is
quoted by Stephen in the seventh chapter of the Acts: but he followed the Greek
version; and the Greek translator, whoever he was, was mistaken as to the word,
Sicuth, and read, Sucoth, and thought the name an appellative of the plural number,
and supposed it to be derived from {}סוךsuk, which means a tabernacle; for he
translated it {σκήνην} as if it was said, ``Ye bore the tabernacle of your king instead
of the ark.'' But it was a manifest mistake; for the probability is, that Sicuth was the
proper name of an idol. Ye bore then Sicuth your king. He called it their king by way
of reproach; for they had violated that priestly kingdom, which God had instituted;
for he, as a king, exercised dominion over them. Since then God would be deemed
46No commentator has given us a satisfactory rendering of these two verses. Perhaps that of Calvin, as a whole, comes nearest to the original. The question, Have ye, etc., is considered by many as not implying a negation but a concession, as though it had been said, "I grant this; ye did offer," etc.; and then, what is said in verse 26 was what they did besides. It was this mixture of two worships, the worship of God and the worship of idols, that is here brought against the Israelites. I venture to present the following translation: — Did you bring me sacrifices and oblation in the wilderness For forty years, O house of Israel? You did also bear Sacut, your king, And Kiun, which were your images; A star was your god, Which ye formed for yourselves. That the hosts of heaven were the objects of their worship, is evident from Stephen's Sermon in Acts 7:42, "Then God turned and gave them up to worship the host of heaven." Stephen then refers to, and quotes this passage, not from the Hebrew, but almost literally from the Septuagint. Instead of, "their figures which ye have made for yourselves," he has, "figures which ye made to worship them." He gives the meaning, but not the words. Between the words of Amos, in Hebrew, and those of Stephen, there is a material, though not verbal agreement. Two objects of idolatrous worship are mentioned, and also their images, but their names are different. The probability is, that those used by Amos were not current at the time the Greek version was made, and that the names by which those deities were then known were used. Moloch, indeed, means a king, but applied, like Baal, to several heathen gods; and Kiun is said to be Arabic, and Remphan is an Egyptic term, designating the same star or planet, which critics suppose to have been Saturn. Moloch, as Grotius suggests, had the figure of a king, and Kiun that of a star.
JOHN CALVIN
the king of Israel, as he had ascribed to himself that name, and since he promised
to them a kingdom, as in due time he gave them, it was the basest ingratitude in
them to seek an idol to be their king; it was indeed a denial of God which could not be
borne, not to allow themselves to be governed by him. We hence see how sharply he
upbraids them, for had refused to God his own kingdom, and created for themselves
the fictitious Sleuth as their king.
Then it follows, And Kiun, your images Some think that {,}כיוןKiun, means a cake,
and {,}כוהkue, is to burn, and from this they think the word is derived; but others
more correctly regard it as a proper name; and the Prophet, I have no doubt, has
named here some reigned god after Sleuth. Kiun then, your images; I read the words
as being in apposition. Others say, ``The cake of your images;'' and some render
the words literally, ``Kiun your images;'' but yet they do not sufÏciently attend to
the design of the Prophet; for he seems here to ridicule the madness of the people,
because they dreamt that some deity was inclosed in statues and in such masks.
``Ye carried,'' he says, ``both Sicuth and Kiun, your images. I am now deprived of
honor, for ye could not bear me to govern you. Ye now enjoy your King Sicuth; but,
in the meantime, let us see what is the power of Sicuth and Kiun; they are nothing
more than images. Seeing then that there is neither strength nor even life in them,
what madness is it to worship such fictitious things?''
But some think that Kiun was the image of Saturn. What the Hebrews indeed say,
that this idolatry was derived from the Persians, is wholly groundless; for the Per-
sians, we know, had no images nor statues, but worshipped only the sacred fire. As,
then, the Persians had no images. the Jews fabled, in their usual way, when they said
that Kiun was an image of Saturn. But all the Jews, I have no doubt, imagined that
all the stars were gods, as they made images for them; for it immediately follows,
A constellation, or a star, your gods These, he says, are your gods; even stars and
images; and there is here a sarcasm ({σαρκασμος};) used; for the Prophet derides
the folly of the people of Israel, who, being not content with the Maker of heaven and
earth, sought for themselves dead gods, or rather vain devices. ``Your gods then,''
he says, ``are images and stars.''
But it must be observed, that he calls them images: he does not, as in other
places, call them idols; and this, I say, ought to be observed, for here is refuted the
foolish and refinement of the Papists, who at this day excuse all their superstitions,
because they have no idols; for they deny that their devices are idols. What then?
They are images. Thus they hide their own baseness under the name of images.
But the Prophet does not say that they were idols; he does not use that hateful word
which is derived from grief or sorrow; but he says that they were images. The name
then in itself has nothing base or ominous; but, at the same time, as the Lord would
not have himself represented by any visible figure, the Prophet here expressly and
distinctly condemns Sicuth and Kiun. The Greek translator whom Stephen followed,
put down the word, types or figures, that is, images. Now, when any one says to the
Papists that their figures or images are sinful before God, they boldly deny this; but
we see that their evasion avails nothing.
He adds in the last place, Which ye have made for yourselves I prefer rendering
MINOR PROPHETS
the relative {,}אשרasher, in the neuter gender, as including all their fictitious gods,
and also their images, which things then ye have made for yourselves. To make these
things is at all times vicious in sacred things; for we ought not to bring any thing of
our own when we worship God, but we ought to depend always on the word of his
mouth, and to obey what he has commanded. All our actions then in the worship of
God ought to be, so to speak, passive; for they ought to be referred to his command,
lest we attempt any thing but what he approves. Hence, when men dare to do this
or that without God's command, it is nothing else but abomination before him. And
the Greeks call superstitions {εθελοθρησκείας}; and this word means voluntary acts
of worship, such as are undertaken by men of their own accord. We now understand
the whole design of the Prophet. It follows ---
Amos 5:27
27. Therefore will I cause you to go into captivity beyond Damascus, saith the
Lord, whose name is the God of hosts.
27. Et migrare faciam vos ultra Damascum, dicit Jehova, Deus exercituum nomen
ejus.
Here the Prophet at last denounces exile on the Israelites as though he had said
that God would not suffer them any longer to contaminate the Holy Land, which had
been given them as an heritage, on the condition that they acknowledged him as the
only true God. God had now, for a long time, borne with the Israelites though they
had never ceased to pollute his land with superstitions. He comes now to cleanse it. I
will cause you, he says, to migrate beyond Damascus; for they thought that enemies
were driven, by means of that fortress, from the whole country, and they took shelter
there as in a quiet nest. The expression would have otherwise no meaning, and
this is what interpreters have not noticed. They say, ``I will cause you to migrate
beyond Damascus'' 47 that is, to a far country; but why did the Prophet mention
Damascus? This reason ought to be observed. It was because the Israelites thought
that all the attacks of enemies would be prevented by having the city Damascus
as their defense, which they supposed was impregnable. ``That fortress,'' the Lord
says, ``will not prevent me from taking you away, and removing you as far as the
Assyrians.'' We now see what the Prophet means, and why he expressly added the
name of Damascus.
It follows, The God of hosts is his name 48 Here the Prophet confirms his threaten-
ing, lest hypocrites should think that he did not speak in earnest: for we know how
readily they flattered themselves; and when the Lord fulminated, they remained se-
cure. Hence the Prophet, that he might strike terror, says, that the speaker is the
God of hosts, as though he said, ``Ye cannot hope to escape the vengeance which
God now denounces on you; for his power is infinite, he is the Lord of hosts. See then
that he is prepared to destroy you except ye timely repent.'' This is the meaning. I
47Here is another instance in which the meaning and not the words, is given by Stephen in Acts 7:43. In this instance, the Septuagint is the same with the Hebrew text, "beyond Damascus;" but Stephen says, "beyond Babylon." The same quarter is meant, though the name of the place is different. — Ed.
48There seems to be a peculiar propriety in introducing this sentence. The Israelites became the worshippers of the hosts of heaven; then the Prophet says, that Jehovah is the God of Hosts. What folly, then, it was to worship the hosts of heaven, and to forsake the God of them! — Ed.
JOHN CALVIN
will not now proceed farther.
Prayer.
Grant, Almighty God, that as thou seest us to be so prone to corrupt superstitions,
and that we are with so much difÏculty restrained by thy word, --- O grant, that we
being confirmed by thy Spirit, may never turn aside either to the right hand or to the
left, but be ever attentive to thee alone, and not worship thee presumptuously, nor
pollute thy worship with our outward pomps, but call on thee with a sincere heart,
and, recumbing on thy aid, flee to thee in all our necessities, and never abuse thy
holy name, which thou hast designed to be engraven on us, but be conformed to the
image of thy Son, that thou mayest be to us truly a Father, and that we may be thy
children, in the name of the same Christ our Lord. Amen.
Chapter 6.
Lecture Sixty-first
Amos 6
Amos 6:1
1. Woe to them that are at ease in Zion, and trust in the mountain of Samaria,
which are named chief of the nations, to whom the house of Israel came!
1. Vae securis in Sion et confidentibus in monte Samaria, qui celebres fuerunt
principio gentium, et ingressi sunt ad illos domus Israel.
The Prophet now directs his discourse not only to the Israelites, to whom he was
especially given as an instructor and teacher, but includes the Jews also: and yet he
addresses not all indiscriminately, but only the chief men, who were intent on their
pleasures, as though they were exempt from the common miseries: for he does not,
as many suppose, reprove here luxury and pride only; but we must remember a
fact connected with their case, --- that they were not awakened by God's judgments;
when God severely punished the sins of the people, the chief men remained ever
heedlessly in their own dregs. This security is now condemned by our Prophet.
And this is a very common evil, as we may see, in the present day. For when the
Lord afÒicts a country with war or with famine, the rich make great gain of such evils.
They abuse the scourges of God; for we see merchants getting rich in the midst of
wars, inasmuch as they scrape together a booty from every quarter. For they who
carry on war are forced to borrow money, and also the peasants and mechanics,
that they may pay taxes; and then, that they may live, they are obliged to make
unjust conditions: thus the rich increase in wealth. They also who are in authority,
and in favor at the court of princes, make more gain in wars, in famine, and in other
calamities, than during times of peace and prosperity: for when peace nourishes,
the state of things is then more equable; but when the poor are burdened, the rest
grow fat. And this is the evil now noticed by the Prophet.
Hence he pronounces here a curse on the secure and those at ease; not that
it is an evil thing, or in itself displeasing to God, when any one quietly enjoys his
leisure; but, not to be moved, when the Lord openly shows himself to be displeased
JOHN CALVIN
and angry, when his scourges are manifestly inflicted, but to indulge ourselves more
in pleasures, --- this is to provoke him, as it were, designedly. The secure, then,
and the presumptuous the Prophet here condemns, for it became them to humble
themselves when they saw that God was incensed against them. They were not
indeed more just than the multitude; and when God treated the common people
with such severity, ought not the chiefs to have looked to themselves, and have
examined their own life? As they did not do this, but made themselves drunk with
pleasures, and put far off every fear and thought that the scourges of God were
nothing to them, --- this was a contempt deservedly condemned by the Prophet.
We see that God was in the same manner greatly displeased, as it is recorded in
Isaiah: when he called them to mourning, they sang with the harp, and, according
to their custom, feasted sumptuously and joyfully, (Isaiah 23:12) As then they thus
persevered in their indulgences, the Lord became extremely angry; for it was, as
though they avowedly despised him and scorned all his threatening.
We now observe the design of the Prophet, which interpreters have not sufÏciently
noticed. It behaves us indeed ever to keep in view these scourges of God, by which
he began to visit the sins of the people. God can by no means endure, as I have said,
such a contumacy as this, --- that men should go on in the indulgence of their sins
and never regard their judge and feel no guilt. Hence the Prophet says, Woe to you
who are secure in Zion, who are confident, that is, who are without any fear, on the
mount of Samaria 49 He names here the mount of Zion and the mount of Samaria;
for these were the chief cities of the two kingdoms, as we all know. The whole
country had been laid waste with various calamities; the citizens of Jerusalem and of
Samaria were, at the same time, wealthy; and then trusting in their strongholds, they
despised God and all his judgments. This then was the security, full of contumacy,
which is condemned by the Prophet.
He then mentions their ingratitude: he says that these mountains had been cele-
brated from the beginning of the nations, and that the Israelites entered into them.
God here upbraids both the Jews and Israelites with having come to a foreign pos-
session: for they had got those cities, not by their own valour, but the Lord drove
out before them the ancient inhabitants. Seeing then that they perceived not that
a safe dwelling was given them there by the Lord, that they might purely worship
him and submit to his government, their ingratitude was inexcusable. The Prophet
then, after having inveighed against the gross and heedless security, with which the
chiefs of both kingdoms were inebriated, now mentions their ingratitude: ``Ye are
not natives, but ye have come in, for God did go before you, for it was his will to
give you this land as your possession: why then are you now so inflated with pride
against him? For before your time these cities were certainly well known and cel-
ebrated; and yet this was of no avail to the natives themselves. Why then do ye
49"Woe to them that are at ease in Zion, And to them that are secure in the mountain of Samaria." —Dr. Henderson. From not considering the main drift of what follows in this chapter, critics have proposed emendations in this verse. The careless and the secure, both at Jerusalem and Samaria, are evidently meant. Newcome renders the last line nearly the same with Henderson — "And that rest secure in the mountain of Samaria." So that the word "trust" in our version is not correct. The word used means often to be confident or secure, as well as to trust; but the law of parallelism requires it to be in the former sense here; as they were at ease in Zion, so they were confident or secure on the mount of Samaria. — Ed.
MINOR PROPHETS
not now fear the Lord's judgment and repent, when he threatens you? Yea, when he
shows his scourges to you?'' We now perceive the Prophet's meaning in this verse.
It now follows ---
Amos 6:2
2. Pass ye unto Calneh, and see; and from thence go ye to Hamath the great:
then go down to Gath of the Philistines: be they better than these kingdoms? or
their border greater than your border?
2. Transite Chalneh et aspicite; ite illinc in Chamath magnam, et descendite in
Gath Philistinorum; an meliores sint regnis istis? An terminus illorum major termino
vestro?
By this representation Amos shows that there was no excuse for the Jews or the
Israelites for sleeping in their sins, inasmuch as they could see, as it were in a mirror,
the judgments which God brought on heathen nations. It is a singular favor, when
God teaches us at the expense of others: for he could justly punish us as soon
as we transgress; but this he does not, on the contrary he spares us; and at the
same time he sets others before us as examples. This is, as we have said a singular
favor: and this is the mode of teaching which our Prophet now adopts. He says, that
Calneh and Hamath, and Gath, were remarkable evidences of God's wrath, by which
the Israelites might learn, that they had no reason to rest on their wealth, to rely
on their fortresses, and to think themselves free from all dangers; for as God had
destroyed these cities, which seemed impregnable, so he could also cut off Jerusalem
and Samaria, whenever he pleased. This is the real meaning of the Prophet.
Some read the sentence negatively ``Are not these places better than your king-
doms?'' But this is not consistent with the Prophet's words. Others attend not to the
object of the Prophet; for they think that the blessings of God are here compared,
as though he said, ``God deals more liberally with you than with the Chaldeans, the
Assyrians, and the neighboring nations.'' For Calneh was situated in the plain of
Babylon, as it is evident from Genesis 10:10; and Hamath was also a celebrated city,
mentioned in that chapter, and in many other places; and Gath was a renowned city
of the Philistines. In this opinion therefore interpreters mostly agree; that is, that
there is set forth here God's bounty to the Jews and Israelites, seeing that he had
favored them with a rich and fertile country, and preferred them to other nations.
But this view seems not to me to be the correct one; for when a comparison is made
between Calneh and Jerusalem, Babylon was no doubt the more fruitful and the more
pleasant country, as we learn from all histories. The Prophet then does not speak
here of the ancient condition of these places, but shows, as I have already said, that
it availed these cities nothing, that they were wealthy, that they were fortified by all
kinds of defenses; for God, at last, executed vengeance on them. Hence the Prophet
declares that the same was now nigh the Jews and the Israelites.
``What will hinder the hand of God,'' he says, ``from delivering you to destruc-
tion? For if men could have arrested God's wrath by any fortresses, certainly Calneh
and Hamath, and Gath, would have resisted by their forces; but the Lord has yet
executed his vengeance on these cities, though fortified; your confidence then is
nothing but infatuation, which deceives you.'' Jeremiah uses a similar language,
JOHN CALVIN
when he says, `Go to Shiloh,' (Jeremiah 7:12) He certainly does not remind the Jews,
that the Lord had more splendidly adorned them than Shiloh; but he had quite a
different thing in view. Shiloh had indeed been eminent, for it had long afforded a
dwelling to the ark of the covenant; the sanctuary of God had been there. But at
that time the place was deserted; and Jeremiah sets before the eyes of the people
its sad desolation, that they might know that they ought to dread the same event,
except they repented; for if they hardened their necks, nothing could prevent God
from dealing with them as he did before with the inhabitants of Shiloh.
We now then perceive the meaning of the Prophet, when he says, Go and pass into
Calneh, and see In bidding them to see, he no doubt refers to the dreadful change
which had taken place there. For Calneh had been a strongly fortified city, and
possessed supreme power; and the neighboring country was also no less pleasant
than fruitful: but it was now a solitary place; for Babylon, as it is well known, had
swallowed up Calneh. Since then the place afforded such a spectacle, the Prophet
rightly says, Pass over into Calneh, and see; that is consider, as in a mirror, what
men can gain by their pride and haughtiness, when they harden themselves against
God: for this was the cause of destruction to that celebrated city.
From thence, he says, go to Hamath, {,}רבהrebe, the great; which was a well-
known city of Assyria; and see there, ``How has it happened that a city so famous
was entirely overthrown, except that the Lord could not endure so great a perverse-
ness? As they had abused his patience, he at length executed his vengeance. The
same thing also happened to your neighbors.'' For the Jews and the Israelites were
not far distant from Gath. Now then since there were so many evidences of God's
wrath before their eyes, justly does the Prophet here inveigh against their want of
thought, inasmuch as they feared not God's judgment, which was nigh at hand.
Are they then better? that is, is the condition of these cities better than that of the
two kingdoms, Judah and Israel? and then, Is their border larger than your border?
They have indeed been reduced to such straits, that they even pay tribute for their
houses, whereas formerly they occupied a wide extent of country, and ruled, as it
were, with extended wings, far and wide: but God has taken away those territories:
for all these cities are become tributaries. See, he says, Is their border larger than
your border? It now follows ---
Amos 6:3
3. Ye that put far away the evil day, and cause the seat of violence to come near;
3. Qui procul rejicitis diem malum, et appropinquatis solium violentiae.
The Prophet here reproves the Jews and Israelites for another crime, --- that they
had often provoked God's wrath, and ceased not by their sins to call forth new pun-
ishments, and in the meantime rejected, through their haughtiness and obstinacy,
all his threatening, as if they were vain, and would never be executed on them. We
must ever remember what I have said before, --- that the Prophet speaks not here
of the whole people, but of the chiefs; for the expression, that they drew nigh the
throne of iniquity, could not have been applied to the common people. This discourse
then was addressed particularly to the judges and counselors, and those who were
in power in both kingdoms, in Judah as well as in Israel.
MINOR PROPHETS
But it is a remarkable saying, that they drove far off the evil day, while they drew
nigh the throne of iniquity, or of violence; as though he said, ``Ye seek for yourselves
a fever by your intemperance, and yet ye drive it far off, as drunken men are wont to
do, who swallow down wine without any moderation; and when a physician comes
or one more moderate, and warns them not to indulge in excess, they ridicule all
their forebodings: `What! will a fever seize on me? I am wholly free from fever; I
am indeed accustomed to drink wine.' '' Such are ungodly men, when they provoke
God's wrath as it were designedly, and at the same time scorn all threatening, as
though they were safe through some special privilege. We now then see what the
Prophet had in view by saying, that they drove far the evil day, and yet drew nigh
the throne of iniquity He means, that they drew nigh the throne of iniquity, when
the judges strengthened themselves in their tyranny, and took the liberty to steal,
to rob, to plunder, to oppress. When therefore they thus hardened themselves in
all kinds of licentiousness, they then drew nigh the throne of iniquity. And they put
away the evil day, because they were touched by no alarm; for when the Prophets
denounced God's vengeance, they regarded it as a fable.
In short, Amos charges here the principal men of the two kingdoms with two
crimes, --- that they ceased not to provoke continually the wrath of God by subverting
and casting under foot all equity, and by ruling the people in a tyrannical and haughty
manner --- and that, in the mean time, they heedlessly despised all threatening,
prolonged time, and promised impunity to themselves: even when God seriously and
sharply addressed them, they still thought that the evil day was not nigh. Passages
of this kind meet us everywhere in the Prophets, in which they show their indignation
at this kind of heedlessness, when hypocrites putting off every feeling of grief, as
though they had fascinated themselves, laughed to scorn all the Prophets, because
they thought that the hand of God was far removed from them. Thus they are spoken
of by Isaiah, as saying,
`Let us eat and drink, since we must die,'
(Isaiah 22:13)
They indeed thought that the Prophets did not seriously threaten them; but they
regarded the mention of a near destruction as an empty bugbear. We now then
understand what the Prophet meant. It follows ---
Amos 6:4
4. That lie upon beds of ivory, and stretch themselves upon their couches, and
eat the lambs out of the flock, and the calves out of the midst of the stall;
4. Qui decumbunt (vel, dormiunt) in lectis eburneis et se extendunt super strata
sua (alii vertunt, et superflua; alii, induti sunt tiaris; sed utrumque mihi videtur coac-
tum,) qui comedunt agnos e grege (hoc est, selectos) et vitulos e medio saginarii
(vel, opimi pascui; nam {}מרבקquidam ita vertunt.)
Amos still pursues the reproof we have noticed at the beginning of the chapter,
--- that the chief men, of whom he speaks, cast away from them all cares and anxi-
eties, and indulged in pleasures, while the whole country was miserably distressed.
We must ever bear in mind what I have already said, --- that luxury is not simply rep-
rehended by the Prophet, as some incorrectly think, without sufÏciently considering
JOHN CALVIN
what is said, for it is not what the Prophet treats of; but he upbraids the Israelites for
setting up an iron neck against God's judgments, yea, for shamelessly trifling with
God, while he was endeavoring to lead them by degrees to repentance. The Prophet
complains that nothing availed with them.
He then says, first, that they slept on ivory beds. To use ivory beds was not in itself
bad, except that excess is ever to be condemned; for, when we give up ourselves to
pomps and pleasures, we certainly are not then free from sin: indeed, every desire
for present things, which exceeds moderation, is ever justly reprehensible. And when
men greedily seek splendor and display, or become ambitious and proud, or are
given to delicacies, they are guilty of vices ever condemned by God. But it might be,
that one used an ivory bed, who was yet willing to lie on the ground: for we know that
there was then a great abundance of ivory, and that it was commonly used in Asia.
Italy formerly knew not what it was to use a bed of ivory, that is, before the victory
of Lucius Scipio: but after the king Antiochus was conquered, then Italy freely used
ivory beds and fineries; and thus luxury broke down their courage and effeminated
them.
I will come now to our Prophet: it might have been that ivory was not then so
valuable in Judea: they might then have used ivory beds without blame. But Amos
ever regards the miseries of those times. The rich then ought to have given up all
their luxuries, and to have betaken themselves to dust and ashes, when they saw
that God was incensed with them, when they saw that the fire of his vengeance was
kindled. We now then perceive why Amos was so indignant against those who slept
on ivory beds.
He adds, And who extend themselves on their beds: for {,}סרחsarech, is properly
to extend; it means also to become fetid; and further, it means to be superfluous;
and therefore some render the words, ``upon ivory beds and superfluities;'' but this
is strained, and agrees not with what follows, upon their couches. The Prophet then,
I have no doubt, points out here the manners of those who so heedlessly indulged
themselves: ``Ye extend,'' he says, ``your legs and your arms on your couches, as
idle men, accustomed to indulgences, are wont to do. But the Lord will awaken you
in a new way; his scourges ought to have roused you, but ye remain asleep. Hence,
since God could not terrify you by his rods, nothing more remains but to draw you
forth against your will to be punished.'' This was the reason why the Prophet said
that they extended themselves on their couches.
Ye eat also the lambs from the flock, and the calves from the midst of the rich
pasture, or of the stall. I prefer taking {,}מרבקmerebek, for folds. Since then they
loved fat meat, the Prophet reproves this luxury: he had indeed in view, as it has
been already said, the then calamitous time; for if the rich had in their usual way
feasted, and had even taken fat meat, they would not have deserved so severe a
punishment: but when the Lord called them to mourning, and when the signals of
his wrath spread horror all around, it was a stupidity not to be endured, for them to
continue their indulgences, which they ought, on the contrary, to have renounced.
Indeed, this passage agrees with that of Isaiah, to which I have already referred. It
now follows ---
MINOR PROPHETS
Amos 6:5
5. That chant to the sound of the viol, and invent to themselves instruments of
musick, like David;
5. Concinentes super ore cithera, sicut David excogitarunt sibi instrumenta can-
tici.
The word {,}פרטpereth, means to divide; so some explain it, and derive it from
the clusters which remain after the vintage, because there are not then thick grapes,
but a cluster here and there, and a great distance between: hence they think that
the participle {,}הפורטיםepurethim, is to be taken here metaphorically as meaning
to divide by marks, as music has its various notes; for except there be a distinct
variety in singing, the sound would be confused, and would produce no pleasing
effect. Who sing then with the harps and have invented for themselves, after the
example of David, musical instruments.
The Prophet still continues his discourse, and shows that these men lived sump-
tuously; as though they did not belong to the common class, they delighted them-
selves, against God's will, not only in the common mode of living, but even sought
new pleasures, as if they were continually at marriage feasts, or celebrating birth-
days. As then they had no season for mourning, they pursued their own indulgences;
and this is what the Prophet now reprehends. If then any one thinks that music is
in these words condemned, he is much deceived, as it appears from the context.
Indeed, the Prophet never dealt so rigidly with that people, but he ever kept to this
point --- that they were extremely torpid, nay, destitute of common sense, who per-
ceived not that God showed himself angry with them, in order that they might flee
immediately to the standard of repentance and humbly deprecate, with mourning,
the wrath of God, as they ought to have done. It was therefore meet ever to set
before them Gods wrath, which ought to have humbled the Jews and the Israelites,
inasmuch as they ever obstinately set up against God their own indifference.
In saying that after the example of David they invented for themselves musical
instruments, he no doubt greatly aggravated their sin by this comparison: for it
is not likely that they had abused this pretext, as hypocrites do, who are wont to
boast of the examples of the saints, when they seek to disguise their own vices, ---
``What!'' some will say, ``Did not David use musical instruments?'' Others will say,
``Had not Solomon very splendid palaces?'' And some will add, ``Had not Abraham a
company of servants in his house?'' So every one lays hold on what may avail for an
excuse: and thus the examples of the saints are absurdly referred to by many. But it
seems not probable that this was done by those whom Amos now addresses: but, on
the contrary, he appears sharply to reprove them for provoking God's wrath by self
indulgence, and for manifesting their perverseness, while David employed musical
instruments in the exercises of religion, to raise up his mind to God. No doubt, David,
when in a peaceful state, after having been delivered from all dangers, could also
amuse himself: but he applied musical instruments to another purpose --- to sound
forth the praises of God in the temple, that thereby he and other godly persons might
together elevate their thoughts to a religious devotion. While David then, even in
a state of peace and prosperity, did not allow his mind to become sunk in vain self-
JOHN CALVIN
indulgences, these men, when God appeared angry, when he spread terror by so
many tokens of his vengeance, yet dared contumaciously to follow their own ways,
so that they left off nothing of their usual pomp and of their accustomed pleasures.
We now see the design of the comparison which the Prophet makes: He aggra-
vates, I have no doubt, their sin, because they regarded not the example of David,
but transferred musical instruments to serve the purpose of gross and beastly indul-
gences, and thus they did when God was opposed to them, when he had begun to
terrify them by his vengeance. Let us proceed ---
Amos 6:6-7
6. That drink wine in bowls, and anoint themselves with the chief ointments: but
they are not grieved for the afÒiction of Joseph.
6. Qui bibunt in phialis vinum, et primitiis oleorum sese ungunt, et non condoles-
cunt super contritionem Joseph.
7. Therefore now shall they go captive with the first that go captive, and the
banquet of them that stretched themselves shall be removed.
7. Propterea nunc transferentur (voluentur) in capite migrantium, et veniet luctus
extensorum (est deductum ab eodem verbo jrs; diximus plura significare sed accipio
pro extendere; et aliquid rursus dicendum erit in fine.)
Amos now reproaches the chiefs of both kingdoms for drinking wine in bowls,
that is, in vessels either elegantly formed or precious. Some think ``silver'' to be
understood ``in vessels of silver:'' but there is no need of regarding any thing as
understood in the Prophet's words. The meaning is, that those men were sufÏciently
convicted of brutish stupidity, inasmuch as they did not forsake their indulgences,
when God manifested his terrible vengeance. Since God then did thus what tended
to humble them, their madness and blindness were conspicuous enough; for they
indulged themselves, they drank wine according to their usual custom, when they
ought to have betaken themselves, as we have said, to fasting, lamentation, and
mourning, to sackcloth and ashes.
They drank wine in bowls, and further, they anointed themselves with the chief
ointments Christ, we know, was anointed at least twice, (Luke 7:38 Matthew 26:7)
and this practice was not blamed in David, nor in king Hezekiah, nor in others. Since
then anointing was not in itself sinful, we see that the Prophet must have something
particular in view. He meant to show, that when God manifested tokens of his wrath,
nothing then remained for those who were conscious of having done evil, but humbly
to abstain, like guilty persons, from all indulgences, that they might, by fasting and
mourning, excite the mercy of God: as the Israelites had not done this, the Prophet
expostulated with them. There is no need of seeking, any other interpretation of this
place.
For he immediately subjoins, that they grieved not for the bruising of Joseph These
words are to be read in connection with the former, and ought to be applied to the
whole discourse. The Prophet then does not specifically blame the Jews and Israelites
because they drank wine in bowls, because they anointed themselves with the best
and most precious ointment, because they reposed on ivory beds, because they
extended themselves on their couches, because they ate the best meat; but because
MINOR PROPHETS
they securely indulged in such delights, and grieved not for the distress of their
brethren, for God had miserably afÒicted the whole kingdom before their eyes. How
much had four tribes already suffered? and how much the whole land and those
who lived in the country? Ought God to have spared any longer these chiefs? It is
indeed certain, that those who were still free from these calamities were especially
culpable. Since then they did not consider the wrath of God, which was evident
enough before their eyes, it was a proof of stupidity wholly insane, and showed them
who still indulged themselves to have been utterly besides themselves.
We now then understand the full meaning of the Prophet; and hence he says,
They shall emigrate at the head of the emigrants, that is, ``when there shall be an
emigration, they shall be the first in order of time. I have hitherto indulgently spared
you; but as I see that you have abused my forbearance, ye shall certainly be the
forerunners of others; for ye shall go first into captivity. And my rigor shall begin
with you, because I see that I have hitherto lost all my labor in attempting, kindly
and paternally to call you to repentance. Ye shall now then migrate at the head of
the emigrants
And come shall the mourning of those who extend themselves, {,}סרוחיםsaruchim 50 ; that is, ``Ye indeed lie down, (as he had said before,) ye extend yourselves on
your couches; but mourning shall come to you. Ye think that you can escape punish-
ment, when ye repose quietly on your beds; but though your chambers be closed,
though ye move not a finger, yet mourning shall come to you.'' We now see the con-
nection between the words, mourning and resting in idleness and indulgence. The
word {,}סרחsarech, means indeed properly to recumb; and hence some render the
passage, ``Mourning shall rest on you:'' but the more received meaning is, Mourning
shall come on you while recumbing. Though then they stretched out themselves on
their beds, that they might pleasantly and softly recumb and rest themselves, yet
mourning would come to them, that is, would enter into their chambers.
Prayer.
Grant, Almighty God, that since thou showest thyself at this day to be justly of-
fended with us, and our own consciences reprove us, inasmuch as dreadful tokens
appear, by which we may learn how much and in how many ways we have provoked
thy wrath, --- O grant, that we may be really touched with the consciousness of our
evils, and being afÒicted in our hearts, may be so humbled, that without any outward
afÒiction, we may wholly submit ourselves to be reproved by thee, and at the same
time flee to that mercy which is laid up for us, and which thou daily offerest to us in
Christ Jesus our Lord. Amen.
Lecture Sixty-second
Amos 6:8
8. The Lord God hath sworn by himself, saith the Lord the God of hosts, I abhor
50The words are {{}סרוחים{, }מרזה{ וסרusar merezach saruchim, --- an instance of striking alliteration. But Calvin's
rendering, though amounting in its general import to the same thing, is certainly not the correct one. {}סרnever means to come,
but the reverse, to depart. To decline, to turn aside or away, or to depart, is its common signification. Then {}מרזהis properly
shouting, either for grief or for joy; here evidently for the latter; and it may be rendered here mirth; so the clause may be thus
translated --- And depart shall the mirth of the recumbents, or, of those who stretch themselves. Dr. Henderson's version is the
following: --- And the shouting company of those that recline shall depart. The translation of Symmachus is, ``Taken away shall
be the company of the voluptuous, {ἑταιρεία} {τρυφητων}'' The idea of ``banquet'' for the word here used, is what the Rabbins
have given to it. --- Ed.
JOHN CALVIN
the excellency of Jacob, and hate his palaces: therefore will I deliver up the city with
all that is therein.
8. Juravit Dominus Jehova per animam suam, dicit Jehova, Deus exercituum, De-
testor ego excellentiam Jacob, palatia ejus odio habeo, et tradam urbem et pleni-
tudinem ejus.
God here declares that he would not desist, because he had hitherto loaded his
people with many benefits: for he had now changed his purpose, so that he would
no longer continue his favors. And this was designedly added by the Prophet; for
hypocrites, we know, grow hardened, when they consider what dignity had been
conferred on them; for they think their possessions to be firm and perpetual: hence
they become haughty towards God. Since then hypocrites act thus foolishly, the
Prophet justly says that it would avail them nothing, that they had hitherto excelled
in many endowments for God no longer regarded their excellency.
The word {,}גאוןgaun, means in Hebrew pride and also excellency; but it is to be
taken here in a good sense, as it is in many other places. In Isaiah 2:10, it cannot be
taken otherwise than for glory, for it is applied to God. So also in Psalm 47:4, `The
glory of Jacob, whom I loved; he had fixed the inheritance of God.' The gifts of God
ever deserve praise: hence the Prophet in this place inveighs not against pride; but,
on the contrary, he shows that the Israelites were deceived; for they set up their
excellency and nobility in opposition to God, as though they were to be thus exempt
from all punishment. God then says that he had now rejected this excellency, which
yet was his gift; but as the Israelites had abused his benefits, they were therefore to
be esteemed of no account. The meaning then is, --- that there is no acceptance of
persons before God, that the dignity which had been conferred on the people of Israel
was now of no moment; for it was a mere mask: they were unworthy of adoption,
they were unworthy of the priesthood and kingdom. It was then the same as if the
Prophet had said, ``I will judge you as the common people and heathens; for your
dignity, of which ye are stripped, is now of no account with me.'' They had indeed
long before departed from God; they were therefore wholly unworthy of being owned
by God as his inheritance.
I detest then the excellency of Jacob, and his palaces; that is, all the wealth with
which they have been hitherto adorned. But the Prophet does not take either palaces
or excellency in a bad sense; on the contrary, he shows that God's blessings are no
safeguards to the wicked, so as to avoid the judgment which they deserve.
He afterwards adds, I will deliver up the city and its fullness; that is, ``Though ye
are now full of wealth, I will empty you of all your abundance''. Hence, I will deliver
up the city together with its fullness, that is, its opulence.
But that this threatening might not be slighted, the Prophet confirms it by inter-
posing an oath. Hence he says, that God had sworn. And as we know that God's
name is precious to him, it is certain that it was not in vain adduced here, but on
account of the hardness and contumacy of those who were wont to set at nought
all the prophecies, and were wont in particular to regard as nothing all threatenings.
This was the reason why the Prophet wished thus to ratify what he had said: it was,
that hypocrites might understand that they could not escape the vengeance which
MINOR PROPHETS
he had denounced. The form of swearing, as it is, may seem apparently improper;
but God in this place puts on the character of man, as he does often in other places.
He swears by his soul, that is, by his life, as though he were one of mankind. But we
ought to accustom ourselves to such forms, in which God familiarly accommodates
himself to our capacities: for what Hilary philosophizes about the soul, as though
God the Father swore by his own wisdom, is frivolous: that good man certainly ex-
posed his own doctrine to ridicule, while he was attempting to refute the Arians.
``God the Father, he says, swears by his own wisdom. Now he who is wont to swear
by himself, could not swear by an inferior; but wisdom is the only begotten Son of
God: hence it follows, that the Son is equal to the Father.'' These things at first sight
seem plausible; but they are puerile trifles.
Let it then be observed, that God borrows from men this mode of swearing; as
though he said, ``If men be believed when swearing by their life, which yet is evanes-
cent, of how much greater weight must that oath be, by which I pledge my own life?''
Since God thus speaks, surely the whole world ought to tremble. We now apprehend
the Prophet's design. Let us go on ---
Amos 6:9
9. And it shall come to pass, if there remain ten men in one house, that they shall
die.
9. Et erit, si restabunt decem homines in domo una, morientur.
The Prophet here amplifies the calamity, which was nigh the people; as though
he had said, that God would not now take moderate vengeance on that reprobate
people, for he did nothing by dealing moderately with them: there was therefore
nigh at hand the heaviest vengeance, which would reduce the people to nothing.
This is the import of the Prophet's words when he says, that ten, if remaining in the
same house, would die But in naming ten survivors, he intimates that a slaughter had
preceded, which had taken away either the half or at least some part of the family,
since ten remained. At the same time this number shows how severe and dreadful a
judgment of God awaited that people, that ten would be taken away together. But it
rarely happens, even when a direful pestilence prevails, that so numerous a family
entirely perishes; when three out of four, or six or five out of eight, are taken away,
it is a diminution which usually greatly terrifies men: but when ten are taken away
together, and no one is left, it is an evidence of an awful vengeance.
We see then that the Prophet here denounces on the people utter ruin, for they
could not be reformed by milder punishments: when God tried to recall them to a
sane mind, he effected nothing. There was therefore no remedy for their desper-
ate diseases: it was hence necessary entirely to take away those who were thus
incurable. Perish then shall the ten, who shall remain in one house It follows ---
Amos 6:10
10. And a man's uncle shall take him up, and he that burneth him, to bring out
the bones out of the house, and shall say unto him that is by the sides of the house,
Is there yet any with thee? and he shall say, No. Then shall he say, Hold thy tongue:
for we may not make mention of the name of the Lord
10. Et tollet eum patruus ejus et avunculus ejus (vel, comburet eum) ad tollendum
JOHN CALVIN
ossa e domo, et dicet ad eum qui erit in lateribus domus, An adhuc quispiam tecum?
et dicet, Finis est (ad verbum, nihil;) et dicet, Tace; quia non licet recordari nominis
Jehovae.
In the beginning of the verse the Prophet expresses more clearly what he had just
said, --- that the pestilence would be so severe as to consume the whole family: for
when he speaks of an uncle coming to bury the dead, he shows, that unless neigh-
bors performed their duty, bodies would remain without the honor of a burial: but
this never happened, except during extreme devastation; for though the pestilence
destroyed many in the same city, there were yet always some who buried the dead.
When therefore it was necessary for uncles to perform this ofÏce, it was evident how
great the calamity would be. This the Prophet meant to express in these words, His
uncle shall take him away; that is, his uncle shall take away each of the dead. But
this ofÏce, being servile, as I have said, was wont to be committed to mercenaries;
and when a father or an uncle was constrained to do this, it was a proof of great
confusion.
An uncle then shall come and take him away {,}שרףshireph, means to burn;
it is written here with {,}סbut the change of {}שinto {}סis well known. Hence,
many render the words, and shall burn him in order to take away his bones; and this
interpretation seems to suit the place. Then it is, ``he will burn him, that he may
carry his bones out of the house''. Dead bodies, as it is well known, were usually
carried forth and burnt publicly. But as one man could not carry out a dead body
especially an old man, and Amos mentions an uncle, he says, that another plan
would be necessary, that the uncle would burn his nephews at home, that he might
have the bones only to carry out, as he could not carry forth their dead bodies. This
seems to me to be the real meaning of the Prophet. For they who explain this of a
maternal uncle, have no reason on their side: it was enough to mention one only
when men were so few. If indeed a maternal uncle be added to the paternal one, a
great number of men would seem to have been still remaining. But when mention
is made only of one uncle, this circumstance agrees best with what I have stated.
An uncle shall come, he shall take him; and then, he will burn him that he may carry
forth his bones. The bones could be easier carried out when the body was burnt, for
the burden was not so heavy. We now then perceive the meaning of the words.
It follows, And he will say to him who shall be at the sides of the house. By the
sides of the house, understand the next dwellings. He will then inquire, Is there yet
any one with thee? that is, Is any one of thy neighbors alive? We cannot indeed
explain the sides of the house as meaning the inner parts of the house, except one
understands a reference to be made to strangers or lodgers, as though the Prophet
said, ``If there will be any lodger, he will seek retreat in some corner of the house.''
Then the uncle, when the whole house had become desolate, should he by chance
meet a guest, says, ``Is there any one with thee? And he shall say, There is an end'',
or a decay. Though there be some ambiguity in the words, we yet see what the
Prophet meant, and what he had in view. He indeed confirms what he had previously
declared in the person of God, which was, --- that though ten remained alive in one
house, yet all of them would die together, so that there would not be, no not one
MINOR PROPHETS
survivor; for the uncle, on inquiring respecting his nephews, whether any remained,
would hear, that there was an end, that all had perished together. Now, the design
of these words was to strike men with terror; for we know how great their stupidity is,
as long as God spares them: but when they feel his hand, they then dread, though
they are not moved by any threatenings. This, then, is the reason why the Prophet
denounces here at large on the Israelites the dreadful judgment, which they would
not dread, being, as we have seen, extremely secure and thoughtless.
It follows, And he will say; Be silent; for it is not meet to mention the name of Je-
hovah This place is differently explained. Some think that their extreme wickedness
is here noticed, that those who died, even in their last moments, would not mention
the name of God. They thus then expound the words, --- ``Be silent,'' as though it
were the expression of one indignant or of one who denied God. Be silent, then; for
they remembered not the name of God, that is, those whom God would have hum-
bled, repented not of their perverseness; even death itself could not bring them to
the right way. Others give this exposition: Be silent, for it is not meet to mention the
name of God; that is, ``What can God's name do to us? for we abhor it as a bad and
an unhappy omen; for God brings us no joy''. The wicked dread the name of God,
and wish it to be wholly obliterated. But it seems to me that the Prophet's design
is another, which interpreters have not sufÏciently weighed. We first find that the
hypocrites, whom he reproves, boasted of God's name; for they said in adversity
that it was the day of the Lord, as though they expected a change for the better.
The Prophet now says, that the time would come when this boasting would cease,
for they would perceive that God was offended with them, and they would no longer
falsely pretend his name, as they had been wont to do. There is then a contrast to
be understood between what is here said, and what is said in a former verse. The
Prophet had previously inveighed against their rash vaunting, when they pretended
the name of God without any shame, ``O! we are God's people, we are a holy nation,
we are God's heritage''. As, then, they were become thus arrogant, and yet had cast
away God far from them, the Prophet now says, ``These delusions shall then cease,
by which ye now deceive yourselves; God will not suffer you wickedly to abuse his
name, as we have ever hitherto done; and ye still go on in this iniquity. Ye shall
at that time,'' he says, ``be silent respecting God's name; yea, it will be a dread to
you.''
We now apprehend the Prophet's object: he means that such would be the
grievousness of this last calamity, that the Israelites would really find that God was
an enemy incensed against them, so that they would cast aside the false glorying
which filled them with pride; yea, that they would dread the very name of God, for
they would know that nothing would be better for them than to be hid from his
presence. As it is said of the reprobate,
`They will say to the mountains, Cover us;
and to the hills, Bury us,'
(Revelation 6:16)
so also in this place, the Prophet says, that when hypocrites shall be struck and se-
riously frightened by God's judgments, their false vauntings will continue no longer;
JOHN CALVIN
for they would find that to be near God is to be near destruction. Be silent, then, for
there is no reason for us to remember the name of Jehovah. It follows ---
Amos 6:11
11. For, behold, the Lord commandeth, and he will smite the great house with
breaches, and the little house with clefts.
11. Quia ecce Jehova praecipiens et percutiet domum magnum mixtionibus (vel,
contritionibus,) et domum parvam rimis (vel, rupturis, aut, scissionibus, ut vertunt,
vel, scissuris.)
This verse is added only to confirm the former sentence. The Prophet indeed
intimates, that the common people, as well as the chiefs, in vain trusted in their
quiet state; for the Lord would destroy them all together, from the highest to the
lowest. Behold, Jehovah, he says, commands etc.; by using the word commands, he
means, that God had many reasons why he should take away and destroy them all.
But he goes farther than this, and intimates that their destruction was dependent on
the sole will of God; as though he said, ``Though the Lord may not send for ministers
of vengeance, though he may not prepare great forces, yet his word only, whenever
it shall go forth, will consume you all.'' We now then perceive what the Prophet
means by the word ``commands.''
He afterwards adds, He will smite the great house with confusions, or, according to
some, with breaking {,}רססresas, means properly to mingle. The Prophet therefore,
I doubt not, refers here to those dreadful falls which commonly happen to great and
splendid palaces. When a cottage is overturned so great a ruin is not occasioned
by its weight; nay, when its ruin begins to appear, fragments fall down one after
another, so that the whole work falls without any violence. This, I say, is the case
with small and common houses; but when there is a great building, its downfall
is tremendous. I am therefore inclined to render the word ``confusion,'' and the
difference between small and great houses will then be more evident. Great houses
then shall be smitten with confusions, (mixtionibus, with minglings) but small houses
shall be smitten with fissures or clefts. But yet, as I have already reminded you, the
Prophet means that there would be a ruin, both to the principal men and to the
common people, so that they would all perish, from the least to the greatest. We
hence learn how great was the corruption of that people; for God punishes none but
the wicked. It then follows that equity was everywhere subverted and that all orders
of men were become vicious and corrupt. It follows ---
Amos 6:12
12. Shall horses run upon the rock? will one plow there with oxen? for ye have
turned judgment into gall, and the fruit of righteousness into hemlock:
12. An current in rupe equi? An arabitur bobus (est, an arabit quispiam in bobus;
sed quia est verbum indefinitum, ideo verto impersonaliter, an ergo aratio fiet bobus,
nempe in rupe?) quia vertistis in fel judicium et fructum justitiae in absynthium.
This verse interpreters misrepresent; for some think that the Prophet, by these
figurative expressions, means, that the people were wholly unprofitable as to any
thing good; as some one says, ``The slothful ox wishes for the saddle, the horse
wishes to plough.'' They therefore suppose that this is the meaning of the words,
MINOR PROPHETS
``Ye are no more fitted to lead a good life than a horse is to run on a rock, or an ox to
plough on a rock.'' Others think that the Prophet complains that the order of things
was subverted as though he said, ``Ye have alike confounded all equity government,
and justice. In short, ye have subverted all right; as when one tries to ride swiftly over
a high rock, or attempts to plough there, which is contrary to the nature of things: ye
are therefore become monsters.'' Others, again, understand that the Prophet here
complains that he had lost all his labor; for he had been singing, according to the
common proverb, to the deaf. ``What do I effect as to this iron generation? It is the
same as if one tried to ride on the rock, to mount a rock on a swift horse; or as if
one attempted to plough there; both which are impossible. So now, when I address
stupid men, there is no fruit to my labor, and no advantage is gained.'' 51
But let us see whether a fitter and a more suitable meaning can be elicited. We
have already observed how secure the Israelites were; for they thought that God
was, in a manner, bound to them, for he had pledged his faith to be a father to
them. This adoption of God puffed up their hearts. The Prophet now reproves this
presumptuous security; and, in a fitting manner, ``Can a horse,'' he says, ``run on
a rock? and can an ox plough in a stony place? So there is not among you a free
course to God's blessings. Ye ought indeed to have been the vineyard and the field
of the Lord; justice and judgment ought to have reigned among, you but ye have
turned judgment into gall ({,}ראשrash, which is variously taken, but as to the sense
it matters but little,) ye have then turned judgment into gall, and righteousness into
hemlock Since then ye are so perverse, a way for God's blessings is doubtless closed
up. It cannot be that the Lord will act towards you in a manner like himself; for he
must necessarily be refractory towards the refractory, as he is gentle towards the
gentle''. The Prophet seems to me to mean this and if any one impartially considers
the whole verse, he will easily find out the truth of what I have stated, namely, that
the Prophet here reproves the supreme haughtiness of the Israelitic people, who
thought God bound to them though, at the same time, they, as it were, designedly
provoked his wrath. ``Ye think'', he says, ``that God will be always propitious to you;
whence is this confidence? Is it because he has adopted you, because he made a
covenant with your fathers? True he has done so; but what sort of covenant was it?
What was engaged on your part? Was it not that ye would be perfect before him?
But ye have turned judgment into gall, and righteousness into hemlock 52 Since then
ye are thus covenant-breakers, what can God now do? Do you wish him to proceed
in the same course, and to bestow on you his blessings? Ye do not allow them to
be bestowed. For ye are become like craggy rocks. How can God proceed in his
course? how can he continue his benefits to you? He can certainly no more do so
than a horse, however nimble he may be, can run swiftly on a rock or an ox plough on
51This is the view taken by Matthew Henry, and seems not unsuitable. "The methods used for their reformation," he says, "have been all fruitless and ineffectual. Shall horses run, etc. No; for there will be no profit to countervail the pains. God has sent them his prophets to break up their fallow ground; but they found them as hard and inflexible as the rock, rough and rugged, and they could do no good with them, nor work upon them, and therefore they shall not attempt it any more." — Ed.
52"Ye have turned judgment into gall, which is nauseous, and the fruit of righteousness into hemlock, which is noxious." — M. Henry.
JOHN CALVIN
a rock.'' We now understand what the Prophet means in this place. A confirmation
of this view now follows, and from this connection the truth of what I have stated will
become more evident.
Amos 6:13
13. Ye which rejoice in a thing of nought, which say, Have we not taken to us
horns by our own strength?
13. Gaudetis in non re (hoc est, in nihilo,) dicitis, Annon in fortitudine nostra
sustulimus nobis coronua?
This verse will seem better connected with the last, if we bear in mind the view to
which I have referred: for the Prophet inveighs again against the careless contempt
with which the Israelites were filled. Ye rejoice, he says, in a thing of nought A thing of
nought he calls those fallacies, by which they were wont to deceive, not only others,
but also their own selves. For hypocrites not only falsely pretend the name of God,
but also deceive themselves by self flatteries, when they arrogate to themselves the
name of Church, and the empty title of adoption and other things. We see this to be
the case at this day with the Papists, who are puffed up with nothing; who not only
with sacrilegious audacity twist the Word of God against us, that they may appear
to be the true Church, but also harden themselves: and though they are ill at ease
with themselves, they yet lull themselves asleep by such deceptions as these, ``God
could not have suffered his Church to err; we have indeed succeeded the apostles:
and though there are among us many vices and corruptions, yet God abides with us;
and all who think not with us are schismatic; nay, though we may be supported by
no reasons, yet their defection is not to be borne with. Let us then continue in our
own state, for the Lord approves of our hierarchy.'' Thus the Papists not only deal
in trifles to deceive the ignorant, but also harden themselves against God. Such
was the blindness of the people of Israel. Hence the Prophet here reproves them,
because they rejoiced in nothing; `In no word,' he says, for so it is; but it means that
they rejoiced in nothing; for they involved themselves in mere fallacies, and thus set
up their empty delusions in opposition to God and his judgments.
Who say, have we not in our own strength raised up for ourselves horns? Horns,
we know are taken in Hebrew for eminence, for strength, for elevation, or for any sort
of defense. Hence the expression means the same as though they had said, ``Are
we not more than sufÏciently fortified by our own strength?'' It is however certain
that they did not say this openly; but as the Prophet possessed the discernment of
the Holy Spirit, he penetrated into their hearts and brought out what was hid within.
We indeed know this to be the power of the word, as the apostle teaches in the
fourth chapter to the Hebrews: for the word partakes of the nature of God himself,
from whom it has proceeded; and as God is a searcher of hearts, so also the word
penetrates to the marrow, to the inmost thoughts of men, and distinguishes between
the feelings and the imaginations. This spiritual jurisdiction 53 ought therefore to be
noticed, when the Prophets allege against the ungodly such gross blasphemies; for it
is certain that they had not actually pronounced the words used by the Prophet; but
53Jurisdicto, which means sometimes the authority to determine the import of the law; but it means here the power to interpret the thoughts of the heart. — Ed.
MINOR PROPHETS
yet their pride had no other meaning, than that they had raised horns to themselves
by their own strength. They were indeed separated from the Lord; in the meantime
they wished to abide safe through their own power. What did they mean? They
had become alienated from God, and yet they sought to be in a state of safety, and
thought themselves to be beyond any danger. Whence came this privilege? For they
certainly ought to have sheltered themselves under God's shadow, if they wished to
be safe. But as they renounced God, and despised all his instructions, nay, as they
were manifestly his enemies, whence was this safety to come, which they promised
to themselves, except they sought to derive their strength from themselves?
We now perceive the Prophet's design: He reproves the Israelites for being con-
tent with a false and empty title and for heedlessly despising God, and for only
pretending a form of religion instead of its reality; it was this so gross a vice that
he condemned in them: and he shows at the same time, that they put on horns by
which they assailed God; for while they were separated from him, they promised to
themselves a secure and happy state. It at length follows ---
Amos 6:14
14. But, behold, I will raise up against you a nation, O house of Israel, saith the
LORD the God of hosts; and they shall afÒict you from the entering in of Hemath unto
the river of the wilderness.
14. Certe, ecce tollo contra vos, domus Israel, dicit Jehova, Deus exercituum,
gentem; et coarctabunt vos ab introitu Hemath usque ad torrentem campestrem.
At last follows a denunciation, and this is the close of the chapter. God then after
having seriously exposed the vices which prevailed among the people of Israel, again
declares that vengeance of which he had shortly before reminded then; but with this
difference only --- that God now points out the kind of punishment which he would
inflict on the Israelites. He had said before, `Behold God commands;' and then he
had spoken of calamity, but expressed not whence that calamity would come: but
he now points it out in a special manner, Behold he says I am raising up against you,
O house of Israel, a nation, who will straiten you from the entrance into Hemath to
the river, etc. The Prophet no doubt speaks here of the Assyrians, and expresses in
strong terms how dreadful the war with the Assyrians would be, which was now nigh
at hand; for though large was their land and country, (and being large and spacious
it had many outlets,) yet the Prophet shows that there would be everywhere straits,
when the Lord would raise up on high that nation I am then stirring up a nation
against you.
He again calls the Lord, the God of hosts, for the same reason as before, --- that
they might understand that all the Assyrians were at God's disposal, and that they
would stir up war whenever he gave them a signal. The Lord then will raise up a
nation, who will straiten you In what place? He speaks not here of strait places, but
of a spacious country, which, as it has been stated, had many outlets. But after
the Lord had armed against them the Assyrians, all the most spacious places were
made strait to them, ``Ye shall be everywhere confined, so that there will be open
no escape from death.''
Prayer.
JOHN CALVIN
Grant, Almighty God, that since we are extremely deaf to those so many holy
warnings by which thou continuest to recall us to thyself, and since we ever harden
ourselves against those threatenings, by which thou terrifiest us, that thou mayest
break or at least correct our hardness, --- O grant, that we may, though late, yet
in time, before final vengeance comes, attend to thy word and submit ourselves to
thee, and in a teachable spirit undertake thy yoke, that thou mightest receive us into
favor, and vouchsafe to us thy paternal kindness, and being at length reconciled to
us, thou might grant us thy blessings, which thou hast promised to all thy children,
who are the members of thy only begotten Son our Lord. Amen.
Chapter 7.
Lecture Sixty-third
Amos 7
Amos 7:1-3
1. Thus hath the Lord God shewed 54 unto me; and, behold, he formed grasshop-
pers in the beginning of the shooting up of the latter growth; and, lo, it was the latter
growth after the king's mowings.
1. Sic ostendit mihi Dominus, et ecce formans locustas principio ascensionis
herbae (hoc est, quum incipit herba ascendere: {,}לקשproprie significat secundam
herbam, quam vocamus, Regian) et ecce herba post sectiones (vel, tonsuras, ut alii
vertunt) Regis.
2. 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.
2. Et factum est dum perficeret ad comendendum (hoc est, quum jam fere in
totum absumpsisset herbam terrae,) tunc dixi, Adonai Jehova, parce, obsecro: quis
stabit (vel, quis restituet) Jacob, quia parvus est?
3. The Lord repented for this: It shall not be, saith the Lord.
3. Poenituit Jehovam super hoc; Non erit, dixit Jehova.
Amos shows in this chapter that God had already often deferred the punishments
which he had yet determined to inflict on the people; and thus he reminds the Is-
raelites of their perverseness, inasmuch as they had abused the forbearance of God,
and repented not after a long lapse of time: for God had suspended his judgments
for this end --- that they might willingly return to the right way, as he commonly al-
lures men by his kindness, provided they be teachable. Since then this forbearance
of God had been without fruit, Amos reproves the Israelites, though he had also an-
other object in view: for ungodly men, we know, when God spares them and does
not immediately indict the punishments they deserve, laugh at them, and harden
54The verb is {,{`` הראניmade'' or caused ``me to see;'' and so to render it would have been better; and it is the same
verb in the succeeding clauses. --- Ed.
JOHN CALVIN
themselves for the future, so that they fear nothing; and when the Lord threatens,
and does not instantly execute his vengeance, they then especially think that all
threatening are mere bugbears; and therefore they harden their minds in security
and think that they can with impunity trifle with God. Inasmuch then as this obsti-
nacy prevailed among the Israelites, the Prophet here shows in various ways, that in
vain they gloried, and thus securely despised the judgment of God; for though the
Lord for a time had spared them, yet the final vengeance was not far distant. This is
the sum of the whole: but such expression must be considered in its order.
A vision, he says, had been shown to him by the Lord; and the vision was, that
God himself had formed locusts. Yet some think {,}יוצרiutsar, to be a noun, and
render it, creation; others, a swarm or a troop. But these are forced expositions. The
Lord then, I doubt not, formed locusts in the Prophet's presence, which devoured
all the grass. He therefore says, when the grass began to grow, that is, after the
cuttings of the king Here also expounders vary: some think that the shearings of
the king are referred to, when the king had sheared his sheep. Others regard it as
the mowing of hay; and they say, that the best grass was then cut for the use of
the king, that he might feed his horses and his cattle. But these conjectures have
nothing well-founded in them. I therefore doubt not, but the Prophet here calls that
a royal cutting, when by a public order they began to cut their meadows. It is indeed
credible that there was then some rule: as with us, no one begins the vintage at
his own will, but a certain regular time is observed; so those cuttings, which were
publicly done, were called royal; as the king's highway is called that which is public.
But yet the Prophet, I think, refers under this figurative expression to the previous
calamities, by which the people had been already reduced as to their number.
But we must supply this prophecy or vision to its proper time. I doubt not, and I
think that I can gather this from certain considerations, that the Prophet here com-
pares the time which had preceded the reign of Jeroboam, the son of Joash, with the
prosperous time which followed. For when Jeroboam the Second began to reign, the
kingdom was laid waste, partly by hostile incursions, and partly by drought and heat,
by inclement weather, or by pestilence. Since then the condition of the people, as
sacred history relates, was most miserable, hence the Prophet says, that locusts had
been shown to him, which devoured all the grass and standing corn: for he not only
says, that locusts were formed, but also that they devoured the grass, so that noth-
ing remained, When they had finished, he says, to eat the grass of the earth, then I
said, Lord Jehovah, etc. Thus then the Prophet shows that sure tokens of God's wrath
had then already appeared, and that the people had in part been already afÒicted,
but yet that God had afterwards given them time for repentance.
Now by locusts I understand a moderate kind of punishment. We have seen else-
where (Joel 1:4) that the country had been then nearly consumed by the locusts
and the cankerworms, and the like pests. But in this place the Prophet metaphori-
cally designates hostile invasions, which had not immediately laid waste the whole
country but in some measure desolated it. This was indeed manifest to all, but few
viewed it as the judgment of God, as also the Lord complains, that the perverse re-
gard not the hand of the smiter, (Isaiah 10:3,4) Though then the Israelites saw their
MINOR PROPHETS
land consumed, they did not think that God was displeased with them; for ungodly
men do not willingly examine themselves nor raise their eyes to heaven, when the
Lord chastises them: for they would grow, as it were, stupid in their calamities rather
than set before themselves the judgment of God, that they may be seriously led to
repentance: this they naturally shun almost all. Hence the Prophet says that this was
especially shown to him. The calamity then was known to all, and evident before the
eyes of the people; but the Prophet alone, by a vision, understood that God in this
manner punished the sins of the people: at the same time, the special object of the
vision was, --- to make the Israelites to know that the hand of God was withheld, as
it were, in the middle of its work. They had seen the enemies coming, they had felt
many evils; but they thought that the enemies retreated either through good fortune
or some other means. They did not consider that God had spared them, which was
the main thing. It was therefore shown to the prophet in a vision, that God spared
his people, though he had resolved to destroy the whole land.
And the Prophet expressly declares, that God had been pacified through his inter-
cession and prayer: hence appears very clearly what I have already referred to, that
is, that the Prophet condemns the unbelieving for having perversely trifled with God;
for they regarded the threatening which they had heard from the mouth of Amos and
of others as jests. Whence was this? Because God had spared them. The Prophet
shows how this took place; ``The Lord,'' he says, ``had at first resolved to destroy
you, but yet he waits for you, and therefore suspends his extreme vengeance, that
by his kindness he may allure you to himself; and this has been done through my
prayers: for though ye think me to be adverse to you, as I am constrained daily to
threaten you, and as a heavenly herald to denounce war on you; I yet feel com-
passion for you, and wish you to be saved. There is, therefore, no reason for you
to think that I am influenced by hatred or by cruelty, when I address you with so
much severity: this I do necessarily on account of my ofÏce; but I am still concerned
and solicitous for your safety; and of this the Lord is a witness, and the vision I now
declare to you.'' We now see that God's servants had so ruled and moderated their
feelings, that pity did not prevent them from being severe whenever their calling
so required; and also, that this severity did not obliterate from their minds the feel-
ings of compassion. Amos, as we have already seen, severely inveighed against
the people, sharply reproved their vices, and daily summoned irreclaimable men to
the tribune it of God: as he was so vehemently indignant on account at their vices,
and as he so sharply threatened them, he might have appeared to have forgotten
all compassion; but this place shows that he had not yet divested himself of pity,
though he faithfully discharged his ofÏce, and was not diverted from his purpose,
when he saw that he had to do with wicked and obstinate men. He was therefore
severe, because God so commanded him; it was what his calling required; but at the
same time he pitied the people.
Let then all teachers in the Church learn to put on these two feelings --- to be
vehemently indignant whenever they see the worship of God profaned, to burn with
zeal for God, and to show that severity which appeared in all the Prophets, when-
ever due order decays, --- and at the same time to sympathize with miserable men,
JOHN CALVIN
whom they see rushing headlong into destruction, and to bewail their madness, and
to interpose with God as much as is in them; in such a way, however that their com-
passion render them not slothful or indifferent, so as to be indulgent to the sins of
men. Indeed, the temper of mind which I have mentioned ought to be possessed, so
that they may go forth as suppliants before God, and implore pardon for miserable
and wretched men: but when they come to the people, in their new character, that
they may be severe and rigid, let them remember by whom they are sent and with
what commands, let them know that they are the ministers of God, who is the judge
of the world, and ought not therefore to spare the people: this then is to be attended
to by us.
Now as to the word repent, as applied to God, let us know, as it has been else-
where stated, that God changes not his purpose so as to retract what he has once
determined. He indeed knew what he would do before he showed the vision to his
Prophet Amos: but he accommodates himself to the measure of men's understand-
ing, when he mentions such changes. It was then the eternal purpose of God, to
threaten the people, to show tokens of his displeasure, and yet to suspend for a time
his vengeance, that their perverseness might be the more inexcusable. But in the
meantime, as this was without advantage, he sets forth another thing --- that he
was already armed to execute his vengeance. God then does not relate what he
had decreed, but what the Israelites deserved, and what punishment or reward was
due to them. When, therefore, God begins to inflict punishment on sinners, it is as
though he intended to execute fully his vengeance; he however forms a purpose in
himself, but that is hid from us. As soon then as he lifts up his finger, we ought to
regard it as owing to his mercy, that we are not instantly reduced to nothing; when
it so happens, it is as though he changed his purpose, or as though he withheld his
hand. This then ought to be borne in mind, when the prophet says, that God created
locusts to devour all the grass, but that he suppliantly entreated God to put an end to
this calamity. He then adds, that it repented God, not that there was any change of
mind in God, but because God suddenly and beyond hope suspended the vengeance
which was near at hand. It shall not then be
With regard to the clause, Be propitious, I pray; how will Jacob rise up, or who
will raise up Jacob? it appears that the Prophet saw no other remedy, except the
Lord, according to his infinite goodness, forgave the people, and hence he prays
for pardon. In the meantime, he shows that he prayed for the Church, ``Lord,'' he
says, ``thy hand does not now pursue strangers, but an elect people, thy peculiar
possession:'' for by the name, Jacob, the Prophet extols the covenant which God
made with Abraham and the Patriarchs; as though he said, ``O God, wilt thou be
inexorable towards the people whom thou hast chosen and adopted, of whom thou
art the Father? Remember that they are neither Babylonians, nor Egyptians, nor
Assyrians, but a royal priesthood, and thy holy and peculiar people.'' And there
is nothing that inclines God more to mercy than the recollection of his gratuitous
covenant, as we have elsewhere seen.
He then says, that Jacob was small. He does not allege the worthiness of Jacob,
or adduce any proof of excellency, but says that he was small; as though he said,
MINOR PROPHETS
``O Lord, thou drawest forth now thy power against miserable creatures, who are
already enfeebled enough'' for he calls him small, because he had been worn out by
many calamities: and hence I said, that reference is here made to that miserable
time, of which Scripture records, when it declares that the free as well as the captive
were reduced to extreme distress, before Jeroboam the second began to reign. Then
indeed God restored his people; but short was that favor; for immediately after the
death of king Jeroboam, a sedition arose, which proved ruinous to the whole kingdom:
his son Zachariah, as it is well known, was slain by Shallum, (2 Kings 15:8-10)
How then will Jacob rise up? Some take the verb {,}יקוםikum, 55 in a transitive
sense, ``Who will raise him up?'' but others think it to be a neuter verb, ``How will
Jacob rise up?'' that is, by what means will Jacob rise up? as {,}מיmi, may be taken
to mean, how, or by what means: How then will Jacob rise up? But this difference
has little to do with the main point It is then enough to say, that the Prophet here
speaks of the weakness of the people, that on this account God might be more ready
to forgive them. It now follows ---
Amos 7:4-6
4. 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.
4. Sic ostendit mihi Dominus Jehova: et ecce vocans ad disceptandum in igne
Dominus Jehova, et consumpsit (aut, voravit) abyssum magnam (et consumpta fuit
possessio) (alii {}חלקvertunt partem agri; sed malo accipere pro tota possessione.
5. Then said I, O Lord God, cease, I beseech thee: by whom shall Jacob arise? for
he is small.
5. Et dixi, Adonai Jehova, cessa, obsecro; quis (hoc est, quomodo) consurget
Jacob? (vel, quis attollet, ut prius dictum est;) quia parvus est.
6. The Lord repented for this: This also shall not be, saith the Lord God.
6. Poenituit Jehova super hoc; Etiam hoc non erit, dicit Dominus Jehova.
The Prophet shows that God had not once only spared the people, but that when
he was again prepared for vengeance, he still willingly deferred it, that, if possible,
the people might willingly recover themselves: but as all were unhealable, this for-
bearance of God produced no fruit. Now as to the words of the Prophet, we see
that a heavier punishment is designated by the similitude of fire, than by what he
said before when he spoke of locusts. We stated that by locusts is to be understood
ordinarily a moderate punishment, one not so dreadful at first sight. For though
the want and famine introduced by locusts, when they consume all kinds of fruit,
are most grievous evils; yet fire sometimes strikes people with much greater dread.
Hence the Prophet shows by mentioning fire, that God had become very indignant,
having seen that the people had hardened themselves and could not be reformed by
common and usual remedies. The Lord's usual mode of proceeding, as he declares
everywhere in Scriptures is this: At first he tries to find whether men are capable of
being healed, and applies not the most grievous punishment, but such as may be
endured; but when he perceives in sinners hardness and obstinacy, he doubles and
55One MS. has {,{יקיםwhich is, to cause to rise, or to raise up. This agrees with the Septuagint --- {αναστήσει}, and
comports with the rest of the sentence; for {}מיis `who,' and not `how' or `by what means.' --- Ed.
JOHN CALVIN
trebles the punishment, yea, as he says by Moses, he increases his judgments sev-
enfold (Deuteronomy 28:25.) Such then was the manner which Amos now records;
for God at first created the locusts, and then he kindled a fire, which consumed the
great deep, and devoured their possession.
The point, denoting a participial form in the word here used, shows that they are
mistaken who render {,}יוצרiutsar, creation, of which we have spoken before; for the
point here corresponds with that in {,}יוצרiutsar, 56 . In both places the Lord shows
himself to be the author of punishment, which is wont to be ascribed to chance; for
men imagine that evils proceed from something else rather than from God. Hence it
was necessary for this to be distinctly expressed, as the Prophet does also, when he
says that locusts had been created by God, and that fire had been kindled by him.
God then called to contend by fire. It was not without a design that the Prophet
uses the verb {,}רובrub, which yet expositors have not duly weighed. For he indi-
rectly condemns the hardness of the people, inasmuch as the Lord had already not
only chastised the vices of the people, but had also contended with men depraved
and obstinate: as when no justice can be obtained, a litigation becomes necessary;
so the Prophet says here, that God was coming prepared with fire, to contend with
the stubbornness of the people. The great deep, he says, was consumed by this
fire. Hence what I have already said becomes more evident, --- that a more dreadful
punishment is here described than in the first vision. The locusts devoured the grass
only but the fire penetrates into the utmost deep; it consumes and destroys not only
the surface of the earth, but burns up the very roots, yea, it descends to the center
and consumes the whole earth. They who render {,}חלקchelak, a part, do not suf-
ficiently attend to the design of the Prophet, for he concludes that the surface of the
earth had been laid waste, because the very gulfs had not escaped the burning. And
when the fire reaches to the very bowels of the earth, how could their possession
stand, which was also exposed to the heat of the sun? We see how the earth is burnt
up by heat, when the sun is scorching at Midsummer. We now perceive the Prophet's
design.
He adds, that God was again pacified. We must ever bear in mind the object he
had in view; for ungodly men thought the Prophets to be liars, whenever God did
not immediately execute the vengeance he had denounced: but Amos here reminds
them, that when God defers punishment, he does not in vain threaten, but waits for
men to repent; and that if they still go on in abusing his patience, they will have at
last to feel how dreadful is the vengeance which awaits all those who thus pervert
the goodness of God, who hear not God inviting them so kindly to himself. This is
the meaning. It follows ---
Amos 7:7-9
7. Thus he shewed me: and, behold, the Lord stood upon a wall made by a
plumbline, with a plumbline in his hand.
7. Sic ostendit mihi: et ecce Dominus stabat (stans) super murum perpendiculi,
et in manu ejus perpendiculum.
56The Masoretic point, called Holem, is referred to, which, being put above the {{וafter the
first radical letter, or in absence of the ,{}וdenotes a participle. --- Ed.
MINOR PROPHETS
8. 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:
8. Et dixit Jehova mihi, Quid tu vides Amos? Et dixi, Perpendiculum. Tunc dixit
Dominus, Ecce ego pono perpendiculum in medio populi mei Israel: non adjiciam
amplius ut transeam ipsum:
9. 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.
9. Et destruentur excelsa Isaac, et evertentur (excidentur) sanctuaria Israel; et
surgam super domum Jeroboam in gladio.
This vision opens more clearly to us what the Prophet meant before, and what
was the object of his doctrine: his intention was to show the people that what they
had gained by their obstinacy was only to render God implacable, and to cause him
not to spare them any longer, as he had hitherto done. The meaning is, --- ``God
has hitherto borne with you according to his own goodness, promise not to your-
selves that he will ever deal in the same manner with you; for your contumacy and
waywardness has provoked him. As he sees you to be beyond measure obstinate,
he must now necessarily execute on you final vengeance. There is therefore now
no forgiveness provided for you; but as ye are incurable, so the Lord on his part
will remain unchangeable in the rigor of his judgment, and will by no means turn to
mercy.''
Interpreters explain this vision in various ways, and refinedly philosophize on the
word, plumbline; and yet frigid are almost all their refinements. Were I disposed
plausibly to handle this passage, I would say, that the plumbline is the law of God; for
it prescribed to his people a regular order of things, which might serve as a plumbline;
inasmuch as all things were directed according to the best rule. I might speak thus;
but I am not disposed to refine in this manner; for I doubt not but that God meant
only that this would be the last measuring; for he would punish his people without
any remission and without any delay. We now apprehend the Prophet's meaning:
but all this will become more evident from the words of the passage.
Thus he showed to me; and, behold, the Lord stood on a wall of a plumbline. The
wall of a plumbline he calls that which had been formed by rule, as though he had
said that it was a wall by a plumbline. God then stood on a plumbline-wall, and a
plumbline, he says, was in his hand False then is what some interpreters say, that a
plumbline was cast away by God, because he would no more perform the ofÏce of a
mason in ruling his people. This is frivolous; for the Prophet testifies here expressly
that a plumbline was in the hand of God.
But that which follows has an important meaning: God asks his Prophet, What
sees thou, Amos? It is probable that the Prophet was astonished at a thing so mys-
terious. When locusts were formed, and when there was a contention by fire, he
might have easily gathered what God meant; for these visions were by no means
ambiguous: but when God stood on a wall with a plumbline, this was somewhat
more hard to be understood; and the probability is, that the Prophet was made to
feel much astonishment, that the people might be more attentive to hear his vision,
JOHN CALVIN
as we commonly apply our thoughts more to hidden things; for we coldly attend to
what we think to be easily understood; but mysteriousness, or something difÏcult
to be known, sharpens our minds and attention. I do not then doubt but that God
made the Prophet for a time to feel amazed, with the view of increasing the attention
of the people. What then dost thou see, Amos? A plumbline, he says: but, at the
same time, he knew not what was the meaning of this plumbline, or what was its
design. Then God answers, Behold, I set a plumbline in the midst of my people; that
is, I fix this to be the last rule, or the final measure, and I will not add any more to
pass by them As God had twice leaped over the bounds of his judgment by sparing
them, he says, now that the last end was come, ``I will proceed no farther,'' he says,
``in forgiving them: as when a wall is formed to the plumbline, that no part may, in
the least, exceed another, but that there may be regularity throughout so also this
shall be the last order; this measuring shall be true and just. I will pass by them no
more.'' This, I have no doubt, is the real meaning of the Prophet. We now also per-
ceive the design of the other two visions to have been to prevent the Israelites from
deceiving themselves by false self-flatteries, because God was kind and favorable
to them. He shows that he dealt so with them, not because they were just; for God
had already begun to execute his judgments on them; and the punishments with
which they had been visited were strong evidences of their crimes: for God is not
without reasons angry with men, especially with his chosen people. Since then they
had been already smitten once and again, the Prophet proves that they were worthy
of heavier punishments; and that punishments had been mild and moderated, was
to be ascribed, he says, to the indulgence of God, because he was willing to forgive
his people; but that the time had now come when he would no longer pardon them;
for he saw that he had to do with irreclaimable obstinacy. This is the meaning.
It now follows, And destroyed shall be the high places of Isaac, and overthrown
shall be the sanctuaries (some render palaces) of Israel; and I will rise up against
the house of Jeroboam with the sword. The Prophet here distinctly declares, that the
people in vain trusted in their temples and superstitions, for by these they kindled
the more against themselves the wrath of God. He would not indeed have expressly
threatened the high places and the temples, unless the Israelites had provoked in
this way, as I have already said, the vengeance of God against themselves, inasmuch
as they had corrupted the true and lawful worship of God.
Destroyed then shall be the high places of Isaac It may be asked, Why does he
mention here the name of Isaac, which is rarely done by the Prophets? And there is
also a change of one letter; for the word Isaac is commonly written with {,}ץtsade,
but here it is written with {,}שshin; but it is well known that {,}שshin and {,}ץtsade,
are interchangeably used. It is, however, beyond dispute, that the Prophet speaks
here of the holy man Isaac; and the reason seems to be plainly this, --- because
the Israelites absurdly pretended to imitate their father in their superstitions; for
temples, we know, had been erected where Isaac had worshipped God, and also
their father Abraham and Jacob. Inasmuch then as the Israelites boasted of the
examples of holy fathers, the Prophet here condemns this vain and false boasting.
They who understand by the word Isaac, that the Prophet threatens the Idumeans as
MINOR PROPHETS
well as the Israelites, have no reason for their opinion; but the reason which I have
already mentioned is quite sufÏcient.
We indeed know, that the Israelites had ever in their mouths the examples of the
fathers, like the woman of Samaria, who said to Christ, `Our fathers worshipped in
this mountain,' (John 4:20) So also the Israelites were wont formerly to allege, that
the holy patriarchs worshipped God in those places, --- that God appeared in Bethel
to holy Jacob, and also that in other places altars were built. Being armed with the
examples of the fathers, they thought them to be their shield. The case is the same
with the Papists in our day; when they hear of anything as having been done by the
fathers, they instantly lay hold on it; but these are vain excuses. Like them were also
the Israelites; hence the Prophet says, ``Behold, ye gain nothing by this fallacious
pretense; for destroyed shall be the high places of Isaac, even those which are now
covered by an honorable name: and at the same time the temples or palaces of
Israel shall be overthrown.
And I will rise against the house of Jeroboam with the sword We learn from this
last clause that things were then, as we have stated elsewhere, in a prosperous state
in the kingdom of Israel, though God had in various ways wasted it before Jeroboam:
but they had been ever obstinate. He afterwards restored them to a better condition;
for the state of the people greatly improved under Jeroboam: he recovered many
cities enlarged the borders of his kingdoms and then the people, in their afÒuence
began to grow wanton against God. As then the Prophet thus saw that they abused
God's goodness, he denounced destruction on Jeroboam; hence he says, Against
the house of Jeroboam I will rise up with the sword; that is, ``I will begin to execute
my judgment on the offspring of the king himself; though I may spare him, yet his
posterity shall not escape my hand.''
Prayer.
Almighty God, since thou so suspendest thy hand in chastising us, that except
we be wholly blind and stupid, we must acknowledge that we are spared in order
that we may willingly return to thee, and that being allured by the gentleness of
thy forbearance, we may submit ourselves to thee in willing obedience, --- O grant,
that we may not harden our hearts, nor be slow, nor slothful, nor even backward to
repent, when thou deferrest extreme punishment, but strive to anticipate thy final
vengeance, and so submit ourselves to thee, that we may be pardoned while it is
time, and so hasten to offer our hearts whole and sincere to thee, and so repent,
while urged by extreme danger, that there may not remain any hidden hypocrisy in
our hearts, but that we may in such a way search every faculty of our soul, that thou
mayest become to us a real and faithful witness of that integrity which thou requires
of all who return to thee to obtain pardon through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
Lecture Sixty-fourth
Amos 7:10-13
10. 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.
10. Et misit Amazias sacerdos Bethel ad Jeroboam regem Israel, dicendo, Con-
JOHN CALVIN
spiravit contra te Amos in medio domus Israel: non poterit terra sustinere omnes
ejus sermones.
11. For thus Amos saith, Jeroboam shall die by the sword, and Israel shall surely
be led away captive out of their own land.
11. Quia sic dicit Amos, Gladio morientur Jeroboam; et Israel migrando migrabit
e terra sua.
12. Also Amaziah said unto Amos, O thou seer, go, flee thee away into the land
of Judah, and there eat bread, and prophesy there:
12. Et dixit Amazias ad Amos, Videns, vade, fuge (tibi, est supervacuum) in terram
Jehudah; et comede illic panem et illic propheta:
13. But prophesy not again any more at Bethel: for it is the king's chapel, and it
is the king's court.
13. Et in Bethel ne adjicias amplius prophetare, quia sanctuarium regis est, et
domus regni est.
The Prophet here relates the device by which Satan attempted to depress his
mind, that he might not go on in the discharge of his prophetic ofÏce. He says,
that Amaziah had sent to the king to induce him to adopt some severe measure;
for he pretended that as Amos scattered words full of sedition, and made turbulent
speeches, the affairs of the king could not be carried on, except the king in due time
prevented him: and besides, the same Amaziah said, that nothing could be better
for the Prophet than to flee into the land of Judah, as he might live in safety there;
for he had incurred great danger in having dared to prophesy against the king. It
hence appears that Amaziah was a perfidious and cunning man, but not so bloody
as to attempt openly anything serious against the Prophet's life; unless perhaps he
thought that this could not be done, and gave this advice, not so much through
his kindness, as that the thing was impracticable: and this second supposition is
probable from the words of the passage.
For, in the first place the Prophet says, that Amaziah had sent to the king He then
tried whether he could excite the king's mind to persecute Amos. It may be that his
design did succeed: hence he undertook what in the second place is related, that
is, he called the Prophet to himself, and tried to frighten him, and drive him by fear
from the land of Israel, that he might no longer be troublesome to them. But we
must, in the first place, notice the motive by which this Amaziah was influenced,
when he endeavored so much, by any means possible, to banish the Prophet from
the kingdom of Israel. It is certainly not credible that he was influenced by what he
pretended to the king, that there was a danger of sedition; but it was a pretense
cunningly made. Amaziah then had a care for his own advantage, as we see to be
the case in our day with cardinals and milted bishops who frequent the courts of
princes, and do not honestly profess what their designs are; for they see that their
tyranny cannot stand unless the gospel be abolished; they see that our doctrine
threatens to become a cold and even an ice to their kitchens; and then they see that
they can be of no account in the world, except they crush us. And what do they at
the same time pretend? that our doctrine cannot be received without producing a
change in the whole world, without ruin to the whole civil order, without depriving
MINOR PROPHETS
kings of their power and dignity. It is then by these malicious artifices that they gain
favor to themselves. Such was the device of Amaziah, and such was his manoeuvre
in opposing the Prophet Amos.
Behold, he says to the king, he has conspired against thee {,}קשרkosher, is to
bind, but, by a metaphor, it signifies to conspire: Conspired then has Amos against
thee. But who speaks? Amaziah; and the Prophet omits not the title of Amaziah; for
he says that he was the priest of Bethel He might have only said, ``Amaziah sent
to king Jeroboam'', but by mentioning that he was a priest, the Prophet shows that
Amaziah did not strive for the peace of the public, as he pretended; and that this was
therefore a fallacious pretense, for he fought for his own Helen, that is, he fought
for his own kitchen, in short, for his living: for he would have been deprived, with
disgrace, of his priesthood, and then reduced to penury and want, except he had
driven away the Prophet Amos. Since then he saw that such and so great an evil
was nigh him except Amos was banished, he had this object in view, and pretended
another thing, and sent to the king and said, Amos has conspired; and he enhances
the crime, In the midst of the house of Israel. ``This is not done,'' he says ``in a
corners or in some obscure place; but his doctrine is heard on all the public roads,
whole cities are filled with it; in short, it burns like fire in the very bosom, in the very
midst of the kingdom; and thou wilt soon find thy own house to be all in a flame,
unless thou applies a remedy, yea, except thou extinguishest it.'' We hence see
how Amaziah acted, and the reason why he so earnestly persuaded the king to give
liberty no longer to the Prophet Amos.
With regard to what follows, --- that the land could no longer bear his words, the
sentence admits of two probable meanings. The first is, that he said, that the people,
being offended with his turbulent doctrine, did now of themselves hate and detest
the Prophet Amos, as a seditious man. Kings are in our day stirred on in like manner,
--- ``Why do you delay? Your subjects desire nothing so much as to extinguish this
evil, and all of them will eagerly assist you: ye are in the meantime idle, and your
people complain of your tardiness. They think the princes in power are unworthy of
their station, since they thus suffer the ancient rites and ordinances of holy Mother
Church to fall into decay.'' So they speak: and we may imagine the words of Amaziah
to have been in the same strain, --- that he stimulated the king by this artifice --- that
the people were prepared to do their part. The other meaning is this, The land cannot
bear his words; that is, ``If he goes on here with full liberty to raise tumults, as he
has begun, the whole kingdom will be on the verge of ruin, for many will follow him;
and when an open sedition will arise, it cannot be checked without great difÏculty.
We must therefore make every haste, lest Amos should get the upper hand; for there
is already the greatest danger.'' As the Pharisees held a consultation, and said,
`Lest the Romans come and take away our place and nation,'
(John 11:48)
so also Amaziah might have excited the king by causing him to fear, that the land,
the country, or its inhabitants, had been disturbed by the words of Amos, and that
therefore it was time to put a stop to him. Such was the message of Amaziah to the
king.
JOHN CALVIN
Now our Prophet is wholly silent as to the answer of the king: it is therefore prob-
able, either that the king was not much excited, --- or that he dared not openly to
take away the life of Amos; for he had probably obtained some authority among the
people; and though he was hated, yet his name as a Prophet and his ofÏce were had
in reverence, --- or that the matter was by agreement arranged between the two
enemies of sound doctrine, as flatterers often gratify kings by putting themselves
in their place, and by bearing all the ill will. However this might have been, it is
certainly a probable conjecture, that the king did not interfere, because he was so
persuaded by the priest Amaziah, or because he feared the people, or because reli-
gion restrained him, as even the ungodly are sometimes wont to contain themselves
within the bounds of moderation; not that they are touched by real fear towards God,
or that they desire to embrace his true worship: they wish God to be thrust down
from heaven, they wish all knowledge of religion to be obliterated; but yet they dare
not pour forth their fury. Such fear then might have seized the mind of Jeroboam,
that he did not tyrannically rage against the Prophet Amos. But if we regard the
tendency of the words of Amaziah, he certainly wished the Prophet Amos to be im-
mediately visited with capital punishment; for conspiracy is a crime worthy of death;
and then, fear might have impelled the king to put the holy Prophet immediately to
death. Amaziah therefore expected more than what he attained: and then appeared
his vulpine wiliness, for he sent for the Prophet and advised him to withdraw to the
land of Judah. Hence, as I said at the beginning, it is very probable that Jeroboam
was not excited according to the expectation of the ungodly priest of Bethel, who at
first was a cruel wild beast; but when he could not proceed openly to destroy Amos,
he put on a new character; he became a fox, because he could do nothing as a raging
lion. Hence follows his second attempt, And Amaziah said to Amos, etc.
I have passed over one clause in the last verse: Amos says, By the sword shall
Jeroboam die, and Israel, by migrating, shall migrate from their own land. These,
in short, are two heads of accusation. Some interpreters think that Amaziah had
slanderously perverted the words of the Prophet Amos; for he did not denounce
death on king Jeroboam, but only on his people and posterity: but I do not insist
on this. It might then be, that Amaziah did not designedly pervert the words of
Amos, but only wished to excite the ill will of the king. Die then shall Jeroboam or his
posterity with the sword, and Israel also, by migrating, shall migrate from their own
land. We hence learn, that Amaziah was not impelled only by the last address of the
Prophet Amos, but that he then discovered the hatred which he had long harbored.
Amaziah therefore had been, no doubt, on his watch, and had heard what Amos daily
taught, and when he thought the matter ripe, he sent to the king. Having tried this
way, and found that it did not answer, he came to his second attempt, which we are
now to consider.
Amaziah then said to Amos, --- that is, after his first proceeding disappointed him;
for he did not obtain from king Jeroboam what he expected, --- then Amaziah said
to Amos, Seer, go, flee to the land of Judah! By saying Go, he intimates that he was
at liberty to depart, as though he said, ``Why wouldest thou willfully perish among
us?'' At the same time, the two clauses ought to be joined together. He says first,
MINOR PROPHETS
Go, and then, flee When he says Go, he reminds him, as I have already said, that
if he wished, he might go away, as no one prevented his departure: ``Go, then, for
the way is open to you.'' But when he says, flee, he means that he could not long
remain safe there: ``Except thou provident for thy life, it is all over with you: flee
then quickly away from us, else thou art lost.'' We hence see how cunningly Amaziah
assailed God's Prophet. He proposed to him an easy way of saving his life; at the
same time he urged him with the fear of danger, and declared that he could not
remain safe, except he immediately fled. These then were the two reasons which he
used as mighty engines to depress the heart of the holy Prophet.
He afterwards subjoins, And eat there thy bread This is the third argument. He
might be allowed to live in his own country, and be supplied there with sustenance;
for Amos was, as we have said, one of the shepherds of Tekoa. He must then have
arisen from the tribe of Judah, and he had his habitation and his relations in that
kingdom. Besides, Azariah was not an ungodly king: though not one of the most
perfect, he yet respected and honored the servants of God. Hence, by saying, Eat
there thy bread, Amaziah means that there was a safe residence for the Prophets in
the kingdom of Judah, and that they were there esteemed both by the king and by
the people, and that they might live there. This is the third argument.
Now follows the fourth: ``If thou dost object to me, and say that thou art a Prophet,
and that it is neither lawful nor right in thee to be silent, be a prophet there. Thou
knowest that prophets are attended to in the kingdom of Judah; thou mayest then
perform thine ofÏce there, and live at liberty, and without fear.'' We hence see four
of the reasons by which Amaziah attempted to persuade the Prophet Amos to leave
the people of Israel, and to go to his own kindred.
But there follows a fifth reason: But in Bethel prophesy no more; for the sanctuary
of the king it is, and his court. Here Amaziah annoys the Prophet by another pretense,
or he tries, at least, to shake his courage, by intimating that it was unbecoming to
raise commotions in the kingdom of Israel, and also that, by so doing, he offended
God, because Jeroboam was a divinely appointed king, and endued with the chief
authority. Since then the king could, by his own right, institute new modes of worship,
Amaziah here argues that it is not in the power of any one who pleased to pull down
those rites which had been universally received, and then confirmed by a royal edict,
but that they ought to be received without any dispute. We then perceive now the
import of the whole.
But it must be noticed in this place, that we must be watchful, not only against
the open violence and cruelty of enemies, but also against their intrigues; for as
Satan is a murderer, and has been so from the beginning, so he is also the father of
lies. Whosoever then wishes strenuously and constantly to spend his labors for the
Church and for God, must prepare himself for a contest with both: he must resist all
fears and all intrigues. We see some not so fearful, though a hundred deaths were
denounced upon them, who are yet not sufÏciently cautious when enemies craftily
insinuate themselves. I have not, therefore, said without reason, that God's servants
have need of being fortified against both; that they ought to be prepared against the
fear of death, and remain intrepid, though they must die, and that they ought to lay
JOHN CALVIN
down their necks, if needs be, while performing their ofÏce, and to seal their doctrine
with their own blood; --- and that, on the other hand, their ought to be prudent; for
oftentimes the enemies of the truth assail them by flatteries; and the experience of
our own times sufÏciently proves this. More danger, I know, has ever been from this
quarter; that is, when enemies attempt to terrify by such objections as these, ``What
is your purpose? See, the whole world must necessarily at length be consumed by
calamities. What else do you seek, but that religion should everywhere flourish, that
sound learning should be valued, that peace should prevail everywhere? But we see
that the fiercest war is at hand: if once it should arise, all places would be full of
calamities, savage barbarity, and cruelty, would follow, and religion would perish:
all this ye will effect by your pertinacity.'' These things have often been said to us.
When therefore we read this passage, we ought to notice the arts by which Satan
has been trying to undermine the efforts of the godly, and the constancy of God's
servants.
As to the first argument, there is no need much of dwelling longer upon it; for
every one can of himself perceive the design of all this crafty proceeding. He says
first, Seer, go. Amaziah addresses Amos in a respectful way: he does not reproach-
fully call him, either an exile, or a seditious man, or one unlearned, or a cowherd, or
a person unworthy of his ofÏce. He does not use any such language, but calls him
a seer; he concedes to him the honorable title of a Prophet; for by the word {,}חזה
chese, he means this ``I confess thee to be God's Prophet: I grant that thou art a
Prophet, but not our Prophet; Seer, then, go.'' We hence see that he left to him un-
touched the honor of being a Prophet, that he might more easily creep into his favor,
lest by raising a dispute at first, there should be between them a violent contest: he
therefore avoided all occasions of contention.
It might however have been asked him, Why he was blind? For the ofÏce of a
priest was to watch; and the Prophets were in such a manner joined to the priests,
that when God substituted Prophets in their place, he indirectly charged them with
idleness and indifference. For why were the priests appointed? That they might be
the messengers of the Lord of hosts, as it is said by Malachi,
`The people shall seek from the mouth of the priest my law, for he is the messen-
ger of the Lord of hosts,' (Malachai 2:7)
Amaziah then ought especially to have performed himself the Prophet's ofÏce,
for he was a priest. He was indeed, I allow, a spurious priest; but having claimed
so honorable a name, he ought to have discharged its duties: this he did note and
conceded that title to the Prophet. So now our milted bishops are very liberal in
conceding titles, ``O, Mr. Teacher, ye can indeed see and understand many things:
but yet ye ought, at the same time, to consult the peace of the community.'' They call
those teachers who have been invested with no public ofÏce, but are yet under the
necessity of undertaking the duties of others, for they see that these milted bishops
are dumb dogs. In a like manner, also, did Amaziah act towards the Prophet Amos;
for he was content with his own splendor and great pomp, and with his own riches;
he lived sumptuously, and enjoyed a rich booty, and superstitions well warmed his
kitchen. He therefore easily surrendered to others the title of a Prophet: in the
MINOR PROPHETS
meantime, he prided himself on his priesthood.
But as to the second argument, there was a sharper sting in it, Flee, he says. By
flight he intimates, that it was necessary for the Prophet to depart, though he wished
to remain. So this second reason was borrowed from necessity; for the Prophet could
no longer be borne with, if he proceeded in the free discharge of his ofÏce. Flee then
to the land of Judah, and there eat bread
With regard to this third reason, he seems to imply that the Prophet Amos would
be too pertinacious and too much wedded to his own opinion, if he preferred not to
live safely and quietly in his own country, rather than to endanger his life in another
land. Go then. Where would he send him? To his own country. Why? ``Thou art here
a foreigner, and sees thyself to be hated; why then dost thou not rather return to
thine own country, where thy religion prevails?'' Amaziah did not indeed address the
Prophet Amos, as man of profane men do at this day, who are less like Epicureans
than they are to swine and filthy dogs; for they object and say, ``Thou mayest return
to thine own country; why hast thou come to us?'' They send us away to our own
country, when they know that there is there no safe place for us. But at that time
pure religion flourished in the land of Judah: hence Amaziah says, ``Why dost thou
not live with thy own countrymen? for there are many there who will supply thee
with sustenance; the king himself will be thy friend, and the whole people will also
help thee.''
As to the fourth argument, we see what a crafty sophist is the devil, Be a Prophet
there Who speaks? Amaziah, who perfectly hated the temple at Jerusalem, who
would have gladly with his own hands set it on fire, who would have gladly put to
death all the pious priests; and yet he allows to holy Amos a free liberty to prophesy,
and he allows this, because he could not immediately in an open manner stop the
holy Prophet in his course: he therefore sends him away to a distance. We hence see
that Satan, by various arts and means, tempts the servants of God, and has wonder-
ful turnings and windings, and sometimes transforms himself into an angel of light,
as it is said by Paul, (2 Corinthians 11:14) and in this place we have a remarkable
instance of this. Is not Amaziah an angel of light, when he advises the Prophet Amos
to serve God freely in his own country, and to prophesy there, and to open his mouth
in defense of God's worship and of pure religion? provided he did not do all this in the
land of Israel. We have then in this chapter, as I have said, a remarkable instance of
the wiliness of Satan.
Now as to the fifth argument, it is especially needful to dwell on it. In Bethel, he
says, add no more to prophesy, for it is the king's sanctuary, and it is the house of
the kingdom Here only Amaziah shows what he wished, even to retain possession
of his priesthood; which he could not have done without banishing the Prophet: for
he could not contend with him in arguments. He consulted then his own advantage
by getting rid of the Prophet. Whatever various characters therefore he assumed
in the last verse, and notwithstanding the many coverings by which he concealed
himself, the ape now, as they say, appears as the ape. Amaziah then shows what
he had in views even that he might remain quiet in the possession of his own tyran-
nical powers and that Amos should no more molest him, and pull up by the roots
JOHN CALVIN
the prevailing superstitions: for Amaziah was a priest, and Amos could not perform
his ofÏce without crying out daily against the temple of Bethel; for it was a brothel,
inasmuch as God was there robbed of his own honor; and we also know that su-
perstitions are everywhere compared to fornication. Amaziah then now betrays his
wicked intention, In Bethel prophesy not; he would retain his quiet state, and wished
not the word of God to be heard there. His desire was, as we have already said, to
extinguish everywhere the light of heavenly truth; but as he could not do this, he
wished to continue at least in his own station without any disputes, as we see the
case to be in our time with the Pope and his milted bishops. They became quite mad
when they heard that many cities and some princes made commotions in Germany,
and departed from their submission to them; but as they could not subdue them by
force, they said, ``Let us leave to themselves these barbarians; why, more evil than
good has hitherto proceeded from them; it is a barren and dry country: provided
we have Spain, France, and Italy, secured to us, we have enough; for we have prob-
ably lost more than what we have gained by Germany. Let them then have their
liberty, or rather licentiousness; they will again some time return, and come under
our authority: let us not in the meantime be over-anxious about them. But let not
this contagion penetrate into France, for one of our arms has been already cut off;
nor let Spain nor Italy be touched by it; for this would be to aim at our life.'' Such
also was this Amaziah, as it evidently appears, --- Prophesy not then in Bethel.
And he spoke cunningly when he said, Add no more to prophecy; for it was the
same as though he pardoned him. ``See, though thou hast hitherto been offending
the king and the common feeling of the people, I will not yet treat you with strict
justice, I will forgive thee all, let what thou hast done amiss remain buried, provided
thou `addest no more' in future.'' We hence see that there is emphasis in the ex-
pression, when he says, Proceed not, or, add not; as though he had said, that he
would not inquire into the past, nor would accuse Amos of having been seditious:
provided he abstained for the future, Amaziah was satisfied, as we may gather from
his words, Add then no more to prophesy.
And why? Because it is the king's sanctuary This was one thing. Amaziah wished
here to prove by the king's authority that the received worship at Bethel was legit-
imate. How so? ``The king has established it; it is not then lawful for any one to
say a word to the contrary; the king could do this by his own right; for his majesty
is sacred.'' We see the object in view. And how many are there at this day under
the Papacy, who accumulate on kings all the authority and power they can, in order
that no dispute may be made about religion; but power is to be vested in one king to
determine according to his own will whatever he pleases, and this is to remain fixed
without any dispute. They who at first extolled Henry, King of England, were cer-
tainly inconsiderate men; they gave him the supreme power in all things: and this
always vexed me grievously; for they were guilty of blasphemy (erant blasphemi)
when they called him the chief Head of the Church under Christ. This was certainly
too much: but it ought however to remain buried, as they sinned through inconsid-
erate zeal. But when that impostor, who afterwards became the chancellor of that
MINOR PROPHETS
Proserpina, 57 who, at this day, surpasses all devils in that kingdom --- when he was
at Ratisbon, he contended not by using any reasons, (I speak of the last chancellor,
who was the Bishop of Winchester, 58 ) and as I have just said, he cared not much
about the testimonies of Scripture, but said that it was in the power of the king to
abrogate statutes and to institute new rites, --- that as to fasting, the king could for-
bid or command the people to eat flesh on this or that days that it was lawful for the
king to prohibit priests from marrying, that it was lawful for the king to interdict to
the people the use of the cup in the Supper, that it was lawful for the king to appoint
this or that thing in his own kingdom. How so? because supreme power is vested in
the king. The same was the gloss of this Amaziah of whom the Prophet now speaks:
It is the sanctuary of the king.
But he adds afterwards a second thing, It is the house of the kingdom 59 These
words of Amaziah ought to be well considered. He says first, It is the king's sanc-
tuary, and then, It is the house of the kingdom. Hence he ascribes to the king a
twofold ofÏce, --- that it was in his power to change religion in any way he pleased,
--- and then, that Amos disturbed the peace of the community, and thus did wrong
to the king by derogating from his authority. With regard to the first clause, it is
indeed certain that kings, when they rightly discharge their duty, become patrons
of religion and supporters (nutricios --- nursers) of the Church, as Isaiah calls them,
(Isaiah 49:23) What then is chiefly required of kings, is this --- to use the swords
with which they are invested, to render free (asserendum) the worship of God. But
still they are inconsiderate men, who give them too much power in spiritual things;
(qui faciunt illos nimis spirituales---who make them too spiritual) and this evil is ev-
erywhere dominant in Germany; and in these regions it prevails too much. And we
now find what fruit is produced by this root, which is this, --- that princes, and those
who are in power, think themselves so spiritual, that there is no longer any church
discipline; and this sacrilege greatly prevails among us; for they limit not their of-
fice by fixed and legitimate boundaries, but think that they cannot rule, except they
abolish every authority in the Church and become chief judges as well in doctrine
as in all spiritual government. The devil then suggested at that time this sentiment
to Amaziah, --- that the king appointed the temple: hence, since it was the king's
sanctuary, it was not lawful for a private man, it was not even lawful for any one, to
deny that religion to be of authority, which had been once approved of, and pleased
the king. And princes listen to a sweet song, when impostors lead them astray; and
they desire nothing more than that all things without any difference or distinction
should be referred to themselves. They then gladly interfere, and at first show some
zeal, but mere ambition impels them, as they so carefully appropriate every thing
to themselves. Moderation ought then to be observed; for this evil has ever been
dominant in princes --- to wish to change religion according to their will and fancy,
and at the same time for their own advantage; for they regard what is of advantage
to themselves, as they are not for the most part guided by the Spirit of God, but
57The fabled queen of hell. — Ed. 58This was probably Gardiner. — Ed. 59So it is literally {{}ממלכה{. ביתNewcome renders it, ``The temple of the kingdom.'' Henderson, ``The royal
residence.'' Grotius, Sedes imperii, ``The seat of the empire.'' --- Ed.
JOHN CALVIN
impelled by their own ambition. Since then we see that Satan by these hidden arts
formerly contended against God's prophets, we ought to bewail and lament our own
courses. But whosoever desires to conduct himself as it behaves him, let him watch
against this evil.
It now follows, And it is the house of the kingdom Amaziah contends here no
more for the royal prerogative, with regard to spiritual power. ``Be it, that the king
ought not to have appointed new worship, thou hast yet offended against the peace
of the community.'' The greater part of the princes 60 at this day seek nothing so
much as that they might enjoy their own quietness. They ever declare that they
would he courageous enough even to death in the defense of their first confession;
but yet what are the teachers they seek for themselves? Even those who avoid the
cross and who, to gratify the Papists, or to render them at least somewhat milder,
change according to their wishes: for we see at this day that the minds of princes are
inflamed by these fanners, not to spare the sacramentarians, nor allow to be called
into question what is asserted, not less grossly than foolishly and falsely, respecting
the presence of Christ's body, or his body being included under the bread. ``When
we show that we contend against them, and that we are separated from them, nay,
that we will be their mortal enemies, we in this agree with the Papists; there will then
be some access to them, at least their great fury will cease, the Papists will become
gentle: they will no more be so incensed against us; we shall hereafter obtain some
middle course.'' So things are at this day carried on in the world; and nothing is more
useful than to compare the state of our time with this example of the Prophet, so that
we may go on in our works employing the same weapons with which he contended
and not be moved by these diabolical arts; for we have no enemies more hostile and
open than these domestic traitors.
It is then the house of the kingdom He now speaks of the secular arm, as they
say, and shows that though religion were to perish a hundred times, yet care was to
be taken, lest Amos should pull up by the roots the kingdom of Jeroboam, and the
customs of the people. It now follows ---
Amos 7:14-15
14. 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:
14. Et respondit Amos, et dixit ad Amaziam, Non sum Propheta ego, neque ego
sum filius Prophetae; quia pecuarius sum ego et colligens (vel, quaerens) sicomoros:
15. And the Lord took me as I followed the flock, and the Lord said unto me, Go,
prophesy unto my people Israel.
15. Et sustulit me Jehova a tergo ovium (quum sequerer oves meas; de post oves,
ad verbum,) et dixit mihi Jehova, Vade, propheta ad populum meam Israel.
The Prophet Amos first pleads for himself, that he was not at liberty to obey the
counsel of Amaziah, because he could not renounce a calling to which he was ap-
pointed. As then he had been sent by God, he proves that he was bound by necessity
to prophesy in the land of Israel. In the first place, he indeed modestly says, that
he was not a prophet, nor the son of a prophet: why did he say this? To render him-
60He refers evidently to the Protestant princes. — Ed.
MINOR PROPHETS
self contemptible? By no means, though the words apparently have this tendency;
but it was to gain for himself more authority; for his extraordinary call gave him
greater weight than if he had been brought up from his childhood in the schools of
the prophets. He then shows that he became a prophet by a miraculous interposi-
tion, and that the ofÏce was not committed to him by human authority, and in the
usual way; but that he had been led to it as it were by force, so that he could not
cast aside the ofÏce of teaching, without openly shaking off the yoke laid upon him
by God.
This account then which Amos gives of himself ought to be noticed, I was not a
Prophet, nor the son of a Prophet Had he said simply that he was not a Prophet, he
might have been accused of presumption: how so? No one takes to himself this
honor in the Church of God; a call is necessary; Were an angel to descend from
heaven, he ought not to subvert public order; (Galatians 1:8) for all things, as Paul
reminds us, ought to be done decently and in lawful order in the Church; for the God
of peace presides over us. Had Amos then positively denied that he was a Prophet,
he might on this account have been thrust away from his ofÏce of teaching, for he
wanted a call. But he means that he was not a Prophet who had been from his
childhood instructed in God's law, to be an interpreter of Scripture: and for the same
reason he says that he was not the son of a Prophet; for there were then, we know,
colleges for Prophets; and this is sufÏciently evident from sacred history. As then
these colleges were instituted for this end --- that there might be always seminaries
for the Church of God, so that it might not be destitute of good and faithful teachers,
Amos says that he was not of that class. He indeed honestly confesses that he
was an illiterate man: but by this as I have already said, he gained to himself more
authority inasmuch as the Lord had seized on him as it were by force, and set him
over the people to teach them: ``See, thou shalt be my Prophet, and though thou
hast not been taught from thy youth for this ofÏce, I will yet in an instant make thee
a Prophet.'' It was a greater miracle, that Christ chose rude and ignorant men as
his apostles, than if he had at first chosen Paul or men like him who were skillful in
the law. If then Christ had at the beginning selected such disciples, their authority
would have appeared less: but as he had prepared by his Spirit those who were
before unlearned, it appeared more evident that they were sent from above. And to
this refers the expression the Prophet uses, when he says, Jehovah took me away:
for it intimates that his calls as we have said, was extraordinary. The rest we shall
defer till to-morrow.
Prayer.
Grant, Almighty God, that inasmuch as thou permittest reins so loose to Satan,
that he attempts, in all manner of ways, to subvert thy servants, --- O grant, that they
who have been sent and moved by thee, and at the same time furnished with the
invincible strength of thy Spirit, may go on perseveringly to the last in the discharge
of their ofÏce: and whether their adversaries assails them by crafts, or oppose them
by open violence, may they not desist from their course, but devote themselves
wholly to thee, with prudence as well as with courage, that they may thus persevere
in continual obedience: and do thou also dissipate all the mists and all the crafts
JOHN CALVIN
which Satan spreads to deceive the inexperienced, until at length the truth emerge,
which is the conqueror of the devil and of the whole world, and until thy Son, the Sun
of Righteousness, appear, that he may gather the whole world, that in thy rest we
may enjoy the victory, which is to be daily obtained by us in our constant struggles
with the enemies of the same, thine only Son. Amen.
Lecture Sixty-fifth
Amos 7:16
16. 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.
16. Et nunc audi verbum Jehova tu, qui dicis, Ne prophetes super Israel, et ne
stilles (vel, loquaris) super domum Isaac.
17. 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.
17. Propterea sic dicit Jehova, Uxor tua in urbe prostituetur, et filii tui et filiae tuae
gladio cadent, et terra tua funiculo devidetur, et tu in terra polluta morieris: et Israel
migrando migrabit e terra sua (ad verbum est, de super terram suam.)
Amos having shown that he must obey God, who had committed to him the ofÏce
of teaching, now turns his discourse to Amaziah, and points out what he would gain
by his insolence in daring to forbid a Prophet, an ambassador of the God of heaven,
to proclaim what he had in command. As, then, Amaziah had proceeded into such a
degree of rashness or rather of madness Amos now assails him and says, Hear then
now the word of Jehovah He sets here the word or the decree of God in opposition
to the prohibition of Amaziah: for the ungodly priest had forbidden God's servant
to proclaim his words any more in the land of Israel: ``Who art thou? Thou indeed
thus speakest; but God will also speak in his turn.'' He shows, at the same time, the
difference between the speech of Amaziah and the word of God: the impostor had
indeed attempted to terrify the holy man so as to makehim to desist from his ofÏce,
though the attempt was vain; but Amos shows that God's word would not be without
effect: ``Whether I hold my peace or speak,'' he seems to say, ``this vengeance is
suspended over thee.'' But he, at the same time, connects God's vengeance with
his doctrine; for this was also necessary, that the ungodly priest might know that
he gained nothing else, by attempting to do everything, than that he had doubly
increased the vengeance of God.
There is, therefore, great emphasis in these words, Now hear the word of Jeho-
vah thou who sayest, Prophesy not. Amaziah was indeed worthy of being destroyed
by God a hundred times, together with all his offspring: but Amos intimates that
God's wrath was especially kindled by this madness, --- that Amaziah dared to put
a restraint on God, and to forbid his Spirit freely to reprove the sins of the whole
people. Since, then, he proceeded so far, Amos shows that he would have justly
to suffer the punishment due to his presumption, yea, to his furious and sacrile-
gious audacity, inasmuch as he set himself up against God, and sought to take from
him his supreme authority, for nothing belongs more peculiarly to God than the of-
MINOR PROPHETS
fice of judging the world; and this he does by his word and his Prophets. As, then,
Amaziah had attempted to rob God of his own right and authority, the Prophet shows
that vengeance had been thereby increased: Thou then, who sayest, Prophesy not
against Israel, and speak not, hear the word of Jehovah
Remarkable is this passage, and from it we learn that nothing is better for us,
when God rebukes us, than to descend into our own consciences, and to submit to
the sentence which proceeds from his mouth, and humbly to entreat pardon as soon
as he condemns us: for if we be refractory, God will not cease to speak, though we
a hundred times forbid him; he will therefore go on notwithstanding our unwilling-
ness. Further, we may vomit forth many blasphemies; but what can our clamorous
words do? The Lord will, at the same time, speak with effect; he will not scatter his
threatening in the air, but will really fulfill what proceeds from his mouth; and for
this reason Paul compares heavenly truth to a sword, for vengeance is prepared for
despisers. We ought therefore to take notice of this in the Prophet's words, --- that
when profane men attempt to repel every tenth and all threatening, they gain noth-
ing by their perverseness; for the lord will exercise his own right; and he will also join
to his word, as they say, its execution. Thou then who sayest, Prophesy not, hear
the word of Jehovah; though thou mayest growl, yet God will not be hindered by
these thy commands; but he will ever continue complete in his own authority.'' And
he mentions word, as we have already said, to show that the truth, with which the
ungodly contend, is connected with the power of God. God might indeed destroy all
the unbelieving in silence, without uttering his voice; but he will have his Word hon-
ored, that the ungodly may know that they contend in vain, while they vomit forth
their rage against his word, for they will at length find that in his word is included
their condemnation.
Now, when he says, Prophecy not against Israel, and speak not against the house
of Isaac, we may learn again from these words, that the word Isaac is used by the
Prophet by way of concession; for the people of Israel were then wont to adduce the
example of this holy patriarch. Thus superstitious men, neglecting the law of God,
the common rule, ever turn aside to the examples of the saints; and they do this
without any discrimination; nay, as their minds are perverted, when anything has
been wrongfully done by the fathers, they instantly lay hold on it: and then, when
there is anything peculiar, which God had approved in the fathers but wished not to
be drawn, as they commonly say, into a precedent, the superstitious think that they
have the best reason in their favor, when they can set up such a shield against God.
As, then, the Israelites had at that time the name of their father Isaac in their mouths
while they were foolishly worshipping God in Bethel and in other places, contrary to
what the law prescribed, the Prophet Amos designedly repeats here again the name
of Isaac, expressing it probably in imitation of what had been said by Amaziah.
Now follows a denunciation, Therefore thus saith Jehovah This {,}לכןlacen, there-
fore, shows that Amaziah suffered punishment, not only because he had corrupted
God's worship, because he had deceived the people by his impostures and because
he had made gain by the disguise of religion; but because he had insolently dared
to oppose the authority of God, and to turn aside the Prophet from his ofÏce, both
JOHN CALVIN
by hidden crafts and by open violence. Inasmuch then as he had attempted to do
this, Amos now declares that punishment awaited him. We hence see that destruc-
tion is doubly increased, when we set up a hard and iron neck against God, who
would have us to be pliant, and when he reproves us, requires from us at least this
modesty --- that we confess that we have sinned. But when we evade, or when we
proceed still outward, this issue will at last follow --- that God will execute double
vengeance on account of our obstinacy. Therefore then Jehovah saith: and O! that
this were deeply engraven on the hearts of men; there would not then be so much
rebellion at this day prevailing in the world. But we see how daring men are; for as
soon as the Lord severely reproves them, they murmur; and then, if they have any
authority they stretch every nerve to take away from God his own rights, and from
his servants their liberty. At the same time, when we observe the ungodly to be so
blind, that they perceive not the vengeance, such as the Prophet here denounces, to
be nigh them, and dread it not, it behooves us duly to weigh what the Prophet here
declares and that is, that perverse men, as I have already said, do gain this only by
their obstinacy --- that they more and more inflame God's displeasure.
With respect to the kind of punishment he was to suffer, it is said, Thy wife in the
city shall be wanton: it is so literally; but the Prophet speaks not here of voluntary
wantonness. He then intimates that Amaziah could not escape punishment, but that
his wife would be made a prostitute, when the enemies occupied the land of Israel.
We indeed know that it was a common thing for conquerors to abuse women: and
well would it be, were the practice abolished at this day. Besides, it was deemed
lawful in that age for the conqueror to take to himself not only the daughter but also
the wife of another. This then is the reason why the Prophet says, Thy wife shall be
a prostitute. But he says, in the city; which was far more grievous, than if the wife
of Amaziah had been led to a distance, and suffered that reproach in an unknown
country: it would have less wounded the mind of Amaziah, if the enemies had taken
away his wife, and this disgrace had continued unknown to him, it being done in a
distant land. But when his wife was publicly and before the eyes of all constrained
to submit to this baseness and turpitude, it was much more hard to be endured,
and occasioned much greater grief. We hence see that the punishment was much
increased by this circumstance, which the Prophet states when he says, Thy wife
shall in the city be a prostitute.
Then it follows, Thy sons and thy daughters shall by the sword fall It is a second
punishment, when he declares, that the sons and also the daughters of the ungodly
priest would be slain by the enemies. It was indeed probable, that some also of
the common people had suffered the same evils; but God no doubt punished the
willfulness and madness of Amaziah for having dared to resist admonitions as well
as threatening.
But he also adds, Thy land shall be divided by a line He means by this statement,
that there should be none to succeed Amaziah; but that whatever land he possessed
should become a prey to the enemies. Thy land then shall be divided by a line. It
may at the same time be, that Amos speaks here generally of the land of Israel;
and this seems to me probable. I indeed allow that neither by Amaziah nor by the
MINOR PROPHETS
other priests was the law of God kept; but we yet know that there was some afÏnity
between the lawful priesthood, and the spurious priesthood which the first Jeroboam
had introduced. Hence I conjecture that Amaziah had no possessions, it being lawful
for priests to have only gardens and pastures for their cattle; but they cultivated no
lands. I am therefore disposed to extend to the whole people what is said of the land
of one man; and this opinion is confirmed by what immediately follows.
But thou shalt die in a polluted land. He called that the land of Amaziah in which he
and the rest of the people dwelt; but he calls the land into which he, with all the rest,
were to be driven, a polluted land. If any one objects and says that this punishment
did not apply to one man, the ready answer is this, --- that God meant that an especial
mark should be imprinted on his common judgment, that Amaziah might know, that
he had as it were accelerated God's vengeance, which yet he intended to turn aside,
when he sent away, as we have seen, the Prophet Amos into the land of Judah.
It follows at last, Israel by migrating shall migrate from his own land We here see
that the Prophet proclaimed no private threatening, either to Amaziah himself or to
his wife or to his children, but extended his discourse to the whole people: the fact at
the same time remains unchanged that God intended to punish the perverseness of
that ungodly man, while executing his vengeance on the whole people. Now follows
---
Chapter 8.
Amos 8
Amos 8:1-2
1. Thus hath the Lord God shewed unto me: and behold a basket of summer fruit.
1. Sic ostendit mihi Dominus Jehova; et ecce corbis fructus aestivi (vel, can-
istrum.) Et dixit, Quid tu vides, Amos?
2. And he said, Amos, what seest thou? And I said, A basket of summer fruit.
Then said the Lord unto me, The end is come upon my people of Israel; I will not
again pass by them any more.
2. Et dixit, Corbem (vel, canistrum) fructus aestivi: et dixit Jehova mihi, Venit finis
super populum meum Israel; non adjiciam amplius transire in eo.
By these words or by this vision the Prophet confirms what we have already ob-
served --- that paternal chastisements would no longer be exercised towards the
people of Israel. God indeed, as it is well known, had so treated that people, that he
ever spared them even in their greatest calamities. It was with a suspended hand
that God ever struck that people, until after many trials they at length seemed so
refractory, as not to be benefited by such remedies. This subject then Amos now
pursues: but a vision was shown to him to confirm more fully God's judgment, or at
least to produce a greater impression on the minds of the people.
God showed to him a Basket full of summer-fruit. By summer-fruit, I doubt not,
he means a ripe punishment, as though he said, that the vices of the people had
ripened, that vengeance could no longer be deferred: for an exposition of the vision
immediately follows, when he says, that the end of the people had come, etc.; and
this we have already explained in the third vision. But there is a similarity in the
Hebrew words, which cannot be expressed either in Greek or Latin. {,}קיץkits means
a summer-fruit, {,}קץkots, signifies an end: one letter only is inserted in the word,
summer-fruit, which God showed in a basket; and then he adds that {,}קץkots, the
end had come. But as to the main point, we see that there is nothing ambiguous.
We will now return to the first thing.
MINOR PROPHETS
Thus God showed to me. There is no need of repeating what I have already dis-
cussed. The Prophet here prefaces, that he adduced nothing without authority, but
only faithfully related what had been commanded him from above. And this ought to
be carefully observed; for God ever so employed his Prophets, that he yet reserved
for himself entire the right of teaching, and never transferred his own ofÏce to men,
that is, as to the authority. Then he says, The Lord Jehovah showed to me, and, lo,
a basket of summer-fruit. We may understand cherries by summer-fruit, and those
fruits which have no solid vigor to continue long; but this is too refined. I take the
simple meaning, that punishment had now become ripe; for the people had not re-
pented, though they had been so often warned; it was then as it were summer. He
showed to me a basket of summer-fruit. But as to God asking his Prophet what he
saw, we have already explained the reason why it was done: it behaved the Prophet
to be at first filled with astonishment, that the people might be made more attentive;
for when we hear of a conference between God and the Prophet, our minds are awak-
ened; inasmuch as it must immediately occur to us, that there is something worthy
of being remembered. God then rouses in this manner the minds of his people. So
we see there is nothing superfluous in this repetition.
Now follows the exposition of the vision, Jehovah said to me, Come has the end
on my people Israel We perceive, then, the meaning of the Prophet to be, --- that
the people had hitherto been warned by moderate punishments; but that as they
had become hardened, extreme vengeance was nigh at hand, when God would no
longer perform the part of a father or of a physician, but would utterly destroy those
whom he had long borne with. We indeed know that most grievous calamities had
happened to the people of Israel, even before this time; but whenever God showed
forbearance, he ever allured them to true penitence. Lest, then, they should promise
such a treatment to themselves hereafter, and by self flatteries protract time, as
hypocrites are wont to do, the Prophet declares here expressly, that the end had
come; as though he said, ``Your iniquity is ripe: now then gather the fruit; for ye
cannot proceed farther, no, not even for one day. Fruit will indeed come to you of
itself.'' The end then is come, and I will no more add to pass by them. To pass by,
as we have already explained, is to be referred to punishment. For why does God
chastise his people, except that he is solicitous for their salvation? He says, then,
that he would make an end, that he would not spend labor hereafter in correcting
the people, for he saw that nothing availed. Hence, I will not pass by them, that is,
I will execute my extreme vengeance: Il n'y faudra plus retourner, as we commonly
say. It follows ---
Amos 8:3-4
3. And the songs of the temple shall be howlings in that day, saith the Lord God:
there shall be many dead bodies in every place; they shall cast them forth with
silence.
3. Et ululabunt cantica templi die illo, dicit Dominus Jehova: multum cadaver (hoc
est, multa cadavera) in omni loco prosternentur cum silentio.
4. Hear this, O ye that swallow up the needy, even to make the poor of the land
to fail,
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4. Audite hoc qui absorbetis pauperem et exterminatis inopes terrae.
The Prophet touches the Israelites here, in an indirect way, for taking such delight
in their superstitions as to sing in their prosperity, as though God was favorable to
them; for the unbelieving are wont to misconstrue both the hatred and the favor of
God by the present appearance of things. When the Turks enjoy prosperity, they
boast that God is on their side: we see also that the Papists draw the same conclu-
sion. It is the disposition of men not to look so much on themselves as on external
circumstances. When, therefore, God indulges them for a time, though they be more
than usually wicked, they yet doubt not but that God is favorable to them. So the
Sodomites, to the very time in which they were overwhelmed by sudden destruction,
thought that they had peace with heaven, (Genesis 19:14): this also is the reason
why Isaiah says, that the ungodly had made, as it were, a covenant with hell and
death, (Isaiah 28:15) and we know what Christ says of the time of Noah, that they
then heedlessly feasted and built sumptuous houses, (Matthew 24:38) Such carnal
security has prevailed almost in all ages. But a special vice is here noticed by the
Prophet, namely, that the people of Israel sang songs in their temples, as though
they meant designedly to mock God: for the voices of the Prophets resounded daily,
and uttered grievous and terrible threatening; but the people in the meantime sang
in their temples. In the same way the Papists act in the present day; while they
bellow and chant, they think that God is twice or three times pacified; and they also
congratulate themselves in their temples, when they have everything prosperous.
This abuse, then, is what the Prophet refers to when he says, Howlings shall be the
songs of the temple For melody he mentions howling, as though he said, ``God will
turn your songs to lamentations, though they be now full of joy.''
He afterwards adds, For many a carcass shall be cast down in every place: but I
prefer to render the word passively, ``Cast down everywhere with silence shall be
many carcases'' 61 . By these words he intimates that there would be such a slaugh-
ter as would prevent them from burying the dead bodies. We have said in another
place that the right of burial is commonly observed even by enemies; for it is more
than hostility to rage against the dead: and all who wish not to be deemed wholly
barbarous either bury their dead enemies, or permit them to be buried; and there is
a sort of an understanding on this point among enemies, and the right of burial has
been usually observed in all ages, and held sacred among all nations. When there-
fore dead bodies are thrown down in silence, it is an evidence of a most grievous
calamity. We hence see why the Prophet distinctly expresses here, that many a
dead body would be cast down in every place in silence, that is, that there would
be no burying of the dead. But as we see men, though a hundred times proved
guilty, yet quarreling with God, when he executes rather a grievous punishment, the
Prophet now contends with the Israelites, and again repeats what we have before
noticed, --- that God did not deal cruelly with them, and that though he should con-
61The literal rendering of the verse seems to be this — And they shall howl the songs of the temple: Many a dead body shall be in every place; — "Cast it away, be silent." The expressions are abrupt, but very striking. What would be commonly said is mentioned, "Cast it away," etc. Newcome translates as follows: — "There shall be many dead bodies in every place: And men shall say, Cast forth, be silent." Very tame is this, compared with the original literally rendered. To introduce, And men shall say, lessens the force of the sentence. — Ed.
MINOR PROPHETS
sume and obliterate the whole people, it would yet be for just reasons, inasmuch as
they had reached the very extremities of wickedness.
And he assails by name the princes of the people, Hear this, he says, ye who tread
upon or swallow up the poor The Prophets, as we have already stated, did not with-
out reason direct their discourses to the chief men, though the common people were
nearly as much involved in the same guilt. It is certain that the state of the people
of Israel was then so corrupt, that all, from the highest to the lowest, were become
degenerated and none were free from blame. But as more guilt belongs always to
leaders, this is the reason why the Prophets treated them with more sharpness and
severity: for many of the common people go astray through thoughtlessness or ig-
norances or are led on by others, but they who govern, pervert what is just and right,
and then become the originators of all kinds of licentiousness. It is no wonder then
that the Lord by his Prophets inveighed so sharply against them; and this is now the
object of the Prophet in saying, Hear this: for there is an emphasis in the expression,
when he bids them to hear; it was either because they did not sufÏciently observe
their sins, and were wholly deaf, or because they in vain contended with God; for
hypocrites think that by evasion they can escape judgment. Hear, he says, ye who
devour the miserable, and destroy the poor of the land. We see here some differ-
ence marked, and that the Prophet does not generally and indiscriminately summon
the common people and the princes to God's tribunal; but turns his discourse to the
princes only. It now follows ---
Amos 8:5
5. Saying, When will the new moon be gone, that we may sell corn? and the
sabbath, that we may set forth wheat, making the ephah small, and the shekel great,
and falsifying the balances by deceit?
5. Dicendo, Quando transibit mensis, ut vendamus frumentum? et sabbathum,
ut aperiamus (hoc est, depromamus) triticum, et attenuemus ephah? (hoc est, men-
suram minuemus; scimus enim ephah fuisse communem mensuram: quando ergo
minuemus mensuram,) et augemus {,}שקלsiclum, et pervertamus stateras dolosas?
The Prophet goes on here with the same subject; for this could not apply to the
whole people, but only to the plunderers who were able to oppress the miserable
and the poor among the common people, and who had a great abundance of corn:
the same we see at this day, --- a few men in time of want have provisions hoarded
up, so that they as it were put to death miserable men by reducing them to want.
Since then the few rich held the whole people in a state of famine, the Prophet says
here, ``Do you think that God deals too rigidly or too cruelly with your inasmuch as
ye have hitherto been killing men with misery and want?'' Were any one to object,
and say, that the slaughter which the Prophet has already threatened was to be
common to the whole people, and that therefore it is now improperly stated, that
the wrongs done to the people were brought on them by a few men: to this I answer,
that there were other vices among the people which required to be corrected, and
this we have already seen, and shall see again in other parts; but it was necessary
to make a beginning with the proud men, who, relying on their own dignity, thought
themselves exempt and free from the common lot. Hence it was necessary to close
JOHN CALVIN
their mouths: and further, the Prophet did not spare others in their turn. But we see
to what extent of mad folly haughty men, and such as possess worldly riches and
powers would run, were not the Lord to restrain and check them. This is the reason
why the Prophet now especially addresses them.
Ye therefore say, When will pass the month, that we may sell corn? Some take
{,}חדשchedash, month, for the new-moon; and it is sometimes so taken and this
interpretation is probable; for immediately follows the word, Sabbath. When then
will pass the month, and when will pass Sabbath, that we may be able to sell our
corn? As it was not lawful to carry on business either on the Sabbath or on the new-
moon, whenever they rested but one day, they thought that so much time was lost
to them; for we see that the avaricious grow weary, as their cupidity ever excites
them, for they are like an oven: and since they are thus hot, if an hour is lost they
think that a whole year has passed away; they calculate the very moments of time.
``How is it,'' they say, ``there is no merchant coming? I have now rested one day,
and I have not gained a farthing.'' As then the avaricious are so extremely careful,
it is probable that the Prophet here refers to this disease of the mind, as though he
said, ``You have no rest, no relaxation. God has commanded his people to rest on
every new-moon; and his will also is, that you should abstain from every work on the
seventh day: ye think it is time as lost, for ye get no gain.'' But another exposition
is equally probable, which is this, --- that they expected corn to be every month
dearer; as those robbers in our day gape for gain, who from every quarter heap
together corn, and thus reduce us to want; they look forward, month after month,
and think that some calamity may happen to increase the price of corn; frost or rain
may come, some disaster may take place; when the spring passes away, there may
come some hail or mildew; in short, they are, as it were, laying in wait for some
evil. This meaning does not ill suit this place; at the same time they refer it to the
intercalary month, which being an addition, prolongs time, so that the year becomes
longer: and what follows, respecting the Sabbath corresponds well with this view; as
the word is to be taken in another sense than of the seventh day, for we know that
on every seventh year there was no sloughing, no cultivation of the land, among the
Jews; and the corn was then dearer, when there was no crop. Thus then there was a
prey as it were provided for the avaricious and the extortioners.
When then will pass the Sabbath, that we may open our storehouses? They closed
their storehouses, until the whole year, without cultivation or produce or harvest, had
passed away; and then they opened their storehouses, or at least it was the time
when they in a great measure opened them. Since then they so cruelly dealt with the
people, the Prophet justly reproves them, and shows that God did not too rigidly treat
theme but recompensed them with such a reward as they merited. Other matters
we shall defer to the next Lecture.
Prayer.
Grant, Almighty, that as thou ceases not daily to warn us in time to repent and
anticipate thy judgment, --- O grant, that we may not be so deaf and slow, as to delay
until our vices be ripened, lest no remedy should remain for us; but, on the contrary,
that being tamed and subdued by thy threatening, we may flee to thy mercy, and
MINOR PROPHETS
so consider thy judgments while at a distance, that we may not provoke thy wrath
by our perverseness, but rather dispose thee to pardon by striving to be reconciled
to thee in the name of Christ thy Son, and by doing this not only with the mouth
and tongue, or by any other outward means, but also with a real feeling of heart and
a life corresponding thereto, so that we may present ourselves in uprightness and
sincerity, as thy children, that thou mayest also show thyself as a Father to us in the
same Christ, thy Son, our Lord. Amen.
Lecture Sixty-sixth
In my last Lecture I was under the necessity of breaking off the subject: the sixth
verse, with the two preceding ones, must be connected together. The Prophet says
Amos 8:6
6. That we may buy the poor for silver, and the needy for a pair of shoes; yea,
and sell the refuse of the wheat?
6. Ut emamus argento pauperes et inopem pro calceamentis, et quisquilias fru-
menti vendamus.
Here still he speaks of the avarice of the rich, who in time of scarcity held the
poor subject to themselves and reduced them to slavery. He had spoken before of
the Sabbaths, and he had spoken of deceitful balances; he now adds another kind
of fraud, --- that by selling the refuse of wheat, they bought for themselves the poor.
We indeed know what is the influence of poverty and pressing want, when men are
oppressed with famine; they would rather a hundred times sell their life, than not to
rescue themselves even by an invaluable price: for what else is food but the support
of life? Men therefore will ever value their life more than all other things. Hence
the Prophet condemns this iniquity --- that the rich gaped for such an opportunity.
They saw that corn was high in price; ``Now is the time for the poor to come into
our possession, for we hold them as though they were ensnared; so then we can
buy them for a pair of shoes.'' But the other circumstance increases this iniquity, ---
that they sold the refuse of the wheat; and when they reduced to bondage the poor,
they did not feed them; they mingled filth and offscourings with the wheat, as it is
wont to be done; for we know that such robbers usually do this, when want presses
upon the common people; they sell barley for wheat, and for barley they sell chaff
and refuse. This kind of wrong is not new or unusual, as we learn from this passage.
Now follows a denunciation of punishment ---
Amos 8:7
7. The Lord hath sworn by the excellency of Jacob, Surely I will never forget any
of their works.
7. Juravit Jehova per excellentiam Jacob, Si obliviscar unquam omnia opera eo-
rum.
God, having made known the vices of the rich, now shows that he would be their
judge and avenger: for were they only reproved, they would not have cared much,
like the usurer mentioned by Horace, who said, ``The people may hiss me, but I felic-
itate myself.'' So also these robbers were wont to do, when they were filled: though
the whole people exclaimed against them, though God thundered from heaven, they
laughed everything to scorn; for they were utterly destitute of every shame; and they
JOHN CALVIN
were also become hardened; and insatiable cupidity had so blinded and demented
them, that they had cast aside every care for what was right and becoming. Since
it was so, God now declares that they could not escape punishment; and that this
threatening might more effectually penetrate into their hearts, the Prophet makes
use of an oath in the name of God, Jehovah, he says, hath sworn by the excellency
of Jacob
An old interpreter has rendered the words, ``He has sworn against the pride of
Jacob:'' but he did not sufÏciently consider the design of the Prophet; for he speaks
not here of vice, but of that dignity which the Lord had conferred on the posterity of
Abraham; for we have before seen this expression, `I abhor the excellency of Jacob.'
Some give this rendering, ``I abhor the pride of Jacob,'' as though God were speaking
there of perverse haughtiness. But he, on the contrary, means, that the Israelites
were deceived, for they thought themselves safe and secure, because they were
introduced into great favor by a singular privilege. ``This,'' the Lord says, ``will profit
them nothing: I have hitherto been kind and bountiful to the children of Abraham;
but I now abhor this whole dignity.'' So also he says now in this place, Jehovah
hath sworn by the excellency of Jacob. They were proud of their dignity which yet
was the free gift of God, hence God interposes a form of oath, the fittest to reprove
their presumption. Some at the same time give this translation, ``By myself, (at
least they give this explanation,) by myself have I sworn:'' for God was the glory
of Jacob. Others think that by this word, {,}גאוןgaun, is designated the sanctuary;
for this was the excellency of Jacob, because God had chosen it as a habitation for
himself in the midst of his people: hence, also, He is often said to dwell between
the cherubim; not that he was inclosed in the sanctuary, but because the people
perceived there his presence, his favor, and his power. But I rather understand by
the term, excellency, in this place, the adoption, by which God had separated for
himself that people from the rest of the world. Sworn then hath Jehovah. How? By
the excellency of Jacob: and thus he glances in a severe manner at the ingratitude
of the people, as they did not own themselves to be in every respect bound to God;
for they had been peculiarly chosen, when yet other nations in many things excelled
them. It was doubtless an invaluable favor for that ignoble people to have been
chosen to be God's peculiar possession and heritage. Hence the Prophet now rightly
introduces God as being angry; and the form of the oath is suited to set forth the
people's ingratitude: ``What! do ye now rise up against me, and elevate your horns?
By what right? Under what pretext? Who are ye? I chose you, and ye truly repay me
with this reward, --- that though ye owe me all things, ye seek to defraud me of my
right. I therefore swear by the excellency of Jacob, --- I swear by the benefits which
I conferred on you, --- that I will not allow that which is justly precious in my sight
to be disgracefully profaned. Whatever then I have hitherto bestowed on you, I will
return on your own heads, and, as ye deserve, ye shall miserably perish.'' This is the
meaning.
We hence see that the oath which the Prophet uses, ought to be applied to the
present case. He says, I shall never forget all your works, that is, none of your
works shall be passed by unpunished. For though conscience sometimes disturbs
MINOR PROPHETS
hypocrites yet they think that many things may be concealed; and if the hundredth
part, or at farthest the tenth, must be accounted for, they think this to be quite
enough: ``Why! God may perhaps observe this or that, but many faults will escape
him.'' Since then hypocrites thus heedlessly deceive themselves, the Prophet says,
``Nothing can ever be hid from my sight; nay, as I now know all their works, I will
show that all their sins are recorded in my books, in my memory, so that all things
shall at last be called to an account.'' It now follows ---
Amos 8:8
8. Shall not the land tremble for this, and every one mourn that dwelleth therein?
and it shall rise up wholly as a flood; and it shall be cast out and drowned, as by the
flood of Egypt.
8. Annon super hoc tumultuabitur terra, et lugebit quicunque habitat in ea? Et
ascendet quasi flumen tota (vel, elevabitur,) et profligabitur et submergetur quasi a
fluvio AEgypti.
He confirms what the last verse contains in other words: and the question is
emphatical, for it is a double afÏrmation. A question, we know, is usually put, when
there is no measure of doubt on the subject. God then asks here as of a thing certain,
how they could remain in safety, who had so perverted every thing right and just,
who had violated all equity, who were influenced by no feelings of humanity, --- how
could such continue safe? It was impossible. We hence see why the Prophet here
uses a question; it was, that he might more fully confirm what he declares.
Shall not the land, he says, make a tumult? 62 when these disturb all order, when
they mingle, as the proverb is, heaven and earth together, can the earth remain
quiet under such a violent confusion? when all reason and equity is confounded,
how, he says, can the land do otherwise than make a tumult? And though the Prophet
ascribes not here either clamor or speech to the land; it is yet a sort of personification,
when he says that the earth must necessarily make a tumult, while it sustains such
inhabitants; for between them there was no agreement. Since then their way of
living was extremely turbulent, the land itself must necessarily be agitated.
He afterwards adds, And mourn shall every one who dwells in it He now shows
that the inhabitants of the earth shall feel that commotion of which he predicts:
for the earth, ceasing to fulfill its ofÏces, constrains its inhabitants to lament and
mourn. And then there is another metaphor which sets forth the moving of the
earth, that it will rise as a river to destroy men with a deluge. Many render what
follows, ``It shall be driven away and closed up like the river of Egypt.'' But after
the Prophet has spoken of inundation of the earth, he turns his discourse to the
men whom this inundation would drown and swallow up. Hence, the real sense is,
that their habitations would be destroyed, as by a deep gulf, in a way similar to
the Nile, which, by overflowing the whole country, seems to make a sea of what
had been inhabited. As the Prophet's words lead us as by the hand, I wonder how
those skillful in the Hebrew language could have blended things so different, for they
give this explanation, ``The land shall be raised up, as a river, and then it shall be
62Shake or move is the most current meaning of the word, and the most suitable to this place. Newcome renders it, "be shaken;" Henderson, "tremble;" and Grotius, "be moved." — Ed.
JOHN CALVIN
destroyed and driven away;'' and they refer this to the land; and then, ``it shall be
sunk down:'' this also they apply to the land; except that some give this rendering,
``It shall discharge itself like the river of Egypt.'' But I translate otherwise, ``It shall
heave up whole as a river, and shall be driven away, and shall be immersed as by the
river of Egypt.'' It shall heave up, he says, that is, the land as a river; so that there
will be no habitation for men: ``I have given this land to my people that they might
live in it; but the land itself shall heave up as a river; there shall be an inundation
of the whole land.'' And then when he says, It shall be driven away and sunk, this
ought not to be referred to the land itself, but to the inhabitants or to the people. 63
He had said before, {,}כארkar, as a river; but now he says, {,}כיאורkiaur, which I
explain as meaning, as by the river of Egypt. The Nile, we know, overflows annually
and covers the whole plain of Egypt. The Prophet therefore borrowed a similitude
from the Nile; and he says, that such would be God's vengeance, that the land would
be like a river, and its dwellings would be immersed and carried away, or annihilated:
for when there is no surface of land, it seems to have been cleared away. So then
he says now, It shall be driven away, It shall be sunk. This is the simple explanation;
and {,}עoin, is to be understood; for {,}שקעshiko, is to sink or to cover. Here, {,}ה
he is only put, but {,}עoin, is to be understood, and there is also a double reading
pointed out. 64 We now then perceive the Prophet's meaning. But it follows ---
Amos 8:9
9. And it shall come to pass in that day, saith the Lord GOD, that I will cause the
sun to go down at noon, and I will darken the earth in the clear day:
9. Et accidet die illa, inquit Dominus Jehova, ut occumbere faciam (vel, descen-
dere faciam) solem in meridie, et obtenebrescere faciam terram in die lucido.
The Prophet speaks here metaphorically of the punishments which were then to
the people nigh at hand: and as prosperity and success deceived the Israelites,
the Prophet makes use of this significative mode of speaking: ``Ye congratulate
yourselves on account of your wealth and other things which delight you, as though
God could not turn light into darkness; and as God spares you, ye think that it will
ever be the same with you; but God can, he says, turn light into darkness: a dark
night therefore will overtake you even at mid-day.'' We now understand why the
Prophet employed this figurative expression, --- that God would obscure the sun, or
cause it to go down, and would on a clear day send darkness to obscure the earth. It
was not, it is certain, the eclipse of the sun; and the Prophet did not mean this. But
these figurative expressions must be first noticed, and then we must see what they
import.
63A different view is given by Newcome and also by Henderson. Newcome translates thus, — And shall not all of it rise up as the river, And be driven out of its place and sunk down as the river of Egypt? Henderson renders the lines in the same sense, though in different words, — Shall not all of it rise like the river? Shall it not be driven and subside Like the river of Egypt? The question is unnecessarily retained, borrowed from the first line of the verse. It is seldom, if ever, that this is the case in Hebrew; it is not consistent with the simplicity of the language. It is evidently the earthquake that is here compared to the rising and subsiding of a river. I would therefore render the whole verse thus, — Shall not for this the land shake, And every inhabitant in it mourn? For heave up as a river shall the whole of it, And it shall be agitated and subside like the river of Egypt. Here is the heaving, the agitation, and the subsidence of the earth in an earthquake. — Ed.
64He means evidently the Keri, the marginal reading. — Ed.
MINOR PROPHETS
Were any one disposed to lay-hold on what is literal and to cleave to it, his notions
would be gross and insipid, not only with regard to the writings of the Prophets,
but also with regard to all other writings; for there is no language which has not
its figurative expressions. There is then in this passage a remarkably significative
mode of speaking, --- that God would make the sun to go down or to become cloudy
at mid-day. But we must especially notice the design of the Prophet, which was
to show, that the Israelites trusting in their prosperity, thought themselves to be
beyond the reach of danger; hence their security and hence their torpor, and at
length their perverseness and their contempt of God: since then the Prophet saw
that they abused the benefits of God, he says, ``What! the Lord indeed has caused
your sun to rise; but cannot he make it to set, yea, even at mid-day? Ye now exult
in its light; but God will suddenly and unexpectedly send darkness to cover your
heads.'' There is then no reason for hypocrites to flatter themselves, when God
smiles on them and treats them indulgently; for in this manner he invites them to
repentance by the sweetness of his goodness, as Paul says in the second chapter to
the Romans. But when he sees them stubbornly wanton, then he turns his benefits
into punishments. This then is what the Prophet means: ``God,'' he says, ``will
make the sun to set at mid-day, and will darken the clear day.'' Let us go on ---
Amos 8:10
10. And I will turn your feasts into mourning, and all your songs into lamentation;
and I will bring up sackcloth upon all loins, and baldness upon every head; and I will
make it as the mourning of an only son, and the end thereof as a bitter day.
10. Et convertam dies festos vestros in luctum, et omnia cantica vestra in lamen-
tum; et ascendere faciam super omnia dorsa (vel, super omnes lumbos) saccum, et
super omne caput calvitium; et ponam eam quasi luctum (vel potius, quasi in luctu)
unigeniti, et posteritatem ejus quasi in die amaritudinis.
The Prophet pursues the same subject; but he omits the figurative mode which
he had before adopted. He therefore denounces vengeance more openly, --- that
God would turn their festal-days into mourning, and their songs into lamentation.
This was designedly mentioned; for the Israelites, we know, flattered themselves on
account of their ceremonies by which at the same time they more and more provoked
God's displeasure: for the worship of God, which they pretended to perform, was
mere superstition, and was therefore a profanation of true religion. Though then
they thus brought on themselves God's judgment by their wicked ceremonies, they
yet thought that they were sufÏciently disguised; for as Jeremiah says, ceremonies
are to hypocrites the dens of robbers, (Jeremiah 7:10,11.) So here the Prophet speaks
expressly of festal-days and of songs, --- ``Think ye that I am pacified on your feast-
days, when ye offer sacrifices to me, or rather to idols under my name; and think
ye that I am delighted with your songs? these things are so regarded by me, that
they the more excite my wrath. Your festal-days then will I turn to mourning, and
your songs to lamentation. At the same time, the Prophet threatens generally what
we have before noticed, --- that there would be mourning among the whole people
for having too long abused the forbearance of God; I will then turn your joy into
mourning. This is the sum of the whole. We have already shown why he names
JOHN CALVIN
feast-days and songs, and that is, because they thought them to be expiations to
turn aside God's vengeance, when yet they were fans by which they kindled more
and more the fire of his displeasure.
He afterwards adds, I will make to come up on all backs the sackcloth, and on
every head baldness. These are various modes of speaking, which refer to the same
thing: for they were wont to put on sackcloth and they were wont to shave their
heads when in grief and mourning. The Prophet then means, that there would be
extreme sorrow among the people, that having cast away all delights, they would
be constrained to give up themselves entirely to weeping, lamentation, and grief. I
will then make to come up on all loins the sackcloth, that is, I will make each one to
put off all valuable and soft clothing and to put on sackcloth; and also to shave their
heads, and even to tear off their hair, as they were wont to do. We indeed know
that the orientals were more disposed to adopt external tokens of sorrow than we
are. It was in truth the levity of that country that accounts for their playing the part
of actors in mourning; and from this practice of mourning our Prophet borrowed his
mode of speaking.
He afterwards subjoins, I will set her (he speaks of the Israelites under the name
of land) in mourning as for an only begotten This similitude occurs also in another
place, `They shall mourn as for an only-begotten,' says Zechariah 12; so also in
other places; so that there is no need of a long explanation. For when one has many
children and one dies, he patiently bears his death; but when any one is bereaved of
an only-begotten, there is no end nor moderation to his grief; for there is no comfort
remaining. This is the reason why the Prophet says, that there would be grief, such
as that which is felt for an only-begotten.
And he shows that these calamities would not be for a short time only, Her pos-
terity, he says, shall be as in the day of bitterness 65 For hypocrites drive away, or
at least moderate, their fear of punishment by imagining that God will not be so
severe and rigid but for a short time, --- ``O! it cannot be God will for long punish
our sins; but it will be like mist which soon passes away.'' Thus hypocrites felicitate
themselves. Then the Prophet does not without reason subjoin this second clause,
that their posterity shall be as in the day of bitterness. Hence when they shall think
themselves freed from all evils, then new ones shall succeed, so that their posterity
shall even doubly grieve; for they shall feel more bitterness than their fathers. It
now follows ---
Amos 8:11-12
11. Behold, the days come, saith the Lord God, that I will send a famine in the
land, not a famine of bread, nor a thirst for water, but of hearing the words of the
Lord:
11. Ecce dies veniunt, dicit Jehova, quibus mittam famem in terram, non famem
65Both this and the former line are rendered differently by Newcome, more consistently with the words of the original — And I will make it as a mourning for an only son, And the end thereof as a day of bitterness. The pronoun "it," and also "thereof," is the feminine {:{הNewcome
refers it to ,{}הדברהthis matter, or this event, understood: or in case ,{}ארףland, be the antecedent, he thinks that ,{}כאבל
``as a mourning,'' should be rendered participially, as ``one who mourns.'' Either of these constructions may suit the original;
but another seems preferable. The antecedent to ``it appears to be ,{`` }אבלmourning,'' in the first line of the verse. Our own
version is no doubt the correct one, and not that which Calvin adopts; only the last line may be better rendered thus, as Junius
and Tremelius do --- ``And the end of it as that of the bitterest day.'' --- Ed.
MINOR PROPHETS
panis, neque sitim aquarum, sed audiendi verba Jehovae:
12. And they shall wander from sea to sea, and from the north even to the east,
they shall run to and fro to seek the word of the Lord, and shall not find it
12. Et errabunt a mari usque ad mare, et a septentrione usque ad orientem
discurrent ad quaerendum verbum Jehova, et non invenient.
Here now the Prophet fulminates, for he denounces not temporal punishments,
but final destruction, and what proves to be an evidence of reprobation, and that
is, that God would deprive the Israelites of every light of truth, so that they would
wander as the blind in the dark. It is indeed certain, that they had been before this
time bereaved of sound doctrine; for falsehoods and superstitions prevailed among
them; and we have seen that in the land of Israel the true and faithful servants of
God suffered cruel tyranny. But yet God restrained the people, as it were, against
their will; when they fled away from him, and withdrew themselves from under his
government, he still goaded them, and tried as by force to restore them to the way
of safety. God thus contended with the wickedness of the people for many years,
to the time of our Prophet, yea, until the ten tribes were banished; for these, we
know, were led to exile first, and at length the kingdom of Israel was abolished; but
the Lord ceased not to stretch forth his hand. Now when he saw that the labor of
his servants was vain and useless, when he saw that no fruit proceeded from his
word, when he saw that his name was profaned and his kindness trodden under
foot, he denounced final vengeance, as though he said, ``I am now broken down
with weariness, I have hitherto borne with your cries, and though by many kinds
of punishment I have endeavored to restore you, I have yet observed a moderate
course, that there might not be wanting some remedy for you. It has not, therefore,
been my fault that your diseases have not been healed; for I have often sent Prophets
to draw you to repentance, but without any success. I will now then take away my
word from you.'' But as celestial doctrine is the spiritual food of the soul, the Prophet
rightly adopts this metaphor, that the Lord would send a famine. This figure, then is
borrowed from the efÏcacy and nature of God's word: for to what purpose does God
send to us Prophets and teachers, but to feed us with spiritual food? As he sustains
our bodies by bread and water, or wine, and other aliments, so also he nourishes our
souls and sustains our spiritual life by his word. Since, then, spiritual doctrine is our
spiritual aliment, the Prophet very properly says, that there would come a famine.
I will then send a famine, not of bread or of water, but of hearing the word of God.
The antithesis amplifies or exaggerates the severity of the punishment, as though he
had said, that it would be endurable to wander in hunger and thirst, and to seek roots
on mountains, and to seek water in distant rivers: but a bodily famine, he says, is not
what shall be grievous to them, --- what then? They shall be in hunger and thirst, and
shall seek the word of God, and nowhere find it. But that we may better understand
the meaning of the Prophet, we must notice what Paul says, --- that we are fed by
the Lord as by the head of a family, when the word is offered to us, (Titus 1:3) for
teachers go not forth of themselves, but when they are sent from above. As then
the head of a family provides meat and sustenance for his children and servants, so
also the Lord supplies us daily with spiritual food by true and faithful teachers, for
JOHN CALVIN
they are as it were his hands. Whenever then pure doctrine is offered to us, let us
know that the teachers who speak and instruct us by their ministrations are, as it
were, the hand of God, who sets food before us, as the head of a family is wont to do
to his children: this is one thing. And certainly since the Lord cares for our bodies,
we must also know that our souls are not neglected by him: and further, since the
earth produces not corn and other things of itself, but God's blessing is the source of
all fruitfulness and abundance, is not his word a much more precious food? Shall we
then say that it comes to us by chance? It is hence no wonder that the Prophet sets
here the deprivation of sound doctrine among God's judgments; as though he said,
``Whenever men are faithfully taught, it is a proof of God's singular kindness, and
a testimony of his paternal care. As God then has hitherto discharged towards you
the ofÏce of the kindest father of a family, so now he will deprive you of meat and
drink, that is, those which are spiritual.'' Now, in the second place, we must observe,
that when we abuse God's bounty, our ingratitude deserves this recompense, that
want should teach us that God ought not to have been despised in his benefits. This
is generally true: for when we intemperately indulge in luxury when God gives us
abundance of bread and wine, we fully deserve that this intemperance and excess
should be cured by famine and want. But bread and wine are of no great value,
and soon pass away: when therefore we abuse celestial doctrine, which is far more
precious than all earthly things, what punishment does not such willfulness deserve?
It is therefore no wonder that God should take away his word from all ungrateful and
profane men, when he sees it treated with mockery or disdain: and this truth ought
to be carefully considered by us at this day; for we see with how little reverence the
greater part of men receive the celestial doctrine, which at this time is so bountifully
offered to us. God has indeed in our age opened the wonderful treasures of his
paternal bounty in restoring to us the light of truth. What fear there is now? What
religion? Some scoff, some disdain, some indeed profess to receive what is said,
but they pass it by negligently, being occupied with the cares and concerns of this
world, and some furiously oppose, as the Papists do. Since then the perverseness or
the wickedness, or the carelessness of the world, is so great, what can we expect,
but that the Lord will send a much thicker darkness than that in which we have
been before immersed, and suffer us to go astray and wander here and there in
hunger and thirst? If then we fear God, this punishment, or rather the denunciation
of this punishment, ought ever to be before our eyes. And the antithesis also, as it
is very important should be carefully considered; for the Prophet by the comparison
increases the punishment: it shall not, he says, be the want of meat and drink, for
such a divine visitation would be more tolerable; but it shall be a spiritual famine.
Inasmuch then as we are too much entangled by our flesh, these words ought to
arouse us, that we may more attentively reflect on this dreadful punishment, and
learn to fear the famine or want of the soul more than that of our bodies. When the
sterility of the land threatens us with famine, we are all anxiety, and no day passes,
in which this anxious question does not ten times occur to us, --- ``What will become
of us? We now suffer from famine and want, and we are, as yet, distant from the
harvest three or four months.'' All feel anxious, and in the meantime we are not
MINOR PROPHETS
touched by any concern when the Lord threatens us with spiritual want. Since then
we are so disposed to be overanxious for this frail life, it is the more necessary for
us to take notice at the comparison mentioned by our Prophet.
But it may be here asked, Why does he say that they should be so famished as
to run here and there, and wander from sea to sea, from the south even to the east,
since this ought to be counted as one of God's favors; for what more grievous thing
can happen to us, than that the Lord should render us stupid and unconcerned? But
when we are touched with some desire for sound doctrine, it evidently appears that
there is some religion in us; we are not destitute of the Spirit of God, though destitute
of the outward medium: and then comes what Christ says,
`Knock, and it shall be opened to you; seek, and ye shall find,' (Matthew 7:7)
Therefore this denunciation of the Prophet seems not, it is said, so severe and
dreadful. But we must observe, that the Prophet does not speak here strictly of
famine, as though he said, that the Israelites would feel the want of God's word, that
they would really look for it, that they would sincerely seek it, but that they would
perceive by the punishment itself, that nothing is more to be dreaded than to be
deprived of the spiritual food of the soul. An example of this is found in Esau: when
he saw that he had lost his birth-right, he cried and howled. He did not do this either
from a right feeling, or because he had returned to a sound mind; but he was urged
on by despair only: and then he sent forth lamentations and howlings, as though
he were a wild beast. An anxiety like this is what the Prophet describes here. We
hence learn, that the reprobate, when they see themselves deprived of God's favors,
are not really moved, so that they repent, but only feel strong agonies, so that they
torment themselves without any benefit, and do not turn themselves to God.
What then is this to seek? We must notice what he said before --- that they shall
wander from sea to sea, and then, that they shall run here and there. When the
faithful perceive any token of God's wrath, they immediately conclude and clearly
see, that there is no remedy but to retake themselves directly to God: but the un-
godly, what do they do? They disquiet themselves, and make a great noise. It is then
this empty and false feeling of which the Prophet speaks. Now then the question is
answered. But we must at the same time observe, what the best way is to recover
the favor of God, when we are deprived of it; and it is this, --- to consider our state,
and to return to him under a due consciousness of God's judgment, and to seek to be
reconciled to him. Thus will he restore what he has taken away. But if our obstinacy
be like that of the Israelites, God will deprive us of his benefits, and not only those
which are necessary to support our present life, but also of the spiritual food of the
soul: then in vain will our howlings rend the air, for he will not give us an upright
spirit to return to him; but we shall in vain bite the bridle, we shall in vain torment
ourselves: for he will not suffer us to come where we ought, that is, he will not lead
us to true repentance nor to a genuine calling on him, but we shall pine away in our
evils without any remedy.
Prayer.
Grant, Almighty God, that as thou continues to recall us to thyself, and though
thou sees us to be alienated from thee, thou yet dost extend thy hand to us, and often
JOHN CALVIN
exhort and stimulate us by holy admonitions, and even frighten us by punishments,
that we may not run headlong to our own ruin, --- O grant, that we may not be
deaf to admonitions so holy and gracious, nor be hardened against thy threatening,
but that we may become instantly submissive, and also return to the right way and
constantly proceed in it, and follow one vocation through our whole life, as long as
thou continues it to us, until we at length reach the mark which is set before us,
even until we be gathered into thy celestial kingdom, through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Amen.
Lecture Sixty-seventh
Amos 8:13-14
13. In that day shall the fair virgins and young men faint for thirst.
13. In die illa deficient virgines decorae et adolescentes prae siti.
14. They that swear by the sin of Samaria, and say, Thy god, O Dan, liveth; and,
The manner of Beersheba liveth; even they shall fall, and never rise up again.
14. Jurantes in peccato Samariae, et qui dicunt, Vivet via Barsaba; et cadent et
non resurgent amplius.
The Prophet, having threatened spiritual famine, now adds, that the people would
in every respect be barren and destitute of every good: for I take not thirst here in the
same sense as before; but that they should be dried up through the want of all things.
It is indeed the worst deprivation when men are parched up with thirst; and this is
what the Prophet threatens here. A country may suffer from want of provision, while
there is water enough to drink; but when not even this remains, it is an evidence of a
heavier and of almost the extreme curse of God. We now perceive what the Prophet
meant, which was this, --- that when God should take away his word, by which the
souls of men are nourished up to eternal life, the Israelites would be then in want also
of all blessings, so that they would not only be without bread, but also without water;
and he mentions a circumstance which would greatly aggravate the evil, Faint, he
says, shall the fair virgins and the youth in their vigor It seems unnatural, that those
who are vigorous, and can run to get supply for their wants, should faint: but the
Prophet, as I have said, wished to show that there would be no escape, but that God
would distress the strongest, when he sent such a famine, and with it the want also
of drink.
He afterwards mentions the reason why the Lord would inflict such punishments
on his people; it was, because they had prostituted themselves to wicked supersti-
tions; They swear, he says, by the sin of Samaria; they say, Live does thy God, Dan;
Live does the way of Beersheba Some understand ``sin'' here metaphorically, (as it
is taken also in many other places,) as meaning sin-offerings, which are called by the
Hebrews {,}אשמותashimut, and by the Latins piacula --- expiations: but this exposi-
tion is too refined. The Prophet then speaks only of the idols of Israelites: and they
are called wickedness or sin, because superstitious men, we know, delight in their
own devices. He therefore calls an idol sin by way of reproach, though they gave it
the honorable name of a god. They swear, he says, in or by the sin of Samaria He
calls it the sin of Samaria, for thence arose all their corruptions, it being the royal
residence and the chief city of the whole country. Since then superstition proceeded
MINOR PROPHETS
from thence, the Prophet does not without reason say that all the idolatry, through-
out the whole land, was the sin of Samaria; for he regarded the source where impiety
originated.
And he afterwards explains himself by saying, Live does thy God, Dan; and, Live
does the way of Beersheba: for we know that temples were raised both in Dan and
in Beersheba. He then subjoins two forms of an oath, but for this end, --- to show
the character of the sin of Samaria, which he mentions. They swear then by the
gods of Samaria, who were really detestable; for there is no greater atrocity in the
sight of God than idolatry: but he afterwards adds, that they were gods who were
worshipped at Dan and at Beersheba. What some say of the word {,}דרךdarek,
that it means pilgrimage or the way that leads there, is frivolous and puerile; for the
Prophet, no doubt, used a common expression. He therefore calls custom ``the way
of Beersheba'', such as then was by common consent receded and approved. They
then who swear by these fictitious forms of worship shall be parched, or pine away,
with thirst
He then adds, They shall fall, and rise again no more; that is, their stroke shall be
incurable, for God has hitherto employed moderate punishments, which could not
heal them, as they had been obdurate in their evils. The Prophet then declares now
that there would be no more any prospect of a remedy for them, and that the wound
which God would inflict would be fatal, without any hope of being healed. This is the
meaning. Let us now proceed ---
Chapter 9
Amos 9
Amos 9:1
1. I saw the Lord standing upon the altar: and he said, Smite the lintel of the door,
that the posts may shake: and cut them in the head, all of them; and I will slay the
last of them with the sword: he that fleeth of them shall not flee away, and he that
escapeth of them shall not be delivered.
1. Vidi Dominum stantem super altare, et dixit, Percute superliminare et coom-
movebunter postes, et afÒiget (vel, afÒige, in modo imperativo) in capite omnes, et
novissimum ipsorum (vel, posteritatem) gladio occidam; non effuget ex ipsis fugiens,
neque evadet ex ipsis qui evadit.
The Prophet confirms the threatening which we have already explained; for he
says that the people would be soon removed, as there was now no hope of repen-
tance. But it must first be observed, that he speaks not here of the profane temples
which Jeroboam the first had built in Dan and in Bethel, but of the true and lawful
temple; for it would not have been befitting that this vision should have been made
to the Prophet in one of those profane temples, from which, we know, God was far
away. Had God appeared in Dan or Bethel, it would have been an indirect appro-
bation of superstition. They are then mistaken who think that the vision was given
to the Prophet in any other place than on mount Zion, as we have shown in other
places. For the Prophets say not, that God had spoken either in Dan or in Bethel, nor
had there been any oracle announced from these places; for God designed in every
way to show that he had nothing to do with those profane rites and abominations.
It is then certain that God appeared to his Prophet on mount Zion, and on the lawful
altar. 66
Let us now see the design of the vision. The greater part of interpreters think that
66Calvin is not without many expounders, who agree with him in this view; yet the reasons assigned do not apply. "Though the true God," as Dr. Henderson justly observes, "was seen beside the idolatrous altar, it was not for the purpose of receiving homage, but of commanding that the whole of the erection and worship at Bethel should be destroyed." — Ed.
MINOR PROPHETS
the destruction of the kingdom and of the priesthood is predicted here, at the time
when Zedekiah was taken and led ignominiously into exile, and when his children
were killed, and when afterwards the temple was erased and the city demolished.
But this prediction, I doubt not, ought to be extended much farther, even to the many
calamities which immediately followed, by which at length the whole people were
destroyed. I therefore do not confine what is here said to the demolition of the city
and of the temple. But the meaning of the Prophet is the same as though he had said,
that the Israelites as well as the Jews in vain boasted of their descent and of other
privileges with which they had been honored: for the Lord had resolved to destroy
them, and also the temple, which they employed as a cloak to cover their iniquities.
We now then understand the intention of the Prophet. But this also must be noticed,
--- that if the Lord spared not his own temple, which he had commanded to be built,
and in which he had chosen a habitation for himself, those profane temples, which
he had ever despised, could not possibly escape destruction. We now see the design
of this prophecy, which is the last, with the exception of the promise that is given,
of which we shall speak in its proper place.
He says then that he saw God standing on the altar. The Prophet might have
heard what follows without a vision; but God then, we know, was wont to sanction
his predictions by visions, as we find in the twelfth chapter of Numbers. God then
not only intended to commit to his Prophet what he was to proclaim, but also to add
authority to his doctrine; and the vision was as it were the seal, which the Israelites
as well as the Jews knew to be a proof, that what the Prophet declared by his mouth
proceeded from heaven.
It now follows, Smite the lintel {,}כפתורcaphtur, is, I think, called the cover which
is on the top of the posts of the temple; for the Hebrews call {,}כפתוריםcaphturim,
apples. As then they painted there pomegranates and flowers, the Hebrew doctors
think that the part which is above the two posts of the temple is called {,}כפתור
caphtur. But that part of the entrance might have taken its name from its round
form. However this may be, they called the highest part of the porch of the temple
{,}כפתודcaphtur. Now the posts sustained that which they commonly called the
lintel. God then says, Strike the lintel, and let the posts be moved, or let them shake,
let the whole gate of the temple shake. Then he adds, And strike and break all on the
head, or on the head of all. This verb is differently read by interpreters. Correctly,
according to the rule of grammar, it ought to be read in the third person, and it will
dash to the ground But some however, render it thus, ``and dash to the ground'', or
break, because he had said before, Smite. As to the meaning, it matters not much
for an explanation immediately follows. Now as to what he says, ``on the head'',
and as to the word {,}אחריתםachritam, which follows, some by the head understand
the priests and the rulers of the people, which view I am inclined to embrace; but
when they explain {,}אחריתachrit, to mean posterity or children, it does not seem
to suit this place; for it ought rather as I think, to he referred to the common people.
As then the Prophet had spoken of the head, he now adds the people in general.
The Hebrews call whatever follows or comes after by {,}אחריתachrit. They indeed
understand posterity by it, but it is a word that has variety of meaning: for it is taken
JOHN CALVIN
for end, for a footstep, in short, for anything that comes after. 67
It is easy now to gather the meaning of the Prophet: A vision was exhibited to
him which showed that it was decreed by God himself to smite both the chiefs and
the common people: and since God begins with his temple, how can profane men
hope for pardon, who had deserted the true and pure worship of God? They were
all apostates: how then could they have hoped that God would be placable to them,
inasmuch as he had broken down his own temple?
He now adds, I will slay with the sword, etc. We see then that this vision is to be
referred to the stroke which was shortly after to be inflicted. I will slay then with the
sword whatever follows, that is, the common people.
He afterwards says, Flee away from them shall not he who fleeth, nor shall he
escape from them who escapeth; that is though they may think that flight is possible,
their expectation will deceive them, for I shall catch them. Had the Prophet said that
there would be to them no means of fleeing away, he would not have spoken with
so much severity; but when he says, that when they fled, he would catch them, that
when they thought that they had escaped, there would be no safety to them, he says
what is much more grievous. In short, he cuts off all hope from the Israelites, that
they might understand that they were certain to perish, because God had hitherto
tried in vain to restore them to the right way. Inasmuch then as they had been wholly
incurable, they now hear that no hope remained for them.
And since the Prophet denounces such and so dreadful a destruction of an elect
people, and since the vision was exhibited to him in the temples there is no reason
for us to trust in our outward profession, and to wait till God's judgments come, as we
see many are doing in our day, who are wholly careless, because they think that no
evil can happen to them, inasmuch as they bear the name of God. But the Prophet
here shows, that God sits in his temple, not only to protect those whom he has
adopted as his people and peculiar possession, but also to vindicate his own honor,
because the Israelites had corrupted his worship; and the Jews also had departed
from true religion. Since then impiety everywhere prevailed, he now shows that God
sits there as the punisher of sins, that his people may know that they are not to
tolerate those evils, which for a time he does not punish, as though he had forgotten
67These two lines are variously explained. The words can hardly admit the meaning here given to them. The scene was in the temple, and worshippers were present. The command was to strike the lintel; the fall of the pillars or posts was the consequence: many were destroyed, and those who remained were to be killed by the sword, and not one was to escape. There seems to be here an allusion to two previous events — the shaking and pulling down of the pillars of the house of Dagon by Sampson, — and the slaughter of the priests of Baal by Jehu. I render the verse thus: — I saw the Lord standing on the altar, and he said, — "Strike the lintel, that the pillars may shake, And break them down on the head of them all; And the remainder of them with the sword will I slay; Flee away from them shall not he who fleeth, And escape from them shall not he who escapeth." Junius and Tremelius, as well as Dathius, render the third and fourth lines, where the difficulty alone exists, according to the version given above; and Henderson renders the third line materially the same, — And break them in pieces on the heads of them all. But he retains "posterity" in the fourth line, which seems not consistent with the tenor of the passage. The version of Junius and Tremelius is this, — Et divide ipsos in capite ipsorum omnium, Quod autem post ipsos est gladio interrficam. Dathius is more paraphrastic, and gives the same sense, — Eosque diffinde ut ruant in caput omnium qui adsunt, Reliquos vero gladio interficam Newcome, who is too fond of emendations, folllows Houbigant, who, for no reason that appears, turns the verb into the first person; and he gives this rendering of the third line, — For I will wound them in the head, even all of them: But this evidently does not comport with the context. — Ed.
MINOR PROPHETS
his ofÏce, or that he designs his favor to be the cover of their iniquity; but because
he designs by degrees to draw to repentance those, who are healable, and at the
same time to take away every excuse frown the reprobate. Let us proceed ---
Amos 9:2-4
2. Though they dig into hell, thence shall mine hand take them; though they climb
up to heaven, thence will I bring them down:
2. Si foderint ad sepulchrum (vel, ad infernum,) inde manus mea educet vos; et
si ascenderint in coelos, inde detraham eos;
3. And though they hide themselves in the top of Carmel, I will search and take
them out thence; and though they be hid from my sight in the bottom of the sea,
thence will I command the serpent, and he shall bite them:
3. Et si occultaverint se in fastigio (vel, culmine) Carmeli, inde scrutabor et ex-
traham eos; et si absconditi fuerint ab oculis meis (ad verbum, e regione oculorum
meorum) in profundo (vel, pavimento, in fundo ipso) maris, inde mandabo serpenti
ut mordeat eos:
4. And though they go into captivity before their enemies, thence will I command
the sword, and it shall slay them: and I will set mine eyes upon them for evil, and
not for good.
4. Et si profecti fuerint in captivitatem coram inimicis suis, inde mandabo gladio
ut occidat eos; et ponam oculum meum super eos in malum et non in bonum.
Here the Prophet denounces horrible punishments; but not without reason, for
there was astonishing torpidity in that people, as there is usually in all hypocrites
when they have any shadow of excuse. They were then the only elect people in the
whole world. When, therefore, they thought that they excelled others and that they
were endued with singular privileges beyond all other nations, this glory inebriated
them, and they imagined that God was in a manner bound to them, as we have
seen in other places. This, then, was the reason why the Prophet in so many ways
enlarged on the judgment of God on hypocrites; it was, that they might be terrified
by the vehemence and severity of his words.
Hence he says, If they dig for themselves passages to hell, that is, to the center
of the earth, for {,}שאולshaul, is here put for the center; thence shall my hand
draw them forth; and then, If they ascend to heaven, thence I will draw them down,
saith the Lord; If they hide themselves in deserts, if they flee to the top of Carmel,
I will trace them out: in short, they shall find no corner either in heaven, or on the
earth, or in the sea, where they can be hid from my sight. There is no need here
to understand by heavens high citadels, as the Chaldean paraphraser explains it: it
is a frigid paraphrase. But the Prophet speaks in an hyperbolical language of the
center of the earth, of the heavens, and of the deep of the sea; as though he had
said, ``Should all the elements open themselves for hiding-places, yet the Israelites
shall in vain try to escape, for I will follow them when sunk in the depth of the sea,
I will draw them down from heaven itself; there shall, in a word, be no hiding-place
for them either above or below.''
We now understand the Prophet's meaning; and an useful warning may be hence
gathered, --- that when God threatens us, we in vain seek subterfuges, as his hand
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extends itself to the lowest deep as well as to heaven; as it is said in Psalm 139:7-9,
`Where shall I flee from thy presence, O Lord?
If I ascend into heaven, thou art there;
if I descend to the grave, thou art present;
if I take the wings of the dawn, (or, of the morning star,)
and dwell in the extremities of the sea,
there also shall thy hand lead me.'
The Prophet speaks not in that psalm, as some have very absurdly philosophized,
of the unlimited essence of God; but he rather shows, that we are always in his sight.
So then we ought to feel assured that we cannot escape, whenever God designs to
make a scrutiny as to our sins, and to summon us to his tribunal.
But we must at the same time remember, that the Prophet has not employed
a superfluous heap of words; there is not here one syllable which is not important
though at the first view it seems to be otherwise. But the Holy Spirit, as I have
already reminded you, knowing our heedlessness, does here shake off all our self-
flatteries. There is in us, we know, an innate torpor by nature, so that we despise
all threatenings, or at least we are not duly moved by them. As the Lord sees us
to be so careless, he rouses us by his goads. Whenever then Scripture denounces
punishment on us, let us at the same time learn to join with it what the Prophet here
relates; ``Thou hast to do with God, what can't thou effect now by evasions? though
thou climbest to heaven, the Lord can draw thee down; though thou descendent to
the abyss, God's hand will thence draw thee forth; if thou seekest a hiding-place
in the lowest depths, he will thence also bring thee forth to the light; and if thou
hidest thyself in the deep sea, he will there find thee out; in a word, wherever thou
betakest thyself, thou canst not withdraw thyself from the presence and from the
hand of God.'' We hence see the design of all these expressions, and that is, that we
may not think of God as of ourselves, but that we may know that his power extends
to all hiding-places. But these words ought to be subjects at meditations though it
be sufÏcient for our purpose to include in few words what the Prophet had in view.
But as we are so entangled in our vain confidences, the Prophet, as I have said, has
not in vain used so many words.
Now as to what he says, I will command the serpent to bite them, some under-
stand by {,}נחשnuchesh, not a serpent on hand, but the whale, or some other marine
animal, as the leviathan, which is mentioned in Scripture; and we may learn from
other parts of Scripture that ``nachash'' means not only a serpent, but also a whale
or some animal living in the sea. In a word, God intimates, that he would be armed
everywhere, whenever he should resolve to punish his adversaries, and that in all
elements are means in readiness, by which he can destroy the wicked, who seek to
escape from his hand.
Now when he says, If they go into captivity among their enemies, I will there
command the sword to slay them, some interpreters confine this part to that foolish
flight, when a certain number of the people sought to provide for their safety by going
down into Egypt. Johanan followed them, and a few escaped, (Jeremiah 43:2) but
according to what Jeremiah had foretold, when he said, `Bend your necks to the king
MINOR PROPHETS
of Babylon, and the Lord will bless you; whosoever will flee to Egypt shall perish;' so it
happened: they found this to be really true, though they had ever refused to believe
the prediction. Jeremiah was drawn there contrary to the wish of his own mind: he
had, however, pronounced a curse on all who thought that it would be an asylum to
them. But the Lord permitted him to be drawn there, that he might to his last breath
pronounce the Woe, which they had before heard from his mouth. But I hardly dare
thus to restrict these expressions of the Prophet: I therefore explain them generally,
as meaning, that exile, which is commonly said to be a civil death, would not be
the end of evils to the Israelites and to the Jews; for even when they surrendered
themselves to their enemies, and suffered themselves to be led and drawn away
wherever their enemies pleased, they could not yet even in this way preserve their
life, because the Lord would command the sword to pursue them even when exiles.
This, in my view, is the real meaning of the Prophet.
He at last subjoins, I will set my eyes on them for evil, and not for good. There is a
contrast to be understood in this clause: for the Lord had promised to be a guardian
to his people, according to what is said in Psalm 121:4,
`Behold, he who guards Israel neither sleeps nor slumbers.'
As hypocrites ever lay hold on the promises of God without repentance and faith,
without any religious feeling, and afterwards turn them to support their vain boast-
ing, the Prophet therefore says here, that the eye of God would be upon them, not
indeed in his wonted manner to protect them, as he had done from the beginning,
but, on the contrary, to accumulate punishment on punishment: it was the same
thing as though he said, ``As I have hitherto watched over the safety of this people,
whom I have chosen for myself, so I will hereafter most sedulously watch, that I may
omit no kind of punishment, until they be utterly destroyed.''
And this sentence deserves to be specially noticed; for we are reminded, that
though the Lord does not indeed spare unbelievers, he yet more closely observes us,
and that he will punish us more severely, if he sees us to be obstinate and incurable
to the last. Why so? Because we have come nearer to him, and he looks on us as
his family, placed under his eyes; not that anything is hid or concealed from him,
but the Scripture speaks after the manner of men. While God then favors his people
with a gracious look, he yet cannot endure hypocrites; for he minutely observes their
vices, that he may the more severely punish them. This then is the substance of the
whole. It follows ---
Amos 9:5
5. And the Lord God of hosts is he that toucheth the land, and it shall melt, and
all that dwell therein shall mourn: and it shall rise up wholly like a flood; and shall
be drowned, as by the flood of Egypt.
5. Et Dominus Jehova exercituum percutiet terram, et contremiscet; et lugebunt
omnes habitantes in ea, et ascendet sicut fluvius tota, et submergetur sicut a fluvio
Egypti.
The Prophet repeats here nearly the same words with those we explained yester-
day: he used then the similitude of a flood, which he again mentions here. But as
the first clause is capable of various explanations, I will refer to what others think,
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and then to what I deem the most correct view. This sentence, that the earth trem-
bles, when it is smitten by God, is usually regarded as a general declaration; and
the Prophets do often exalt the power of God in order to fill us with fear, and of this
we shall see an instance in the next verse. Yet I doubt not but that this is a special
threatening. The Lord Jehovah, then, he says, will smite the land, and it will tremble.
Then follows the similitude of which we spoke yesterday, Mourn shall all who dwell
in it; and then, It will altogether ascend as a river Here he intimates that there would
be a deluge, so that the face of the earth would not appear. Ascend then shall the
land as a river. The ascent of the earth would be nothing else but inundation, which
would cover its surface. He afterwards adds, ``and it shall be sunk''; that is, every
convenience for dwelling: this is not to be understood strictly, as I have said, of the
land, but is rather to be referred to men, or to the use which men make of the earth.
Sunk then shall it be as by the river of Egypt We have said that Egypt loses yearly
its surface, when the Nile inundates it. But as the inundation of the river is given to
the Egyptians for fertilizing the land and of rendering its produce more abundant, so
the Prophet here declares that the land would be like the sea, so that there would
no longer be any habitation. It now follows ---
Amos 9:6
6. It is he that buildeth his stories in the heaven, and hath founded his troop in
the earth; he that calleth for the waters of the sea, and poureth them out upon the
face of the earth: The LORD is his name.
6. AEdificans in coelis ascensiones suas, et coagmentationem suam super terram
fundans (qui fundat,) qui vocat aquas maris et effundit eas super faciem terrae,
Jehova nomen ejus. 68
The Prophet describes now in general terms the power of God, that he might the
more impress his hearers, and that they might not heedlessly reject what he had
previously threatened respecting their approaching ruin; for he had said, `Lo, God
will smite the land, and it shall tremble.' This was special. Now as men received with
deaf ears those threatening, and thought that God in a manner trifled with them, the
Prophet added, by way of confirmation, a striking description of the power of God;
as though he said, ``Ye do hear what God denounces: now, as he has clothed me
with his own authority, and commanded me to terrify you by setting before you your
punishment, know ye that you have to do with God himself, whose majesty ought
to make you all, and all that you are, to tremble: for what sort of Being is this God,
whose word is regarded by you with contempt? God is he who builds for himself
chambers 69 in the heavens, who founds his jointings 70 (some render it bundles) in
68This verse and the preceding are connected together, and form but one period, as it evidently appears from the construction of the words in Hebrew. The following may be considered a literal version: — 5. And the Lord, Jehovah of hosts, — Who touches the earth and it melts, And mourn do all who dwell on it, And it heaves up as a river, the whole of it, And sinks down as the river of Egypt, — 6. Who builds in the heavens his ascents, And fixes on the earth his station, Who calls the waters of the sea, And pours them forth on the face of the earth, — Jehovah is his name. — Ed.
69Caenacula, in other places, ascensiones, and more correctly; for {{מעלותis properly ascents, steps
to ascend, stairs; and hence, the places ascended to, chambers.
70Coagmentationes suas — his joinings, cementings; but {{אנדתוis in the singular number. It is difÏcult
to ascertain its meaning. It occurs not as a verb, but from its application, its ideal meaning seems to be, to join or bind together,
so as to form a compact body. It is applied in 2 Samuel 2:25, to designate a troop, a compact body of men. It signifies in Exodus
MINOR PROPHETS
the earth, who calls the waters of the sea, and pours them on the face of the earth'';
in a word, He is Jehovah, whose being is in himself alone: and ye exist only through
his powers and whenever he pleases, he can with-draw his Spirits and then vanish
must this whole world, of which ye are but the smallest particles. Since then He alone
is God, and there is in you but a momentary strength, and since this great power of
God, the evidences of which he affords you through the whole order of nature, is so
conspicuous to you, how is it that ye are so heedless?'' We now perceive why the
Prophet exalts in so striking a manner the power of God.
First, in saying that God builds for himself his ascendings (ascensiones) in the
heavens, he alludes no doubt, to the very structure of the heavens; for the element
of air, we know, rises upwards, on account of its being light; and then the element
of fire comes nearer to what heaven is; then follow the spheres as then the whole
world above the earth is much more favorable to motion, this is the reason why the
Prophet says that God has his ascents in the heavens. God indeed stands in no need
of the heavens or of the air as an habitation, for he is contained in no place, being
one who cannot be contained: but it is said, for the sake of men, that God is above
all heavens: he is then located in his own elevated throne. But he says that he
founds for himself his jointing on the earth, for this part of the world is more solid,
the element of earth being grosser and denser, and therefore more firm. So also the
waters, though lighter than the earth, approach it nearest. God then builds in the
heavens. It is a mechanism which is in itself wonderful: when one raises to heaven
his eyes, and then looks on the earth, is he not constrained to stand amazed? The
Prophet then exhibits here before our eyes the inconceivable power of God, that
we may be impressed by his words, and know with whom we have to do, when he
denounces punishment.
He further says, Who calls the waters of the sea, and pours them on the face of
the earth This change is in itself astonishing; God in a short time covers the whole
heaven: there is a clear brightness, in a moment clouds supervene, which darken
the whole heaven, and thick waters are suspended over our heads. Who could say
that the whole sky could be so suddenly changed? God by his own command and
bidding does all this alone. He calls then the waters of the sea, and pours them down
Though rains, we know, are formed in great measure by vapors from the earth, yet
we also know that these vapors arise from the sea, and that the sea chiefly supplies
the dense abundance of moisture. The Prophet then, by taking a part for the whole,
includes here all the vapors, by which rain is formed. He calls them the waters of the
sea; God by his own power alone creates the rain, by raising vapors from the waters;
and then he causes them to descend on the whole face of the earth. Since then the
Lord works so wonderfully through the whole order of nature, what do we think will
take place, when he puts forth the infinite power of his hand to destroy men, having
12:22, a bundle of hyssop. Newcome renders it a storehouse, deriving its meaning from the Chaldee; and Henderson renders it
vault, tracing it from the Arabic, and says that it signifies the vault or arch of heaven, the hemispheric expanse, which apparently
to the eye is founded on the earth; but a band or troop has been its most common acceptation. It must be borne in mind, that it
must be something on earth that corresponds or forms a contrast with ascents in the heavens. God has his ascendings, or as it
were, his steps or stairs in the heavens, along which, speaking after the manner of men, he ascends: then what has he on earth?
It seems to me that something firm, solid, compacted, is intended; and the earth is said to be his footstool. Hence a firm footing,
standing, or station, appears to be the meaning of the word. The French translation is --- Qui fonde son batiment sur la terre ---
``Who founds his building on the earth.'' --- Ed.
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resolved to execute the extreme judgment which he has decreed?
Prayer.
Grant, Almighty God, that as thou hast showed to us by evidences so remarkable
that all things are under thy command, and that we, who live in this world through
thy favor, are as nothing, for thou couldest reduce us to nothing in a moment, --- O
grant, that being conscious of thy power, we may reverently fear thy hand, and be
wholly devoted to thy glory; and as thou kindly offerest thyself to us as a Father, may
we be drawn by this kindness, and surrender ourselves wholly to thee by a willing
obedience, and never labor for any thing through life but to glorify thy name, as thou
hast redeemed us through thy only begotten Son, that so we may also enjoy through
him that eternal inheritance which is laid up for us in heaven. Amen.
Lecture Sixty-eighth
Amos 9:7
7. Are ye not as children of the Ethiopians unto me, O children of Israel? saith the
Lord. Have not I brought up Israel out of the land of Egypt? and the Philistines from
Caphtor, and the Syrians from Kir?
7. Annon sicut filii AEthiopum vos mihi, filii Israel, dicet Jehova? Annon Israel
ascendere feci e terra AEgypti? Et Philistim ex Cappadocia? Et Syrios e Kir?
The Prophet shows here to the Israelites that their dignity would be no defense to
them, as they expected. We have indeed seen in many places how foolish was the
boasting of that people. Though they were more bound to God than other nations,
they yet heedlessly boasted that they were a holy nation, as if indeed they had
something of their own, but as Paul says, they were nothing. God had conferred on
them singular benefits; but they were adorned with the plumes of another. Foolish
then and absurd was their glorying, when they thought themselves to be of more
worth in the sight of God than other nations. But as this foolish conceit had blinded
them, the Prophet says now, ``Whom do you think yourselves to be? Ye are to me
as the children of the Ethiopians I indeed once delivered you, not that I should be
bound to you, but rather that I should have you bound to me, for ye have been
redeemed through my kindness.'' Some think that the Israelites are compared to
the Ethiopians, as they had not changed their skin, that is, their disposition; but this
view I reject as strained. For the Prophet speaks here more simply, namely, that their
condition differed nothing from that of the common class of men: ``Ye do excel, but
ye have nothing apart from me; if I take away from you what is mine, what will you
have then remaining?'' The emphasis is on the word, to me, What are ye to me? For
certainly they excelled among men; but before God they could bring nothing, since
they had nothing of their own: nay, the more splendidly God adorned them, the
more modestly and humbly they ought to have conducted themselves, seeing that
they were bound to him for so many of his favors. But as they had forgotten their
own condition, despised all the Prophets and felicitated themselves in their vices,
he says, Are ye not to me as the children of the Ethiopians, as foreign and the most
alien nations? for what that is worthy of praise can I find in you? If then I look on
you, what are ye? I certainly see no reason to prefer you even to the most obscure
nations.''
MINOR PROPHETS
He afterwards adds, Have I not made to ascend, or brought, Israel from the land
of Egypt? Here the Prophet reminds them of their origin. Though they had indeed
proceeded from Abraham, who had been chosen by God four hundred years before
their redemption; yet, if we consider how cruelly they were treated in Egypt, that
tyrannical servitude must certainly appear to have been like the grave. They then
began to be a people, and to attain some name, when the Lord delivered them from
Egypt. The Prophet's language is the same as though he had said, ``Look whence
the Lord has brought you out; for ye were as a dead carcass, and of no account:
for the Egyptians treated your fathers as the vilest slaves: God brought you thence;
then you have no nobility or excellency of your own, but the beginning of your dignity
has proceeded from the gratuitous kindness of God. Yet ye think now that ye excel
others, because ye have been redeemed: God has also redeemed the Philistines,
when they were the servants of the Cappadocians; and besides, he redeemed the
Syrians when they were servants to other nations.''
Some take {,}קירkir, to mean Cyrene; but as this is uncertain, I pass it by as
doubtful. Whatever it was, there is no ground of dispute about the subject itself; for
it is certain that the Israelites are here compared with the Philistines as well as with
the Syrians, inasmuch as all had been alike redeemed by the Lord, and this favor
was common to all of whom he speaks. As God then pitied in former ages other
nations, it was certainly not peculiar to the race of Abraham, that they had been
freed by God, and by means of extraordinary miracles: ``Even the Philistine will say
the same, and the Syrians will say the same; but yet ye say that they are profane
nations. Since it is so, ye are now divested of all excellency, that is, there is nothing
of your own in you, that ye should exalt yourselves above other nations.'' This is the
meaning. It now follows ---
Amos 9:8-9
8. Behold, the eyes of the Lord GOD are upon the sinful kingdom, and I will destroy
it from off the face of the earth; saving that I will not utterly destroy the house of
Jacob, saith the Lord
8. Ecce oculi Domini Jehovae ad reguum sceleratum, et delebo illud a superficie
terrae, praeterquam quod non delendo delebo domum Jacob, dicit Jehova.
9. For, lo, I will command, and I will sift the house of Israel among all nations, like
as corn is sifted in a sieve, yet shall not the least grain fall upon the earth.
9. Quia ecce ego praecipiam, et agitabo inter cunctas gentes domum Israel, que-
madmodum agitatur (subaudiendum est nomen tritici, agitatur triticum) in cribo, et
non cadet lapis (id est, granum) in terram.
Here the Prophet concludes that God would take vengeance on the Israelites as on
other nations, without any difference; for they could not set up anything to prevent
his judgment. It was indeed an extraordinary blindness in the Israelites, who were
doubly guilty of ingratitude, to set up as their shield the benefits with which they
had been favored. Though then the name of God had been wickedly and shamefully
profaned by them, they yet thought that they were safe, because they had been
once adopted. This presumption Amos now beats down. Behold, he says, the eyes
of the Lord Jehovah are upon all the wicked Some restrict this to the kingdom of
JOHN CALVIN
Israel, but, in my opinion, such a view militates against the design of the Prophet.
He speaks indefinitely of all kingdoms as though he had said, that God would be
the judge of the whole world, that he would spare no kingdoms or countries. God
then will show himself everywhere to be the punisher of vices, and will summon all
kingdoms before his tribunal, By destroying I will destroy from the face of the earth
all the ungodly and the wicked.
Now the second clause I understand otherwise than most do: for they think it
contains a mitigation of punishment, as the Prophets are wont to blend promises of
favor with threatening, and as our Prophet does in this chapter. But it seems not
to me that anything is promised to the Israelites: nay, if I am not much mistaken,
it is an ironical mode of speaking; for Amos obliquely glances here at that infatu-
ated presumption, of which we have spoken, that the Israelites thought that they
were safe through some peculiar privilege, and that they were to be exempt from all
punishment: ``I will not spare unbelievers,'' he says, ``who excuse themselves by
comparing themselves with you. Shall I tolerate your sins and not dare to touch you,
seeing that you know yourselves to be doubly wicked?'' We must indeed notice in
what other nations differed from the Israelites; for the more the children of Abraham
had been raised, the more they increased their guilt when they despised God, the
author of so many blessings, and became basely wanton by shaking off, as it were,
the yoke. Since then they so ungratefully abused God's blessings, God might then
have spared other nations: it was therefore necessary to bring them to punishment,
for they were wholly inexcusable. As then they exceeded all other nations in impiety,
the Prophet very properly reasons here from the greater to the less: ``I take an ac-
count,'' he says, ``of all the sins which are in the world, and no nations shall escape
my hand: how then can the Israelites escape? For other nations can plead some
ignorance, as they have never been taught; and that they go astray in darkness is
no matter of wonder. But ye, to whom I have given light, and whom I have daily
exhorted to repent, --- shall ye be unpunished? How could this be? I should not then
be the judge of the world.'' We now then perceive the real meaning of the Prophet:
``Lo,'' he says ``the eyes of Jehovah are upon every sinful kingdom; I will destroy
all the nations who have sinned from the face of the earth, though they have the
pretense of ignorance for their sins; shall I not now, forsooth, destroy the house of
Israel?'' Here then the Prophet speaks ironically, Except that I shall not destroy by
destroying the house of Israel; that is, ``Do you wish me to be subservient to you,
as though my hands were tied, that I could not take vengeance on you? what right
have you to do this? and what can hinder me from punishing ingratitude so great
and so shameful?''
He afterwards adds, For, lo, I will command, etc. The Prophet here confirms the
former sentence; and hence I conclude that the second part of the preceding verse
is ironically expressed; for if he had promised pardon to the Israelites, he would
have gone on with the same subject; but, on the contrary, he proceeds in another
direction, and says, that God would justly punish the Israelites; for the event would
at length make it known, that among them not even a grain would be found, but
that all would be like chaff or refuse: Lo, he says, I will shake among the nations the
MINOR PROPHETS
Israelites as corn is shaken in a sieve: a grain, he says, shall not fall on the earth;
as though he said, ``Though I shall scatter the Israelites through various places that
they may be dispersed here and there, yet this exile shall ever be like a sieve: they
now contend with me, when any grain has fallen. The event then shall show, that
there is in them nothing but chaff and filth; for I will by sieving cleanse my whole
floor, and nothing shall be found to remain on it.'' If one objects and says, that there
were some godly persons in that nation, though very small in number. This I admit to
be true: but the Prophet speaks here, as in many other places, of the whole nation;
he refers not to individuals. It was then true, with regard to the body of the people of
Israel, that there was not one among them who could be compared to grain, for all
had become empty through their iniquities; and hence they necessarily disappeared
in the sieve, and were like chaff or refuse.
But it must be observed, that God here cuts off the handle for evasion, for hyp-
ocrites ever contend with him; and although they cannot wholly clear themselves,
they yet extenuate their sins, and accuse God of too much severity. The Prophet
then anticipates such objections, ``I will command,'' he says, ``and will shake the
house of Israel as corn is shaken.'' It was a very hard lot, when the people were
thus driven into different parts of the world; it was indeed a dreadful tearing. The Is-
raelites might have complained that they were too severely treated; but God by this
similitude obviates this calumny, ``They are indeed scattered in their exile, yet they
remain in a sieve; I will shake them, he says, among the nations: but not otherwise
than corn when shaken in a sieve: and it is allowed by the consent of all that corn
ought to be cleansed. Though the greater part disappears when the corn, threshed
on the floor, is afterwards subjected to the fan; yet there is no one but sees that this
is necessary and reasonable: no one complains that the chaff thus perishes. Why
so? Because it is useless. God then shows that he is not cruel, nor exceeds modera-
tion, though he may scatter his people through the remote regions of the earth, for
he ever keeps them in a sieve.
He afterwards adds, And fall shall not a grain on the earth They translate {,}צרור
tsarur, a stone, but {,}צררtsarer is to tie, and hence this word means what is col-
lected or, binding, as when the children of Jacob had their money tied in their sacks,
they said, `Behold my binding;' so also now it is taken for the solid grain. God then
intimates that he would not be so rigid as not to moderate his punishment, so as to
spare the innocent. I have already said that though there would be still a remnant
among the people, yet what the Prophet says is true as to the whole body; for it had
nothing either sound or pure. But this objection might be made: It is certain that
many faithful worshipers of God were taken away into exile with the wicked; they
then fell on the earth as useless chaff or refuse; but God denies that this would be the
case. To this I answer, that though the Lord involves his servants with the ungodly
when he executes temporal punishment, he is yet ever propitious to them; and it is
certain, that however hardly they may be dealt with, they yet do not expostulate;
they groan, indeed, but at the same time they acknowledge that they are mercifully
treated by the Lord.
But another thing must also be remembered, --- that though the Lord would not
JOHN CALVIN
have dealt so severely with his people, had they been like the few who were good,
yet not one of them was without some fault. Jeremiah, Daniel, Ezra, Nehemiah,
Shadrach, Meshech, and Abednego, were indeed like angels among men; and it was
indeed a miracle, that they stood upright in the midst of so much impiety; they
were yet led into captivity. When they approached God, they could not object, that
they were punished beyond what they deserved. Worthy, indeed, was Jeremiah of
heavier punishment; and so was Daniel, though an example of the highest and even
of angelic integrity. God then could have cast them away as refuse: it is nevertheless
certain that they were wheat; and the Lord shook them in the sieve like the chaff,
yet so as ever to keep them gathered under his protection; but at the same time in a
hidden manner: as, for instance, the wheat on the floor is beaten together with the
chaff, this is common to both; no difference can be observed in the threshing. True
is this, and the case is the same when the wheat is being winnowed. When therefore
the wheat is gathered, it is, together with the chaff, to be sifted by the fan, without
any difference; but the wheat remains. So also it happened to the pious worshipers
of God; the Lord kept them collected in the sieve. But here he speaks of the people
in general; and he says that the whole people were like refuse and filth, and that
they vanished, because there was no solidity in them, no use to be made of them,
so that no one remained in the sieve. That God then preserved his servants, was an
instance of his wonderful working. But the denunciation of punishment, here spoken
of, belonged to the outward dealings of God. As then the people were like refuse
or chaff shaken and driven to various places, this happened to them justly, because
nothing solid was found in them. It now follows ---
Amos 9:10
10. All the sinners of my people shall die by the sword, which say, The evil shall
not overtake nor prevent us.
10. Gladio morientur omnes scelerati populi mei, qui dicunt, Non accedet et non
antevertet proper nos malum.
Amos goes on with the same subject, --- that God without any measure of cruelty
would execute extreme vengeance on a reprobate people: Die, he says, by the sword
all the wicked of my people. In naming the wicked of the people, he meant no doubt
to include the whole people; though if any one thinks that the elect are by implication
excepted, who were mixed with the ungodly, I do not object: this is probable; but
yet the Prophet speaks here of the people generally. He says that the wicked of the
people would perish by the sword: for it was not the sin of a few that Amos here
refers to, but the sin which prevailed among the whole nation. Then all the wicked
of my people shall die by the sword. He points out what sort of people they were, or
at least he mentions the chief mark by which their impiety might be discovered, ---
they obstinately despised all the judgments of God, They say, It will not draw near;
nor lay hold on our account, the evil.
Security then, which of itself ever generates a contempt of God, is here mentioned
as the principal mark of impiety. And doubtless the vices of men reach a point that
is past hope, when they are touched neither by fear nor shame, but expect God's
judgments without any concern or anxiety. Since then they thus drove far away
MINOR PROPHETS
from themselves all threatening, while at the same time they were ill at ease with
themselves, and as it were burying themselves in deep caverns, and seeking false
peace to their consciences, they were in a torpor, or rather stupor, incapable of any
remedy. It is, therefore, no wonder that the Prophet lays down here this mark of
security, when he is showing that there was no remnant of a sound mind in this
people. Die then shall all the wicked by the sword, even those who say, It will not
draw near; nor anticipate us, on our account, the evil: for we can not explain the
word {,}הקדיםekodim, in any other way than by referring it to the threatening. For
the Prophets, we know, commonly declared that the day of the Lord was at hand,
that his hand was already armed, that it had already seized the sword. As then
the Prophets, in order to smite despisers with fear, were wont to threaten a near
punishment; so the Prophet does here; wishing to expose the impious stupor of the
people, he says, ``You think that there will not be such haste as is foretold to you by
the Prophets; but this sheer perverseness will be the cause of your ruin.''
As to the expression, It will not come on our account, from a regard to us, it
deserves to be noticed. Though hypocrites confess in general, that they cannot
escape the hand of God, yet they still separate themselves from the common class,
as if they are secured by some peculiar privilege. They therefore set up something in
opposition to God, that they may not be blended with others. This folly the Prophet
indirectly condemns by saying, that hypocrites are in a quiet and tranquil state,
because they think that there will be to them no evil in common with the rest, as
also they say in Isaiah 28:15, `The scourge, if it passes, will not yet reach us.' We
now then see what the Prophet has hitherto taught, and the meaning of these four
verses which we have just explained. Now follows the promise ---
Amos 9:11
11. In that day will I raise up the tabernacle of David that is fallen, and close up
the breaches thereof; and I will raise up his ruins, and I will build it as in the days of
old:
11. In die illa erigam tabernaculum David, quod cecidit, et sepiam rupturas ejus,
et subversiones ejus erigam, et aedificabo illud, sicuti diebus antiquis (seculi, ad
verbum.)
Here now the Prophet begins to set forth the consolation, which alone could sup-
port the minds of the godly under afÒictions so severe. Threatening alone might
have cast the strongest into despair; but the event itself must have overwhelmed
whatever hope there might have been. Hence the Prophet now applies comfort by
saying, that God would punish the sins of the people of Israel in such a way as to
remember still his own promise. We know, that whenever the Prophets designed to
give some hope to a distressed people, they set forth the Messiah, for in him all the
promises of God, as Paul says, are Yea and Amen, (2 Corinthians 1:20) and there was
no other remedy for the dispersion than for God to gather all the scattered members
under one head. Hence, when the head is taken away, the Church has no head;
especially when it is scattered and torn, as was the case after the time of Amos. It is
no wonder then that the Prophets, after having prophesied of the destruction of the
people, such as happened after the two kingdoms were abolished, should recall the
JOHN CALVIN
minds of the faithful to the Messiah; for except God had gathered the Church under
one head, there would have been no hope. This is, therefore, the order which Amos
now observes.
In that day, he says, will I raise up the tabernacle of David: as though he had
said, that the only hope would be, when the redeemers who had been promised
would appear. This is the import of the whole. After having shown then that the
people had no hope from themselves, for God had tried all means, but in vain and
after having denounced their final ruin, he now subjoins, ``The Lord will yet have
mercy on his people, for he will remember his covenant.'' How will this be? ``The
Redeemer shall come.'' We now then understand the design of the Prophet and the
meaning of the verse.
But when he speaks of the tabernacle of David, he refers, I doubt not, to the
decayed state of things; for a tabernacle does notcomport with royal dignity. It is
the same as though Amos had said, ``Though the house of David is destitute of
all excellency, and is like a mean cottage, yet the Lord will perform what he has
promised; he will raise up again his kingdom, and restore to him all the power which
has been lost.'' The Prophet then had regard to that intervening time, when the
house of David was deprived of all splendor and entirely thrown down. I will then
raise up the tabernacle of David: he might have said the tabernacle of Jesse; but
he seems to have designedly mentioned the name of David, that he might the more
fully strengthen the minds of the godly in their dreadful desolation, so that they might
with more alacrity flee to the promise: for the name of Jesse was more remote. As
then the name of David was in repute, and as this oracle,
`Of the fruit of thy loins I will set on thy throne,'
(Psalm 132:11)
was commonly known, the Prophet brings forward here the house of David, in
order that the faithful might remember that God had not in vain made a covenant
with David: The tabernacle then of David will I then raise up, and will fence in its
breaches, and its ruins will I raise up; and I will build it as in the days of old Thus the
Prophet intimates that not only the throne of David would be overthrown but also
that nothing would remain entire in his mean booth, for it would decay into ruins
and all things would be subverted. In short, he intimates that mournful devastation
would happen to the whole family of David. He speaks, as it is well understood,
metaphorically of the tabernacle: but the sense is clear, and that is, that God would
restore the royal dignity, as in former times, to the throne of David.
This is a remarkable prediction, and deserves to be carefully weighed by us. It
is certain that the Prophet here refers to the advent of Christ; and of this there is
no dispute, for even the Jews are of this opinion, at least the more moderate of
them. There are indeed those of a shameless front, who pervert all Scripture without
any distinction: these and their barking we may pass by. It is however agreed that
this passage of the Prophet cannot be otherwise explained than of the Messiah: for
the restitution of David's family was not to be expected before his time; and this
may easily be learnt from the testimonies of other Prophets. As then the Prophet
here declares, that a Redeemer would come, who would renew the whole state of
MINOR PROPHETS
the kingdom, we see that the faith of the Fathers was ever fixed on Christ; for in
the whole world it is he alone who has reconciled us to God: so also, the fallen
Church could not have been restored otherwise than under one head, as we have
already often stated. If then at this day we desire to raise up our minds to God,
Christ must immediately become a Mediator between us; for when he is taken away,
despair will ever overwhelm us, nor can we attain any sure hope. We may indeed
be raised up by some wind or another; but our empty confidence will shortly come
to nothing, except we have a confidence founded on Christ alone. This is one thing.
We must secondly observe, that the interruption, when God overthrew the kingdom,
I mean, the kingdom of Judah, is not inconsistent with the prediction of Jacob and
other similar predictions. Jacob indeed had said,
`Taken away shall not be the scepter from Judah,
nor a lawgiver from his bosom, or from his feet,
until he shall come, the Shiloh,'
(Genesis 49:10)
Afterwards followed this memorable promise,
`Sit of thy progeny on thy throne shall he,
who shall call me his Father,
and in return I will call him my Son,
and his throne shall perpetually remain,'
(Psalm 132:11,12)
Here is promised the eternity of the kingdom; and yet we see that this kingdom
was diminished under Rehoboam, we see that it was distressed with many evils
through its whole progress, and at length it was miserably destroyed, and almost
extinguished; nay, it had hardly the name of a kingdom, it had no splendor, no
throne, no dignity, no scepter, no crown. It then follows, that there seems to be
an inconsistency between these events and the promises of God. But the Prophets
easily reconcile these apparent contrarieties; for they say, that for a time there would
be no kingdom, or at least that it would be disturbed by many calamities, so that
there would appear no outward form of a kingdom, and no visible glory. As then they
say this, and at the same time add, that there would come a restoration, that God
would establish this kingdom by the power of his Christ, --- as then the Prophets say
this, they show that its perpetuity would really appear and be exhibited in Christ.
Though then the kingdom had for some time fallen, this does not militate against
the other predictions. This then is the right view of the subject: for Christ at length
appeared, on whose head rests the true diadem or crown, and who has been elected
by Gods and is the legitimate king, and who, having risen from the dead, reigns
and now sits at the Father's right hand, and his throne shall not fail to the end of
the world; nay, the world shall be renovated, and Christ's kingdom shall continue,
though in another form, after the resurrection, as Paul shows to us; and yet Christ
shall be really a king for ever.
And the Prophet, by saying, as in ancient days, confirms this truth, that the dignity
of the kingdom would not continue uniform, but that the restoration would yet be
such as to make it clearly evident that God had not in vain promised an eternal
JOHN CALVIN
kingdom to David. Flourish then shall the kingdom of David for ever. But this has not
been the case; for when the people returned from exile, Zerobabel, it is true, and also
many others, obtained kingly power; yet what was it but precarious? They became
even tributaries to the kings of the Persian and of the Medes. It then follows, that the
kingdom of Israel never flourished, nor had there existed among the people anything
but a limited power; we must, therefore, necessarily come to Christ and his kingdom.
We hence see that the words of the Prophet cannot be otherwise understood than of
Christ. It follows ---
Amos 9:12
12. That they may possess the remnant of Edom, and of all the heathen, which
are called by my name, saith the Lord that doeth this. 71
12. Ut possideant reliquias Edom et omnes gentes, super quas (alii vertunt, super
quos) invocatum est nomen meum, dicit Jehova hoc faciens.
By these words the Prophet shows that the kingdom under Christ would be more
renowned and larger than it had ever been under David. Since then the kingdom had
been greatest in dignity, and wealth, and power, in the age of David, the Prophet
here says, that its borders would be enlarged; for then he says, Possess shall the
Israelites the remnant of Edom He speaks here in common of the Israelites and of
the Jews, as before, at the beginning of the last chapter, he threatened both. But we
now apprehend what he means, --- that Edom shall come under the yoke.
And it is sufÏciently evident why he mentions here especially the Idumeans, and
that is because they had been most inveterate enemies; and vicinity gave them
greater opportunity for doing harm. As then the Idumeans harassed the miserable
Jews, and gave them no respite, this is the reason why the Prophet says that they
would come under the power of his elect people. He afterwards adds, that all nations
would come also to the Jews. He speaks first of the Idumeans, but he also adds all
other nations. I cannot finish today.
Prayer.
Grant, Almighty God, that as we see everywhere so many evident tokens of thy
displeasure, and more grievous ones are impeding, if we indeed duly consider how
grievously we have provoked thy wrath, and how wickedly also the whole world at
this day rages against thee and at the same time abuses thy many and excellent
benefits, --- O grant, that we may ever remember thy covenant and entertain a
perpetual confidence in thy only-begotten Son, that whenever it may please thee to
sift us, thou mayest keep us in safety, until we come, not into any earthly storehouse
but into thy celestial kingdom, where we may become partakers of that glory which
thy Son has obtained for us, who has once for all redeemed us that we may ever
remain under his guardianship and protection. Amen.
Lecture Sixty-ninth
71{{`` }זאת{, עשהwho will do these things.'' It appears that {}זאתis a pronoun which is plural as well as singular: and the
Welsh hyn is exactly the same; it will admit thing or things to be added to it --- y peth hyn---y pethan hyn When it is put by itself,
hyn it conveys the idea of one particular thing, or of several things, according to the context. The relative pronoun, ,{}אשרwho,
whom, is of the same character; it is both singular and plural, as whom also is in the English language, and sawl in Welsh. {}עשה
is considered a participle, and the participle in Hebrew may often be rendered as a personal noun, and in this instance the doer. It
is the {ὁ} {ποιων} of the Greek. But if the verbal form be retained, the auxiliary verb must be in the same tense with the leading
verb in the context, ``who will do these things.''---Ed.
MINOR PROPHETS
In yesterday's Lecture, we could not finish the verse in which Amos says, that
the Idumeans and other nations would come under the power of the people of God.
As to the first clause there is no ambiguity, but the latter admits of two meanings.
Some take its sense to be this, ``Other nations on whom my name is called:'' and
others refer this to the children of Abraham in this way, ``That possess the remnants
of Edom and all nations they may, upon whom,'' etc.; that is, that they on whom my
name is called, even the descendants of Abraham, may possess the Idumeans and
all other nations. If we choose the reference to be made to the chosen people, the
order of the words seems to be somewhat broken; and yet this sense is very suitable,
--- that possess their enemies the faithful may, on whom my name is called; for
the reason appears to be here expressed by the Prophet, why he promised a large
kingdom to the Israelites, and that is, because they were enrolled in God's name, the
Lord owned them as his people, inasmuch as he had chosen and adopted them in
the person of their father Abraham. But if the other view be more approved, then the
particle {,}אשרasher, is not, as I think, a pronoun relative, but an adverb expressing
a cause, ``That they may possess the remnants of Edom and all nations, for my
name shall have been, or shall be, called on them:'' 72 for who can have possession
of this right or title but those who, having been aliens, shall pass over into the family
of Abraham? Israel is indeed said to possess whatever comes from another quarter,
and is incorporated into the body of the Church.
But on this point I will not contend; for this main thing is evident to us, --- that
the extension of the kingdom under Christ is here promised as though he had said
that the Jews were included within narrow bounds, even when the kingdom of David
especially flourished, but that God would under Christ extend their borders, and
cause them to rule far and wide. What it is to call God's name on a people, we have
elsewhere stated. Let us now go on with the context.
Amos 9:13
13. Behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that the plowman shall overtake the
reaper, and the treader of grapes him that soweth seed; and the mountains shall
drop sweet wine, and all the hills shall melt.
13. Ecce dies veniunt, dicit Jehova, et occurret arator messori, et calcator uvarum
efferenti semen; et stillabunt montes dulcem liquorem, et omnes colles liquefient
(nempe ut lacte difÒuant.)
Here the Prophet describes the felicity which shall be under the reign of Christ:
and we know that whenever the Prophets set forth promises of a happy and pros-
perous state to God's people, they adopt metaphorical expressions, and say, that
abundance of all good things shall flow, that there shall be the most fruitful produce,
that provisions shall be bountifully supplied; for they accommodated their mode of
72This sentence is an instance, common in Hebrew, of the use of two pronouns, —a relative and a personal pronoun; to the latter of which is prefixed the preposition. It has already been noticed, that in Welsh the same idiom exists; in that language this line is rendered word for word like the Hebrew: and the true rendering is no doubt that which is mentioned last by Calvin. The Hebrew literally is this, — Whom shall be called my name upon them. The same line in Welsh, without any change even in the order of the words, — Y rhai y gelwir vy enw arnyt. Another peculiarity is, that the preposition is prefixed and joined to the personal pronoun in Welsh as well as in Hebrew; and a third is, that the relative y rhai (the whom) in Welsh, like {{אשרin Hebrew, admits of no case. It is the same when a nominative to a verb, or when an accusative governed by it. --- Ed.
JOHN CALVIN
speaking to the notions of that ancient people; it is therefore no wonders if they
sometimes speak to them as to children. At the same time, the Spirit under these
figurative expressions declares, that the kingdom of Christ shall in every way be
happy and blessed, or that the Church of God, which means the same thing, shall
be blessed, when Christ shall begin to reign.
Hence he says, Coming are the days, saith Jehovah, and the plowman shall draw
nigh, or meet, the reaper The Prophet no doubt refers to the blessing mentioned by
Moses in Leviticus 26:5 for the Prophets borrowed thence their mode of speaking,
to add more credit and authority to what they taught. And Moses uses nearly the
same words, --- that the vintage shall meet the harvest, and also that sowing shall
meet the plowing: and this is the case, when God supplies abundance of corn and
wine, and when the season is pleasant and favorable. We then see what the Prophet
means, that is, that God would so bless his people, that he would suffer no lack of
good things.
The plowman then shall come nigh the reaper; and the treader of grapes, the
bearer of seed. When they shall finish the harvest, they shall begin to plow, for the
season will be most favorable; and then when they shall complete their vintage, they
shall sow. Thus the fruitfulness, as I have said, of all produce is mentioned.
The Prophet now speaks in a hyperbolical language, and says, Mountains shall
drop sweetness, and all the hills shall melt, that is, milk shall flow down. We indeed
know that this has never happened; but this manner of speaking is common and
often occurs in Scripture. The sum of the whole is, that there will be no common or
ordinary abundance of blessings, but what will exceed belief, and even the course
of nature, as the very mountains shall as it were flow down. It now follows ---
Amos 9:14
14. And I will bring again the captivity of my people of Israel, and they shall build
the waste cities, and inhabit them; and they shall plant vineyards, and drink the wine
thereof; they shall also make gardens, and eat the fruit of them.
14. Et reducam captivitatem populi mei Israel; et aedificabunt urbes dirutas, et
habitabunt illic; plantabunt vites, et bibunt vinum earum; facient hortos, et come-
dent fructus ipsorum.
As the prophecy we have noticed was one difÏcult to be believed, especially when
the people were led away into exile, the Prophet comes to the help of this lack of
faith, and shows that this would be no hindrance to God to lead his people to the
felicity of which he speaks. These things seem indeed to be quite contrary, the one to
the other, --- that the people, spoiled of all dignity, should be driven to a far country
to live in miserable exile, and that they should also be scattered into various parts
and oppressed by base tyranny; --- and that at the same time a most flourishing
condition should be promised them, and that such an extension of their kingdom
should be promised them, as had never been previously witnessed. Lest then their
present calamities should fill their minds with fear and bind them fast in despair; he
says that the Israelites shall return from exile, not indeed all; but as we have already
seen, this promise is addressed to the elect alone: at the same time he speaks here
simply of the people. But, this prophecy is connected with other prophecies: it ought
MINOR PROPHETS
not therefore to be extended except to that remnant seed, of whom we have before
taken notice.
Restore then will I the captivity of my people Israel; and then, They shall build
nested cities and dwell there; they shall plant vineyards, and their wine shall they
drink; they shall make gardens, and shall eat their fruit. He reminds the people here
of the blessings mentioned in the Law. They must indeed have known that the hand
of the Lord was opposed to them in their exile. Hence the Prophet now shows, that
as soon as the Lord would again begin to be propitious to them, there would be a
new state of things; for when God shows his smiling countenance, prosperity follows
and a blessed success in all things. This then is what the Prophet now intends to
show, that the miserable exiles might not faint in despair, when the Lord chastised
them. It follows at last ---
Amos 9:15
15. And I will plant them upon their land, and they shall no more be pulled up out
of their land which I have given them, saith the Lord thy God.
15. Et plantabo eos super terram suam, (in terra sua,) et non evellentur amplius
a terra sua, quam dedi illis, inquit Jehova Deus tuus.
The Prophet further mentions here a quiet dwellings in the land, for it was not
enough for the people to be restored to their country, except they lived there in
safety and quietness; for they might soon afterwards have been removed again. It
would have been better for them to pine away in exile, than to be restored for the
sake, as it were, of sporting with them, and in a short time to be again conquered by
their enemies, and to be led away into another country. Therefore the Prophet says,
that the people, when restored, would be in a state of tranquillity.
And he uses a most suitable comparison, when he says, I will plant them in their
own land, nor shall they be pulled up any more: for how can we have a settled place
to dwell in, except the Lord locates us somewhere? We are indeed as it were flitting
beings on the earth, and we may at any moment be tossed here and there as the
chaff. We have therefore no settled dwelling, except as far as we are planted by the
hand of God, or as far as God assigns to us a certain habitation, and is pleased to
make us rest in quietness. This is what the Prophet means by saying, I will plant
them in their own land, nor shall they any more be pulled up How so? ``Because, he
says, I have given to them the land''. He had indeed given it to them before, but he
suffered them to be pulled up when they had polluted the land. But now God declares
that his grace would outweigh the sins of the people; as though he said, ``However
unworthy the people are, who dwell in this land, my gift will yet be effectual: for I
will not regard what they deserve at my hands, but as I have given them this land,
they shall obtain it.'' We now apprehend the meaning of the Prophet.
Now, if we look on what afterwards happened, it may appear that this prophecy
has never been fulfilled. The Jews indeed returned to their own country, but it was
only a small number: and besides, it was so far from being the case, that they ruled
over neighboring nations, that they became on the contrary tributaries to them:
and further still, the limits of their rule were ever narrow, even when they were able
to shake off the yoke. In what sense then has God promised what we have just
JOHN CALVIN
explained? We see this when we come to Christ; for it will then be evident that
nothing has been in vain foretold: though the Jews have not ruled as to the outward
appearance, yet the kingdom of God was then propagated among all nations, from
the rising to the setting of the sun; and then, as we have said in other places, the
Jews reigned.
Further, what is here said of the abundance of corn and wine, must be explained
with reference to the nature of Christ's kingdom. As then the kingdom of Christ is
spiritual, it is enough for us, that it abounds in spiritual blessings: and the Jews, whom
God reserved for himself as a remnant, were satisfied with this spiritual abundance.
If any one objects and says, that the Prophet does not speak here allegorically;
the answer is ready at hand, even this, --- that it is a manner of speaking everywhere
found in Scripture, that a happy state is painted as it were before our eyes, by set-
ting before us the conveniences of the present life and earthly blessings: this may
especially be observed in the Prophets, for they accommodated their style, as we
have already stated, to the capacities of a rude and weak people. But as this subject
has been discussed elsewhere more at large, I only touch on it now as in passing and
lightly. Now follows the Prophecy of Obadiah, who is commonly called Abdiah. 73
End of the Commentaries on Amos.
73There is no Prayer here, for the Lecture is not completed: it includes a portion of the Book of Obadiah. — Ed.
Commentary on Obadiah
Commentary on Obadiah
Calvin's Preface
Obadiah
This Prophecy does not consist of many oracles, nor of many sermons, as other
prophecies; but it only denounces on the Idumeans a near destruction, and then
promises a restoration to the chosen people of God. But it threatens the Idumeans
for the sake of administering consolation to the chosen people; for it was a grievous
and hard trial for the children of Jacob, an elect people, to see the posterity of Esau,
who had been rejected by God, flourishing both in wealth and power.
As then the children of Israel were miserable in comparison with their own kindred,
the adoption of God might have appeared worthless; and this was in great measure
the reason why the Israelites preferred the lot of other is observed by us, our sorrow
is enhanced and our weariness is increased. When therefore the Israelites saw the
Idumeans living at ease and beyond the reach of danger, and when they also saw
them in the enjoyment of every abundance, while they themselves were exposed as
a prey to their enemies, and were continually expecting new calamities, it could not
have been, but that their faith must have utterly failed, or at least become much
weakened. For this reason the Prophet here shows, that though the Idumeans now
lived happily, yet in a short time they would be destroyed, for they were hated by
God; and he shows that this would be the case, as we shall see from the contents of
this Book, for the sake of the chosen people.
We now then perceive the design of the Prophet: as adversity might have weak-
ened the Israelites, and even utterly broken them down, the Prophet here applies
comfort and props up their dejected minds, for the Lord would shortly look on them
and take due vengeance on their enemies.
And the reason why this prophecy is levelled against the Idumeans only is this,
--- that they, as we know, raged more cruelly than any others against the Israelites:
MINOR PROPHETS
for it is not said without a cause in Psalm 137:7,
`Remember the children of Edom in the day of Jerusalem, who said, Make bare,
make bare even to the very foundations.'
Now at what time Obadiah prophesied, it does not appear 74 except that it is
probable that this prophecy was announced, when the Idumeans rose up against
the Israelites and distressed them by many annoyances: for they seem to be mis-
taken who think that Obadiah lived before the time of Isaiah. It appears that Jeremiah
(Jeremiah 49:7-22) and this Prophet made use of the same thoughts and nearly of
the same words, as we shall hereafter see. The Holy Spirit could, no doubt, have ex-
pressed the same things in different words; but he was pleased to join together these
two testimonies, that they might obtain more credit. 75 I know not whether Obadiah
and Jeremiah were contemporaries, and on this subject we need not bestow much la-
bor. It is sufÏcient for us to know, that this prophecy was added to other prophecies,
that the Israelites might feel assured, that though their kindred the Idumeans might
prosper for a time, yet they could not escape the hand of God, but would shortly be
constrained to give an account of their cruelty, inasmuch as they had without cause
been all in a flame against the distressed and afÒicted people of God.
Now our Prophet shows at the end that God would become the avenger of this
cruelty, which the Idumeans had exercised; for though he chastised his own people,
he did not yet forget his gratuitous covenant. Let us now come to the words.
Commentaries on
the Prophet Obadiah
74Newcome supposes that he prophesied between the taking of Jerusalem in 587 before Christ and the destruction of Idumea, a few years later, by Nebuchadnezzar. Usher, as quoted by Newcome, places the destruction of Jerusalem in 588 b.c.; and the siege of Tyre by the Babylonians three years later, that is, in 585; and it was during this siege, which lasted thirteen years, that the Idumeans, as well as the Sidonians, the Moabites, and the Ammonites, were subdued by the Babylonian power: so that the threatenings contained in this prophecy were soon executed. — Ed.
75Expositors are divided in their opinions as to the priority of the two Prophets, and consequently as to whom of the two was the copyist. As the time cannot be ascertained, our only mode of ascertaining this, are the passages themselves as given by each. It is said that Jeremiah has not presented them in so perfect a form as Obadiah, and that in the latter they appear as the naturally connected parts of his subject, and accordant in style and character with the rest of the prophecy. But the matter is of no great importance, and to discuss it can bring no benefit. — Ed.
Obadiah 1
Obadiah 1:1
1. The vision of Obadiah. Thus saith the Lord God concerning Edom; 76 We have
heard a rumour from the Lord, and an ambassador is sent among the heathen, Arise
ye, and let us rise up against her in battle.
1. Visio Obadiae. Sic Dominus Jehova contra Edom, Rumorem audivimus a Jehova,
et legatus ad gentes missus est, Surgite et surgamus contra eam ad proelium.
Obadiah's preface is, that he brought nothing human, but only declared the vision
presented to him from above. We indeed know that it was God alone that was ever
to be heard in the Church, as even now he demands to be heard: but yet he sent
his prophets, as afterwards the apostles; yea, as he sent his only begotten Son,
whom he has set over us to be our only and sovereign Teacher. Obadiah then by
saying that it was a vision, said the same, as though he declared, that he did not
presumptuously bring forward his own dreams, or what he conjectured, or discovered
by human reason, but that he adduced only a celestial oracle: for {,}חזוןchezun, as
we have observed in other places, was a vision, by which God revealed himself to
his Prophets.
He then adds, Thus saith Jehovah. Here is a fuller expression of the same decla-
ration. We thus see that the Prophet, in order that the doctrine he brought forward
might not be suspected, made God the author; for what faith can be put in men,
whom we know to be vain and false, except as far as they are ruled by the Spirit
of God and sent by Him? Seeing then that the Prophet so carefully teaches us, that
what he declared was delivered to him by God, we may hence learn what I have
lately referred to, --- that the Prophets formerly so spoke, that God alone might be
76The Septuagint renders the words, "to Edom" — {Ταδε} {λεγει} {κυριος} {ὁ} {Θεὸς} {τη} {Ιδουμαία}
---''Thus saith the Lord God to Idumea;'' which is an exact rendering of the original, for it is, to''---{}לאדוםEdom.'' It was a message
from God to that people. May we not hence conclude that this prophecy was sent to them by Obadiah? They are often personally
addressed: and this seems to favor such a supposition. It is indeed true that {}לprefixed to a word after the verb, to say or to
speak, is often rendered, of, or, concerning; but it is also rendered by, to, meaning that the address is made to the person. --- Ed.
MINOR PROPHETS
heard among the people.
He says afterwards, A rumor have we heard. Some render it, a word, or a doctrine.
{,}שמועהshimuoe, is properly a hearing, and is derived from the verb the Prophet
subjoins. A hearing then have we heard; so it is translated literally. But some think
that what was taught is pointed out, as though he said, ``The Lord has revealed this
to me and to other Prophets;'' according to what Isaiah says, Isaiah 53:1, `Who has
believed our hearing?' It is the same word, and he speaks of God's word or doctrine.
But it is probable that he refers here to those tumultuous rumors, which commonly
precede wars and calamities. We have then heard a rumor The verb in Jeremiah is
not in the plural number, {}שמענוshimonu, but {}שמועה{ }שמעתוshimoti shimunoe,
`I have heard,' says Jeremiah, `a hearing.' But our Prophet uses the plural number,
`We have heard a hearing.' The sense however is the same; for Jeremiah says that
he had heard rumors; and the Prophet here adds others to himself, as though he said,
``This rumor is spread abroad, but it is from the Lord: it is certain that this rumor has
been heard even by the profane and the despisers of God.'' But the Prophet shows
that wars are not stirred up at random, but by the secret influence of God; as though
he said, ``When a tumult arises, let us not think that its beginning is from the earth,
but God himself is the mover.'' We now then apprehend the design of the Prophet:
though he speaks of the rumor of wars, he yet shows that chance or accident does
not rule in such commotions, but the hidden influence of God.
We have heard, he says from Jehovah, and a messenger, or, an ambassador, to
the nations has been sent 77 , Arise ye, and we will arise against her to battle. In
Jeremiah, it is, `Assemble ye, come and arise against her to battle.' The Prophet
here shows, I have no doubt, whence the rumor came, which he had just mentioned;
for they were now indeed stirring up one another to destroy that land. If any one
had formed a judgment according to human wisdom, he would have said that the
Assyrians were the cause why war was brought on the Idumeans, because they had
found them either inconstant or even perfidious, or because they had feigned a
pretense when there was no just reason for making war. But the Prophet here raises
his mind upwards and acknowledges God to be the mover of this war, because he
intended to punish the cruelty of that people, which they had exercised toward their
own kindred, the Israelites; and at the same time he encourages others also, that
they might understand that it was altogether directed by the hidden counsel of God,
that the Assyrians, from being friends, became of a sudden enemies, that a war was
all in a flame against the Idumeans at a time when they were at ease, without any
fear, without any apprehension of danger. It follows ---
Obadiah 2-4
2 Behold, I have made thee small among the heathen: thou art greatly despised.
2 Ecce parvum posui te inter gentes, contemptus tu valde.
3 The pride of thine heart hath deceived thee, thou that dwellest in the clefts of
77Or the two lines may thus be rendered,— A rumor have we heard from Jehovah, And a messenger to the nations hath he sent. The verb, to send, is here active; and so it is rendered in the Septuagint. It is indeed passive in the corresponding passage in Jeremiah; but there are several other instances of variety in the expressions used by the two Prophets, though there be in sense a material agreement. — Ed.
JOHN CALVIN
the rock, whose habitation is high; that saith in his heart, Who shall bring me down
to the ground?
3 Superbia cordis tui decepit te, qui habitas in scissuras petrae (vel, rupis;) excelsa
habitatio ejus, dicens in corde suo, Quis detrahet me in terram?
4 Though thou exalt thyself as the eagle, and though thou set thy nest among the
stars, thence will I bring thee down, saith the LORD.
4 Si exaltaveris quasi aquila, etsi inter nubes posueris nidum suum, inde ego
detraham te, dicit Jehova.
Jeremiah uses nearly the same words; but the sense of the expression is ambigu-
ous, when he says, `Lo, little have I set thee.' To me it appears probable, that the
Prophet reproves the Idumeans, because they became arrogant, as it were, against
the will of God, and in opposition to it, when, at the same time, they were confined
to the narrow passes of mountains. It is said elsewhere, (Malachi 1:2,) `Jacob and
Esau, were they not brethren?' ``But I have given to you the inheritance promised
to your father Abraham; I have transferred the Idumeans to mount Seir.'' Now it is
less bearable, if any one be elated with pride, when his condition is not so honorable.
I therefore think that the Idumeans are here condemned because they vaunted so
much, and arrogated to themselves more than what was right, when they yet were
contemptible, when their condition was mean and obscure, for they dwelt on mount
Seir. But others think that the punishment, which was impending over them, is
here denounced, Lo, little have I made thee among the nations, and Jeremiah says,
`and contemptible among men'; he omits the two words, thou and exceedingly; he
says only, `and contemptible among men'. But as to the substance, there is hardly
any difference. If then we understand that that nation was proud without reason,
the sense is evident, that is, that they, like the giants, carried on war against God,
that they vaunted themselves, though confined to the narrow passes of mountains.
Though I leave to others their own free opinion, I am yet inclined to the former view,
while the latter has been adopted nearly by the consent of all; and that is, that God
was resolved forcibly to constrain to order those ferocious men, who, for no reason,
and even in opposition to nature, are become insolent. But if a different interpre-
tation be more approved, we may say, that the Prophet begins with a threatening,
and then subjoins a reason why God determined to diminish and even to destroy
them: for though they dwelt on mountains, it was yet a fertile region; and further,
they had gathered in course of long time much wealth, when they attained security,
when no enemy disturbed them. This then is the reasoning, Lo, I have made thee
small and contemptible in the mountain, --- and why? because the pride of thy heart
has deceived thee; and Jeremiah adds, terror, 78 although some render {}תפלצתך
taphlatastae, image; but this seems not appropriate. Jeremiah then, I doubt not,
mentions terror in the first place; for it almost ever happens, that the proud strike
others with fear: such then were the Idumeans.
78Blayney, for very satisfactory reasons, transfers this word to the preceding verse, and then the passage will be almost literally the same with this of Obadiah. The 15th, and the beginning of the 16th in Jeremiah 49 may be thus rendered, — 15. For, behold, small have I made thee among the nations, Contemptible among the men of thy terror, (that is, such as thou didst fear.) 16. Deceived thee has the pride of thy heart; etc. — Ed.
MINOR PROPHETS
Now if we follow the first meaning I explained, the two verses may be read as
connected, Lo, I have made thee small and contemptible among the nations; 79 but
the pride of thy heart has deceived thee; some render it, has raised thee up, deriving
it from {}נשאnusha: but they read {}שshin, pointed on the left side; for if {}נשא
nusha has the point in the branch of the shin, on the right hand, it means to deceive,
but if on the left, it signifies to raise up. Then they give this translations ``The pride
of thine heart has raised thee up:'' but we clearly learn from Jeremiah, that it ought,
as almost all interpreters agree, to be rendered thus, ``The pride of thine heart has
deceived thee:'' for he says not {}השיאךeshiac but {}השיא{ }אותךeshia autea, that
is, it was to thee the cause of error and of madness. Of the sense then of this verb
there can be no doubt.
The Prophet now laughs to scorn the Idumeans, because they relied on their own
fortresses, and thought themselves, according to the common saying, to be beyond
the reach of darts; and hence they petulantly insulted the Israelites and despised
God himself. The Prophet therefore says, that the Idumeans in vain felicitated them-
selves, for he shows that all they promised to themselves were mere delusions. The
import of what is said then is, ``Whence is this your security, that ye think that en-
emies can do you no harm? Yea, ye despise God as well as men; whence is this
haughtiness? whence also is the great confidence with which ye are puffed up? Ver-
ily, it comes only from mere delusions. The pride of thine heart has deceived thee.''
And yet there was not wanting a reason why the Idumeans were thus insolent,
as the Prophet also states: but he at the same time shows that they had deceived
themselves; for God cared not for their fortresses; nay, he counted them as nothing.
Thou dwellest, he says, (this is to be regarded as a concession,) in the clefts of the
stone; some read, ``between the windings of the rock;'' 80 though others think {}סלע
Salo to be the name of a city. But though I should allow that the Prophet alludes to
the name of a city, I yet do not see how can that stand which they hold; for clefts
comfort not with a city situated on a plain, though within the ranges of mountains. I
do not then doubt but that {}סלעSalo here means mount Seir. As then the Idumeans
had fortresses amidst rocks, they thought that all enemies could easily be kept out.
And hence it follows, The height is his habitation, that is, he dwells in lofty places;
and hence he says in his heart, Who shall draw me down to the ground? He after-
wards subjoins what I have already stated, --- that though their region was exceed-
ingly well fortified, yet the Idumeans were greatly deceived, and indulged them-
selves in vain delusions, ``If thou shouldest raise up thy seat, he says, like the ea-
gle'', --- literally, `If thou shouldest rise as the eagle,' --- ``and if thou shouldest
79It is evidently of the past, and not of the future, that this verse speaks. The corresponding passage in Jeremiah is, in our version, rendered in the future tense, but Blayney renders it, as it is, in the past tense. Our version here adopts the past tense in the first line, "I have made," etc., and the present in the second, "Thou art," etc., contrary to the rule, that when the auxiliary verb is not expressed in the original, the tense of the verbs expressed is to be observed. The two lines should therefore be thus translated, — Behold, small have I made thee among the nations; Despised wert thou exceedingly. The reference is, no doubt, as Calvin says, to the poor inheritance assigned to the Edomites, and to the low station they occupied among other nations; and hence their pride and insolence appeared more evident and unreasonable. — Ed.
80Blayney renders the same words in Jeremiah 49:16, "the encirclings of the rock:" but Parkhurst renders them "the cracks, or fissures of the rock." — Ed.
JOHN CALVIN
among the clouds 81 set and nest, I will thence draw thee down, saith Jehovah''. We
now see that the Prophet did not without reason deride the confidence with which
the Idumeans were inflated, by setting up their fortresses in opposition to God: for
it is the greatest madness for men to rely on their own power and to despise God
himself. At the same time he could, as it were, easily dissipate by one blast every
idea of defense or of power that is in us; but this subject will be more fully handled
by us tomorrow.
Prayer
Grant, Almighty God, that as thou seest us to be on every side at this day beset
by so many enemies, even by those who constantly devise means to destroy us,
while we are so very weak and feeble, --- O grant, that we may learn to look up to
thee, and that our trust may so recumb on thee, that however exposed we may be
to all kinds of danger according to what appears to the flesh, we may not yet doubt
but that thou art ever armed with sufÏcient power to terrify our enemies, so that we
may quietly live even amidst all dangers, and never cease to call on thy name, as
thou hast promised to be the sure and faithful defender of our safety in Christ Jesus
our Lord. Amen.
Lecture Seventieth
We observed in our yesterday's Lecture, that it nothing avails the ungodly, when
they set up their fortresses against the judgment of God, as though they could escape
safe from his hand; for as God has heaven and earth under his control, he can,
whenever it pleases him, draw down all who now despise his power, and, therefore,
deride his Prophets, or regard as nothing their threatening. This passage then ought
to be carefully noticed; for God declares that it is in his power to draw down from the
very clouds those who so raise themselves up, as to think themselves to be elevated
above all dangers. The Prophet now says ---
Obadiah 5
5. If thieves came to thee, if robbers by night, (how art thou cut off!) would they
not have stolen till they had enough? if the grapegatherers came to thee, would
they not leave some grapes?
5. An fures venerunt ad te? An praedones nocturni? Quomodo in silentium redac-
tus es? (vel, quomodo consumptus es?) annon furati essent sufÏcientiam suam? An
vindemiatores ad te venerunt? Annon reliquissent racemos?
The Prophet shows in this verse that the calamity with which God was resolved to
afÒict the Idumeans would not be slight, for nothing would be left among them; and
he amplifies what he says by a comparison. When one is plundered of his property by
thieves, he grieves, that what he had acquired by much labor through life, has been
in one moment taken from him: and when any one has spent labor and expense
in cultivating his vineyard, and another takes away its fruit, he complains of his
great misfortune, that he had lost his property and big labor in the cultivation of his
vineyard, while another devours its fruit. But the Prophet intimates that God would
not be content with such kind of punishment as to the Idumeans.
Hence he says, Have night thieves or robbers come to thee? They must doubtless
81Literally it is, "among the stars," {{}כוכבים{. בין--- Ed.
MINOR PROPHETS
have stolen, and have taken away what they thought sufÏcient for them; but now
nothing shall be left to thee. In short, the Prophet intimates that the Assyrians would
not be like thieves or night robbers, who stealthily and privately take away what
comes to their hands; but he means, that the Idumeans would be so plundered, that
their houses would be left wholly empty, and he declares that the Assyrians would
thus spoil them like night thieves or robbers, who are wont to proceed with unbridled
liberty; for none dares to resist them, or even to say a word against them. This
plundering then will not be, says the Prophet, of an ordinary kind; but the enemies
will make thee entirely empty.
The same is the object in view when he says, Have vintagers come to thee? To be
sure, they commonly leave some clusters; but the Assyrians will leave, no, not one:
they shall depart so laden with plunders, that thou shalt be left empty.
But all this, as we have reminded you, was said in order to alleviate or to miti-
gate the grief of the faithful, who then deemed themselves very miserable, as they
were alone plundered by enemies; for they saw that their neighbors were dwelling
in safety, and even becoming partakers of the spoil. Their condition therefore was
very miserable and degraded. Hence the Prophet, that he might moderate this bitter
grief, says, that the Idumeans would in no common way be plundered, for not a hair
could be left them. This is the import of the passage.
But some regard the verb {}נדמיתהnudamite as signifying, ``Thou art reduced
to silence;'' for the verb {}דוםdum or {}דמהdame means to be silent: and they
give this exposition, ``How dost thou not endeavor at least to meet thine enemies?''
for they take ``to be silent'' in the sense of being still, as {}דמהdame is often so
taken in Scripture, ``How then have they been silent?'' but he speaks of the future
in the past tense, as though God had already inflicted punishment on the Idumeans,
that faith in the prediction might be made more certain: thou hast been reduced to
silence, that is, how couldest thou remain quiet on seeing thine enemies plundering
with so much violence --- how then hast thou been reduced to silence? Others say,
How hast thou been consumed? for {}דמהdame often means to destroy. But to
this point belongs no great importance; for the Prophet means, that it could not be
ascribed to chance, that enemies would destroy the whole land of Edom, for the
cruel assault would by no means be of an ordinary kind: and then as the Idumeans
thought that an entrance to their enemies was on every side closed up, as they
inhabited the summits of mountains, according to what I have already said, and that
they were most safe in their recesses and lofty rocks, the Prophet here sets it forth
as a wonderful thing that God's judgment would yet reach them. Let us proceed ---
Obadiah 6
6. How are the things of Esau searched out! how are his hidden things sought
up!
6. Quomodo quaesita sunt Esau, pervestigata abscondita ejus?
He confirms the former sentence, --- that the Idumeans in vain trusted that their
riches would be safe, because they had hidden and deep recesses. Even when a
country is plundered by enemies, the conquerors dare not to come to places of dan-
ger; when there are narrow passes, they avoid them, for they think that there is
JOHN CALVIN
there some evil design. Hence conquerors, fearing hidden places, plunder only those
which are open, and always consider well whether their advance is safe: but Idumea,
as we have said, had hidden recesses, for its rocks were almost inaccessible, and
there were many conveniences there for hiding and concealing its riches. But the
Prophet says, that all this would be useless: and that he might more effectually
rouse them, he speaks with astonishment, as of something incredible. How have
been sought the things of Esau, and thoroughly searched his hidden places! Who
could have thought this? for they might have concealed their treasures in rocks and
caverns, and thence repelled their enemies. But in vain would be all their attempts:
how could this possibly be? Here then he awakens the minds of men, that they might
acknowledge the judgment of God; and at the same time he laughs to scorn the vain
confidence with which the Idumeans were inflated; and besides, he strengthens the
minds of the godly, that they might not doubt but that God would perform what he
declares, for he can indeed penetrate even to the lowest deep.
In short, the Prophet intimates that the faithful did not act wisely, if they measured
God's vengeance, which was impending on the Idumeans, by their own understand-
ing or by what usually happens; for the Lord would make a thorough search, so that
no hiding-places would escape his sight; and then all their treasures would be ex-
posed as a prey to their enemies. We hence learn, that as men in vain seek hiding
places for themselves that they may be safe from dangers; so in vain they conceal
their riches; for the hand of God can penetrate beyond the sea, land, heaven, and
the lowest deep. Nothing then remains for us but ever to offer ourselves and all our
things to God. If he protects us under his wings, we shall be safe in the midst of
innumerable dangers; but if we think that subterfuges will be of any avail to us, we
deceive ourselves. The Prophet now adds ---
Obadiah 7-8
7. All the men of thy confederacy have brought thee even to the border: the men
that were at peace with thee have deceived thee, and prevailed against thee; they
that eat thy bread have laid a wound under thee: there is none understanding in
him.
7. Usque ad terminum expulerunt te omnes viri foederis tui; deceperunt te, prae-
valuerunt tibi, viri pacifici tui (viri pacis tuae;) viri panis tui posuerunt vulnus sub te:
nulla est intelligentia in eo.
8. Shall I not in that day, saith the Lord, even destroy the wise men out of Edom,
and understanding out of the mount of Esau?
8. Annon in die illa, dicit Jehova, perdam sapientes ex Edom? Et intelligentiam e
monte Esau? (hoc est, e monte Seir.)
Here the Prophet expresses the manner in which God would punish the Idumeans:
trusting in their confederacies, they despised God, as we have already had to ob-
serve. The Prophet now shows that it is in the power of God to change the minds of
men, so that they who were their friends being suddenly inflamed with rage, would
go forth to destroy the Idumeans. Seeing then that they regarded the Assyrians not
only as a shield to them, but also as a defense against God himself, the Prophet here
declares that when it would be God's purpose to punish them, there would be no
MINOR PROPHETS
need to send to a distance for agents or instruments to execute his vengeance; for
he would arm the Assyrians themselves and the Chaldeans, inasmuch as he could
turn the hearts of men as he pleased. We now see the Prophet's meaning; for he
here takes away and shakes off the vain confidence of the Idumeans, that they might
not harden themselves for being fortified by confederacies and for having powerful
friends, for the Lord would turn friends into enemies. To thy border, he says, have
they driven thee {}שלחshilach is properly to send forth or to throw away; some
render it, they have followed; as though the Prophet here spoke of the neighboring
nations, and according to their view the meaning is, ``However much thy neigh-
bors may love thee, yet nothing will they show of this love, except that they will
follow thee with feigned tears, when thine enemies shall lead thee away captive.''
But this is a strained exposition, and corresponds not with the context. The Prophet
then describes here, I doubt not, the change, such as would take place, that the
Idumeans might know, that they trusted in vain in their power and defenses. The
men of thy covenant, he says, have driven thee away; as though he said, ``See
what thou gainest in anxiously seeking the friendship of those who will yet be thy
enemies; hadst thou remained quiet in thy clefts, it would have been much better
for thee: but now thou runnest to Assyria and Chaldea, and this will be the cause of
thy ruin. Hence the men of thy covenant shall banish thee to the border: but if thou
hadst had no friendship nor commerce with them, thou mightest have lived safely
in thy recesses, no one would have driven thee out: just, then, has been the reward
of thy ambition, for having thus resorted to the Assyrians and Chaldeans.''
Continuing the same subject, the Prophet says, Deceived thee have the men of
thy peace --- friends and confederates; for the Hebrews call those men of peace,
who are connected together by any kind of alliance. The men then of thy peace,
that is those whom thou thoughtest thou mightest trust, and on whom thou midst
rely; --- these have deceived thee, even these have prevailed against thee, and
oppressed thee through craft and treachery. The men of thy bread have placed
under thee a wound: the men of bread were those who were guests or friends. Some
give this rendering, ``Who eat thy bread;'' and it is an admissible interpretation, for
the Assyrians and Chaldeans, as they were insatiable, had taken booty from the
Idumeans; for whosoever then hunted for their friendship, must have brought them
some gifts. Since then they thus sold their friendship, the Prophet rightly calls them
the men of bread with regard to those whose substance and wealth they devoured.
If then we take the men of bread in this sense, there is a probability in the meaning.
But we may give another interpretation, as though he had said that they were guests
and friends: these then have fixed under thee a wound, that is, they have been thy
destruction, and that through guile and hidden artifices. When one attacks another
openly, he who is attacked can avoid the stroke; but the Prophet says, that the
Assyrians and Chaldeans would be perfidious to the Idumeans, so as to conquer
them through treachery. Fix then shall they a wound under thee, as when one hides
a dagger between the bed and the sheet, when a person intends to go to sleep. So
also he says that a wound is placed underneath, when a feigned friend hides himself,
that he may more easily hurt him whom he assails deceitfully and craftily.
JOHN CALVIN
He at length thus concludes, There is no intelligence in him. Here the Prophet
no doubt derides in an indirect way the foolish confidence with which the Idumeans
were blinded; for they thought themselves to be in a superlative degree wary, so that
they had no reason to fear, as they could see afar off, and arrange their concerns
with the utmost prudence. Since then they thought that they excelled in wisdom,
and could not be surprised by any craft, the Prophet says here, that there would be
in them no understanding.
But he immediately subjoins the reason, ``Shall I not in that day, saith Jehovah,
destroy, or extinguish, the wise from Edom?'' While the Idumeans were prosperous,
because they acted wisely, it was incredible that they could thus in a moment be
overthrown: but the Prophet says, that even this was in the hand and power of God;
``Can I not,'' he says, ``put an end to whatever there is of wisdom in the Idumeans?
Cannot I destroy all their prudent men? This will I do.'' We now then perceive the
import of the words.
But this place deserves notice: the Prophet upbraids the Idumeans, and says, that
their confederates and friends would prove their ruin, because they had conspired
among themselves beyond what was just and right. When men thus mutually join
together, there are none of them who do not greedily seek their own advantage;
in the meantime, both sides are deceived; for God disconcerts their counsels, and
blasts the issue, because they regard not the right end. And when the wicked seek
friendships, they ever blend something that is wrong; they either try to injure the
innocent, or they seek some advantage. All the compacts then which the ungodly
and the despisers of God make with one another, have always something vicious
intermixed; it is therefore no wonder that the Lord disappoints them of their hope,
and curses their counsels. This is then the reason why the Prophet declares to the
Idumeans, that those, whom they thought to be their best and most faithful friends,
would be their ruin.
But here it may be objected and said, that the same thing happens to the children
of God. For David, though he acted towards all with the utmost faithfulness and
the greatest sincerity, yet complains, that the man of his peace and a friend had
contrived against him many frauds,
`Raised up his heel against me,' he says,
`has the man of my peace;
eat bread together did I with him, and he with me,'
(Psalm 41:9)
It was necessary also that this should have been the case with Christ himself.
Now, if the children of God must be conformed to the image of Christ, what the
Prophet says is no more than what applies to the whole Church, and to every mem-
ber of it. This may appear strange at the first view; but a solution may be easily
given: for while we strive to maintain peace with all men, though they may perfidi-
ously, through treachery, oppress us, yet the Lord himself will succor us; and in the
meantime, however hard may this trial be, we yet know that our patience is tried
by God, that he may at last deliver us, so that we may confidently flee to him and
testify our sincerity. But while the ungodly mutually cheat one another, while with
MINOR PROPHETS
wicked and sideway artifices they oppress and circumvent each other, while they
cast forth their hidden virulence, while they turn peace into war, they know that
their recompense is just and merited: they cannot flee to God, for their conscience
restrains them. They indeed understand that they have deserved what the Lord has
justly repaid them. It is then no wonder that the conspiracy in which the Idumeans
trusted, when they made the Chaldeans their friends, should have been accursed;
for the Lord turned to their ruin whatever they thought useful to themselves.
This then is the import of the whole, --- that if we wish not to be deceived, we
must not attempt anything without an upright heart. Provided then we exceed not
the limits of our calling, let us cultivate peace with all men, let us endeavor to do good
to all men, that the Lord may bless us; but if it be his purpose to try our patience, he
will be still present with us, though false friends try us by their treacheries, though
we be led into danger by their malice, and be for a time trodden under their feet; if,
on the contrary, we act with bad faith, and think that we have fortunate alliances,
which have been obtained by wicked and nefarious artifices, the Lord will turn for
our destruction whatever we think to be for our safety.
We must now notice what the Prophet says, Shall I not in that day destroy the wise
from Edom? Though men be in many respects blind, whom God guides not by his
Spirit, and on whom he shines not with his word, yet the worst blindness is, when men
become inebriated with the false conceit of wisdom. When therefore any one thinks
himself endued with understanding, so that he can perceive whatever is needful,
and that he cannot be circumvented, his wisdom is insanity and extreme madness:
it would indeed be better for us to be idiots and fools than to be thus inebriated.
Since then the wise of this world are insane, the Lord declares that they will have
no wisdom when the time of trial comes. God indeed permits the ungodly for a long
time to felicitate themselves on account of their own acumen and counsels, as he
suffered the Idumeans to go on prosperously. And there are also many at this day
who felicitate themselves on their successes, and almost adore their own cunning.
Who indeed can persuade the Venetians that there is anywhere consummate wisdom
but among themselves, by which, forsooth, they surpass all others in deception? For
no other reason do they, amidst many agitations, retain their own position, except
that they seem to see farther into what is for their own advantages; nay, that kings in
general stand, and continue safe amidst so many shakings, this they ascribe to their
own wisdom: ``Except I had looked well in this respect to my own affairs, except I
had anticipated danger, and except I had foreseen it, it would have been all over as to
my condition.'' Thus they think within themselves: but the Lord at length infatuates
them, that it may be evident, that this was not formerly said in vain to the Idumeans,
Shall I not in that day, saith Jehovah, etc. and it was emphatically added, in that day:
for the Prophet means, that it was no wonder that the Idumeans had been hitherto
wary and adopted the best counsel; for it was not the Lord's purpose to deprive them
of wisdom; but when the suitable time of vengeance came, he instantly took away
whatever prudence there was in them; for it is indeed in God's hand to take away
whatever there is either of understanding or of acuteness in men.
But we are warned by these words, that if we excel in understanding, we are not
JOHN CALVIN
to abuse this singular gift of God, as we see the case to be with the ungodly, who turn
to cunning whatever wisdom the Lord has bestowed on them. There is hardly one in
a hundred to be found, who does not seek to be crafty and deceitful, if he excels in
understanding. This is a very wretched thing. What a great treasure is wisdom? Yet
we see that the world perverts this excellent gift of God; the more reason there is for
us to labor, that our wisdom should be founded in true simplicity. This is one thing.
Then we must also beware of trusting in our own understanding, and of despising
our enemies, and of thinking that we can ward off any evil that may impend over
us; but let us ever seek from the Lord, that we may be favored at all times with the
spirit of wisdom, that it may guide us to the end of life: for he can at any moment
take from us whatever he has given us, and thus expose us to shame and reproach.
When he says, from mount Esau, he means mount Seir, as I have already re-
minded you. But he meant to point out their whole country; for they were almost
surrounded by mountains, and dwelt, as it is well known, in that Arabia which is
called Patraea. It follows ---
Obadiah 9
9 And thy mighty men, O Teman, shall be dismayed, to the end that every one of
the mount of Esau may be cut off by slaughter.
9 Et deficient (vel, frangentur) fortes tui, Theman, ut excidatur vir e monte Esau
prae occisione (vel, quia excidetur; {}למעןenim postest duobis modis exponi.)
The Prophet, after having spoken of one kind of God's vengeance, adds another,
--- that he would break whatever there was of strength in Idumea: and thus he shows
that the courage and strength of men, no less than their understanding, are in the
hand of God. As then God dissipates and destroys, whenever it pleases him, what-
ever wisdom there may be in men, so also he enervates and breaks down their
hearts: in a word, he deprives them of all strength, so that they fail and come to
nothing of themselves. Were they who are proud of their strength and counsels
rightly to consider this, they would at length learn to submit themselves in true hu-
mility to God. But this truth is what the world cannot be made to believe: yet God
shows to us here, as in a picture, that however men may flourish for a time, they
would immediately vanish, were not he to sustain them, and to support his gifts in
them, and keep them entire; and, especially, that empty smoke is everything, that
seems to be understanding and strength in men; for the Lord can easily take away
both, whensoever it may please him.
We ought therefore carefully to observe what he says here, Broken down shall be
thy brave men, O Teman. Some think that a particular country is here pointed out;
for Teman is the south, that is, with regard to Judea. But as Teman, we know, was
one of the grandsons of Esau, (Genesis 36:15,) and as a part of Arabia was called
by this name, it is the more probable, that the Prophet turns here his discourse to
Idumea. But as to the word Teman, it is, a part taken for the whole.
For cut off, he says, shall be man: by saying, cut off shall man, he means, that all
to a man would be destroyed. How? ``by slaughter'' 82 . But {}קתלkothel means a
82This word has been by some critics removed to the beginning of the next verse, but as it appears for no sufficient reasons, while indeed there is nothing in the context that requires such a change. — Ed.
MINOR PROPHETS
slaughter in which no one remains alive. We hence see what the Prophet means, ---
that all the Idumeans would be so broken down, that all would fall, for there would
be no heart nor strength to resist. It now follows ---
Obadiah 10-11
10. For thy violence against thy brother Jacob shame shall cover thee, and thou
shalt be cut off for ever.
10. Propter oppressionem fratris tui Jacob, operiet te opprobrium, et excideris in
perpetuum.
11. In the day that thou stoodest on the other side, in the day that the strangers
carried away captive his forces, and foreigners entered into his gates, and cast lots
upon Jerusalem, even thou wast as one of them.
11. Die quo stabas ex opposito, die quo alieni auferebant substantiam ejus, et
extranei ingressi sunt portas ejus, et super Jerusalem miserunt sortem, etiam tu
quasi unus ex illis.
The Prophet here sets forth the reason why God would deal so severely and dread-
fully with the Idumeans. Had he simply prophesied of their destruction, it would have
been an important matter; for the Jews might have thereby known that their ruin was
not chance, but the scourge of God; they might have known that they themselves
were with others chastised by God, and this would have been a useful instruction to
them: but what brought them the chief consolation was to hear, that they were so
dear to God that he would undertake the defense of their wrongs and avenge them,
that he would have a regard for their safety. Hence, when they heard that God,
because he loved them, would punish the Idumeans, it was doubtless an invaluable
comfort to them in their calamities. To this subject the Prophet now comes.
For the unjust oppression of thy brother Jacob, etc. The word {}חמסchemes,
violence, is to be taken passively; as though he said, ``See, how thou hast acted to-
wards thy brother Jacob.'' And he calls him his brother, not for honor's sake, but, on
the contrary, for the purpose of showing forth more fully the cruelty of the Idumeans;
for consanguinity had had no effect in preventing them from raging against their own
brethren, and as it were against their own bowels. It was therefore a proof of bar-
barous inhumanity, that the Idumeans, forgetting their common nature, had been
so inflamed with hatred against their own brethren: for, as it is well known, they
had descended from the same common father, Abraham, and also from Isaac, and
had the symbol of circumcision. The Idumeans indeed professed that they were
the descendants of Abraham, and were God's peculiar people. Since then God had
made his covenant with their common father Isaac, and since they had equally re-
tained circumcision, which was the seal of that covenant, how did it happen, that the
Idumeans conducted themselves so cruelly towards their brethren? We hence see,
that the name of brother in this clause --- for the oppression of thy brother Jacob, is
mentioned for the purpose of enhancing their crime.
As then, he says, thou hast been so violent against thy brother, cover thee shall
reproach, and forever shalt thou be cut off. He intimates that the calamity would not
be only for a time as in the case of Israel, but that the Lord would execute such a pun-
ishment as would prove that the Idumeans were aliens to him; for God in chastising
JOHN CALVIN
his Church ever observes certain limits, as he never forgets his covenant. He proves
indeed that the Idumeans were not his people, however much they might falsely
boast that they were the children of Abraham, and make claim to the sign of cir-
cumcision; for they were professedly enemies, and had entirely departed from all
godliness: it was then no wonder that their circumcision, which they had impiously
profaned, was made no account of. But he afterwards more fully and largely unfolds
the same thing.
In the day, he says, in which thou didst stand on the opposite side''. But the
Idumeans might have made this objection, ``Why dost thou accuse us for having
violently oppressed our brother? for we were not the cause why they were destroyed:
they had a quarrel with the Assyrians, we labored to protect our own interest in the
midst of these disturbances; we sought peace with the Assyrians, and if necessity
so compelled us, that ought not to be ascribed to us as a crime or blame.'' In this
way the Idumeans might have made a defense: but the Prophet dissipates all such
pretenses by saying, In the day in which thou didst stand on the opposite side, in
the day in which strangers took away his substance, and aliens entered his gates,
and cast lots on Jerusalem --- were not thou there? Even thou were as one of them.
Now this is emphatically introduced --- Even thou or, thou also; (Tu etiam) for the
Prophet exhibits it here as a hateful omen: ``It was no wonder that the Assyrians
and Chaldeans shed the blood of thy brethren, for they were enemies, they were
foreigners, they were a very distant people: but thou, who were of the same blood,
thou, whom the bond of religion ought to have restrained, and further, even thou,
who oughtest by the very claims of vicinity either to have helped thy brethren, or at
least to have condoled with them --- yea, thou were so cruel as to have been as one
of his enemies: this surely can by no means be endured.''
We now perceive what the Prophet meant by saying, In the day in which thou
didst stand on the opposite side: it is then as it were, an explanation of the former
sentence, lest the Idumeans should make a false excuse by objecting that they had
not been violent against their brethren. It was indeed the worst oppression, when
they stood over against them; though they were not armed they yet took pleasure in
a spectacle so mournful; besides they not only were idle spectators of the calamity
of their brethren but were also as it were a part of their enemies. ``Hast thou then
not been as one of them?'' I shall not proceed farther now.
Prayer
Grant Almighty God, that as thou hast once received us under thy protection, and
hast promised that our salvation would be so much cared for by thee, that whatever
Satan and the whole world may contrive, thou wilt yet keep us safe and secure, ---
O grant, that being endued with perseverance, we may remain within our borders,
and be not carried away here and there either by craft or by wicked counsels; but be
thou pleased to keep us in genuine integrity, that being protected by thy help, we
may, by experience, find that true which thou declarest in thy word, that they who
call on thee in truth shall ever know thee to be propitious to them: and since thou
hast already made open to us an access to thee in the person of thy only --- begotten
Son, O grant, that we the sheep, may rely on him as our shepherd, and resignedly
MINOR PROPHETS
abide under his protection until we be removed from all dangers into that eternal
rest, which has been obtained for us by the blood of thy Son Jesus Christ. Amen.
Lecture Seventy-first.
Obadiah 12-14
12. But thou shouldest not have looked on the day of thy brother in the day that
he became a stranger; neither shouldest thou have rejoiced over the children of
Judah in the day of their destruction; neither shouldest thou have spoken proudly in
the day of distress.
12. Et non aspicias in die fratris tui, in die alientationis ejus, et ne gaudeas super
filiis Jehudah die exitii corum, et ne magnifices os tuum in die afÒictionis (hoc est,
ne magnifice loquaris.)
13. Thou shouldest not have entered into the gate of my people in the day of
their calamity; yea, thou shouldest not have looked on their afÒiction in the day of
their calamity, nor have laid hands on their substance in the day of their calamity;
13. Ne intres in portam populi mei die exitii eorum, ne aspicias etiam tu in afÒic-
tione ejus, (in malo ejus,) in die exitii ejus, et ne extendas (manum subaudiendum
est) in substantiam ejus in die exitii ejus;
14. Neither shouldest thou have stood in the crossway, to cut off those of his that
did escape; neither shouldest thou have delivered up those of his that did remain in
the day of distress.
14. Et ne stes super exitum (vel, lacerationem, confractionem,) ad perdendum
eos qui evaserint, et ne tradas (vel, concludas) residuos ejus in dic afÒictionis.
The Prophet enumerates here the kinds of cruelty which the Idumeans exercised
towards the Church of God, the children of Abraham, their own kindred. But he
speaks by way of prohibition; it is then a personification, by which the Prophet intro-
duces God as the speaker, as though he taught and admonished them on the duties
of human kindness. Engraven, indeed, on their hearts ought all these to have been,
on account of which he now reproaches them; for by forgetting humanity they had
departed from everything right which nature requires. God indeed did not commence
by instructing or teaching the Idumeans what were their duties; but the Prophet re-
minds them of things which must have been well known to them, and were beyond
all dispute true.
Hence he says, Thou shouldest not look on in the day of thy brother, in the day
of his alienation. The day of Judah he calls that in which God visited him: so the
day of Jerusalem is called the day of calamity. Thou shouldest not then look on: we
know in what sense this verb, to look on, is usually taken in Scripture; it is applied
to men, when they lie in wait, or very anxiously desire anything, or rejoice at what
they witness. The Prophet no doubt takes it metaphorically for taking delight in the
misery of the chosen people; for, shortly after, he repeats the same word. Thou
shouldest not then look on in the day of thy brother, even in the day of his alienation
Some take another sense; but I approve of their opinion, who regard this alienation
as meaning exile; at the same time, they give not the reason for this metaphor,
which is this, --- that such a change then took place in the people, that they put on
a new appearance. It was then alienation, when God wholly abolished the glory of
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the kingdom of Judah, and when he took away all his favors, so that the appearance
of the people became deformed. In the day then of his alienation, that is, when the
Lord stripped him of his ancient dignity.
Thou shouldest not rejoice, he says, over the children of Judah, in the day of their
destruction, that is of their ruin; ``thou shouldest not make thy mouth great in the
day of afÒiction''. We now perceive what the Prophet means. Though indeed he
seems here to show to the Idumeans their duty, he yet reproves them for having
neglected all the laws of humanity, and of having been carried away by their own
pride and cruelty. It hence follows that they were worthy of that dreadful vengeance
which he has already mentioned. In case then the Idumeans complained that God
dealt too severely with them, the Prophet here reminds them, that they in many
ways sought such a ruin for themselves, --- How so? ``Were not thou delighted with
the calamity of thy brother? Didst not thou laugh when Judah was distressed? And
didst not thou speak loftily in ridicule? Was this outrageousness to be endured? Can
the Lord now spare thee, as thou hast been so cruel towards thy brother?'' And he
repeats the name of brother, for the crime was the more atrocious, as it has been
already said, as they showed no regard for those of their own blood. But the Prophet
often mentions either afÒiction, or ruin, or calamity, or evils, or adversity; for it is a
feeling naturally implanted in us, that when one is distressed, we are touched with
pity; even when we see our enemies lie prostrate on the ground, our hatred and
anger are extinguished, or at least are abated: and all who see even their enemies
ill-treated, become, as it were, other men, that is, they put off the anger with which
they were previously inflamed. As then this is what is common almost to all men, it
appears that the Idumeans must have been doubly and treble barbarous, when they
rejoiced at the calamity of their brethren, and took pleasure in a spectacle so sad
and mournful, and even spoke proudly, and jeered the miserable Jews; for this, as
we have said, is the meaning of the words, to make great the mouth.
It follows, Thou shouldest not enter the gates of my people in the day of their
destruction, nor shouldest thou look on in their calamity. Probably the Idumeans had
made an irruption in company with the Assyrians and Chaldeans, when they ought
to have remained at home, and there to lament the slaughter of their brethren. For
if I cannot save my friend from death or from a calamity, I shall yet withdraw myself,
for I could not bear to look on: but were I constrained to look on my friend, and be
not able to succor him in his necessity, I should rather close my eyes; for there is
in the eyes, we know, the tenderest sympathy. As then the Idumeans willingly went
forth and entered Jerusalem with the enemies, it was hence evident that they were
no better than wild beasts. Thou shouldest not then, he says, enter the gates of my
people in the day of slaughter, nor shouldest thou especially then, look on. He again
repeats {}גם{ }אתהgam ate, thou also, or, especially thou: ``If other neighbors do
this, yet thou shouldest abstain, for thou art of the same blood; if thou can't not
bring help, show at least some token of grief and of sympathy: but as thou willingly
and gladly lookest on their calamities, it is quite evident that there is not in thee a
particle of right feeling.''
He afterwards adds, Thou shouldest not stretch forth thy hand to his substance.
MINOR PROPHETS
Here he accuses the Idumeans of having been implicated in taking the spoils with
other enemies, as though he said, ``Ye have not only suffered your brethren to be
pillaged, but ye became robbers yourselves. Ye ought to have felt sorrow in seeing
them distressed by foreign enemies; but ye have plundered with them, and enriched
yourselves with spoils; this certainly is by no means to be endured.''
It follows, And thou shouldest not stand on the going forth. The word {}פרקperek
signifies to break, to dissipate, to rend; hence {}פרקperek, as a noun, in Hebrew
means rending and breaking. Therefore some take it metaphorically for a place
where two ways meet, when one road is cut or divided into two. When the two meet
then there is a going forth by two ways; hence they take {,}פרקperek, for such a
place. But we may simply take it for the rending of the people. Though I am certainly
pleased with the first explanation, yet I do not confine the word to that meaning; and
I prefer the idea of going forth, as it harmonizes better with the context: Thou hast
stood then on the going forth; and for what purpose? To destroy those who had
escaped, and to stop or to deliver up his remaining captives in the day of afÒiction.
In short, the Prophet means that the Idumeans occupied all the ways, to intercept
the miserable exiles, to whom flight was the only way of safety.
As then the miserable Jews tried by winding outlets to provide for their own safety,
the Prophet says that they were intercepted by the Idumeans, lest any of them should
escape, and that they were stopped, that afterwards they might be slain by their
enemies. Inasmuch as the Assyrians and the Chaldeans were a people far remote
from Judea, it is probable that the roads were unknown to them, and that they were
afraid of being entrapped; but the Idumeans, who were familiarly acquainted with all
their roads, could stand at all the outlets. Some give the following explanation, but
it is too frigid: Thou shouldest not stand for the rending of thy brethren, that is, thou
should not stand still, but strive to extend a helping hand to the distressed: but this,
as I have said, is too frigid and strained. Thou shouldest not then stand on the going
forth of the roads to destroy We now see what the Prophet had in view; to destroy, he
says, and whom did they destroy? Even those who had already escaped. Expressly
then is pointed out here the cruelty to which I have referred, that the Idumeans were
not contented with the ruin of the city, and the great slaughter which had been made;
but in case any had stealthily escaped, they occupied the outlets of the roads, that
they might not flee away: and the same thing is meant when he adds, that all were
betrayed or stopped who had remained alive in the day of afÒiction.
We now understand the Prophet's meaning; --- that the Idumeans could not com-
plain that God was too severe with them, when he reduced them to nothing, because
they had given examples of extreme cruelty towards their own brethren, and at a
time when their calamities ought to have obliterated all hatred and old enmities, as
it is usually the case even with men the most alienated from one another. Let us
proceed ---
Obadiah 15
15. For the day of the Lord is near upon all the heathen: as thou hast done, it
shall be done unto thee: thy reward shall return upon thine own head.
15. Quia propinquus dies Jehovae super omnes gentes; sicut fecisti fiet tibi; mer-
JOHN CALVIN
ces tua revertetur in caput tuum.
By saying that the day of Jehovah was nigh upon all nations, the Prophet may
be regarded as reasoning from the greater to the less: ``If God will not spare other
nations, how canst thou escape his hand?'' In a like manner does Jeremiah speak
in chapter 49, (Jeremiah 49:12) he addresses the Idumeans in these words, 'Behold,
they shall drink of the cup, who have not been by judgment condemned to drink; and
shalt thou not taste? by drinking thou shalt drink to the very dregs. He shows then
that the Idumeans deserved a double vengeance; for if indeed they were compared
with the Assyrians and Chaldeans, the fault of the latter would appear small: the
Chaldeans might pretend some causes for the war, they were aliens, they were,
in short, professed enemies; but the Idumeans were neighbors and kindred. The
same thing might be also said of other nations. But the words may be explained
in a simpler manner; and that is, that God would not only take vengeance on one
or two nations, but on all. ``See,'' he says, ``a change will take place not only in
one corner, but in the whole world. The Lord will thus show that he is the judge of
the whole earth. Hence it follows, that the Idumeans also must render an account,
for God has resolved to execute judgment on all nations; no one whatever shall be
passed by.''
Behold, then, nigh is the day of Jehovah. We have said that the time in which
Obadiah prophesied is unknown to us. But it is no matter of wonder that he declares
that nigh is the day of Jehovah; for the Lord hastens not after the manner of men;
but, at the same time, he knows his own seasons; and this is ever accomplished, that
when the ungodly think themselves to be at rest, then sudden destruction overtakes
them.
He draws this conclusion, As thou hast done, so shall it be done to thee. There
seems, however, to be here an implied comparison between the chastisement of the
chosen people and the punishment which shall be inflicted on other nations. When
the Idumeans saw that the kingdom of Israel and of Judah was trodden under foot,
they thought that the children of Abraham were thus punished because they had
despised their own Prophets, because they had become immoral and perverse in
the extreme. Thus they exempted themselves and others from punishment. Now
the Prophet declares that God had been the judge of his people, but that he is also
the judge of the whole world, and that this would quickly be made evident. When,
therefore, he says, that nigh was the day of Jehovah, he had, I have no doubt, a
regard, as I have already said, to the chastisement of the Church; as though he
said, ``As God has proved himself to be one who justly punishes sins with respect to
Israel and Judah; so also at length he will ascend his tribunal to judge all the nations;
no one, therefore, shall escape punishment. All then in their different conditions
shall be constrained to give an account of their actions, for the Lord will spare none:
and though he has begun with his Church and his own house, yet there will come
afterwards the suitable time to take vengeance, when he will extend his hand to
punish all heathen nations.'' This, seems to me to be the real meaning.
Rightly then does he conclude, As then thou hast done, it shall be done to thee:
``Think not that thou shalt be unpunished for having gone against thy brother. It was
MINOR PROPHETS
God's purpose to exhibit an example of his severity towards others, while he spared
thee; but thou hast abused his forbearance; for thou mightest have remained quiet
at home: the Lord will then repay thee.'' And then he subjoins, Thy reward shall
recoil, or return, on thine own head Here the Prophet announces what Christ also
says
`With what measure any one measures, it shall be repaid to him,' (Matthew 7:2.)
This sentence is worthy of being noticed: for when God leaves the innocent to the
will of the ungodly, they think that they may do whatever they please with impunity,
as though they were the executioners of God. As then they become thus insolent
when the Lord spares them, let us take notice of what the Prophet says here, ---
that a reward is prepared for every one, and that whatever cruelty the ungodly may
exercise, it shall be returned on their own heads. It follows ---
Obadiah 16
16. For as ye have drunk upon my holy mountain, so shall all the heathen drink
continually, yea, they shall drink, and they shall swallow down, and they shall be as
though they had not been.
16. Quia sicuti bibistis super montem sanctum meum, bibent omnes gentes
jugiter, bibent (inquam) et sorbebunt; et erunt quasi non sint.
Here Obadiah proceeds farther and says, that God would revenge the wrongs
done to his Church. The declaration in the last verse was general, ``Behold, on
all the nations the day of Jehovah is nigh; as then thou hast done, God will repay
thee:'' but now he shows that this would be, because God purposed to defend his
own servants, (clientes --- clients;) and as they had been cruelly treated, he would
become the avenger of their wrongs; As then ye have drunk on my holy mountain,
etc. The Prophet, I have no doubt, taking a part for the whole, included in the word
drink their triumphs and rejoicings. As then ye have rejoiced on my holy mountain,
so also all the nations shall drink and continue their excess; they shall drink up, so
that ye shall utterly perish. But the Prophet appears to me evidently to add here a
proof of their avariciousness. He had shortly before accused the Idumeans of having
taken away a part of the spoil, together with the foreign nations, when the miserable
Jews were plundered. So also, he says now, Ye have drunk, in token of triumph and
rejoicing.
Ye have then drunk wine on my holy mountain: now drink shall all the nations This
latter drinking is to be taken in a sense different from the former. What then? Drink
they shall, and drink up, that is, ``They shall consume all your substance.'' And he
afterwards adds, And drink they shall continually; and they shall be as though they
had not been, that is they shall not cease to eat and to drink until they shall consume
whatever is among you. He then intimates that the Idumeans, who had enriched
themselves with the spoils of their brethren, and who had also kept feastings in
token of their joy on the holy mountain, would hereafter be the food of others, for
all the nations would drink, and drink them up To drink then here is the same as to
consume. It follows, (for I am under the necessity of finishing this prophecy today,
and time, I hope, will allow me) ---
Obadiah 17
JOHN CALVIN
17. But upon mount Zion shall be deliverance, and there shall be holiness; and
the house of Jacob shall possess their possessions.
17. Et in monte Sion erit evasio, et erit sanctitas (nempe mons ipse;) et possidebit
domus Jacob possessiones suas (alii vertunt, eos a quibus possidebantur.
Here the Prophet promises deliverance to the Jews; for other consolations would
have been of no great moment, had they, who then were perishing, no hope of
being some time restored to safety. The Jews might indeed have objected, and said,
``What is it to us, though the Lord may avenge our wrongs? Should the Idumeans
be destroyed for our sake, what profit will that be to us? We are in the meantime
destroyed and have no hope of deliverance.'' The Prophet here meets this objection,
and says, In mount Zion shall be escape Though then the Idumeans had attempted
to intercept all outlets, as it has been before mentioned, yet God promises here
that there would be an escape in mount Zion: he says not, from mount Zion, but in
the very mountain. What does this mean? even that God would restore those who
might seem then to be lost. Then Obadiah clearly promises that there would be a
restoration of the Church.
But we are taught in this place, that the punishment, by which the Lord chastises
his people for their sins, is ever for a time. Whenever then God inflicts wounds on
his Church, prepared at the same time is the remedy; for God designs not, nor does
he suffer, that his own people should be wholly lost. This we may learn from the
Prophet's words, when he says, that there would be escape in Zion. And it was
no ordinary comfort for the Jews to know, that even in their extreme decay, there
remained for them some hope of deliverance, and that the people, who might appear
at the time to be extinct, would yet be saved, and preserved alive, as though they
arose from the dead.
He says that mount Zion would be holiness or holy, by which he means that God
would be mindful of his covenant. As then he had chosen mount Zion where he
would be worshipped, the Prophet intimates that God's name was not there involved
presumptuously or in vain. Inasmuch as God had chosen this mount for himself, it
was holy; for God is said to have profaned the land and the temple, when he forsook
them and delivered them up into the hands of enemies. So also now when the
Prophet says, that mount Zion would be holy, it is the same as though he had said,
that God would have a care for this mountain, because he had once consecrated it to
himself, and designed it to be his own habitation. The cause then is put here for its
effect. He had said, that the Jews would survive, how much soever like the lost and
the dead they might for a time be, --- How could such a thing be? The reason is this,
--- mount Zion shall be holy: it was a dreadful profanation of mount Zion when the
temple was destroyed, when the holy vessels were taken away by the Babylonians,
when, in short, the enemies showed there every kind of insolence. But when the
Lord restored his people, when the altar was built again, and sacrifices were offered,
then mount Zion recovered its holiness, that is, God manifested that the grace of
his election had not been abolished, for he had again sanctified mount Zion, and
thus designed it to be preserved safe. Holy then shall be mount Zion Were any one
disposed to refine more on the Prophet's words, he might say, that it is evidently the
MINOR PROPHETS
manner of our salvation that is intended, when God is said to sanctify or govern us
by his Spirit: but the Prophet, I have no doubt, has regard here simply to the election
of God.
And the house of Jacob shall again possess his own possessions, that is whatever
God has given as an heritage to the children of Abraham, he will restore to them
when they return from exile. If any one prefers to take possessions to be those of
Edom, I do not object. But yet I think that the real meaning of the Prophet is, that
when the children of Israel should return from exile, God would restore to them their
ancient country, that they might possess whatever had been promised to their father
Abraham. He means then, by their possessions, the whole land, which came by lot
into the possession of the chosen people, as it had been promised to Abraham. It
follows ---
Obadiah 18
18. And the house of Jacob shall be a fire, and the house of Joseph a flame, and
the house of Esau for stubble, and they shall kindle in them, and devour them; and
there shall not be any remaining of the house of Esau; for the Lord hath spoken it
18. Et erit domus Jacob ignis, et domus Joseph in flammam (flamma, ut respon-
deat,) et domus Esau erit palea; et ardebunt in ipsis et consument (vorabunt) eos;
et non erit quidquam residuum domui Esau, quia Jehova loquutus est.
Here again the Prophet meets a doubt, which might come into the mind of each
of them; for the Idumeans were flourishing, and their condition was independent,
when the Israelites as well as the Jews were led into exile, and Jerusalem with its tem-
ple was destroyed. They might under such circumstances despair; but the Prophet
shows, that though for a time the house of Jacob seemed to be dead, yet a fire would
be kindled, which would consume the Idumeans, though they were then proud of
their power and their wealth, and also of the prosperous issue of the victory over
the Jews, for they had been enriched, and well as the Assyrians, by the overthrow of
their brethren. A similar mode of speaking Isaiah also adopts; though he directs his
discourse, not to the Idumeans, but to others, yet his manner of speaking is the same
when he says, that God, the light of Israel, would be a fire and a flame to consume
the wicked, (Isaiah 29:6.)
But this was fulfilled, when the Lord avenged the cruelty of Edom, though the
Jews were then in exile and could not move a finger, when they were without arms,
yea, when they were miserable slaves: the Idumeans were even then consumed,
by what fire? how was this burning kindled? Even then the house of Jacob and the
house of Joseph were like a fire and a flame The cause of this ruin, it is true, did not
immediately appear to the Idumeans: but we must here look to the purpose of God.
Why did God with so much severity punish the Idemeans? Because he intended by
this example to show how much he loved his Church. Since then their cruelty was the
cause of ruin to the Idumeans, rightly does the prophet say, that the house of Jacob
and the house of Joseph would be like a fire and a flame to consume the Idumeans.
And it was not a small solace to the miserable exiles, when they understood, that they
were still regarded by God in their depressed condition. Inasmuch then as they were
exposed to the reproach and ridicule of all, it pleased God to testify that they were
JOHN CALVIN
the objects of his care, and that he would, for their sake, destroy whole nations even
those who then gloried in their power. We now then see why the Prophet adopted this
figurative language. By the house of Joseph, he means as we have said elsewhere
the kingdom of Israel; he mentions a part for the whole. It follows ---
Obadiah 19-20
19. And they of the south shall possess the mount of Esau; and they of the
plain the Philistines: and they shall possess the fields of Ephraim, and the fields
of Samaria: and Benjamin shall possess Gilead
19..Et possidebunt meridiem montis Esau, et planietiem Philistim, et possidebunt
agros Ephraim et agros Samariae; et Benjamin possidebit Gilead.
20. And the captivity of this host of the children of Israel shall possess that of
the Canaanites, even unto Zarephath; and the captivity of Jerusalem, which is in
Sepharad, shall possess the cities of the south.
20. Et migratio exercitus hujus filiorum Israel, quod Chananaeorum fuit usque
ad Zerphath (vel, qui sunt in Chananaeis,) et migratio Jerusalem, quod in Sepharad,
possidebunt (in quam) urbes Australes (vel, meridionales.) 83
The Prophet proceeds with the same subject, --- that God would not only gather
the remnants of his people from the Babylonian exile, but would restore the exiles,
that they might rule far and wide, and that their condition might be better than it
was before: for the Prophet, as I think, directs the attention to the first blessing
of God, which had been deposited in the hand of Abraham. God had promised to
the posterity of Abraham the whole land from Euphrates to the sea. Now this land
had never been possessed by the children of Abraham. This happened, as it is well
known, through their sloth and ingratitude. David in his time enlarged the borders;
but yet he only made those tributaries whom God had commanded to be destroyed.
So this blessing had never been fulfilled, because the people put a hindrance in the
way. The Prophet now, speaking of the restoration of the Church, tells the people,
who would return from exile, that they were to occupy the country which had been
promised to their fathers as though he said, ``There will come to you a full and
complete inheritance.''
Now it is certain that this prophecy has never been completed: we know that but a
small portion of the land was possessed by the Jews. What then are we to understand
83The rendering of the first of these two verses is materially different from our version. There are difficulties here which are considerable. Our version in the first part follows Septuagint; and others have followed the same, such as Newcome and Henderson, though Junius and Tremulius and Dathius have rendered it materially the same with Calvin, and certainly more in consistency with the Hebrew text. The following may be considered as a literal version of the whole verse: — 19. And they shall inherit the south, the mount of Esau, And the plain, even that of the Philistines, And they shall inherit the field of Ephraim and the field of Samaria, And of Benjamin, even Gilead. The word "to possess" does not convey the meaning of {,{ירשwhich means to
inherit, or to possess by inheritance, as Junius and Tremelius render it --- haereditario jure possidebunt --- ``They shall possess by
an hereditary right.'' And this exactly corresponds with Calvin's explanation. Though our version follows the Septuagint in the two
first lines, it yet departs from it the two last. But the 20th verse is the most difÏcult. ``Captivity'' is more properly ``migration''
or transmigration, as Calvin renders it. Then follow the words, {}חזה-{}ישראל{, }לבכי{ }החלliterally, in my view, ``the beginning,
this, to the children of Israel.'' So the Septuagint takes the word ,{}החלas meaning ``beginning,'' and not ``host:'' it wants the
{}וexcept in three copies, and it always has this, when it means a host. I propose the following translation: --- And the migration,
which commenced with the children of Israel, Shall inherit what the Canaanites had as far as Sarephath; And the migration from
Jerusalem, which are in Saphrad, The cities of the south. The latter verse is a fuller explanation of the former; and, as is the case
commonly in Hebrew, when two things previously mentioned are referred to, the order is reversed, the last particular is mentioned
first, so it is here. The verb ``inherit'' is in the last clause in Hebrew; but the idiom of our language requires it to be in the first. ---
Ed.
MINOR PROPHETS
by this prophecy? It does unquestionably appear that the Prophet speaks here of the
kingdom of Christ; and we know that the Church was then really restored, and that
the Jews not only recovered their former state from which they had fallen, but that
their kingdom was increased: for how great became the splendor of the kingdom
and of the temple under Christ? This then is what the Prophet now means, when
he promises to the Jews the heritage which they had lost; yea, God then enlarged
the borders of Judea. Hence he shows that they should not only be restored to their
former condition, but that the kingdom would be increased in splendor and wealth,
when Christ should come. Let us now run over the words.
Possess then shall they the south of the mount of Esau. The space was no doubt
great: even when David reigned, the Jews did not possess that part or south por-
tion of mount Seir. Then the Prophet, as I have said, shows that the borders of the
kingdom would be more extensive than they had been. And the plain, he says, of
the Philistines On that side also the Lord would cause that the Jews would extend
farther than their kingdom. And possess they shall the fields of Ephraim Here I will
not spend much labor in describing the land: but it is enough for us to understand
that the design of the Prophet was to show, that the state of the people after their
exile would be far more splendid than it had been before, even under the reign of
David. What he means by Gilead is not very clear: but it is not probable that mount
Gilead is referred to here, which was not far distant from the tribe of Benjamin, but
rather that a town or some place distant from that part, and not included in their
portion, is pointed out.
He afterwards adds, And the migrations of this host of the children of Israel, etc.
There is here an obscurity in the words. The Hebrews by Canaan mean the Illyrians
as well as Germans, and also the Gauls: for they say, that the migration, which shall
be dispersed in Gaul, and in Germany, and in these far regions, shall possess the
southern cities. Now by Zarephath they understand Spain. But we know, as we
have elsewhere said, that the Jews are very bold in their glosses: for they are not
ashamed to trifle and to blend frivolous things; and they assert this as though it were
evident from history, and easily found out. Thus they prattle about things unknown
to them, and this they do without any reason or discrimination. The Prophet, I doubt
not, means here that all those territories, which had been formerly promised to the
children of Abraham, would come into their possession when the Lord would send his
Christ, not only to restore what had fallen, but also to render the state of the people
in every way blessed. The import of the whole then is, that the Jews shall not only
recover what they had lost, but what had not hitherto been given them to possess:
all this the Lord would bestow on them when Christ came. It follows ---
Obadiah 21
21. And saviours shall come up on mount Zion to judge the mount of Esau; and
the kingdom shall be the Lord's.
21. Et ascendent servatores in montem Sion, ad judicandum montem Esau; et
erit Jehovae regnum.
Here the Prophet says, that there are in God's hand ministers, the labor of whom
he employs to preserve his own people. He alludes here, I have no doubt, to the his-
JOHN CALVIN
tory of the judges. We indeed know that the people of Israel were often so distressed,
that their deliverance was almost incredible; and that yet they were also delivered
in such a way as to have made it evident that the hand of God had appeared from
heaven. Since this then was well known to the Jews, the Prophet here reminds them
that God had still in his hand redeemers, whenever it might please him to gather his
people. God then shall send preservers, even as he did send them formerly to your
fathers. They had indeed found true by experience what the Prophet says here, not
only once, but more than ten times. This then ought to have served much to confirm
this prophecy.
Ascend then shall they who will judge the mount of Esau, --- who, being endued
with the power of God and his authority, will execute judgment on mount Seir and
on the whole nation, and will avenge the cruelty which Edom had exercised towards
the children of Abraham.
But this passage shows, that Christ came not to be the minister of our deliverance
and salvation in an ordinary way, but that he became our savior in a special manner;
so that he stands alone in that capacity: and this is a very strong argument against
the Jews. They confess that the Messiah would be the Redeemer of his people, but
they ascribe this ofÏce to him in a general way, as they do to David and other kings.
But it certainly appears from this passage, that the Messiah would not be of the
common class, for saviors would be under him as his ministers. This the Jews dare
not to deny, though they grumble: for it would be absurd that he should be one of
their number. Since then he was sent to be a Redeemer and Savior in a way different
from others, it follows that he is not man only, but that he is the Author of salvation.
It would indeed be easy to reply, ``Why do you speak to us of many redeemers?
Do you not hope for one Savior? If God will commit this ofÏce to many in an equal
degree, why are there so many glorious promises respecting the Messiah? Why are
we ever reminded of him alone? Why is he alone set forth to us as the ground of
our salvation?'' It hence certainly appears that Christ is to be distinguished from all
others, and that others are saviors under his authority; and such were the apostles,
and such are all at this day, the labor and ministry of whom God employs to defend
and support his Church.
Now he adds, Jehovah's shall be the kingdom. But as it is certain, that it was
God's purpose to rule among his people after having restored them, in no other way
than by the power of Christ, the Prophet, by saying that the kingdom of Christ would
be Jehovah's, means, that it would be really divine, and more illustrious than if he
had employed the labor of men. But two things must be here observed by us, ---
that God himself really rules in the person of Christ, --- and that it is the legitimate
mode of ruling the Church, that God alone should preside, and hold alone the chief
power. Hence it follows, that when God does not appear as the only King, all things
are in confusion, without any order. Now God is not called a King by way of an empty
distinction: but then only is he regarded a King in reality, when all submit themselves
to him, when they are ruled by his word; in short, when all creatures become silent
in his presence. To God then belongs the kingdom. We hence see that the Church
has no existence, where the word of God does not so prevail in its authority, as to
MINOR PROPHETS
keep down whatever height there is in men, and to bring them under the yoke, so
that all may depend on God alone, that all may look up to him, and that he may have
all in subjection to himself.
Prayer.
Grant, Almighty God, that as we are so scattered in our pilgrimage in this world,
that even a dreadful spectacle is presented to our eyes, when we see thy Church so
miserably rent asunder, O grant, that being endued with the real power of thy Spirit,
and gathered into one, we may so cultivate brotherly kindness among ourselves,
that each may strive to help another, and at the same time keep our eyes fixed on
Christ Jesus; and though hard contests may await us, may we yet be under his care
and protection, and so exercise patience, that having finished our warfare, we may
at last enjoy that blessed rest, which thou hast promised to us, and which is laid up
for us in heaven, and which has also been purchased for us by the blood of Christ
thy Son, one Lord. Amen.
End of the Commentaries on Obadiah.
Commentary on Jonah
Commentary on Jonah
Preface by the Author
At what time Jonah discharged the ofÏce of a Teacher, we may in some measure
learn from 2 Kings 14:1 for it is certain that he is the person there mentioned in
Sacred history, as he is expressly called the son of Amittai 84 . It is said there that
Jeroboam, the son of Joash, had enlarged the borders of his kingdom, from the en-
trance into Hamath to the sea of the desert, according to the word of Jonah, the
servant of God, the son of Amittai, who came from Gath. It was then at that time,
or shortly before, that Jonah prophesied. And it is certain that he was not only sent
to the Ninevites, but that he also was counted a Teacher among the people of Israel.
And the beginning also of his Book seems to intimate what I have said, --- that he
was an ordinary Prophet among the people of Israel, for it begins with a copulative,
And the Word of the Lord came to Jonah. Though the Holy Spirit does in other places
speak sometimes in this manner, yet I doubt not but that Jonah intimates that he
was recalled from the discharge of his ordinary ofÏce, a
nd had a new charge committed to him, --- to denounce, as we shall see, on the
Ninevites a near destruction.
We must now then understand, that Jonah taught among the people of Israel, but
that he received a command to go to the Ninevites. Of this command we shall take
notice in its proper place; but it is right that we should know that he was not then
only made a Prophet, when he was given as a Teacher to the Ninevites, but that he
was sent to the Ninevites after having for some time employed his labors for God
and his Church.
This Book is partly historical and partly didactic. For Jonah relates what happened
to him after he had attempted to avoid the call of God, and what was the issue of his
84He was of Gath-hepher, in the tribe of Zebulun, a part of lower Galilee, Joshua 19:13. He prophesied in the reign of Jeroboam the second, king of Israel, who began to reign 823 before Christ, and reigned in Samaria 41 years. See 2 Kings 14:23-25." — Newcome.
JOHN CALVIN
prophecy: this is one thing. But at the same time he mentions the kind of doctrine
which he was commanded to proclaim, and he also writes a Song of Thanksgiving.
This last part contains doctrines and is not a mere narrative.
I come now to the words.
Commentaries on the Prophet Jonah
Chapter 1.
Lecture Seventy-second.
Jonah 1
Jonah 1:1-2
1. Now the word of the LORD came unto Jonah the son of Amittai, saying,
1. Et fuit sermo Jehovae ad Ionam, filium Amittai, dicendo,
2. Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and cry against it; for their wickedness is
come up before me.
2. Surge, vade Niniveh, ad urbem magnam, et clama contra eam; quia ascendit
malitia eorum coram facie mea.
As I have before observed, Jonah seems here indirectly to intimate, 85 that he
had been previously called to the ofÏce of a teacher; for it is the same as though
he had said, that he framed this history as a part of his ordinary function. The word
of God then was not for the first time communicated to Jonah, when he was sent to
Nineveh; but it pleased God, when he was already a Prophet, to employ him among
other nations. It might have been then, that he was sent to Nineveh, that the Lord,
being wearied with the obstinacy of his own people, might afford an example of pious
docility on the part of a heathen and uncircumcised nation, in order to render the
Israelites more inexcusable. They made a profession of true religion, they boasted
that they were a holy people; circumcision was also to them a symbol and a pledge
of God's covenant; yet they despised all the Prophets, so that their teaching among
them was wholly useless. It is then probable that this Prophet was taken away from
them, that the Ninevites by their example might increase the sin of Israel, for in
85Calvin lays no great stress on the circumstance of the Book commencing with a {,{וbut states
what he thinks as its probable import. The fact that other Books, such as Joshua, Judges, 1 Samuel, Ezekiel, and other books,
begin thus, is no proof that the copulative here does not intimate what is here stated. Marckius and Cocceius think that it imports
a connection between the different Books of Scripture; and if so, why may it not intimate a connection between this Book and the
former Prophecy of Jonah? Junius and Tremelius render the {`` }וwhen,'' and connect it with ``then'' at the beginning of the third
verse; and it may be so construed at the beginning of most of the other Books. Adopting this rendering, we may translate thus,
--- 1. When the word of Jehovah came to Johah, the son of Amittai, saying 2. Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and cry against
her, for there wickedness has ascended before me. 3. Then Jonah arose to flee to Tarshish, from the presence of Jehovah, and
went down to Joppa,'' etc. This reads connected, and the passage admits of this construction, for the copulative {}וin Hebrew,
when repeated, may very frequently be thus rendered, the first by ``when,'' and the second by ``then.'' --- Ed.
JOHN CALVIN
three days they turned to God, after Jonah had preached to them: but among the
Israelites and their kindred he had, during a long time, effected nothing, when yet
his authority had been sufÏciently ratified, and thus, as we have already said, in their
favor: for Jonah had predicted, that the kingdom of Israel would as yet stand; and
however much they deserved to perish, yet the Lord fulfilled what he had promised
by the mouth at his servant. They ought then to have embraced his doctrine, not
only because it was divine, but especially because the Lord had been pleased to
show his love to them.
I do not indeed doubt, but that the ingratitude of the people was in this manner
arraigned, since the Ninevites repented at the preaching of Jonah, and that for a short
time, while the Israelites ever hardened themselves in their obstinacy. And hence
some have refinedly expounded that passage in Matthew 12:39-41, `This perverse
generation seeketh a sign, and a sign shall not be given to it, except the sign of Jonah
the Prophet,' as though this intimated, that the Gospel was to be preached to the
Gentiles, inasmuch as Jonah was taken away from his own nation, and was given as
a teacher to foreign and heathen nations. They therefore suppose, that we are to
understand this as a prophecy respecting the future call of the Gentiles, as though
Christ had said, that he would hereafter go to the Gentiles, after having found the
wickedness of the chosen people past recovery. But as Christ expressly applies this
comparison, we ought not to draw his words here and there. 86 He indeed confines
the similitude to one particular thing, that is, ``As Jonah had been three days in
the whale's bowels, so also he would be three days in the bowels of the earth;'' as
though he had said, that in this he would be like to Jonah, for he would be a Prophet
brought to life again. And this was said designedly by Christ, because he saw that he
was despised by the Jews, and that his labors were in vain: ``Since ye now hear me
not, and regard me as nothing, know that I shall be hereafter a new Prophet, even
after my resurrection; so at length I shall begin to speak more effectually both to the
Jews and to the Gentiles, as Jonah converted Nineveh, after having returned again
to life.'' This then is the simple meaning of the passage. Hence Jonah was not a type
of Christ, because he was sent away unto the Gentiles, but because he returned to
life again, after having for some time exercised his ofÏce as a Prophet among the
people of Israel. They then who say that his going forth was a token of the call of the
Gentiles, adduce indeed what is plausible, but it seems to be supported by no solid
reason; for it was in fact an extraordinary thing. God, then, had not as yet openly
showed what he would do at the coming of Christ. When Naaman the Syrian was
converted to the faith, (2 Kings 5:15) and a few others, God changed nothing in his
ordinary proceedings: for there ever existed the special call of the race of Abraham,
and religion was ever confined within the ancient limits; and it remained ever true,
that God had not done to other nations as he had to the Jews, for he had revealed
to them his judgments, (Psalm 147:20.) It was therefore God's will that the adoption
of the race of Abraham should continue unaltered to the coming of Christ, so that
the Jews might excel all other nations, and differ from them through a gratuitous
86Marckius wisely says on another subject, but on a similar occasion, "Extra Scripturam autem audacter hic sapiat nemo;" — "but let no one be here rashly wise beyond Scripture." — Ed.
MINOR PROPHETS
privilege, as the holy and elect people of God.
Those who adopt the contrary opinion say, that the Ninevites were converted to
the Lord without circumcision. This is true; but I know not whether that was a true
and legitimate conversion, which is hereafter mentioned; and of this, the Lord being
willing, I shall again speak more fully: but it seems more probable, that they were
induced by the reproofs and threatening of the Prophet, suppliantly to deprecate the
impending wrath of God: hence God once forgave them; what took place afterwards
does not clearly appear. It is certainly not probable that the whole city was converted
to the Lord: for soon after that city became exceedingly hostile both to the Israelites
and the Jews; and the Church of God was by the Ninevites continually harassed with
slaughters. Since it was so, there is certainly no reason to think, that they had really
and from the heart repented. But I put off a full discussion of this subject until we
come to another passage. Let us go on now with our text.
Arise, go to Nineveh, to that great city. Nineveh is called a great city, and not
without reason; for it was in circumference, as heathen writers say, 400 stadia: and
we shall see that Jonah was three whole days in going through the squares and
streets of the city 87 . It hence follows, that it was a very large city, and this all allow.
Profane writers call it Ninus, and say that it is a name derived from its founder; for
it was Ninus, the son of Betas, who built it. But more correct is their opinion, who
think that {}נינוהNinue, is a Hebrew word: and hence what Herodotus and Diodorus,
and others of the same class, say, is certainly fabulous, both as to the origin of the
city and as to the whole progress of the kingdom, and their legends can easily be
disproved by testimonies from holy Scripture. It is at the same time admitted by
all, that Nineveh was a very large and a well fortified city. Babylon was afterwards
built by Semiramis, who had been the wife of Betas: after her husband's death she
wished to show that she also excelled in mind and industry, and that she had wisdom
above her sex. But with regard to the founder of Nineveh, it is certain that the city
was first built by Asshur: whether it was enlarged by Ninus, I know not: this, then, I
leave as uncertain; for I wish not to contend about what is doubtful. But it is certain,
from what Moses has said, that the founder of this city was Asshur, (Genesis 10:11.)
As to the largeness of the city, even if profane writers had not said a word, the
testimony of Jonah ought to be sufÏcient to us. Now, since he is bidden to go and
proceed to Nineveh, the Lord gives him some hope of success. He indeed wrought
effectually by the hand of his servant, Nahum; who, though he continued at home,
yet prophesied against the Ninevites; but with a different view, and for another end.
87There is some difference in the account given. Diodorus Siculus, as quoted by Marckius, says, that if it was in form oblong; one side was 150 stadia, the other 90; so that its circumference must have been 480 stadia. A stadium is nearly equal to a furlong, eight of which make a mile. It must then have been in circuit about 60 miles. Its walls are reported to have been 100 feet high — 33 yards and 1 foot, and so broad that three chariots might run abreast, and adorned by 1,500 towers, the height of which were 200 feet. From the circumstance of having in it 120,000 not knowing the right hand from the left, supposed to be infants, some think that its population must have been above two million. It was situated on the river Tigris on the eastern side, not far from the present Mosul. In building this city, as reported by Bochart, there were no less than 140 myriads of men for eight years. A myriad being ten thousand, the number must have been one million, four hundred thousand. Such a city none has ever built since, was the declaration of Diodorus: and there has not probably on record an account of such a city. That it had large gardens, and even fields, within its walls, there can be no doubt. — Ed.
JOHN CALVIN
For as the people were then miserably distressed, and saw the kingdom or monar-
chy of Assyria in a flourishing state, they must have despaired, had not some solace
been afforded them. Hence Nahum showed that God would be a judge against the
Ninevites; that though he for a time favored and spared them, there was yet im-
pending over them the dreadful judgment of which he speaks. Nahum, then, was
not given as a teacher to the Ninevites, but was only a proclaimer, that the Jews
might strengthen their faith by this comfort --- that they were not wholly rejected
by the Lord, as he would some time avenge their wrongs. The case with Jonah was
different: for he was sent to the city itself, to exhort the Ninevites to repent. Now
the Lord, by speaking expressly of the largeness of the city, intended thus to prepare
him with firmness, lest he should be frightened by the splendor, wealth, and power
of that city: for we know how difÏcult it is to take in hand great and arduous under-
takings, especially when we feel ourselves destitute of strength. When we have to
do with many and powerful adversaries, we are not only debilitated, but our courage
wholly vanishes away. Lest, then, the greatness of Nineveh should fill Jonah with
terror, he is here prepared and armed with firmness. ``Go then to Nineveh, and let
not the power of that monarchy prevent thee to fulfill what I command thee; which
is, to show to the Ninevites their sins, and to denounce on them destruction, if they
repent not.''
We now then understand why Nineveh was called a great city: for had it not been
for the reason just stated, it would not have been necessary that this should have
been said to Jonah. The Israelites, I doubt not, knew well that it was a large city, and
also possessed of strength and of a large number of men: but the Lord intended to
set before his servant what might have been a hindrance to him in the discharge of
his ofÏce; Go then to this great city. In short, God designed in this way to try Jonah,
whether he would prefer his command to all the hindrances of this world. And it
is a genuine proof of obedience when we simply obey God, however numerous the
obstacles which may meet us and may be suggested to our minds, and though no
escape may appear to us; yea, when we follow God, as it were with closed eyes,
wherever he may lead us, and doubt not but that he will add strength to us, and
stretch forth also his hand, whenever need may require, to remove all our difÏculties.
It was then the Lord's purpose to deal thus with Jonah; as though he had said to him,
``remember who I am, and be content with my authority; for I have ready at hand all
resources; when any thing stands in your way, rely on my power, and execute what
I command thee.'' This is the import of the passage. Whenever then God demands
any service from us, and we at the same time see that what the discharge of our
duty demands is either difÏcult or apparently impossible, let this come to our minds,
--- that there is not anything in the whole world which ought not to give way to God's
command: we shall then gather courage and confidence, nor will anything be able to
call us away from our duty and a right course, though the whole world were fighting
against God.
It now follows, Cry against her; for ascended has their wickedness before my
presence. Cry, he says, against her: it was an unpleasant undertaking to cry out
against her immediately at the beginning. We indeed know that men take pride in
MINOR PROPHETS
their power: and as there was then but one monarchy in the world, the seat of which
was at Nineveh, a teacher could hardly expect to obtain a patient hearing, though
he excelled in gracefulness of manner, and had acquired reputation, and brought an
agreeable message. But Jonah was a foreigner, one unknown, and destitute of au-
thority; and still more, he was immediately to denounce destruction on the Ninevites,
to cry aloud, to reprove, to make a vehement proclamation, to threaten. How difÏ-
cult was all this? We hence see how hard a command it was when God charged his
Prophet to cry against Nineveh.
It is now added, For their wickedness has ascended to me. By this clause God
strengthens his servant Jonah; as though he said, ``Thou wilt not, as an individual,
have to contend with them, but I constitute thee as my herald, to summon them to
my tribunal.'' And no doubt it must have served much to animate Jonah, that he had
not to deal with the Ninevites as an individual, but as the messenger of God: and
it might also have had an influence on their minds, to know, that though no mor-
tal inflicted punishment for their crimes, they yet could not escape the vengeance
of God. This then is the reason why the Lord here declares that he would be the
judge of Nineveh. And at the same time he reminds us, that though the Ninevites
felicitated themselves, and also gained the plaudits of the whole world on account
of their power, yet all this was of no moment, because their wickedness and iniquity
had ascended into heaven. When therefore we are reproved, there is no reason that
we should turn our eyes here and there towards men; we ought instantly to present
ourselves to the scrutiny of God; nay, we ought ourselves to take in hand that vol-
untary examination which God requires. By so doing, we shall not feed our vices by
foolishly deceiving ourselves, as hypocrites do, who ever look around them to the
right hand and to the left, and never raise up their thoughts to heaven. Let us go on
---
Jonah 1:3
3. But Jonah rose up to flee unto Tarshish from the presence of the Lord, and went
down to Joppa; and he found a ship going to Tarshish: so he paid the fare thereof,
and went down into it, to go with them unto Tarshish from the presence of the Lord.
3. Et surrexit Jonas ad fugendum (ut fugeret) Tharsis a facie Jehovae, et descendit
Japho, et invenit navem, quae transibat Tharsis, et dedit mercedem (hoc est, naulum
pretium vecturae,) et descendit in eam, ut iret cum ipsis (nempe cum mercatoribus
vel nautis) in Tharsis a conspectu Jehovae.
Jonah now relates how he sought hiding-places, that he might withdraw himself
from the service of God; not that he deceived himself with such a gross notion, as
that he would be no longer under the power of God, after having passed over the
sea; but he intended to shun, as it were, the light of the present life, by proceeding
to a foreign country. He was, no doubt, not only in a disturbed state of mind, when
he formed such a purpose, but was utterly confused.
It may be asked, why Jonah thus avoided the command of God. The Jews, in-
dulging in frigid trifles in divine things, say that he feared lest, when he came to
Nineveh, he should be deprived of the prophetic spirit, as though he were not in
the same danger by passing over the sea: this is very frivolous and puerile. And
JOHN CALVIN
further, they blend things of no weight, when reasons sufÏciently important present
themselves to us.
It was first a new and unusual thing for Prophets to be drawn away from the chosen
people, and sent to heathen nations. When Peter was sent to Cornelius, (Acts 10:17,)
though he had been instructed as to the future call of the Gentiles, he yet doubted,
he hesitated until he was driven as it were forcibly by a vision. What then must have
come to the mind of Jonah? If only on account of one man the mind of Peter was
disquieted, so as to think it an illusion, when he was sent a teacher to Cornelius, what
must Jonah have thought, when he was sent to a city so populous? Hence novelty,
doubtless, must have violently shaken the courage of the holy Prophet, and induced
him to retake himself elsewhere, as one destitute of understanding. Again, doubt
might have had an influence on him: for how could he have hoped that a people,
who were notorious for their licentiousness, would be converted? He had indeed
before an experience of the hardness of the chosen people. He had been faithfully
engaged in his ofÏce, he had omitted nothing to confirm the worship of God and
true religion among the people of Israel: but he had effected but little; and yet the
Jews had been called from the womb. What then could he hope, when the Lord
removed him to Nineveh? for unbridled licentiousness ruled there; there was also
there extreme blindness, they had no knowledge of divine worship; in a word, they
were sunk in extreme darkness, and the devil in every way reigned there. Doubt then
must have broken down the spirit of Jonah, so that he disobeyed the command of
God. Still further, the weakness of the flesh must have hindered him from following
his legitimate call: ``What then? even this, --- I must go to the chief city of that
monarchy, which at this day treads under its feet the whole earth; I must go there,
a man obscure and despised; and then I must proclaim a message that will excite
the greatest hatred, and instantly kindle the minds of men into rage; and what must
I say to the Ninevites? `Ye are wicked men, God can no longer endure your impiety;
there is, therefore, a dreadful vengeance near at hand.' How shall I be received?''
Jonah then, being still surrounded by the infirmities of the flesh, must have given
way to fear, which dislodged the love of obedience.
And I have no doubt, in my own mind, but that Jonah discussed these things within
himself, for he was not a log of wood. And doubtless it was not to no purpose, as
I have already said, that he mentions that the city was great. God indeed sought
to remove what might prove an hindrance, but Jonah, on the other hand, reasoned
thus, --- ``I see that I am to have a fierce contest; nay, that such a number of people
will fall on me, enough to overwhelm me a hundred times, as the Lord has not in vain
foretold me that the city is great.'' And though he might have had some hope, if they
had been chastised, that they would give God his due honor; yet he confesses, that
this hindrance came to his mind, which prevented him to proceed in the course of
his calling. Hence doubt, as well as the fear of the flesh made Jonah to stumble, and
novelty also, as I have already said, must have perplexed him; so that he preferred to
go down, as it were, to the grave, than to undertake an ofÏce which apparently had
no reason in its favor. For why were the Prophets sent, except to effect something
by their labor, and to bring forth some fruit? but of this Jonah had no hope. Some
MINOR PROPHETS
authority was also allowed the Prophets, at least they were allowed the liberty of
teaching; but Jonah thought that all entrance was closed up against him: and still
more, Jonah thought that he was opposing the covenant of the Lord, who had chosen
one people only; and he also thought that he was, as it were, fixed to his own land,
when he was appointed a Teacher in his own country; he therefore could not remove
elsewhere without feeling a great repugnance.
I hence think, that Jonah disobeyed the command of God, partly because the
weakness of the flesh was an hindrance, partly because of the novelty of the mes-
sage, and partly because he despaired of fruit, or of success to his teaching.
But he doubtless grievously transgressed: for the first rule, as to all our actions,
is to follow the call of God. Though one may excel in heroic virtues, yet all his virtues
are mere fumes, which shine before the eyes of men, except the object be to obey
God. The call of God then, as I have said, holds the first place as to the conduct
of men; and unless we lay this foundation, we do like him who would build a house
in the air. Disordered then will be the whole course of our life, except God presides
over and guides us, and raises up over us, as it were, his own banners. As then Jonah
subverted the first and the only firm foundation of a right conduct, what could have
remained for him? There is then no reason for us to extenuate his fault, for he could
not have sinned more grievously than by forsaking God, in having refused to obey
his call: it was, as it were to shake off the yoke; and this he confesses himself.
They therefore very childishly write who wish to be his apologists, since he twice
condemns himself --- Jonah rose up to flee from the presence of Jehovah --- to go
unto Tarshish from the presence of Jehovah. Why does he the second time repeat,
from the presence of Jehovah? He meant, no doubt, to express here more distinctly
his fault: and the repetition is indeed very emphatical: and it also proves clearly that
it was not a slight offense, when Jonah retook himself elsewhere when he was sent to
Nineveh. He could not indeed have departed from the Lord, for God fills heaven and
earth; and, as I have said already, he was not fascinated by so gross an error as to
think, that when he became a fugitive, he was beyond the reach of God's hand. What
then is to flee from the face of Jehovah, except it be that which he here confesses,
that he fled from the presence of God, as though he wished, like runaway servants,
to reject the government of God? Since then Jonah was carried away by this violent
temptation, there is no reason why we should now try, by some vain and frivolous
pretenses, to excuse his sin. This is one thing.
With regard to the word Tharsis, or Tharsisa, I doubt not but that it means Cilicia.
There are those who think that it is the city Tarsus; but they are mistaken, for it
is the name of a country. They are also mistaken who translate it, Sea; for Jonah
intended not only to go to sea, but also to pass over into Cilicia, which is opposite
to the Syrian Sea. But the Jews called that the Sea of Tarshish, as it appears from
many passages, because there was very frequent sailing to that place. As then that
transmarine country was more known to them than any other, and as they carried
there their merchandise, and in their turn purchased their goods, they called that
the Sea of Tarshish, as it is well known, as being near it.
Jonah then intended to flee into Cilicia, when the Lord would have sent him to
JOHN CALVIN
Nineveh. It is said that he rose up to flee, and then, that he went down to Joppa,
that he found there a ship, which was passing over to Tarshish, that he paid the
fare, that he went down into the ship, to go with them into Cilicia: 88 now by all
those expressions Jonah intimates that he was wholly fixed in his purpose, and that
it was necessary that he should have been brought back by a strong hand; for he
was touched by no repentance during his journey. Many things may indeed come to
our minds when the call of God appears to us too burdensome. There is none of us,
when service is to be performed to God, who does not roll this and that in his mind:
``What will be the issue? how wilt thou reach the place where thou expectest to be?
See what dangers await thee.'' For Satan always comes forth, whenever we resolve
to obey God; but we are to struggle in this case, and then repel what we see to be
contrary to our calling. But Jonah shows that he was obstinately fixed in his purpose
of fleeing: for he not only intended to go into Tarshish, but he actually went down to
the city Joppa, which was nigh to Judea; and, therefore some think that Tarshish was
Africa; but this is strained. Others divine it to be Thunetus or Carthage, as though
indeed these cities were built at that time; but men are very bold in dreaming. But
what need of giving a new meaning to this word against the most common usage of
Scriptures when it is evident enough that Tarshish is Cilicia?
Now, when Jonah went down to Joppa, it was evident that he intended immediately
to migrate from the land of Judah, and to pass over the sea: but by saying that he
paid the fare, that he went down into the ship, that he might go, --- by this gradual
progress, he sets before us, as I have said, more fully his own perverseness; so that
he admits that he not only resolutely purposed to reject the call of God, but that he
also confirmed himself in it: and though there were many things to be done, which
might have sometimes forced him to stand still, he yet constantly followed where his
perverse and blind impulse led him. There is no doubt then, but that Jonah, in these
distinct words sets himself forth as a fugitive, not only by one act, but by many acts.
Now, as to his flight, we must bear in mind what I have before said --- that all flee
away from the presence of God, who do not willingly obey his commandments; not
that they can depart farther from him, but they seek, as far as they can, to confine
God within narrow limits, and to exempt themselves from being subject to his power.
No one indeed openly confesses this; yet the fact itself shows, that no one withdraws
himself from obedience to God's commands without seeking to diminish and, as it
were, to take from him his power, so that he may no longer rule. Whosoever, then,
do not willingly subject themselves to God, it is the same as though they would turn
their backs on him and reject his authority that they may no more be under his power
and dominion.
It is deserving of notice, that as Jonah represents himself as guilty before the
88On this success of Jonah in meeting with a ship, etc., Marckius has these appropriate remarks — "God sometimes not only suffers the wicked to advance prosperously in their sins, but does not immediately restore the godly in their declensions; nay, he gives them every facility for a time in their downward course, in order that they may know themselves more, and that the glory of God may become thereby more manifest. Foolish then is the sinner, who, having begun life prosperously, concludes that the end will be equally happy." Matthew Henry's remarks are of the same import, but still more striking — "Providence seemed to favor his design, and gave him an opportunity to escape: we may be out of the way of duty, and yet may meet with favorable gale. The ready way is not always the right way."
MINOR PROPHETS
whole world, so he intended by his example to show how great and detestable a
sin it is, not to submit to the commands of God, and not to undertake whatever he
enjoins, but to evade his authority. That he might then enhance the atrocity of his
sin, he shows by his own example that we cannot rebel against God, without seeking,
under some pretense or another to thrust him from his throne, and, at the same time,
to confine him within certain limits that he may not include heaven and earth within
his empire.
Prayer.
Grant, Almighty God, that as thou hast not sent a Jonah to us, when alienated from
every hope of salvation, but hast given thy Son to be our Teacher, clearly to show
to us the way of salvation, and not only to call us to repentance by threatening and
terrors, but also kindly to allure us to the hope of eternal life, and to be a pledge of
thy paternal love, --- O grant, that we may not reject so remarkable a favor offered to
us, but willingly and from the heart obey thee; and though the condition which thou
settest before us in thy Gospel may seem hard, and though the bearing of the cross
is bitter to our flesh, yet may we never shun to obey thee, but present ourselves to
thee as a sacrifice; and having overcome all the hindrances of this world, may we
thus proceed in the course of our holy calling, until we be at length gathered into thy
celestial kingdom, under the guidance of Christ thy Son, our Lord. Amen.
Lecture Seventy-third
Jonah 1:4
4.. But the Lord sent out a great wind into the sea, and there was a mighty tempest
in the sea, so that the ship was like to be broken.
4. Et Jehova emisit ventum magnum super mare, et facta est tempestas magna
in mari, et navis cogitabit frangi.
Jonah declares here how he had been, as it were, by force brought back by the
Lord, when he tried to flee away from his presence. He then says that a tempest
arose in the sea; but he at the same time tells us, that this tempest did not arise by
chance, as ungodly men are wont to say, who ascribe everything that happens to
fortune. God, he says, sent a strong wind on the sea. Some give this renderings God
raised up, deriving the verb from {,}נטלnuthel; but others derive it more correctly
from {,}טולtul 89 , and we shall presently meet with the same word in the fifth verse.
Now as to what took place, he says that there was so great a tempest, that the ship
was not far from being broken. When he says, 'The ship thought to be broken 90 the
expression corresponds with the idiom of our language, la navire cuidoit perir But
some take the ship for the passengers or the sailors; but this is strained; and we
know that our common language agrees in many of its phrases with the Hebrew.
Jonah then meant, that a tempest arose, not by chance, but by the certain purpose
89This is no doubt its root. It is used when Saul is said to cast a javelin at David, 1 Samuel 18:11, and when the Lord threatens to cast out the people from his land, Jeremiah 16:13. It implies force and power. Coverdale's rendering, as quoted by Henderson, strikingly conveys its meaning, "But the Lord hurled a great wynde into the sea." — Ed.
90This perhaps can hardly be said to be a Hebrew idiom. Marckius, and also Henderson, think it to be a metonymy, the ship is mentioned, instead of the mariners: there is in Luke 8:23 an opposite metonymy, the sailors are taken for the ship. Newcome renders the sentence, "and it was thought that the ship would be broken in pieces." If the metonymy be admitted, the rendering would be, "and the mariners thought that they should be shipwrecked." — Ed.
JOHN CALVIN
of God, so that being overtaken on the sea, he acknowledged that he had been
deceived when he thought that he could flee away from God's presence by passing
over the sea. Though indeed the Prophet speaks here only of one tempest, we may
yet hence generally gather, that no storms, nor any changes in the air, which produce
rain or stir up tempests on the sea, happen by chance, but that heaven and earth are
so regulated by a Divine power, that nothing takes place without being foreseen and
decreed. But if any one objects, and says that it does not harmonize with reason,
that, for the fault of one man, so many suffered shipwreck, or were tossed here and
there by the storm: the ready answer to this is, --- that though God had a regard
only, in a special manner, to the case of Jonah, yet there were hidden reasons why
he night justly involve others in the same danger. It is probable that many were
then sailing; it was not one ship only that was on that sea, since there were so many
harbors and so many islands. But though the Lord may involve many men in the
same punishment, when he especially intends to pursue only one man, yet there is
never wanting a reason why he might not call before his tribunal any one of us, even
such as appear the most innocent. And the Lord works wonderfully, while ruling over
men. It would be therefore preposterous to measure his operations by our wisdom;
for God can so punish one man, as to humble some at the same time, and to chastise
others for their various sins, and also to try their patience. Thus then is the mouth of
ungodly men stopped, that they may not clamor against God, when he so executes
his judgments as not to comport with the judgment of our flesh. But this point I shall
presently discuss more at large: there are indeed everywhere in Scripture, instances
in which God inflicted punishment on a whole people, when yet one man only had
sinned. But when some murmur and plead that they are innocent, there is ever to be
found a reason why God cannot be viewed as dealing cruelly with them; nay, were
he pleased, he might justly treat them with much greater severity: in a word, though
God may appear to deal severely with men, he yet really spares them, and treats
them with indulgence. Let us now proceed ---
Jonah 1:5
5. Then the mariners were afraid, and cried every man unto his god, and cast
forth the wares that were in the ship into the sea, to lighten it of them. But Jonah
was gone down into the sides of the ship; and he lay, and was fast asleep.
5. Et timuerunt nautae et vociferati sunt quisque ad deum suum; et projecerunt
vasa, quae erant in navi, in mare, ut levaretur ab illis: Jonas autem descenderat in
latera navis, et jacebat et dormiebat.
This narrative, in which Jonah relates in order so many circumstances, is not with-
out its use; for, as we shall presently see, he intended to set forth his own insensibil-
ity, and to lay it before us as painted before our eyes: and the comparison, which is
implied in the circumstances, greatly illustrates the supine and almost brutal security
of Jonah.
He says first that the mariners 91 were afraid, and then, that each cried, that is,
to his god and that they cast out into the sea the lading of the ship. As then they
91{,{מלחיםfrom ,{}מלהsalt, ``salt-men;'' so ``mariners,'' in our language, from mare, are literally sea-men; and sailors are
sail-men. Nautae, in Latin, and {ναυται} in Greek, being from navis and {ναυς}, are properly, ship-men. --- Ed.
MINOR PROPHETS
were all so concerned, was it not marvelous that Jonah, on whose account the sea
was stormy, was asleep? Others were busy, they ran here and there in the ship,
and spoiled themselves of their goods, that they might reach the shore in safety:
they indeed chose to strip themselves of all they had rather than to perish; they also
cried to their gods. Jonah cared for nothing, nay, he lay asleep: but whence came
such a carelessness as this, except that he was not only become torpid, but that he
seemed also to have been deprived of all reason and common feeling? There is no
doubt then but that Jonah, in order to show this to have been the case, has here
enumerated so many circumstances.
He says that the mariners were afraid. We indeed know that sailors are not usually
frightened by small or common storms; for they are a hardy race of men, and they
are the less afraid, because they daily see various commotions in the air. When,
therefore, he says that the sailors were afraid, we hence gather that it was not a
moderate tempest, for such does not thus terrify men accustomed by long expert
once to all sorts of storms: they, then, who had been previously hardened, were
disquieted with fear. He afterwards adds, that they cried, each of them to his god.
Jonah certainly ought not to have slept so soundly, but that he might rouse himself
at almost any moment, for he carried in his heart his own executioner, as he knew
that he was a fugitive: for we have said before, that it was not a slight offense for
Jonah to withdraw himself from the presence of God; he despised his call, and, as far
as he could, cast off the yoke, so as not to obey God. Seeing, then, that Jonah was ill
at ease with himself, ought he not to have trembled, even while asleep? But while
others cried to their false gods, he either despised, or at least neglected the true
God, to whom he knew he was disobedient, and against whom he rebelled. This is
the point of the comparison, or of the antithesis. But we at the same time see, how
in dangers men are constrained to call on God. Though, indeed, there is a certain
impression by nature on the hearts of men as to God, so that every one, willing or
unwilling, is conscious that there is some Supreme Being; we yet by our wickedness
smother this light, which ought to shine within us. We indeed gladly cast away all
cares and anxieties; for we wish to live at ease, and tranquillity is the chief good
of men. Hence it comes, that all desire to live without fear and without care; and
hence we all naturally seek quietness. Yet this quietness generates contempt. Hence
then it is, that hardly any religion appears in the world, when God leaves us in an
undisturbed condition. Fear constrains us, however unwilling, to come to God. False
indeed is what is said, that fear is the cause of religion, and that it was the first reason
why men thought that there were gods: this notion is indeed wholly inconsistent with
common sense and experience. But religion, which has become nearly extinct, or
at least covered over in the hearts of men, is stirred up by dangers. Of this Jonah
gives a remarkable instance, when he says that the sailors cried, each of them to
his god We know how barbarous is this race of men; they are disposed to shake off
every sense of religion; they indeed drive away every fear, and deride God himself
as long as they may. Hence that they cried to God, it was no doubt what necessity
forced them to do. And here we may learn, how useful it is for us to be disquieted
by fear; for while we are safe, torpidity, as it is well known, soon creeps over us.
JOHN CALVIN
Since, then, hardly any one of himself comes to God, we have need of goads; and
God sharply pricks us, when he brings any danger, so as to constrain us to tremble.
But in this way, as I have already said, he stimulates us; for we see that all would
go astray, and even perish in their thoughtlessness, were he not to draw them back,
even against their own will.
But Jonah does not simply say, that each cried to God, but he adds, to his own
god. As, then, this passage teaches, that men are constrained by necessity to seek
God, we also, on the other hand, it shows, that men go astray in seeking God, except
they are directed by celestial truth, and also by the Spirit of God. There is then some
right desire in men, but it goes astray; for none will keep the right way except the
Lord directs them, as it has been said, both by his word and his Spirit. Both these
particulars we learn from the words of the Prophet: The sailors feared; men hardy
and almost iron-hearted, who, like the Cyclops, despised God, --- these, he says,
were afraid; and they also cried to God; but they did not cry by the guidance of faith;
hence it was, that every one cried to his own god.
When we read this, let it first come to our minds that there is no hope until God
constrains us, as it were, by force; but we ought to anticipate extreme necessity
by seeking him willingly. For what did it avail the sailors and other passengers,
to call once on God? It is indeed probable that, shortly after, they relapsed into
their former ungodly indifference; after having been freed from their danger, they
probably despised God, and all religion was regarded by them with contempt. And
so it commonly happens as to ungodly men, who never obey God except when they
are constrained. Let therefore every one of us offer himself willingly to God, even
now when we are in no danger, and enjoy full quietness. For if we think, that any
pretext for thoughtlessness, or for error, or for ignorance, will serve as an excuse,
we are greatly deceived; for no excuse can be admitted, since experience teaches
us, that there is naturally implanted in all some knowledge of God, and that these
truths are engraven on our hearts, that God governs our life, --- that he alone can
remove us by death, --- that it is his peculiar ofÏce to aid and help us. For how was
it that these sailors cried? Had they any new teacher who preached to them about
religion, and who regularly taught them that God was the deliverer of mankind? By
no means: but these truths, as I have said, had been by nature impressed on their
hearts. While the sea was tranquil, none of them called on their god; but danger
roused them from their drowsiness. But it is hence sufÏciently evident, that whatever
excuses they may pretend, who ascribe not to God his glory, they are all frivolous;
for there is no need of any law, there is no need of any Scripture, in short, there is
no need of any teaching, to enable men to know, that this life is in the hand of God,
that deliverance is to be sought from him alone, and that nothing, as we have said,
ought to be looked for from any other quarter: for invocation proves that men have
this conviction respecting God; and invocation comes from nothing else but from
some hidden instinct, and indeed from the guidance and teaching of nature, (duce
ac magistra natura) This is one thing.
But let us also learn from this passage, that when God is sought by us, we ought
not to trust to our own understanding; for we shall in that case immediately go
MINOR PROPHETS
astray. God then must be supplicated to guide us by his word, otherwise every one
will fall off into his own superstitions; as we here see, that each cried to his own
god. The Prophet also reminds us that multiplicity of gods is no modern invention;
for mankind, since the fall of Adam, have ever been prone to falsehood and vanity.
We know how much corruption must occupy our minds, when every one invents
for himself hideous and monstrous things. Since it is so, there is no wonder that
superstitions have ever prevailed in the world; for the wit of man is the workshop of
all errors. (quia ingenium hominis ofÏcina est omnium errorum) And hence also we
may learn what I have lately touched upon, --- that nothing is worse for us than to
follow the impulses of our flesh; for every one of himself advances in the way of error,
even without being pushed on by another; and at the same time, as is commonly
the case, men draw on one another.
He now adds, that the wares were cast out, that is, the lading of the ship; and
we know that this is the last resource in shipwrecks; for men, to save their lives, will
deprive themselves willingly of all their goods. We hence see how precious is life to
man; for he will not hesitate to strip himself of all he has, that he may not lose his life.
We indeed shun want, and many seek death because extreme poverty is intolerable
to them; but when they come to some great danger, men ever prefer their life to all
their possessions; for what are the good things of this world, but certain additions
to our life? But Jonah tells us for another purpose that the ship was lightened, even
for this, --- that we may know that the tempest was no ordinary commotion, but that
the sailors, apprehensive of approaching death, adopted this as the last resource.
Another clause follows: Jonah had gone down into the sides 92 , or the side, of the
ship. Jonah no doubt sought a retreat before the storm arose. As soon then as they
sailed from the harbor, Jonah withdrew to some remote corner, that he might sleep
there. But this was no excusable insensibility on his part, as he knew that he was a
fugitive from the presence of God: he ought then to have been agitated by unceasing
terrors; nay, he ought to have been to himself the taxer (exactor) of anxiety. But it
often so happens, that when any one has sought hiding-places, he brings on himself
a stupor almost brutal; he thinks of nothing, he cares for nothing, he is anxious for
nothing. Such then was the insensibility which possessed the soul of Jonah, when
he went down to some recess in the ship, that he might there indulge himself in
sleep. Since it thus happened to the holy Prophet, who of us ought not to fear for
himself? Let us hence learn to remind ourselves often of God's tribunal; and when
our minds are seized with torpor, let us learn to stimulate and examine ourselves,
lest God's judgment overwhelm us while asleep. For what prevented ruin from wholly
swallowing up Jonah, except the mercy of God, who pitied his servant, and watched
for his safety even while he was asleep? Had not the Lord then exercised such care
over Jonah, he must have perished. 93
We hence see that the Lord often cares for his people when they care not for
92"Sides," {,{ירכתיmean no doubt the lower parts. Jerome renders it, ad interiora navis; the Septuagint, {εις} {την}
{κοίλην} {του} {πλοίου} --- to the belly cavity of the ship. --- Ed.
93"We see in this instance the great danger in which unconscious sinners are often involved, that the solace sought by them departs from them, that a dead sleep remains, and even increases under God's judgment, and that in the performance of duty the godly are sometimes more slothful than the ungodly." — Ed.
JOHN CALVIN
themselves, and that he watches while they are asleep: but this ought not to serve to
nourish our self-indulgence; for every one of us is already more indulgent to himself
than he ought to be: but, on the contrary, this example of Jonah, whom we see to
have been so near destruction, ought to excite and urge us, that when any of us has
gone astray from his calling he may not lie secure in that state, but, on the contrary,
run back immediately to God. And if God be not able to draw us back to himself
without some violent means, let us at least follow in this respect the example of
Jonah, which we shall in its own place notice. It follows ---
Jonah 1:6
6. So the shipmaster came to him, and said unto him, What meanest thou, O
sleeper? arise, call upon thy God, if so be that God will think upon us, that we perish
not.
6. Et accessit ad eum magister funis, et dixit ei, Quid tibi, sopite? Surge, clama ad
Deum tuum, si forte serenum se exhibeat Deus nobis (alii vertunt, cogitet de nobis,
vel gratificetur nobis,) et non pereamus.
Jonah relates here how he was reproved by the pilot or master of the ship 94
, inasmuch as he alone slept, while all the rest were in anxiety and fear. ``What
meanest thou, fast sleeper?'' The pilot no doubt upbraids Jonah for his sleepiness,
and reproves him for being almost void of all thought and reflection. What meanest
thou, fast sleeper 95 , he says; when thou sees all the rest smitten with alarm, how
canst thou sleep? Is not this unnatural? Rise, then, and call on thy God
We see that where there is no rule of faith a liberty is commonly taken, so that
every one goes astray here and there. Whence was it, that the pilot said to Jonah,
Call on thy God, and that he did not confine him to any certain rule? Because it had
been customary in all ages for men to be satisfied with some general apprehension
of God; and then every one according to his own fancy formed a god for himself: nor
could it have been otherwise, as I have said, while men were not restrained by any
sacred bond. All agree as to this truth, that there is some God, and also that no dead
idol can do anything, but that the world is governed by the providence and power of
God, and further, that safety is to be sought from him. All this, has been received
by the common consent of all; but when we come to particulars, then every one is
in the dark; how God is to be sought they know not. Hence every one takes his own
liberty: ``For the sake of appeasing God I will then try this; this shall be my mode
of securing his favor; the Lord will regard this service acceptable; in this way shall
all my iniquity be expiated, that I may obtain favor with God.'' Thus each invents
for themselves some tortuous way to come to God; and then every one forms a
god peculiar to himself. There can therefore be no stability nor consistency in men,
unless they are joined together by some bond, even by some certain rule of religion,
so that they may not vacillate, and not be in doubt as to what is right to be done,
94{{}החבל{, רבthe master of the rope or roping: {ὁ} {πρωρευς}, the prowman, the boatswain. --- Sept. Nauclerus, pilot, is
the word used by Calvin. --- Ed.
95{{}המ{, םדרנ-{{`` }ךלτί} {σὺ} {ρεγχεις} --- why dost thou snore?'' --- Sept. ``Quid tu sopore deprimeris --- why art thou
oppressed with deep sleep?'' --- Jerome. ``Quid dormis --- why sleepest thou?'' --- Dathius. ``How is it, thou art fast asleep?''
--- Henderson. ``What ails thee? Sleeping!'' --- Benjoin. The first pare is well rendered by the last author, but not the other; for
,{}םדרנonly found as a verb in Niphal, ever means a deep sleep. It is applied to Sisera, in Jael's tent, Judges 4:21, and to the
sleep of death, Psalm 76:6. The rendering then ought to be, ``What ails thee? Being fast asleep.'' --- Ed.
MINOR PROPHETS
but be assured and certainly persuaded, that there is but one true God, and know
what sort of God he is, and then understand the way by which he is to be sought.
We then learn from this passage, that there is an awful license taken in fictitious
religions, and that all who are carried away by their fancy are involved in a labyrinth,
so that men do nothing but weary and torment themselves in vain, when they seek
God without understanding the right way. They indeed run with all their might, but
they go farther and farther from God. But that they, at the same time, form in their
minds an idea of some God, and that they agree on this great principle, is sufÏciently
evident from the second clause of this verse, If so be that God will be Propitious to
us. Here the pilot confines not his discourse to the God of Jonah, but speaks simply
of a God; for though the world by their differences divide God, and Jonah worshipped
a God different from the rest, and, in short, there was almost an endless number of
gods among the passengers, yet the pilot says, If so be that God, etc.: now then
he acknowledges some Supreme God, though each of them had his own god. We
hence see that what I have said is most true, --- that this general truth has ever been
received with the consent of all, --- that the world is preserved by the providence of
God, and hence that the life and safety of men are in his hand. But as they are very
far removed from God, and not only creep slowly, but are also more inclined to turn
to the earth than to look up to heaven, and are uncertain and ever change, so they
seek gods which are nigh to them, and when they find none, they hesitate not to
invent them.
We have elsewhere seen that the Holy Spirit uses this form of speaking, If so be,
when no doubt, but difÏculty alone is intended. It is however probable, that the pilot
in this case was perplexed and doubtful, as it is usual with ungodly men, and that
he could determine nothing certain as to any help from God; and as his mind was
thus doubtful, he says, that every means of relief were to be tried. And here, as in a
mirror, we may see how miserable is the condition of all those who call not on God
in pure faith: they indeed cry to God, for the impulse of nature thus leads them; but
they know not whether they will obtain any thing by their cries: they repeat their
prayers; but they know not whether they pass off into air or really come to God. The
pilot owns, that his mind was thus doubtful, If so be that God will be propitious to us,
call thou also on thy God. Had he been so surely convinced, as to call on the true
God, he would have certainly found it to have been no doubtful relief. However, that
nothing might be left untried, he exhorted Jonah, that if he had a God, to call upon
him. We hence see, that there are strange windings, when we do not understand the
right way. Men would rather run here and there, a hundred times, through earth and
heaven, than come to God, except where his word shines. How so? because when
they make the attempt, an insane impulse drives them in different ways; and thus
they are led here and there: ``It may be, that this may be useful to me; as that way
has not succeeded, I will try another.'' God then thus punishes all the unbelieving,
who obey not his word; for to the right way they do not keep: He indeed shows how
great a madness it is, when men give loose reins to their imaginations, and do not
submit to celestial truth.
As to the words, interpreters translate them in different ways. Some say, ``If so
JOHN CALVIN
be that God will think of us;'' others ``If so be that God will favor us. {,}עשתoshit,
is properly to shine; but when put as here in the conjugation Hithpael, it means to
render one's self clear or bright: and it is a metaphor very common in Scriptures
that the face of God is cloudy or dark, when he is not propitious to us; and again,
God is said to make bright his face and to appear serene to us, when he really shows
himself kind and gracious to us. As then this mode of speaking altogether suits this
place, I wonder that some seek extraneous interpretations. 96
He afterwards adds, Lest we perish. Here the pilot clearly owns, that he thought
the life of man to be in the power of God; for he concluded, that they must per-
ish unless the Lord brought aid. Imprinted then in the minds of all is this notion or
{προληψις}, that is, preconception, that when God is angry or adverse, we are mis-
erable, and that near destruction impends over us; and another conviction is found
to be in the hearts of men, --- that as soon as the Lord looks on us, his favor and
goodwill brings to us immediate safety. The Holy Spirit does not speak here, but a
heathen, and we know too how great is the impiety of sailors, and yet he declares
this by the impulse of nature, and there is here no feigning; for God, as I have al-
ready said, extorts by necessity a confession from the unbelieving, which they would
gladly avoid.
Now what excuse can we have, if we think our safety to be in our own hands, if
we depend not wholly on God, and if we neglect him in prosperity, as though we
could be safe without his help? These words then, spoken by the sailor, ought to be
weighed by us, 'If so be that God's face may appear bright to us, and that we perish
not. 97 It now follows ---
Jonah 1:7
7. And they said every one to his fellow, Come, and let us cast lots, that we may
know for whose cause this evil is upon us. So they cast lots, and the lot fell upon
Jonah.
7. Et dixit vir (hoc est, quisque) ad socium suum, Venite et jaciamus sortes, ut
sciamus ob quam causam 98 malum hoc nobis: et jecerunt sortes, et cecidit sors
super Jonam.
Jonah did not without reason mention this, --- that the passengers consulted to-
gether about casting lots; for we hence learn, that it was no ordinary tempest: it
96Calvin is quite right here. The verb {{תשעתיoccurs only here in Hithpael; and once as a verb in Kal, Jeremiah
5:28, ,{}ותשעthey ``shine,'' applied to fat men, and once as a participle, applied to iron, {`` }לזרב{, }תושעbright iron,'' or iron
brightened, or made to shine, Ezekiel 27:19. It occurs as a noun in three other places, ,{}תשעCanticles 5:14, {}תותשעin Job 12:5,
and {}תוחשעin Psalm 146:4. The idea of shining, brightness, or splendor, comports better with the context than that of thought,
as given in our version in the two last places. It occurs once in its Chaldec form in Daniel 6:3, and there, no doubt, it means
thought, or intention, or design. Following the usual import of the Hithpael conjugation, we may render the word here, ``It may
be, that God will himself shine upon us;'' which means ``will show himself gracious to us.'' The Septuagint gives the sense, but
not the ideal meaning of the verb, {διασωση}, may save, and so does Pagininus, placeatur --- may be pacified. Both Newcome
and Henderson are wrong here: they follow our common version. Dathius retains the right idea, ``se nobis clementem exhibeat.''
--- Ed.
97"The servants of God are sometimes surpassed, reproved, and stimulated, by those far below them, yea, even by brute animals: a salutary admonition, from whatever quarter it may come, ought never be despised." — Marckius. "If the professors of religion do an ill thing, they must expect to hear of it from those who make no such profession." — M. Henry.
98{,{בשלמיthis is a singular combination, two relatives with two prepositions --- ``through what --- for what.'' It is in a more
complete form in the next verse, {}ש{ }למי{; }באשרin the first instance stands for ,{}אשרwhat. The first may be rendered
consistently with the context, ``through whom --- for whom:'' but the context in the eight verse requires it to be ``through what
--- for what.'' --- Ed.
MINOR PROPHETS
appeared then to be a token of God's wrath. For, if strong wind arose, it would not
have been so strange, for such had been often the case; and if a tempest followed,
it would not have been a thing unusual. It must then have been something more
dreadful, as it filled men's minds with alarms so that they were conscious that God
was present as an avenger: and we know, that it is not common with ungodly men
to recognize the vengeance of Gods except in extreme dangers; but when God ex-
ecutes punishment on sins in an unusual manner, then men begin to acknowledge
God's vengeance.
This very thing, Jonah now bears witness to, They said then each to his friend,
Come, let us cast lots. Was it not an accustomed thing for them to cast lots whenever
a tempest arose? By no means. They had recourse, no doubt, to this expedient,
because they knew, that God had not raised up that tempest without some very great
and very serious cause. This is one thing: but I cannot now pursue the subjects, I
must therefore defer it until tomorrow.
Prayer.
Grant, Almighty God, that though we are here disquieted in the midst of so many
tossings, we may yet learn with tranquil minds to recumb on thy grace and promise,
by which thou testifiest that thou wilt be ever near us, and not wait until by a strong
hand thou drawest us to thyself, but that we may be, on the contrary, ever attentive
to thy providence: may we know that our life not only depends on a thread, but also
vanishes like the smoke, unless thou protectest it, so that we may recumb wholly on
thy power; and may we also, while in a cheerful and quiet state, so call on thee, that
relying on thy protection we may live in safety, and at the same time be careful, lest
torpor, which draws away our minds and thoughts from meditating on the divine life,
should creep over us, but may we, on the contrary, so earnestly seek thee, morning
and evening, and at all times, that we may through life advance towards the mark
thou hast set before us, until we at length reach that heavenly kingdom, which Christ
thy Son has obtained for us by his own blood. Amen
Lecture Seventy-fourth.
We said in yesterday's lecture, that it was a proof of extreme fear, that the sailors
and the rest cast lots; for this is not usually done, except men see themselves to be
destitute of judgment and counsel.
But it must at the same time be observed, that through error they cast lots: for
they did not know, that if God intended to punish each of them, they were worthy
even of heavier punishment. They would not indeed have thrown the blame on one
man, if each had well considered what he deserved before God. When a calamity
happens, it is the duty of every one to examine himself and his whole life before God:
then every one, from the first to the last, must confess that he bears a just judgment.
But when all demand together who is guilty before God, they thus exonerate them-
selves, as though they were innocent. And it is an evil that prevails at this day in
the world, that every one is disposed to cast the blame on others and all would have
themselves to be innocent before God; not that they can clear themselves of every
fault, but they extenuate their sins, as though God could not justly pursue them with
so much severity. As for instance, when any one perceives that he had in various
JOHN CALVIN
ways done wrong, he will indeed confess in words that he is a sinner; but were any
person to enumerate and bring forward each of his sins he would say, ``This is a light
offense, that is a venal sin; and the Lord deals not with us with so much strict justice,
that he means to bring on us instantly extreme punishment.'' When there is a slight
offense, it is immediately referred to by every one. Thus acted the sailors, of whom
Jonah now speaks. Had any one asked, whether they were wholly without fault, ev-
ery one, no doubt, would have confessed that he was a sinner before God; but yet
they cast lots as though one only was exposed to God's judgment. How so? because
they did not think that their own sins deserved so heavy a punishment. How much
soever they might have offended, --- and this they really felt and were convinced of,
--- they yet did not make so much of their sins as to think that they deserved any
such judgment. This then is the reason why they come to the lot; it was, because
every one seemed to himself to be blameless when he came to examine himself.
This passage, then, shows what is even well known by common experience, ---
that men, though they know themselves to be guilty before God, yet extenuate their
sins and promise themselves pardon, as though they could make an agreement with
God, that he should not treat them with strict justice, but deal with them indulgently.
Hence, then, is the hope of impunity, because we make light offenses of the most
grievous sins. Thus we find under the Papacy, that various modes are devised, by
which they absolve themselves before God and wipe away their stains: the sprin-
kling of holy water cleanses almost all sins; except a man be either an adulterer, or
a murderer, or a sorcerer, or ten times perjured, he hardly thinks himself to be guilty
of any crime. Then the expiations which they use, avail, as they think, to obliterate
all iniquities. Whence is this error? Even because they consider God to be like them-
selves, and think not their sins to be so great abominations before God. But this
is no new thing; for we see what happened in the time of Jonah; and from profane
histories also we may learn, that this error possessed everywhere the minds of all.
They had then daily expiations, as the Papists have their masses, their pilgrimages,
their sprinklings of holy water, and similar playthings (nugas --- trifles, fopperies):
but as under the Papacy there are reserved cases, so also in former times, when any
one had killed a father or mother, when any one had committed incest, he stood in
need of some extraordinary expiation; and if there was any one of great renown on
the earth, they applied to him, that he might find out some new kind of expiation.
An example of this error is set before us here, when they said, let us cast lots. For
except they thought that one only was guilty, and not and every one would have
publicly confessed his sins, and would then have acknowledged that such was the
mass of them as to be enough to fill heaven and earth; but this they did not. One
man must have been the offender; but no one came forward with such a confession:
hence they cast lots.
It may now be inquired, whether this mode of seeking out the truth was lawful; as
they knew not through whose fault the tempest arose, was it right to have recourse
to lots? Some have been too superstitious in condemning lots; for they have plainly
said, that all lots are wicked. Hence has come the name, lot-drawers; (sortilegi) and
they have thought that lot-drawers differ nothing from magicians and enchanters.
MINOR PROPHETS
This has proceeded from ignorance, for we know that the casting of lots has been
sometimes allowed. And Solomon certainly speaks, as of a common rule, when he
says of lots being cast into the bosom, and of the issue being from Jehovah (Proverbs
16:33.) Solomon speaks not there of the arts of magic but says that when lots are
cast, the event is not by chance but by God's providence. And when Matthias was
chosen in the place of Judas, it was done by lot, (Acts 1:26.) Did the Apostles use
this mode presumptuously? No, the Holy Spirit presided over this election. There
is then no doubt but that God approved of that casting of lots. So also Joshua had
recourse to the lot when the cause of God's displeasure was unknown, though it was
evident that God was angry with the people. Joshua, being perplexed by what was
unknown, did cast lots; and so Achan was discovered and his sacrilege. That lot no
one will dare condemn. Then what I have said is clear enough, that those have been
too superstitious who have condemned all casting of lots without exception. But we
must yet remember that lots are not to be used indiscriminately. It is a part of the
civil law, that when a common inheritance is divided, it is allowed to cast lots: as
it belongs not to this or that person to choose, each must take the part which the
lot determines. So again it is lawful to cast lot in great undertakings, when men are
anywhere sent: and when there is a division of labor, to prevent jealousy when one
wishes to choose a certain part for himself, the lot will remove all contentions. A
lot of this kind is allowed both by the word of God, and by civil laws. But when any
one adopts the lot without any reason, he is no doubt superstitious, and differs not
much from the magician or the enchanter. As for instance, when one intends to go
a journey, or to take anything in hand, if he throws into his hat a white and a black
lot, and says, ``I will see whether my going out today will be prosperous;'' now this
is of the devil; for Satan by such arts deludes wretched men. If then any one makes
use of the lot without any just reason, he is, as I have said without excuse.
But as to the other lots, such as we have now noticed, they ought not to be viewed
as precedents. For though Joshua used the lot to bring to light the cause for which
God was angry with his people, it is not yet right for us to imitate what he did; for
Joshua was no doubt led by some peculiar influence to adopt this measure. So also
as to Saul, when he cast lots, and his son Jonathan was discovered as the one who
had tasted honey, it was an especial example. The same thing must be also said of
the lot mentioned here; for as the sailors were trembling, and knew not the cause
why the tempest arose, and the fear of shipwreck seized them, they had recourse
to the lot. Were we continually to imitate such examples, such a liberty would not
certainly be pleasing, to God, nor consistent with his word. We must therefore bear in
mind, that there were some peculiar influences, whenever God's servants used the
lot in doubtful and extreme cases 99 . This then is shortly the answer to the question
--- Was it lawful for the sailors to cast lots, that they might find out the person on
account of whom they were in so much danger? I now proceed to what follows ---
Jonah 1:8-10
99Similar is the view given by Jerome. "We ought not, for this example, to put implicit confidence in lots, nor to connect with it the instance recorded in the Acts, when Matthias was chosen an Apostle by lot, since privileges granted to individuals cannot make a common rule, (cum privilegia singulorum non possint legem facere communem.")
JOHN CALVIN
8. Then said they unto him, Tell us, we pray thee, for whose cause this evil is upon
us; What is thine occupation? and whence comest thou? what is thy country? and
of what people art thou?
8. Et dixerunt ei, Narra nunc nobis quare malum hoc nobis contingerit, quodnam
opus tuum et unde venias, quae sit patria tua, et ex quo populosis?
9. And he said unto them, I am an Hebrew; and I fear the Lord, the God of heaven,
which hath made the sea and the dry land
9. Et dixit ad eos Hebraeus ego sum, et Jehovam Deum coelorum ego timeo, qui
fecit mare et aridam.
10. Then were the men exceedingly afraid, and said unto him, Why hast thou
done this? For the men knew that he fled from the presence of the Lord, because he
had told them.
10. Et timuerunt viri timore magno, et dixerunt ei, Quare hoc fecisti? Quia nover-
ant viri quod a facie Jehovae ipse fugeret; nam ipsis narraverat.
After the lot fell on Jonah, they doubted not but that he was the guilty person, any
more than if he had been a hundred times proved to be so: for why did they cast
lots, except that they were persuaded that all doubt could thus be removed, and
that what was hid could thus be brought to the light? As then this persuasion was
fixed in their minds, that the truth was elicited, and was in a manner drawn out of
darkness by the lot, they now inquire of Jonah what he had done: for they took this
as allowed, that they had to endure the tempest on his account, and also, that he,
by some detestable crime, had merited such a vengeance at Gods hand. We hence
see that they cast lots, because they fully believed that they could not otherwise find
out the crime on account of which they suffered, and also, that lots were directed
by the hidden purpose of God: for how could a certain judgment be found by lot,
except God directed it according to his own purpose, and overruled what seemed to
be especially fortuitous? These principles then were held as certain in a manner by
men who were heathens, --- that God can draw out the truth, and bring it to the light,
--- and also, that he presides over lots, however fortuitous they may be thought to
be.
This was the reason why they now asked what Jonah had done. Tell us, then, why
has this evil happened to us, what is thy work? etc. By work here I do not mean
what is wrong, but a kind of life, or, as they say, a manner of living. They then asked
how Jonah had hitherto employed himself, and what sort of life he followed. For it
afterwards follows, Tell us, whence comest thou, what is thy country, and from what
people art thou? They made inquiries, no doubt, on each particular in due order; but
Jonah here briefly records the questions.
I now come to his answer, He said to them, I am an Hebrew; and I fear Jehovah the
God of heaven, Who has created the sea and the dry land 100 Here Jonah seemed as
100This answer reverses the order of the questions. He answers the last question first. "Whence comest thou, and what is thy country?" The answer is, "I am Hebrew." The previous question was, "What is thy work," or occupation? To this he answers, "I fear Jehovah," etc. This was his calling, his work, his occupation. "Fear," of course, includes worship and service. This ought to be the work and occupation of all. But to the first question, as to what evil he had done, he gives no answer. Calvin supposes that the whole is not here related, but is to be gathered from what follows. It is, however, probable that he had previously told them, that
MINOR PROPHETS
yet to evade, yea, to disown his crime, for he professed himself to be the worshipper
of the true God. Who would not have said, but that he wished here to escape by a
subterfuge, as he set up his own piety to cover the crime before-mentioned? But
all things are not here in the first verse related; for shortly after, it follows, that
the sailors knew of Jonah's flight; and that he had himself told them, that he had
disobeyed God's call and command. There is then no doubt but that Jonah honestly
confessed his own sin, though he does not say so. But we know, that it is a mode
of speaking common among the Hebrews to add in the last place what had been
first said; and grammarians say, that it is {ὕστερον} {προτερον}, (last first,) when
anything is left out in its proper place and then added as an explanation. When
therefore Jonah says that he was an Hebrew, and worshipper of the true God, ---
this tended to aggravate his fault or crime rather than to excuse it: for had he said
only, that he was conscious of having done wrong in disobeying God, his crime would
not have appeared so atrocious; but when he begins by sayings that known to him
was the true God, the framer of heaven and earth, the God of Israel, who had made
himself known by a law given and published, --- when Jonah made this introduction,
he thereby removed from himself all pretenses as to ignorance and misconception.
He had been educated in the law, and had, from childhood, been taught who the
true God was. He could not then have fallen through ignorance; and further, he did
not, as the others, worship fictitious gods; he was an Israelite. As then he had been
brought up in true religion, his sin was the more atrocious, inasmuch as he had fallen
away from God, having despised his command, and, as it were, shaken off the yoke,
and had become a fugitive.
We now then perceive the reason why Jonah called himself here an Hebrew, and
testified that he was the worshipper of the true God. First, by saying that he was an
Hebrew, he distinguished the God of Abraham from the idols of the Gentiles: for the
religion of the chosen people was well known in all places, though disapproved by
universal consent; at the same time, the Cilicians and other Asiatics, and also the
Grecians, and the Syrians in another quarter, --- all these knew what the Israelites
gloried in, --- that the true God had appeared to their father Abraham, and then
made with him a gratuitous covenant, and also had given the law by Moses; --- all
this was sufÏciently known by report. Hence Jonah says now, that he was an Hebrew,
as though he had said, that he had no concern with any fictitious god, but with the
God of Abraham, who had formerly appeared to the holy Fathers, and who had also
given a perpetual testimony of his will by Moses. We see then how emphatically
he declared, that he was an Hebrew: secondly, he adds, I fear Jehovah the God of
heaven. By the word fear is meant worship: for it is not to be taken here as often in
other places, that is, in its strict meaning; but fear is to be understood for worship:
``I am not given'', he says, ``to various superstitions, but I have been taught in true
is, before the storm arose, that he was fleeing from the presence of the Lord: he therefore left them to conclude what evil it was which he had done. It may be inquired why he said that he was "Hebrew," and not that he was an Israelite, as the case really was, for he belonged to the ten tribes, and not to the kingdom of Judah; and Israelites, and not Hebrews seem to have been then the common name of the ten tribes. The reason may be, that as the Israelites were then for the most part idolatrous, he wished to show that he was a true descendant of the patriarchs, who were God's faithful servants, real Hebrews, passengers, sojourners, and pilgrims, as the word imparts, on the earth. — Ed.
JOHN CALVIN
religion; God has made himself known to me from my childhood: I therefore do not
worship any idol, as almost all other people, who invent gods for themselves; but I
worship God, the creator of heaven and earth.'' He calls him the God of heaven, that
is, who dwells alone as God in heaven. While the others thought heaven to be filled
with a great number of gods, Jonah here sets up against them the one true God, as
though he said, ``Invent according to your own fancy innumerable gods, there is yet
but one, who possesses the highest authority in heaven; for it is he who made the
sea and the dry land. 101 ''
We now then apprehend what Jonah meant by these words: he shows here that
it was no wonder that God pursued him with so much severity; for he had not com-
mitted a slight offense, but a fatal sin. We now see how much Jonah had profited
since the Lord had begun severely to deal with him: for inasmuch as he was asleep
yea, and insensible in his sin, he would have never repented had it not been for
this violent remedy. But when the Lord roused him by his severity, he then not only
confessed that he was guilty, or owned his guilt in a formal manner, (defunctorie ---
as ridding one's self of a business, carelessly;) but also willingly testified, as we see,
before men who were heathens, that he was the guilty man, who had forsaken the
true God, in whose worship he had been well instructed. This was the fruit of true
penitence, and it was also the fruit of the chastisement which God had inflicted on
him. If then we wish God to approve of our repentance, let us not seek evasions, as
for the most part is the case; nor let us extenuate our sins, but by a free confession
testify before the whole world what we have deserved.
It then follows, that the men feared with great fear, and said, Why hast thou done
this? 102 for they knew that he had fled from the presence of Jehovah, for he had
told them. And this is not unimportant --- that the sailors feared with great fear: for
Jonah means that they were not only moved by what he said, but also terrified, so
that they gave to the true God his glory. We indeed know that superstitious men
almost trifle with their own idols. They often entertain, it is true, strange fears, but
afterwards they flatter themselves, and in a manner cajole their own hearts, so that
they can pleasantly and sweetly smile at their own fancies. But Jonah, by saying here
that they feared with great fear, means that they were so smitten, that they really
perceived that the God of Israel was a righteous judge, and that he was not such
as other nations fancied him to be, but that he was capable of affording dreadful
examples whenever he intended to execute his vengeance. We hence see what
Jonah means, when he speaks of great fear. At the same time, two things ought to
be noticed, --- that they feared, because it was easy for them to conclude from the
Prophet's words, that the God of Israel was the only creator of heaven and earth,
--- and then, that it was a great fear, which, as I have said, must be considered as
serious dread, since the fear which the unbelieving have soon vanishes.
101"Non Deos quos invocatis, et qui salvare non possunt, sed Deum coeli qui mare fecit et aridam, mare in quo fugio, aridam de qua fugio," etc. — Jerome.
102{{}זאת-{}עשית{, מה--- ``What this thou hast done?'' ``{τί} {τουτο} {εποίησας} --- what this thou hast done?'' ---
Sept. ``Quid (i.e., cur) hoc fecisti --- why hast thou done this?'' --- Marckius; so Jerome, and Drusius, and Dathius. ``What is this
thou hast done?'' --- Henderson. It is not a question, requiring a reason for what he had done, but rather an exclamation --- ``What
an evil is this which thou has done!'' They judged of it by the effects; for they knew before that he had fled from the presence of
the Lord; and now they perceived how great an evil it was. --- Ed.
MINOR PROPHETS
But with regard to the reproof which the sailors and other passengers gave to
Jonah, the Lord returned to him this as a reward which he had deserved. He had fled
from the presence of God; he had thus, as we have said taken away from God his
supreme power: for what becomes of God's authority when any one of us rejects his
commands and flees away from his presence? Since Jonah then sought to shun God,
he was now placed before men. There were present heathens, and even barbarians,
who rebuked him for his sin, who were his censors and judges. And the same thing we
see happening often. For they who do not willingly obey God and his word, afterwards
abandon themselves to many flagrant sins, and their baseness becomes evident
to all. As, then, they cannot bear God to be their Master and Teacher, they are
constrained to bear innumerable censors; for they are branded by the reproaches
of the vulgar, they are pointed at every where by the finger, at length they are
conducted to the gallows, and the executioner becomes their chief teacher. The case
was similar, as we see, with Jonah: the pilot had before reproved his torpor, when he
said, Do thou also call on thy God; what meanest thou, O sleeper? thou liest down
here like a log of wood, and yet thou sees us perplexed and in extreme danger. As,
then, the pilot first so sharply inveighed against Jonah, and then all reproved him
with one mouth, we certainly find that he was made subject to the condemnation
of all, because he tried to deprive God of his supreme power. If at any time the
same thing should happen to us, if God should subject us to the reproaches of men
when we seek to avoid his judgment, let us not wonder. But as Jonah here calmly
answers, and raises no clamor, and shows no bitterness, so let every one of us, in the
true spirit of meekness, acknowledge our own sins; when charged with them, were
even children our condemners, or were even the most contemptible of the people to
rise up against us, let us patiently bear all this; and let us know that these kinds of
censors befall us through the providence of God. It now follows ---
Jonah 1:11-12
11. Then said they unto him, What shall we do unto thee, that the sea may be
calm unto us? for the sea wrought, and was tempestuous.
11. Et dixerunt ad eum, Quid faciemus tibi ut resideat mare a nobis? Quia mare
ibat (id est, commovebatur,) et erat tempestuosum.
12. And he said unto them, Take me up, and cast me forth into the sea; so shall
the sea be calm unto you: for I know that for my sake this great tempest is upon
you.
12. Et dixit illis, Tollite me, et projicite me in mare, et residebit mare a vobis; quia
novi ego, quod propter me tempestas magna haec contingerit super vos (hoc est,
sit super vos.)
The sailors asked counsel of Jonah; and hence it appears that they were touched
with so much fear as not to dare to do any thing to him. We hence see how much
they had improved almost in an instant, since they spared an Israelite, because they
acknowledged that among that people the true God was worshipped, the supreme
King of heaven and earth: for, without a doubt, it was this fear that restrained them
from throwing Jonah immediately into the sea. For since it was certain that through
his fault God was displeased with them all, why was it that they did not save them-
JOHN CALVIN
selves by such an expiation? That they then delayed in so great a danger, and dared
not to lay hold instantly on Jonah, was an evident proof that they were restrained,
as I have said, by the fear of God.
They therefore inquire what was to be done, What shall we do to thee, that the
sea may be still to us? 103 for the sea was going, etc. By going Jonah means,
that the sea was turbulent: for the sea is said to rest when it is calm, but when it
is turbulent, then it is going, and has various movements and tossings. The sea,
then, was going and very tempestuous 104 We hence see that God was not satisfied
with the disgrace of Jonah, but he purposed to punish his offense still more. It was
necessary that Jonah should be led to the punishment which he deserved, though
afterwards, he was miraculously delivered from death, as we shall see in its proper
place.
Jonah then answers, Take me, and throw me into the sea, and it will be still to you.
It may be asked whether Jonah ought to have of his own accord offered himself to die;
for it seemed to be an evidence of desperation. He might, indeed, have surrendered
himself to their will; but here he did, as it were, stimulate them, ``Throw me into
the sea,'' he says; ``for ye cannot otherwise pacify God than by punishing me.'' He
seemed like a man in despair, when he would thus advance to death of his own
accord. But Jonah no doubt knew that he was doomed to punishment by God. It is
uncertain whether he then entertained a hope of deliverance, that is, whether he
confidently relied at this time on the grace of God. But, however it may have been,
we may yet conclude, that he gave himself up to death, because he knew and was
fully persuaded that he was in a manner summoned by the evident voice of God.
And thus there is no doubt but that he patiently submitted to the judgment which
the Lord had allotted to him. Take me, then, and throw me into the sea
Then he adds, The sea will be to you still Here Jonah not only declares that God
would be pacified by his death, because the lot had fallen upon him, but he also
acknowledges that his death would sufÏce as an expiation, so that the tempest would
subside: and then the reason follows --- I know, he says, that on my account is this
great tempest come upon you. When he says that he knew this, he could not refer
to the lot, for that knowledge was common to them all. But Jonah speaks here by
the prophetic spirit: and he no doubt confirms what I have before referred to, --- that
the God of Israel was the supreme and only King of heaven and earth. This certainty
of knowledge, then, of which Jonah speaks, must be referred to his own consciences
and to the teaching of that religion in which he had been instructed.
And now we may learn from these words a most useful instruction: Jonah does
not here expostulate with God, nor contumeliously complain that God punished him
103Literally, "that the sea may cease from upon us." The waves were rolling over them; hence {,{מעלינוfrom upon us. That the sea may be calm around us, is to give a meaning to the word which it never has. --- Ed.
104{{{`` }ומער{, }הולך{ }הים{ כיὅτι} {η} {θαλασσα} {επορευετο} {και} {εξηγειρε} {μαλλον} {κλυδωνα} --- for the sea
went and more raised the swell.'' --- Sept. ``Quia mare ibat et intumescebat; --- for the sea did go and swell.'' --- Jerome, Grotius,
and the Vulgate. ``For the sea grew more and more tempestuous.'' --- Newcome. The verb ,{}הולךconnected as here with another
verb, does not always mean increase, but continuance. See Genesis 8:3; Esther 9:4. Literally it is, ``For the sea was going on, and
was tempestuous,'' that is, it continued to be tempestuous. An increase of violence seemed not to have been hardly possible, for
a shipwreck was previously dreaded. Jerome, in a strain rather imaginary, but striking, says, ``For the sea went and did swell, ---
it went, as it had been commanded, --- it went, to manifest the vengeance of its Lord, --- it went, to prosecute a runaway Prophet;
and it swelled at every moment, and rose, as it were, in larger billows, while the mariners were delaying, to show that they could
not put off the vengeance of its Creator.'' --- Ed.
MINOR PROPHETS
too severely, but he willingly bears his charged guilt and his punishment, as he did
before when he said, ``I am the worshipper of the true God.'' How could he confess
the true God, whose great displeasure he was then experiencing? But Jonah, we see,
was so subdued, that he failed not to ascribe to God his just honor; though death
was before his eyes, though God's wrath was burning, we yet see, that he gave to
God, as we have said, the honor due to him. So the same thing is repeated in this
place, Behold, he says, I know that on my account has this great tempest happened
He who takes to himself all the blame, does not certainly murmur against God. It
is then a true confession of repentance, when we acknowledge God, and willingly
testify before men that he is just, though, according to the judgment of our flesh,
he may deal violently with us. When however we give to him the praise due to his
justice, we then really show our penitence; for unless God's wrath brings us down to
this humble state of mind, we shall be always full of bitterness; and, however silent
we may be for a time, our heart will be still perverse and rebellious. This humility,
then, always follows repentance, --- the sinner prostrates himself before God, and
willingly admits his own sin, and tries not to escape by subterfuges.
And it was no wonder that Jonah thus humbled himself; for we see that the sailors
did the same: when they said that lots were to be cast, they added at the same
time, ``Come ye and let us cast lots, that we may know why this evil has happened
to us.'' They did not accuse God, but constituted him the Judge; and thus they
acknowledged that he inflicted a just punishment. And yet every one thought himself
to have been innocent; for however conscience might have bitten them, still no one
considered himself to have been guilty of so great a wickedness as to subject him
to God's vengeance. Though, then, the sailors thought themselves exempt from
any great sin, they yet did not contend with God, but allowed him to be their Judge.
Since then they, who were so barbarous, confined themselves within these bounds of
modesty, it was no wonder that Jonah, especially when he was roused and began to
feel his guilt, and was also powerfully restrained by God's hand, --- it was no wonder
that he now confessed that he was guilty before God, and that he justly suffered
a punishment so heavy and severe. We ought then to take special notice of this,
--- that he knew that on his account the storm happened or that the sea was so
tempestuous against them all. The rest we defer until tomorrow.
Prayer.
Grant, Almighty God that as thou urgest us daily to repentance and each of us is
also stung with the consciousness of his own sins, --- grant, that we may not grow
stupid in our vices, nor deceive ourselves with empty flatteries, but that each of us
may, on the contrary carefully examine his own life and then with one mouth and
heart confess that we are all guilty not only of light offenses, but of such as deserve
eternal death, and that no other relief remains for us but thine infinite mercy and
that we may so seek to become partakers of that grace which has been once offered
to us by thy Son, and is daily offered to us by his Gospel, that, relying on him as our
Mediator, we may not cease to entertain hope even in the midst of thousand deaths,
until we be gathered into that blessed life, which has been procured for us by the
blood of thy only Son. Amen.
JOHN CALVIN
Lecture Seventy-fifth
Jonah 1:13-14
13. Nevertheless the men rowed hard to bring it to the land; but they could not:
for the sea wrought, and was tempestuous against them.
13. Et quaerebant (vel, moliebantur, proprie est fodiebant) viri ut reducerent
navem, et non poterant; quia mare ibat et turbulentum erat super eos.
14. Wherefore they cried unto the Lord, and said, We beseech thee, O Lord, we
beseech thee, let us not perish for this man's life, and lay not upon us innocent blood:
for thou, O Lord, hast done as it pleased thee.
14. Et clamaverunt ad Jehovam, et dixerunt, Obsecro, Jehova, ne quaeso, perea-
mus propter animam viri hujus, et ne des super nos (hoc est, ne ponas) sanguinem
innocentem; quia, tu Jehova, sicuti placitum tibi est, fecisti.
This verse shows that the sailors and the rest were more inclined to mercy, when
they saw that the holy Prophet was willing to undergo the punishment which he had
deserved. When therefore, he confessed that he was guilty, and refused not to be
punished, they became anxious to spare his life, though they were heathens, and
also for the most part barbarians: and as each of them could not but be frightened
with his immediate danger, the wonder is increased, that they had such regard for
the life of one who alone was in fault, and who had now freely confessed this. But
the Lord so turned their hearts, that they now saw more clearly how grievous a sin
it was to flee away from the call of God, and not to yield obedience, as we have
before observed, to his command. Many think that this is a light offense, and readily
indulge themselves in it: but it is not in the power of men to weigh sins; the balance is
deceitful when men estimate their sins according to their own judgment. Let us then
learn to ascribe to God his own honor, --- that he alone is Judge, and is far above us,
and can alone determine how grievous or how slight any sin is. But common sense,
except when men willfully deceive themselves by vain flatteries, clearly teaches
this, --- that it is no light offense when we evade the command of God; for, as we
have stated, men do thus take away from God his supreme authority; and what is
left to God, when he governs not the creatures whom he has formed, and whom he
sustains by his power? The Lord, then, designed to show here, that his displeasure
could not be otherwise pacified than by drowning Jonah in the sea; though, as we
shall presently see, he had something greater in view. But, in the meantime, this is
worthy of being observed, --- that the Lord intended to make Jonah an example, that
all may now know that he is not to be trifled with, but that he ought to be obeyed as
soon as he commands any thing.
The word which the Prophet uses has been variously explained by interpreters.
{,}חתרchetar, is properly, to dig; so that some think it to be a metaphorical expres-
sion, as rowers seem to dig the sea; and this sense is not unsuitable. Others carry
the metaphor still higher, --- that the sailors searched out or sought means by which
they might drive the ship to land. But the other metaphor, as being less remote, is
more to be approved. The Latins call it to toil, (moliri) when the rowers not only apply
gently their oars, but when they make a greater effort. The sailors, then, toiled to
MINOR PROPHETS
bring back the ship 105 But for what purpose? To spare the life of the man who had
already confessed that he was guilty before God, and that the storm, which threat-
ened them all with a shipwreck, had arisen through his fault: but he says that they
could not, for the sea was tempestuous, as we have already seen in our yesterday's
lecture.
I come now to the second verse. They cried, he says, to Jehovah and said, We
beseech 106 , Jehovah, let us not perish, we pray, on account of the life of this man,
and give not, that is, lay not, innocent blood upon us 107 The Prophet now expresses
more fully why the sailors toiled so much to return to port, or to reach some shore,
--- they were already persuaded that Jonah was a worshipper of the true God, and
not only this, but that he was a Prophet, inasmuch as he had told them, as we have
seen, that he had fled from the presence of God, because he feared to execute
the command which we have noticed. It was therefore pious (reverentia) fear that
restrained the sailors, knowing, as they did, that Jonah was the servant of the true
God. They, at the same time, saw, that Jonah was already standing for his sin before
God's tribunal, and that punishment was demanded. This they saw; but yet they
wished to preserve his life.
Now this place shows, that there is by nature implanted in all an abhorrence of
cruelty; for however brutal and sanguinary many men may be, they yet cannot divest
themselves of this feeling, --- that the effusion of human blood is hateful. Many, at
the same time, harden themselves; but they apply a searing iron: they cannot shake
off horror, nay, they feel that they are detested by God and by men, when they thus
shed innocent blood. Hence it was that the sailors, who in other respects hardly
retained a drop of humanity, fled as suppliants to God, when the case was about the
death of man; and they said, {,}אנה{ }יהוהane Ieve, `We beseech Jehovah:' and the
expression is repeated; which shows that the sailors earnestly prayed that the Lord
would not impute this as a sin to them.
We hence see that though these men had never known the doctrine of the law,
they were yet so taught by nature that they knew that the blood of man is dear and
precious in the sight of God. And as to us, we ought not only to imitate these sailors,
but to go far beyond them: for not only ought the law of nature to prevail among
us, but also the law of God; for we hear what God had formerly pronounced with his
own mouth,
`Whosoever sheddeth man's blood, shed shall his blood be,' (Genesis 9:6.)
And we know also the reason why God undertakes to protect the life of men, and
that is, because they have been created in his image. Whosoever then uses violence
against the life of man, destroys, as far as he can the image of the eternal God. Since
it is so, ought not violence and cruelty to be regarded by us with double horror? We
105Literally, "and the men labored to return to dry land." The ideal meaning of {{חתרis to dig,
or to dig through, Job 24:16; Ezekiel 12:7: but it is here in its secondary sense of laboring or toiling. ,{}להשיבto return, must be
taken here intransitively, though generally it bears in Hiphil a transitive sense. ``{Καί} {παρεβιαζοντο} {οι} {ανδρες} {του}
{επιστρεψαι} {προς} {την} {γην} --- And the men strove to return to land.'' --- Sept. And the men rowed hard to regain the
land.'' --- Henderson. --- Ed.
106{{אנהand {}נאare particles of entreaty or exclamation, and may be rendered, ``I, or, we pray,'' according to the context.
Here they should be, ``We pray.'' They are sometimes rendered, Oh! Alas! Now. --- Ed.
107"Hoc est, ne nobis imputes caedem viri justi — Impute not unto us the slaughter of a just man." — Marckius. See Judges 9:24; Matthew 27:24. — Ed.
JOHN CALVIN
ought also to learn another thing from this doctrine: God proves by this remarkable
testimony what paternal feeling he manifests towards us by taking our life under his
own guardianship and protection; and he even proves that we are really the objects
of his care, inasmuch as he will execute punishment and vengeance when any one
unjustly injures us. We then see that this doctrine on the one side restrains us, that
we may not attempt anything against the lives of our brethren; and, on the other
side, it assures us of the paternal love of God, so that being allured by his kindness
we may learn to deliver up ourselves wholly to his protection.
I now come to the last clause of the verse, For thou, Jehovah, hast done as it has
pleased thee. The sailors clearly prove here that they did not willingly shed innocent
blood. How then can these two things agree, --- that the blood was innocent, and that
they were blameless? They adopted this excuse, --- that they obeyed God's decree,
that they did nothing rashly or according to their own inclinations, but followed what
the Lord had prescribed: though, indeed, God had not spoken, yet what he required
was really evident; for as God demanded an expiation by the death of Jonah, so he
designed to continue the tempest until he was thrown into the deep. These things
the sailors now put forward. But we must notice, that they did not cast the blame
on God, as blasphemers are wont to do, who, while they seek to exempt themselves
from blame, find fault with God, or at least put him in their own place: ``Why then,''
they say, ``does he sit as a judge to condemn us for that of which he is himself
the author, since he has so decreed?'' At this day there are many fanatics who thus
speak, who obliterate all the difference between good and evil, as if lust were to them
the law. They at the same time make a covert of God's providence. Jonah wished
not that such a thing should be thought of the sailors; but as they well understood
that God governed the world justly, though his counsels be secret and cannot be
comprehended by us, --- as, then, they were thus convinced, they thus strengthened
themselves; and though they gave to God the praise due to his justice, they at the
same time trembled lest they should be guilty of innocent blood.
We now then see how reverently these men spoke of God, and that so much
religious fear possessed them, that they did not rob God of his praise, Thou Jehovah,
they said, hast done as it has pleased thee 108 Do they here accuse God of tyranny,
as though he confounded all things without any cause or reason? By no means.
They took this principle as granted, --- that the will of God is right and just, yea, that
whatever God has decreed is beyond doubt just. Being then thus persuaded, they
took the will of God as the rule for acting rightly: ``As thou, Jehovah, hast done as
108Some render this sentence in the present tense, as Marckius, "Tu enim Jehovah sicut vis facis — for thou, Jehovah, doest as thou willest." The verbs are in the past tense, but this tense in Hebrew includes often both times, — "Thou hast done and doest, as thou hast willed and willest:" and this seems to be the full import of the passage. Mercerius, quoted by Poole, gives this paraphrase, — "All these things have taken place through thine appointment, — that Jonah came to the ship, that a storm has been raised, that the lot has fallen on Jonah, and that he has confessed his sin: we unwillingly do this dreadful deed, but this is understood to be thy will." Drusius took the words as referring to the time then present, for he expresses the meaning thus: "Tu vis ut in mare dejeciatur: fiat igitur quod vis; nam voluntati tuae quis resistat? Thou willest that he should be cast into the sea: be then that done which thou willest; for who can resist thy will?" According to this view, it is an expression of acquiescence in God's will respecting Jonah. But both Newcome and Henderson retain our common version. Dathius reads, "Tu enim, O Jova, pro arbitratu tuo agis. — For thou, O Jehovah, doest according to thine own will." — Ed.
MINOR PROPHETS
it seemed good to thee, so we are blameless.'' But at the same time it is proper
also to add, that the sailors do not vainly talk here of the secret providence of God
in order to impute murder to him, as ungodly men and profane cavilers do at this
day: but as the Lord made known his purpose to them, they show that the storm and
the tempest could not be otherwise calmed and quieted than by drowning Jonah:
they therefore took this knowledge of God's purpose as a certain rule to follow. At
the same time they fled, as I have said, to God, and supplicated his mercy, lest in a
matter so perplexed and difÏcult he should involve them in the same punishment, as
they were constrained to shed innocent blood. We now then apprehend the meaning
of this passage. Now it follows ---
Jonah 1:15
15. So they took up Jonah, and cast him forth into the sea: and the sea ceased
from her raging.
15. Et sustulerunt Jonam, et projecerunt in mare; et stetit mare a fervore suo.
Jonah shows here that the tempest arose through his fault; for the issue proved
this with certainty. The sailors had not only cast lots, but after Jonah was thrown
into the sea the storm calmed, and the sea became still, --- this sudden change suf-
ficiently proved that Jonah was the only cause why they were so nearly shipwrecked.
For if the sea had not calmed immediately, but after some interval of time, it might
have been ascribed to chance: but as the sea instantly rested, it could not be other-
wise said than that Jonah was condemned by the judgment of God. He was indeed
cast into the sea by the hands of men; but God so presided, that nothing could be
ascribed to men, but that they executed the judgment which the Lord had openly
demanded and required from them. This, then, is the import of this verse. He now
adds ---
Jonah 1:16
16. Then the men feared the Lord exceedingly, and offered a sacrifice unto the
Lord, and made vows.
16. Et imuerunt viri timore magno Jehovam, et sacrificarunt sacrificium Jehovae,
et voverunt vota.
Jonah now declares what fruit followed; and first, he says, that the sailors feared
the true God. He uses here the proper name of God, Jehovah; for, as we have already
seen, they were addicted to their own superstitions, as each of them cried to his own
god: but it was a false notion; for they went astray after their own superstitions. The
Prophet now points out the difference, --- that they began to fear the true God. At
the same time it may have been, that they afterwards relapsed into their own errors;
yet it ought not to be overlooked that the Lord constrained them to entertain such
a fear. The Hebrews, as it has been already said, sometimes take fear in a general
sense, as meaning worship. It is said in 2 Kings 17:32,33, of the new inhabitants of
the land of Canaan, who had been removed from Persia, that they ``feared God,''
that is, that they imitated the legal rite in sacrifices while worshipping God. But
there is an addition in this place, which shows that the meaning is more restricted,
for it is said to have been a great fear. Then Jonah means that the sailors and the
passengers were not only touched with the fear of God, but that they also had the
JOHN CALVIN
impression that the God of Israel was the supreme King of heaven and earth, that he
held all things under his hand and government. This fear no doubt led them to true
knowledge so as to know that they were previously deluded, and that whatever the
world had invented was mere delusion, and that the gods devised by the fancies of
men were nothing else but mere idols. We now then perceive what Jonah means.
But we must here say somewhat more at large of the fear of God. When the
Scripture speaks of the fear of God, it sometimes means the outward worship, and
sometimes true piety. When it designates the outward worship, it is no great thing;
for hypocrites usually perform their ceremonies, and thus testify that they worship
God: but yet, as they obey not God with sincerity of heart, nor bring faith and repen-
tance, they do nothing but trifle. But the fear of God is often taken for true piety; and
then it is called the beginning or the chief point of wisdom, or even wisdom itself, as
it is in Job 28:28. The fear of God, then, or that pious regard (reventia) by which the
faithful willingly submit themselves to God, is the chief part of wisdom.
But it also often happens that men are touched by servile fear, so as to have
a desire to satisfy God, while, at the same time, they have even a wish to draw
him down from his throne. This servile fear is full of perverseness; for they, at the
same time, champ the bridle, as they cannot exempt themselves from his power and
authority. Such was this fear of which Jonah speaks; for all those whom he mentions
were not suddenly so changed as to devote themselves to the true God: they had not
indeed made such a progress as this; it was not such real and thorough conversion of
the soul as changed them into new men. How, then, is it said that they feared? even
because the Lord extorted from them a confession at the time: it may have been that
some of them afterwards made a greater progress; but I speak now generally of the
whole. Because then it is said that they feared God, we are not hence to conclude
that they really repented, so as to become wholly devoted to the God of Israel. But
yet they were constrained to know and to confess that the God of Israel was the only
and the true God. How so? because that dreadful judgment filled them with terror,
so that they perceived that he alone was God who had heaven and earth under his
command.
We now then see how that fear is to be viewed, of which Jonah speaks. If they
afterwards made no farther progress, it only served to condemn them, that these
sailors, having perceived by a sure evidence who the only true God was, mingled
with the worship of him their wicked and ungodly superstitions, as many do even
in our day. The Papists hold this truth in common with us, --- that there is one true
God, the framer of heaven and earth, yea, they come still nearer, and say that the
only-begotten Son of God is our Redeemer; but yet we see how they contaminate
the whole worship of God, and turn his truth to a lie; for they blend the worship of
God with that of idols, so that there is nothing pure among them. But this main truth
is however of great service, when the Lord stretches forth his hand to miserable
men; for if there was no conviction of this under the Papacy that the word of God is
to be believed, and that Christ the Son of God is the King and Head of the Church,
we must have had to employ against them a long circuitous argument; but now an
access to them is easy: when we bring against them the Law, and the Prophets,
MINOR PROPHETS
and the Gospel, they are restrained by some measure of reverence, and dare not to
reject the authority of the Supreme God. We then see, that this fear is in itself of no
great value, if men remain fixed in their own mire; but when it is the Lords purpose
afterwards to call them, this fear opens for them the door to true godliness. So it may
have been, as I have said, that some of these sailors and passengers had afterwards
made better progress. But this fear of itself could have done nothing more than to
convict them, so that no excuse could avail them before God's tribunal; for a proof
had been given them, by which they might know that there was no other God than
He who was then worshipped by the chosen people.
He afterwards adds that they sacrificed a sacrifice to Jehovah 109 They were ac-
customed before to offer sacrifices to their idols; but now they testified that they
worshipped the God of Israel; for this is what sacrifices signify. But it must at the
same time be observed that they thereby expressed this confession, that God con-
firmed the truth of his word. When, therefore, they perceived that this whole affair
was ordered by the will of God, they were constrained to bear witness that he was
the true God: this was the end and design of sacrifices.
It may, however, be inquired, whether that sacrifice pleased God. It is certain
that whenever men bring forward their own devices, whatever is otherwise worthy
of approbation in what they do, it cannot but be corrupted and vitiated by such a
mixture; for God, as it is well known, allows of no associate. And we must remember
that which is said in Ezekiel, `Go ye, sacrifice to the devil, and not to me!' God there
repudiates all the sacrifices which were wont to be offered by the people of Israel,
because superstitions were blended with them. God then shows that such a mixture
is so disapproved by him, that he chooses rather that the superstitious should wholly
give themselves up to the devils than that his holy name should be thus profaned.
Hence this sacrifice of itself was not lawful, nor could it have pleased God; but it was,
so to speak, by accident and extrinsically that this sacrifice pleased God, --- because
he designed thus to make known his glory. Though, then, he repudiated the sailors
themselves, yet it was his will that this act should bear a testimony to his glory: as,
for instance, a deed is often vicious with regard to men, and yet in an accidental way
it tends to set forth the glory of God.
And this ought to be carefully borne in mind: there is at this day a dispute, yea a
fierce contest, about good works: and the Sophists ever deceive themselves by false
reasoning; ({παραλογισμῶ} --- sophistry) for they suppose that works morally good
are either preparatory to the obtaining of grace, or meritorious towards attaining
eternal life. When they speak of works morally good, they refer only to the outward
deeds; they regard not the fountain or motive, nor even the end. When the heart
109"The first," says Adam Clarke, "that perhaps was ever offered on board a vessel, since the ark floated on the waters of the great deluge." How uselessly have learned men often employed their talents, trying to improve what is simply and plainly related. Jerome allegorizes this act of the mariners, and says that their sacrifice was that of praise. A Jewish Rabbi, Jonathan, makes an addition to the sentence — that they said that they would sacrifice to Jehovah; and Grotius adopts his addition. Another Rabbi, Elieser, has fabricated a fine tale, that they returned immediately to Joppa, went up to Jerusalem, and were circumcised! The fact alone is stated here, as to when and where we know nothing, and it signifies nothing to us; only that the most obvious import of the narrative is, that they did offer a sacrifice on board the vessel, immediately after the storm ceased. — Ed.
JOHN CALVIN
of man is impure, unquestionably the work which thence flows is also ever impure,
and is an abomination before God. When the end also is wrong, when it is not man's
purpose to worship God in sincerity of heart, the deed, however splendid it may
appear, is filth in the presence of God. Hence the Sophists are greatly deceived,
and are very childish, when they say, that works morally good please God, and are
preparatory to grace and meritorious of salvation. But can this be, that a work does
not please God, and yet avails to set forth his glory? I answer, that these two things
are perfectly consistent, and are in no way so contrary that they cannot be easily
reconciled. For God by accident, as I have said, accommodates to his own glory what
is in itself vicious; I say, in itself, that is, with respect to men. Thus even under the
Papacy the Christian name serves to the glory of God, for there ever remains some
remnant. And how has it happened, that at this time the light of the Gospel has
shone forth, and that true religion has been restored at least in many places? Even
because the Lord has never suffered true religion to be extinguished, though it has
been corrupted: for baptism under the Papacy, the very name of Christ as well as of
the Church, and the very form of religion --- all these have become wholly useless;
but they have accidentally, as I have said, been of great service. When, therefore,
we regard the priests (sacrificos --- the sacrificers) as well as the people, we find
nothing but a perverted worship of God; they presumptuously and indiscriminately
add their own superstitions and devices to the word of God, and there is nothing
pure among them. Since then they thus blend together heaven and earth, they do
nothing but provoke God's wrath against themselves.
We now then understand why Jonah says that the sailors and passengers offered
sacrifices. We must, at the same time, remember what I have lately said, that sac-
rifice was, as it were, a symbol of Divine worship: for even from the beginning this
notion prevailed among all, that sacrifices were to be offered to none but to God; and
heathens in all ages had no other opinion of sacrifices, but that they thus manifested
their piety towards their gods. Since then sacrifices have been from the beginning
offered to God alone, it follows, that they at this day are wholly inexcusable who join
associates to God, and offer their sacrifices to mortals or to angels. How can this be
borne in Christians, since heathens have ever confessed that they regarded those as
gods to whom they were wont to offer their sacrifices? Now then, since God declares
that the chief sacrifice to him is invocations as we read in Psalm 1:1, the whole of
religion under the Papacy must be perverted, as they pray not only to God but even
to creatures: for they hesitate not to flee to Peter or to Paul, yea, to their own saints,
real and fictitious, in the same manner as to the only true God. Inasmuch, then,
as they rob God of this chief right, we see that they tread under foot the whole of
religion by this sacrilege. Since, then, heathen men testified that they worshipped
Jehovah, the God of Israel, by their external sacrifice, let us learn at this day not
to transfer the rightful honor of God to creatures; but let this honor of being alone
prayed to, be wholly and entirely reserved for him; for this, as we have said is the
chief and the most valuable sacrifice which he demands and approves.
But Jonah also adds, that the sailors vowed vows to God This is a part of thanks-
giving; for we know that the object, not only of the holy fathers, but also of the
MINOR PROPHETS
superstitious, in making vows, has ever been this --- to bind themselves to God, and
also to express their gratitude, and to make it evident, that they owed to him both
their life and every favor bestowed on them. This then has in all ages been the reason
for making, vows. When, therefore the sailors vowed a vow to God, they renounced
their own idols. They cried before to their gods; but now they understand that they
had cried in vain, and without any benefit, as they had to no purpose uttered their
cries in the air. Now then they made their vows to the only true God; for they knew
that their lives were in his hand.
And here we may easily learn how foolishly the Sophists of our day heap together
all passages of Scripture which make any mention of vows; for they think that we are
to be overwhelmed by that term alone, when we condemn their false vows. But no
one of us has ever denied or does deny, that it is lawful to vows provided it be done
according to what the Law and the Gospel prescribes. What we hold is, --- that men
are not thoughtlessly to obtrude on God what comes uppermost, but that they are
to vow what he approves, and also, that they regard a right and just end in vowing,
even to testify their gratitude to God. But in common vows which are made, there
are the grossest errors, as also in the whole of the Papal worship; for they vow this
and that to God indiscriminately, and regard not what the Lord requires or approves:
one, on certain days, abstains from meat; another combs not his head: and a third
trots away on some pilgrimage. All these things, we know, are rejected by God. And
further, when they vow nothing but what God approves, it is yet done for a wrong
purpose: for they seek in this way to bind God to themselves, and the diabolical
conceit of merits ever possesses their minds. And, lastly, they consider not what
they can do; they vow perpetual celibacy when at the same time incontinence burns
them; and thus we see that, like the giants, they fight with God himself; and, in the
meantime, they allow themselves an unbridled liberty as to whatever they vow.
Let us then know, that whenever the Scripture speaks of vows, we are to take for
granted these two principles, --- that vows as they appertain to the worship of God,
ought not to be taken without any discretion, according to men's fancy, but ought
to be regulated and guided by God's rule, so that men may bring nothing to God,
except what they know to be approved by his word, --- and then, that they are to
keep in view the right end, even to show by this symbol their gratitude to God, to
testify that they are preserved by his kindness, as was the case with these sailors,
who made a vow because they thought that none but God was their deliverer; and
so they testified, that when they came safe to shore, they would make it known that
the God of Israel had showed mercy to them. It follows ---
Jonah 1:17
17. Now the Lord had prepared a great fish to swallow up Jonah. And Jonah was
in the belly of the fish three days and three nights.
17. Et paravit Jehova piscem magnum ad vorandum Jonam; et fuit Jonas in vis-
ceribus piscis tribus diebus et tribus noctibus.
What the Prophet here briefly relates ought to be carefully weighed by us. It is
easily passed over, when we read in a few words that Jonah was swallowed up by a
fish, and that he was there three days and three nights: but though Jonah neither
JOHN CALVIN
amplified or illustrated in a rhetorical manner what is overlooked by us, nor adopted
any display of words, but spoke of the event as though it were an ordinary thing,
we yet see what the event itself really was: Jonah was cast into the sea. He had
been previously not only a worshipper of the true God, but also a Prophet, and had
no doubt faithfully discharged his ofÏce; for God would not have resolved to send
him to Nineveh, had he not conferred on him suitable gifts; and he knew him to be
qualified for undertaking a burden so great and so important. As Jonah then had
faithfully endeavored to serve God, and to devote himself to him through the whole
of his past life, now that he is cast into the sea as one unworthy of the common light,
that he is cut off from the society of men, and that he seems unworthy of undergoing
a common or an ordinary punishment, but is exiled, as it were, from the world, so as
to be deprived of light and air, as parricides, to whom formerly, as it is well-known,
this punishment was allotted --- as then Jonah saw that he was thus dealt with, what
must have been the state of his mind?
Now that he tells us that he was three whole days in the inside of the fish, it is
certain that the Lord had so awakened him that he must have endured continual
uneasiness. He was asleep before he was swallowed by the fish; but the Lord drew
him, as it were, by force to his tribunal, and he must have suffered a continual ex-
ecution. He must have every moment entertained such thoughts as these, ``Why
does he now thus deal with thee? God does not indeed slay thee at once, but intends
to expose thee to innumerable deaths.'' We see what Job says, that when he died he
would be at rest and free from all evils, (Job 14:6.) Jonah no doubt continually boiled
with grief, because he knew that God was opposed to and displeased with him: he
doubtless said to himself, ``Thou hast to do, not with men, but with God himself,
who now pursues thee, because thou hast become a fugitive from his presence.''
As Jonah then must have necessarily thus thought within himself of God's wrath, his
case must have been harder than hundred deaths, as it had been with Job and with
many others, who made it their chief petition that they might die. Now as he was not
slain but languished in continual torments, it is certain that no one of us can com-
prehend, much less convey in words what must have come into the mind of Jonah
during these three days. But I cannot now discuss what remains; I must therefore
defer it to the next lecture.
Prayer.
Grant, Almighty God, that as thou settest before us this day thy holy Prophet as an
awful example of thy wrath against all who are rebellious and disobedient to thee,
--- O grant, that we may learn so to subject all our thoughts and affections to thy
word, that we may not reject any thing that pleases thee, but so learn both to live
and to die to thee, that we may ever regard thy will, and undertake nothing but what
thou hast testified is approved by thee, so that we may fight under thy banners, and
through life obey thy word, until at length we reach that blessed rest which has been
obtained for us by the blood of thy only begotten Son, and is laid up for us in heaven
through the hope of his Gospel. Amen.
lecture Seventy-sixth
In yesterday's lecture we began to explain the last verse of the first chapter, in
MINOR PROPHETS
which Jonah said, that a fish was prepared by the Lord We stated that it could not
have been otherwise but that Jonah, when he was in the inside of the fish, must have
felt the most grievous agonies, as though he had been doomed to perpetual death,
as long as he was deprived of the enjoyment of God's favor: and this fact will be
further explained when his song comes under our consideration.
But now there is a question to be considered and that is whether God created a
fish to receive Jonah. The expression, that God prepared a fish 110 seems indeed to
mean this; for if the fish had already been swimming in the sea, the Prophet might
have adopted another mode of speaking and said, that the Lord caused the fish to
meet him or that God had sent a fish; for so the Scripture usually speaks: but a fish
is said to have been prepared. This doubt may be thus removed, --- that though
God may not have created the fish, he had yet prepared him for this purpose; for
we know that it was not according to the course of nature that the fish swallowed
Jonah, and also, that he was preserved uninjured in his inside for three days and
three nights. I therefore refer what is said here, that a fish was prepared, to the
preservation of Jonah: for it is certain that there are some fishes which can swallow
men whole and entire. And William Rondelet, who has written a book on the fishes
of the sea, concludes that in all probability it must have been the Lamia. He himself
saw that fish, and he says that it has a belly so capacious and, mouth so wide, that
it can easily swallow up a man; and he says that a man in armor has sometimes
been found in the inside of the Lamia. Therefore, as I have said, either a whale, or a
Lamia, or a fish unknown to us, may be able to swallow up a man whole and entire;
but he who is thus devoured cannot live in the inside of a fish. Hence Jonah, that he
might mark it out as a miracle, says that the fish was prepared by the Lord; for he
was received into the inside of the fish as though it were into an hospital; and though
he had no rest there, yet he was as safe as to his body, as though he were walking
on land. Since then the Lord, contrary to the order of nature, preserved there his
Prophet, it is no wonder that he says that the fish was prepared by the Lord. I come
now to the second chapter.
Chapter 2.
110The verb {{מנהdoes not necessarily include the idea of creation, but its meaning is, to distribute, to arrange, to
order, to provide, to prepare; and yet this preparation may involve the exercise of a creative power, as in the case of the gourd
mentioned in the fourth chapter, for it is the same verb. Though it might be an indigenous plant, yet to provide it so quickly in
one night was the act of Divine power. So also as to this fish, it might or it might not have been one usually found in that part of
the sea. To provide it, but bringing it to the spot, was as much a miracle as to provide it by a new act of creation. To allow the one
and to deny the other, is wholly unreasonable. The whole was clearly miraculous: and the discovery of any such fish now does
not in the least render the transaction less miraculous. Every part of it must be ascribed to a Divine interposition; and let those
stumble who are resolved to stumble. It has been supposed to have been the ``whale,'' because the word {κητος} is used in
the reference made to Jonah in Matthew 12:40: but that word is a general term applied to a large fish, and does not necessarily
mean the whale. {κητος}, says Ribera, in his comment on Jonah, non certae speciei, sed generis nomen est, et piscem quemvis
magnum significat. --- Ed.
Jonah 2
Jonah 2:1-2
1. Then Jonah prayed unto the Lord his God out of the fish's belly,
1. Et oravit Jonas ad Jehovam Deum suum e ventre piscis;
2. And said, I cried by reason of mine afÒiction unto the Lord, and he heard me;
out of the belly of hell cried I, and thou heardest my voice.
2. Et dixit clamavi in angustia mea ad Jehovam, et exaudit me (vel, respondit
mihi;) e ventre sepulchri vociferatus sum, audivisti vocem meam. 111
When Jonah says that he prayed from the bowels of the fish, he shows first with
what courage of mind he was endued. He had then put on a new heart; for when he
was at liberty he thought that he could in a manner escape from God, he became a
fugitive from the Lord: but now while inclosed within narrow bounds, he begins to
pray, and of his own accord sets himself in God's presence.
This is a change worthy of being noticed: and hence we may learn how much
it profits us to be drawn back often as it were by cords, or to be held tied up with
fetters because when we are free we go astray here and there beyond all limits.
Jonah, when he was at liberty, became, as we have seen, wanton; but now finding
himself restrained by the mighty hand of God, he receives a new mind, and prays
from the bowels of the fish 112 . But how was it that he directed his petitions then
111It is remarkable that several sentences in this prayer, as it has been observed by Marchius and Henderson, are exactly the same, not only in sense, but also, in most instances, in words, with passages in the Psalms. The first clause of this verse is found in Psalm 120:1, only the words are differently arranged. The last clause of the third verse, both in words and order, is the same with a distich in Psalm 42:7. The beginning of the fourth verse agrees nearly with Psalm 31:22; and so does the fifth verse with a line in Psalm 69:1, one word being different. The first clause of the seventh verse is found in the very same words in Psalm 142:3; and the first line in the eighth verse is Psalm 31:6, with the exception of one letter; and the last words of the ninth verse are to be met within Psalm 3:8, only the order is reversed. "On the supposition," says Henderson, "that Jonah was familiar with the Psalms, it was very natural for him to incorporate sentences taken from them with his own language." — Ed.
112"No place amiss for prayer, I will that men pray everywhere; where ever God casts us we may find a way open heavenwards, if it be now our own fault. Jonah was now in the bottom
MINOR PROPHETS
to God, by whose hand he saw that he was so heavily pressed? For God most rigidly
handled him; Jonah was in a manner doomed to eternal ruin; the bowels of the fish,
as we shall hereafter see, were indeed to him as it were hell or the grave. But in
this state of despair Jonah even gathered courage, and was able to retake himself
directly to God. It was a wonderful and almost incredible example of faith. Let us
then learn to weigh well what is here said; for when the Lord heavily afÒicts us, it
is then a legitimate and seasonable time for prayer. But we know that the greater
part despond, and do not usually offer their prayers freely to God, except their minds
be in a calm state; and yet God then especially invites us to himself when we are
reduced to extremities. Let this, then, which Jonah declares of himself, come to our
minds, --- that he cried to God from hell itself: and, at the same time, he assures
us that his prayer proceeded from true faith; for he does not simply say that he
prayed to Jehovah, but he adds that he was his God; and he speaks with a serious
and deeply-reflective mind. Though Jonah then was not only like one dead, but also
on the confines of perdition, he yet believed that God would be merciful if he fled to
him. We hence see that Jonah prayed not at random, as hypocrites are wont to take
God's name in their mouths when they are in distress, but he prayed in earnest; for
he was persuaded that God would be propitious to him.
But we must remember that his prayer was not composed in the words which are
here related; but Jonah, while in the bowels of the fish, dwelt on these thoughts in his
mind. Hence he relates in this song how he thought and felt; and we shall see that
he was then in a state of distraction, as our minds must necessarily be tossed here
and there by temptations. For the servants of God do not gain the victory without
great struggle. We must fight, and indeed strenuously, that we may conquer. Jonah
then in this song shows that he was agitated with great trouble and hard contests:
yet this conviction was firmly fixed in his heart, --- that God was to be sought, and
would not be sought in vain, as he is ever ready to bring help to his people whenever
they cry to him.
Then he says, I cried, when I had trouble, to Jehovah, and he answered me. Jonah
no doubt relates now, after having come forth from the bowels of the fish, what had
happened to him, and he gives thanks to the Lord. 113 This verse then contains
of the sea, yet out of the depths he cries to God." — M. Henry. "It may be asked, How could Jonah either pray or breathe in the stomach of a fish? Very easily, if God so willed it. And let the reader keep this constantly in view: the whole is a miracle, from Jonah's being swallowed by the fish, till he was cast ashore by the same animal. It was God that had prepared the great fish; it was the Lord that spake to the fish, and caused it to vomit Jonah on the dry land. All is miracle." — Adam Clarke. — Ed.
113He relates here, as it appears from the preceding, "and he said," the prayer he offered when in the fish's bowels, and not a prayer offered after his deliverance. Some have entertained the latter opinion, because some of the verbs here are in the past tense: but this circumstance only shows that he continued to pray from the time when he was swallowed by the fish to the time when he was delivered. It was a continued act. It is the same as though he said, "I have called, and do call on Jehovah." Marckius, and also Dathius, render the verbs in the present tense, "I call," etc. The following is a translation according to the view of this prayer, — 3. I call in my distress on Jehovah, and he will answer me; From the belly of the grave I cry, — thou hearest my voice. 4. When thou didst send me to the deep, into the midst of the waters, And the flood surrounded me, — Thy billows and waves over me passed; 5. Then I said, I am banished from the sight of thine eyes; — Yet I will again look towards the temple of thy holiness. 6. Encompass me do the waters to the soul, The deep surrounds me, The sedge is wrapped around my head: 7. To the cuttings off of the mountains have I descended; The earth! Its bars are continually around me: But thou wilt bring from destruction my life, O Jehovah,
JOHN CALVIN
two parts, --- that Jonah in his trouble fled to God, --- and the latter part contains
thanksgiving for having been miraculously delivered beyond what flesh could have
thought. I cried, he says, in my distress, to Jehovah; I cried out from the bowels of
hell, thou hast heard my voice. Jonah, as we shall hereafter see, directed his prayers
to God not without great struggle; he contended with many difÏculties; but however
great the impediments in his way, he still persevered and ceased not from praying.
He now tells us that he had not prayed in vain; and, that he might amplify the grace
of God, he says, from the bowels of the grave He mentioned distress (angustiam ---
straitness) in the first clause; but here he more clearly expresses how remarkable
and extraordinary had been the kindness of God, that he came forth safe from the
bowels of the fish, which were like the bowels of the grave. {,}שאולshaul, derived
from corruption, is called the grave by the Hebrews, and the Latin translator has
almost everywhere rendered it hell, (infernum;) and {,}שאולshaul, is also sometimes
taken for hell, that is, the state of the reprobate, because they know that they are
condemned by God: it is, however, taken more frequently for the grave; and I am
disposed to retain this sense, --- that the fish was like the grave. But he means that
he was so shut up in the grave, that there was no escape open to him.
What are the bowels of the grave? Even the inside or the recess of the grave
itself. When Jonah was in this state, he says, that he was heard by the Lord. It may
be proper to repeat again what I have already slightly touched, --- that Jonah was
not so oppressed, though under the heaviest trial, but that his petitions came forth
to God. He prayed as it were from hell, and not simply prayed, for he, at the same
time, sets forth his vehemence and ardor by saying, that he cried and cried aloud.
Distress, no doubt, extorted from Jonah these urgent entreaties. However this might
have been, he did not howl, as the unbelieving are wont to do, who feel their own
evils and bitterly complain; and yet they pour forth vain howlings. Jonah here shows
himself to be different from them by saying, that he cried and cried aloud to God. It
now follows ---
Jonah 2:3
3. For thou hadst cast me into the deep, in the midst of the seas; and the floods
compassed me about: all thy billows and thy waves passed over me.
3. Atqui projeceras me in profundum, in cor marium, et fluvius circumdedit me;
omnes conflictus tui (sed hac voce intelligit undas quae inter se confligunt; scimus
enim esse varias collisiones, ideo vertunt aliqui, contritiones tui, nam {}שחרsigni-
ficat proprie confligere et frangere; perinde est igitur ac si diceret, omnes fracturae
tuae et collisiones super me transierunt, et explicat quid velit, quum dicit) fluctus tui
super me transierunt.
In this verse are set forth his difÏculties: for Jonah, for the sake of amplifying,
refers to his condition. It was a great thing that he cried to God from the bowels of
my God. 8. When overwhelmed within me was my soul, Jehovah did I remember; And come to thee shall my prayer — To the temple of thy holiness. 9. They who regard idols of vanity, Their own mercy forsake: 10. But I, with the voice of praise, will sacrifice to thee, What I have vowed will I fulfill: Salvation belongs to Jehovah. "The cuttings off," in verse 7, says Parkhurst, were those parts which were cut off from the mountains at the deluge. The Septuagint has {σχισμας}
--- rents-clefts. Roots, bottoms, foundations, have been adopted by some, but not consistently with the meaning of the original
word, --- ``The bars or bolts'' of the earth convey the idea of impediments in his way to return to the earth. They were ``around''
him, or literally ``upon'' him, ,{}בעדיthat is, they were, as it were, closed upon him. --- Ed.
MINOR PROPHETS
the fish; but it was far more difÏcult for him to raise up his mind in prayer, when he
knew or thought God to be angry with him: for had he been thrown into extreme
evils, he might yet call upon God; but as it came to his mind that all the evil he
suffered was inflicted by God, because he tried to shun his call, how was it possible
for him to penetrate into heaven when such an obstacle stood in his way? We hence
see the design of these words, But thou hadst cast me into the gulf, into the heart
of the sea; the flood surrounded me, all thy billows and waves passed over me.
In short, Jonah shows here what dreadful temptations presented themselves to
him while he was endeavoring to offer up prayers. It came first to his mind that God
was his most inveterate enemy. For Jonah did not then think of the sailors and the
rest who had cast him into the sea; but his mind was fixed on God: this is the reason
why he says, Thou, Lord, hadst cast me into the deep, into the heart of the sea; and
then, Thy billows, Thy waves 114 He does not here regard the nature of the sea; but
he bestows, as I have already said, all his thoughts on God, and acknowledges that
he had to do with him; as though he said, ``Thou Lord, in pursuing me, drivest me
away; but to thee do I come: thou showest by dreadful proofs that thou art offended
with me, but yet I seek thee; so far is it that these terrors drive me to a distance from
thee, that now, being subdued as it were by thy goads, I come willingly to thee; for
nowhere else is there for me any hope of deliverance.'' We now then see how much
avails the contrast, when Jonah sets the terrible punishment which he endured in
opposition to his prayer. Let us now proceed ---
Jonah 2:4
4. Then I said, I am cast out of thy sight; yet I will look again toward thy holy
temple.
4. Tunc ego dixi, (nam copula resolvi debet in adverbium temporis,) Expulsus
sum a conspectu oculorum tuorum; verum adjiciam aspicere ad templum sanctitatis
tuae.
In the first clause of this verse Jonah confirms again what I have said, --- that
when he sought to pray, not only the door was closed against him, but there were
mountains, as it were, intervening, so that he could not breathe a prayer to God: for
he did not so much think of the state in which he was; nay, but he chiefly considered
his own case, how he had provoked the wrath of God. Hence he says, I have said, I
am cast away from the sight of thine eyes. Some give this frigid exposition, that he
had been only expelled from his own country, that he might not behold the temple.
But I have no doubt but that Jonah tells us here that he suffered extreme agonies,
as though every hope of pardon had been cut off from him: ``What! shall I yet hope
that God will be propitious? It is not to be hoped.'' This then is the casting away of
which he speaks: for it is said that God casts us away, when he allows us no access
to him. Hence Jonah thought that he was wholly alienated from God. Were any to
object and say, that then his faith must have been extinct; the obvious answer is,
114"He calls them God's billows and his waves, not because he made and rules them, but because he had now commissioned them against Jonah, and ordered them to afÒict and terrify, but not to destroy him. These words are plainly quoted by Jonah from Psalm 42:7. What David spoke figuratively and metaphorically, Jonah applies to himself as literally fulfilled." — M. Henry.
JOHN CALVIN
--- that in the struggle of faith there are internal conflicts; one thought is suggested,
and then another of an opposite character meets it; there would indeed be no trial of
our faith, except there were such internal conflicts; for when, with appeased minds,
we can feel assured that God is propitious to us, what is the trial of faith? But when
the flesh tells us that God is opposed to us, and that there is no more hope of pardon,
faith at length sets up its shield, and repels this onset of temptation, and entertains
hope of pardon: whenever God for a time appears implacable, then faith indeed is
tried. Such then was the condition of Jonah; for, according to the judgment of the
flesh, he thought that he was utterly cast away by God, so that he came to him in
vain. Jonah, then, having not yet put off flesh and blood, could not immediately lay
hold on the grace of God, but difÏculties met him in his course.
The latter clause is differently explained by interpreters. Some take it negatively,
``I shall no more look towards the temple of thy holiness:'' but the words admit not
of this explanation. {,}אךak, means in Hebrew, truly, nevertheless; and it means
also, certainly; and sometimes it is taken dubitatively, perhaps. The greater part of
expounders render the clause thus, ``But I shall see the temple of thy holiness;'' as
though Jonah here reproved his own distrust, which he had just expressed, as the
case is with the faithful, who immediately check themselves, when they are tempted
to entertain any doubt: ``What! dost thou then cast away hope, when yet God will
be reconciled to thee if thou wilt come to him?'' Hence interpreters think that it is
a sort of correction, as though Jonah here changed his mind, and retracted what he
had previously taken up, as a false principle derived from the judgment of the flesh.
He had said then that he had been cast away from the presence of the Lord; but
now, according to these expositors, he repels that temptation, But I shall see thy
holy temple; though I seem now to be rejected by thee, thou wilt at last receive me
into favor. We may, however, explain this clause, consistently with the former, in this
way, At least, or, but, I would again see, etc., as an expression of a wish. The future
then may be taken for the optative mood, as we know that the Hebrews are wont
thus to use the future tense, either when they pray or express a wish. This meaning
then best agrees with the passage, that Jonah as yet doubtingly prays, At least, or,
but, I would again, O Lord, see the temple of thy holiness. But since the former
explanation which I have mentioned is probable, I do not contend for this. However
this may be, we find that Jonah did not wholly despair, though the judgment of the
flesh would drive him to despair; for he immediately turned his address to God. For
they who murmur against God, on the contrary, speak in the third person, turning
themselves, as it were, away from him: but Jonah here sets God before his eyes, I
have been cast away, he says, from the sight of thine eyes He does not remonstrate
here with God, but shows that he was seeking God still, though he thought that he
was cast far away.
Then he adds, I would at least see again the temple of thy holiness. And by
speaking of the temple, he no doubt set the temple before him as an encouragement
to his faith. As then he had been cast away, he gathers everything that might avail
to raise up and confirm his hope. He had indeed been circumcised, he had been
a worshipper of God from his childhood, he had been educated in the Law, he had
MINOR PROPHETS
exercised himself in offering sacrifices: under the name of temple he now includes
briefly all these things. We hence see that he thus encouraged himself to entertain
good hope in his extreme necessity. And this is a useful admonition; for when every
access to God seems closed up against us, nothing is more useful than to recall to
mind, that he has adopted us from our very infancy, that he has also testified his
favor by many tokens, especially that he has called us by his Gospel into a fellowship
with his only-begotten Son, who is life and salvation; and then, that he has confirmed
his favor both by Baptism and the Supper. When, therefore, these things come to
our minds, we may be able by faith to break through all impediments. Let us go on
---
Jonah 2:5-6
5. The waters compassed me about, even to the soul: the depth closed me round
about, the weeds were wrapped about my head.
5. Obsederunt me aquae usque ad animam, abyssus undique circumdedit me,
juncus alligatus fuit capite meo:
6. I went down to the bottoms of the mountains; the earth with her bars was
about me for ever: yet hast thou brought up my life from corruption, O Lord my God.
6. Ad radices (proprie, excisuras; nam {}קצבsignificat excidere; alii vertunt, ad
fines extremos; ad radices igitur) montium descendi; terra cum vectibus suis circum
me in seculum: et ascendere fecisti vitam meam e sepulchro (est aliud nomen quam
{,}שאולnempe, {;}שהתalii vertunt, a corruptione, vel, interitu,) Jehova, Deus mi.
Here in many words Jonah relates how many things had happened to him, which
were calculated to overwhelm his mind with terror and to drive him far from God, and
to take away every desire for prayer. But we must ever bear in mind what we have
already stated, --- that he had to do with God: and this ought to be well considered
by us. The case was the same with David, when he says in Psalm 39:9, `Thou hast
yet done it;' for, after having complained of his enemies, he turned his mind to God:
``What then do I? what do I gain by these complaints? for men alone do not vex me;
thou, God, he says, hast done this.'' So it was with Jonah; he ever set before him
the wrath of God, for he knew that such a calamity had not happened to him but on
account of his sins.
He therefore says that he was by waters beset, and then, that he was surrounded
by the deep; but at length he adds, that God made his life to ascend, etc. All these
circumstances tend to show that Jonah could not have raised up his mind to God
except through an extraordinary miracle, as his life was in so many ways oppressed.
When he says that he was beset with waters even to the soul, I understand it to have
been to the peril of his life; for other explanations seem frigid and strained. And the
Hebrews says that to be pressed to the soul, is to be in danger of one's life; as the
Latins, meaning the same thing, say that the heart, or the inside, or the bowels, are
wounded. So also in this place the same thing is meant, `The waters beset me even
to the soul,' and then, `the abyss surrounds me.' Some render {,}סוףsuph, sedge;
others sea-weed; others bulrush: but the sense amounts to the same thing. No
doubt {,}סוףsuph, is a species of sedge; and some think that the Red Sea was thus
called, because it is full of sedges or bulrushes. They think also that bulrushes are
JOHN CALVIN
thus called, because they soon putrefy. But what Jonah means is certain and that is,
that weed enveloped his head, or that weed grew around his head: but to refer this
to the head of the fish, as some do, is improper: Jonah speaks metaphorically when
he says that he was entangled in the sedge, inasmuch as there is no hope when any
one is rolled in the sedge at the bottom of the sea. How, indeed, can he escape
from drowning who is thus held, as it were, tied up? It is then to be understood
metaphorically; for Jonah meant that he was so sunk that he could not swim, except
through the ineffable power of God.
According to the same sense he says, I descended to the roots of the mountains.
But he speaks of promontories, which were nigh the sea; as though he had said, that
he was not cast into the midst of the sea, but that he had so sunk as to be fixed in the
deep under the roots of mountains. All these things have the same designs which
was to show that no deliverance could be hoped for, except God stretched forth his
hand from heaven, and indeed in a manner new and incredible.
He says that the earth with its bars was around him. He means by this kind of
speaking, that he was so shut up, as if the whole earth had been like a door. We
know what sort of bars are those of the earth, when we ascribe bars to it: for when
any door is fastened with bolts, we know how small a portion it is. But when we
suppose the earth itself to be like a door, what kind of things must the bolts be? It
is the same thing then as though Jonah had said, that he was so hindered from the
vital light, as if the earth had been set against him to prevent his coming forth to
behold the sun: the earth, then, was set against me, and that for ever
He afterwards comes to thanksgiving, And thou Jehovah, my God, hast made
my life to ascend from the grave. Jonah, after having given a long description, for
the purpose of showing that he was not once put to death, but that he had been
overwhelmed with many and various deaths, now adds his gratitude to the Lord for
having delivered him, Thou, he says, hast made my life to ascend from the grave,
O Jehovah. He again confirms what I have once said, --- that he did not pour forth
empty prayers, but that he prayed with an earnest feeling, and in faith: for he would
not have called him his God, except he was persuaded of his paternal love, so as
to be able to expect from him a certain salvation. Thou, then, Jehovah, my God,
he says; he does not say, Thou hast delivered me, but, Thou hast brought forth my
life from the grave. Then Jonah, brought to life again, testifies here that he was not
only delivered by God's aid from the greatest danger, but that he had, by a certain
kind of resurrection, been raised from the dead. This is the meaning of this mode of
speaking, when he says that his life had been brought forth from the grave, or from
corruption itself. It follows ---
Jonah 2:7
7. When my soul fainted within me I remembered the LORD: and my prayer came
in unto thee, into thine holy temple.
7. Quum deficeret in me anima mea (vel, dum se convolveret supra me anima
mea,) Jehovae recordatus sum, et ingressa est oratio mea ad templum sanctitatis
tuae.
Here Jonah comprehends in one verse what he had previously said, --- that he
MINOR PROPHETS
had been distressed with the heaviest troubles, but that he had not yet been so cast
down in his mind, as that he had no prospect of God's favor to encourage him to
pray. He indeed first confesses that he had suffered some kind of fainting, and that
he had been harassed by anxious and perplexing thoughts, so as not to be able by
his own efforts to disengage himself.
As to the word {,}עטףotheph, it means in Hebrew to hide, to cover; but in Niphal
and Hithpael (in which conjugation it is found here) it signifies to fail: but its former
meaning might still be suitably retained here; then it would be, `My soul hid or rolled
up itself,' as it is in Psalm 102:1, `The prayer of the afÒicted, when he rolled up
himself in his distress.' They who render it, he multiplied prayers, have no reason
to support them. I therefore doubt not but that Jonah here means, either that he
had been overcome by a swoon, or that he had been so perplexed as not to be able
without a violent struggle to raise up his mind to God. However it may have been,
he intended by this word to express the anxiety of his mind. While then we are
tossed about by divers thoughts, and remain, as it were, bound up in a hopeless
condition, then our soul may be said to roll or to fold up itself within us. When
therefore the soul rolls up itself, all the thoughts of man in perplexity recoil on himself.
We may indeed seek to disburden ourselves while we toss about various purposes,
but whatever we strive to turn away from us, soon comes back on our own head;
thus our soul recoils upon us. We now perceive what Jonah meant by this clause,
When my soul infolded itself, or failed within me, I remembered, he says, Jehovah.
We hence learn that Jonah became not a conqueror without the greatest difÏculties,
not until his soul, as we have said, had fainted: this is one thing. Then we learn,
also, that he was not so oppressed with distresses but that he at length sought God
by prayer. Jonah therefore retained this truth, that God was to be sought, however
severely and sharply he treated him for a time; for the remembering, of which he
speaks, proceeded from faith. The ungodly also remember Jehovah, but they dread
him, for they look on him as a judge; and whenever a mention is made of God,
they expect nothing but destruction: but Jonah applied the remembrance of God to
another purpose, even as a solace to ease his cares and his anxieties.
For it immediately follows, that his prayer had penetrated unto God, or entered
before him. 115 We then see that Jonah so remembered his God, that by faith he
knew that he would be propitious to him; and hence was his disposition to pray. But
by saying that his prayer entered into his temple, he no doubt alludes to a custom
under the law; for the Jews were wont to turn themselves towards the temple when-
ever they prayed: nor was this a superstitious ceremony; for we know that they
were instructed in the doctrine which invited them to the sanctuary and the ark of
the covenant. Since then this was the custom under the law, Jonah says that his
prayer entered into the temple of God; for that was a visible symbol, through which
the Jews might understand that God was near to them; not that they by a false imag-
ination bound God to external signs, but because they knew that these helps Had
not in vain been given to them. So then Jonah not only remembered his God, but
115"Here prayer is personified, and is represented as a messenger going from the distressed and entering into the temple of God, and standing before him. This is a very fine and delicate image." — Adam Clarke.
JOHN CALVIN
called also to mind the signs and symbols in which he had exercised his faith, as we
have just said through the whole course of his life; for they who view him as referring
to heaven, depart wholly from what the Prophet meant. We indeed know that the
temple sometimes means heaven; but this sense suits not this place. Then Jonah
meant that though he was far away from the temple, God was yet near to him; for
he had not ceased to pray to that God who had revealed himself by the law which he
gave, and who had expressed his will to be worshipped at Jerusalem, and also had
been pleased to appoint the ark as the symbol of his presence, that the Jews might,
with an assured faith, call upon him, and that they might not doubt but that he dwelt
in the midst of them, inasmuch as he had there his visible habitation.
Prayer
Grant, Almighty God, that as thou hast once given us such an evidence of thy
infinite power in thy servant Jonah, whose mind, when he was almost sunk down into
hell, thou hadst yet raised up to thyself, and hadst so supported with firm constancy,
that he ceased not to pray and to call on thee, --- O grant, that in the trials by which
we must be daily exercised, we may raise upwards our minds to thee, and never
cease to think that thou art near us; and that when the signs of thy wrath appear, and
when our sins thrust themselves before our eyes, to drive us to despair, may we still
constantly struggle, and never surrender the hope of thy mercy, until having finished
all our contests, we may at length freely and fully give thanks to thee, and praise
thy infinite goodness, such as we daily experience that being conducted through
continual trials, we may at last come into that blessed rest which is laid up for us in
heaven, through Christ one Lord. Amen.
Lecture Seventy-seventh
Jonah 2:8-9
8. They that observe lying vanities forsake their own mercy.
8. Qui observant vanitates mendaces, misericordiam suam (vel, clementiam)
derelinquent (hoc est, derelinquunt.)
9. But I will sacrifice unto thee with the voice of thanksgiving; I will pay that that
I have vowed. Salvation is of the Lord
9. Ego autem in voce laudis sacrificabo tibi, quae vovi reddam: salus est Jehovae.
Here Jonah says first, that men miserably go astray, when they turn aside to vain
superstitions, for they rob themselves of the chief good: for he calls whatever help
or aid that is necessary for salvation, the mercy of men. The sense then is that as
soon as men depart from God, they depart from life and salvation, and that nothing is
retained by them, for they willfully cast aside whatever good that can be hoped and
desired. Some elicit a contrary meaning, that the superstitious, when they return to
a sound mind, relinquish their own reproach; for {,}חסדchesad, sometimes means
reproach. They then think that the way of true penitence is here described, --- that
when God restores men from their straying to the right way, he gives them at the
same time a sound mind, so that they rid themselves from all their vices. This is
indeed true, but it is too strained a meaning. Others confine this to the sailors who
vowed sacrifices to God; as though Jonah had said, that they would soon relapse to
their own follies, and bid adieu to God, who in his mercy had delivered them from
MINOR PROPHETS
shipwreck; so they explain their mercy to be God; but this is also too forced an
explanation.
I doubt not, therefore, but that Jonah here sets his own religion in opposition to
his false intentions of men; for it immediately follows, But I with the voice of praise
will sacrifice to thee. Jonah, then, having before confessed that he would be thankful
to God, now pours contempt on all those inventions which men foolishly contrive for
themselves, and through which they withdraw themselves from the only true God,
and from the sincere worship of him. For he calls all those devices, by which men
deceive themselves, the vanities of falsehood; 116 for it is certain that they are mere
fallacies which men invent for themselves without the authority of God's Word; for
truth is one and simple, which God has revealed to us in his world. Whosoever then
turns aside the least, either on this or on that side, seeks, as it were designedly,
some imposture or another, by which he ruins himself. They then who follow such
vanities, says Jonah, forsake their own mercy, 117 that is they reject all happiness:
for no aid and no help can be expected from any other quarter than from the only
true God.
But this passage deserves a careful notice; for we hence learn what value to
attach to all superstitions, to all those opinions of men, when they attempt to set up
religion according to their own will: for Jonah calls them lying or fallacious vanities.
There is then but one true religion, the religion which God has taught us in his word.
We must also notice, that men in vain weary themselves when they follow their own
inventions; for the more strenuously they run, the farther they recede from the right
way, as Augustine has well observed. But Jonah here adopts a higher principle, ---
that God alone possesses in himself all fullness of blessings: whosoever then truly
and sincerely seeks God, will find in him whatever can be wished for salvation. But
God is not to be sought but by obedience and faith: whosoever then dare to give
themselves loose reins, so as to follow this or that without the warrant of God's word,
recede from God, and, at the same time, deprive themselves of all good things.
The superstitious do indeed think that they gain much when they toil in their own
inventions; but we see what the Holy Spirit declares by the mouth of Jonah. The Lord
says the same by Jeremiah
``They have forsaken me, the fountain of living water, and cisterns have they
digged for themselves,'' (Jeremiah 2:13.)
116{,{}שוא-{`` הבליIdols of vanity or falsehood,'' i.e., false, or deceitful, or vain idols. {}הבלmeans vapor, smoke, breath,
vanity, inanity: but in the plural number it is applied for the most part to idols. See Deuteronomy 32:21; 1 Kings 16:13, 26 {}שוא
is a lie, which is vain --- useless, and false --- deceptive. Marckius renders the words, ``Vanitates inanitatis --- vanities of inanity'''
Junius and Tremelius, ``Vanitates mendaces --- mendacious vanities;'' Septuagint, ``{ματαια} {και} {Ψευδη} --- vain and false
things.'' ``He thus calls idols,'' says an author in Poole's Syn., ``and all those things in which any one, excluding God, trusts;
which are nothing, and can do nothing, and which deceive their worshippers.'' This is true, that is, that all other things, as well
as idols, are, apart from God, vain, and worthless, and deceptive; but the reference here no doubt is to idols. They are not only
empty, but deceptive. --- Ed.
117{{`` }יעזבו{, חסדםTheir mercy or goodness they forsake,'' that is, the mercy exhibited and offered to them by God; or, if
we render it goodness, it means their chief good, which is God. The Psalmist calls God his goodness in Psalm 144:2, ,{`` }חסדיmy
goodness,'' the giver of all his goodness, or his chief good. Dathius gives very correctly the meaning of the two lines in these
words --- ``Qui vana idola colunt, Felicitatis suae auctorem deserunt --- They who worship vain idols, Desert the author of their
own happiness.'' More literally --- ``They who attend on the idols of vanity, Their own goodness forsake.'' There is a contrast
between vain idols and their own goodness, that is, the goodness received by them from God. Grotius gives this paraphrase,
``They who worship idols are vain; for they forsake their own mercy, that is, God, who is able to help them in their distress.''
Henry suggests another view, ``They who follow their own inventions, as Jonah had done, when he fled from the presence of the
lord to go to Tarshish, forsake their own mercy, that mercy which they may find in God.'' --- Ed.
JOHN CALVIN
There the Lord complains of his chosen people, who had gone astray after wicked
superstitions. Hence, when men wander beyond the word of God, they in a manner
renounce God, or say adieu to him; and thus they deprive themselves of all good
things; for without God there is no salvation and no help to be found.
Jonah therefore rightly adds, But I, with the voice of praise, will sacrifice to thee;
as though he said While men as it were banish themselves from God, by giving
themselves up to errors, I will sacrifice to thee and to thee alone, O Lord. And this
ought to be observed by us; for as our minds are prone to falsehood and vanity,
any new superstition will easily lay hold so us, except we be restrained by this bond,
except we be fully persuaded, --- that true salvation dwells in God alone, and every
aid and help that can be expected by us: but when this conviction is really and
thoroughly fixed in our hearts, then true religion cannot be easily lost by us: though
Satan should on every side spread his allurements, we shall yet continue in the true
and right worship of God. And the more carefully it behaves us to consider this
passage, because Jonah no doubt meant here to strengthen himself in the right path
of religion; for he knew that like all mortals he was prone to what was false; he
therefore encouraged himself to persevere: and this he does, when he declares that
whatever superstition men devise, is a deprivation of the chief good, even of life and
salvation. It will hence follow, that we shall abominate every error when we are fully
persuaded that we forsake the true God whenever we obey not his word, and that
we at the same time cast away salvation, and every thing good that can be desired.
Then Jonah says, I will sacrifice to thee with the voice of praise.
It must be noticed here farther, that the worship of God especially consists in
praises, as it is said in Psalm 1:1: for there God shows that he regards as nothing
all sacrifices, except they answer this end --- to set forth the praise of his name.
It was indeed his will that sacrifices should be offered to him under the law; but it
was for the end just stated: for God cares not for calves and oxen, for goats and
lambs; but his will was that he should be acknowledged as the Giver of all blessings.
Hence he says there, `Sacrifice to me the sacrifice of praise.' So also Jonah now
says, I will offer to thee the sacrifice of praise, and he might have said with still more
simplicity, ``Lord, I ascribe to thee my preserved life.'' But if this was the case under
the shadows of the law, how much more ought we to attend to this, that is, --- to
strive to worship God, not in a gross manner, but spiritually, and to testify that our
life proceeds from him, that it is in his hand, that we owe all things to him, and, in
a word, that he is the Source and Author of salvation, and not only of salvation, but
also of wisdom, of righteousness, of power?
And he afterwards mentions his vows, I will pay, he says, my vows. We have
stated elsewhere in what light we are to consider vows. The holy Fathers did not
vow to God, as the Papists of this day are wont to do, who seek to pacify God by
their frivolous practices; one abstains for a certain time from meat, another puts
on sackcloth, another undertakes a pilgrimage, and another obtrudes on God some
new ceremony. There was nothing of this kind in the vows of the holy Fathers; but
a vow was the mere act of thanksgiving, or a testimony of gratitude: and so Jonah
joins his vows here with the sacrifice of praise. We hence learn that they were not
MINOR PROPHETS
two different things; but he repeats the same thing twice. Jonah, then, had declared
his vow to God for no other purpose but to testify his gratitude.
And hence he adds, To Jehovah is, or belongs, salvation; that is, to save is the
prerogative of God alone; Jehovah is here in the dative case, for prefixed to it is {,}ל
lamed. It is then to Jehovah that salvation belongs; the work of saving appertains
to no other but to the Supreme God. Since it is so, we see how absurd and insane
men are, when they transfer praises to another, as every one does who invents an
idol for himself. As, then, there is but the one true God who saves, it behaves us to
ascribe to him alone all our praises, that we may not deprive him of his right. This
is the import of the whole. It follows ---
Jonah 2:10
10. And the Lord spake unto the fish, and it vomited out Jonah upon the dry land
10. Et dixit Jehovah pisci (hoc est, praecepit;) et evomuit Jonam super aridam.
The deliverance of Jonah is here in few words described; but how attentively ought
we to consider the event? It was an incredible miracle, that Jonah should have con-
tinued alive and safe in the bowels of the fish for three days. For how was it that
he was not a thousand times smothered or drowned by waters? We know that fish
continually draw in water: Jonah could not certainly respire while in the fish; and the
life of man without breathing can hardly continue for a minute. Jonah, then, must
have been preserved beyond the power of nature. Then how could it have been that
the fish should cast forth Jonah on the shore, except God by his unsearchable power
had drawn the fish there? Again, who could have supernaturally opened its bowels
and its mouth? His coming forth, then, was in every way miraculous, yea, it was
attended with many miracles.
But Jonah, that he might the more extol the infinite power of God, adopted the
word said. Hence we learn that nothing is hard to God, for he could by a nod only
effect so great a thing as surpasses all our conceptions. If Jonah had said that he
was delivered by God's kindness and favor, it would have been much less emphatical,
than when he adopts a word which expresses a command, And Jehovah spake, or
said, to the fish.
But as this deliverance of Jonah is an image of the resurrection, this is an extraor-
dinary passage, and worthy of being especially noticed; for the Holy Spirit carries
our minds to that power by which the world was formed and is still wonderfully
preserved. That we may then, without hesitation and doubt, be convinced of the
restoration which God promises to us, let us remember that the world was by him
created out of nothing by his word and bidding, and is still thus sustained. But if this
general truth is not sufÏcient, let this history of Jonah come to our minds, --- that
God commanded a fish to cast forth Jonah: for how was it that Jonah escaped safe
and was delivered? Even because it so pleased God, because the Lord commanded;
and this word at this day retains the same efÏcacy. By that power then, by which he
works all things, we also shall one day be raised up from the dead. Now follows ---
Chapter 3.
Jonah 3
Jonah 3:1-2
1. And the word of the LORD came unto Jonah the second time, saying,
1. Et factum fuit verbum Jehovae ad Jonam secundo, dicendo, ---
2. Arise, go unto Nineveh, that great city, and preach unto it the preaching that I
bid thee.
2. Surge, proficiscere Nineven in urbem magnam, et praedica ad eam praedica-
tionem quam ego mando tibi.
There is here set before us a remarkable proof of God's grace, --- that he was
pleased to bestow on Jonah his former dignity and honor. He was indeed unworthy
of the common light, but God not only restored him to life, but favored him again with
the ofÏce and honor of a prophet. This, as I have said, Jonah obtained through the
wonderful and singular favor of God. As he had previously fled, and by disobedience
deprived himself in a manner of all God's favor, the recovery of his prophetic ofÏce
was certainly not obtained through his own merit.
It must, in the first place, be observed, that this phrase, The word of Jehovah came
the second time, ought to be noticed; for the word of God comes to men in different
ways. God indeed addresses each of us individually; but he spoke to his Prophets
in a special manner; for he designed them to be witnesses and heralds of his will.
Hence, whenever God sets a man in some peculiar ofÏce, his word is said to come to
him: as the word of God is addressed to magistrates because they are commanded
to exercise the power committed to them; so also the word of God ever came to the
Prophets, because it was not lawful for them to thrust in themselves without being
called.
The command now follows, Arise, go to Nineveh, to that great city, and preach
there the preaching which I command thee. 118 God again repeats what we have
118Literally, "And proclaim to or against her the proclamation which I declare to thee." The Septuagint is, "{Και} {κηρυξον} {εν} {αυτη} {κατα} {το} {κηρυγμα} {το} {εμπροσθεν} {ὸ̔} {εγω} {ελαλησα} {προς}
MINOR PROPHETS
observed at the be ginning, --- that Nineveh was a great city, that Jonah might provide
himself with an invincible courage of mind, and come there well prepared: for it often
happens, that many boldly undertake an ofÏce, but soon fail, because difÏculties had
not been sufÏciently foreseen by them. Hence, when men find more hardships than
they thought of at the beginning, they nearly faint, at least they despond. The Lord,
therefore, expressly foretold Jonah how difÏcult would be his employment; as though
he said, ``I send thee, a man unknown, and of no rank, and a stranger, to denounce
ruin on men, not a few in number, but on a vast multitude, and to carry on a contest
with the noblest city, and so populous, that it may seem to be a region of itself.''
We now then understand why this character of the city was added; it was, that
Jonah might gird up himself for the contest, that he might not afterwards fail in the
middle of his course. This fear indeed frightened him at the beginning, so that he
shunned the call of God; but he is not now moved in any degree by the greatness of
the city, but resolutely follows where the Lord leads. We hence see, that faith, when
once it gains the ascendancy in our hearts, surmounts all obstacles and despises all
the greatness of the world; for it is immediately added ---
Jonah 3:3
3. So Jonah arose, and went unto Nineveh, according to the word of the Lord.
Now Nineveh was an exceeding great city of three days' journey.
3. Et surrexit Jonah et profectus est Nineven, secundum mandatum Jehovae: Nin-
eveh autem erat urbs magna Dei (Deo, ad verbum) itinere trium dierum.
Jonah, by saying that he went to Nineveh according to God's command, proves in
the first place, as I have said, how great was the power and energy of his faith; for
though Jonah had considered the greatness and pride of the city, he seems to have
forgotten that he was an obscure man, alone, and unarmed; but he had laid hold on
weapons capable of destroying all the power of the world, for he knew that he was
sent from above. His conviction was, that God was on his side; and he knew that
God had called him. Hence then it was, that with a high and intrepid mind he looked
down on all the splendor of the city Nineveh. Hence John does not without reason
say, that the victory, by which we overcome the world, proceeds from faith, (1 John
5:4.) Jonah also proves, at the same time, how much he had improved under God's
scourges. He had been severely chastised; but we know that most of the unbelieving
grow hardened under the rod, and vomit forth their rage against God; Jonah, on the
contrary, shows here that chastisement had been useful to him for he was subdued
and led to obey God.
He went, then, according to the command of Jehovah; that is, nothing else did
{σε} --- And preach in it the former preaching which I have spoken to thee.'' {}עליהin five MSS., as in chapter 1:2, ``against her,''
and not ,{`` }אליהto her.'' {`` }אליד{, }דבר{ }אנכי{ }אשרwhich I am speaking or declaring to thee.'' {}דברis a participle; being
preceded by a nominative, it will admit of an auxiliary verb either in the past, present or future tense, according to the context;
though it is often used to express the present time. Newcome renders the sentence thus --- ``And cry unto her in the words which
I shall speak unto thee;'' Henderson more paraphrastically thus --- ``And make the proclamation to it which I order thee;'' and
adds the following remarks, --- ``Be my herald, and faithfully deliver my message. The word {κηρυξ} in Greek answers to the
Hebrew ,{}קוראkore, both signifying a crier, a herald, a preacher; one that makes proclamation with a loud and earnest cry. Such
was John Baptist, Isaiah 40:3; such was Jesus Christ, John 7:18-37; and such were all his apostles. And such earnestness becomes
a ministry that has to do with immortal souls, asleep and dead in sin, hanging on the brink of perdition, and insensible of their
state. The soft speaking, gentle toned, unmoved preacher, is never likely to awaken souls.'' Henry considers that the commission
was not specifically explained to him then. ``Jonah must go,'' he says, ``with implicit faith: he shall not know till he comes thither
what message he must deliver.'' --- Ed.
JOHN CALVIN
he regard but to render obedience to God, and to suffer himself to be wholly ruled
by him. We hence learn how well God provides for us and for our salvation, when
he corrects our perverseness; though sharp may be our chastisements, yet as this
benefit follows we know that nothing is better for us than to be humbled under God's
hand, as David says in Psalm 119:1. This change then, he went, is to us a remarkable
example; and this is what the Lord has ever in view whenever he roughly handles
us; for he cannot otherwise subdue either the haughtiness or the rebellion, or the
slowness and indolence of our flesh. We must now also take notice how Jonah at-
tained so much strength; it was, because he had found by experience in the bowels
of the fish, that even amidst thousand deaths there is enough in God's protection
to secure our safety. As then he had by experience known that the issues of death
are at the will and in the hand of God, he is not now touched with fear so as to shun
God's command, even were the whole world to rise up against him. Hence the more
any one has found the kindness of God, the more courageously he ought to proceed
in the discharge of his ofÏce, and confidently to commit to God his life and his safety,
and resolutely to surmount all the perils of the world.
He then says, that Nineveh was a great city 119 , even a journey of three days.
Some toil much in untying a knot, which at last is no knot at all; for it seems to
them strange that one city should be in compass about thirty leagues according to
our measure. When they conceive this as being impossible, then they invent some
means to avoid the difÏculty, --- that no one could visit the whole city so as to go
through all the alleys, all the streets, and all the public places, except in three days;
nay, they add, that this is not to be understood as though one ran or quickly passed
through the city, but as though he walked leisurely and made a stay in public places:
but these are mere puerilities. And if we believe profane writers, Nineveh must have
been a great city, as Jonah declares here: for they say that its area was about four
hundred stadia; and we know what space four hundred stadia include. A stadium
is one hundred and twenty-five paces; hence eight stadia make a mile. Now if any
one will count he will find that there are twelve miles in a hundred stadia; there will
then be in four hundred stadia forty-eight miles. This account well agrees with the
testimony of Jonah. And then Diodorus and Herodotus say that there were 1500
towers around the city. Since it was so, it could not certainly be a smaller city than
what it is represented here by Jonah. Though these things may seem to exceed what
is commonly believed, writers have not yet reported them without some foundation:
for however false are found to be many things in Diodorus and Herodotus, yet as
to Babylon and Nineveh they could not have dared to say what was untrue; for the
first was then standing and known to many; and the ruins of the other were still
existing, though it had been for some time destroyed. We shall farther see about
the end of the book that this city was large, and so populous, that there were there
119The original is, "And Nineveh was a city great to God" — {{}גדולה{. לאלהים-{}עירThe remark of
Henry is, ``So the Hebrew phrase is, meaning no more than as we render it, exceeding great; this honor that language doth to
the great God, that great things derive their denomination from him'' Though the form of the expression here is different from
what we find in other places, when God is taken in this sense, as in Psalm 80:10, ,{}אל-{}ארזיcedars of God, that is, tall or great
cedars, --- yet there is no other sense that comports with this place. This is the view of Dathius, Drusius, Newcome, and many
others. Some render it, great through God, and Grotius seems to have taken it in this sense, for he explains it by ``Deo eam
augente --- God having increased it.'' Henderson considers {}לhere in the sense of ,{}לפגיbefore, and refers to Genesis 10:9.
But this has hardly a meaning in this connection. --- Ed..
MINOR PROPHETS
120,000 children. If any one receives not this testimony, let him feed on the lies of
the devil. But since there were so many children there, what else can we say but
that the circumference of the city was very great?
But this seems inconsistent with what immediately follows; for Jonah says, that
when he entered the city, he performed a journey in the city for one day and
preached. The answer is this, --- that as soon as he entered the city, and began
to proclaim the command of God, some conversions immediately followed: so
Jonah does not mean that he went through the city in one day. He then in the first
day converted a part of the city; he afterwards continued to exhort each one to
repentance: thus the conversion of the whole city followed; but not in the second or
the third day, as it may be easily gathered. Let us now proceed to what remains ---
Jonah 3:4
4. And Jonah began to enter into the city a day's journey, and he cried, and said,
Yet forty days, and Nineveh shall be overthrown.
4. Et coepit Jonah ingredi in urbem itinere diei unius, et clamavit et dixit, Adhuc
quadraginta dies et Nineveh subversa.
Jonah here relates what had briefly been said before, --- that he went to Nineveh
according to the command of God. He shows then how faithfully he executed the
duty enjoined on him, and thus obeyed the word of God. Hence Jonah came and
began to enter the city and to preach on the first day. This promptness proves clearly
how tractable Jonah had become, and how much he endeavored to obey God in
discharging his ofÏce: for had there been still a timidity in his heart, he would have
inspected the city, as careful and timid men are wont to do, who inquire what is
the condition of the place, what are the dispositions of the people, and which is the
easiest access to them, and what is the best way, and where is the least danger. If
Jonah then had been still entangled by carnal thoughts he would have waited two
or three days, and then have began to exercise his ofÏce as a Prophet. This he did
not, but entered the city and I cried. We now then see how prompt he was in his
obedience, who had before attempted to pass over the sea: he now takes hardly a
moment to breathe, but he begins at the very entrance to testify that he had come
in obedience to God.
We hence see with what emphasis these words ought to be read. The narrative is
indeed very simple; Jonah uses here no rhetorical ornaments, nor does he set forth
his entrance with any fine display of words. Jonah, he says, entered into the city He
who is not well versed in Scripture might say that this is frigid: but when we weigh
the circumstances, we see that this simple way of speaking possesses more force
and power than all the displays of orators.
He entered then the city a day's journey, and cried and said, etc. By saying that
he cried, he again proves the courage of his soul; for he did not creep in privately, as
men are wont to do, advancing cautiously when dangers are apprehended. He says
that he cried: then this freedom shows that Jonah was divested of all fear, and en-
dued with such boldness of spirit, that he raised himself up above all the hindrances
of the world. And we ought, in the meantime, to remember how disliked must have
been his message: for he did not gently lead the Ninevites to God, but threatened
JOHN CALVIN
them with destruction, and seemed to have given them no hope of pardon. Jonah
might have thought that his voice, as one says, would have to return to his own
throat, ``Can I denounce ruin on this populous city, without being instantly crushed?
Will not the first man that meets me stone me to death?'' Thus might Jonah have
thought within himself. No fear was, however, able to prevent him from doing his
duty as a faithful servant, for he had been evidently strengthened by the Lord. But
it will be better to join the following verse ---
Jonah 3:5
5. So the people of Nineveh believed God, and proclaimed a fast, and put on
sackcloth, from the greatest of them even to the least of them.
5. Et crediderunt viri Ninevae Deo, et indixerunt jejunium, et induerunt saccos a
magno eorum usque ad parvum eorum.
One thing, escaped me in the third verse: Jonah said that Nineveh was a city
great to God. This form of speech is common in Scripture: for the Hebrews call
that Divine, whatever it be, that is superior or excellent: so they say, the cedars of
God, the mountains of God, the fields of God, when they are superior in height or in
any other respect. Hence a city is called the city of God, when it is beyond others
renowned. I wished briefly to allude to this subject, because some, with too much
refinement and even puerility says that it was called the city of God, because it was
the object of God's care, and in which he intended to exhibit a remarkable instance
of conversion. But, as I have said, this is to be taken as the usual mode of speaking
in similar cases.
I now return to the text: Jonah says, that the citizens of Nineveh believed God 120 . We hence gather that the preaching of Jonah was not so concise but that he
introduced his discourse by declaring that he was God's Prophet, and that he did
not proclaim these commands without authority; and we also gather that Jonah so
denounced ruin, that at the same time he showed God to be the avenger of sins
that he reproved the Ninevites, and, as it were, summoned them to God's tribunal,
making known to them their guilt; for had he spoken only of punishment, it could not
certainly have been otherwise, but that the Ninevites must have rebelled furiously
against God; but by showing to them their guilt, he led them to acknowledge that
the threatened punishment was just, and thus he prepared them for humility and
penitence. Both these things may be collected from this expression of Jonah, that
the Ninevites believed God; for were they not persuaded that the command came
from heaven, what was their faith? Let us then know, that Jonah had so spoken of
120{{`` }באלהים{, ויאמינוAnd they believed in God. The verb {}אמןin Hiphil is ever followed by {}בor ,{}לexcept in one
instance by {}אתin Judges 11:20. When followed by {}בit seems to mean, to give credit to what is said, to believe one's
testimony, or the truth of what is referred to. To believe then in God is to believe the truth of what he declares, to believe his
word. Hence in 2 Chronicles 20:20, Jehosophat said to the people, ``Believe in the Lord your God,'' {}אלהיכם{; }ביהוה{ }האמינו
and he adds, ``Believe [in] his Prophets,'' {}בנביאיו{. }האמינוIt is the word of God, and the word of the Prophets, which was the
same, or the truth or veracity of God and of his Prophets, that they For I have believed [in] thy commandments,'' ,{}במצותיך
that is, in the truth of thy commandments. --- When the verb in Hiphil is followed by ,{}לthe idea of reliance or dependance is
more especially conveyed, though in many instances there is hardly a difference tobe recognized, except the context be minutely
observed. Among other passages, the verb in its Hiphil form is followed by ,{}בin Genesis 15:6, Exodus 14:31, Numbers 20:12,
2 Kings 17:14, Proverbs 26:25, Jeremiah 12:6; --- and by {}לin Exodus 4:1-8, Deuteronomy 9:23, 1 Kings 10:7, Psalm 106:24,
Isaiah 43:10, Jeremiah 40:14 The Septuagint renders believing in God by {επίστευσαν} {τω} {θεω}: so does Paul in Romans
4:3, Galatians 3:6; but he retains the Hebrew form in Romans 4:5, {πιστευοντι} {επι} {τον}, etc. Calvin here conveys the same
meaning by ``crediderunt Deo --- believed God:'' that is, the Ninevites gave credit to what God declared by Jonah, they believed
God's word. --- Ed.
MINOR PROPHETS
his vocation, that the Ninevites felt assured that he was a celestial herald: hence
was their faith: and further, the Ninevites would never have so believed as to put on
sackcloth, had they not been reminded of their sins. There is, therefore, no doubt
but that Jonah, while crying against Nineveh, at the same time made known how
wickedly the men lived, and how grievous were their offenses against God. Hence
then it was that they put on sackcloth, and suppliantly fled to God's mercy: they
understood that they were deservedly summoned to judgment on account of their
wicked lives.
But it may be asked, how came the Ninevites to believe God, as no hope of sal-
vation was given them? for there can be no faith without an acquaintance with the
paternal kindness of God; whosoever regards God as angry with him must necessar-
ily despair. Since then Jonah gave them no knowledge of God's mercy, he must have
greatly terrified the Ninevites, and not have called them to faith. The answer is, that
the expression is to be taken as including a part for the whole; for there is no per-
fect faith when men, being called to repentance, do suppliantly humble themselves
before God; but yet it is a part of faith; for the Apostle says, in Hebrew 11:7, that
Noah through faith feared; he deduces the fear which Noah entertained on account
of the oracular word he received, from faith, showing thereby that it was faith in part,
and pointing out the source from which it proceeded. At the same time, the mind
of the holy Patriarch must have been moved by other things besides threatening,
when he built an ark for himself, as the means of safety. We may thus, by taking
a part for the whole, explain this, place, --- that the Ninevites believed God; for as
they knew that God required the deserved punishment, they submitted to him, and,
at the same time, solicited pardon: but the Ninevites, no doubt, derived from the
words of Jonah something more than mere terror: for had they only apprehended
this --- that they were guilty before God, and were justly summoned to punishment,
they would have been confounded and stunned with dread, and could never have
been encouraged to seek forgiveness. Inasmuch then as they suppliantly prostrated
themselves before God, they must certainly have conceived some hope of grace.
They were not, therefore, so touched with penitence and the fear of God, but that
they had some knowledge of divine grace: thus they believed God; for though they
were aware that they were most worthy of death, they yet despaired not, but retook
themselves to prayer. Since then we see that the Ninevites sought this, remedy, we
must feel assured that they derived more advantage from the preaching of Jonah
than the mere knowledge that they were guilty before God: this ought certainly to
be understood. But we shall speak more on the subject in our next lecture.
Prayer.
Grant, Almighty God, that as there is so much timidity in us, that none of us
is prepared to follow where thou mayest call us, we may be so instructed by the
example of thy servant Jonah, as to obey thee in every thing, and that though Satan
and the world may oppose us with all their terrors, we may yet be strengthened by a
reliance on thy power and protection, which thou hast promised to us, and may go on
in the course of our vocation, and never turn aside, but thus contend against all the
hindrances of this world, until we reach that celestial kingdom, where we shall enjoy
JOHN CALVIN
thee and Christ thy only begotten Son, who is our strength and our salvation: and
may thy Spirit quicken us, and strengthen all our faculties, that we may obey thee,
and that at length thy name may be glorified in us, and that we may finally become
partakers of that glory to which thou invites us through Christ our Lord. Amen.
Lecture Seventy-eighth
Jonah 3:6-8
6. For word came unto the king of Nineveh, and he arose from his throne, and he
laid his robe from him, and covered him with sackcloth, and sat in ashes.
6. Et pervenit verbum (sermo, vel, res) ad regem Nineveh; et surrexit e solio
suo, et abjecit splendidam suam vestem a seipso, et induit saccum, et sedit super
pulverem:
7. And he caused it to be proclaimed and published through Nineveh by the
decree of the king and his nobles, saying, Let neither man nor beast, herd nor flock,
taste any thing: let them not feed, nor drink water:
7. Et promulgavit ac dixit per Nineveh ex consilio regis et magnatum ejus, di-
cendo, Homo et jumentum (vel, bestia,) bos et ovis, ne gustent quidpiam, ne pas-
cantur, et ne aquas bibant;
8. But let man and beast be covered with sackcloth, and cry mightily unto God:
yea, let them turn every one from his evil way, and from the violence that is in their
hands.
8. Et induantur saccis homo et bestia, et clament ad Deum in fortitudine; et
revertatur quisque a via sua mala, et a rapacitate quae est in manibus eorum.
It is uncertain whether Jonah had preached for some days in the city before it was
known to the king. This is indeed the common opinion; for interpreters so expound
the verse, which says that word was brought to the king, as though the king himself
knew, that the whole city was in commotion through the preaching of Jonah: but
the words admit of a different sense, that is that the preaching of Jonah immediately
reached the king; and I am disposed to take this view, as Jonah seems here to explain
how the Ninevites were led to put on sackcloth. He had before spoken briefly on the
subject, but he now explains what took place more fully; and we know that it was
commonly the manner of the Hebrews --- to relate the chief points in few words,
and then to add an explanation. As then Jonah had said in the last verse that the
Ninevites had put on sackcloth, and proclaimed a fast, so he now seems to express
more distinctly how this happened, that is, through the royal edict. And it is by no
means probable that a fast was proclaimed in the royal city by the mere consent of
the people, as the king and his counselors were there present. Inasmuch then as it
appears more reasonable that the edict respecting the fast had proceeded from the
king, I am therefore inclined so to connect the two verses, as that the first briefly
mentions the fruit which followed the preaching of Jonah, and that the second is
added as an explanation, for it gives a fuller account of what took place.
Jonah then now says, that a fast was proclaimed by the Ninevites, for the king
and his council had so appointed: and I regard the verb {,}ויגעuigo, as being in
the pluperfect tense, When word had come to the king; 121 for Jonah now states
121Grotius, as well as Junius and Tremelius, had the same view of the verse, by rendering the
MINOR PROPHETS
the reason why the Ninevites proclaimed a fast; it was because the king had been
apprised of the preaching of Jonah, and had called together his counselors. It was
then a public edict, and not any movement among the people, capriciously made,
as it sometimes happens. He says, that it was an edict published by the authority
of the king and his council, or his nobles. At the same time, some take {,}טעם
thom, as meaning reason or approbation. {,}טעםthom, means to taste, and Jonah
afterwards uses the verb in this sense; but it is to be taken here in a metaphorical
sense for counsel; And I think this meaning is more suitable to this passage. I come
now to the subject.
It is worthy of being noticed, that the king of so splendid a city 122 , nay, at
that time the greatest monarch, should have rendered himself so submissive to the
exhortation of Jonah: for we see how proud kings are; as they think themselves
exempt from the common lot of men, so they carry themselves above all laws. Hence
it comes, that they will have all things to be lawful for them; and while they give
loose reins to their lusts they cannot bear to be admonished, even by their equals.
But Jonah was a stranger and of a humble condition: that he therefore so touched
the heart of the king, must be ascribed to the hidden power of God, which he puts
forth through his word whenever he pleases. God does not indeed work alike by
the preaching of his word, he does not always keep to the same course; but, when
he pleases, he so efÏcaciously touches the hearts of men, that the success of his
word exceeds all expectation, as in the memorable example presented to us here.
Who could have said that a heathen king, who had ever lived according to his own
will, who had no feeling as to true and genuine religion, would have been thus in
an instant subdued? For he put aside his royal dress, laid himself in the dust, and
clothed himself in sackcloth. We hence see that God not only spoke by the mouth of
Jonah, but added power to his word.
We must also bear in mind what Christ says, that the men of Nineveh would rise
up in judgment against that generation, as they had repented at the preaching of
Jonah; and ``Behold,'' he said, ``a greater than Jonah is here,'' (Matthew 12:41.)
Christ, at this day, proclaims the voice of his Gospel; for though he is not here in a
visible form among us, he yet speaks by his ministers. If we despise his doctrine, how
can our obstinacy and hardness be excused, since the Ninevites, who had no knowl-
edge of the true doctrine of religion, who were imbued with no religious principles,
were so suddenly converted by the preaching of Jonah? And that their repentance
was sincere we may conclude from this circumstance --- that the preaching of Jonah
was severe, for he denounced destruction on a most powerful city; this might have
instantly inflamed the king's mind with rage and fury; and that he was calmly hum-
verb in the tense here proposed. Quia pervenerat is the version of the former; and the version of the latter is, Quu enim pervenisset Our own version and that of Newcome seem also to favor this view, by rendering {{`` וfor,'' as giving a reason for what is said in the preceding verse: but Henderson has ``and,''
and Marckius the same, and also the Septuagint. What Calvin states as to the manner of speaking often adopted in Hebre, is no
doubt true. But Henry thinks that the people ``led the way,'' and that what they commenced was afterwards enforced and made
general by the order of the king and his nobles. --- Ed.
122Who this king was is a matter of conjecture. "About thirteen years," says Newcome, "after the death of Jeroboam II., king of Israel, Pul, king of Assyria, invaded Israel. So that Pul, or his predecessor, may have been the king here mentioned." Others think that he was Sardanapalus, a character notorious in history for his luxurious, effeminate, and debauched life. — Ed.
JOHN CALVIN
bled, was certainly a proof of no common change. We have then here a remarkable
instance of penitence, --- that the king should have so forgotten himself and his dig-
nity, as to throw aside his splendid dress, to put on sackcloth, and to lie down on
ashes.
But as to fasting and sackcloth, it is very true, as we have observed in our remarks
on Joel, that repentance consists not in these external things: for God cares not for
outward rites, and all those things which are resplendent in the sight of men are
worthless before him; what indeed he requires, is sincerity of heart. Hence what
Jonah here says of fasting, and other outward performances, ought to be referred to
their legitimate end, --- that the Ninevites intended thus to show that they were justly
summoned as guilty before God's tribunal, and also, that they humbly deprecated
the wrath of their judge. Fasting then and sackcloth were only an external profession
of repentance. Were any one to fast all his life, and to put on sackcloth, and to scatter
dust on himself, and not to connect with all this a sincerity of heart, he would do
nothing but mock God. 123 Hence these outward performances are, in themselves,
of small or of no value, except when preceded by an interior feeling of heart, and men
be on this account led to manifest such outward evidences. Whenever then Scripture
mentions fasting, and ashes, and sackcloth, we must bear in mind that these things
are set before us as the outward signs of repentance which when not genuine do
nothing else but provoke the wrath of God; but when true, they are approved of God
on account of the end in view, and not that they avail, of themselves, to pacify his
wrath, or to expiate sins.
If now any one asks whether penitence is always to be accompanied with fasting,
ashes, and sackcloth, the answer is at hand, --- that the faithful ought through their
whole life to repent: for except everyone of us continually strives to renounce him-
self and his former life, he has not yet learned what it is to serve God; for we must
ever contend with the flesh. But though there is a continual exercise of repentance,
yet fasting is not required of us always. It then follows that fasting is a public and
solemn testimony of repentance, when there appears to be some extraordinary ev-
idence of God's wrath. Thus have we seen that the Jews were by Joel called to lie
in ashes, and to put on sackcloth because God had come forth, as it were, armed
against them; and all the Prophets had declared that destruction was nigh the peo-
ple. In the same manner the Ninevites, when terrified by this dreadful edict, put on
sackcloth proclaimed a fasts because this was usually done in extremities. We now
then perceive why the king, having himself put on sackcloth, enjoined on the whole
people both fasting and other tokens of repentance.
But it seems strange, and even ridiculous, that the king should bid animals, as well
as men, to make a confession of repentance; for penitence is a change in man, when
he returns to God after having been alienated from him: this cannot comport with
the character of brute animals. Then the king of Nineveh acted foolishly and contrary
123{Ον} {τη} {νηστεια} {προσεσχεν}, {αλλα} {τη} {αποχη} {των} {κακων} --- ``He [God] did not regard fasting, but
abstinence from evils.'' --- Theodoret. ``It is not enough,'' says Henry, ``to fast for sin, but we must fast from sin, and in order to
the success of our prayers, must no more regard iniquity in our hearts… The work of a fast-day is not done with the day; no, then
the hardest and most needful part of the work begins, which is to turn from sin, and to live a new life, and not to return with the
dog to his vomit.'' --- Ed.
MINOR PROPHETS
to all reason in connecting animals with men when he spoke of repentance. But, in
answer to this, we must bear in mind what I have before said --- that destruction had
been denounced, not only on men, but also on the whole city, even on the buildings:
for as God created the whole world for the sake of men, so also his wrath, when
excited against men, includes the beasts, and trees, and every thing in heaven and
on earth. But the question is not yet solved; for though God may punish animals
on account of men's sins, yet neither oxen nor sheep can pacify the wrath of God.
To this I answer --- that this was done for the sake of men: for it would have been
ridiculous in the king to prohibit food and drink to animals, except he had a regard
to men themselves. But his object was to set before the Ninevites, as in a mirror or
picture, what they deserved. The same was done under the law; for, whenever they
slew victims, they were reminded of their own sins; for it ought to have come to their
minds, that the sheep or any other animal sacrificed was innocent, and that it stood
at the altar in his stead who had sinned. They therefore saw in the ox, or the lamb, or
the goat, a striking emblem of their own condemnation. So also the Ninevites, when
they constrained the oxen, the asses and other animals, to fast, were reminded
of what grievous and severe punishment they were worthy: inasmuch as innocent
animals suffered punishment together with them. We hence see that no expiation
was sought for by the king, when he enjoined a fast on brute animals, but that, on
the contrary, men were roused by such means seriously to acknowledge the wrath
of God, and to entertain greater fear, that they might be more truly humbled before
him, and be displeased with themselves, and be thus more disposed and better
prepared and moulded to seek pardon.
We now then see that this must be considered as intended to terrify the con-
sciences of men, that they, who had long flattered themselves, might by such a
remedy be roused from their insensibility. The same was the intention of different
washings under the law, the cleansing of garments and of vessels; it was, that the
people might know that every thing they touched was polluted by their filth. And this
ought to be especially observed; for the Papists, wedded as they are to external rites,
lay hold on anything said in Scripture about fasting, and ashes, and sackcloth, and
think that the whole of religion consists in these outward observances: but bodily
exercise, as Paul says, profiteth but littler (1 Timothy 4:8.) Therefore this rule ought
ever to be our guide --- that fasting and such things are in themselves of no value,
but must be estimated only by the end in view. So then, when the animals were
constrained by the Ninevites to suffer want, the men themselves, being reminded of
their guilt, learned what it was to dread God's wrath; and on this account it was that
fasting was approved by God.
Now, if any one objects and says that nothing ought to be done in the worship of
God beyond what his word warrants, the answer is --- that the king of Nineveh had not
appointed any kind of expiation, neither did he intend that they should thus worship
God, but regarded only the end which I have mentioned; and that end fully harmo-
nizes with the word of God and his command. Hence the king of Nineveh attempted
nothing that was inconsistent with the word of God, since he had in every thing this
in view --- that he and his people might go humbly before God's tribunal, and with
JOHN CALVIN
real penitential feelings solicit his forgiveness. This then is an answer sufÏciently
plain.
When therefore Jonah afterwards subjoins, 124 that the king commanded both
the people and the beasts to put on sackcloth, let us know, that if any one now
were to take this as an example, he would be nothing else but a mountebank; for
this reason ought ever to be remembered, --- that the king sought aids by which he
might lead himself and his people to true repentance. But the disposition of man is
prone to imitate what is evil: for we are all very like apes; we ought therefore always
to consider by what spirit those were actuated whom we wish to imitate, lest we
should be contented with the outward form and neglect the main things.
Jonah afterwards adds, And they cried mightily 125 to God This must be confined
to men; for it could not have been applied to brute animals. Men then, as well as
the beasts, abstained from meat and drink, and they cried to God. This crying could
not have proceeded except from fear and a religious feeling: hence, as I have said,
this cannot be applied indiscriminately to the beasts as well as to men. 126 But
it deserves to be noticed, that the king of Nineveh commanded the people to cry
mightily to God; for we hence learn that they were really frightened, inasmuch as he
speaks not here of ordinary crying, but he adds mightily, as when we say, with all
our power, or as we say in French, A force, or, fort et ferme. Jonah then expresses
something uncommon and extraordinary, when he tells us that it was contained in
the king's edict, that men should cry mightily to God; for it was the same as though
he said, ``Let all men now awake and shake off their indifference; for every one of
us have hitherto greatly indulged ourselves in our vices: it is now time that fear
should possess our minds, and also constrain us to deprecate the wrath of God.''
And it is also worthy of being observed, that the king proposes no other remedy,
but that the people should have recourse to prayer. It might indeed have been, that
Jonah exhorted the Ninevites to resort to this duty of religion, etc. We may, however,
undeniably conclude that it is a feeling implanted in us by nature, that when we are
pressed by adversities, we implore the favor of God. This then is the only remedy in
afÒictions and distresses, to pray to God. But when we, taught by the Law and by the
Gospel, use not this remedy, whenever God warns us and exhorts us to repentance,
what shadow of excuse can we have, since heathens, even those who understood
not a syllable of true religion, yet prayed to God, and the king himself commanded
this with the consent of his nobles? Hence this edict of the king ought to fill us with
more shame than if one adduced the same doctrine only from the word of God: for
124Calvin has omitted to notice the words at the beginning of the seventh verse. His version is, Et promulgavit ac dixit, etc., but this rendering comports not with what follows. The verbs are evidently in future Niphal, preceded by a {{וconversive, and ought to be rendered impersonally, ``And it was
proclaimed and published,'' etc. And so Newcome renders them; and this is in conformity with the Septuagint, {Και} {εκηρυχθη}
{και} {ερρεθη} {εν} {τη} {Νινευὴ} --- ``And it was proclaimed and published in Nineveh.'' Henderson gives a paraphrase, ``And
a proclamation was made through Nineveh.'' --- Ed.
125{,{בחזקחwith vigor. ``{Εκτεςῶς} --- intensely, earnestly.'' --- Sept. Vehementer --- vehemently.'' --- Grotius. ``Totis viribus
--- with all their powers.'' --- Mercerius. ``Cum intensione valida --- with strong intensity'' --- Marckius. ``In prayer,'' says Henry,
``we must cry mightily, with a fixedness of thought, firmness of faith, and fervor of pious and devout affections. --- Ed.
126Yet Henry does in a manner apply this mighty crying to the beasts. "Let even the brute creatures do it according to their capacity; let their cries and moans for want of food be graciously construed as cries to God; as the cries of young ravens are, Job 38:41; and of the young lions, Psalm 104:21." — Ed.
MINOR PROPHETS
though the authority of that king is not the same with that of God, yet when that
miserable and blind prince acknowledged through the dictates of nature, that God
is to be pacified by prayer, what excuse, as I have said, can remain for us?
But Jonah shows more clearly afterwards, that it was no feigned repentance when
the Ninevites put on sackcloth, and abstained also from meat and drink; for it follows
in the kings edict, And let every one turn from his own wicked ways and from the
plunder which is in their hands Here the heathen king shows for what purpose and
with what design he had given orders respecting fasting and other things; it was
done that the Ninevites might thus more effectually stimulate themselves to fear
God; for he here exhorts them to turn from their evil way. By ``way'' the Scripture
usually means the whole course or manner of man's life; it was as though he said,
``Let every one of you change his disposition and his conduct; let us all become new
creatures.'' And this is true penitence, the conversion of man to God; and this the
heathen king meant. The more shameful then is their dullness who seek to pacify
God by frivolous devices, as the Papists do; for while they obtrude on God trifles, I
know not what, they think that these are so many expiations, and they tenaciously
contend for them. They need no other judge than this heathen king, who shows that
true penitence is wholly different, that it then only takes place when men become
changed in mind and heart, and wholly turn to a better course of life.
Let every one then turn, he says, from his evil way, and from the plunder 127
which is in their hand. One kind of evil is here subjoined, a part being stated for
the whole, for plunders were not the only things which stood in need of amendment
among the Ninevites, as it is probable that they were polluted by other vices and
corruptions. In a city so large, drunkenness probably prevailed, as well as luxury, and
pride, and ambition, and also lusts. It cannot indeed be doubted, but that Nineveh
was filled with innumerable vices: but the king, by mentioning a part for the whole,
points out here the principal vice, when he says, Let every one turn from his evil
way, and from his rapacity. It was the same as though he had said that the principal
virtue is equity or justice, that is, when men deal with one another without doing
any hurt or injury: and well would it be were this doctrine to prevail at this day
among all those who falsely assume the Christian name. For the Papists, though
they accumulate expiations, pass by charity; and in the whole course of life equity
has hardly any place. Let them then learn, from the mouth of a heathen king, what
God principally requires from men, and approves of in their life, even to abstain from
plunder and from the doing of any injury. We now then perceive why rapacity was
especially mentioned. But we must bear in mind that the king, as yet a novice, and
hardly in a slight degree imbued with the elements of religion, through hearing what
Jonah preached, gave orders to his people according to the measure of his faith and
knowledge: but if he made such progress in so short a time, what excuse can we
127A rapacite, from robbery, extortion, plunder {,{}החמס-{מזfrom violence, outrage, or injustice done by
force or violence: it means tyrannical injustice. ``{Απο} {της} {αδικιας} --- from injustice,'' wrong, iniquity. --- Sept. But as it is
said to be in their hand, it means, by a metonymy, the plunder got by injustice, exercised tyrannically. Marckius observes that the
similitude here is first taken from the feet, and then taken from the hands. The feet are no to go in the evil way, nor the hands
employed in doing what is unjust. Henry explains the passage very fully and yet concisely, ``let them turn every one from his evil
way --- the evil way of his heart --- and the evil way of his conversation; and particularly from the violence that is in their hands,
--- let them restore what they have unjustly taken, and make reparation for the wrong they have done, --- and let them not any
more oppress those they have power over, or defraud those they have dealings with.'' --- Ed.
JOHN CALVIN
pretend, whose ears have been stunned by continual preaching for twenty or thirty
years, if we yet come short of the novitiate of this king? These circumstances ought
then to be carefully observed by us. Let us now proceed ---
Jonah 3:9
9. Who can tell if God will turn and repent, and turn away from his fierce anger,
that we perish not?
9. Quis novit an convertatur et poenitentia ducatur Deus, et revertatur a furore
irae suae, ut non pereamus?
The mind and design of the king are here more distinctly stated, --- that he thus
endeavored to reconcile himself and the people to God. Some give a rendering
somewhat different, ``He who knows will turn and be led by penitence,'' etc.; they
read not interrogatively; but this rendering cannot stand. There is in the meaning
of the Prophet nothing ambiguous, for he introduces the king here as expressing a
doubt, Who knows whether God will be reconciled to us? We hence see that the king
was not overwhelmed with despair for he still thought of a remedy; and this is the
purport of the verse.
But this may seem contrary to the nature of faith; and then if it be opposed to
faith, it follows that it must be inconsistent with repentance; for faith and repentance
are connected together, as we have observed in other places; as no one can will-
ingly submit to God, except he has previously known his goodness, and entertained
a hope of salvation; for he who is touched only with fear avoids God's presence; and
then despair prevails, and perverseness follows. How then was it that the king of
Nineveh had seriously and undissemblingly repented, while yet he spoke doubtfully
of the favor of God? To this I answer, that it was a measure of doubt, which was yet
connected with faith, even that which does not directly reject the promise of God,
but has other hindrances: as for instance, when any ones cast down with fear, af-
terwards receives courage from the hope of pardon and salvation set before him, he
is not yet immediately freed from all fear; for as long as he looks on his sins, and
is entangled by various thoughts, he vacillates, he fluctuates. There is, therefore,
no doubt but that the king of Nineveh entertained hope of deliverance; but at the
same time his mind was perplexed, both on account of the sermon of Jonah and on
account of the consciousness of his own sins: there were then two obstacles, which
deprived the king's mind of certainty, or at least prevented him from apprehending
immediately the mercy of God, and from perceiving with a calm mind that God would
be gracious to him. The first obstacle was the awful message, --- that Nineveh would
be destroyed in forty days. For though Jonah, as we have said, might have added
something more, yet the denunciation was distinct and express, and tended to cast
down the minds of all. The king then had to struggle, in order to overcome this ob-
stacle, and to resist this declaration of Jonah as far as it was found to be without any
comfort. And then the king, while considering his own sins, could not but vacillate for
some time. But yet we see that he strove to emerge, though he had these obstacles
before his eyes, for he says, Who knows whether God will turn from the fury of his
wrath, and repent? We hence see that the king was in a hard struggle; for though
Jonah seemed to have closed the door and to shut out the king from any hope of
MINOR PROPHETS
deliverance, and though his own conscience held him fast bound, he yet perseveres
and encourages himself; in short, he aspires to the hope of pardon.
And it must be further noticed, that this form of expression expresses a difÏculty
rather than a mistrust. The king then here asks, as it were doubtingly, Who knows
whether God will turn? for it was a difÏcult thing to be believed, that God, after a long
forbearance, would spare the wicked city. Hence the king expresses it as a difÏculty;
and such an interrogation was no proof of the absence of faith. A similar expression
is found in Joel, ``Who knows,'' etc.? We then stated several things in explaining that
passage: but it is enough here briefly to state, that the king here does not betray
a mistrust, but sets forth a difÏculty. And it was an evidence of humility that he
acknowledged himself and his people to be sunk as it were, in the lowest hell, and
yet ceased not to entertain some hope: for it is a strong proof of hope, when we
still entertain it, though this be contrary to the whole order of nature, and wholly
inconsistent with human reason. We now then see the meaning of the words. Of the
repentance of God we shall speak hereafter, either to-morrow or the day after.
Lest we perish, he says. We see how a heathen king thought of redeeming him-
self from destruction' it was by having God pacified. As soon then as any danger
threatens us, let us bear this in mind, that no deliverance can be found except the
Lord receives us into favor; such was the conviction of the king of Nineveh, for he
concluded that all things would be well as soon as God should be propitious. We
hence see how much this new and untrained disciple had improved; for he under-
stood that men cannot escape miseries until God be pacified towards them, and that
when men return into favor with him, though they ought to have perished a hundred
times before, they yet shall be delivered and made safe; for the grace or the favor
of God is the fountain of life and salvation, and of all blessings. It afterwards follows
---
Jonah 3:10
10. And God saw their works, that they turned from their evil way; and God
repented of the evil, that he had said that he would do unto them; and he did it not.
10. Et vidit Deus opera eorum, quod conversi essent a via sua mala; et poenituit
Deum super malo, quod pronuntiaverat se facturum illis, et non fecit.
Jonah now says, that the Ninevites obtained pardon through their repentance: and
this is an example worthy of being observed; for we hence learn for what purpose
God daily urges us to repentance, and that is, because he desires to be reconciled to
us, and that we should be reconciled to him. The reason then why so many reproofs
and threatening resound in our ears, whenever we come to hear the word of God,
is this, --- that as God seeks to recover us from destruction he speaks sharply to us:
in short, whatever the Scripture contains on repentance and the judgment of God
ought to be wholly applied for this purpose --- to induce us to return into favor with
him; for he is ready to be reconciled, and is ever prepared to embrace those who
without dissimulation turn to him. We then understand by this example that God
has no other object in view, whenever he sharply constrains us, than that he may be
reconciled to us, provided only we be our own judges, and thus anticipate his wrath
by genuine sorrow of heart, provided we solicit the pardon of our guilt and sin, and
JOHN CALVIN
loathe ourselves, and confess that we are worthy of perdition.
But Jonah seems to ascribe their deliverance to their repentance, and also to their
works: for he says that the Ninevites obtained pardon, because God looked on their
works.
We must first see what works he means, that no one may snatch at a single word,
as hypocrites are wont to do; and this, as we have said, is very commonly the case
under the Papacy. God had respect to their works --- what works? not sackcloth,
not ashes, not fasting; for Jonah does not now mention these; but he had respect
to their works --- because they turned from their evil way. We hence see that God
was not pacified by outward rites only, by the external profession of repentance, but
that he rather looked on the true and important change which had taken place in
the Ninevites, for they had become renewed. These then were their works, even the
fruits of repentance. And such a change of life could not have taken place, had not
the Ninevites been really moved by a sense of God's wrath. The fear of God then
had preceded; and this fear could not have been without faith. We hence see that
he chiefly speaks here not of external works, but of the renovation of men.
But if any one objects and says that still this view does not prevent us from think-
ing that good works reconcile us to God, and that they thus procure our salvation: to
this I answer --- that the question here is not about the procuring cause of forgive-
ness. It is certain that God was freely pacified towards the Ninevites, as he freely
restores his favor daily to us. Jonah then did not mean that satisfactions availed
before God, as though the Ninevites made compensations for their former sins. The
words mean no such thing; but he shows it as a fact which followed, that God was
pacified, because the Ninevites repented. But we are to learn from other parts of
Scripture how God becomes gracious to us, and how we obtain pardon with him,
and whether this comes to us for our merits and repentance or whether God him-
self forgives us freely. Since the whole Scripture testifies that pardon is gratuitously
given us, and that God cannot be otherwise propitious to us than by not imputing
sins, there is no need, with regard to the present passage, anxiously to inquire why
God looked on the works of the Ninevites, so as not to destroy them: for this is said
merely as a consequence. Jonah then does not here point out the cause, but only
declares that God was pacified towards the Ninevites, as soon as they repented. But
we shall speak more on this subject.
Prayer.
Grant, Almighty God, that as we are loaded with so many vices, and so many sins,
yea, and scandalous crimes break out daily among us, --- O grant, that we may not
be hardened against so many exhortations, by which thou invites us to thyself, but
that being made contrite in spirit, whenever thou denounces on us thy wrath, we
may be really humbled, and so place ourselves before thy tribunal, that we may, by
a true confession and genuine fear, anticipate the judgment which would otherwise
have been prepared for us; and that in the meantime relying on Christ our Mediator,
we may entertain such a hope of pardon as may raise us up to thee, and not doubt
but that thou art ready to embrace us, when we shall be moved by a true and real
feeling of fear and penitence, since it is a proof of thy favor, when thou art pleased
MINOR PROPHETS
to anticipate us, and by thy Spirit testifies that thou art a Father to us; and, in a
word, may we be so cast down in ourselves, as to raise up our hope even to heaven,
through Jesus Christ one Lord. Amen.
Lecture Seventy-ninth
We stated yesterday how God remitted to the Ninevites the punishment which he
had threatened by the mouth of Jonah, and that the remission both of the punishment
and of the guilt was gratuitous. For whenever God sets forth pardon to sinners,
the condition of repentance is at the same time added: it does not yet follow that
repentance is the procuring cause of obtaining pardon; for God offers it freely, nor is
he otherwise induced than by his own mere bounty. But as he would not have men
to abuse his indulgence and forbearance, he lays down this condition, --- that they
must repent of their former life and change for the better. So then he regards the
works of those who testify that they hate sin, and who, with a sincere and real desire,
flee to His mercy; and no man from the heart desires God to be propitious to him,
but he who loathes himself on account of his sin. This is the reason why Isaiah also
says, that God would be merciful to the remnants of his people, even because every
one would turn away from his iniquity. God does not certainly mean by these words
that repentance, as already stated, is the cause of our salvation; but he requires a
change for the better, for no one will really seek grace, except he loathes himself on
account of his sins.
Now as to what Jonah adds, that God was led to repent, it is a mode of speaking
that ought to be sufÏciently known to us. Strictly speaking, no repentance can belong
to God: and it ought not to be ascribed to his secret and hidden counsel. God then
is in himself ever the same, and consistent with himself; but he is said to repent,
when a regard is had to the comprehension of men: for as we conceive God to be
angry, whenever he summons us to his tribunal, and shows to us our sins; so also we
conceive him to be placable, when he offers the hope of pardon. But it is according
to our perceptions that there is any change, when God forgets his wrath, as though
he had put on a new character. As then we cannot otherwise be terrified, that we
may be humbled before God and repent, except he sets forth before us his wrath,
the Scripture accommodates itself to the grossness of our understanding. But, on
the other hand, we cannot confidently call on God, unless we feel assured that he
is placable. We hence see that some kind of change appears to us, whenever God
either threatens or gives hope of pardon and reconciliation: and to this must be
referred this mode of speaking which Jonah adopts, when he says that God repented.
We hence see that there is a twofold view of God, --- as he sets himself forth in
his word, --- and as he is as to his hidden counsel. With regard to his secret counsel,
I have already said that God is always like himself, and is subject to none of our
feelings: but with regard to the teaching of his word, it is accommodated to our
capacities. God is now angry with us, and then, as though he were pacified, he
offers pardon, and is propitious to us. Such is the repentance of God.
Let us then remember that it proceeds from his word, that God is said to repent;
for the Ninevites could form no other opinion but that it was God's decree that they
were to be destroyed, --- how so? because he had so testified by his word. But when
JOHN CALVIN
they rose up to an assurance of deliverance, they then found that a change had taken
place, that is, according to the knowledge of their own faith: and the feelings both of
fear and of joy proceeded from the word: for when God denounced his wrath, it was
necessary for the wretched men to be terrified; but when he invited them to a state
of safety by proposing reconciliation to them, he then put on a new character; and
thus they ascribed a new feeling to God. This is the meaning. Let us now proceed ---
Chapter 4.
Jonah 4
Jonah 4:1
1. But it displeased Jonah exceedingly, and he was very angry.
1. Et displicuit Jonae dolore magno, et succensuit apud se. 128
Jerome commends this grief of Jonah, and compares it to the holy zeal of Paul
when he wished himself to be an anathema for his brethren, (Romans 9:3:) for he
denies that he grieved because God had showed mercy to so illustrious a city; but
because the conversion of the Gentiles was a certain presage of the destruction of
the chosen people. As then Jonah perceived as in a mirror the near ruin of Israel, he
on this account grieved, if we believe Jerome: but this notion is extremely frivolous;
for, immediately after, God reproved Jonah. What then will the foolish and puerile
apology of Jerome avail the Prophet, since God has declared that he acted perversely
in grieving? Nay, the dullness of Jerome is thus become evident; (thus indeed do I
speak of a man, who, though learned and laborious, has yet deprived himself of
that praise, which otherwise he might have justly earned.) His wayward disposition
everywhere betrayed itself; and he is evidently disproved in this very context, where
Jonah shows clearly that the cause of his grief was another, even this, --- that he was
128The two verbs used here are evidently to be construed as impersonals. The most literal rendering would be thus, — "And it was an evil to Jonah, a great evil; and wrath was to him," or, "he was wroth." Evil means often grief or distress, and so it is here: but the verb {,{חרה
properly rendered in our version, ``very angry,'' seldom if ever, means grief. It is sometimes rendered ``grieved'' in our version;
but in every instance that I can find, it means the grief of anger or displeasure. It occurs twice in Genesis 4, in exactly similar form
as we find it here, followed by the preposition ,{`` }מאד{, }לקין{ }ויחר{ }לand Cain was very wroth,'' or literally, ``and there was
wrath to Cain very much,'' version 5. And then in the following verse we have the like form, {`` }לד{, }חרה{ }למהWhy are thou
wroth?'' or, ``Why is wrath to thee?'' The phrase here is, {`` }ויחר{, }לוand wrath was to him.'' What seems to have made some
commentators to change wrath or anger to grief, as has been a desire to screen the guilt of Jonah. But the whole narrative clearly
shows that he was so displeased as to be angry. His pettish request to die is a sufÏcient proof of this. Calvin was not a man to
trifle with the word of God for this purpose, or for any other: nor was he at a loss to account for the sin of Jonah, without denying
his piety. It is only shallow Christians, and such as have only the outward shell of religion, who are reduced to this dilemma.
Marckius very justly observes, ``That though all the works of God are altogether blameless (irreprehensibilia,) yet there is hardly
anything which is not sometimes blamed by our most foolish flesh (carne insipientissima.) Thus not only the world, God's enemy,
sins against him; but even his own people, who honor him, openly show, one while, that his severity, and at another time that his
kindness, displease them, as though they were not befitting.'' --- Ed.
JOHN CALVIN
unwilling to be deemed a false or a lying prophet: hence was his great grief and
his bitterness. And this we see, had God not expressed his mind, was unjust and
inconsistent with every reason.
We may then conclude that Jonah was influenced by false zeal when he could
not with resignation bear that the city of Nineveh should have been delivered from
destruction: and he also himself amplifies the greatness of his sin. He might have
said, in one word, that it displeased Jonah; but not satisfied with this simple form, he
adds, that he felt great displeasure or grief; and he afterwards adds, that he was very
angry. Though the beginning may not have been wrong, yet excess was sinful. But
he confesses that there was excess, and want of moderation in his grief: since then
he accuses himself in plain words what good is it, by false and invented pretenses,
to cover what we clearly see cannot be excused? But that it may be more evident
why the deliverance of the city of Nineveh displeased Jonah, let us go on with the
context ---
Jonah 4:2
2. And he prayed unto the Lord, and said, I pray thee, O Lord, was not this my
saying, when I was yet in my country? Therefore I fled before unto Tarshish: for I
knew that thou art a gracious God, and merciful, slow to anger, and of great kindness,
and repentest thee of the evil.
2. Et oravit ad Jehovam et dixit, Obsecro Jehova, an non hic sermo meus, quum ad-
huc essem in terra mea? Propterea festinavi fugere in Tharsis, quia noveram quod tu
sis Deus propitius (vel, plenus gratiae,) et misericors, tardus ad iram, multus clemen-
tia, et qui poenitentia duceris super malo.
It seems by no means befitting that Jonah should have said here that he prayed;
for prayer ought to be calm; but he confesses that his mind was in a state of excite-
ment. As then anger was burning within the Prophet, how could he come before God
and utter a suitable prayer? And further, what is the end of praying, but to confess
that whatever good is to be obtained resides in God, and is to be sought humbly from
him? But Jonah here, on the contrary, expostulates and clamors against God; for he
seems in a manner to be contending that he had a just reason for his flight, and also
that God ought not to have pardoned the Ninevites. He then accuses God, that he
might free himself from every blame. But all this is foreign and remote from what
is required in prayer. How then must we understand this passage, in which he says
that he prayed? My answer is --- that the faithful often in a disturbed state of mind
approach God with a desire to pray, and that their prayers are not wholly rejected,
though they are not altogether approved and accepted. And hence also it appears
more evident how the works of the godly are regarded by God, though they are sprin-
kled with many stains. Whenever the Papists read that any work has pleased God,
they imagine that all was perfection and cleanness: but there is no work which is
not infected with some pollution, unless it be purified by a free pardon. This I say is
evident to us in this prayer, which was not so rejected by God, as though it retained
not the character of prayer: and yet it is certain that Jonah was by no means rightly
influenced when he prayed so clamorously, finding fault, as it were, with God, and
retaining still some portion of his own obstinacy; for he boasted of his flight. But this
MINOR PROPHETS
flight, as we have stated, was a proof of manifest rebellion, since, by shaking off the
yoke, he despised the call of God.
We must therefore acknowledge that there was some piety in this prayer of Jonah,
as well as many faults. It was an act of piety that he addressed his complaints to
God. For though hypocrites may pray to God, they yet are wholly averse to him, and
freely give vent to their bitterness against God: but Jonah, while he here complains,
and observes no moderation, but is carried away by a blind and perverse impulse, is
yet prepared to submit to God, as we shall hereafter see. This is the reason why he
says that he prayed: for he would not have been ashamed to confess any grievous
sin of which he might have been conscious. He did not then extenuate his fault by
using the word prayer as hypocrites are wont to do, who ever set up some pretenses
or veils when they seek to cover their own baseness: such was not the object of
Jonah. When therefore he says that he prayed, he declares generally that he did not
so speak against God, but that he still retained some seed of piety and obedience in
his heart. Jonah then prayed. Hence it follows, as I have before stated, that many of
the prayers of the saints are sinful, (vitiosas --- faulty) which, when tried by the right
rule, deserve to be rejected. But the Lord, according to his own mercy, pardons their
defects so that these confused and turbulent prayers yet retain their title and honor.
Now he says, I pray thee, Jehovah is not this what I said? Here Jonah openly
declares why he bore so ill the deliverance of Nineveh from destruction, because
he was thus found to have been false and lying. But it may seem strange that the
Prophet had more regard for his own reputation than for the glory of God; for in this
especially shines forth the glory of God, that he is reconcilable as soon as men return
to the right way, and that he offers himself to them as a father. Ought then Jonah to
have preferred his own honor to the glory of God? I answer, --- that the Prophet was
not so devoted to himself, but that a concern for the glory of God held the first place
in his soul; this is certain. For he connected, and justly so, his own ministry with
the glory of God; as it proceeded from his authority. When Jonah entered Nineveh,
he cried not as a private man, but avowed that he was sent by God. Now if the
preaching of Jonah is found to be false, reproach will recoil on the author of his call,
even on God. Jonah then no doubt could not bear that the name of God should be
exposed to the reproaches of the Gentiles, as though he had spoken dissemblingly,
now opening hell, then heaven: and there is nothing so contrary to the glory of God
as such a dissimulation. We hence see why Jonah was seized with so much grief; he
did not regard himself; but as he saw that an occasion would be given to ungodly
blasphemers, if God changed his purpose, or if he did not appear consistent with his
word, he felt much grieved.
But however specious this reason may be, we yet learn of how much avail are good
intentions with God. Whatever good intention can be imagined, it was certainly a
good intention in Jonah, worthy of some praise, that he preferred dying a hundred
times rather than to hear these reproachful blasphemies --- that the word of God
was a mere sport, that his threatening were no better than fables, that God made
this and that pretense, and transformed himself into various characters. This was
certainly the very best intention, if it be estimated by our judgment. But we shall
JOHN CALVIN
presently see that it was condemned by the mouth of God himself. Let us hence
learn not to arrogate to ourselves judgment in matters which exceed our capacities,
but to subject our minds to God, and to seek of him the spirit of wisdom. For whence
was it that Jonah so fretted against God, except that he burned with a desire for
his glory? But his zeal was inconsiderate, for he would be himself the judge and
arbitrator, while, on the contrary, he ought to have subjected himself altogether to
God. And the same rule ought to be observed also by us. When we see many things
happening through a Divine interposition, that is, through the secret providence of
God, and things which expose his name to the blasphemies of the ungodly, we ought
indeed to feel grief; but in the meantime let us ask of the Lord to turn at length these
shameful reproaches to his own glory; and let us by no means raise an uproar, as
many do, who immediately begin to contend with God, when things are otherwise
ordered than what they wish or think to be useful. Let us learn by the example of
Jonah not to measure God's judgments by our own wisdom, but to wait until he turns
darkness into light. And at the same time let us learn to obey his commands, to follow
his call without any disputing: though heaven and earth oppose us, though many
things occur which may tend to avert us from the right course, let us yet continue in
this resolution, --- that nothing is better for us than to obey God, and to go on in the
way which he points out to us.
But by saying that he hastened to go to Tarshish, he does not altogether excuse
his flight; but he now more clearly explains, that he did not shun trouble or labor,
that he did not run away from a contest or danger, but that he only avoided his
call, because he felt a concern for the glory of God. The import, then, of Jonah's
words is, --- that he makes God here, as it were, his witness and judge, that he
did not withdraw himself from obedience to God through fear of danger, or through
idleness, or through a rebellious spirit, or through any other evil motive, but only
because he was unwilling that his holy name should be profaned, and would not of
his own accord be the minister of that preaching, which would be the occasion of
opening the mouth of ungodly and profane men, and of making them to laugh at
God himself. Since then I cannot hope, he says, for any other issue to my preaching
than to make the Gentiles to deride God, yea, and to revile his holy name, as though
he were false and deceitful, I chose rather to flee to Tarshish. Then Jonah does not
here altogether clear himself; for otherwise that chastisement, by which he ought
to have been thoroughly subdued, must have failed in its effect. He had been lately
restored from the deep, and shall we say that he now so extols himself against God,
that he wishes to appear wholly free from every blame? This certainly would be very
strange: but, as I have said, he declares to God, that he fled at the beginning for no
other reason, but because he did not expect any good fruit from his preaching, but,
on the contrary, feared what now seemed to take place, --- that God's name would
be ridiculed.
For he immediately adds, For I know that thou art a God full of grace, and merciful,
slow to wrath, etc. It is a wonder that Jonah withdrew from his lawful call; for he knew
that God was merciful, and there is no stronger stimulant than this to stir us on, when
God is pleased to use our labor: and we know that no one can with alacrity render
MINOR PROPHETS
service to God except he be allured by his paternal kindness. Hence no one will be a
willing Prophet or Teacher, except he is persuaded that God is merciful. Jonah then
seems here to reason very absurdly when he says, that he withdrew himself from
his ofÏce, because he knew that God was merciful. But how did he know this? By
the law of God; for the passage is taken from Exodus 33:1, where is described that
remarkable and memorable vision, in which God offered to Moses a view of himself:
and there was then exhibited to the holy Prophet, as it were, a living representation
of God, and there is no passage in the law which expresses God's nature more to
the life; for God was then pleased to make himself known in a familiar way to his
servant.
As then Jonah had been instructed in the doctrine of the law, how could he dis-
charge the ofÏce of a Prophet among his own people? And why did not this knowl-
edge discourage his mind, when he was called to the ofÏce of a Teacher? It is then
certain that this ought to be confined to the sort of preaching, such as we have be-
fore explained. Jonah would not have shrunk from God's command, had he been
sent to the Ninevites to teach what he had been ordered to do among the chosen
people. Had then a message been committed to Jonah, to set forth a gracious and
merciful God to the Ninevites, he would not have hesitated a moment to offer his
service. But as this express threatening, Nineveh shall be destroyed, was given him
in charge, he became confounded, and sought at length to flee away rather than to
execute such a command. Why so? Because he thus reasoned with himself, ``I am
to denounce a near ruin on the Ninevites; why does God command me to do this,
except to invite these wretched men to repentance? Now if they repent, will not God
be instantly ready to forgive them? He would otherwise deny his own nature: God
cannot be unlike himself, he cannot put off that disposition of which he has once
testified to Moses. Since God, then, is reconcilable, if the Ninevites will return to the
right way and flee to him, he will instantly embrace them: thus I shall be found to
be false in my preaching.''
We now then perceive how this passage of Jonah is to be understood, when he
says that he fled beyond the sea, at least that he attempted to do so, because he
knew that God was gracious; for he would not have deprived God of his service, had
not this contrariety disturbed and discouraged his mind, ``What! I shall go there
as God's ambassador, in a short time I shall be discovered to be a liar: will not this
reproach be cast on the name of God himself? It is therefore better for me to be
silent, than that God, the founder of my call, should be ridiculed.'' We see that Jonah
had a distinct regard to that sort of preaching which we have already referred to.
And it hence appears that Jonah gave to the Ninevites more than he thought; for
he supposed that he was sent by God, only that the Ninevites might know that they
were to be destroyed: but he brought deliverance to them; and this indeed he partly
suspected or knew before; for he retained this truth --- that God cannot divest himself
of his mercy, for he remains ever the same. But when he went forth to execute the
duty enjoined on him he certainly had nothing to expect but the entire ruin of the city
Nineveh. God in the meantime employed his ministry for a better end and purpose.
There is indeed no doubt but that he exhorted the Ninevites to repentance; but his
JOHN CALVIN
own heart was as it were closed up, so that he could not allow them the mercy of
God. We hence see that Jonah was seized with perplexities, so that he could not
offer deliverance to the Ninevites, and it was yet offered them by God through his
instrumentality.
We now then understand how God often works by his servants; for he leads them
as the blind by his own hand where they think not. Thus, when he stirs up any one
of us, we are sometimes {ὀλιγόπίστοι} --- very weak in faith; we think that our labor
will be useless and without any fruit, or at least attended with small success. But
the Lord will let us see what we could not have expected. Such was the case with
Jonah; for when he came to Nineveh, he had no other object but to testify respecting
the destruction of the city; but the Lord was pleased to make him the minister of
salvation. God then honored with remarkable success the teaching of Jonah, while
he was unworthy of so great an honor; for, as we have already said, he closed up in
a manner every access to the blessing of God. We now then apprehend the meaning
of this passage, in which Jonah says that he fled from the call of God, because he
knew that God was ready to be gracious and merciful.
I come now to the great things which are said of God. {,}חנוןchenun, properly
means a disposition to show favor, as though it was said that God is gratuitously
benevolent; we express the same in our language by the terms, benin, gratieux,
debonnaire. God then assumes to himself this character; and then he says, merciful;
and he adds this that we may know that he is always ready to receive us, if indeed we
come to him as to the fountain of goodness and mercy. But the words which follow
express more clearly his mercy, and show how God is merciful, --- even because
he is abundant in compassion and slow to wrath. God then is inclined to kindness;
and though men on whom he looks are unworthy, he is yet merciful; and this he
expresses by the word {,}רחוםrechum
It is at the same time necessary to add these two sentences that he is abundant
in compassion and slow to wrath, --- why so? For we ever seek in ourselves some
cause for God's favor; when we desire God to be kind to us, we inquire in ourselves
why he ought to favor us: and when we find nothing, all the faith we before had
respecting God's grace at once vanishes. The Lord therefore does here recall us to
himself, and testifies that he is kind and merciful, inasmuch as he is abundant in
compassion; as though he said, ``I have in myself a sufÏcient reason, why I should
be accessible to you, and why I should receive you and show you favor.'' Hence the
goodness of God alone ought to be regarded by us, when we desire his mercy, and
when we have need of pardon. It is as though he had said, that he is not influenced
by any regard for our worthiness, and that it is not for merits that he is disposed to
mercy when we have sinned, and that he receives us into favor; but that he does all
this because his goodness is infinite and inexhaustible. And it is also added, that he
is slow to wrath This slowness to wrath proves that God provides for the salvation of
mankind, even when he is provoked by their sins. Though miserable men provoke
God daily against themselves, he yet continues to have a regard for their salvation.
He is therefore slow to wrath, which means, that the Lord does not immediately
execute such punishment as they deserve who thus provoke him. We now then see
MINOR PROPHETS
what is the import of these words.
Let us now return to this --- that Jonah thrust himself from his ofÏce, because
he knew that God was slow to wrath, and merciful, and full of grace: he even had
recourse to this reasoning, ``Either God will change his nature, or spare the Ninevites
if they repent: and it may be that they will repent; and then my preaching will be
found to be false; for God will not deny himself, but will afford an example of his
goodness and mercy in forgiving this people.'' We may again remark, that we act
perversely, when we follow without discrimination our own zeal: it is indeed a blind
fervor which then hurries us on. Though then a thousand inconsistencies meet us
when God commands any thing, our eyes ought to be closed to them, and we ought
ever to follow the course of our calling; for he will so regulate all events, that all
things shall redound to his glory. It is not for us in such a case to be over-wise; but
the best way is, to leave in God's hand the issue of things. It becomes us indeed
to fear and to feel concerned; but our anxiety ought, at the same time, to be in
submission to God, so that it is enough for us to pray. This is the import of the whole.
Now as to what he says that God repents of the evil, we have already explained
this: it means, that though God has already raised his hand, he will yet withdraw it,
as soon as he sees any repentance in men; for evil here is to be taken for punish-
ment. The Lord then, though he might justly inflict extreme punishment on men, yet
suspends his judgment, and when they come to him in true penitence he is instantly
pacified. This is God's repentance; he is said to repent when he freely forgives what-
ever punishment or evil men have deserved whenever they loathe themselves. 129
It now follows ---
Jonah 4:3
3. Therefore now, O LORD, take, I beseech thee, my life from me; for it is better
for me to die than to live.
3. Et tu Jehova, tolle, quaeso, animam meam a me; quia melius mori meum quam
vivere.
We here see how angry Jonah was in his zeal: for this prayer cannot certainly be
ascribed to his faith, as some think, who say that Jonah took a flight as it were in
his soul to heaven, when he made this prayer, as though he dreaded not death, but
having been divested of all fear, being free and disengaged, he presented himself to
God. I do not think that the mind of Jonah was so heroic. There is indeed no doubt,
129Added here shall be Marckius' excellent explanation of this passate, as given in Joel 2:13. It corresponds materially with that of Calvin, — "Ipse est {,{חנוןgratiosus, apud LXX., et Hieronymum,
{ελεημων}, benignus, h. e. ut voces junctas sic distinguamus commodé, in creaturas praeter omne earum meritum benefictus;
deinde ,{}רחוםmisericors, apud LXX., {οικτίρμων}, h.e. tenerrimo amore motus in miseros ad illus succurrendum et indulgendum;
tum {}אפים{ }ארךlonganumis, apud LXX., et Hieronymum, {μακροθυμος}, patiens, h.e. tardus ad iram, seu judicia sua satis facilé
et satis diu differens; adhuc ,{}חסד-{}רבamplus benignitate, apud LXX., et hieronymum, {πολυελεος}, multae misericordiae, h.e.
bonitatem demonstrans intensissime, latissime et diutissime, inter homines; tandem quod aliis vocibus in Exodo exprimitur, {}נחם
}הרעת{, }על{non consolabilis, sed poenitens super malo, apud LXX., {μετανοων} {επὶ} {ταις} {κακιαις}, apud Hieronymum,
praestabilis super malitia, sive poenitens, --- h.e. malum non culpae ab hominibus commissum, sed poenae, seu afÒictionis, juxta
Hieronymum, coll Matthew 6:34, à se immittendum aut immissum homini, ad hujus resipiscentiam facilé arcens vel auferens,
adeoque placabilis, juxta propositum suum immutabile et promissa generalia, Jeremiah 18:7, 8; 26:3, etc., et finem judicii omnis,
qui est, malum peccati dedocere. Quomodo poenitentia Deo, respectu mutati operis sui, et verbi sui absque explicita conditione
antea propositi, saepe tribuitur, Genesis 6:6; Exodus 32:14; 1 Samuel 15:11 etc.; alias respectu decreti longissimi ab eo arcenda,
Numbers 23:19; 1 Samuel 15:29; Jac. 1:17, etc.; notante dudum Theodoreto, et praeunte Jonathane, apud quem dicitur, revocens
verbum suam ab inducendo malo. Ita haec bonitatis nomina Deo, per Scripturae testimonia et clarissima rerum documenta,
verissimé competunt.'' --- Ed.
JOHN CALVIN
as I have already said, but that he still retained some seed of piety; and this, I said, is
sufÏciently proved by the word prayer; for if Jonah had burst out in the strain of one
in despair, it would not have been a prayer. Since then he prayed by thus speaking,
it follows that it was not the cry of despair, but of too much displeasure, which Jonah
did not restrain. In short, this prayer proceeded from a pious and holy zeal; but Jonah
sinned as to its measure or excess; for he had in a manner forgotten himself, when
he preferred death to life
Thou Jehovah, he says, take me away. He was first not free from blame in hastily
wishing to die; for it is not in our power to quit this world; but we ought with submis-
sive minds to continue in it as long as God keeps us in the station in which we are
placed. whosoever, then, hastens to death with so great an ardor no doubt offends
God. Paul knew that death was desirable in his case, (Philippians 1:22;) but when he
understood that his labor would be useful to the Church, he was contented with his
lot, and preferred the will of God to his own will; and thus he was prepared both to
live and to die, as it seemed good to God. It was otherwise with Jonah, ``Now,'' he
says, ``take away my life.'' This was one fault; but the other was, --- that he wished
to die, because God spared the Ninevites. Though he was touched with some grief,
he ought not yet to have gone so far as this, or rather to rush on, so as to desire
death on account of the weariness of his life.
But we hence learn to what extremes men are carried, when once they give loose
reins to inconsiderate zeal. The holy Prophet Jonah, who had been lately tamed and
subdued by so heavy a chastisements is now seized and carried away by a desire to
die, --- and why? because he thought that it was hard that he denounced destruction
on the Ninevites, and that still their city remained safe. This example ought to check
us, that we express not too boldly our opinion respecting the doings of God, but,
on the contrary, hold our thoughts captive, lest any presumption of this kind be
manifested by us; for there is none of us who does not condemn Jonah, as also he
condemned himself; for he does not here narrate his own praise, but means to show
how foolishly he had judged of God's work. Jonah then confesses his own folly; and
therefore his experience is to us an evidence that there is nothing more preposterous
than for us to settle this or that according to our own wisdom, since this is alone true
wisdom, to submit ourselves wholly to the will of God.
Now if any one raises a question here, --- whether it is lawful to desire death;
the answer may be briefly this, --- that death is not to be desired on account of the
weariness of life; this is one thing: and by the weariness of life I understand that
state of mind, when either poverty, or want, or disgrace, or any such thing, renders
life hateful to us: but if any, through weariness on account of his sins and hatred to
them, regrets his delay on earth, and can adopt the language of Paul,
``Miserable am I, who will free me from the body of this death!'' (Romans 7:24,)
--- he entertains a holy and pious wish, provided the submission, to which I have
referred, be added so that this feeling may not break forth in opposition to the will
of God; but that he who has such a desire may still suffer himself to be detained by
his hand as long as he pleases. And further, when any one wishes to die, because
he fears for himself as to the future, or dreads to undergo any evil, he also struggles
MINOR PROPHETS
against God; and such was the fault of Jonah; for he says that death was better to
him than life, --- and why? because the Lord had spared the Ninevites. We hence
see how he was blinded, yea, carried away by a mad impulse to desire death.
Let us then learn so to love this life as to be prepared to lay it down whenever the
Lord pleases: let us also learn to desire death, but so as to live to the Lord, and to
proceed in the race set before use until he himself lead us to its end. Now follows
the reproof of God ---
Jonah 4:4
4. Then said the LORD, Doest thou well to be angry?
4. Et dixit Jehova, An bene facis excandescendo apud te? 130
There is no doubt but that God by thus reproving Jonah condemns his intemperate
warmth. But since God alone is a fit judge of man's conduct, there is no reason for
us to boast that we are influenced by good intentions; for there is nothing more fal-
lacious than our own balances. When therefore we weigh facts, deeds, and thoughts
by our own judgment, we deceive ourselves. Were any disposed rhetorically to de-
fend the conduct of Jonah, he might certainly muster up many specious pretenses;
and were any one inclined to adduce excuses for Jonah, he might be made to appear
to us altogether innocent: but though the whole world absolved him, what would it
avail, since he was condemned by the mouth of God himself, who alone, as I have
already stated, is the judge? We ought then to feel assured, that Jonah had done
foolishly, even if no reason was apparent to us; for the authority of the Supreme
Judge ought to be more than sufÏcient.
Now God expressly condemns his wrath. Had Jonah modestly expostulated, and
unburdened his griefs into the bosom of God, it would have been excusable; though
his ardor would not have been free from blame, it might yet have been borne with.
But now, when he is angry, it is past endurance; for wrath, as one says, is but short
madness; and then it blinds the perceptions of men, it disturbs all the faculties of
the soul. God then does not here in a slight manner condemn Jonah, but he shows
how grievously he had fallen by allowing himself to become thus angry. We must at
the same time remember, that Jonah had sinned not only by giving way to anger; he
might have sinned, as we have said, without being angry. But God by this circum-
stance --- that he thus became turbulent, enhances his sin. And it is certainly a most
130This clause has been variously rendered. The original words are these, {{}לך{. }חרה{ ההיטבIt is
not to the point to say, as Dr. Henderson does, that the first word is sometimes rendered adverbially, as meaning ``greatly,'' etc.;
for in other places it is rendered as a verb, ``to be good,'' or ``to do good.'' It depends wholly on the form of the sentence what
rendering is the most suitable. Both the construction of the words and the connection of the passage seem to favor the literal
rendering. The first {}הis the an of the Latin, whether, it is an interrogation. Then the rendering is, ``Whether it is good,'' or,
``Is that good?'' Jonah had said before that it was ``good'' for him to die rather than to live; for it is the same word in a different
form --- {`` }מחיי{, }מותי{ }טוב{ }כיfor good my death rather than my life.'' Then the question to him is, ``Is it good that thou
art wrathful,'' or literally, ``that wrath is to thee?'' the verb ,{}חרהas in the first verse, is to be construed impersonally. The
rendering, ``Art thou much vexed?'' is pointless and vapid. It is indeed countenanced by the Septuagint; but we must remember
that on some points there is a wrong leaning in that version, and this is one of those points. As in the case of Jerome and the early
Fathers, there was a disposition and an attempt to lessen and even to obliterate all the faults and defects of the ancient saints, so
it was evidently with the authors of this version. Superstition and Pharisaism must have all their saints perfect, while the word of
God represents all true saints as imperfect in the present state, but aiming at, and longing for, perfection, and fully expecting to
enjoy it hereafter. The version of Newcome is, ``Doest thou well that thine anger is kindled?'' Kindling or heat, that is, of anger
or wrath, is the ideal meaning of the verb. Junius and Tremelius, as well as Dathius, consider that anger, and not grief is meant.
Dr. Adam Clarke's version is this, ``Is anger good for thee?'' which is certainly very literal; or, as the verb is in the causative mood,
it might be rendered, ``Can anger do good to thee?'' It may be doubted whether here, and in the ninth verse, where the same
phrase twice occurs, this rendering is the most obvious and natural. --- Ed.
JOHN CALVIN
unseemly thing, when a mean creature rises up against God, and in a boisterous
spirit contends with him: this is monstrous; and Jonah was in this state of mind.
We hence see why an express mention is made of his anger, --- God thus intended
to bring conviction home to Jonah, that he might no more seek evasions. Had he
simply said, ``Why! how is it that thou dost not leave to me the supreme right of
judging? If such is my will, why dost not thou submissively acknowledge that what
I do is rightly done? Is it thy privilege to be so wise, as to dictate laws to me, or
to correct my decisions?'' --- had the Lord thus spoken, there might have remained
still some excuse; Jonah might have said, ``Lord, I cannot restrain my grief, when I
see thy name so profaned by unseemly reproaches; can I witness this with a calm
mind?'' He might thus have still sought some coverings for his grief; but when the
Lord brought forward his anger, he must have been necessarily silenced; for what
could be found to excuse Jonah, when he thus perversely rebelled, as I have said,
against God, his Judge and Maker? We now then understand why God expressly
declares that Jonah did not do well in being thus angry.
But I wonder how it came into Jerome's mind to say that Jonah is not here reproved
by the Lord, but that something of an indifferent kind is mentioned. He was indeed a
person who was by nature a sophister, (cavillator --- a caviler;) and thus he wantonly
trifled with the work of falsifying Scripture; he made no conscience of perverting
passages of holy writ. As, for instance, when he writes about marriage, he says that
they do not ill who marry, and yet that they do not well. What a sophistry is this,
and how vapid! So also on this place, ``God,'' he says, ``does not condemn Jonah,
neither did he intend to reprove his sin; but, on the contrary, Jonah brings before us
here the person of Christ, who sought death that the whole world might be saved;
for when alive he could not do good to his own nation, he could not save his own
kindred; he therefore preferred to devote himself and his life for the redemption of
the world.'' These are mere puerilities; and thus the whole meaning of this passage,
as we clearly see, is distorted. But the question is more emphatical than if God had
simply said, ``Thou hast sinned by being thus angry;'' for an afÏrmative sentence
has not so much force as that which is in the form of a question.
God then not only declares as a Judge that Jonah had not done well, but he also
draws from him his own confession, as though he said, ``Though thou art a judge
in thine own cause, thou can't not yet make a cover for thy passion, for thou art
beyond measure angry.'' For when he says {,}לךlak, with, or, in thyself, he reminds
Jonah to examine his own heart, as though he said, ``Look on thyself as in a mirror:
thou wilt see what a boisterous sea is thy soul, being seized as thou art by so mad a
rage.'' We now then perceive not only the plain sense of the passage, but also the
emphasis, which is contained in the questions which Jerome has turned to a meaning
wholly contrary. I will not proceed farther; 131 for what remains will be sufÏcient for
to-morrow's lecture.
Prayer.
Grant, Almighty God, that as thou sees us implicated in so many errors, that we
131Appended here is this note in the margin, — "Putavit, cessante horologio, se ante tempus finire;" — "He thought that, through the clock stopping, he had finished before the time." — Ed.
MINOR PROPHETS
often fall through want of thought, and as thou also sees that the violent emotions of
our flesh wholly blind whatever reason and judgment there is in us, --- O grant, that
we may learn to give up ourselves altogether to obey thee, and so honor thy wisdom
as never to contend with thee, though all things may happen contrary to our wishes,
but patiently to wait for such an issue as it may please thee to grant; and may we
never be disturbed by any of the hindrances which Satan may throw in our way, but
ever go on towards the mark which thou hast set before us, and never turn aside
from thee, until, having gone through all dangers and overcome all impediments, we
shall at length reach that blessed rest, which has been obtained for us by the blood
of thy Son. Amen.
Lecture Eightieth
Jonah 4:5
5. So Jonah went out of the city, and sat on the east side of the city, and there
made him a booth, and sat under it in the shadow, till he might see what would
become of the city.
5. Et egressus est Jonas ex urbe, et sedit ab oriente contra urbem, et fecit sibi
illic tabernaculum, et sedit sub eo in umbra, quousque videret quid fieret in urbe.
It may be here doubted whether Jonah had waited till the forty days had passed,
and whether that time had arrived; for if we say that he went out of the city before
the fortieth day, another question arises, how could he have known what would be?
for we have not yet found that he had been informed by any oracular communication.
But the words which we have noticed intimate that it was then known by the event
itself, that God had spared the city from destruction; for in the last lecture it was
said, that God had repented of the evil he had declared and had not done it. It hence
appears that Jonah had not gone out of the city until the forty days had passed. But
there comes again another question, what need had he to sit near the city, for it was
evident enough that the purpose of God had changed, or at least that the sentence
Jonah had pronounced was changed? he ought not then to have seated himself near
the city as though he was doubtful.
But I am inclined to adopt the conjecture, that Jonah went out after the fortieth
day, for the words seem to countenance it. With regard to the question, why he
yet doubted the event, when time seemed to have proved it, the answer may be
readily given: though indeed the forty days had passed, yet Jonah stood as it were
perplexed, because he could not as yet feel assured that what he had before pro-
claimed according to God's command would be without its effect. I therefore doubt
not but that Jonah was held perplexed by this thought, ``Thou hast declared nothing
rashly; how can it then be, that what God wished to be proclaimed by his own com-
mand and in his own name, should be now in vain, with no corresponding effect?''
Since then Jonah had respect to God's command, he could not immediately extricate
himself from his doubts. This then was the cause why he sat waiting: it was, because
he thought that though God's vengeance was suspended, his preaching would not
yet be in vain, but that the ruin of the city was at hand. This therefore was the reason
why he still waited after the prefixed time, as though the event was still doubtful.
Now that this may be more evident, let us bear in mind that the purpose of God
JOHN CALVIN
was hidden, so that Jonah understood not all the parts of his vocation. God, then,
when he threatened ruin to the Ninevites, designed to speak conditionally: for what
could have been the benefit of the word, unless this condition was added, --- that the
Ninevites, if they repented, should be saved? There would otherwise have been no
need of a Prophet; the Lord might have executed the judgment which the Ninevites
deserved, had he not intended to regard their salvation. If any one objects by say-
ing that a preacher was sent to render them inexcusable, --- this would have been
unusual; for God had executed all his other judgments without any previous denun-
ciation, I mean, with regard to heathen nations: it was the peculiar privilege of the
Church that the Prophets ever denounced the punishments which were at hand; but
to other nations God made it known that he was their Judge, though he did not send
Prophets to warn them. There was then included a condition, with regard to God's
purpose, when he commanded the Ninevites to be terrified by so express a decla-
ration. But Jonah was, so to speak, too literal a teacher; for he did not include what
he ought to have done, --- that there was room for repentance, and that the city
would be saved, if the Ninevites repented of their wickedness. Since then Jonah had
learned only one half of his ofÏce, it is no wonder that his mind was still in doubt,
and could not feel assured as to the issue; for he had nothing but the event, God
had not yet made known to him what he would do. Let us now proceed ---
Jonah 4:6-8
6. And the Lord God prepared a gourd, and made it to come up over Jonah, that
it might be a shadow over his head, to deliver him from his grief. So Jonah was
exceeding glad of the gourd.
6. Et paravit Jehova Deus cucurbitam (vel, hederam,) et ascendere fecit ad Jonam,
ut esset umbra super caput ejus, atque liberaret eum a molestia sua; et gavisus est
Jonas super hedera (vel, cucurbita) gaudio magno.
7. But God prepared a worm when the morning rose the next day, and it smote
the gourd that it withered.
7. Et paravit Deus vermem quum ascenderet aurora postridie, qui percussit hed-
eram et exaruit.
8. And it came to pass, when the sun did arise, that God prepared a vehement
east wind; and the sun beat upon the head of Jonah, that he fainted, and wished in
himself to die, and said, It is better for me to die than to live.
8. Et accidit, quum exoriretur sol, ut pararet Deus ventum impetuosum (qui obsur-
descere facit homines; {}חרשsignificat obsurdescere; alii vertunt, ventum arationis,
quia verbum illud etiam significat arare; et intelligunt, ventum siccum et frigidum,
qualis grassari solet arationis tempore,) et percussit sol super caput Jonae, et defecit;
et optavit pro anima sua, ut moreretur; et dixit, Melior mors mea quam vita.
Before I proceed to treat on the contents of these verses, I will say a few things on
the word {,}קיקיוןkikiun; for there were formerly some disputes respecting this word.
Some render it, a gourd; (eucurbitam) others think it to have been a cucumber. Free
conjectures are commonly made respecting obscure and unknown things. However,
the first rendering has been the received one: and Augustine says, that a tumult
arose in some church, when the Bishop rend the new interpretation of Jerome, who
MINOR PROPHETS
said that it was the ivy. Those men were certainly thoughtless and foolish who were
so offended for a matter so trifling; for they ought to have more carefully inquired
which version was the best and most correct. And Augustine did not act so very
wisely in this affair; for superstition so possessed him, that he was unwilling that
the received version of the Old Testament should be changed. He indeed willingly
allowed Jerome to translate the New Testament from the Greek original; but he would
not have the Old Testament to be touched; for he entertained a suspicion of the
Jews, --- that as they were the most inveterate enemies of the faith, they would have
tried to falsify the Law and the Prophets. As then Augustine had this suspicion, he
preferred retaining the common version. And Jerome relates that he was traduced at
Rome, because he had rendered it ivy instead of gourd; but he answered Augustine
in a very severe and almost an angry manner; and he inveighed in high displeasure
against some Cornelius and another by the name of Asinius Polio, who had accused
him at Rome as one guilty of sacrilege, because he had changed this word. I cannot
allege in excuse, that they peevishly rejected what was probable. But as to the thing
itself, I would rather retain in this place the word gourd, or cucumber, than to cause
any disturbance by a thing of no moment. Jerome himself confesses, that it was
not ivy; for he says, that it was a kind of a shrub, and that it grows everywhere in
Syria; he says that it was a shrub supported by its own stem, which is not the case
with ivy; for the ivy, except it cleaves to a wall or to a tree, creeps on the ground.
It could not then have been the ivy; and he ought not to have so translated it. He
excuses himself and says, that if he had put down the Hebrew word, many would
have dreamt it to have been a beast or a serpent. He therefore wished to put down
something that was known. But he might also have caused many doubts: ``Why!
ivy is said to have ascended over the head of Jonah, and to have afforded him a
shade; how could this have been?'' Now I wonder why Jerome says in one place that
the shrub was called in his time Cicion in the Syrian language; and he says in another
place in his Commentaries, that it was called in the same language Elkeroa; which
we see to be wholly different from the word {,}קיקיוןkikiun. Now when he answered
Augustine I doubt not but that he dissembled; for he knew that Augustine did not
understand Hebrew: he therefore trifled with him as with a child, because he was
ignorant. It seems to have been a new gloss, I know not what, invented at the time
for his own convenience: I doubt not but that he at the moment formed the word,
as there is some afÏnity between {,}קיקיוןkikiun, and cicion. However it may have
been, whether it was a gourd or a shrub, it is not necessary to dispute much how it
could have grown so soon into so great a size. Jerome says, that it was a shrub with
many leaves, and that it grew to the size of a vine. Be it so; but this shrub grows not
in one day, nor in two, nor in three days.
It must have therefore been something extraordinary. Neither the ivy, nor the
gourd, nor any shrub, nor any tree, could have grown so quickly as to afford a cover
to the head of Jonah: nor did this shrub alone give shelter to Jonah's head; for it
is more probable, that it was derived also from the booth which he had made for
himself. Jonah then not only sheltered himself under the shrub, but had the booth
as an additional cover, when he was not sufÏciently defended from the heat of the
JOHN CALVIN
sun. Hence God added this shrub to the shade afforded by the booth: for in those
regions, as we know, the sun is very hot; and further, it was, as we shall see, an
extraordinary heat.
I wished to say thus much of the word ivy; and I have spoken more than I intended;
but as there have been contentions formerly on the subject, I wished to notice what
may be satisfactory even to curious readers. I come now to what is contained in this
passage.
Jonah tells us that a gourds or a cucumber, or an ivy, was prepared by the Lord.
There is no doubt but that this shrub grew in a manner unusual, that it might be a
cover to the booth of Jonah. So I view the passage. But God, we know, approaches
nature, whenever he does anything beyond what nature is: this is not indeed always
the case; but we generally find that God so works, as that he exceeds the course
of nature, and yet from nature he does not wholly depart. For when in the desert
he intended to collect together a great quantity of quails, that he might give meat
to the people, he raised wind from the east, (Numbers 11:31.) How often the winds
blew without bringing such an abundance of birds? It was therefore a miracle: but
yet God did not wholly cast aside the assistance of nature; hence he made use of
the wind; and yet the wind could not of itself bring these birds. So also in this place,
God had chosen, I have no doubt, a herb, which soon ascended to a great height,
and yet far surpassed the usual course of nature. In this sense, then, it is that God
is said to have prepared the {,}קיקיוןkikiun, 132 and to have made it to ascend over
Jonah's head, that it might be for a shade to his head and free him from his distress.
But it is said afterwards that a worm was prepared. We see here also, that what
seemed to happen by chance was yet directed by the hidden providence of God.
Should any one say, that what is here narrated does not commonly happen, but
what once happened; to this I answer, --- that though God then designed to exhibit a
wonderful example, worthy of being remembered, it is yet ever true that the gnawing
even of worms are directed by the counsel of God, so that neither a herb nor a tree
withers independently of his purpose. The same truth is declared by Christ when
he says, that without the Father's appointment the sparrows fall not on the ground,
(Matthew 10:29.) Thus much as to the worm.
It is now added, that when the sun arose the day following, a wind was prepared.
We here learn the same thing, --- that winds do not of themselves rise, or by chance,
but are stirred up by a Divine power. There may indeed be found causes in nature
why now the air is tranquil, and then it is disturbed by winds; but God's purpose
regulates all these intermediate causes; so that this is ever true --- that nature is not
some blind impulse, but a law settled by the will of God. God then ever regulates
by his own counsel and hand whatever happens. The only difference is, that his
works which flow in the usual course have the name of nature; and they are miracles
132Much has been written on the character of this plant. Modern critics have pretended to determine that it was the Ricinus, commonly called Palma Christi. It matters not what it was: its growth was doubtless miraculous. It may have been an indigenous plant, it may have been such a plant as never grew before or after. Two things are evident — God prepared it, and prepared it to shelter Jonah. In a translation it would have been better either to retain the original name, or to give it the general name of a plant or shrub. To call it a gourd, an ivy, or a cucumber, is to convey an incorrect idea. — Ed.
MINOR PROPHETS
and retain not the name of nature, when God changes their wonted course; but yet
they all proceed from God as their author. Therefore with regard to this wind, we
must understand that it was not usual or common; and yet that winds are daily
no less stirred up by God's providence than this wind of which Jonah speaks. But
God wrought then, so to speak, beyond the usual course of nature, though he daily
preserves the regular order of nature itself.
Let us now see why this whole narrative has been set down. Jonah confesses that
he rejoiced with great joy, when he was sheltered from the extreme heat of the sun:
but when the shrub withered, he was touched with so much grief that he wished to
die. There is nothing superfluous here; for Jonah shows, with regard to his joy and his
grief, how tender he was and how susceptible of both. Jonah here confesses his own
sensibility, first by saying that he greatly rejoiced, and then by saying that he was
so much grieved for the withered shrub, that through weariness of life he instantly
desired death. There is then here an ingenuous confession of weakness; for Jonah in
a very simple manner has mentioned both his joy and his grief. But he has distinctly
expressed the vehemence of both feelings, that we might know that he was led away
by his strong emotions, so that in the least things he was either inflamed with anger,
or elated with joy beyond any bounds. This then was the case with him in his grief
as well as in his joy. But he does not say that he prayed as before; but he adopts the
word {,}שאלshal, which signifies to desire or wish. He desired, it is said, for his soul
that he might die. It is hence probable that Jonah was so overwhelmed with grief
that he did not lift up his heart to God; and yet we see that he was not neglected by
God: for it immediately follows ---
Jonah 4:9
9. And God said to Jonah, Doest thou well to be angry for the gourd? And he said,
I do well to be angry, even unto death.
9. Et dixit Deus ad Jonam, An bene facis excandescendo apud te super cucur-
bitam? Et dixit, Bene facio irascendo apud me usque ad mortem.
We see here that God had concealed himself for a time, but did not yet forsake
his servant. He often looks on us from behind; that is, though we think that he has
forgotten us, he yet observes how we go on, that he may in due time afford help:
and hence it is that he recovers and raises up the falling, before we perceive that
he is near. This was his manner with Jonah, when he began to address him: for, as
we have said, grief had so oppressed the mind of the holy Prophets that it could no
longer be raised up to God. Hence he desired to die; and still God did not forsake
him. This was no common example of the invaluable mercy of God, with which he
favors his own people, even when they precipitate themselves into ruin: such was
the case with Jonah, who rushed headlong into a state of despair, and cared not for
any remedy. God then did not wait until he was sought, but anticipated miserable
Jonah, who was now seeking destruction to himself.
He says, Doest thou well that thou art thus angry for the gourd? As though he
had said, that he was too violently disturbed for a matter so trifling. And we must
ever bear that in mind, of which we spoke more fully yesterday, --- that God did
not merely reprove his servant, because he did not patiently bear the withering of
JOHN CALVIN
the gourd --- what then? but because he became angry; for in anger there is ever
an excess. Since then Jonah was thus grieved beyond measure, and without any
restraint, it was justly condemned by God as a fault. I will now not repeat what I
said yesterday respecting the enhancing of the crime, inasmuch as Jonah not only
murmured on account of the withering of the shrub, but also disregarded himself,
and boiled over with displeasure beyond all due limits.
And the answer of Jonah confirms this, I do well, he says, in being angry even to
death. We here see how obstinately the holy Prophet repelled the admonition of God,
by which he ought to have been restored to a right mind. He was not ignorant that
God spoke. Why then was he not smitten with shame? Why was he not moved by
the authority of the speaker, so as immediately to repress the fierceness of his mind?
But thus it commonly happens, when the minds of men are once blinded by some
wrong feeling; though the Lord may thunder and fulminate from heaven, they will
not hear, at least they will not cease violently to resist, as Jonah does here. Since
then we find such an example of perverseness in this holy man, how much more
ought every one of us to fear? Let us hence learn to repress in time our feelings, and
instantly at the beginning to bridle them, lest if they should burst forth to a greater
extent, we become at last altogether obstinate. I do well, he says, in being angry
even to death. God charged his servant Jonah with the vice of anger; Jonah now
indulges himself in his own madness, so that he says that desperation is not a vice:
I do not sin, he says, though I am despairing; though I abandon myself to death as
with mad fury, I do not yet sin.
Who could have thought that the holy Prophet could have been brought into this
state of mind? But let us be reminded, as I have already said, by this remarkable ex-
ample, how furious and unreasonable are the passions of our flesh. There is, there-
fore, nothing better than to restrain them, before they gather more strength than
they ought; for when any one feeds his vices, this obstinacy and hardness always
follow. But to be angry, or to be in a fume even to death, is to feel such a weari-
ness of life, as to give ourselves up of our own accord to death. It was not indeed
the design of Jonah to lay violent hands on himself; but though he abstained from
violence, he yet, as to the purpose of his mind, procured death to himself; for he
submitted not to God, but was carried away by a blind impulse, so that he wished to
throw away his life. It now follows ---
Jonah 4:10-11
10. Then said the Lord, Thou hast had pity on the gourd, for the which thou hast
not laboured, neither madest it grow; which came up in a night, and perished in a
night:
10. Et dixit Jehova, Tu pepercisti cucurbitae, in qua non laborasti, et quam non
extulisti; filia noctis fuit, et filia noctis transiit (hoc est nata fuit, vel, exorta una nocte,
et nocte etiam una emarcuit.)
11. And should not I spare Nineveh, that great city, wherein are more than sixs-
core thousand persons that cannot discern between their right hand and their left
hand; and also much cattle?
11. Et ego non parcerem Nineveh urbi magnae, in qua sunt duodecies decem
MINOR PROPHETS
millia hominum, quorum quisque non novit inter dexteram suam et sinistram suam,
et animalia etiam multa?
Here God explains the design he had in suddenly raising up the gourd, and then
in causing it to perish or wither through the gnawing of a worm; it was to teach Jonah
that misconduct towards the Ninevites was very inhuman. Though we find that the
holy Prophet had become a prey to dreadful feelings, yet God, by this exhibition,
does in a manner remind him of his folly; for, under the representation of a gourd,
he shows how unkindly he desired the destruction of so populous a city as Nineveh.
Yet this comparison may appear ill suited for the purpose. Jonah felt sorry for the
gourd, but he only regarded himself: hence he was displeased, because the relief
with which he was pleased was taken away from him. As then this inconvenience
had driven Jonah to anger, the similitude may not seem appropriate when God thus
reasons, Thou wouldest spare the gourd, should I not spare this great city? Nay, but
he was not concerned for the gourd itself: if all the gourds of the world withered,
he would not have been touched with any grief; but as he felt the greatest danger
being scorched by the extreme heat of the sun, it was on this account that he was
angry. To this I answer, --- that though Jonah consulted his own advantage, yet this
similitude is most suitable: for God preserves men for the purpose for which he
has designed them. Jonah grieved for the withering of the gourd, because he was
deprived of its shade: and God does not create men in vain; it is then no wonder that
he wishes them to be saved. We hence see that Jonah was not unsuitably taught by
this representation, how inhumanely he conducted himself towards the Ninevites.
He was certainly but one individual; since then he made such an account of himself
and the gourd only, how was it that he cast aside all care for so great and so populous
a city? Ought not this to have come to his mind, that it was no wonder that God, the
Creator and Father, had a care for so many thousands of men? Though indeed the
Ninevites were alienated from God, yet as they were men, God, as he is the Father
of the whole human race, acknowledged them as his own, at least to such an extent
as to give them the common light of day, and other blessings of earthly life. We now
then understand the import of this comparison: ``Thou wouldest spare,'' he says,
``the gourd, and should I not spare this great city?''
It hence appears how frivolous is the gloss of Jerome, --- that Jonah was not angry
on account of the deliverance of the city, but because he saw that his own nation
would, through its means, be destroyed: for God repeats again that Jonah's feeling
was quite different, --- that he bore with indignity the deliverance of the city from
ruin. And less to be endured it is still, that Jerome excuses Jonah by saying that
he nobly and courageously answered God, that he had not sinned in being angry
even to death. That man dared, without any shame or discernment, to invent a
pretense that he might excuse so disgraceful an obstinacy. But it is enough for us to
understand the real meaning of the Prophet. Here then he shows, according to God's
representation, that his cruelty was justly condemned for having anxiously desired
the destruction of a populous city.
But we ought to notice all the parts of the similitudes when he says, Thou wouldest
have spared, etc. There is an emphasis in the pronoun {,}אתהate, for God compares
JOHN CALVIN
himself with Jonah; ``Who art thou? Doubtless a mortal man is not so inclined to
mercy as I am. But thou takest to thyself this right --- to desire to spare the gourd,
even thou who art made of clay. Now this gourd is not thy work, thou hast not labored
for it, it has not proceeded from thy culture or toil; and further, thou hast not raised
it up, and further still, it was the daughter of a night, and in one night it perished;
it was an evanescent shrub or herb. If then thou regardest the nature of the gourd,
if thou regardest thyself, and joinest together all the other circumstances, thou wilt
find no reason for thy hot displeasure. But should not I, who am God, in whose hand
are all things, whose prerogative and whose constant practice it is mercifully to bear
with men --- should not I spare them, though they were worthy of destruction? and
should not I spare a great city? The matter here is not concerning a little plant, but
a large number of people. And, in the last place, it is a city, in which there are a
hundred and twenty thousand men who know not how to distinguish between their
right hand and the left.''
We now then see how emphatical are all the parts of this comparison. And though
God's design was to reprove the foolish and sinful grief of Jonah, we may yet further
collect a general instruction by reasoning in this manner, ``We feel for one another,
and so nature inclines us, and yet we are wicked and cruel. If then men are inclined
to mercy through some hidden impulse of nature, what may not be hoped from the
inconceivable goodness of God, who is the Creator of the whole world, and the Father
of us all? and will not he, who is the fountain of all goodness and mercy spare us?''
Now as to the number, Jonah mentions here twelve times ten thousand men, and
that is as we have said, one hundred and twenty thousand. God shows here how
paternally he cares for mankind. Every one of us is cherished by him with singular
care: but yet he records here a large number, that it might be more manifest that he
so much regards mankind that he will not inconsiderately fulminate against any one
nation. And what he adds, that they could not distinguish between the right hand
and the left, is to be referred, I have no doubt, to their age; and this opinion has
been almost universally received. Some one, however has expressed a fear lest the
city should be made too large by allowing such a number of men: he has, therefore,
promiscuously included the old, as well as those of middle age and infants. He says
that these could not distinguish between the right hand and the left, because they
had not been taught in the school of God, nor understood the difference between
right and wrong; for the unbelieving, as we know, went astray in their errors. But
this view is too strained; and besides, there is no reason for this comment; for that
city, we know, was not only like some great cities, many of which are at this day in
Europe, but it surpassed most of the principal cities at this day. We know that in Paris
there are more than four hundred thousand souls: the same is the case with other
cities. I therefore reject this comment, as though Jonah was here speaking of all the
Ninevites. But God, on the contrary, intended to show, that though there was the
justest reason for destroying entirely the whole city, there were yet other reasons
which justified the suspension of so dreadful a vengeance; for many infants were
there who had not, by their own transgressions, deserved such a destruction.
God then shows here to Jonah that he had been carried away by his own merciless
MINOR PROPHETS
zeal. Though his zeal, as it has been said, arose from a good principle, yet Jonah was
influenced by a feeling far too vehement. This God proved, by sparing so many
infants hitherto innocent. And to infants he adds the brute animals. Oxen were
certainly superior to shrubs. If Jonah justly grieved for one withering shrub, it was
far more deplorable and cruel for so many innocent animals to perish. We hence see
how apposite are all the parts of this similitude, to make Jonah to loathe his folly, and
to be ashamed of it; for he had attempted to frustrate the secret purpose of God,
and in a manner to overrule it by his own will, so that the Ninevites might not be
spared, who yet labored by true repentance to anticipate the divine judgment.
Prayer.
Grant, Almighty God, that as thou hast, in various ways, testified, and daily con-
tinues to testify, how dear and precious to thee are mankind, and as we enjoy daily
so many and so remarkable proofs of thy goodness and favor, --- O grant, that we
may learn to rely wholly on thy goodness, many examples of which thou settest be-
fore us, and which thou wouldest have us continually to experience, that we may not
only pass through our earthly course, but also confidently aspire to the hope of that
blessed and celestial life which is laid up for us in heaven, through Christ our Lord.
Amen.
End of the commentaries on Jonah.
Commentary on Micah
Commentary on Micah
Calvin's Preface to Micah
Among the Minor Prophets, Micah comes next, who is commonly called Micaiah. 133 But he was the second, as they say, of this name; for the first was the Micaiah
who had a contest with the wicked king Ahab; and he then exercised his Prophetic
ofÏce. But the second was in the same age with Isaiah, perhaps a little later: at least
Isaiah had been performing his ofÏce some years before Micah had been called. It
appears then that he was added to Isaiah, that he might confirm his doctrine; for
that holy man had to do with ungodly men, with men of a hardened neck, yea, and
so wicked, that they were wholly irreclaimable. That their doctrine therefore might
be more entitled to credit, it pleased God that Isaiah and Micah should deliver their
message at the same time, as it were, with one mouth, and avow their consent, that
all the disobedient might be proved guilty.
But I will now come to his words: for the contents of this Book suggest what is
useful for our instruction. 134
Chapter 1
Lecture Eighty-first
133The confusion of the name has been through the Septuagint, in which Michaiah, the son of Imlah, about a hundred years before, is rendered {Μιχαιας}, as well as this Prophet. The son of Imlah in
Hebrew is ,{}מיכיהwhile our Prophet is .{}מיכה--- Ed.
134"This Book," says Henderson, "may be divided into two parts; the first consisting of chapters 1-5; and the second, the two remaining chapters, which are more general and didactic in their character."
Micah 1
Micah 1:1
1. The word of the LORD that came to Micah the Morasthite in the days of Jotham,
Ahaz, and Hezekiah, kings of Judah, which he saw concerning Samaria and Jerusalem.
1. Sermo Jehovae qui factus est (vel, directus) ad Michah Morasthitem, diebus
Jotham, Achaz, Jehizkiae, regum Judae, quem vidit super Samariam et Jerusalem.
This inscription, in the first place, shows the time in which Micah lived, and during
which God employed his labors. And this deserves to be noticed: for at this day his
sermons would be useless, or at least frigid, except his time were known to us, and
we be thereby enabled to compare what is alike and what is different in the men of
his age, and in those of our own: for when we understand that Micah condemned this
or that vice, as we may also learn from the other Prophets and from sacred history,
we are able to apply more easily to ourselves what he then said, inasmuch as we
can view our own life as it were in a mirror. This is the reason why the Prophets are
wont to mention the time in which they executed their ofÏce.
But how long Micah followed the course of his vocation we cannot with certainty
determine. It is, however, probable that he discharged his ofÏce as a Prophet for
thirty years: it may be that he exceeded forty years; for he names here three kings,
the first of whom, that is Jotham, reigned sixteen years; and he was followed by Ahab,
who also reigned as many years. If then Micah was called at the beginning of the
first reign, he must have prophesied for thirty-two years, the time of the two kings.
Then the reign of Hezekiah followed, which continued to the twenty-ninth year: and
it may be, that the Prophet served God to the death, or even beyond the death, of
Hezekiah. 135 We hence see that the number of his years cannot with certainty be
known; though it be sufÏciently evident that he taught not for a few years, but that
135It is probable that the greater part of his Prophecy was written in the days of this king; for a portion of what is contained in the third chapter is referred to in Jeremiah 26:18, 19, as having been delivered "in the days of Hezekiah."—Ed.
MINOR PROPHETS
he so discharged his ofÏce, that for thirty years he was not wearied, but constantly
persevered in executing the command of God.
I have said that he was contemporary with Isaiah: but as Isaiah began his ofÏce
under Uzziah, we conclude that he was older. Why then was Micah joined to him?
That the Lord might thus break down the stubbornness of the people. It was indeed
enough that one man was sent by God to bear witness to the truth; but it pleased God
that a testimony should be borne by the mouth of two, and that holy Isaiah should be
assisted by this friend and, as it were, his colleague. And we shall hereafter find that
they adopted the very same words; but there was no emulation between them, so
that one accused the other of theft, when he repeated what had been said. Nothing
was more gratifying to each of them than to receive a testimony from his colleague;
and what was committed to them by God they declared not only in the same sense
and meaning, but also in the same words, and, as it were, with one mouth.
Of the expression, that the word was sent to him, we have elsewhere reminded
you, that it ought not to be understood of private teaching, as when the word of God
is addressed to individuals; but the word was given to Micah, that he might be God's
ambassador to us. It means then that he came furnished with commands, as one
sustaining the person of God himself; for he brought nothing of his own, but what the
Lord commanded him to proclaim. But as I have elsewhere enlarged on this subject,
I now only touch on it briefly.
This vision, he says, was given him against two cities Samaria and Jerusalem 136
It is certain that the Prophet was specifically sent to the Jews; and Maresah, from
which he arose, as it appears from the inscription, was in the tribe of Judah: for
Morasthite was an appellative, derived from the place Maresah. 137 But it may
be asked, why does he say that visions had been given him against Samaria? We
have said elsewhere, that though Hosea was specifically and in a peculiar manner
destined for the kingdom of Israel, he yet by the way mingled sometimes those
things which referred to the tribe or kingdom of Judah: and such was also the case
with our Prophet; he had a regard chiefly to his own kindred, for he knew that he was
appointed for them; but, at the same time, he overlooked not wholly the other part
of the people; for the kingdom of Israel was not so divided from the tribe of Judah
that no connection remained: for God was unwilling that his covenant should be
abolished by their defection from the kingdom of David. We hence see, that though
Micah spent chiefly his labors in behalf of the Jews, he yet did not overlook or entirely
neglect the Israelites.
But the title must be restricted to one part of the book; for threatenings only form
the discourse here. But we shall find that promises, full of joy, are also introduced.
The inscription then does not include all the contents of the book; but as his purpose
136"He mentions Samaria first," says Marckius, "not because it was superior to Jerusalem, or more regarded by the Prophet, but because it would be first in undergoing judgment, as it had been first in transgression." The preposition {{עלis rendered by some, ``against,'' and not ``concerning.''
Calvin renders it in his version super, and in his comment, contra --- Ed.
137It was a village, according to Eusebius and Jerome, west of Jerusalem, near Eleutheropolis, not far from the borders of the Philistines. See Joshua 15:44; 1 Chronicles 4:21; 2 Chronicles 9:8; 14:10. There is another circumstance, besides that of his birth in the land of Judah, which tends to prove his special mission to the Jews, — he mentions in the first verse only the kings of Judah. — Ed.
JOHN CALVIN
was to begin with threatenings, and to terrify the Jews by setting before them the
punishment that was at hand, this inscription was designedly given. There is, at
the same time, no doubt but that the Prophet was ill received by the Jews on this
account; for they deemed it a great indignity, and by no means to be endured, to
be tied up in the same bundle with the Israelites; for Samaria was an abomination
to the kingdom of Judah; and yet the Prophet here makes no difference between
Samaria and Jerusalem. This was then an exasperating sentence: but we see how
boldly the Prophet performs the ofÏce committed to him; for he regarded not what
would be agreeable to men, nor endeavored to draw them by smooth things: though
his message was disliked, he yet proclaimed it, for he was so commanded, nor could
he shake off the yoke of his vocation. Let us now proceed ---
Micah 1:2
2. Hear, all ye people; hearken, O earth, and all that therein is: and let the Lord
GOD be witness against you, the Lord from his holy temple.
2. Audite populi omnes, ausculta terra et plenitudo ejus, et sit Dominus Jehova
vobis (vel, inter vos, vel, contra vos, potius) in testem, et Dominus e palatio (vel,
templo) sanctitatis suae.
The Prophet here rises into an elevated style, being not content with a simple
and calm manner of speaking. We hence may learn, that having previously tried
the disposition of the people, he knew the stubbornness of almost all classes: for
except he was persuaded that the people would be rebellious and obstinate, he
would certainly have used some mildness, or have at least endeavored to lead them
of their own accord rather than to drive them thus violently. There is then no doubt
but that the obstinacy of the people and their wickedness were already fully known
to him, even before he began to address one word to them. But this difÏculty did not
prevent him from obeying God's command. He found it necessary in the meantime
to add vehemence to his teaching; for he saw that he addressed the deaf, yea,
stupid men, who were destitute of every sense of religion, and who had hardened
themselves against God, and had not only fallen away through want of thought,
but had also become immersed in their sins, and were wickedly and abominably
obstinate in them. Since then the Prophet saw this, he makes here a bold beginning,
and addresses not only his own nation, for whom he was appointed a Teacher; but
he speaks to the whole world.
For what purpose does he say, Hear, all ye people? 138 It was not certainly his
object to proclaim indiscriminately to all the truth of God for the same end: but he
summons here all nations as witnesses or judges, that the Jews might understand
that their impiety would be made evident to all, except they repented, and that
138{{`` }כלם{, }עמים{ שמעוHear, ye peoples, all of them.'' Were it not for a similar anomaly as to number in the following
line, ``Give ear, thou earth, and its fullness,'' we might think that {}כלןis here a mistake for ,{}כלכםas it is evidently the case in
1 Samuel 6:4, and Job 17:10; for in these two places there are several MSS. Which have ,{}כלכםthough here there is no variety.
Some, to get rid of the difÏculty, have suggested that {}כלםhere is to be construed as an adverb, ``universally,'' regarding
it as assuming the same form with ,{`` }חנםgratuitously,'' and ,{`` }ריקםvainly.'' But such irregularity is common in Hebrew;
there is therefore no need of having recourse to such expedients. The word ,{}עמיםpeoples, may be rendered nations: for,
notwithstanding the dissent of Drusius, what Horsley says seems to be correct, that {}עםin the plural number designates the
heathen nations, as distinguished from the people of Israel. The verse literally is this, --- Hear, ye nations, --- all of them; Give
ear, thou earth, --- even its fullness; And the Lord Jehovah shall be against you a witness The Lord from the temple of his holiness.
--- Ed.
MINOR PROPHETS
there was no reason for them to hope that they could conceal their baseness, for
God would expose their hidden crimes as it were on an open stage. We hence see
how emphatical are the words, when the Prophet calls on all nations and would have
them to be witnesses of the judgment which God had resolved to bring on his people.
He afterwards adds, Let also the earth give ear and its fullness We may take
the earth, by metonymy, for its inhabitants; but as it is added, and its fullness, the
Prophet, I doubt not, meant here to address the very earth itself, though it be without
reason. He means that so dreadful would be the judgment of God, as to shake
created things which are void of sense; and thus he more severely upbraids the Jews
with their stupor, that they heedlessly neglected the word of God, which yet would
shake all the elements by its power.
He then immediately turns his discourse to the Jews: after having erected God's
tribunal and summoned all the nations, that they might form as it were a circle of
a solemn company, he says, There will be for me the Lord Jehovah against you for
a witness --- the Lord from the temple of his holiness. By saying that God would be
as a witness for him, he not only afÏrms that he was sent by God, but being as it
were inflamed with zeal, he appeals here to God, and desires him to be present, that
the wickedness and obstinacy of the people might not be unpunished; as though he
said, ``Let God, whose minister I am, be with me, and punish your impiety; let him
prove that he is the author of this doctrine, which I declare from his mouth and by
his command; let him not suffer you to escape unpunished, if ye do not repent.''
We now then perceive the meaning of the Prophet, when he says that God would
be for him a witness; as though he had said, that there was no room here to trifle;
for if the Jews thought to elude God's judgment they greatly deceived themselves;
inasmuch as when he has given a command to his servants to treat with his people,
he is at the same time present as a judge, and will not suffer his word to be rejected
without immediately undertaking his own cause.
Nor is this addition superfluous, The Lord from the temple of his holiness: for we
know how thoughtlessly the Jews were wont to boast that God dwelt in the midst of
them. And this presumption so blinded them that they despised all the Prophets;
for they thought it unlawful that any thing should be said to their disgrace, because
they were the holy people of God, his holy heritage and chosen nation. Inasmuch
then as the Lord had adopted them, they falsely boasted of his favors. Since then
the Prophet knew that the people insolently gloried in those privileges, with which
they had been honored by God, he now declares that God would be the avenger of
impiety from his temple; as though he said, Ye boast that God is bound to you, and
that he has so bound up his faith to you as to render his name to you a sport: he
indeed dwells in his temple; but from thence he will manifest himself as an avenger,
as he sees that you are perverse in your wickedness. We hence see that the Prophet
beats down that foolish arrogance, by which the Jews were inflated; yea, he turns
back on their own heads what they were wont boastingly to bring forward. After
having made this introduction, to awaken slumbering men with as much vehemence
as he could, he subjoins ---
Micah 1:3-4
JOHN CALVIN
3. For, behold, the Lord cometh forth out of his place, and will come down, and
tread upon the high places of the earth.
3. Quia ecce Jehova egreditur e loco suo, et descendet, et calcabit super excelsa
terrae:
4. And the mountains shall be molten under him, and the valleys shall be cleft,
as wax before the fire, and as the waters that are poured down a steep place.
4. Et liquefient montes sub eo, et solventur (vel, dehiscent) valles; sicut cera a
conspectu ignis, sicut aquae in locum inferiorem actae.
The Prophet pursues the same subject; and he dwells especially on this --- that
God would be a witness against his people from his sanctuary. He therefore confirms
this, when he says that God would come from his place Some interpreters do at the
same time take this view --- that the temple would hereafter be deprived of God's
presence, and would hence become profane, according to what Ezekiel declares.
For as the Jews imagined that God was connected with them as long as the temple
stood, and this false imagination proved to them an allurement, as it were, to sin,
as on this account they took to themselves greater liberty, --- this was the reason
why the Prophet Ezekiel declares that God was no longer in the temple; and the Lord
had shown to him by a vision that he had left his temple, so that he would no longer
dwell there. Some, as I have said, give a similar explanation of this passage; but
this sense does not seem to suit the context. I therefore take another view of this
sentence --- that God would go forth from his place. But yet it is doubted what place
the Prophet refers to: for many take it to be heaven, and this seems probable, for
immediately after he adds, Descend shall God, and he will tread on the high places of
the earth This descent seems indeed to point out a higher place: but as the temple,
we know, was situated on a high and elevated spot, on mount Zion, there is nothing
inconsistent in saying that God descended from his temple to chastise the whole of
Judea as it deserved. Then the going forth of God is by no means ambiguous in its
meaning, for he means that God would at length go forth, as it were, in a visible
form. With regard then to the place, I am inclined to refer it to the temple; and this
clause, I have no doubt, has proceeded from the last verse.
But why is going forth here ascribed to God? Because the Jews had abused the
forbearance of God in worshipping him with vain ceremonies in the temple; and at
the same time they thought that they had escaped from his hand. As long then as
God spared them, they thought that he was, as it were, bound to them, because
he dwelt among them. Besides, as the legal and shadowy worship prevailed among
them, they imagined that God rested in their temple. But now the Prophet says,
``He will go forth: ye have wished hitherto to confine God to the tabernacle, and ye
have attempted to pacify him with your frivolous puerilities: but ye shall know that
his hand and his power extend much farther: he shall therefore come and show what
that majesty is which has been hitherto a derision to you.'' For when hypocrites set
to sale their ceremonies to God, do they not openly trifle with him, as though he
were a child? and do they not thus rob him of his power and authority? Such was
the senselessness of that people. The Prophet therefore does not say without reason
that God would go forth, that he might prove to the Jews that they were deluded by
MINOR PROPHETS
their own vain imaginations, when they thus took away from God what necessarily
belonged to him, and confined him to a corner in Judea and fixed him there, as though
he rested and dwelt there like a dead idol.
The particle, Behold, is emphatical: for the Prophet intended here to shake off
from the Jews their torpidity, inasmuch as nothing was more difÏcult to them than
to be persuaded and to believe that punishment was nigh at hand, when they flat-
tered themselves that God was propitious to them. Hence that they might no longer
cherish this willfulness, he says, Behold, come shall the Lord, forth shall he go from
his place Isaiah has a passage like this in an address to the people, Isaiah 26; but
the object of it is different; for Isaiah intended to threaten the enemies of the Church
and heathen nations: but here Micah denounces war on the chosen people, and
shows that God thus dwelt in his temple, that the Jews might perceive that his hand
was opposed to them, as they had so shamefully despised him, and, by their false
imaginations reduced, as it were, to nothing his power.
He shall tread, he says, on the high places of the earth. By the high places of
the earth I do not understand superstitious places, but those well fortified. We know
that fortresses were then fixed, for the most part, on elevated situations. The Prophet
then intimates, that there would be no place into which God's vengeance would not
penetrate, however well fortified it might be: ``No enclosures,'' he says, ``shall
hinder God from penetrating into the inmost parts of your fortresses; he shall tread
on the high places of the earth.'' At the same time, I doubt not but that he alludes, by
this kind of metaphor, to the chief men, who thought themselves exempted from the
common lot of mankind; for they excelled so much in power, riches, and authority,
that they would not be classed with the common people. The Prophet then intimates,
that those, who were become proud through a notion of their own superiority would
not be exempt from punishment.
And he afterwards adds, that this going forth of God would be terrible, Melt, he
says, shall the mountains under him It hence appears, that the Prophet did not speak
in the last verse of the departure of God, as though he was going to forsake his own
temple, but that he, on the contrary, described his going forth from the temple,
that he might ascend his tribunal and execute punishment on the whole people, and
thus, in reality, prove that he would be a judge, because he had been very daringly
despised. Hence he says, Melt shall the mountains under him, the valleys shall be
rent, or cleave, as wax before the fire, as waters rolling into a lower place 139 The
139These two similes, as observed by Marckius and others, refer not to the same thing, but to the two things previously mentioned,—the wax, to the mountains,—and the waters, to the valleys. This kind of order, in a sentence, is common in Hebrew. The Septuagint presents an instance, not uncommon, of an attempt to reconcile what, from not apprehending the sense, appeared incongruous; for motion is ascribed to the mountains— {σαλευθησεται} {τα} {ορη}, and
melting to the valleys---{τακησονται}, quite contrary to the meaning of the words in Hebrew. Newcome renders the last line
thus, --- ``As waters poured down a steep place.'' Henderson renders the last word, ``a precipice;'' and Marckius, declive---''a
declivity.'' I would give this version of the whole verse, --- For, behold, Jehovah shall go forth from his place; Yea, he shall descend
and tread on the high places of the land; And dissolve shall the mountains under him, And the valleys shall burst forth; Like the
wax before the fire, Like waters rolling down a declivity. The verb {}בקעis applied to express the bursting out of waters from
a fountain, of the young when emerging from the egg, and of light dispelling darkness. It is here in Hithpael, and only in one
other place, Joshua 9:13; where it means the bursting of wine bottles, made of leather. The word {}מורדis going down, descent,
declivity, {καταβασις}, Sept. See Joshua 10:11; Jeremiah 48:5 ``Do men trust to the height and strength of mountains, as if they
were sufÏcient to bear up their hopes and bear off their fears? They shall be molten under him. --- Do they trust to the fruitfulness
of the valleys and their products? They shall be cleft, or rent, --- and be wasted away as the ground is by the waters that are
JOHN CALVIN
Prophets do not often describe God in a manner so awful; but this representation
is to be referred to the circumstance of this passage, for he sets forth God here as
the judge of the people: it was therefore necessary that he should be exhibited as
furnished and armed with powers that he might stake such vengeance on the Jews
as they deserved. And other similar passages we shall hereafter meet with, and like
to those which we found in Hosea. God then is said to melt the mountains, and he is
said to strike the valleys with such terror that they cleave under him; in short, he is
said so to terrify all elements, that the very mountains, however stony they may be,
melt like wax or like waters which flow, --- because he could not otherwise produce
a real impression on a people so obstinate, and who, as it has been said, so flattered
themselves even in their vices.
We may further easily learn what application to make of this truth in our day. We
find the Papists boasting of the title Church, and, in a manner, with vain confidence,
binding God to themselves, because they have baptism, though they have adulter-
ated it with their superstitions; and then, they think that they have Christ, because
they still retain the name of a Church. Had the Lord promised that his dwelling would
be at Rome, we yet see how foolish and frivolous would be such boasting: for though
the temple was at Jerusalem, yet the Lord went forth thence to punish the sins of
the people, yea, even of the chosen people. We further know, that it is folly to bind
God now to one place, for it is his will that his name should be celebrated without
any difference through the whole world. Wheresoever, then, the voice of the Gospel
sounds, God would have us to know that he is present there. What the Papists then
proudly boast of --- that Christ is joined to them --- will turn out to their own condem-
nation; --- why so? Because the Lord will prove that he is the avenger of so impious
and shameful a profanation, as they not only presumptuously lay claim to his name,
but also tear it in pieces, and contaminate it with their sacrilegious abominations.
Again, since God is said to melt the mountains with his presence, let us hence
learn to rouse up all our feelings whenever God comes forth not that we may flee to
a distance from him, but that we may reverently receive his word, so that he may
afterwards appear to us a kind and reconciled Father. For when we become humble,
and the pride and height of our flesh is subdued, he then immediately receives us,
as it were, into his gentle bosom, and gives us an easy access to him, yea, he invites
us to himself with all possible kindness. That the Lord then may thus kindly receive
us, let us learn to fear as soon as he utters his voice: but let not this fear make us
to flee away but only humble us, so that we may render true obedience to the word
of the Lord. It follows ---
Micah 1:5
5. For the transgression of Jacob is all this, and for the sins of the house of Israel.
What is the transgression of Jacob? is it not Samaria? and what are the high places
of Judah? are they not Jerusalem?
5. Propter scelus 140 Jacob totum hoc, et propter transgressiones domus Israel:
poured down a steep place.'' --- Henry.
140{,{פשעrendered scelus wickedness, by Calvin, means evidently defectio --- defection --- apostacy, as rendered by Junius
and Tremelius. ,{}חטאותtransgressiones --- transgressions, rather, sins. Several MSS. And the Septuagint have ,{}חטאתsin; but
the plural is more suitable to this place, to correspond with the high places at the end of the verse. It is evident, from the context
MINOR PROPHETS
quod scelus Jacob? Annon Samaria? Et quae excelsa Jehudah? Annon Jerusalem?
The Prophet teaches, in this verse, that God is not angry for nothing; though when
he appears rigid, men expostulate with him, and clamor as though he were cruel.
That men may, therefore, acknowledge that God is a just judge, and that he never
exceeds moderation in punishments, the Prophet here distinctly states that there
was a just cause, why God denounced so dreadful a judgment on his chosen people,
--- even because not only a part of the people, but the whole body had, through their
impiety, fallen away; for by the house of Jacob, and by the house of Israel, he means
that impiety had everywhere prevailed, so that no part was untainted. The meaning
then is, --- that the contagion of sin had spread through all Israel, that no portion of
the country was free from iniquity, that no corner of the land could bring an excuse
for its defection; the Lord therefore shows that he would be the judge of them all,
and would spare neither small nor great.
We now then understand the Prophet's object in this verse: As he had before
taught how dreadful would be God's vengeance against all the ungodly, so now he
mentions their crimes, that they might not complain that they were unjustly treated,
or that God employed too much severity. The Prophet then testifies that the punish-
ment, then near at hand, would be just.
He now adds, What is the wickedness of Jacob? The Prophet, no doubt, indirectly
reproves here the hypocrisy which ruled dominant among the people. For he asks
not for his own satisfaction or in his own person; but, on the contrary, he relates, by
way of imitation, ({μιμητικῶς}, --- imitatively) what he knew to be ever on their lips,
``Oh! what sort of thing is this sin? Why! thou assumest here a false principle, ---
that we are wicked men, ungodly and perfidious: thou does us a grievous wrong.''
Inasmuch, then, as hypocrites thought themselves pure, having wiped, as it were,
their mouths, whenever they eluded reproofs by their sophistries, the Prophet bor-
rows a question, as it were, from their own lips, ``Of what kind is this wickedness?
Of what sort is that transgression?'' As though he said, ``I know what ye are wont to
do, when any one of the Prophets severely reproves you; ye instantly contend with
him, and are ready with your objections: but what do you gain? If you wish to know
what your wickedness is, it is Samaria; and where your high places are, they are at
Jerusalem.'' It is the same as if he had said, ``I do not here contend with the common
people, but I attack the first men: my contest then is with the princes themselves,
who surpass others in dignity, and are, therefore, unwilling to be touched.''
But it sometimes happens that the common people become degenerated, while
some integrity remains among the higher orders: but the Prophet shows that the
diseases among the people belonged to the principal men; and hence he names the
that Jacob means Samaria or the ten tribes, and that the house, or family of Israel, means what is not usual, the tribe of Judah.
(See 2 Chronicles 28:19.) Israel seems here to be taken as a special distinction of God's people. Judah was still in the name of
the true Israel, while the ten tribes were apostates from the faith. It is better to adopt the future tense in this verse, that it may
correspond with the preceding. When the auxiliary verb is supplied, it must ever be regulated as to its tense by the context.
Then the first line should be, --- For the defection of Jacob shall all this be. Or it may be rendered, ``shall all these things be,''
;{}זאת-{}כלfor {}זאתis plural as well as singular; and {παντα} {ταυτα} is the rendering of the Septuagint. Grotius and some
others give this version of the four last lines,--- What is the origin of the defection of Jacob? Is it not Samaria? What is the origin
of the high places of Judah? Is it not Jerusalem? Who or what is the defection of Jacob? No doubt means, Who is the author, or
what is the cause or origin of his defection? It is the same form of expression, as when it is said, that God is our salvation, that is,
the author of it. --- Ed.
JOHN CALVIN
two chief cities, Jerusalem and Samaria, as he had said before, in the first verse,
that he proclaimed predictions against these: and yet it is certain, that the punish-
ment was to be in common to the whole people. But as they thought that Jerusalem
and Samaria would be safe, though the whole country were destroyed, the Prophet
threatens them by name: for, relying first on their strength, they thought them-
selves unassailable; and then, the eyes of nearly all, we know, were dazzled with
empty splendor, powers and dignity: thus the ungodly wholly forget that they are
men, and what they owe to God, when elevated in the world. So great an arrogance
could not be subdued, except by sharp and severe words, such as the Prophet, as
we see, here employs. He then says, that the wickedness of Israel was Samaria;
the fountain of all iniquities was the royal city, which yet ought to have ruled the
whole land with wisdom and justice: but what any more remains, when kings and
their counselors tread under foot all regard for what is just and right, and having cast
away every shame, rise up in rebellion against God and men? When therefore kings
thus fall from their dignity, an awful ruin must follow.
This is the reason why the Prophet says that the wickedness of Israel was Samaria,
that thence arose all iniquities. But we must at the same time bear in mind, that the
Prophet speaks not here of gross crimes; but, on the contrary, he directs his reproof
against ungodly and perverted forms of worship; and this appears more evident from
the second clause, in which he mentions transgressions in connection with the high
places. We hence see, that all sins in general are not here reproved, but their vicious
modes of worship, by which religion had been polluted among the Jews as well as
the Israelites. But it might seem very unjust, that the Prophet should charge with
sin those forms of worship in which the Jews laboriously exercised themselves with
the object of pacifying God. But we see how God regards as nothing whatever men
blend with his worship out of their own heads. And this is our principal contest at
this day with the Papists; we call their perverted and spurious modes of worship
abominations: they think that what is heavenly is to be blended with what is earthly.
We diligently labor, they say, for this end --- that God may be worshipped. True;
but, at the same time, ye profane his worship by your inventions; and it is therefore
an abomination. We now then see how foolish and frivolous are those delusions,
when men follow their own wisdom in the duty of worshipping God: for the Prophet
here, in the name of God, fulminates, as it were, from heaven against all supersti-
tions, and shows that no sin is more detestable, than that preposterous caprice with
which idolaters are inflamed, when they observe such forms of worship as they have
themselves invented.
Now with regard to the high places, we must notice, that there was a great differ-
ence between the Jews and the Israelites at that time as to idolatry. The Israelites
had so fallen, that they were altogether degenerated; nothing could be seen among
them that had an afÏnity to the true and legitimate worship of God: but the Jews
had retained some form of religion, they had not thus abandoned themselves; but
yet they had a mixture of superstitions; such as one would find, were he to compare
the gross Popery of this day with that middle course which those men invent, who
seem to themselves to be very wise, fearing, forsooth, as they do, the offenses of
MINOR PROPHETS
the world; and hence they form for us a mixture, I know not what, from the super-
stitions of the Papacy and from the Reformation, as they call it. Something like this
was the mixture at Jerusalem. We however see, that the Prophet pronounces the
same sentence against the Jews and the Israelites and that is, that God will allow
nothing that proceeds from the inventions of men to be joined to his word. Since
then God allows no such mixtures, the Prophet here says that there was no less sin
on the high places of Judea, than there was in those filthy abominations which were
then dominant among the people of Israel. But the remainder we must defer until
to-morrow.
Prayer.
Grant, Almighty God, that, since to a perverse, and in every way a rebellious
people, thou didst formerly show so much grace, as to exhort them continually to
repentance, and to stretch forth thy hand to them by thy Prophets, --- O grant, that
the same word may sound in our ears; and when we do not immediately profit by
thy teaching, O cast us not away, but, by thy Spirit, so subdue all our thoughts and
affections, that we, being humbled, may give glory to thy majesty, such as is due to
thee, and that, being allured by thy paternal favor, we may submit ourselves to thee,
and, at the same time, embrace that mercy which thou offerest and presentest to
us in Christ, that we may not doubt but thou wilt be a Father to us, until we shall at
length enjoy that eternal inheritance, which has been obtained for us by the, blood
of thine only-begotten Son. Amen.
Lecture Eighty-second
Micah 1:6
6. Therefore I will make Samaria as an heap of the field, and as plantings of a
vineyard: and I will pour down the stones thereof into the valley, and I will discover
the foundations thereof.
6. Et ponam Samariam (hoc est, ideo; enim hic sumitur pro illativa particula;
ponam igitur Samariam) in acervum agri, in plantationes vinae; et devolvam in
vallem lapides ejus, et fundamenta ejus retegam.
Though Micah intended especially to devote his services to the Jews, as we have
said yesterday, he yet, in the first place, passes judgment on Samaria; for it was his
purpose afterwards to speak more fully against Jerusalem and the whole of Judea.
And this state of the case ought to be borne in mind; for the Prophet does not be-
gin with the Israelites, because he directs his discourse peculiarly to them; but his
purpose was briefly to reprove them, and then to address more especially his own
people, for it was for this purpose that he was called. Now, as he threatens destruc-
tion to Samaria and the whole kingdom of Israel on account of their corrupted forms
of worship, we may hence learn how displeasing to God is superstition, and that he
regards nothing so much as the true worship of his name. There is no reason here
for men to advance this position --- that they do not designedly sin; for God shows
how he is to be worshipped by us. Whenever, then, we deviate in any thing from
the rule which he has prescribed, we manifest, in that particular, our rebellion and
obstinacy. Hence the superstitious ever act like fools with regard to God, for they
will not submit to his word, so as to be thereby alone made wise.
JOHN CALVIN
And he says, I will set Samaria as an heap of the field, that is, such shall be the
ruins that they shall differ nothing from the heaps of the fields: for husband men, we
know, when they find stones in their fields, throw them into some corner, that they
may not be in the way of the slough. Like such heaps then, as are seen in the fields,
Samaria would be, according to what God declared. He then says, that the place
would be empty, so that vines would be planted there; and, in the third place, that
its stones would be scattered through the valley; as when one casts stones where
there is a wide plain, they run and roll far and wide; so would be the scattering of
Samaria according to what the Prophet says, it was to be like the rolling of stones in
a wide field. He adds, in the fourth place, I will uncover her foundations, that is, I
will entirely demolish it, so that a stone, as Christ says, may not remain on a stone,
(Matthew 24:2.) We now perceive the import of the words; and we also perceive
that the reason why the Prophet denounces on Samaria so severe a judgment was,
because it had corrupted the legitimate worship of God with its own inventions; for
it had devised, as we well know, many idols, so that the whole authority of the law
had been abolished among the Israelites. It now follows ---
Micah 1:7
7. And all the graven images thereof shall be beaten to pieces, and all the hires
thereof shall be burned with the fire, and all the idols thereof will I lay desolate: for
she gathered it of the hire of an harlot, and they shall return to the hire of an harlot.
7. Et omnia sculptilia 141 ejus diruentur, et omnes mercedes ejus exurentur igne
(alii transferunt, donaria,) et omnia idola ejus ponam in vastitatem; quia e mercede
meretricis congregavit, et ad mercedem meretricis revertentur.
The Prophet goes on with the same subject, and says, that the ruin of Samaria
was at hand, so that its idols would be broken, and also, that its wealth would be
destroyed which she had gathered by illegitimate means, and which she thought to
be the reward of her idolatry. But God mentions idols here expressly by his Prophet,
in order to confirm what we noticed yesterday --- that the cause of vengeance was,
because Samaria had abandoned itself to ungodly forms of worship, and had de-
parted from the Law. That the Israelites might then understand the cause for which
God would so severely punish them, the Prophet here makes express mention of
their graven images and idols. God is not indeed angry with stones and wood; but
he observes the abuse and the perversion of them, when men pollute themselves
by wickedly worshipping such things. This is the reason why God says here that the
graven images of Samaria would be broken in pieces, and that its idols would be
destroyed.
With regard to the wages, the Prophet no doubt designed to stamp with disgrace
all the wealth of Samaria. {,}אתנןatanen, is properly a gift or a present. But as
141{,{פסיליםfrom ,{}פסלto chip or cut with a tool. They were graven or carved images, made of wood, and overlaid with gold
or silver. ``The graven image,'' says Bishop Horsley, ``Was not a thing wrought in metal by the tool of the workman we should
now call an engraver; nor was the molten image an image made of metal. In fact, the graven image and the molten image are
the same thing under different names. The images of the ancient idolaters were first cut out of wood by the carpenter, as is very
evident from the Prophet Isaiah. This figure of wood was overlaid with plates, either of gold or of silver, or, sometimes perhaps, of
an inferior metal. And, in this finished state, it was called a graven image, i.e., a carved image, in reference to the inner solid figure
of wood, and a molten, i.e., an overlaid or covered image, in reference to the outward metalline case or covering: and sometimes
both epithets are applied to it at once, `I will cut off the graven and molten image,' Nahum 1:14.'' See also Deuteronomy 7:25;
Isaiah 30:22. --- Ed.
MINOR PROPHETS
he twice repeats it, and says, that what Samaria possessed was the reward of an
harlot, and then, that it would return to the reward of an harlot, he, in the first place,
I have no doubt, upbraids the Israelites, because they, after the manner of harlots
and strumpets, had heaped together their great riches: and this was done by Jer-
oboam, who constructed a new form of worship, in order to secure his own kingdom.
The Israelites then began to flourish; and we also know how wealthy that kingdom
became, and how proud they were on account of their riches. As, then, the Israelites
despised the kingdom of Judah, and thought themselves in every way happy, and as
they ascribed all this, as we have seen in Hosea, to their superstitions, Micah speaks
here according to their view of things, when he says, Idolatry has been gainful to
you, this splendor dazzles your eyes; but your rewards I have already doomed to the
burning: they shall then be burnt, and thus perish. Hosea also, as we have seen,
made use of the same comparison, --- that the children of Israel felicitated them-
selves in their impiety, like a harlot, who, while she gains many presents from those
who admire her beauty, seems not conscious of her turpitude and baseness: such
were the Israelites. The Prophets therefore does not say, without reason, Behold,
your rewards, by burning, shall perish, or, be consumed with fire. Why so? Because
ye have gathered them, he says, from the reward of an harlot, and all this shall return
to the reward of an harlot.
This last clause ought to be restricted to the gifts or wealth of Samaria; for it
cannot properly be applied to idols or graven images. The import of the whole then
is that God would be the avenger of idolatry with regard to the city of Samaria and
the whole kingdom of Israel. Besides, as the Israelites boasted that their ungodly
forms of worship turned out to their happiness and prosperity, God declares that the
whole of this success would be evanescent, like that of the harlot, who amasses great
wealth, which soon vanishes away: and we see that thus it commonly happens.
Some explain the passage thus, --- that the gifts, with which the Israelites adorned
their temples, would return to be the reward of an harlot, that is, would he transferred
to Chaldea, and that the Babylonians would, in their turn, adorn with them their idols.
But this view is not suitable to the place; for the Prophet does not say that what
Samaria had gathered would be a prey or a spoil to enemies but that it would perish
by fire. 142 He speaks therefore, proverbially when he says that the produce, from
the reward of an harlot, would return to be the reward of an harlot, that is, that it
would become nothing; for the Lord sets a curse on such riches as strumpets gain
by their baseness, while they prostitute themselves. Since, then, the whole of such
wealth is under the curse of God, it must necessarily soon pass away like smoke:
and this, in my view, is the real meaning of the Prophet. It now follows ---
Micah 1:8-9
8. Therefore I will wail and howl, I will go stripped and naked: I will make a wailing
142The view given above is the one embraced by Henderson; but the reason given here is improbable. Newcome mentions the above, and also the following, "She imputed her wealth to her spiritual idolatry, and her conquerors shall distribute it as the reward of harlots in the literal sense." But inasmuch as it is said, that her rewards would be burnt, it is more consistent to take the last clause as a proverbial expression, signifying the destruction of all the wealth that was ascribed to idolatry as its source. "It is common," says Henry, "that what is squeezed out by one lust, is squandered away by another." — Ed.
JOHN CALVIN
like the dragons, and mourning as the owls.
8. Super hoc plangam et ululabo; incedam spoliatus et nudus; faciam planctum
tanquam draconum, et luctum tanquam filiarum struthionis: 143
9. For her wound is incurable; for it is come unto Judah; he is come unto the gate
of my people, even to Jerusalem.
9. Quia acerbae sunt plagae ejus (est mutatio numeri;) quia venit usque ad Jehu-
dam; accessit ad portam populi mei, ad Jerusalem.
The Prophet here assumes the character of a mourner, that he might more deeply
impress the Israelites; for we have seen that they were almost insensible in their
torpidity. It was therefore necessary that they should be brought to view the scene
itself, that, seeing their destruction before their eyes they might be touched both
with grief and fear. Lamentations of this kind are everywhere to be met with in the
Prophets, and they ought to be carefully noticed; for we hence gather how great
was the torpor of men, inasmuch as it was necessary to awaken them, by this form
of speech, in order to convince them that they had to do with God: they would
have otherwise continued to flatter themselves with delusions. Though indeed the
Prophet here addresses the Israelites, we ought yet to apply this to ourselves; for
we are not much unlike the ancient people: for however God may terrify us with
dreadful threatening, we still remain quiet in our filth. It is therefore needful that we
should be severely treated, for we are almost void of feeling.
But the Prophets sometimes assumed mourning, and sometimes they were
touched with real grief: for when they spoke of aliens and also of the enemies
of the Church, they introduce these lamentations. When a mention is made of
Babylon or of Egypt, they sometimes say, Behold, I will mourn, and my bowels shall
be as a timbrel. The Prophets did not then really grieve; but, as I have said, they
transferred to themselves the sorrows of others, and ever with this object, that
they might persuade men that God's threatenings were not vain, and that God did
not trifle with men when he declared that he was angry with them. But when the
discourse was respecting the Church and the faithful, then the Prophets did not put
on grief. The representation here is then to be taken in such a way as that we may
understand that the Prophet was in real mourning, when he saw that a dreadful ruin
was impending over the whole kingdom of Israel. For though they had perfidiously
departed from the Law, they were yet a part of the holy race, they were the children
of Abraham, whom God had received into favor. The Prophet, therefore, could not
143All the verbs in this verse are in the Septuagint in the third person, {κοψεται}---''she will mourn,''
etc. The whole is applied to Samaria. The Hebrew will admit of this sense, if the verbs be considered to be, as they may be, in
Hiphil, the omission of the {}וis not uncommon. Then the rendering of the two verses will be the following:--- 8. I will therefore
make her to moan and howl, I will cause her to go stripped and naked; I will make her to moan like the whales, And to wail like
the ostriches: 9. For grievous will be her stroke; Yea it will come even to Judah, Reaching to the gate of my people---to Jerusalem.
,{}תגיםrendered ``dragons'' in our common version, and by Calvin, and by many others, is rendered ``foxes'' by Newcome,
``wolves'' by Henderson, but by Bochart, ``whales,'' or those species called ``dolphins;'' and Professor Lee, in his Notes on Job
41:1, seems to be of the same opinion. The mournful groans of the dolphins, when taken, are said to be extremely distressing;
their doleful moanings, too, in the night, when at liberty, have been testified by historians. --- {`` }יענה{, }בכיתowls'' in our
version, is rendered both by Calvin and Newcome, ``daughters of the ostrich,'' and by Henderson, ``ostriches.'' The Septuagint
has {θυγατερων} {σειρηνων} --- ``the daughters of sea-monsters:'' {στρουθοκαμηλων} --- ``camel-sparrows --- ostriches,'' is
the rendering of Aquila and Symmachus. The literal expression is, ``the daughters of the ostrich,'' meaning evidently the females.
Dr. Shaw, as quoted by Newcome, says, ``During the lonesome part of the night, they often make a very doleful and hideous
noise. I have often heard them groan, as if they were in the greatest of agonies; an action beautifully alluded to by the Prophet
Micah.'' --- Ed.
MINOR PROPHETS
refrain from mourning unfeignedly for them. And the Prophet does here these two
things, --- he shows the fraternal love which he entertained for the children of Israel,
as they were his kindred, and a part of the chosen people, --- and he also discharges
his own duty; for this lamentation was, as it were, the mirror in which he sets before
them the vengeance of God towards men so extremely torpid. He therefore exhibits
to them this representation, that they might perceive that God was by no means
trifling with men, when he thus denounced punishment on the wicked and such as
were apostates.
Moreover, he speaks not of a common lamentation, but says, I will wail and howl,
and then, I will go spoiled The word {,}אנושהshulal, some take as meaning one out
of his mind or insane, as though he said, ``I shall be now as one not possessed of a
sound mind.'' But as this metaphor is rather unnatural, I prefer the sense of being
spoiled; for it was the custom with mourners, as it is well known, to tear and to
throw away their garments from them. I will then go spoiled and naked; and also, I
will make wailing, not like that of men, but like the wailing of dragons: I will mourn, he
says, as the ostriches are wont to do. In short, the Prophet by these forms of speech
intimates, that the coming evil would by no means be of an ordinary kind: for if he
adopted the usual manner of men, he could not have set forth the dreadfulness of
God's vengeance that was impending.
He afterwards subjoins, that the wounds vault be grievous; but he speaks as of
what was present, Grievous, he says, are the wounds Grievous means properly full
of grief; others render it desperate or incurable, but it is a meaning which suits not
this place; for {,}אנושהanushe, means what we express in French by douloureuse.
The wounds, then, are full of grief: for it came, (something is understood; it may
suitably be referred to the enemy, or, what is more approved, to the slaughter) ---
It came then, that is, the slaughter, 144 to Judah; it has reached to the gate of my
people, even to Jerusalem itself. He says first, to Judah, speaking of the land; and
then he confines it to the cities; for when the gates are closed up against enemies,
they are forced to stop. But the Prophet says, that the cities would be no hindrance
to the enemies to approach the very gates and even the chief city of Judah, that is,
Jerusalem; and this, we know, was fulfilled. It is the same then as though he said
that the whole kingdom of Israel would be so laid waste, that their enemies would
not he content with victory, but would proceed farther and besiege the holy city: and
this Sennacherib did. For after having subverted the kingdom of Israel, as though it
was not enough to draw the ten tribes into exile, he resolved to take possession of
the kingdom of Judah; and Jerusalem, as Isaiah says, was left as a tent. We hence
see that the threatening of the Prophet Micah were not in vain. It now follows ---
Micah 1:10
10. Declare ye it not at Gath, weep ye not at all: in the house of Aphrah roll thyself
in the dust.
144Or rather the stroke before mentioned; for the true reading is no doubt {,{מכתהher wound or
her stroke, in the singular. Though there are but two MSS. which have this reading, yet the previous participle noun, ,{}אנושה
being singular, and the following verbs or participles being in the same number, favor this supposition. The corresponding word
in the Septuagint is also in the singular number --- {ἡ} {πληγη} {ἀυτης}, her stroke, stripe or scourge. --- Ed.
JOHN CALVIN
10. In Gath ne annuntietis, flendo ne fleatis; 145 propter domum Aphrah pulvere
te involve (vel, voluta te in pulvere.)
The Prophet seems here to be inconsistent with himself: for he first describes the
calamity that was to be evident to all; but now he commands silence, lest the report
should reach the enemies. But there is here nothing contradictory; for the evil itself
could not be hid, since the whole kingdom of Israel would be desolated, the cities
demolished or burnt, the whole country spoiled and laid waste, and then the enemies
would enter the borders of Judah: and when Jerusalem should have been nearly taken
how could it have been concealed? No, this could not have been. There is no wonder
then that the Prophet had referred here to a solemn mourning. But he now speaks of
the feeling of those who were desirous of hiding their own disgrace, especially from
their enemies and aliens: for it is an indignity which greatly vexes us, when enemies
taunt us, and upbraid us in our misfortunes; when no hope remains, we at least wish
to perish in secret, so that no reproach and disgrace should accompany our death;
for dishonor is often harder to be borne, and wounds us more grievously, than any
other evil. The Prophet then means that the Israelites would not only be miserable,
but would also be subject to the reproaches and taunts of their enemies. We indeed
know that the Philistine were inveterate in their hatred to the people of God; and we
know that they ever took occasion to upbraid them with their evils and calamities.
This then is the meaning of the Prophet, when he says, In Gath declare it not,
by weeping weep not; as though he said, ``Though extreme evils shall come upon
you, yet seek to perish in silence; for you will find that your enemies will gape for
the opportunity to cut you with their taunts, when they shall see you thus miserable.
He then forbids the people's calamities to be told in Gath; for the Philistine usu-
ally desired nothing more than the opportunity to torment the people of God with
reproaches.
It now follows, In the house of Aphrah, in dust roll thyself There is here an allit-
eration which cannot be conveyed in Latin: for {,}עפרהophre, means dusty, and
{,}עפרopher, is dust. That city attained its name from its situation, because the
country where it was, was full of dust; as if a city were called Lutosa, muddy or full
of clay; and indeed many think that Lutetia (Paris) had hence derived its name. And
he says, Roll thyself in dust, in the house full of dust; as though he had said that
the name would be now most suitable, for the ruin of the city would constrain all
neighboring cities to be in mourning to cast themselves in the dust; So great would
be the extremity of their evils.
But we must ever bear in mind the object of the Prophet: for he here rouses
the Israelites as it were with the sharpest goads, who entertained no just idea of
the dreadfulness of God's vengeance, but were ever deaf to all threatening. The
Prophet then shows that the execution of this vengeance which he denounced was
ready at hand; and he himself not only mourned, but called others also to mourning.
He speaks of the whole country, as we shall see by what follows. I shall quickly run
over the whole of this chapter; for there is no need of long explanation, as you will
145Henderson renders this clause, "weep not in Acco," and mentions Gesenius and others, who consider that {{בכיis put here for ,{}בעכוand Ocu or Acco was a town in the tribe of Asher; see Judges 1:31. The
Septuagint favors this rendering, at least in one copy, for it has {εν} {ακείμ}, though in Judges the name is {Ακχω}. --- Ed.
MINOR PROPHETS
find.
Micah 1:11
11. Pass ye away, thou inhabitant of Saphir, having thy shame naked: the inhab-
itant of Zaanan came not forth in the mourning of Bethezel; he shall receive of you
his standing.
11. Transi pariter (ad verbum, transi vobis 146 habitatrix Saphir, nuda probrose;
non egredietur habitatrix Zaanan in luctu Beth-Aezel, sumet a vobis stationem suam
(alii vertunt, substantiam; sed male, meo judicio.)
The Prophet here addresses the cities which were on the borders of the kingdom
of Israel, and through which the enemy would pass in entering the kingdom of Judah.
He therefore bids the inhabitants of the city Saphir to pass over, and says, that the
city would be ashamed or in a shameful manner naked. The word {,}שפירshaphir,
means splendid. He then says, ``Thou art now beautiful, but the Lord will discover
thy shame, so that thy nakedness shall be a shame to all, and the greatest disgrace
to thyself.'' There is a correspondence in the words, though not an alliteration. Hence
the Prophet says, that though the city was called splendid, it would yet be deformed,
so that no one would deign to look on it, at least without feeling shame. There is the
same correspondence in the word Zaanan; for {,}צעהtsoe, means to transfer, as
{,}צעןtson, is to migrate. Hence the Prophet says, Go forth shall not the inhabitant
of Zaanan for the mourning of Beth-Aezel; that is, he will remain quiet at home: this
he will do contrary to what will be natural; for whence is the name of the city? even
from removing, for it was a place of much trafÏc. But he will remain, he says, at
home: though he may see his neighbors dragged into exile, he will not dare to move
from his place.
He now adds, Take will the enemy from you his station. The verb {,}עמדomad,
means to stand; nor is there a doubt but that when the Prophet says, He will take from
you his standing, he speaks of the standing or station of the enemy: but interpreters
however vary here. Some understand, that when the enemy had continued long
in the land, they would not depart before they possessed the supreme power; as
though he said, ``Ye will think that your enemy can be wearied out with delay and
tediousness, when not able soon to conquer your cities: this, he says, will not be the
case; for he will resolutely persevere, and his expectation will not disappoint him; for
he will receive the reward of his station, that is, of his delay.'' But some say, He will
receive his station from you. They explain the verb {,}לקחlakech, metaphorically,
as meaning to receive instruction from hand to hand; as though the Prophet had said,
Some, that is, your neighbors, will learn their own position from you. What does this
mean? Zaanan will not go forth on account of the mourning of its neighboring city
Aezel: others will afterwards follow this example. How so? For Zaanan will be, as
it were, the teacher to other cities; as it will not dare to show any sign of grief for
146{{}לכם{, עבריpass over or migrate, as to you. One MS. Has ,{}לךas to thee; but the anomaly of number is common
through all the Prophets. ``The inhabitant'' here is a poetical noun of number, including the whole people. What usage has thus
sanctioned in one language, cannot at all times be retained in another. We must in the present instance make ``Inhabitant'' in our
language plural, or ,{`` }לכםas to you, or yea, you,'' singular. The latter is the best mode. Then as to the peculiar form of {}לכס
or {}לךafter an imperative, we have similar instances; see Genesis 12:1; Jeremiah 5:5; Hosea 7:12. It is an emphatic mode of
speaking. The sentence here may be thus expressed, ``Pass thou over, yea, thou, O inhabitant of Saphir.'' Amaziah said to Amos,
{`` }לך{, }ברחFlee, yea, thou,'' etc. Or to give to {}לits most usual meaning, we may suppose ``I say'' to be understood; then
it would be, ``Flee, I say, to thee.'' --- Ed.
JOHN CALVIN
its neighbors, being not able to succor them; so also, when it shall be taken in its
turn into exile, that is, its citizens and inhabitants, its neighbors will remain quiet,
as though the condition of the miserable city was no object of their care. They shall
then learn from you their standing; that is, Ye will remain quiet and still, when your
neighbors will be destroyed; the same thing will afterwards happen to you. But as
this bears but little on the main subjects we may take either of these views. 147 It
afterwards follows ---
Micah 1:12
12. For the inhabitant of Maroth waited carefully for good: but evil came down
from the LORD unto the gate of Jerusalem.
12. Quia doluit propter bonum (alii, expectavit ad bonum; alii, infirmata est) habi-
tatrix Maroth; quia descendit malum a Jehova ad portam Jerusalem.
The Prophet joins here another city even Maroth, and others also in the following
verses. But in this verse he says, that Maroth would be in sorrow for a lost good.
The verb {,}חולchul, means to grieve; and it has this sense here; for the Marothites,
that is, the inhabitants of that city, would have to grieve for losing their property and
their former happy condition. But as the verb means also to expect, some approve
of a different exposition, that is, --- that the inhabitants of the city Maroth would in
vain depend on an empty and fallacious expectation, for they were doomed to utter
destruction. In vain then will the inhabitant of Maroth expect or entertain hope; for
an evil descends from Jehovah to the gate of the city. This view is very suitable, that
is, that its hope will disappoint Maroth, since even the city of Jerusalem shall not be
exempted. For though God had then by a miracle delivered the chief city, and its
siege was raised through the intervention of an angel, when a dreadful slaughter, as
sacred history records, took place; yet the city Maroth was not then able to escape
vengeance. We now see the reason why this circumstance was added. Some give
a harsher explanation, --- that the citizens of Maroth were to be debilitated, or, as it
were, demented. As this metaphor is too strained, I embrace the other, --- that the
citizens of Maroth would grieve for the loss of good, 148 or that they would vainly
147This verse is variously rendered; by Newcome thus,— Pass on, thou inhabitress of Saphir, naked and in confusion. The inhabitants of Zanan went not forth to wailing. O Beth-Ezel, he shall receive of you the reward of his station against you. By Henderson thus,— Pass on, thou inhabitant of Shaphir, naked and ashamed; The inhabitant of Zanan goeth not forth; The wailing of Beth-Ezel will take away continuance from you. It seems more consistent to take all the verbs in this and the preceding verse as imperatives, though they be not in the same person. Those in the second are evidently so; and I would render such as are in the third person as imperatives too. That Saphir, Zaanan, etc, as well as those which follow, are not appellatives, but proper names of places within or on the borders of Judah, is what is allowed by most, though not by all, especially by some of the ancient commentators, at least with regard to some of the names. I offer the following version of the tenth and eleventh verses, — 10. In Gath declare ye it not, in Acco weep not; In Beth-Ophrah, roll thyself in dust: 11. Pass thou over, yea, thou, O inhabitant of Saphir, Naked and in shame; Let not the inhabitant of Zaanan go forth wailing; Let Beth-Azel take from you its position; that is, follow your example. The last word, {,{עמדתוpresents the greatest difÏculty. It is found here alone in this form. It occurs as ,{}עמדa pillar, a station, ,{}עמוד
a stand, stage, and as ,{}מעמדa standing, and also a state, Isaiah 22:19 Buxtorf gives the same meaning to the last with the
one in the text, constitutio, constitution, a fixed order of things. The verb {}עמדsignifies to stand, to stand erect, to remain the
same, either in motion or at rest, to continue. Hence it may rightly signify a position, a standing, that is taken and maintained.
148Grieving is the idea commonly given to the verb here used. "Dolebit, will grieve," Grotius, — "Parturit, travails," Marckius,—"Pineth," Henderson. Newcome, following the mere conjecture of Houbigant changes the original, and substitutes {{למותfor ,{}לטובand gives this version, --- ``is sick
unto death.'' Not only is this wholly unwarranted, but it destroys the evident contrast there is in the verse --- the good and the
evil. --- Ed.
MINOR PROPHETS
expect or hope, since they were already doomed to utter ruin, without any hope of
deliverance.
But we must notice, that evil was nigh at hand from Jehovah, for he reminds them,
that though the whole country would be desolated by the Assyrians, yet God would
be the chief leader, since he would employ the work of all those who would afÒict
the people of Israel. That the Jews then, as well as the Israelites might know, that
they had to do, not with men only, but also with God, the celestial Judge, the Prophet
distinctly expresses that all this would proceed from Jehovah. He afterwards adds ---
Micah 1:13
13. O thou inhabitant of Lachish, bind the chariot to the swift beast: she is the
beginning of the sin to the daughter of Zion: for the transgressions of Israel were
found in thee.
13. Alliga currum ad camelum (vel, dromedarium; alii vertunt, equos celeres)
habitatrix Lachis: principium sceleris ipsa est filiae Zion; quia in te inventae sunt
transgressiones Israel.
By bidding the citizens of Lachish to tie their chariots to dromedaries he inti-
mates that it would not be not safe for them to remain in their city, and that nothing
would be better for them than to flee elsewhere and to carry away their substance.
``Think,'' he says, ``of flight, and of the quickest flight.'' The word {,}רכשrecash,
which I render dromedary or camel, is of an uncertain meaning among the Hebrews;
some render it swift horses: but we understand the Prophet's meaning; for he inti-
mates that there would be no time for flight, except they made great haste, for the
enemies would come upon them quickly.
And he then subjoins that that city had been the beginning of sin to the Jews; for
though he names here the daughter of Zion, he still includes, by taking a part for it
the whole, all the Jews. And why he says that Lachish had been the beginning of sin
to the citizens of Jerusalem, we may collect from the next clauses, In thee, he says,
were found the transgressions of Israel. The citizens of Lachish were then, no doubt,
the first who had embraced the corruptions of Jeroboam, and had thus departed from
the pure worship of God. When, therefore, contagion had entered that city, it crept,
by degrees, into neighboring places, until at length, as we find, the whole kingdom
of Judah had become corrupt: and this is what the Prophet repeats more fully in
other places. It was not then without reason that he denounces desolation here on
the citizens of Lachish; for they had been the authors of sin to their own kindred.
However alienated the ten tribes had become from pure faith and pure worship, the
kingdom of Judah remained still upright, until Lachish opened the door to ungodly
superstitions; and then its superstitions spread through the whole of Judea. She
therefore suffered the punishment which she deserved, when she was drawn away
into distant exile, or, at least, when she could not otherwise escape from danger,
than by fleeing into some fear country, and that very swiftly. She is the beginning,
he says, of sin to the daughter of Zion How so? For in thee --- (it is more emphatical
when the Prophet turns his discourse to Lachish itself) --- in thee, he says, were found
the transgressions of Israel. It follows ---
Micah 1:14
JOHN CALVIN
14. Therefore shalt thou give presents to Moreshethgath: the houses of Achzib
shall be a lie to the kings of Israel.
14. Propterea mittes dona super Moreseth (vel, propter Moreseth-) Gath, filiis
Achzib in mendacium regibus Israel.
Here the Prophet alludes to another thing, --- that they would attempt to pacify
their enemies with gifts, and would try to redeem themselves and their neighbors.
But the Prophet expressly mentions this, that the event might teach them that noth-
ing happens without a design; for it ought to work a greater conviction in blind and
obstinate men, when they see that they really find that to be true which had been
long before predicted. This, then, is the reason why the Prophet enumerates here
various particulars; it was, that the hand of God might be more evident and con-
spicuous when he would begin, in an especial manner, to fulfill all the things which
he now in words foretells, Thou, he says, wilt send a gift for Moreseth-gath; that is,
for a neighboring city. And he calls it Moreseth-gath, to distinguish it from another
city of the same name. Thou wilt then send gifts for Moreseth-gath, to the sons of
Achzib for a lie {,}אכזיבaczib, is a word derived from one which means a lie. There
is, therefore, a striking alliteration, when he says, Thou wilt send gifts to the sons
of {,}אכזיבAczib, for a lie, {,}לאכזבlaaczeb; that is Thou wilt send gifts to the sons
of a lie, for a lie. The city had obtained its name from its fallacies or guiles. And he
says, for a lie to the kings of Israel; because it profited the children of Israel nothing
to pacify them with gifts or to attempt to draw them to their side, as they hired the
services of one another. So then he says, that they would be for a lie to the kings
of Israel, for they would gain nothing by having many auxiliaries. Some take the
words actively, --- that the kings of Israel had first deceived the citizens of Achzib:
but this view is less probable; I am therefore disposed to adopt the other, --- that
though the citizens of Lachish tried to conciliate their neighbors with a great sum of
money, especially the people of Achzib, this would be yet to no purpose; for it would
be a lie to the people of Israel: or, it may be, that the Prophet's meaning is this, ---
that the citizens of Achzib had already wished to bring aid, but in vain to the kings
of Israel; for Lachish was one of the first cities which the Assyrians conquered; but
it was within the kingdom of Judah, or on its borders. It is then probable that the
kings of Israel had recourse to the aid of this people, and were not assisted. Now,
as the citizens of Lachish also endeavored to extricate themselves from the hand of
their enemies by such aid, the prophet derides such a folly, inasmuch as they did
not become wise by experience, having seen with their own eyes, that such an help
had been useless and deceptive to the kings of Israel: they ought then to have tried
some other means rather than to expose themselves to the same deceptions. 149 I
cannot finish the chapter to-day.
Prayer.
Grant, Almighty God, that, being warned by so many examples, the record of
149The two lines of this verse are improperly connected, and the word "sons" is substituted for "houses," {,{בתיand there are no various readings, and the Septuagint has ``houses.'' The literal rendering is this,
--- Therefore thou wilt send presents to Moresheth-gath: The houses of Achzib will be a lie (i.e., false) to the kings of Israel.
Henderson, after Cocceius, gives a different meaning to ``presents,'' ;{}שלוחיםand he renders it ``divorce,'' and says that it
signifies letters of repudiation, and that it is to be taken here metaphorically for the breaking up of connection. The word only
occurs in two other places, that is, in Exodus 18:2, and in 1 Kings 9:16; and in neither does it mean what is alleged. --- Ed.
MINOR PROPHETS
which thou hast designed to continue to the end of the world, that we may learn
how dreadful a judge thou art to the perverse, --- O grant, that we may not, at this
day, be deaf to thy teaching, which is conveyed to us by the mouth of thy Prophet,
but that we may strive to be so reconciled to thee, that, passing by all men, we may
present ourselves unreservedly to thee, so that, relying on thy mercy alone which
thou hast promised to us in Christ, we may not doubt but thou wilt be propitious
to us, and be so touched with the spirit of true penitence, that, if we have been
to others a bad example and an offense, we may lead others to the right way of
salvation, and each of us may so endeavor to assist our neighbors in a holy life, that
we may together attain that blessed and celestial life, which thine only-begotten Son
has procured for us by his own blood. Amen.
Lecture Eighty-third
Micah 1:15
15. Yet will I bring an heir unto thee, O inhabitant of Mareshah: he shall come
unto Adullam the glory of Israel.
15. Adhuc possessorem mittam, 150 tibi habitatrix Maresah; usque ad Adullam
veniet gloria Israel.
The Prophet here threatens his own birth place, as he had done other cities; for,
as we have stated, he sprung from this city. He does not now spare his own kindred:
for as God is no respecter of persons, so also God's servants ought, as with closed
eyes, to deal impartially with all, so as not to be turned here and there either by favor
or by hatred, but to follows without any change, whatever the Lord commands them.
We see that Micah was endued with this spirit, for he reproved his own kindred, as
he had hitherto reproved others.
There is a peculiar meaning in the word, Mareshah, for it is derived from {,}ירש
iresh, and it means possession. The Prophet now says, I will send to thee {,}הורש
euresh, a possessor; the word is from the same root. 151 But he means that the
Morasthites would come into the power of their enemies no less than their neighbors,
of whom he had spoken before. He says, to Adullam This was also a city in the tribe of
Judah, as it is well known. But some would have ``enemy'' to be here understood and
they put {,}כבודcabud, in the genitive case: The enemy of the glory of Israel shall
come to Adullam; but this is strained. Others understand the passage thus that the
glory of Israel would come to disgrace; for Adullam, we know, was a cave. Since then
it an obscure place, the Prophet here, as they think, declares that the whole glory
of Israel would be covered with dishonor, because the dignity and wealth, in which
they gloried would lose their pristine fixate, so that they would differ nothing from
an ignoble cave. If any approve of this meaning, I will not oppose them. Yet others
think that the Prophet speaks ironically and that the Assyrian is thus called because
the whole glory and dignity of Israel would by him be taken away. But there is no
need of confining this to enemies; we may then take a simpler view, and yet regard
150{,{אביthere is {}אleft out, which is supplied in several MSS. It ought to be {}אביאwhich means, I will bring, rather than,
I will send.
151The instances of paranomasia or alliteration in this passage, including this line and the five preceding verses, are unparalleled in any other parts of the Prophets; and when there is no coincidence of sound in the words, there is sometimes a direct contrast in the ideas, as good and evil in verse12. — Ed.
JOHN CALVIN
the expression as ironical, --- that the glory, that is, the disgrace or the devastation
of Israel, would come to Adullam. But what if we read it, in apposition, He shall come
to Adullam, the glory of Israel? For Adullam was not obscure, as those interpreters
imagine, whom I have mentioned, but it is named among the most celebrated cities
after the return and restoration of the people. When, therefore, the whole country
was laid waste, this city, with a few others, remained, as we read in the Nehemiah 11.
It might then be, that the Prophet called Adullam the glory of Israel; for it was situated
in a safe place, and the inhabitants thought that they were fortified by a strong
defense, and thus were not open to the violence of enemies. This meaning also may
be probable; but still, as the glory of Israel may be taken ironically for calamity or
reproach if any one approves more of this interpretation, it may be followed. I am,
however, inclined to another, --- that the Prophet say, that the enemy would come
to Adullam, which was the glory of Israel, 152 because that city was as it were in the
recesses of Judea, so that an access to it by enemies was difÏcult. It may be also
that some may think, that the recollection of its ancient history is here revived; for
David concealed himself in its cave, and had it as his fortress. The place no doubt
had, from that time, attained some fame; then this celebrity, as I have said, may be
alluded to, when Adullam is said to be the glory of Israel. It follows ---
Micah 1:16
16. Make thee bald, and poll thee for thy delicate children; enlarge thy baldness
as the eagle; for they are gone into captivity from thee.
16. Decalvare et tondeas te super filiis delitiarum tuarum; dilata calvitium sicut
aquila, quoniam migrarunt abs te.
The Prophet at length concludes that nothing remained for the people but lamen-
tation; for the Lord had resolved to desolate and destroy the whole country. Now
they were wont in mourning, as we have seen in other places, to shave and even
tear off their hair: and some think that the verb {,}קרחיkorechi, implies as much as
though the Prophet said ``Pluck, tear, pull off your hair.'' When afterwards he adds
{,}רגזיregizi, they refer it to shavings which is done by a razor. However this may
be, the Prophet here means that the condition of the people would be so calamitous
that nothing would be seen anywhere but mourning.
Make bald, he says, for the children of thy delicacies 153 The Prophet here indi-
rectly upbraids those perverse men, who after so many warnings had not repented,
with the neglect of God's forbearance: for whence did those delicacies proceed, ex-
cept from the extreme kindness of God in long sparing the Israelites, notwithstanding
their disobedience? The Prophet then shows here that they had very long abused
the patience of God, while they each immersed themselves in their delicacies. Now,
he says, Enlarge thy baldness as the eagle Eagles are wont to cast off their feathers;
152Of all the various renderings of this clause, this is the most satisfactory, which is that of our own version. The substitution of "honor" for "glory," on the mere authority of the Targum, as is done by Newcome, is wholly indefensible. {Εως} {Οδαλαμ} {ἤξει} {την} {δοξην} {Ισραηλ}, Symmachus.
At the same time, the most obvious and natural construction of the clause is the following, though its meaning is obscure; To
Adullam shall come the glory of Israel. --- Ed.
153Or, "children of thy indulgences or luxuries," i.e., luxurious children, rather than "darling children," as rendered by Henderson. The Septuagint has {τα} {τεκνα} {τα} {τρυφερα} {σου} ---''thy
voluptuous children.'' The version of Newcome is, ``thy delicate children.'' What seems to be intended is, their indulgence in
pleasures and luxuries. --- Ed.
MINOR PROPHETS
and hence he compares here bald men to eagles, as though he called them, Hairless.
As then the eagles are for a certain time without feathers until they recover them;
so also you shall be hairless, even on account of your mourning. He says, For they
have migrated from thee He intimates that the Israelites would become exiles, that
the land might remain desolate. Now follows ---
Chapter 2
Micah 2
Micah 2:1
1. Woe to them that devise iniquity, and work evil upon their beds! when the
morning is light, they practice it, because it is in the power of their hand.
1. Vae cogitantibus iniquitatem et fabricantibus malitiam super cubilibus suis!
Quum illuxerit mane, exequentur eam, quia est ad potentiam manus ipsorum.
The Prophet does not here speak only against the Israelites, as some think, who
have incorrectly confined this part of his teaching to the ten tribes; but he, on the
contrary, (in discharging his ofÏce, addresses also the Jews. He refers not here to
idolatry, as in the last chapter; but inveighs against sins condemned in the second
table. As then the Jews had not only polluted the worship of God, but also gave loose
reins to many iniquities, so that they dealt wrongfully with their neighbors, and there
was among them no attention to justice and equity, so the prophet inveighs here as
we shall see, against avarice, robberies, and cruelty: and his discourse is full of
vehemence; for there was no doubt such licentiousness then prevailing among the
people, that there was need of severe and sharp reproofs. It is at the same time
easy to perceive that his discourse is mainly directed against the chief men, who
exercised authority, and turned it to wrong purposes.
Woe, he says, to those who meditate on iniquity, and devise 154 evil on their beds,
that, when the morning shines, they may execute it Here the Prophet describes to
the life the character and manners of those who were given to gain, and were intent
only on raising themselves. He says, that in their beds they were meditating on
iniquity, and devising wickedness. Doubtless the time of night has been given to
154Literally, work; but {{פעלmeans to work not only with the hands, but also with the mind; and hence, to contrive,
to devise, to machinate. Henderson has ``fabricate,'' while Newcome, less suitably, retains the word, ``work.'' Marckius justly
observes, that the working here is not external but internal, the framing, the setting in order, the preparation of evil in the mind.
The Prophet points out here that source from which outward evils proceed. What numberless schemes, both good and evil, are
concocted and arranged by men on their beds! ``They set their wits on work to invent ways of accomplishing their desire. They
devise iniquity with a great deal of cursed art and policy; they plot how to do it effectually, and yet so as not to expose themselves.
This is called working evil; they are working it in their heads.'' --- Henry.
MINOR PROPHETS
men entirely for rest; but they ought also to use this kindness of God for the purpose
of restraining themselves from what is wicked: for he who refreshes his strength by
nightly rest, ought to think within himself, that it is an unbecoming thing and even
monstrous, that he should in the meantime devise frauds, and guiles, and iniquities.
For why does the Lord intend that we should rest, except that all evil things should
rest also? Hence the Prophet shows here, by implication, that those who are intent
on devising frauds, while they ought to rest, subvert as it were the course of nature;
for they have no regard for that rest, which has been granted to men for this end, ---
that they may not trouble and annoy one another.
He afterwards shows how great was their desire to do mischief, When it shines
in the morning, he says, they execute it He might have said only, They do in the
daytime what they contrive in the night: but he says, In the morning; as though
he had said, that they were so heated by avarice, that they rested not a moment;
as soon as it shone, they were immediately ready to perpetrate the frauds they had
thought of in the night. We now then apprehend the import of the Prophet's meaning.
He now subjoins, For according to their power is their hand As {,}אלal, means
God, an old interpreter has given this rendering, Against God is their hand: but this
does not suit the passage. Others have explained it thus, For strength is in their
hand: and almost all those well-skilled in Hebrew agree in this explanation. Those
who had power, they think, are here pointed out by the Prophet, --- that as they
had strength, they dared to do whatever they pleased. But the Hebrew phrase is not
translated by them; and I greatly wonder that they have mistaken in a thing so clear:
for it is not, There is power in their hand; but their hand is to power. The same mode
of speaking is found in Proverbs 3, and there also many interpreters are wrong; for
Solomon there forbids us to withhold from our neighbor his right, When thine hand,
he says, is for power; some say, When there is power to help the miserable. But
Solomon means no such thing; for he on the contrary means this, When thine hand
is ready to execute any evil, abstain. So also the Lord says in Deuteronomy 28,
``When the enemy shall take away thy spoils,
thy hand will not be for power;''
that is, ``Thou wilt not dare to move a finger to restrain thy enemies; when they
will plunder thee and rob thee of thy substance, thou wilt stand in dread, for thy hand
will be as though it were dead.'' I come now to the present passage, Their hand is
for power: 155 the Prophet means, that they dared to try what they could, and that
therefore their hand was always ready; whenever there was hope of lucre or gains
the hand was immediately prepared. How so? Because they were restrained neither
by the fear of God nor by any regard for justice; but their hand was for power, that
is, what they could, they dared to do. We now then see what the Prophet means as
far as I can judge. He afterwards adds ---
Micah 2:2
155The original is, {{}לאל{ כי-{}ידם{ }ישMarckius after having referred to Calvin's version, says, that he prefers that of
Junius and Tremelius which is as follows: ``Quum est in potestate manus ipsoram --- When it is in the power of their hand,'' {}כי
is taken as an adverb of time. The phrase is found in four other places, --- Genesis 31:29; Deuteronomy 28:32; Nehemiah 5:5;
and Proverbs 3:27. So that to render {}אלhere ``God,'' as it is done by the Septuagint, Theodoret, and Jerome, and some others,
must be wrong. {}כיis rendered ``because'' both by Newcome and Henderson, but not so suitably as to the sense. --- Ed.
JOHN CALVIN
2. And they covet fields, and take them by violence; and houses, and take them
away: so they oppress a man and his house, even a man and his heritage.
2. Et concupiverunt agros et rapiunt; et domos, et auferunt; et vexant virum et
domum ejus, virum et haereditatem ejus.
Micah confirms here what is contained in the former verse; for he sets forth the
alacrity with which the avaricious were led to commit plunder; nay, how unbridled
was their cupidity to do evil. As soon as they have coveted any thing, he says, they
take it by force. And hence we gather, that the Prophet, in the last verse, connected
wicked counsels with the attempt of effecting them; as though he had said, that
they indeed carefully contrived their frauds, but that as they were skillful in their
contrivances, so they were not less bold and daring in executing then.
The same thing he now repeats in other words for a further confirmation, As soon
as they have coveted fields, they seize them by force; as soon as they have cov-
eted houses they take them away; they oppress a man and his house together; 156
that is, nothing escaped them: for as their wickedness in frauds was great, so their
disposition to attempt whatever they wished was furious. And well would it be were
there no such cruel avarice at this day; but it exists every where, so that we may
see, as in a mirror, an example of what is here said. But it behaves us carefully to
consider how greatly displeasing to God are frauds and plunders, so that each of us
may keep himself from doing any wrong, and be so ruled by a desire of what is right,
that every one of us may act in good faith towards his neighbors, seek nothing that
is unjust, and bridle his own desires: and whenever Satan attempts to allure us, let
what is here taught be to us as a bridle to restrain us. It follows ---
Micah 2:3
3. Therefore thus saith the Lord; Behold, against this family do I devise an evil,
from which ye shall not remove your necks; neither shall ye go haughtily: for this
time is evil.
3. Propterea sic dicit Jehova, Ecce ego cogitans super familiam hanc malum, quod
non submovebitis ab illo (sic est ab verbum; a quo submovebitis) colla vestra, et non
ambulabitis in altitudine; quia tempus malum hoc.
The Prophet shows now that the avaricious were in vain elevated by their frauds
and rapacity, because their hope would be disappointed; for God in heaven was wait-
ing his time to appear against them. Though they had anxiously heaped together
much wealth, yet God would justly dissipate it altogether. This is what he now de-
clares.
Behold, he says, thus saith Jehovah, I am meditating evil against this family 157
There is here a striking contrast between God and the Jews, between their wicked
156This verse presents an instance of parallelism not uncommon, in which the first and the last line correspond, and the second and the third; as will be seen in the following version: — And they covet fields and forcibly seize them, And houses, and they take them away; Yea, they oppress the young man and his house, And the old man and his inheritance. There must be some distinction between {,{גברwhich I render, ``the young man,'' and ,{}אישrendered above, ``the old man.'' The
first means, robust, strong; and the second is a common term for man, but sometimes signifies a husband, and also a man in
years. We may, indeed in harmony with the passage, consider the first as meaning a householder, and the latter as signifying a
husbandman. The fields in the first line are the same with the inheritance in the last: and houses and a house are mentioned in
the two intervening lines. --- Ed.
157The word {,{משפחהfamily, no doubt designates the people of Israel, so called, either for their descent from the same
father, or for their adoption by God as his people, designed to live in subjection to him as a family to its head. --- Ed.
MINOR PROPHETS
intentions and the intentions of God, which in themselves were not evil, and yet
would bring evil on them. God, he says, thus speaks, Behold, I am purposing; as
though he said, ``While ye are thus busying yourselves on your beds, while ye are
revolving many designs while ye are contriving many artifices, ye think me to be
asleep, ye think that I am all the while meditating nothing; nay, I have my thoughts
too, and those different from yours; for while ye are awake to devise wickedness I
am awake to contrive judgment.'' We now then perceive the import of these words:
it is God that declares that he meditates evil, and it is not the Prophet that speaks to
these avaricious and rapacious men; and the evil is that of punishment, inasmuch
as it is the peculiar ofÏce of God to repay to all what they deserve, and to render to
each the measure of evil they have brought on others.
Ye shall not, he says, remove your necks from under it. Since hypocrites always
promise to themselves impunity, and lay hold on subterfuges, whenever God threat-
ens them, the Prophet here afÏrms, that though they sought every escape, they
would yet be held bound by God's hand, so that they could not by any means shake
off the burden designed for them. And this was a reward most fully deserved by
those who had withdrawn their necks when God called them to obedience. They
then who refuse to obey God, when he requires from them a voluntary service, will
at length be drawn by force, not to undergo the yoke, but the burden which will al-
together overwhelm them. Whosoever then will not willingly submit to God's yoke,
must at length undergo the great and dreadful burden prepared for the unnamable.
Ye will not then be able to withdraw your necks, and ye shall not walk in your
height. He expresses still more clearly what I have referred to, --- that they were
so elated with pride, that they despised all threatening and all instruction: and this
presumption became the cause of perverseness; for were it not that a notion of
security deceived men, they would presently bend, when God threatens them. This
then is the reason why the Prophet joins this sentence, ye shall no more walk in your
height; that is, your haughtiness shall then surely be made to succumb; for it will be
a time of evil He means, as I have said, that those who retain a stir and unbending
neck towards God, when he would lay on them his yoke, shall at length be made by
force to yield, however rebellious they may be. How so? For they shall be broken
down, inasmuch as they will not be corrected. The Prophet then adds ---
Micah 2:4
4. In that day shall one take up a parable against you, and lament with a doleful
lamentation, and say, We be utterly spoiled: he hath changed the portion of my
people: how hath he removed it from me! turning away he hath divided our fields.
4. In die illo tollent super eos parabolam, et lugebunt (sunt quidem verba sin-
gularis numeri, {}ישאet {;}נההcaeterum indefinita est locutio; nam qui subau di-
unt conductios homines, quibus solebat injungi haec provincia, ut lugubres cantus
conciperent ad cladem aliquam, nescio an assecuti sint mentem Prophetae: tamen
hoc relinquo in medio, quia alibi vidimus fuisse tunc cantores in luctu, quemad-
modum etiam alibi erunt Praeficae, hoc est, mulieres lamentatrices; caeterum malo
indefinite accipere; Tollent igitur super vos parabolam et lugebunt) luctu lamentabili
(vel, lamento lamenti,) dicendo, Vastando vastati sumus; partem populi mei mutavit;
JOHN CALVIN
quomodo tollent a nobis ad restituendum? Agros nostros dividet.
The verse is in broken sentences; and hence interpreters vary. But the meaning of
the Prophet appears to me to be simply this, In that day they shall take up a proverb
against you; that is, it will not be an ordinary calamity, but the report concerning it
will go forth every where so that the Jews will become to all a common proverb. This is
one thing. As to the word {,}משלmeshil, it is taken, we know, for a weighty saying,
and in the plural, weighty sayings, called by the Latins, sentences (sententias) or
sayings, (dicta,) and by the Greeks, apophthegmata. {αποφθεγματα}, But these
sayings were thus called weighty by the Hebrews, because he who elevated his style,
made use especially of figurative expressions, to render his discourse nobler and
more splendid. 158 Hence many render this word, enigmas. It accords well with the
Prophet's meaning, to suppose, that proverbial sayings would spread every where
respecting the Jews, especially as calamities were usually described in a plaintive
song. They shall then mourn over you with lamentable mourning. But this ought
to be referred to the fact, --- that the calamity would be every where known. It
yet seems that this sentence is applied afterwards to the Jews themselves, and not
unsuitably. But it is an indefinite mode of speaking, since the Prophet speaks not of
one or two men, but of the whole people.
They shall then mourn in this manner, Wasted, we have been wasted: the portion
of my people has he changed --- (it is the future instead of the past) --- He has then
changed the portion of my people This may be applied to God as well as to the
Assyrians; for God was the principal author of this calamity; he it was who changed
the portion of the people: for as by his blessing he had long cherished that people,
so afterwards he changed their lot. But as the Assyrians were the ministers of God's
vengeance, the expression cannot be unsuitably applied to them. The Assyrian then
has taken away the portion of my people And then he says, How has he made to
depart, or has taken away, or removed from me, (literally, to me,) to restore, ---
though {,}שבבshibeb, may be from the root {,}שובshub, it yet means the same,
--- How then has he taken away from us to restore our fields he divides, that is,
which he has divided; for the relative {,}אשרasher, is understood and there is also
a change of time. Now as the discourse, as I have said, is in broken sentences, there
are various interpretations. I however think that the Prophet simply means this ---
How as to restoring has he taken away our fields, which he hath divided? that is,
How far off are we from restitution? for every hope is far removed, since the Lord
himself has divided among strangers our land and possession; or since the enemies
have divided it among themselves; for it is usual after victory, for every one to seize
on his own portion. Whether then this be understood of the Assyrians, or rather be
referred to God, the meaning of the Prophet seems clearly to be this, --- that the
Jews were not only expelled from their country but that every hope of return was
also taken away, since the enemies had parted among themselves their inheritance,
158Very similar is the description of {{משלby Lowth in his Praelections; he describes it as that style which is
sententius, figurative, and sublime --- Sententiosum, figuratum, et sublime docendi genus He says also that the word means
often a saying, anaxiom, a short sentence compactly formed --- est quoevis sententia sive axioma scite graviterque dictum,
paucis concinnatum, et ad {γνωμων} firmam compositum, 1 Samuel 24:14, Prael. 4. And this is evidently its meaning here, --- a
common saying, everywhere known. --- Ed.
MINOR PROPHETS
so that they who had been driven out, now in vain thought of a restitution. 159 But I
read this in the present time; for the Prophet introduces here the Jews as uttering this
lamentation, --- ``It is now all over with us, and there is no remedy for this evil; for
not only are we stripped of all our property and ejected from our country, but what
has been taken away by our enemies cannot be restored to us, inasmuch as they
have already parted our possessions among themselves, and every one occupies
his own portion and his own place, as though it were his own inheritance. We have
therefore to do, not only with the Assyrians in general, but also with every individual;
for what every one now occupies and possesses he will defend, as his rightful and
hereditary possession.''
Some conjecture from this verse, that the discourse belongs rather to the Is-
raelites, who were banished without any hope of return; but no necessity constrains
us to explain this of the Israelites; for the Prophet does not declare here what God
would do, but what would be the calamity when considered in itself. We have in-
deed said already in many places, that the Prophets, while threatening, speak only
of calamities, desolations, deaths, and destructions, but that they afterwards add
promises for consolation. But their teaching is discriminative: when the Prophets
intend to terrify hypocrites and perverse men, they set forth the wrath of God only,
and leave no hope; but when they would inspire with hope those who are by this
means humbled, they draw forth comfort to them even from the goodness of God.
What is here said then may fitly and really be applied to the Jews. It follows ---
Micah 2:5
5. Therefore thou shalt have none that shall cast a cord by lot in the congregation
of the LORD.
5. Itaque non erit tibi projiciens funiculum ad sortem in coetu Jehovae.
Here the Prophet concludes his discourse respecting God's design to cleanse
Judea from its perverse and wicked inhabitants, that it might no longer be the in-
heritance of one people. For the land, we know, had been given to the posterity of
Abraham, on the condition, that it was to be held by them as an heritage: and we
also know, that a line was determined by lot whenever the year of Jubilee returned,
that every one might regain his own possession. The Prophet now testifies that this
advantage would be taken away from the Jews, and that they would hereafter pos-
sess the land by no hereditary right; for God, who had given it, would now take it
159Most commentators agree as to the general meaning of this verse, which is clearly stated here: but their versions differ. Newcome, following the Septuagint, renders the verbs in the first and second lines in a passive sense, but Henderson gives them an active meaning, supplying "one" as the nominative case, i.e., the person, who utters the lamentation afterwards mentioned. The two last lines are the most difficult. Marckius has this version, — Quomodo subtraxit mihi! Avertenti agros nostros distribuit! That of Junius and Tremelius is essentially the same, only the verbs are put in the present tense. Newcome's rendering is this, — How hath he withdrawn it form me! To an apostate he hath divided our fields! To call the king of Babylon an apostate, seems incongruous, as it cannot be applied to any one but who has turned away from true religion. The most obvious and literal rendering is that given by Marckius, with the exception of the tense. I offer the following version of the whole verse, with no alteration in the text, except the supplying of a {{וbefore {}אמרwhich is found in several MSS., --- In that day shall be taken up concerning
you a proverb, And lament a lamentation will the oppressed, And say will the desolate, --- ``We are destroyed, The portion of my
people he changes; How he takes away from me! To the alienator of my fields he divides them! It is a proverb, a common saying,
and a lament, that would be uttered, as the Prophet foretells, at the time of the expulsion of the people from the land, when it
would be taken possession of by their enemies. --- Ed.
JOHN CALVIN
away.
There shall not then be one to cast a line by lot in the assembly of Jehovah. And he
seems here to touch the Jews, by calling them the assembly of Jehovah. He indeed
adopted them, they were the people of God: but he intimates that they were repu-
diated, because they had rendered themselves unworthy of his favor. He therefore,
by calling them ironically the assembly of Jehovah, denies that they rightly retained
this name, inasmuch as they had deprived themselves of this honor and dignity. It
now follows ---
Micah 2:6
6. Prophesy ye not, say they to them that prophesy: they shall not prophesy to
them, that they shall not take shame.
6. Ne stilletis; stillabunt; non stillabunt illis (hoc est, super eos;) non apprehendet
ignominias (sic est ad verbum.)
Here the conciseness of the expressions has made interpreters to differ in their
views. Some read thus, Distill ye not, --- they will distill; that is, the Jews speak
against the prophets, and with threats forbid them, as with authority, to address
them. The Hebrew word, distill, means the same as to speak; though at the same
time it is applied more commonly to weighty addresses than to such as are common
and ordinary. If any understands, they will distill, or speak, of the Jews, then the
Prophet points out their arrogance in daring to contend with God's prophets, and in
trying to silence and force them to submission. We indeed find that ungodly men act
thus, when they wish to take away the liberty of teaching from God's prophets; for
they resist as though they themselves were doubly and treble prophets. So also in
this place, Distill ye not, that is, the Jews say, Let not the servants of God prophesy.
But some think that a relative is understood, Distill ye not for them who distill; as
though he had said, that ungodly men would not bear God's prophets and thus would
prevent and restrain them, as much as they could, from speaking. Others make this
distinction, Distill ye not, --- they shall distill; as though the Jews said the first, and
God the second. Distill ye not, --- this was the voice of the ungodly and rebellious
people, who would cast away from them and reject every instruction: but God on
the other side opposed them and said, Nay, they shall distill; ye forbid, but it is not
in your power; I have sent them: though ye may rage and glamour a hundred times,
it is my will that they should proceed in their course.
We hence see how various are the explanations: and even in the other part of
the verse there is no more agreement between interpreters: They shall not distill;
respecting this clause, it is sufÏciently evident, that God here intimates that there
would be now an end to all prophecies. How so? Because he would not render his
servants a sport, and subject them to reproach. This is the true meaning: and yet
some take another view, as though the Prophet continued his sentence, They shall
not distill, lest the people should receive reproaches; for the ungodly think, that
if they close the mouths of the prophets, all things would be lawful to them, and
that their crimes would be hid, in short, that their vices would not be called to an
account; as though their wickedness was not in itself sufÏciently reproachful, were
God to send no prophets, and no reproof given. No doubt, profane men are so stupid
MINOR PROPHETS
as to think themselves free from every reproach, when God is silent, and when they
put away from themselves every instruction. Hence some think, that this passage is
to be understood in this sense. But I consider the meaning to be that which I have
stated; for he had before said, Distill ye not who distill; that is, Ye prophets, be no
longer troublesome to us; why do you stem our ears? We can no longer bear your
boldness; be then silent. Thus he expressly introduced the Jews as speaking with
authority, as though it was in their power to restrain the prophets from doing their
duty. Now follows, as I think, the answer of God, They shall not distill, that he may
not get reproaches: Since I see that my doctrine is intolerable to you, since I find
a loathing so great and so shameful, I will take away my prophets from you: I will
therefore rest, and be hereafter silent. --- Why? ``Because I effect nothing; nay, I
subject my prophets to reproaches; for they lose their labor in speaking, they pour
forth words which produce no fruit; for ye are altogether irreclaimable. Nay, as they
are reproachfully treated by you, their condition is worse than if they were covered
with all the disgrace of having been criminal. Since then I subject my prophets to
reproach I will not allow them to be thus mocked by you. They shall therefore give
over, they shall prophesy no longer. 160''
But the Lord could not have threatened the Jews with any thing worse or more
dreadful than with this immunity, --- that they should no more hear anything which
might disturb them: for it is an extreme curse, when God gives us loose reins, and
suffers us, with unbridled liberty, to rush as it were headlong into evils, as though
he had delivered us up to Satan to be his slaves. Since it is so, let us be assured
that it is an awful threatening, when he says, They shall not distill, lest they should
hereafter become objects of reproach.
Prayer.
Grant, Almighty God, that as thou art pleased to try our patience by requiring
mutual justice and the ofÏces of love and benevolence, --- O grant, that we may not
be wolves one to another, but show ourselves to be really thy children, by observing
160Newcome, apparently on the authority of the Septuagint, joins a part of the last verse to this, and gives this rendering,— In the congregation of Jehovah prophesy not, O ye that prophesy: They shall not prophesy to these: For he shall remove from himself reproaches. The last line he applies to the true prophet, that he would not subject himself to disgrace by exercising his office. Henderson's version is the following: — Prophesy not; those shall prophesy Who will not prophesy of these things: Reproaches are incessant. This is viewed as being altogether the language of the people, interdicting the true prophets, specifying those whom they approved, and deprecating the reproaches cast upon them by the true prophets. Another version, which is materially adopted by Calvin, is admitted by our Author as not unsuitable, but he prefers the one given above. The main objection is to the last line, which in the original is this, — {{}כלמות{ }ׂיג{ לאThe last word is plural, and means reproaches; and the verb {}יסגis in the
third person of the future tense, and may be derived either from ,{}סוגto recede, to depart, or from ,{}גסגto remove, both in a
transitive and intransitive sense. Having an objective case, it cannot be the first verb, and must be the second in its transitive
meaning. Then the rendering is, He will not, or let him not, or let none remove reproaches. This being the literal rendering of this
sentence, we must now consider what version of the former part will correspond best with it. It is that no doubt adopted by Calvin,
though the last clause cannot admit of the meaning he attaches to it. The people say, ``Prophesy ye not who prophesy;'' God
answers, ``They shall not prophesy to these;'' and then the Prophet adds, speaking of God, ``He will not remove reproaches;''
that is, he will not remove them by his prophets with the view of amending their reproachful conduct. The last clause is evidently
viewed as an anomalous construction by Henderson; for he renders it as though the plural noun were the nominative case to the
verb in the singular number, and this because the latter precedes the former. There may be instances of this in Hebrew, but it
is by no means a common usage; though it be so in the Welsh language, which in so many of its peculiarities is very much like
Hebrew. This sort of construction is the ordinary one in that language: a plural noun has commonly a verb in the singular number,
when placed before it. This sentence in Welsh would be exactly the same as in Hebrew---Nid ymadawa gwaradwyddiadau The
noun in the plural number is the nominative case to the preceding verb, which is in the singular number, and the verb too is in
the future tense, and is yet understood as having the meaning of the present tense. --- Ed.
JOHN CALVIN
all those duties of justice and kindness which thou commandest, and thus follow
what is right and just through the whole course of our life, that we may at length
enjoy that blessedness which is laid up for us in heaven, through Christ our Lord.
Amen.
Lecture Eighty-fourth
Micah 2:7
7. O thou that art named the house of Jacob, is the spirit of the Lord straitened?
are these his doings? do not my words do good to him that walketh uprightly?
7. Qui diceris domus Jacob, an reductus est in angustias Spiritus Jehova? (alii ver-
tunt, an imminutus est Spiritus Jehovae; {}קצרsignificat coarctare, significat etiam
imminuere apud Hebraeos; sed melius quadrat sensus ille quem reddidi.) An haec
sunt opera ejus? Annon verba mea bona sunt cum eo (hoc est, apud cum) qui rectus
ambulat?
The Prophet now reproves the Israelites with greater severity, because they at-
tempted to impose a law on God and on his prophets and would not endure the free
course of instruction. He told us in the last verse, that the Israelites were inflated
with so much presumption, that they wished to make terms with God: ``Let him not
prophesy'' they said, as though it were in the power of man to rule God: and the
Prophet now repeats, Is the Spirit of Jehovah straitened? as though he said, Ye see
the intent of your presumption, and how far it proceeds; for ye wish to subject God's
Spirit to yourselves and to your own pleasure. The prophets doubtless did not speak
of themselves, but by the bidding and command of God. Since then the prophets
were the organs of the Holy Spirit, whosoever attempted to silence them, usurped
to himself an authority over God himself, and in a manner tried to make captive his
Spirit: for what power can belong to the Spirit, except he be at liberty to reprove
the vices of men, and condemn whatever is opposed to God's justice? When this is
taken away, there is no more any jurisdiction left to the Holy Spirit. We now then
see what the Prophet means in this place: he shows how mad a presumption it was
in the Israelites to attempt to impose silence on the prophets, as though they had a
right to rule the Spirit of God, and to force him to submission.
Is the Spirit of Jehovah straitened? And this mode of speaking ought to be noticed,
for it possesses no ordinary emphasis; inasmuch as the Prophets by this reproof;
recalls the attention of these perverse men to the author of his teaching; as though
he had said, that the wrong was not done to men, that war was not carried on with
them, when instruction is prohibited, but that God is robbed of his own rights and
that his liberty is taken away, so that he is not allowed to execute his judgment in
the world by the power of his Spirit.
And farther, the Prophet here ironically reproves the Israelites, when he says, O
thou who art called the house of Jacob, is the Spirit of Jehovah reduced to straits?
For if heathens, who have never known the teaching of religion, and to whom no
heavenly mysteries have been revealed, had said, that they would have nothing to
do with the prophets, it would have been much more endurable; for what wonder
would it be for ignorant men to repudiate all instruction? But it was monstrous for the
Israelites, who gloried in the name of God, to dare to rise up so rebelliously against
MINOR PROPHETS
the prophets: they always boasted of their own race, as though they surpassed all
the rest of the world, and were a holy nations separated from all others. Hence the
Prophet says, ``Ye wish to be called the house of Jacob; what is your excellency and
dignity, except that you have been chosen by God to be his peculiar people? If then
you have been habituated to the teaching of God, what fury and madness it is, that
you cannot bear his prophets, but wish to close their mouths?'' We now then see the
point of this irony, when the Prophet says that they were called the house of Jacob
He seems at the same time to intimate, in an indirect way, that they were a spurious
race. As they were called by other prophets, Amorites and Sodomites: even so in
this place the Prophet says, ``Ye are indeed the house of Jacob, but it is only as to the
name.'' They were in reality so degenerated, that they falsely pretended the name of
the holy patriarch; yea, they falsely and mendaciously boasted of their descent from
holy men, though they were nothing else but as it were rotten members. Inasmuch
then as they had so departed from the religion of Abraham and of other fathers, the
Prophet says, ``Thou art indeed called what thou art not.''
He afterwards adds, Are these his works? Here he brings the Israelites to the proof,
as though he said, How comes it, that the prophets are so troublesome and grievous
to you, except that they sharply reprove you, and denounce on you the judgment of
God? But God is in a manner forced, except he was to change his nature, to treat you
thus sharply and severely. Ye boast that you are his people, but how do you live?
Are these his works? that is, do you lead a life, and form your conduct according
to the law laid down by him? But as your life does not in any degree correspond
with what God requires, it is no wonder that the prophets handle you so roughly.
For God remains the same, ever like himself; but ye are perfidious, and have wholly
repudiated the covenant he has made with you. Then this asperity, of which ye are
wont to complain, ought not to be deemed unjust to you.
He then subjoins, Are not my words good to him who walks uprightly? Here the
Prophet more distinctly shows, why he had before asked, Whether their works were
those of the Lord; for he compares their life with the doctrine, which on account of
its severity displeased them; they said that the words of the prophets were too rigid.
God here answers, that his words were gentle and kind, and therefore pleasant, that
is, to the pious and good; and that hence the fault was in them, when he treated
them less kindly than they wished. The import of the whole then is, that the word of
God, as it brings life and salvation to man, is in its own nature gracious, and cannot
be either bitter, or hard, or grievous to the pious and the good, for God unfolds in it
the riches of his goodness.
We hence see that God here repudiates the impious calumny that was cast on his
word; as though he had said, that the complaints which prevailed among the people
were false; for they transferred the blame of their own wickedness to the word of God.
They said that God was too severe: but God here declares that he was gentle and
kind, and that the character of his word was the same, provided men were tractable,
and did not, through their perverseness, extort from him anything else than what
he of himself wished. And the same thing David means in Psalm 18, when he says
that God is perverse with the perverse: for in that passage he intimates, that he
JOHN CALVIN
had experienced the greatest goodness from God, inasmuch as he had rendered
himself docile and obedient to him. On the contrary, he says, God is perverse with
the perverse; that is, when he sees men obstinately resisting and hardening their
necks, he then puts on as it were a new character, and deals perversely with them,
that is, severely, as their stubbornness deserves; as for a hard knot, according to a
common proverb, a hard wedge is necessary. We now then perceive the meaning
of this passage, that God's words are good to those who walk uprightly; that is they
breathe the sweetest odour, and bring nothing else but true and real joy: for when
can there be complete happiness, except when God embraces us in the bosom of
his love? But the testimony respecting this love is brought to us by his word. The
fault then is in us, and ought to be imputed to us, if the word of God is not delightful
to us.
Some expound this whole passage differently, as though the Prophet relates here
what was usually at that time the boast of the Israelites. They hence think that it is
a narrative in which he represents their sentiments; (narrationem esse mimiticam;)
as though the Prophet introduced here the ungodly and the rebellious animating
one another in their contempt of God's word, O thou who art called the house of
Jacob, is the Spirit of Jehovah straitened? Hypocrites, we know, are so blind and
intoxicated by a false confidence, that they hesitate not heedlessly to abuse all the
favors of God. As then God had conferred a great excellency on his people, they thus
emboldened one another, --- ``Are we not the children and posterity of Abraham?
What will it avail us to be a holy and chosen race, and the peculiar people of God,
and a royal priesthood, if we are to be thus unkindly treated? We find that these
prophets shamefully reprove us: where is our dignity, except we show that we have
more privileges than other nations?'' These interpreters therefore think the meaning
to be this, --- that they make a show of their own privileges, that they might with
more liberty reject every instruction, and shake off every yoke. And when it is said,
Is the Spirit of God diminished? these interpreters regard this as meaning, that they
were satisfied with the solemn promise of God, and that as they were a holy race,
they now superciliously despised all the prophets, --- ``Is the Spirit of God dead, who
was formerly the interpreter of the everlasting covenant, which God made with us?
Has he not testified that we should be to him a holy and elect people? Why then do ye
now attempt to reduce to nothing this sacred declaration of the Holy Spirit, which is
inviolable?'' It is then added, Are these his works? ``Ye talk of nothing but of threats
and destruction; ye denounce on us numberless calamities: but God is beneficent
and kind in his nature, patient and merciful; and ye represent him to us as a tyrant;
but this view is wholly inconsistent with the nature of God.'' And, in the last place,
God subjoins, as these interpreters think, an exception, --- ``All these are indeed
true, if faithfulness exists among you, and the authority of my word continues; for
my words are good, but not to all without any difference: be upright and sincere,
and ye shall find me dealing kindly, gently, tenderly, and pleasantly with you: then
my rigor will cease, which now through my word so much offends and exasperates
you.''
This meaning may in some measure be admitted; but as it is hard to be under-
MINOR PROPHETS
stood, we ought to retain the former, it being more easy and flowing. There is nothing
strained in the view, that the Prophet derides the foolish arrogance of the people,
who thought that they were sheltered by this privilege, that they were the holy seed
of Abraham. The Prophet answers that this titular superiority did not deprive God of
his right, and prevent him to exercise his power by the Spirit. ``O thou then who art
called the house of Jacob; but only as far as the title goes: the Spirit of God is not
reduced to straits. But if thou boastest thyself to be the peculiar people of God, are
these thy works the works of God? Does thy life correspond with what he requires?
There is no wonder then that God chastises you so severely by his word, for there is
not in you the spirit of docility, which allows the exercise of his kindness.'' 161
But though the Prophet here upbraids the ancient people with ingratitude, yet this
truth is especially useful to us, which God declares, when he says that his word is
good and sweet to all the godly. Let us then learn to become submissive to God, and
then he will convey to us by his word nothing but sweetness, nothing but delights;
we shall then find nothing more desirable than to be fed by this spiritual food; and it
will ever be a real joy to us, whenever the Lord will open his mouth to teach us. But
when at any time the word of the Lord goads and wounds, and thus exasperates us,
let us know that it is through our own fault. It follows ---
Micah 2:8
8. Even of late my people is risen up as an enemy: ye pull off the robe with the
garment from them that pass by securely as men averse from war.
8. Et qui antehac populus meus, quasi in hostem surrexit ex adverso; vestem
decoris (alii vertunt, pallium et tunicam; sed nulla est copula, et {}אדרsignificat
decorem, ideo possumus vertere vestem decoris) praedati estis a transeuntibus cum
fiducia, perinde ac si reverterentur a praelio.
As the words of the Prophet are concise, they contain some obscurity. Hence
interpreters differ. First, as to the word {,}אתמילatmul, some think it to be one word,
others divide it into {,}אתat and {,}מולmul, which means, over against, opposite;
and they regard it of the same import with {,}ממולwhich immediately follows. But
as the repetition would be frigid, the Prophet no doubt intended that it should be
taken here in its proper sense, and its meaning is yesterday. But this time is not
strictly taken by the Hebrews, for they take yesterday as meaning the past time,
even when many years have elapsed. I have therefore rendered it formerly, which
suits this place. There is also another difference as to the sense of the text, for
some think that this {,}אתמולatmul, is to be joined to the verb {,}קומםkumum; but
it is rather to be connected with the word {,}עמיomi, My people formerly There is
another diversity, that is, as to the term {,}אויבavib, for some apply it to God, and
others to the people; that they rose up or stood one against another. For this verb is
161Newcome, adopting {,{האמרas found in four MSS., renders the first part of the verse as the language of the people,
though not in the sense of those referred to by Calvin. His version is as follows: --- Doth the house of Israel [Jacob] say, ``Is the
Spirit of Jehovah straightened? Are these his doings?'' ``Straightened,'' i.e., confined to a few, such as Micah. And by ``doings,''
he means the judgments before announced. Henderson regards the ``doings,'' or, as he renders them, ``operations,'' in the same
light, though he views the words as spoken by the Prophet, and renders the first line thus, --- What language, O house of Jacob!
The first word, ,{}האמורas it is in our text, is viewed by Henderson, as well as by Marckius, as a passive participle, signifying what
is said or spoken, and the {}הprefixed is considered as a note of exclamation. But the objection made to our common version is
not valid, that {}אמרin Niphael, when it means being called or named, has uniformly an {}לafter it, for we have an instance to
the contrary in Jeremiah 7:32, {}יאמר{, }התפח{ }עוד-{`` }ולאand it shall no more be called Tophet.'' --- Ed.
JOHN CALVIN
explained in two ways: some view it as a verb neuter, They stand against the enemy;
and others render it, They rise up against the enemy; and this second meaning is
most approved, and harmonizes best with the context.
I will now refer to what I consider to be the real meaning. The Prophet, in the first
place, says, that the people were formerly under the power and government of God,
but that now they were become wholly alienated from him. Formerly, then, it was
my people, as though God now renounced all friendship with them. ``I have hitherto
owned you as my people, but hereafter I shall have nothing to do with you, for the
whole authority of my word is by you entirely abolished; ye have violated your faith:
in short, as you have destroyed my covenant, ye have ceased to be my people; for
whatever favor I have conferred on you, you have deprived yourselves of it by your
wickedness; and though I have adopted you, yet your wickedness now strips you of
this privilege.'' This is one thing.
It then follows, They have risen up as against an enemy. I consider a note of
likeness to be here understood. The Prophet says simply, Against an enemy have
they risen up; but I regard the meaning to be, that they had risen up as against an
enemy; that is that they had made God, their best father, their enemy, inasmuch as
they had by their crimes provoked his displeasure. 162 He then confirms this truth
by saying, that they practiced robberies among themselves. We indeed know that
hypocrites ever hide themselves under their religious rites, and spread them forth
as their shield whenever they are reproved. Hence the Prophet says, that they were
not to be deemed the people of God for spending their labors on sacrifices, for they
were at the same time robbers, and plundered innocent men.
The garment of comeliness, he says, or, the garment and the cloak, (about such
words I do not labor much,) they take away from those who pass by securely; 163
that is from all who are peaceable. For when there is a suspicion of war, or when
a traveler does any mischief, he rightly deserves to be punished. But the Prophet
says here, that they were robbed, who passed by securely as though they were in
a safe country. ``When travelers fear nothing, ye strip them of their garments, as
though they were returning from war: as they are wont, when war is over, to seize
on spoils wherever found, and no one can keep his own; so now, during peace, ye
take to yourselves the same liberty, as though all things were exposed to plunder,
and ye were in a hostile country, lately the scene of warfare.''
We now then perceive the meaning of the Prophet. He first intimates that the
people were now rejected by God, for they had rendered themselves, by their most
abandoned life, wholly unworthy of his benefits; and at the same time he reproves
their ingratitude that having been the people of God, they choose to make war with
162Newcome gives the same meaning to this part of the line, though another to the former part,— But of old my people hath risen up as an enemy. Henderson's version is the same. The word rendered "of old" means "yesterday," and expresses often past time indefinitely. It is once rendered "of old," Isaiah 30:33; but in other places, "heretofore," "in times past;" but "formerly," or "of late," would be the most suitable expression in this passage. — Ed.
163The literal rendering of these two lines may be given thus:— From off the garment the mantle ye shall strip From those who pass by securely, returning from war. Or the last words, {{`` }מלחמה{, שוביaverters of war,'' may designate people of a peaceable disposition, and ``war'' may be taken for strife or
contention; then the rendering would be, ``who turn away from contention.'' Newcome, on the authority of one MS., which has
,{}שביgives this version, ``captives of war,'' which seems unsuitable to this passage. Marckius renders the phrase thus, aversi
belli, seu, a bello, ``turning away from war,'' or, ``shy of war.'' This view evidently comports best with the context. --- Ed.
MINOR PROPHETS
him rather than to observe the covenant which he had made for their safety; for
it was a most shameful wickedness in them, since they had been chosen from the
whole world to be a peculiar people, to prefer going to war with God rather than to
live quietly under his protection. And that they did rise up against God he proves, for
they gave themselves up to robberies; they plundered, even during times of peace,
which circumstance greatly aggravated their wickedness. It now follows ---
Micah 2:9
9. The women of my people have ye cast out from their pleasant houses; from
their children have ye taken away my glory for ever.
9. Mulieres populi mei expulistis e domo delectationum ipsarum, (est quidem
mutatio numeri, sed hoc nihil ad rem;) a parvulis earum abstulistis decus (vel, orna-
mentum) meum perpetuo.
He proceeds with the same subject, that they refrained from no acts of injustice.
It was indeed a proof of extreme barbarity not to spare women and children, for they
are both weak and helpless. Their sex exempts women from violence, and their age,
children. 164 Even in wars, women, and also children, escape in safety. We hence
see that the Prophet, by stating a part for the whole, proves here that the people
had addicted themselves to cruelty really barbarous; they were not restrained from
exercising it, no, not even on women and children. Since it was so, it follows, that
their boast of being the chosen people was vain and fallacious.
House of delights he ascribes to the women who, being the weaker sex, prefer
being at home and in the shade, rather than going abroad. The more necessary it
was that their recesses should remain safe to them. Now, what was taken away from
the children, God calls it his ornament; for his blessing, poured forth on children, is
the mirror of his glory: he therefore condemns this plunder as a sacrilege. The word
{,}לעולםlaoulam, designates the continuance of their crimes, as though he had said,
that they were cruel without ever showing any repentance. Now it follows ---
Micah 2:10
10. Arise ye, and depart; for this is not your rest: because it is polluted, it shall
destroy you, even with a sore destruction.
10. Surgite, abite, quia non est haec requies; quoniam polluta est; dissipavit
dissipatione violenta (interponitur copula, et dissipatione; ideo poterimus commode
vertere, dissipavit et quidem dissipatione violenta, (vel, roborata; id enim significat
verbum {).}נמרף
Here again the Prophet checks the foolish confidence of the people. The land of
Canaan, we know, had been honored by God with the distinction of being a rest; yea
God called it, not only the rest of the people, but also his own rest,
`I have sworn in my wrath, if they shall enter into my rest,'
(Psalm 95:11.)
164This verse presents several anomalies. We have "women" and the verbs in the plural, and then "house," "her delights," and "her children." It may be thus rendered, — The women of my people ye drive away, Each from the house of her delights; From off her children ye take away my ornament forever. The word rendered in our version "flory," is {,{הדרwhich means ornament,
beauty. Piscator says, pulchras vestes quas Deus illis donavit --- ``the beautiful garments which God gave them.'' God claimed
the land of Canaan and all its blessings as his own. They took these away without restoring them according to the law. Henderson
justly observes, that ``ornament'' is to be taken ``collectively for the ornamental clothes which they wore, and with which they
had been provided by Jehovah.'' --- Ed.
JOHN CALVIN
The land of Canaan then was a sort of rest, hidden under the wings of God; for the
Lord had assigned it as an inheritance to his chosen people. As God then dwelt in
that land, and had also given it to the children of Abraham, that they might rest there
in safety, and as this was also one of the blessings contained in the Law, hypocrites
said, pursuing their usual course of falsely and groundlessly claiming to themselves
the favors of God, that they could not be thence expelled, and that those Prophets
were falsifiers who dared to change any thing in God's covenant. This is the reason
why the Prophet now says,
Arise, depart; this is not your rest. ``False confidence,'' he says, ``deceives
you, as ye think that ye are inseparably fixed in your habitation. God indeed has
made such a promise, but this condition was added, --- If ye will stand faithful to his
covenant. Now ye are become covenant-breakers: ye think that he is fast bound to
you; all the cords are loosened; for as ye have perfidiously departed from the Law of
God, there is now no reason for you to think that he is under any obligation to you.
There is then no ground for you to boast of being a holy people; you have indeed the
name, but the reality has ceased to be: therefore arise and depart: but to sit still
securely and proudly will avail you nothing, for God will now drive you afar off: and
I now declare to you that you must arise and depart, for ye cannot rest in this land
against the will of God: and God will now thrust you out of it.'' We now perceive the
real meaning of the Prophet.
He afterwards adds, For it is polluted; he will scatter you with violent scattering 165 Here again he vindicates God from their calumny and ungodly murmurings. We
indeed know how difÏcult it was to bring down that people, who were steeped in
so great a perverseness. And we find that the Prophet had a hard contest with the
hypocrites, for the multitude had ever this language in their mouths, --- What! is it
of no moment that God has favored us with so many and so remarkable promises? Is
our adoption nothing but a mockery? Has he in vain given us this land by an heredi-
tary right? Since then hypocrites thus brought forward their privileges in opposition
to God, and yet abused them, it was necessary to convince them to the contrary,
and this is what the Prophet does here, --- ``Ye call,'' he says, ``this land your rest,
but how do you rest in it? God has commanded you to observe the Sabbath, for he
dwells among you to sanctify you: but ye live disorderly, and carry on war with God
himself: have not your pollutions obliterated that holy rest, which has been enjoined
on you by God? Ye then see that this change has happened through your fault, that
is, that God has ceased to call this land, as he was wont formerly to do, your and his
own rest. It is not then your rest; he will therefore scatter you with violent or strong
scattering: Ye in vain promise to yourselves rest in this land, since ye carry on war
with God, and cease not to provoke his wrath against you.'' It follows ---
165The original is {{}נמרף{, }וחבל{ תחבלwhich, according to Parkhurst, is, ``It is bound;'' that is, bound over to
punishment, ``and the bond is grievous;'' or, as it may be rendered, strong; which is only found in Niphal in two other places, 1
Kings 2:8; Job 6:25. In the first it is rendered, grievous, --- ``a grievous crime,'' and in the second, forcible, --- ``How forcible are
the right words!'' But most others attach the idea of corruption and destruction to :{}חבלand Newcome takes the verb here in a
passive sense, and gives this rendering of the distich, --- ``Because it is polluted, it shall be destroyed, And the destruction shall
be great.'' Some render the verb actively, ``It,'' i.e. the land, ``shall destroy you,'' a reference being made, as it is thought, to
what is said in Leviticus 18:25. The version of Marckius is this, --- ``Quando quidem impuritas corrumpet, Et corruptio acris.'' ---
Seeing that impurity will destroy it, And a violent destruction. The previous word {}טמאהis here taken as a noun. But the most
literal, and the most satisfactory, is the rendering of Newcome. --- Ed.
MINOR PROPHETS
Micah 2:11
11. If a man walking in the spirit and falsehood do lie, saying, I will prophesy unto
thee of wine and of strong drink; he shall even be the prophet of this people.
11. Si vir ambulans in spiritu et fallaciter mantiens, stillem tibi pro vino et pro
sicera, tunc erit stillans populi hujus (hoc est, hic demum erit Propheta populi hujus:
sicut etiam priore membro proprie vertendum est, si prophetem.)
The Prophet points out here another vice by which the people were infected ---
that they wished to be soothed with flatteries: for all the ungodly think that they
are in a manner exempt from God's judgment, when they hear no reproof; yea they
think themselves happy, when they get flatterers, who are indulgent to their vices.
This is now the disease which the Prophet discovers as prevailing among the people.
Jerome sought out a meaning quite different here, as in the former verses; but I will
not stop to refute him, for it is enough to give the real meaning of the Prophet. But as
before he rendered women, princes, and thus perverted entirely the meaning, so he
says here, I would I were a vain Prophet, that is, walking in vanity, and mendacious;
as though Micah said ``I wish I were false in denouncing on you the calamities of
which I speak; for I would rather announce to you something joyful and favorable:
but I cannot do this, for the Lord commands what is different.'' But there is nothing
of this kind in the words of the Prophet. Let us then return to the text.
If a man walks in the spirit, and deceitfully lies, 166 etc. Almost all interpreters
agree in this, --- that to walk in the spirit, is to announce any thing proudly and
presumptuously; and they take spirit for wind or for deceits. But I doubt not, but
that to walk in the spirit was then a common mode of speaking, to set forth the
exercise of the prophetic ofÏce. When therefore any one was a Prophet, or one who
discharged that ofÏce, or sustained the character of a teacher, he professed himself
to have been sent from above. The Prophets were indeed formerly called the men
of the spirit, and for this reason, because they adduced nothing from themselves or
from their own heads; but only delivered faithfully, as from hand to hand, what they
had received from God. To walk in the spirit then means, in my view, the same thing
as to profess the ofÏce of a teacher. When therefore any one professed the ofÏce
of a teacher, what was he to do? ``If I,'' says Micah, ``being endued with the Spirit,
and called to teach, wished to ingratiate myself with you, and preached that there
would be an abundant increase of wine and strong drink, all would applaud me; for
if any one promises these things, he becomes the prophet of this people.''
In short, Micah intimates that the Israelites rejected all sound doctrine, for they
sought nothing but flatteries, and wished to be cherished in their vices; yea, they
desired to be deceived by false adulation to their own ruin. It hence appears that
they were not the people they wished to be deemed, that is, the people of God: for
the first condition in God's covenant was, --- that he should rule among his people.
166Perhaps a more literal rendering would be thus,— If a man, the follower of the spirit and of deception, Speaks falsely, "I will prophesy to thee of wine and of strong drink," He then becomes the prophet of this people. To walk after, or to follow, "the wind," as some render {,{רוחseems by no means proper. The phrase means the same as ``the man of the spirit'' in Hosea 9:7 Newcome changes the
whole form of the passage, though not the meaning, except in one instance. Guided by the Syriac version, Houbigant and the
Septuagint, without the sanction of any MS., he gives this version, --- If a man, walking in the spirit of falsehood and lies, Prophesy
unto thee for wine and for strong drink, He shall be the prophet of this people. He puts ``for wine,'' etc., and not ``of wine:'' but
the latter rendering is much more suitable to the context. --- Ed.
JOHN CALVIN
Inasmuch then as these men would not endure to be governed by Divine power,
and wished to have full and unbridled liberty, it was the same as though they had
banished God far from them. Hence, by this proof, the Prophet shows that they had
wholly departed from God, and had no intercourse with him. If there be then any
man walking in the spirit, let him, he says, keep far from the truth; for he will not
otherwise be borne by this people. --- How so? Because they will not have honest
and faithful teachers. What is then to be done? Let flatterers come, and promise
them plenty of wine and strong drink, and they will be their best teachers, and be
received with great applause: in short, the suitable teachers of that people were the
ungodly; the people could no longer bear the true Prophets; their desire was to have
flatterers who were indulgent to all their corruptions.
Prayer.
Grant, Almighty God, that since we cannot otherwise really profit by thy word,
than by having all our thoughts and affections subjected to thee, and offered to
thee as a sacrifice, --- O grant, that we maysuffer thee, by the sound of thy word,
so to pierce through everything within us, that being dead in ourselves, we may
live to thee, and never suffer flatteries to become our ruin but that we may, on the
contrary, patiently endure reproofs, however bitter they may be, only let them serve
to us as medicine, by which our inward vices may be cleansed, until at length being
thoroughly cleansed and formed into new creatures, we may, by a pious and holy
life, really glorify thy name, and be received into that celestial glory, which has been
purchased for us by the blood of thy only-begotten Son, our Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.
Lecture Eighty-fifth
Micah 2:12-13
12. I will surely assemble, O Jacob, all of thee; I will surely gather the remnant of
Israel; I will put them together as the sheep of Bozrah, as the flock in the midst of
their fold: they shall make great noise by reason of the multitude of men.
12. Congregans congregabo te totum Jacob; colligens colligam residuum Israel;
simul ponam eum tanquam oves Bosra, tanquam gregem in medio ovilis sui; tumul-
tuabuntur prae hominibus (id est, propter hominum multitudinem.)
13. The breaker is come up before them: they have broken up, and have passed
through the gate, and are gone out by it: and their king shall pass before them, and
the LORD on the head of them.
13. Ascendet effractor coram ipsis; frangent et transibunt portam, et egredientur
per ipsam; et transibit rex ipsorum coram ipsis; et Jehova in capite ipsorum.
The exposition of this passage is twofold. The greater part of interpreters incline
to this view, --- that God here promises some alleviation to the Israelites, after hav-
ing sharply reproved them, and threatened them with utter ruin. They therefore
apply this passage to the kingdom of Christ, as though God gave hope of a future
restoration. But when I narrowly weigh every thing, I am, on the contrary, forced to
regard these two verses as a commination, that is, that the Prophet here denounces
God's future vengeance on the people. As, however, the former opinion is almost
universally received, I will briefly mention what has been adduced in its favor, and
then I shall return to state the other meaning, which I prefer.
MINOR PROPHETS
It is suitable to the kingdom of Christ to say, that a people who had been dispersed
should be gathered under one head. We indeed know how miserable a dispersion
there is in the world without him, and that whenever the Prophets speak of the ren-
ovation of the Church, they commonly make use of this form of expression, that is,
that the Lord will gather the dispersed and unite them together under one head. If
then the passage be referred to the kingdom of Christ, it is altogether proper to say,
that God by gathering will gather the whole of Jacob. But a restriction is afterwards
added, that no one may extend this restoration to the whole race of Abraham, or to
all those who, according to the flesh, derived their descent from Abraham as their
father: hence the word {,}שאריתsharit, is laid down. Then the whole of Jacob is not
that multitude, which, according to the flesh, traced their origin from the holy Patri-
archs, but only their residue. It then follows, I will set them together as the sheep
of Bozrah, that is, I will make them to increase into a large, yea, into an immense
number; for they shall make a tumult, that is, a great noise will be made by them,
as though the place could not contain so large a number. And they explain the next
verse thus, --- A breaker shall go before them, that is, there shall be those who, with
a hand, strong and armed, will make a way open for them; inasmuch as Christ says
that the kingdom of heaven suffereth violence, (Matthew 11:12) they then mean
that the people will have courageous leaders, whom nothing will stop from breaking
through, and that they will also lead the whole people with them. They shall therefore
go forth through the gate, and their king shall pass through. This also well agrees
with the kingdom of Christ. For whenever God declares that he will be propitious to
his Church, he at the same time adds, that he will give a king to his people; for their
safety had been placed in that kingdom, which had been erected by the authority
and command of God himself. It is therefore a common thing, and what occurs ev-
erywhere in the Prophets, that God would give a king from the seed of David to his
people, when it would be his will to favor them with complete happiness. Thus they
understand that a king shall pass on before them, which is the ofÏce of a leader,
to show them the way. And Jehovah shall be at their head; that is, God himself will
show himself to be the chief king of his people, and will ever defend by his help and
grace those whom he adopts as his people.
But I have already said that I more approve of another. exposition: for I see
not how the Prophet could pass so suddenly into a different strain. He had said in
the last verse that the people could endure no admonitions, for they only desired
flatteries and adulation. He now joins what I have lately referred to respecting the
near judgment of God, and proceeds, as we shall see, in the same strain to the
end of the third chapter: but we know that the chapters were not divided by the
Prophets themselves. We have therefore a discourse continued by the Prophet to
the third chapter; not that he spoke all these things in one day; but he wished to
collect together what he had said of the vices of the people; and this will be more
evident as we proceed. I will now come to the words.
Gathering, I will gather thee, the whole of Jacob; collecting, I will collect the rem-
nant of Israel. God has two modes of gathering; for he sometimes gathers his people
from dispersion, which is a singular proof of his favor and love. But he is said also
JOHN CALVIN
to gather, when he assembles them together to devote and give them up to de-
struction, as we say in French, Trousser; and this verb is taken elsewhere in the
same sense, and we have already met with an instance in Hosea. So, in the present
passage, God declares that there would be a gathering of the people, --- for what
purpose? Not that being united together they might enjoy the blessings of God, but
that they might be destroyed. As then the people had united together in all kinds of
wickedness, so God now declares, that they should be gathered together, that the
one and the same destruction might be to them all. And he adds, the remnant of
Israel; as though he said, ``Whatever shall remain from slaughters in wars and from
all other calamities, such as famine and pestilence, this I will collect, that it may be
wholly destroyed.'' He mentions the remnant, because the Israelites had been worn
out by many evils, before the Lord stretched forth his hand at last to destroy them.
He afterwards subjoins, I will set them together as the sheep of Bozrah; that is, I
will cast them into one heap. Bozrah was a city or a country of Idumea; and it was
a very fruitful place, and had the richest pastures: hence Isaiah 34, in denouncing
vengeance on the Idumeans, alludes at the same time to their pastures, and says,
``God will choose for himself fat lambs and whatever is well fed, and will also collect
fatness, for the Lord has a sacrifice in Bozrah.'' So also, in this place, the Prophet
says, that the Jews, when collected together as it were into a bundle, shall be like the
sheep of Bozrah. And he further adds, as the sheep in the middle of the sheepfolds,
though some render it, leading: {,}דברdaber, sometimes means to lead; but I see
no reason why it should be drawn so far from its meaning in this connection. I take it
as signifying a sheepfold, because sheep are there collected together. Some inter-
preters consider that a siege is referred to here, that is, that God would confine the
whole people within cities, that they might not be open to the incursions of enemies;
but I extend the meaning much wider, namely, that God would gather the people,
in order at last to disperse them. I will then gather them, as I have already said, Je
vous trousserai; as the sheep of Bozrah in the middle of the sheep fold; and there
shall be a noise on account of their number; that is, ``Though ye now glory in your
number, this will avail you nothing; for I shall be able to reduce you all to strait, so
that you may, as ye deserve, perish together.''
It follows, Ascend shall a breaker before them; that is, they shall be led in con-
fusion; and the gate shall also be broken, that they may go forth together; for the
passage would not be large enough, were they, as is usually done, to go forth in
regular order; but the gates of cities shall be broken, that they may pass through
in great numbers and in confusion. By these words the Prophet intimates, that all
would be quickly taken away into exile. And they shall go forth, he says through
the gate, and their king shall pass on before if them The Prophet means here, that
the king would be made captive; and this was the saddest spectacle: for some hope
remained, when the dregs of the people had been led into Chaldea; but when the
king himself was led away a captive, and cast into prison, and his eyes pulled out,
and his children slain, it was the greatest of misery. They were wont to take pride in
their king, for they thought that their kingdom could not but continue perpetually,
since God had so promised. But God might for a time overturn that kingdom, that
MINOR PROPHETS
he might afterwards raise it anew, according to what has been done by Christ, and
according to what had been also predicted by the Prophets. ``Crosswise, crosswise,
crosswise, (transversa) let the crown be, until its lawful possessor comes.'' We then
see that this, which the Prophet mentions respecting their king, has been added for
the sake of amplifying.
He afterwards adds, Jehovah shall be at the head of them; that is, He will be nigh
them, to oppress and wholly to overwhelm them. Some consider something to be
understood, and of this kind, that Jehovah was wont formerly to rule over them, but
that now he would cease to do so: but this is too strained; and the meaning which
I have stated seems sufÏciently clear, and that is, --- that God himself would be the
doer, when they should be driven into exile, and that he would add courage to tyrants
and their attendants, in pursuing the accursed people, in order to urge on more and
more and aggravate their calamities and thus to show that their destruction vault
happen through his righteous judgment. We now then understand the real meaning
of the Prophet. 167 Now follows ---
Chapter 3
167Calvin is not singular in his view of this passage. Scott takes the same view, while Henry regards the passage as containing a promise, and so do Marckius, Newcome, and Henderson. But some have considered the words as those of the false prophets, referred to in the eleventh verse, and that Micah answers them in the next chapter. There is no sufficient ground for this opinion. Of those who regard the passage as including a promise, some apply it to the restoration from the Babylonian captivity, and others to spiritual restoration by the gospel. But the passage, viewed by itself, and in its connection with the next chapter, bears evidently the appearance of a commination: there are especially two words which manifestly favor this view, — {{תהימנהand ;{}הפרףboth are taken generally, if not uniformly, in a bad sense. The first means to tumultuate, to
be turbulent and riotous, to be clamorous and noisy; the second signifies to demolish, to break through, to destroy, and in every
instance in which it is found as a personal noun, it means a destroyer or a robber. --- See Psalm 17:4; Ezekiel 18:10; Daniel 11:14.
The first is a verb in the second person plural of the future tense, and in the feminine gender, because of the comparison made
in the former lines to sheep and a flock. The verbs in the 12th verse are all in the future tense, and the two first in the 13th are
in the past, according to what is common in prophecies, but must be rendered as futures. I propose the following version of the
passage, --- 12. Gathering, I will gather Jacob, the whole of thee; Assembling, I will assemble the residue of Israel; Together will
I set them as the sheep of Bozrah, As a flock in the midst of its fold; --- Ye shall be more noisy than men. 13. Ascend shall the
breaker in the sight of them, --- they shall break through, And pass the gate, yea, they shall go forth through it, And pass shall
their king before them, And Jehovah shall be at their head, or, for their leader. --- Ed.
Micah 3
Micah 3:1-3
1. And I said, Hear, I pray you, O heads of Jacob, and ye princes of the house of
Israel; Is it not for you to know judgment?
1. Et dixi, Audite quaeso principes Jacob et gubernatores domus Israel; annon
vestrum est (vel, ad vos spectat) scire judicium?
2. Who hate the good, and love the evil; who pluck off their skin from off them,
and their flesh from off their bones;
2. Atqui oderunt bonum et dilligunt malum, rapiunt pellem ab ipsis, et carnem ab
ossibus eorum;
3. Who also eat the flesh of my people, and flay their skin from off them; and
they break their bones, and chop them in pieces, as for the pot, and as flesh within
the caldron.
3. Et tunc vorant carnem populi mei, et pellem ipsorum ab ipsis excoriant; et ossa
eorum frangunt, et comminuunt; sicuti ad ollam (vel, ac si destinata essent ollae,)
et carnem eorum in medio aheni.
The Prophet in this chapter assails and severely reproves the chief men as well as
the teachers; for both were given to avarice and cruelty, to plunder, and, in short, to
all other vices. And he begins with the magistrates, who exercised authority among
the people; and briefly relates the words in which he inveighed against them. We
have said elsewhere, that the Prophets did not record all that they had spoken, but
only touched shortly on the heads or chief points: and this was done by Micah,
that we might know what he did for forty or more years, in which he executed his
ofÏce. He could have related, no doubt, in half-an-hour, all that exists of his writings:
but from this small book, however small it is, we may learn what was the Prophet's
manner of teaching, and on what things he chiefly dwelt. I will now return to his
words.
He says that the chief men of the kingdom had been reproved by him. It is prob-
MINOR PROPHETS
able, that these words were addressed to the Jews; for though at the beginning he
includes the Israelites, we yet know that he was given as a teacher to the Jews, and
not to the kingdom of Israel. It was as it were accidental, that he sometimes intro-
duces the ten tribes together with the Jews. This address then was made, as I think,
to the king as well as to his counselors and other judges, who then ruled over the
people of Judah.
Hear this, I pray, he says. Such a preface betokens carelessness in the judges;
for why does he demand a hearing from them, except that they had become so
torpid in their vices, that they would attend to nothing? Inasmuch then as so brutal
a stupor had seized on them, he says, Hear now ye chiefs, or heads, of Jacob, and
ye rulers 168 of the house of Israel But why does he still speak of the house of Israel?
Because that name was especially known and celebrated, whenever a mention was
made of the posterity of Abraham: and the other Prophets, even while speaking of
the kingdom of Judah, often make use of this title, ``ye who are called by the name
of Israel;'' and they did this, on account of the dignity of the holy Patriarch; and the
meaning of the word itself was no ordinary testimonial of excellency as to his whole
race. And this is what is frequently done by Isaiah. But the name of Israel is not
put here, as elsewhere, as a title of distinction: on the contrary, the Prophet here
amplifies their sin, because they were so corrupt, though they were the chief men
among the chosen race, being those whom God had honored with so much dignity,
as to set them over his Church and elect people. It was then an ingratitude, not to
be endured to abuse that high and sacred authority, which had been conferred on
them by God.
Does it not belong to you, he says, to know judgment? Here he intimates that
rectitude ought to have a place among the chief men, in a manner more especial than
among the common people; for it behoves them to excel others in the knowledge of
what is just and right: for though the difference between good and evil be engraven
on the hearts of all, yet they, who hold supremacy among the people, and excel in
power, are as it were the eyes of the community; as the eyes direct the whole body,
so also they, who are placed in any situation of honor, are thus made eminent, that
they may show the right way to others. Hence by the word, to know, the Prophet
intimates that they wickedly subverted the whole order of nature, for they were blind,
while they ought to have been the luminaries of the whole people. Is it not for you,
he says, to know judgment and equity? But why was this said, especially to the chief
men? Because they, though they of themselves knew what was right, having the law
engraven within ought yet as leaders to have possessed superior knowledge, so as
to outshine others. It is therefore your duty to know judgment. We hence learn that
it is not enough for princes and magistrates to be well disposed and upright; but it is
required of them to know judgment and wisdom that they may discern matters above
the common people. But if they are not thus endued with the gift of understanding
and wisdom let them ask of the Lord. We indeed know, that without the Spirit of God,
the acutest men are wholly unfit to rule; nor is it in vain, that the free Spirit of God
168{,{קציניםfrom ,{}קצהto cut off to sever, to separate: they were those who were separated from others, as leaders of an
army, rendered in our version, captains, rulers, Joshua 10:24; Isaiah 22:3. --- Ed.
JOHN CALVIN
is set forth, as holding the supreme power in the world; for we are thus reminded,
that even they who are endued with the chief gifts are wholly incapable of governing
except the Spirit of God be with them. This passage then shows that an upright mind
is not a sufÏcient qualification in princes; they must also excel in wisdom, that they
may be, as we have already said, as the eyes are to the body. In this sense it is that
Micah now says that it belonged to the leaders of the people to know judgment and
justice. 169
He afterwards subjoins, But they hate good, and love evil, and pull off the skin 170 from my people, the flesh from their bones; that is, they leave nothing, he says,
sound and safe, their rapacity being so furious. The Prophet conveys first a general
reproof, --- that they not only perverted justice, but were also given to wickedness
and hated good. He means then that they were openly wicked and ungodly, and
also that they with a fixed purpose carried on war against every thing just and right.
We hence learn how great and how abominable was the corruption of the people,
when they were still the peculiar possession and heritage of God. Inasmuch then
as the state of this ancient people had become so degenerated, let us learn to walk
in solicitude and fear, while the Lord governs us by pious magistrates and faithful
pastors: for what happened to the Jews might soon happen to us, so that wolves
might bear rule over us, as indeed experience has proved even in this our city. The
Prophet afterwards adds the kinds of cruelty which prevailed; of which he speaks in
hyperbolical terms, though no doubt he sets before our eyes the state of things as
it was. He compares the judges to wolves or to lions, or to other savage beasts. He
says not that they sought the property of the people, or pillaged their houses; but he
says that they devoured their flesh even to the very bones; he says that they pulled
off their skin: and this he confirms in the next verse.
They devour, he says, the flesh of my people, and their skin they strip off from
them, and their bones they break in pieces and make small, as that which into the pot
is thrown, and which is in the midst of the caldron 171 For when any one throws meat
into the pot, he does not take the whole ox, but cuts it into pieces, and having broken
it, he then fills with these pieces his pot or his caldron. The Prophet then enhances
the cruelty of the princes; they were not content with one kind of oppression, but
exercised every species of barbarous cruelty towards the people, and were in every
169Some, such as Marckius, and also Grotius, take another view of this sentence: Is it not for you, who judge and punish others, to know the judgment of God, which awaits you? But most agree in the view given here. — Ed.
170Their skin, literally. The antecedent (which is not unusual in Hebrew) is mentioned afterwards: it is the word, people, which follows. The idea of sheep or flock, to which the people are compared in the last chapter, is still retained here. Adam Clarke quotes from Suetonius a striking answer of Tiberius, the Emperor, to some governors, who solicited him to increase the taxes, — "It is the property of a good shepherd to shear his sheep, not to skin them" — Boni pastoris esse tondere pectus, non deglubere To "hate good, and to love evil," in the former sentence, betokens a character dreadful in the extreme; for good here, {{טובmeans kindness,
benevolence, the doing of good to others; this they hated: and evil, ,{}רעהmeans wrong, mischief, injury, the doing of harm, of
wrong, and of injustice to others; and this they loved. How transmuted they were in their spirit into that of very fiends! ``They
hate to do good, hate to have any good done, and hate those that are good; and they love the evil, delight in mischief, and in
those that do mischief.'' These words of Henry, no doubt, convey a correct view of the sentence. It might therefore be rendered,
``Haters of benevolence, and lovers of mischief.'' --- Ed.
171"Under the similitude of butchers the Prophet sets forth their savage cruelty: 1. They take off the skin; 2. They eat the flesh; 3. They break the bones, to pick out the marrow. The insatiable avarice of the princes is described." — Cocceius.
MINOR PROPHETS
respect like bears, or wolves, or lions, or some other savage beasts, and that they
were also like gluttons. We now then perceive the Prophet's meaning.
Now this passage teaches us what God requires mainly from those in power, ---
that they abstain from doing injustice: for as they are armed with power, so they
ought to be a law to themselves. They assume authority over others; let them then
begin with themselves, and restrain themselves from doing evil. For when a private
man is disposed to do harm, he is restrained at least by fear of the laws, and dares not
to do any thing at his pleasure; but in princes there is a greater boldness; and they are
able to do greater injustice: and this is the reason why they ought to observe more
forbearance and humanity. Hence levity and paternal kindness especially become
princes and those in power. But the Prophet here condemns the princes of his age
for what deserved the highest reprehension; and their chief crime was cruelty or
inhumanity, inasmuch as they spared not their own subjects.
We now see that the Prophet in no degree flattered the great, though they took
great pride in their own dignity. But when he saw that they wickedly and basely
abused the power committed to them, he boldly resisted them, and exercised the
full boldness of the Spirit. He therefore not only calls them robbers or plunderers of
the people; but he says, that they were cruel wild beasts; he says, that they devoured
the flesh, tore and pulled it in pieces, and made it small; and he says all this, that
he might convey an idea of the various kinds of cruelty which they practiced. Now
follow threatenings ---
Micah 3:4
4. Then shall they cry unto the LORD, but he will not hear them: he will even hide
his face from them at that time, as they have behaved themselves ill in their doings.
4. Tunc clamabunt ad Jehovam, et non respondebit illis; sed abscondet faciem
suam ab ipsis tempore illo, quemadmodum perverse egerunt in factis suis.
Micah now denounces judgment on the chief men, such as they deserved. He
says, They shall cry then to Jehovah The adverb {,}אזaz, is often put indefinitely
in Hebrew, and has the force of a demonstrative, and may be taken as pointing out
a thing, ({δεικτικως} --- demonstratively,) then, or there, as though the Prophet
pointed out by his finger things which could be seen, though they were far away
from the sight of men. But in this place, the Prophet seems rather to pursue the
subject to which I have already referred: for he had before stated that God would
take vengeance on that people. This adverb of time then is connected with the
other combinations, which have been already explained. 172 If, however, any one
prefer a different meaning, namely that the Prophet meant here to hold them in
suspense, as to the nearness of God's vengeance, I do not oppose him, for this sense
is not unsuitable. However this may be, the Prophet here testifies that the crimes
of the chief men would not go unpunished, though they did not think themselves
to be subject either to laws or to punishment. As then the princes and magistrates
172There is nothing in the context to which {,{אזthen, or at that time, can be referred, except to the two
concluding verses of the last chapter, which ought not to have been separated from this. And this connection confirms the view,
that these two verses contain not a promise but a threatening. The same time is meant by {}אזas by {}ההיא{ }בעתin the
following part of the verse; for it is usual with the Prophets to express generally or indefinitely at first what they afterwards more
distinctly specify. --- Ed.
JOHN CALVIN
regarded themselves as exempt, by some imaginary privilege, from the lot of other
people, the Prophet declares here expressly, that a distress was nigh at hand, which
would extort a cry from them: for by the word, cry, he means the miseries which
were nigh at hand. They shall then cry in their distress. I have now explained the
design of the Prophet.
We indeed see how at this day those who are in high stations swell with arrogance;
for as they abound in wealth, and as honor is as it were an elevated degree, so that
being propped up by the shoulders of others they seem eminent, and as they are
also feared by the rest of the people, they are on these accounts led to think that
no adversity can happen to them. But the Prophet says, that such would be their
distress, that it would draw a cry from them.
They shall then cry, but Jehovah will not hear; that is, they shall be miserable and
without any remedy. Jehovah will not answer them, but will hide from them his face,
as they have done perversely; that is, God will not hear their complaints; for he will
return on their own heads all the injuries with which he now sees his own people to
be afÒicted. And thus God will show that he was not asleep, while they were with so
much effrontery practicing all kinds of wrong.
It may however be asked here, how it is that God rejects the prayers and entreaties
of those who cry to him? It must first be observed, that the reprobate, though they
rend the air with their cries, do not yet direct their prayers to God; but if they address
God himself, they do this clamorously; for they expostulate with him, and contend
with him, yea, they vomit out their blasphemies, or at least they murmur and com-
plain of their evils. The ungodly then cry, but not to the Lord; or if they address their
cries to God, they are, as it has been said, full of glamour. Hence, except one is
guided by the Spirit of God, he cannot pray from the heart. And we know that it is
the peculiar ofÏce of the Spirit to raise up our hearts to heaven: for in vain we pray,
except we bring faith and repentance: and who is the author of these but the Holy
Spirit? It appears then that the ungodly so cry, that they only violently contend with
God: but this is not the right way of praying. It is therefore no wonder that God re-
jects their clamors. The ungodly do indeed at times pour forth a flood of prayers and
call on God's name with the mouth; but at the same time they are, as we have said,
full of perverseness, and they never really humble themselves before God. Since
then they pour forth their prayers from a bitter and a proud heart, this is the reason
why the Prophet says now, that the Lord would not then hear, but hide his face from
them at that time, inasmuch as they acted perversely 173
He shows here that God would not be reconciled to men wholly irreclaimable, who
could not be restored by any means to the right way. But when any one falls [and
repents] he will ever find God propitious to him, as soon as he cries to him; but when
with obstinate minds we pursue our own course, and give no place to repentance,
we close up the door of mercy against ourselves; and so what the Prophet teaches
here necessarily takes place, --- the Lord hides his face in the day of distress. And we
173Literally, "As they have rendered evil their deeds," or, to coin a corresponding word, As they have evilized their deeds. To render their deeds evil was to render them afÒictive, injurious, and oppressive to others, according to what has been previously described. Hence the following version of Henderson is incorrect, — Because they have corrupted their doings. — Ed.
MINOR PROPHETS
also hear what the Scripture says, --- that judgment will be without mercy to those
who are not merciful, (James 2:11.) Hence if any one be inexorable to his brethren,
(as we see at this day many tyrants to be, and we also see many in the middle class
to be of the same tyrannical and wholly sanguinary disposition,) he will at length,
whoever he may be, meet with that judgment which Micah here denounces. The
sentence then is not to be taken in a general sense, as though he had said, that
the Lord would not be reconciled to the wicked; but he points out especially those
irreclaimable men, who had wholly hardened themselves, so that they had become,
as we have already seen, altogether inflexible. The Prophet now comes to his second
reproof.
Micah 3:5
5. Thus saith the Lord concerning the prophets that make my people err, that
bite with their teeth, and cry, Peace; and he that putteth not into their mouths, they
even prepare war against him.
5. sic dicit Jehova super (vel, ad) prophetas, qui decipiunt populum meum, et
mordent dentibus suis, et clamant, Paz; et si quis non dederit in os ipsorum, edicunt
contra eum proelium:
Micah accuses here the Prophets, in the first place, of avarice and of a desire for
filthy lucre. But he begins by saying that he spoke by God's command, and as it were
from his mouth, in order that his combination might have more weight and power.
Thus then saith Jehovah against the Prophets: and he calls them the deceivers of
the people: but at the same time he points out the source of the evil, that is, why or
by what passion they were instigated to deceive, and that was, because the desire
of gain had wholly possessed them, so that they made no difference between what
was true and what was false, but only sought to please for the sake of gain. And
he shows also, on the other hand, that they were so covetous of gain, that they
declared war, if any one did not feed them. And God repeats again the name of his
people: this had escaped my notice lately in observing on the words of Micah, that
the princes devoured the flesh of God's people; for the indignity was increased when
this wrong, was done to the people of God. Had the Assyrians, or the Ethiopians,
or the Egyptians, been pillaged by their princes, it would have been more tolerable;
but when the very people of God were thus devoured, it was, as I have said, less to
be borne. So when the people of God were deceived, and the truth was turned to a
lie, it was a sacrilege the more hateful.
This then was the reason why he said, Who deceive my people 174 ``This people is
sacred to me, for I have chosen them for myself; as then they are destroyed by frauds
and deceptions, is not my majesty in a manner dishonored --- is not my authority
lessened?'' We now then see the reason why the Prophet says, They deceive my
people. It is indeed certain, that the Jews were worthy of such deceptions; and
God elsewhere declares, that whenever he permitted false prophets to come among
them, it was to try them to see what sort of people they were, (Deuteronomy 13.) It
174"Who deceive my people," is better than, "Who cause my people to err," according to Newcome and Henderson; for what is referred to is the "peace," promised by the false prophets. Marckius' version is, "Who seduce my people," and he makes this remark, —that the people had three seducers, — the devil, their own deceitful hearts, and the false prophets. — Ed.
JOHN CALVIN
was then their just reward, when liberty was given to Satan to prevent sound doctrine
among the people. And no one is ever deceived, except through his own will. Though
their own simplicity seems to draw many to destruction, yet there is ever in them
some hypocrisy. But it does not extenuate the sin of false teachers, that the people
deserve such a punishment: and hence the Prophet still goes on with his reproof and
says, that they were the people of God, --- in what respect? By adoption. Though
then the Jews had rendered themselves unworthy of such an honor, yet God counts
them his people, that he might punish the wickedness of the false teachers, of which
he now accuses them. It now follows, that they did bite with their teeth But I cannot
finish today.
Prayer.
Grant, Almighty God, that as thou wouldest have the image of thy justice to shine
in princes, and whom thou arrest with the sword, that they might rule in thy name,
and be really thy ministers, --- O grant, that this thy blessing may openly appear
among us, and that by this evidence thou mayest testify that thou art not only pro-
pitious to us, but hadst also a care for our safety, and watches over our welfare
and well-being: and do thou so shine by thy word, that it may never be obscured
or clouded among us through any depraved cupidity, but ever retain its own clear
purity, so that we may proceed in the right path of salvation, which thou hast dis-
covered and prescribed, until we be at length gathered into thy celestial kingdom,
to enjoy that eternal inheritance, which has been procured for us by the blood of thy
only-begotten Son. Amen.
Lecture Eighty-sixth
Let us proceed to explain that sentence of the Prophet, in which he shows the
cause why the teachers deceived the people and turned the truth of God to a lie; and
this was, because they were greedy of gains and were wholly given to avarice. We
hence see, according to the testimony of Paul, that avarice affords a cause to all evils,
(1 Timothy 6:10;) and that wherever this contagion comes, all things necessarily fall
into decay: for when avarice reigns in the hearts of men, the truth of God especially
is ever adulterated.
But Micah adduces two evidences of avarice, --- that they cried, Peace, when well
fed and filled, --- and that they proclaimed war, when they were hungry. Then as
to the first points he says, {,}הנשכים{ }בשניהם{ }וקראו{ }שלוםthat is, ``who bite
with their teeth, 175 and cry, Peace.'' But the sentence is to be so understood,
that when they did bite well, they announced peace with full confidence: for by the
175The expression, "to bite with the teeth," is singular, when understood to signify voraciousness, as evidently it does here; for the corresponding words in the next distich, "who put not into their mouth," seem to require this meaning. Almost all critics, except some of the Greek Fathers, who followed the Septuagint, agree in attaching to this import to the sentence. The paraphrase of Rabbi Jonathan is, "To him who offers to them a feast of meat, they prophesy peace." Jerome's view is the same. Dathias gives this paraphrase, dum illis datur quod edunt — "While is given them something to eat." Henry's comment is much to the purpose, — "They will flatter and compliment those who will feed them with good bits, will give them something to eat; but as for those who put not into their mouths, who are not continually cramming them, they look upon them as their enemies; to them they do not cry, Peace, but even prepare war against them; against them they denounce the judgments of God: they preach either comfort or terror to men, not according as they are to God, but as they are to them; as the crafty priests of the Church of Rome, in some places, make their image either to smile or to frown upon the offerer, according as his offering is." — Ed.
MINOR PROPHETS
word, bite, the Prophet means their gormandizing; for they who, under the guise of
God's name, sought only their own advantage, were not satisfied with a moderate
support, inasmuch as they were like hungry dogs. They therefore devoured, and
gorged themselves, without any limits or moderation. This is the reason why he says
that they did bite: for he compares them either to lions or to bears; and we know
that wild beasts are not satiated with a small quantity of food, but that they gnash
as it were their teeth except they are always pampered. So also Micah says, that the
false teachers of his age were voracious men, who demanded a large proportion of
food. We see the same thing in our day as to the monks under the Papacy, especially
those who, under the name of mendacity, devour the substance of all people. Except
they are pampered, they always murmur; nay, they are not content with murmurs,
they proclaim war, as the Prophet says here. We indeed see at the same time, that
they are insatiable; for when they come to tables well furnished, no one would say
that they are men, but beasts, for they devour every thing. We now then understand
the Prophet's meaning.
But it is not voracity alone that is reprehended: he says, that they sold their
blessings. when they were well filled and had their stomach well supplied. In the
same manner the monks also are wont to pronounce peace when they are well fed,
--- ``O! ye do good, when ye take care of the brethren; for they are careful of you:
when ye sleep in your beds, they watch, and their prayers make you rich; for how
could the world stand, were it not that the brethren make amends for it? As then ye
are so kind to our community, all things shall turn out well and prosperously to you,
and God also will bless you.'' This then is the practice of those who for reward sell
their blessings; they cry, Peace, that is, they confidently declare that all things shall
be well, they make God propitious, provided such liberality towards their order be
ever continued.
But, on the other hand, he also says, If any one gives not to their mouth, they
instantly sanctify war against you 176 : but I give a different rendering, as the pas-
sage requires, --- that they reclaim war; though the word is literally to sanctify. But
we have seen in Joel 2, that the word is used to designate any solemn proclamation,
--- ``Sanctify a fast'', that is, Proclaim a fast. So also in this place, They sanctify
war, that is, they proclaim war, when any one does not feed them, nor satisfy their
gormandizing; for they could not bear want. In short, the Prophet shows, that these
false teachers were so blinded by avarice, that they discerned not the difference
between right and wrong; but only praised those who fed them: and, on the other
hand, when they found that they and their stomach were not cared for nor satisfied,
they cursed, fulminated, and uttered nothing but anathemas; as we see to be done
at this day by the monks under the Papacy. The Prophet now says ---
Micah 3:6-7
6. Therefore night shall be unto you, that ye shall not have a vision; and it shall be
dark unto you, that ye shall not divine; and the sun shall go down over the prophets,
and the day shall be dark over them.
176The original may be thus rendered,— But whosoever will not put into their mouth, Even against him they will proclaim war. — Ed.
JOHN CALVIN
6. Propterea nox vobis erit a visione (vel, pro visione, vel propter visionem; dice-
mus postea de sensu,) et tenebrae vobis a divinatione (vel, propter divinationem,)
et occumbet sol super prophetas, et obtenebrabitur super eos dies;
7. Then shall the seers be ashamed, and the diviners confounded: yea, they shall
all cover their lips; for there is no answer of God.
7. Et pudefient videntes (hoc est, prophetae,) et erubescent divini, et velabunt
(hoc est, velum opponent) super labium suum omnes; quia non erit responsum Dei.
God declares here to the false teachers by the mouth of Micah, that he would
inflict punishment on them, so that they should be exposed to the reproach of all.
Hence the kind of punishment of which the Prophet speaks is --- that he would strip
the false teachers of all their dignity, so that they should hereafter in vain put on
an appearance, and claim the honorable name which they had so long abused. We
indeed know, when ungodly and profane men clothe themselves with the dignified
titles of being the princes, or bishops, or prelates of the Church, how audaciously
they pervert every thing, and do so with impunity. There is then no other remedy,
except God pulls off the mask from them, and openly discovers to all their baseness.
Of this punishment Micah now speaks.
There shall be to you a night from vision; so is the phrase literally, but the parti-
cle {,}מmem, means often, for, or, on account of; and we can easily see that the
Prophet represents night as the reward for visions and darkness for divination. ``As
then my people have been deceived by your fallacies, for your visions and divina-
tions have been nothing but lies and deceits, I will repay you with the reward which
you have deserved: for instead of a vision you shall have night, and instead of divina-
tion you shall have thick darkness.'' 177 It is indeed certain, that the false teachers,
even when they were, as they say, in great reputation, that is, when they retained
the honor and the title of their ofÏce, were blind and wholly destitute of all light:
but the Prophet here declares, that as their baseness did not appear to the common
people, God would cause it to be made at length fully evident. As for instance, there
is nothing at this day more stupid and senseless than the bishops of the Papacy:
for when any one draws from them any expression about religion, they instantly be-
tray not only their ignorance, but also their shameful stupidity. With regard to the
monks, though they be the most audacious kind of animals, (audacissimum animal-
ium genus,) yet we know how unlearned and ignorant they are. Therefore at this
time the night has not yet passed away, nor the darkness, of which Micah speaks
here.
We now then understand what the Holy Spirit teaches here, and that is, --- that
God would at length strip those false teachers of that imaginary dignity, on account
of which no one dared to speak against them, but received as an oracle whatever
they uttered. Night, then, shall be to you instead of a vision; that is, ``The whole
177That this is the meaning is evident from the two last lines of the verse. It is a kind of parallelism, in which the four lines contain the same idea or ideas, announced in the two first lines in one form, and in the two last another, with more clearness, and sometimes with something additional. The preposition {{מhas sometimes the meaning of rather than, but here, instead of. I would
render the verse thus, --- Therefore night shall be to you instead of vision, And darkness shall be to you instead of divination: Yea,
set shall the sun upon the Prophets, And darken upon them shall the day. Piscator gives the sense when he says, Visio vestra
mutabitur in noctem --- ``Your vision shall be changed into night.'' --- Ed.
MINOR PROPHETS
world shall understand that you are not what you boast yourselves to be: for I will
show that there is not in you, no, not a particle of the prophetic spirit, but that ye are
men as dark as night, and darkness shall be to you instead of divination. Ye boast of
great acuteness and great perspicuity of mind; but I will discover your baseness, so
that the very children may know that you are not endued with the spirit.''
To the same purpose is what he adds, Go down shall the sun upon you, and dark-
ened over you shall be the day; that is, such will be that darkness, that even at noon
they will see nothing; the sun will shine on all, but they shall grope as in the dark;
so that Gods vengeance would be made so manifest, that it might be noticed by all,
from the least to the greatest.
He confirms the same thing in the next verse, And ashamed shall be the seers
and confounded the diviners, 178 and they shall cover their lip; that is they will put
veils on their mouths. In short, he means, that they would become a reproach to all,
so that they would be ashamed of themselves, and no more dare to boast with so
much confidence of their name and of the prophetic ofÏce.
As to this form of expression, {}שפם-{,}ועטו{ }עלuothu ol shephim, some think
that the practice of mourners is referred to; but this interpretation is frigid. I have
therefore no doubt but that Micah intimates that the mouths of the false teachers
would be closed. There is nearly the same denunciation mentioned by Zechariah;
for speaking of the restoration of the Church, he says, --- They who before went
about boasting greatly, and gloried in the name of Prophets, shall cast away their
mantle, and will no longer dare to show themselves; yea, when they shall come
abroad, they shall be as it were herdsman or private persons, and shall say, ``I
am not a prophet, nor the son of a prophet, I am chastised by my father;'' that is,
they shall profess themselves unworthy of being called prophets; but that they are
scholars under discipline, (Zechariah 13:5.) So also in this place, ``They deceive
at this day my people,'' saith the Lord; ``I will reward them as they deserve; I will
fill them with disgrace and contempt. They shall not then dare hereafter to show
themselves as they have been wont to do; they shall not presume boastingly to
profess themselves to be the pillars of the Church, that the whole world may be made
subject to them; they shall not dare with tyrannical force to oppress the common and
ignorant portions of society Veil, then, shall they their mouth; that is, ``I will cause
their mouth to be closed, so that they shall not dare hereafter to utter even a word.'' 179
It follows, For there will be no answer from God. Some so explain this sentence, as
though the Prophet upbraided them with their old deceits, which they boasted were
the words of God: as then they were not faithful to God, but lied to miserable men,
when they said, that they were sent from above, and brought messages from heaven,
while they only uttered their own inventions or fables, they should on these accounts
be constrained to cover their mouth. But different is the meaning of the Prophet,
178{,{{ רסמיםμαντεις}, Sept. fatidici, sootsayers, diviners. It is used generally in a bad sense, while ,{}חזיםseers is commonly
used in a good sense; but here both words denote pretenders, the false prophets. --- Ed.
179The version of Newcome is, "They shall cover the mouth;" that is, as he adds in a note, "with part of the long eastern vesture. This action was a sign of being put to silence, of disgrace and dejection, Leviticus 13:45; Ezekiel 24:17, 22." There is no reason to render mouth, beard, as some have done. — Ed.
JOHN CALVIN
and it is this, --- that they were to be deprived of any answer, so that their want of
knowledge might be easily perceived even by the most ignorant: for false teachers,
though they possess nothing certain, yet deceive the simple with disguises, and
render plausible their absurdities, that they may seem to be the interpreters of God;
and they further add great confidence: and then the stupidity of the people concedes
to them such great power, according to what is said by Jeremiah 5 where he says
that the priests received gifts and that for gifts the Prophets divined, and that the
people loved such deprivations. But Micah declares here that such delusions would
no longer be allowed, for God would dissipate them. It will then be made evident,
that you have no answer from God; that is, ``All will perceive that you are void and
destitute of every celestial truth, and that you were formerly but gross cheats, when
ye passed yourselves as God's servants, though you had no ground for doing so.''
We now perceive what the Prophet means. But this punishment might have then
contributed to the benefit of the people: for as it is a cause of ruin to the world, when
there is no difference made between light and darkness; so when the baseness of
those is discovered, who abuse God's name and adulterate his pure truth, there is
then a door open to repentance. Rightly then is this combination addressed to false
prophets. It now follows ---
Micah 3:8
8. But truly I am full of power by the spirit of the Lord, and of judgment, and of
might, to declare unto Jacob his transgression, and to Israel his sin.
8. Atqui vere ego repletus sum virtute a Spiritu Jehovae, et judicio, et fortitudine,
ad annuntiandum Jacob scelus suum, et Israeli peccatum suum.
Here Micah, in a courageous spirit, stands up alone against all the false teachers
even when he saw that they were a large number, and that they appealed to their
number, according to their usual practice, as their shield. Hence he says, I am filled
with power by the Spirit of Jehovah 180 This confidence is what all God's servants
should possess, that they may not succumb to the empty and vain boastings of
those who subvert the whole order of the Church. Whenever then, God permits his
pure truth to be corrupted by false teachers, and them to be popular among those
high in honor, as well as the multitude, let this striking example be remembered by
us, lest we be discouraged, lest the firmness and invincible power of the Holy Spirit
be weakened in our hearts, but that we may proceed in the course of our calling,
and learn to oppose the name of God to all the deceptions of men, if indeed we are
convinced that our service is approved by him, as being faithful. Since, then, Micah
says, that he was filled with power, he no doubt stood, as it were, in the presence
of the whole people, and alone pitched his camp against the whole multitude; for
there were then false teachers going about every where, as the devil sows always
seed enough, whenever God lets loose the reins. Though then their number was not
small, yet Micah hesitated not to go forth among them: I, he says; there is stress
180Jerome renders "the Spirit of Jehovah" in the genitive case, which in meaning amounts to the same thing; but Newcome puts the words in apposition with "power." The {{אתbefore Spirit
seems to betoken a difference in its connection with ``filled.'' It appears to be here a preposition, ab, by. The ``power,'' ,{}כח
is the {δυναμις} of the New Testament; and ``judgment,'' ,{}משפטis discernment or discrimination; and ``might'' or courage,
,{}גבורהis ``an intrepid firmness of mind,'' as Marckius observes, ``against all opposing evils and hindrances.'' --- Ed.
MINOR PROPHETS
to be laid on the pronoun {,}אנכיanki, --- Ye despise me, being one man, and ye
despise a few men; ye may think that I alone serve the Lord; but I am a match for a
thousand, yea, for an innumerable multitude; for God is on my side, and he approves
of my ministry as it is. from him, nor do I bring any thing to you but what he has
commanded: It is then I.
He further expresses a fuller confidence by using the word {,}אולםaulam 181 ;
Verily, he says, I am filled with power. This ``verily'' or truly is opposed to those
lofty boastings by which the false prophets were ever wont to attain a name and
honor among the people. But Micah intimates that all that they uttered was only
evanescent: ``Ye are,'' he says, ``wonderful prophets; nay, ye are superior to the
angels, if you are to be believed; but show that you are so in reality; let there be some
proof by which your calling can be confirmed. There is no proof. It then follows, that
ye are only men of wind, and not really spiritual: but there is really in me what ye
boast of with your mouths.'' And he says, that he was filled, that he might not be
thought one of the common sort: and Micah no doubt shows here, on account of the
necessity of the occasion, that he was not supplied with ordinary or usual power; for,
according as God employs the labors of his servants, so is he present with them, and
furnishes them with suitable protection. When any one is not exercised with great
difÏculties in discharging his ofÏce of teaching, a common measure of the Spirit is
only necessary for the performance of his duties; but when any one is drawn into
arduous and difÏcult struggles, he is at the same time especially strengthened by
the Lord: and we see daily examples of this; for many simple men, who have never
been trained up in learning, have yet been so endued by the celestial Spirit, when
they came to great trials, that they have closed the mouths of great doctors, who
seemed to understand all oracles. By such evidences God openly proves at this day,
that he is the same now as when he formerly endued his servant Micah with a power
so rare and so extraordinary. This then is the reason why he says, that he was filled
with power.
He afterwards adds, By the Spirit of Jehovah Here the Prophet casts aside every
suspicious token of arrogance; lest he should seem to claim anything as his own,
he says, that this power was conferred on him from above: and this circumstance
ought to be particularly noticed. Though Micah rightly and justly claimed to himself
the name of a teacher, he yet had nothing different from others before the world;
for all his opponents discharged the same ofÏce, and obtained the same honor: the
ofÏce was common to both parties. Micah was either alone, or connected with Isaiah
and a few others. Since then he here dares to set up himself, we see that his call
alone must be regarded; for we know how great is the propensity of Satan to oppose
the kingdom of Christ, and also how proud and fierce are false teachers. Since then
the rage of Satan is well known and the presumption of false teachers, there is no
reason why the faithful should make much of mere naked titles: and when they, who
lived at that time, declared, as Papists do at this day, that they had no discrimination
nor judgment to know, whether of them ought to have been deemed impostors or
181Marckius renders it the same, verè, and says, that it is of the same import with Amen, Amen, so often used by our Savior. Truly is adopted by Newcome and Henderson. — Ed.
JOHN CALVIN
the ministers of God, inasmuch as Micah was alone and they were many, and also
that the others were prophets that at least they had the name and repute of being so,
--- what was to be done? This was the reason why I have said that this circumstance
was worthy of special notice, --- that though their vocation was common, yet as they
had acted perfidiously, and Micah alone, or with few others, had faithfully performed
what the Lord had commanded, he alone is to be deemed a Prophet and a teacher:
in short, there is no reason for false prophets to set up against us a mere coveting,
when they cannot prove that they are endued with the Spirit of God. Whosoever
then desires to be deemed a servant of God, and a teacher in his Church, must have
this seal which Micah here adduces; he must be endued with the Spirit of God; honor
then will be given to God. But if any one brings nothing but the name, we see how
vain before God it is.
He afterwards subjoins With judgment and courage. (fortitudine) By judgment, I
have no doubt, he understands discernment, as this is also the common meaning of
the word. He then adds courage These two things are especially necessary for all
ministers of the word, --- that is, to excel in wisdom, to understand what is true and
right, and to be also endued with inflexible firmness, by which they may overcome
both Satan and the whole world, and never turn aside from their course, though the
devil may in all ways assail them. We hence see what these two words import. He
had put {,}כחkech, first, power; but now he mentions {,}גבורהgebure, courage or
magnanimity. By the term, power, he meant generally all the endowments, with
which all who take upon them the ofÏce of teaching ought to be adorned. This quali-
fication is then first required, and it is a general one: but Micah divides this power of
the prophets into two kinds, even into wisdom or judgment, and into courage; and
he did this, that they might understand what God intended: Let them excel in doc-
trine; and then that they may be confirmed, let them not yield to any gales that may
blow, nor be overcome by threats and terrors; let them not bend here and there to
please the world; in a word, let them not succumb to any corruptions: it is therefore
necessary to add courage to judgment.
He then adds, To declare to Jacob his wickedness, 182 and to Israel his sin. We here
see that the Prophet did not hunt for the favor of the people. Had he courted their
approbation, he must have soothed with flatteries those who sought flatteries; and
were already seized with such hatred and malignant feelings, that they had rejected
Micah. He must then have spoken softly to them, to please them; but this he did
not do. ``On the one hand,'' he says, ``these men sell to you their blessings and
deceive you with the hope of peace; and, on the other, they denounce war, except
their voracity is satisfied; and thus it is that they please you; for so ye wish, and ye
seek such teachers as will promise you wine and strong drink: but I am sent to you
for another purpose; for the Lord has not deposited flatteries with me, such as may
182Scelus, {;{פשעit means defection, apostacy, rebellion, a willful transgression, and a proud contempt of divine law and
institutions; it is {ανομια} --- lawlessness, as it is sometimes rendered by the Septuagint. But ``sin,'' ,{}חטאהis a deviation from
what is right through delusion, mistaken views, error, ignorance, or infirmity. The first included idolatry and gross acts of imposture
and oppression; the second, the superstition of the people, and their common vices. Muis, as quoted by Leigh, says that {}פשע
is ``defection from God or rebellion, and prevarication towards God,'' --- defectio à Deo seu rebellio, ac praevaricatio in Deum
And he quotes also Mollerius as describing {}חטאהas including not only sins of error, ignorance, and infirmity, but also those of
omission, --- Ea potissimum peccata significat, quae vel errore, vel per ignorantiam, vel per infirmitatem carnis, committuntur;
item peccata omissionis --- Ed.
MINOR PROPHETS
be pleasant to you; but he has deposited reproofs and threatenings. I shall therefore
uncover your crimes, and will not hesitate to condemn you before the whole world,
for ye deserve to be thus treated.'' We now perceive why the Prophet says, that he
was endued with power to declare his wickedness to Jacob, etc.
But we hence learn how necessary it is for us to be supported by celestial firmness,
when we have to do with insincere and wicked men; and this is almost the common
and uniform lot of all God's servants; for all who are sent to teach the word are
sent to carry on a contest. It is therefore not enough to teach faithfully what God
commands, except we also contend: and though the wicked may violently rise up
against us, we must yet put on a brazen front, as it is said in Ezekiel 3:8, 9; nor must
we yield to their fury, but preserve invincible firmness. Since then we have a contest
with the devil, with the world, and with all the wicked, that we may faithfully execute
our ofÏce, we must be furnished with this courage of which Micah speaks.
As I have already shown that God's servants ought courageously to break through
all those obstacles by which Satan may attempt either to delay or to force them
backward; so also the doctrine taught here ought to be applied to all the godly:
they ought wisely to distinguish between the faithful servants of God and impostors
who falsely pretend his name. Then no one, who desires truly and from the heart
to obey God, will be deceived; for the Lord will ever give the spirit of judgment
and discrimination. And the reason why at this day many miserable souls are led
to endless ruin is, because they either shut their eyes, or willfully dissemble, or
designedly involve themselves in such subterfuges as these, --- ``I cannot form any
judgment; I see on both sides learned and celebrated men, at least those who are
in some repute and esteem: some call me to the right hand, and others to the left,
where am I to retake myself? I therefore prefer to close my mouth and my ears.''
Thus many, seeking a cloak for their sloth, often manifest their ignorance: for we
see that the eyes must be opened when the Lord exercises and tries our faith: and
he suffers discords and contentions to arise in the Church that some may choose
this, and others that. Though God then relaxes the reins of Satan, that contests and
turmoils of this kind may be excited in the Church, there is yet no excuse for us, if we
follow not what the Lord prescribes; for he will ever guide us by his Spirit, provided
we foster not our own slothfulness. It follows---
Micah 3:9-10
9. Hear this, I pray you, ye heads of the house of Jacob, and princes of the house
of Israel, that abhor judgment, and pervert all equity.
9. Audite hoc, quaeso, principes domus Jacob, et gubernatores domus Israel, qui
abominantur (est mutatio personae) judicium, et recitudinem omnem pervertunt;
10. They build up Zion with blood, and Jerusalem with iniquity.
10. Qui aedificat 183 (nunc est mutatio numeri) Sionem in sanguinibus, et
Jerusalem in iniquitate.
The Prophet begins really to prove what he had stated, --- that he was filled with
the power of the Holy Spirit: and it was, as they say, an actual proof, when the
183It is {,{בנהin the singular number, with no variation as to number in the MSS. The Septuagint gives it a plural participle,
{οἱοικοδομουντες}. It may be rendered as a participial noun, ``The building of Zion is by blood,'' etc., for ,{}הwhen radical, does
not always turn into ,{}תwhen in regimine. --- Ed.
JOHN CALVIN
Prophet dreaded no worldly power, but boldly addressed the princes and provoked
their rage against him, Hear, he says, ye heads, ye rulers of the house of Jacob, ye
men who are cruel, bloody, and iniquitous. We then see that the Prophet had not
boasted of what he did not without delay really confirm. But he began with saying,
that he was filled with the Spirit of God, that he might more freely address them, and
that he might check their insolence. We indeed know that the ungodly are so led on
headlong by Satan, that they hesitate not to resist God himself: but yet the name of
God is often to them a sort of a hidden chain. However much then the wicked may
rage, they yet become less ferocious when the name of God is introduced. This is
the reason why the Prophet had mentioned the Spirit of God; it was, that there might
be a freer course to his doctrine.
When he now says, Ye heads of the house of Jacob, ye rulers of the house of Israel,
it is by way of concession, as though he had said, that these were indeed splendid ti-
tles, and that he was not so absurd as not to acknowledge what had been given them
by God, even that they were eminent, a chosen race, being the children of Abraham.
The Prophet then concedes to the princes what belonged to them, as though he had
said, that he was not a seditious man, who had no care nor consideration for civil
order. And this defense was very necessary, for nothing is more common than for
the ungodly to charge God's servants with sedition, whenever they use a freedom of
speech as it becomes them. Hence all who govern the state, when they hear their
corruptions reproved, or their avarice, or their cruelty, or any of their other crimes,
immediately cry out, --- ``What! if we suffer these things, every thing will be upset:
for when all respect is gone, what will follow but brutal outrage? for every one of
the common people will rise up against the magistrates and the judges.'' Thus then
the wicked ever say, that God's servants are seditious whenever they boldly reprove
them. This is the reason why the Prophet concedes to the princes and judges of the
people their honor; but a qualifying clause immediately follows, --- Ye are indeed the
heads, ye are rulers; but yet they hate judgment:'' he does not think them worthy of
being any longer addressed. He had indeed bidden them to hear as with authority;
but having ordered them to hear, he now uncovers their wickedness, They hate, he
says, judgments and all rectitude pervert: 184 each of them builds Zion by blood,
and Jerusalem by iniquity; that is, they turn their pillages into buildings: ``This, for-
sooth, is the splendor of my holy city even of Zion! where I designed the ark of my
covenant to be placed, as in my only habitation, even there buildings are seen con-
structed by blood and by plunder! See, he says, how wickedly these princes conduct
themselves under the cover of their dignity!'' 185
184It often happens, as in the present case, that the relative {,{הin Hebrew, prefixed to a participle,
has after it a verb in the future connected by ,{}וand in person different from that to which the relative refers. The relative here
refers to a noun in the second, and the verb connected with the participle is in the third person. It is an idiom, of which there
are frequent instances. We find the same to be the case with the relative ,{}אשרin the third verse. It refers to the chiefs, who
are addressed, and must therefore be viewed as in the second person, and all the verbs which follow it are in the third. Some
render the participle, ``who hate,'' which is in Hiphil, in a causative sense. See Amos 5:7; 6:12. The distich may then be rendered
thus, --- Who render judgment hateful, (or, abominable,) And distort everything that is right, or more literally, And make crooked
everything that is straight. --- Ed.
185"They pretend," says Henry, "in justification of their extortion and oppressions, that they build up Zion and Jerusalem; they add new streets and squares to the holy cities and adorn them; they establish and advance the public interests both in church and state, and think therein they do God and Israel good service; but it is with blood and with iniquity, and therefore it
MINOR PROPHETS
We now see that the word of God is not bound, but that it puts forth its power
against the highest as well as the lowest; for it is the Spirit's ofÏce to arraign the
whole world, and not a part only.
`When the Spirit shall come,' says Christ,
`it will convince the world,' (John 16:8.)
He speaks not there of the common people only, but of the whole world, of which
princes and magistrates form a prominent part. Let us then know, that though we
ought to show respect to judges, (as the Lord has honored them with dignified titles,
calling them his vicegerents and also gods,) yet the mouths of Prophets ought not
to be closed; but they ought, without making any difference, to correct whatever is
deserving of reproof, and not to spare even the chief men themselves. This is what
ought in the first place to be observed.
Then when he says, that Zion was built by blood, and Jerusalem by iniquity, it is
the same as though the Prophet had said, that whatever the great men expended on
their palaces had been procured, and, as it were, scraped together from blood and
plunder. The judges could not have possibly seized on spoils on every side, without
being bloody, that is, without pillaging the poor: for the judges were for the most
part corrupted by the rich and the great; and then they destroyed the miserable
and the innocent. He then who is corrupted by money will become at the same
time a thief; and he will not only extort money, but will also shed blood. There is
then no wonder that Micah says, that Zion was built by blood He afterwards extends
wider his meaning and mentions iniquity, as he wished to cast off every excuse from
hypocrites. The expression is indeed somewhat strong, when he says, that Zion was
built by blood. They might have objected and said, that they were not so cruel,
though they could not wholly clear themselves from the charge of avarice. ``When I
speak of blood,'' says the Prophet, ``there is no reason that we should contend about
a name; for all iniquity is blood before God: if then your houses have been built by
plunder, your cruelty is sufÏciently proved; it is as though miserable and innocent
men had been slain by your own hands.'' The words, Zion and Jerusalem, enhance
their sin; for they polluted the holy city and the mount on which the temple was built
by the order and command of God.
Prayer.
Grant, Almighty God, that as thou wouldest have us to be ruled by the preaching
of thy word, --- O grant, that those who have to discharge this ofÏce may be really
endued with thy celestial power, that they may not attempt any thing of themselves,
but with all devotedness spend all their labors for thee and for our benefit, that
through them we may be thus edified, so that thou mayest ever dwell among us,
and that we through our whole life may become the habitation of thy Majesty, and
that finally we may come to thy heavenly sanctuary, where thou daily invites us,
as an entrance there has been once for all opened to us by the blood of thy only-
begotten Son. Amen.
cannot prosper; nor will their intentions of good to the city of God justify their contradictions to the law of God." A flaming zeal for a good cause can never consecrate extortion, injustice, and murder. It may be asked, What is the difference between Zion and Jerusalem? Zion was the church, Jerusalem was the state; or it may be, that, according to the usual style of the Prophets, the more limited idea is given first, and the more extensive one is added to it. — Ed.
JOHN CALVIN
Lecture Eighty-seventh
Micah 3:11-12
11. The heads thereof judge for reward, and the priests thereof teach for hire,
and the prophets thereof divine for money: yet will they lean upon the Lord, and
say, Is not the Lord among us? none evil can come upon us.
11. Principes ejus pro munere judicant, et sacerdotes ejus mercede docent, et
prophetae ejus pecunia divinant, et super Jehova nituntur, dicendo, Annon Jehova in
medio nostri? Non veniet super nos malum.
12. Therefore shall Zion for your sake be plowed as a field, and Jerusalem shall
become heaps, and the mountain of the house as the high places of the forest.
12. Itaque propter vos Sion ut ager arabitur, et Jerusalem acervus erit, et mons
domus in excelsa sylvae. 186
The Prophet shows here first, how gross and supine was the hypocrisy of princes
as well as of the priests and prophets: and then he declares that they were greatly
deceived in thus soothing themselves with vain flatteries; for the Lord would punish
them for their sins since he had in his forbearance spared them, and found that they
did not repent. But he does not address here the common people or the multitude,
but he attacks the chief men: for he has previously told us, that he was endued
with the spirit of courage. It was indeed necessary for the Prophet to be prepared
with invincible firmness that he might freely and boldly declare the judgment of God,
especially as he had to do with the great and the powerful, who, as it is well known,
will not easily, or with unrufÒed minds, bear their crimes to be exposed; for they wish
to be privileged above the ordinary class of men. But the Prophet not only does not
spare them, but he even arraigns them alone, as though the blame of all evils lodged
only with them, as indeed the contagion had proceeded from them; for though all
orders were then corrupt, yet the cause and the beginning of all the evils could not
have been ascribed to any but to the chief men themselves.
And he says, Princes for reward judge, priests teach for reward, 187 the prophets
divine for money: as though he had said, that the ecclesiastical as well as the civil
government was subject to all kinds of corruptions, for all things were made matters
of sale. We know that what the Holy Spirit declares elsewhere is ever true, --- that
by gifts or rewards the eyes of the wise are blinded and the hearts of the just are
corrupted, (Ecclus. 20:29,) for as soon erg judges open a way for rewards, they
186"As the Masoretes, in their division of the Bible, reckon the Twelve Minor Prophets but as one Book, they mark this verse (twelfth of chapter 3) the middle verse of these Prophets." — Adam Clarke.
187Calvin has mercede in both instances. The first in Hebrew is {,{שחדa gift, a bribe; this was given
to the princes: and the second is ,{}מחירa commutation, barter, price, something in exchange; this was given to the priests: and
then what was given to the prophets is literally silver, ;{}כסףbut it often means money in general. The Septuagint renders the
first, {μετα} {δωρων} --- for gifts; the second, {μετα} {μισθου} --- for reward; and the last, {μετα} {αργυριου} --- for money.
The princes decided matters according to the bribes given them, the priests, not satisfied with the regular allowance given them
according to the law, did not teach except they were paid, had something in exchange, a reward for their trouble. And while the
true prophets, who were extraordinary teachers sent by God, delivered their messages freely, without any pay, as they received
them; the false prophets, who pretended that they came from God, required money for performing their ofÏce; see Jeremiah 6:13.
And notwithstanding all their gains, all things were done badly. Money was extracted for doing wrong. The princes determined
cases unjustly, the priests taught erroneous doctrine, and the prophets prophesied falsely: and yet for all these evils, money was
required! How ignorant and infatuated the people must have been! Cocceius enumerated six things as chargeable on the persons
mentioned in this verse: 1. Avarice---the seeking of wealth instead of doing God's will; 2. A mercenary disposition, influenced by
gain and not by sense of duty; 3. The exacting of unlawful reward; 4. The doing, even for reward, of what was evil and wicked; 5.
A false pretense of trust in God; and, 6. The tying of God's favor to external privileges. --- Ed.
MINOR PROPHETS
cannot preserve integrity, however much they may wish to do so. And the same is
the case with the priests: for if any one is given to avarice, he will adulterate the pure
truth: it cannot be, that a complete liberty in teaching should exist, except when the
pastor is exempt from all desire of gain. It is not therefore without reason that Micah
complains here, that the princes as well as the priests were hirelings in his day; and
by this he means, that no integrity remained among them, for the one, as I have
said, follows from the other. He does not say, that the princes were either cruel or
perfidious, though he had before mentioned these crimes; but in this place he simply
calls them mercenaries. But, as I have just said, the one vice cannot be separated
from the other; for every one who is hired will pervert judgment, whether he be
a teacher or a judge. Nothing then remains pure where avarice bears rule. It was
therefore quite sufÏcient for the Prophet to condemn the judges and the prophets and
the priests for avarice; for it is easy hence to conclude, that teaching was exposed
to sale, and that judgments were bought, so that he who offered most money easily
gained his cause. Princes then judge for reward, and priests also teach for reward
We can learn from this place the difference between prophets and priests. Micah
ascribes here the ofÏce or the duty of teaching to the priests and leaves divination
alone to the prophets. We have said elsewhere, that it happened through the idle-
ness of the priests, that prophets were added to them; for prophesying belonged to
them, until being content with the altar, they neglected the ofÏce of teaching: and
the same thing, as we find, has taken place under the Papacy. For though it be quite
evident for what reason pastors were appointed to preside over the Church, we yet
see that all, who proudly call themselves pastors, are dumb dogs. Whence is this?
Because they think that they discharge their duties, by being only attentive to cer-
emonies; and they have more than enough to occupy them: for the priestly ofÏce
under the Papacy is laborious enough as to trifles and scenic performances: (ritus
histrionicos --- stage-playing rites) but at the same time they neglect the principal
thing --- to feed the Lord's flock with the doctrine of salvation. Thus degenerated
had the priests become under the Law. What is said by Malachi ought to have been
perpetuated, --- that the law should be in the mouth of the priest, that he should be
the messenger and interpreter of the God of hosts, (Malachi 2:7;) but the priests cast
from them this ofÏce: it became therefore necessary that prophets should be raised
up, and as it were beyond the usual course of things while yet the regular course for-
mally remained. But the priests taught in a cold manner; and the prophets divined,
that is professed that oracles respecting future things were revealed to them.
This distinction is now observed by the Prophet, when he says, The priests teach
for reward, that is, they were mercenaries, and hirelings in their ofÏce: and the
prophets divined for money It then follows, that they yet leaned on Jehovah, and
said, Is not Jehovah in the midst of us? Come then shall not evil upon us. The
Prophet shows here, as I have said at the beginning, that these profane men trifled
with God: for though they knew that they were extremely wicked, nay, their crimes
were openly known to all; yet they were not ashamed to lay claim to the authority
of God. And it has, we know, been a common wickedness almost in all ages, and it
greatly prevails at this day, --- that men are satisfied with having only the outward
JOHN CALVIN
evidences of being the people of God. There was then indeed an altar erected by
the command of God; there were sacrifices made according to the rule of the Law;
and there were also great and illustrious promises respecting that kingdom. Since
then the sacrifices were daily performed, and since the kingdom still retained its
outward form, they thought that God was, in a manner, bound to them. The same is
the case at this day with the great part of men; they presumptuously and absurdly
boast of the external forms of religion. The Papists possess the name of a Church,
with which they are extremely inflated; and then there is a great show and pomp
in their ceremonies. The hypocrites also among us boast of Baptism, and the Lord's
Supper, and the name of Reformation; while, at the same time, these are nothing but
mockeries, by which the name of God and the whole of religion are profaned, when
no real piety flourishes in the heart. This was the reason why Micah now expostulated
with the prophets and the priests, and the king's counselors; it was, because they
falsely pretended that they were the people of God. 188
But by saying; that they relied on Jehovah, he did not condemn that confidence
which really reposes on God; for, in this respect, we cannot exceed the bounds: as
God's goodness is infinite, so we cannot trust in his word too much, if we embrace it
in true faith. But the Prophet says, that hypocrites leaned on Jehovah, because they
flattered themselves with that naked and empty distinction, that God had adopted
them as his people. Hence the word, leaning or recumbing, is not to be applied to the
real trust of the heart, but, on the contrary, to the presumption of men, who pretend
the name of God, and so give way to their own will, that they shake off not only all
fear of God, but also thought and reason. When, therefore, so great and so supine
thoughtlessness occupies the minds of men, stupidity presently follows: and yet it
is not without reason that Micah employs this expression, for hypocrites persuade
themselves that all things will be well with them, as they think that they have God
propitious to them. As then they feel no anxiety while they have the idea that God
is altogether at peace with them, the Prophet declares, by way of irony, that they
relied on Jehovah; as though he had said, that they made the name of God their
support: but yet the Prophet speaks in words contrary to their obvious meaning,
({καταχρηστικῶς} loquitur --- speaks catachrestically;) for it is certain that no one
relies on Jehovah except he is humbled in himself. It is penitence that leads us to
God; for it is when we are cast down that we recumb on him; but he who is inflated
with self-confidence flies in the air, and has nothing solid in him. And our Prophet,
as I have said, intended indirectly to condemn the false security in which hypocrites
sleep, while they think it enough that the Lord had once testified that they would be
his people; but the condition is by them disregarded.
He now recites their words, Is not Jehovah in the midst of us? Come will not evil
upon us This question is a proof of a haughty self-confidence; for they ask as of a
thing indubitable, and it is an emphatic mode of speaking, by which they meant to
188In unison with the foregoing are these striking remarks of Henry,—"Many are rocked sleep in a fatal security by their church privileges, as if these would protect them in sin and shelter them from punishment, which are really, and will be, the greatest aggravations both of their sin and of their punishment. If men's having the Lord among them will not restrain them from doing evil, it can never secure them from suffering evil for so doing; and it is very absurd for sinners to think that their impudence will be their impunity." — Ed.
MINOR PROPHETS
say, that Jehovah was among them. He who simply afÏrms a thing, does not show
so much pride as these hypocrites when they set forth this question, ``Who shall
deny that Jehovah dwells in the midst of us?'' God had indeed chosen an habitation
among them for himself; but a condition was interposed, and yet they wished that
he should be, as it were, tied to the temple, though they considered not what God
required from them. They hence declared that Jehovah was in the midst of them;
nay, they treated with disdain any one who dared to say a word to the contrary:
nor is there a doubt but that they poured forth blasts of contempt on the Prophets.
For whenever any one threatened what our Prophet immediately subjoins, such an
answer as this was ever ready on their lips, --- ``What! will God then desert us and
deny himself? Has he in vain commanded the temple to be built among us? Has he
falsely promised that we should be a priestly kingdom? Dost thou not make God a
covenant-breaker, by representing him as approving of the terrors of thy discourse?
But he cannot deny himself:'' We hence see why the Prophet had thus spoken; it was
to show that hypocrites boasted so to speaks of their proud confidence, because they
thought that God could not be separated from them.
Now this passage teaches us how preposterous it is thus to abuse the name of
God. There is indeed a reason why the Lord calls us to himself, for without him we
are miserable; he also promises to be propitious to us, though, in many respects, we
are guilty before him: he yet, at the same time, calls us to repentance. Whosoever,
then, indulges himself and continues sunk in his vices, he is greatly deceived, if
he applies to himself the promises of God; for, as it has been said, the one cannot
be separated from the other. 189 But when God is propitious to them, they rightly
conclude, that all things will be well with them, for we know that the paternal favor
of God is a fountain of all felicity. But in this there was a vicious reasoning, --- that
they promised to themselves the favor of God through a false imagination of the
flesh, and not through his word. Thus we see that there is ever in hypocrisy some
imitation of piety: but there is a sophistry (paralogismus) either in the principle itself
or in the argument.
Now follows a threatening, Therefore, on your account, Zion as a field shall be
plowed, and Jerusalem a heap shall be, and the mount of the house as the high
places of a forest We here see how intolerable to God hypocrites are; for it was no
ordinary proof of a dreadful vengeance, that the Lord should expose to reproach
the holy city, and mount Zion, and his own temple. This revenge, then, being so
severe, shows that to God there is nothing less tolerable than that false confidence
with which hypocrites swell, for it brings dishonor on God himself; for they could
not boast that they were God's people without aspersing him with many reproaches.
What then is the meaning of this, ``God is in the midst of us,'' except that they
thereby declared that they were the representatives (vicarios) of God, that the king-
dom was sacred and also the priesthood? Since then they boasted that they did not
presumptuously claim either the priesthood or the regal power, but that they were
divinely appointed, we hence see that their profanation of God's name was most
shameful. It is then no wonder that God was so exceedingly displeased with them:
189That is, the promise from repentance. — Ed.
JOHN CALVIN
and hence the Prophet says, For you shall Zion as a field be plowed; as though he
said, ``This is like something monstrous, that the temple should be subverted, that
the holy mount and the whole city should be entirely demolished, and that nothing
should remain but a horrible desolation, --- who can believe all this? It shall however,
take place, and it shall take place on your account; you will have to bear the blame
of this so monstrous a change.'' For it was as though God had thrown heaven and
earth into confusion; inasmuch as he himself was the founder of the temple; and
we know with what high encomiums the place was honored. Since then the temple
was built, as it were, by the hand of God, how could it be otherwise, but that, when
destroyed, the waste and desolate place should be regarded as a memorable proof
of vengeance? There is therefore no doubt but that Micah intended to mark out the
atrocity of their guilt, when he says, For you shall Zion as a field be plowed, Jerusalem
shall become a heap of stones; that is, it shall be so desolated, that no vestige of a
city, well formed and regularly built, shall remain.
And the mount of the house, etc. He again mentions Zion, and not without rea-
son: for the Jews thought that they were protected by the city Jerusalem; the whole
country rested under its shadow, because it was the holy habitation of God. And
again, the city itself depended on the temple, and it was supposed, that it was safe
under this protection, and that it could hardly be demolished without overthrowing
the throne of God himself: for as God dwelt between the cherubim, it was regarded
by the people as a fortress incapable of being assailed. As then the holiness of the
mount deceived them, it was necessary to repeat what was then almost incredible,
at least difÏcult of being believed. He therefore adds, The mount of the house shall
be as the high places of a forest; that is, trees shall grow there.
Why does he again declare what had been before expressed with sufÏcient clear-
ness? Because it was not only a thing difÏcult to be believed, but also wholly inconsis-
tent with reason, when what the Lord had said was considered, and that overlooked
which hypocrites ever forget. God had indeed made a covenant with the people; but
hypocrites wished to have God, as it were, bound to them, and, at the same time, to
remain themselves free, yea, to have a full liberty to lead a wicked life. Since then
the Jews were fixed in this false opinion, --- that God could not be disunited from his
people, the Prophet confirms the same truth, that the mount of the house would be
as the high places of a forest. And, by way of concession, he calls it the mount of
the house, that is, of the temple; as though he said, ``Though God had chosen to
himself a habitation, in which to dwell, yet this favor shall not keep the temple from
being deserted and laid waste; for it has been profaned by your wickedness.''
Let us now see at what time Micah delivered this prophecy. This we learn from
Jeremiah 26; for when Jeremiah prophesied against the temple, he was immediately
seized and cast into prison; a tumultuous council was held, and he was well nigh be-
ing brought forth unto execution. All the princes condemned him; and when now he
had no hope of deliverance, he wished, not so much to plead his own cause, as to de-
nounce a threatening on them, that they might know that they could effect no good
by condemning an innocent man. ``Micah, the Morasthite,'' he said, ``prophesied in
the days of Hezekiah, and said thus, `Zion as a field shall be plowed, Jerusalem shall
MINOR PROPHETS
be a heap, and the mount of the house as the high placers of a forest.' '' Did the king
and the people, he said, consult together to kill him? Nay, but the king turned, and
so God repented; that is, the Lord deferred his vengeance; for king Hezekiah humbly
deprecated the punishment which had been denounced. We now then know with
certainty the time.
But it was strange that under such a holy king so many and so shameful corrup-
tions prevailed, for he no doubt tried all he could to exercise authority over the peo-
ple, and by his own example taught the judges faithfully and uprightly to discharge
their ofÏce; but he was not able, with all his efforts, to prevent the Priests, and the
Judges, and the Prophets, from being mercenaries. We hence learn how sedulously
pious magistrates ought to labor, lest the state of the Church should degenerate;
for however vigilant they may be, they can yet hardly, even with the greatest care,
keep things (as mankind are so full of vices) from becoming very soon worse. This
is one thing. And now the circumstance of the time ought to be noticed for another
purpose: Micah hesitated not to threaten with such a judgment the temple and the
city, though he saw that the king was endued with singular virtues. He might have
thought thus with himself, ``King Hezekiah labored strenuously in the execution of
his high ofÏce: now if a reproof so sharp and so severe will reach his ears, he will ei-
ther despond, or think me to be a man extremely rigid, or, it may be, he will become
exasperated against sound doctrine.'' The Prophet might have weighed these things
in his mind; but, nevertheless, he followed his true course in teaching, and there is
no doubt but that his severity pleased the king, for we know that he was oppressed
with great cares and anxieties, because he could not, by all his striving, keep within
proper bounds his counselors, the priests and the prophets. He therefore wished
to have God's servants as his helpers. And this is what pious magistrates always
desire, that their toils may in some measure be alleviated by the aid of the ministers
of the word; for when the ministers of the word only teach in a cold manner, and are
not intent on reproving vices, the severity of the magistrates will be hated by the
people. ``Why, see, the ministers say nothing, and we hence conclude that they do
not perceive so great evils; and yet the magistrates with the drawn sword inflict new
punishments daily.'' When, therefore, teachers are thus silent, a greater odium no
doubt is incurred by the magistrates: it is hence, as I have said, a desirable thing
for them, that the free reproofs of teachers should be added to the punishments and
judgments of the law.
We further see how calm and meek was the spirit of the king, that he could bear
the great severity of the Prophet: Behold, he said, on your accounts etc.: ``Thou
oughtest at least to have excepted'' me.'' For the king was not himself guilty. Why
then did he connect him with the rest? Because the whole body was infected with
contagion, and he spoke generally; and the good king did not retort nor even mur-
mur, but, as we have recited from Jeremiah, he humbly deprecated the wrath of God,
as though a part of the guilt belonged to him. Now follows ---
Chapter 4
Micah 4
Micah 4:1-2
1. But in the last days it shall come to pass, that the mountain of the house of the
LORD shall be established in the top of the mountains, and it shall be exalted above
the hills; and people shall flow unto it.
1. Accidet ultimis diebus, ut sit mons domus Jehovae dispositus in capite mon-
tium, et extollentur ipse prae sublimitatibus; et venient ad eum populi:
2. And many nations shall come, and say, Come, and let us go up to the mountain
of the LORD, and to the house of the God of Jacob; and he will teach us of his ways,
and we will walk in his paths: for the law shall go forth of Zion, and the word of the
LORD from Jerusalem.
2. Et proficiscentur gentes multae et dicent, Venite, et ascendemus ad montem
Jehovae, et ad domum Dei Jacob; et docebit nos de viis suis, et ambulabimus in
semitis ejus; quia ex Sion prodibit lex, et verbum Jehovae ex Jerusalem.
Here Micah begins his address to the faithful, who were a remnant among that
people; for though the infection had nearly extended over the whole body, there were
yet a few, we know, who sincerely worshipped God. Hence Micah, that he might not
dishearten God's children by extreme terror, reasonably adds what we have now
heard, --- that though for a time the temple would be demolished and laid waste, it
would yet be only for a season, for the Lord would be again mindful of his covenant.
When, therefore, the Prophet had hitherto spoken of God's dreadful vengeance, he
directed his discourse to the whole people and to the princess; but now, especially,
and as it were apart, addresses the pious and sincere servants of God; as though he
said, ``There is now a reason why I should speak to the few: I have hitherto spoken
of the near judgment of God on the king's counselors, the priests and the prophets;
in short, on the whole community, because they are all become wicked and ungodly;
a contempt of God and an irreclaimable obstinacy have pervaded the whole body.
Let them therefore have what they have deserved. But now I address the children
MINOR PROPHETS
of God by themselves, for I have something to say to them.''
For though the Prophet publicly proclaimed this promise, there is yet no doubt
but that he had regard only to the children of God, for others were not capable
of receiving this consolation; nay, he had shortly before condemned the extreme
security of hypocrites, inasmuch as they leaned upon God; that is, relied on a false
pretense of religion, in thinking that they were redeemed by a lawful price when
they had offered their sacrifices. And we know that we meet with the same thing
in the writings of the Prophets, and that it is a practice common among them to
add consolations to threatening, not for the sake of the whole people, but to sustain
the faithful in their hope, who would have despaired, had not a helping hand been
stretched forth to them: for the faithful, we know, tremble, as soon as God manifests
any token of wrath; for the more any one is touched with the fear of God, the more
he dreads his judgment, and fears on account of his threatening. We hence see how
necessary it is to moderate threatenings and terrors, when prophets and teachers
have a regard to the children of God; for, as I have said, they are without these
fearful enough. Let us then know that Micah has hitherto directed his discourse to
the wicked despisers of God, who yet put on the cloak of religion; but now he turns
his address to the true and pious worshipers of God. And he further so addresses
the faithful of his age, that his doctrine especially belongs to us now; for how has it
been, that the kingdom of God has been propagated through all parts of the earth?
How has it been, that the truth of the gospel has come to us, and that we are made
partakers with the ancient people of the same adoption, except that this prophecy
has been fulfilled? Then the calling of the Gentiles, and consequently our salvation,
is included in this prophecy.
But the Prophet says, And it shall be in the extremity of days, 190 that the mount of
the house of Jehovah shall be set in order 191 on the top of mountains The extremity
of days the Prophet no doubt calls the coming of Christ, for then it was that the Church
of God was built anew; in short, since it was Christ that introduced the renovation of
the world, his advent is rightly called a new age; and hence it is also said to be the
extremity of days: and this mode of expression very frequently occurs in Scripture;
and we know that the time of the gospel is expressly called the last days and the
last time by John, (John 2:18,) as well as by the author of the Epistle to the Hebrews,
(Hebrews 1:2,) and also by Paul, (2 Timothy 3:1;) and this way of speaking they
borrowed from the prophets. On this subject some remarks were made on Joel 2.
Paul gives us the reason for this mode of speaking in 1 Corinthians 10:11: ``Upon
whom,'' he says, ``the ends of the world are come.'' As Christ then brought in the
completion of all things at his coming, the Prophet rightly says that it would be the
last days when God would restore his Church by the hand of the Redeemer. At the
190In extremitate dierum, {{}הימים{, באחריתin the posteriority or postremity of the days; {επ} {εσχατων} {των}
{ημερων}, in the last days.---Sept. ``In the latter days,'' or, ``in the end of days.''---Newcome. ``In the last of the days.''---
Henderson. See Jeremiah 23:20; 30:24; Ezekiel 38:8; Daniel 10:14; Hosea 3:5 Kimchi, as quoted by Lowth, says, ``Whenever the
latter days are mentioned in Scripture, the days of the Messiah are always meant.'' --- Ed.
191Dispositus, {---{נכזןconstitus, constituted --- praeparatus, prepared--- firmatus, made firm --- are the words by which
the term is commonly expressed. It comes from ,{}כוןwhich Leigh justly says, means ``aptly and timely to frame, and likewise to
make firm and sure;'' and he adds, ``The word noteth the ordering, perfecting, and fast establishing of anything.'' How suitably
then it is here used: it is a mountain (which means evidently the Church) that is fitly framed, ordered, and firmly established. ---
Ed.
JOHN CALVIN
same time, Micah no doubt intended to intimate that the time of God's wrath would
not be short, but designed to show that its course would be for a long time.
It shall then be in the last of days; that is, when the Lord shall have executed his
vengeance by demolishing the temple, by destroying the city, and by reducing the
holy place into a solitude, this dreadful devastation shall continue, not for one year,
nor for two; in a word, it will not remain only for forty or fifty years, but the Lord
will let loose the reins of his wrath, that their minds may long languish, and that no
restoration may be evident. We now then understand the Prophet's design as to the
last days.
He calls the mount, the mount of the house of Jehovah, 192 in a sense different
from what he did before; for then it was, as we have stated by way of concession; and
now he sets forth the reason why God did not wish wholly to cast aside that mount;
for he commanded his temple to be built there. It is the same, then, as though
he said, --- ``This ought not to be ascribed to the holiness of the mountain, as if it
excelled other mountains in dignity; but because there the temple was founded, not
by the authority of men, but by a celestial oracle, as it is sufÏciently known.''
The mount then of the house of Jehovah shall be set in order on the top of the
mountains, that is it shall surpass in height all other mountains; and it shall be raised,
he says, above the highest summits, and assemble 193 there shall all nations. It is
certain, that by these words of the Prophet is to be understood no visible eminence
of situation: for that mount was not increased at the coming of Christ; and they who
lived in the time of the Prophet entertained no gross idea of this kind. But he speaks
here of the eminence of dignity, --- that God would give to mount Zion a distinction
so eminent, that all other mountains would yield to its honor. And how was this
done? The explanation follows in the next verse. Lest, then, any one thought that
there would be some visible change in mount Zion, that it would increase in size, the
Prophet immediately explains what he meant and says, at the end of the verse, Come
shall nations to God. It is now easy to see what its elevation was to be, --- that God
192Marckius adduces the opinions of the ancients as to the signification of this "mount." Some, such as Tertullian, Jerome, and Augustine, interpret it of Christ; while others, namely, Origen, the two Cyrils, and Chrysostom, regard it as signifying the Church; and with the latter most modern commentators agree. Here the consent of moderns exceeds that of the ancients; and it is no doubt sounder and wiser. — Ed.
193Convenient, {,{ונהרוliterally, ``and flow;'' {σπευσουσι} --- hasten, Sept. It is flowing like that of a river, or of a strong
current, and implies copiousness and spontaneity. ``There shall be,'' says Henry, ``a constant stream of believers flowing in from
all parts into the Church, as the people of the Jews flowed into the temple, while it was standing, to worship there.'' Kimchi says,
that this word means to ``run to what is pleasing or delightful,'' ---''currere ad beneplacitum, hoc est, ad id quod cupias An old
author, quoted by Leigh, says, that it implies abundance and celerity --- afÒuentiam cum celeritate It is rendered ``flow together''
in Jeremiah 51:44. Instead of ``peoples,'' ,{}עמיםIsaiah has {`` }חגוים{, }כלall the nations.'' One MS. Has the same here, and
three have {}כלbefore ,{}עמיםand this seems to be the correct reading. ,{}עםin the plural number, is synonymous with ,{}גוים
meaning nations. The rest of this verse is exactly the same in the two Prophets, except that ,{`` }נכוןprepared,'' is differently
placed, and ,{`` }הואit,'' is added by Micah after ,{`` }נשאexalted.'' In the second verse, which is the third in Isaiah, there is
a complete verbal identity, except that {}גויםand {}עמיםare reversed, and that {}וbefore {}אלis wanting in Isaiah; but it is
supplied in several MSS. In the third, the fourth in Isaiah, there are verbal varieties in the two first lines, the four remaining are
exactly the same with the exception of a paragogic ,{}ןnun, added to a verb by Micah, and the verb {}ישאוis singular in Isaiah. In
the two lines referred to, there is also an addition of {`` }רחוק{, }עדafar of,'' in Micah. Isaiah. {}הגוים{ }בין{ }ושפט4. {}והוכיחלעמים
}רבים{And he shall judge among the nation, And shall convince many peoples. Micah. whwkyx lgwyM eumyM ed rxwq wspj byN
emyM rbyM And he shall judge among many peoples, And shall convince strong nations afar off. With this verse the passage ends
in Isaiah; Micah adds another: and this, with the two other circumstances --- that the passage is fuller and more connected with
the context here than in Isaiah, may seem to favor the opinion that Isaiah, and not Micah, was the copyist; but the words, with
which the passage is introduced in Isaiah, forbid such a supposition. ``Bishop Lowth, on Isaiah 2:2, thinks that Micah took this
passage from Isaiah. It is true that he has improved it after the manner of imitators. Or, the Spirit may have inspired both with
this prediction: or both may have copied some common original, the words of a Prophet well known at the time. --- Newcome.
MINOR PROPHETS
designed this mount to be, as it were, a royal seat. As under the monarchy of the king
of Persia, the whole of the east, we know, was subject to one tower of the Persian; so
also, when mount Zion became the seat of sovereign power, God designed to reign
there, and there he designed that the whole world should be subject to him; and this
is the reason and the Prophet said that it would be higher than all other mountains.
Hence his meaning, in this expression, is sufÏciently evident.
There follows, however, a fuller explanation, when he says, that many nations
would come He said only before that nations would come: but as David, even in
his age, made some nations tributary to himself, the Prophet here expresses some-
thing more, --- that many nations would come; as if he had said, ``Though David
subjugated some people to himself, yet the borders of his kingdom were narrow and
confined, compared with the largeness of that kingdom which the Lord will estab-
lish at the coming of his Messiah: for not a few nations but many shall assemble to
serve him, and shall say,'' etc. The Prophet now shows that it would be a spiritual
kingdom. When David subdued the Moabites and the Amorites, and others, he im-
posed a certain tribute to be paid annually but he was not able to establish among
them the pure and legitimate worship of God, nor was he able to unite them in one
faith. Then the Moabites and other nations, though they paid a tribute to David, did
not yet worship the true God, but continued ever alienated from the Church. But
our Prophet shows that the kingdom, which God would set up at the coming of the
Messiah, would be spiritual.
For they shall say, 194 Let us you and ascend to the mount of Jehovah, and to
the house of the God of Jacob; and he will teach us of his ways, and we will walk
in his paths: for, go 195 forth shall a law from Zion, and the word of Jehovah from
Jerusalem Throughout this passage the Prophet teaches us, that people are not to
be constrained by an armed force, or by the power of the sword, to submit to David's
posterity, but that they are to be really and thoroughly reformed, so that they submit
themselves to God, unite with the body of the Church, and become one people with
the children of Abraham; for they will yield a voluntary service, and embracing the
teaching of the Law, they will renounce their own superstitions. This then is the
Prophet's meaning. But the remainder we shall defer till to-morrow.
Prayer.
Grant, Almighty God that as thou hast been pleased to erect the throne of thy Son
among us, we may rely on his protection and learn to resign ourselves wholly to thee,
and never turn aside here and there, but with tulle obedience so submit ourselves
to the King who has been appointed by thee, that he may own us as his legitimate
people, and so glorify thy name, that we may not at the same time profane it by an
ungodly and wicked life, but testify by our works that we are really thy subjects. and
194Marckius says, "corde, ore, et opere — with the heart, mouth, and in deed." 195{,{כיki, for, or because: what follows contains the reason for the preceding promise. How could it be, that the mount of
the house of Jehovah should be firmly fixed on the top of mountains, etc.? The answer is here given, ``for go forth shall a law from
Zion,'' etc. And this was literally fulfilled at the commencement of the Gospel; it was first preached at Jerusalem: in consequence
of this, the mount of Jehovah's house, or the Church, was formed; and what is here predicted was in part fulfilled, and will no
doubt be hereafter more completely fulfilled. It is said, ``on top of the mountains,'' not of a mountain. The Church was not to
be confined to one place, but was to be preeminent throughout the earth. It was to be coextensive with the word that was to go
forth from Zion. --- Ed.
JOHN CALVIN
that thou attains full authority over us, so that thy name may be sanctified and thy
Spirit may really guide us, until at length thy Son, who has gathered us when we
were awfully gone astray, gather us again to that kingdom, which he as purchased
for us by his own blood. Amen.
Lecture Eighty-eighth
We began yesterday to explain the prophecy, in which Micah promises the restora-
tion of the Church. We have said that this promise cannot be understood except of
Christ's kingdom, for it refers to the last days. And it was also added, that the su-
periority and eminence of mount Zion, of which he speaks, cannot be otherwise
understood than of God's spiritual kingdom; for the explanation follows, when he
says, that many nations would come to be taught in the ways of the Lord. We hence
see that an earthly empire is not what is here predicted, but what exists through the
word and celestial doctrine. But each particular ought to be considered by us. We
yesterday said, that in the distinct mention made of many nations, there is to be
understood a contrast; for till that time God was only known by one people. Since
God then had chosen the race of Abraham alone, there is here pointed out a future
change, when he shall gather his Church from various nations, so as to do away with
the difference between the Gentiles and the Jews.
It now follows, They shall say, Come, and let us ascend to the mount of Jehovah
The Prophet shows in these words that not only each one would be obedient to God,
when called, but that they would also encourage one another: and this ardor is
what is justly required in the faithful; they ought to animate and stir on one another;
for it is not enough for each of us himself to obey God, but this zeal ought to be
added, by which we may strive to produce a mutual benefit. This concern then is
what the Prophet now refers to, when he says, ``Come, that we may ascend to the
mountain of the Lord.'' He might have said, that people would come, and there close
his sentence; but he wished to join the two clauses, --- that they, who had before
despised the God of Israel, would come from all parts, --- and also that they would
become exhorters to one another. Come then that we may ascend. But the manner
of the exhortation deserves to be noticed; for each one offers himself as a companion
in the journey. We indeed see that many are prompt enough, when others are to be
stimulated in their duty; but they at the same time lie still; their whole fervor is
consumed in sending others, and they themselves move not, no, not a finger; so far
are they from running with alacrity in company with others. The Prophet shows here,
that the faithful will be so solicitous about the salvation of their brethren that they
will strenuously run themselves, and that they will prescribe nothing to others but
what they themselves perform. Come then that we may ascend; they say not, ``Go,
ascend to the mount of Jehovah;'' but, Let us go together.'' It is then the right way
of encouraging, when we really show that we require nothing from our brethren but
what we desire to do ourselves.
The circumstance of time must now be noticed; for what the Prophet says re-
specting the nations coming into mount Zion, as it was to be reduced to a waste,
might have appeared a fable; for what had he shortly before predicted? That Zion
would be plowed as a field, and that trees would grow there, that it would become
MINOR PROPHETS
a wild forest. How then could it be, that many nations would flow to it as to a most
renowned place, as it was to be reduced to a dreadful desolation? But the Prophet
here extols the wonderful power of God, --- that in this wild and desert place there
would at length be raised a noble and a celebrated temple, where God would show
mercy to his own people. Hence he promises what this mount of Jehovah would be,
which was for a time to be forsaken; and that there would be, as formerly, a noble
temple in the place, where desolation had for a season existed.
It afterwards follows, And he will teach us of his ways. 196 Here the Prophet in
a few words defines the legitimate worship of God: for it would not be sufÏcient for
the nations to come together into one place to profess the one true God, unless true
obedience followed, which rests on faith, as faith does on the word. It ought then to
be especially noticed, that the Prophet sets here the word of God before us, in order
to show that true religion is founded on the obedience of faith, and that God cannot
be truly worshipped, except when he himself teaches his people, and prescribes to
them what is necessary to be done. Hence when the will of God is revealed to us, we
then can truly worship him. When the word is again taken away, there will indeed
be some form of divine worship; but there will be no genuine religion, such as is
pleasing to God. And hence we also learn, that there is no other way of raising up
the Church of God than by the light of the word, in which God himself, by his own
voice, points out the way of salvation. Until then the truth shines, men cannot be
united together, so as to form a true Church.
Since it is so, it follows, that where the truth is either corrupted or despised, there
is no religion, at least such as is approved by God. Men may indeed boast of the
name with their lips: but there is no true religion before God, except it be formed
according to the rule of his word. It hence also follows, that there is no Church, except
it be obedient to the word of God, and be guided by it: for the prophet defines here
what true religion is, and also how God collects a Church for himself. He will then
teach us of his ways And a third particular may be added, --- that God is robbed of his
right and of his honor, when mortals assume to themselves the authority to teach;
for it is to God alone that this ofÏce of teaching his people can strictly be ascribed.
(proprie tribuitur.) There were then priests and prophets, yet Micah here brings them
down to their proper state, and shows that the right and the ofÏce of teaching would
be in the power of the only true God. We hence see that God claims this ofÏce for
himself, that we may not be tossed to and fro, and led astray by various teachers,
but continue in simple obedience to his word, so that he alone may be the Supreme.
In short, God is not the God and Head of the Church, except he be the chief and the
only Teacher.
Wheat he now says, ``He will teach us of his ways,'' ought to be thus understood.
He will teach us what his ways are; as though the Prophet had said, that the perfect
wisdom of men is to understand what pleases God, and what is his will: for there is
nothing farther to be learnt.
It follows, And we will walk in his paths. By this clause we are reminded, that the
196Both Newcome and Henderson render the {,{וvau, here, that, ``that he may teach us,'' etc.: but it is better
to retrain the most common meaning as a simple copulative, as it is done in our version, and by Calvin, and by Lowth in Isaiah.
The passage thus runs better, and more emphatically expresses the language of faith. --- Ed.
JOHN CALVIN
truth of God is not, as they say, speculative, but full of energizing power. God then
not only speaks to the end that every one may acknowledge that to be true which
proceeds from him, but at the same time he demands obedience. Hence we shall
then only be the disciples of God, when we walk in his ways: for if we only nod with
our ears, as asses are wont to do, and assent to what God says with our mouth and
lips, it is extremely vain and absurd. It is therefore then only that men really profit
under the teaching of God, when they form their life according to his doctrine, and
be prepared with their feet to walk, and to follow whithersoever be may call them.
We will then walk in his paths
Micah had hitherto related only what the faithful would do; he now himself con-
firms the same truth, For from Zion shall go forth a law, 197 and the word of Jehovah
from Jerusalem. Here is a reason given why many nations would come to the temple
of the Lord; and that is, because a doctrine would be then promulgated, which had
been before heard only in one place. We indeed know that the Jews came to the
temple, not only to worship, but also to be instructed in the Law of God. The Law
then had at that time, as it were, its habitation in Zion: there was the sanctuary of
celestial wisdom. But what does our Prophet say? A law shall go forth from Zion,
that is, it shall be proclaimed far and wide: the Lord will show, not only in one cor-
ner, what true religion is, and how he seeks to be worshipped, but he will send forth
his voice to the extreme limits of the earth. A law then shall go forth from Zion,
according to what is said in Psalm 110,
`the scepter of thy power the Lord will send forth from Zion.'
In that passage the doctrine of Christ is metaphorically called a scepter, or is
compared to a royal scepter; for Christ does not otherwise rule among us, than by
the doctrine of his Gospel: and there David declares, that this scepter would be sent
far abroad by God the Father, that Christ might have under his rule all those nations
which had been previously aliens. Such is the meaning in this place, A law from Zion
shall go forth Then it follows, The word of Jehovah from Jerusalem This is a repetition
of the same sentiment, which is often the case. Then by {,}תורהture, the Prophet
means no other thing than doctrine: but, by another term, he confirms the same
thing, that is that God would be heard not only at Jerusalem and in Judea, but that
he would make his word to be proclaimed everywhere. It now follows ---
Micah 4:3
3. And he shall judge among many people, and rebuke strong nations afar off;
and they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruninghooks:
nation shall not lift up a sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more.
3. Et judicabit inter populos multos, et arguet (vel, corripiet) gentes robustos
197So Newcome renders it; Lowth and Henderson read the same with our version, "the law." The absence of the definite article is certainly no objection, as it is but seldom used in Hebrew. But "a law" is better except we render the copulative before "word," even; and then we shall destroy the distinct character of the line. It appears that, according to the usual style of the Prophets, what the first line states indefinitely, is in the second specified, as being the "word of Jehovah." The word {,{תורהlaw, in Hebrew, is more comprehensive than the word law, in our language. It is derived from
the Hiphil of ,{}ירהwhich means to direct, to appoint, to instruct, to teach. Hence the noun, ,{}תורהmay be rendered, directory,
institution, law, teaching, or doctrine. ``It doth,'' says Leigh, ``not only signify strictly what is to be done, but it denoteth largely
any heavenly doctrine, whether it be promise or precept.'' It means often the whole of God's revealed word, as in Psalm 1:2;
Psalm 119:174, etc. See Joshua 1:8. --- Ed.
MINOR PROPHETS
usque in longinquum, et concident gladios suos in vomeres, et lanceas suas in falces:
non tollent gens contra gentem gladium, et non assuescent ultra praelio.
The Prophet here describes the fruit of Divine truth, --- that God would restore all
nations to such gentleness, that they would study to cultivate fraternal peace among
themselves, and that all would consult the good of others, having laid aside every
desire for doing harm. As then he has lately showed, that the Church of God could
not be otherwise formed than by the Word, and that the legitimate worship of God
cannot be set up and continued, except where God is honored with the obedience
of faith; so now he shows that Divine truth produces this effect, --- that they, who
before lived in enmity towards one another and burned with the lust of doing harm,
being full of cruelty and avarice, will now, having their disposition changed, devote
themselves wholly to acts of kindness. But, before the Prophet comes to this subject,
he says, ---
He will judge 198 among many people, and will reprove strong nations. The word
judge, in Hebrew, means the same as to rule or govern. It is certain that God is
spoken of here: it is then the same as though the Prophet had said that though the
nations had not hitherto obeyed God, they would now own him as king and submit to
his government. God has indeed ever governed the world by his hidden providence,
as he does still govern it: for how much soever the devil and the ungodly may rage;
nay, how ever much they may boil with unbridled fury, there is no doubt but that God
restrains and checks their madness by his hidden bridle. But the Scripture speaks
of God's kingdom in two respects. God does indeed govern the devil and all the
wicked, but not by his word, nor by the sanctifying power of his Spirit: it is so done,
that they obey God, not willingly, but against their will. The peculiar government of
God is that of his Church only, where, by his word and Spirit, He bends the hearts
of men to obedience, so that they follow him voluntarily and willingly, being taught
inwardly and outwardly, --- inwardly by the influence of the Spirit, --- outwardly by
the preaching of the word. Hence it is said in Psalm 110, `Thy willing people shall
then assemble.' This is the government that is here described by the Prophet; God
then shall judge; not as he judges the world, but he will, in a peculiar manner, make
them obedient to himself so that they will look for nothing else than to be wholly
devoted to him.
But as men must first be subdued before they render to God such obedience, the
Prophet expressly adds, And he will reprove (corripiet) or convince (arguet) many
people. And this sentence ought to be carefully noticed; for we hence learn, that
such is our innate pride, that not one of us can become a fit disciple to God, except
we be by force subdued. Truth then would of itself freeze amidst such corruption
as we have, except the Lord proved us guilty, except he prepared us beforehand,
as it were, by violent measures. We now then perceive the design of the Prophet in
198There is a difference of opinion as to the nominative case to the verb "judge;" whether it be Jehovah in the preceding line, or the word of Jehovah. The most natural construction is the last supposition. Jerome and Cyril, as quoted by Marckius, refer it to the word of Jehovah, taking the word for Christ: but this cannot be admitted, as the law and the word seem to mean the same thing, and must be considered as the word of the Gospel; and Justin Martyr and Irenaeus, when referring to this passage regard it as such. And this is the view which Marckius seems to prefer. The rendering then would be, — And it shall judge among many people, And convince strong nations afar off.
JOHN CALVIN
connecting reproof with the government of God: for the verb {,}יכחikech, signifies
sometimes to expostulate, to convince, and sometimes to correct or reprove. 199 In
short, the wickedness and perversity of our flesh are here implied; for even the best
of us would never offer themselves to God, without being first subdued, and that by
God's powerful correction. This, then, is the beginning of the kingdom of Christ.
But when he says, that strong nations would be reproved, he hereby eulogizes
and sets forth the character of the kingdom of which he speaks: and we hence learn
the power of truth, --- that strong men, when thus reproved, shall offer themselves,
without any resistance, to be ruled by God. Correction is indeed necessary, but
God employs no external force, nor any armed power, when he makes the Church
subject to himself: and yet he collects strong nations. Hence then is seen the power
of truth: for where there is strength, there is confidence and arrogance, and also
rebellious opposition. Since then the Lord, without any other helps, thus corrects
the perverseness of men, we hence see with what inconceivable power God works,
when he gathers his own Church. It is to be added, that there is not the least doubt,
but that this is to be applied to the person of Christ. Micah speaks of God, without
mentioning Christ by name; for he was not yet manifested in the flesh: but we know
that in his person has this been fulfilled, --- that God has governed the universe, and
subjected to himself the people of the whole world. We hence conclude that Christ
is true God; for he is not only a minister to the Father, as Moses, or any one of the
Prophets; but he is the supreme King of his Church.
Before I proceed to notice the fruit, the expression, {,}רחוק{ }עדod rechuk, ``afar
off'' must be observed. It may intimate a length of time as well as distance of place.
Jonathan applies it to a long continuance of time, --- that God would convince men
to the end of the world. But the Prophet, I doubt not, intended to include the most
distant countries; as though he had said, that God would not be the king of one
people only, or of Judea alone, but that his kingdom would be propagated to the
extremities of the earth. He will then convince people afar off
He afterward adds, with respect to the fruit, They shall beat their swords into
plowshares, and their spears into pruninghooks I have already briefly explained the
meaning of the Prophet: he in fact shows that when the nations should be taught
by the word of God, there would be such a change, that every one would study to
do good, and to perform the duties of love towards his neighbors. But by speaking
of swords and spears he briefly intimates, what men, until they are made gentle by
the word of the Lord, are ever intent on iniquitous tyranny and oppression; nor can
it be otherwise, while every one follows his own nature; for there are none who are
not wedded to their own advantages, and the cupidity of men is insatiable. As then
all are thus intent on gain, while every one is blinded by self-love, what but cruelty
must ever break forth from this wicked principle? Hence then it is, that men cannot
199The two verbs here used are {,{שפטto judge, and ,{}הוכיחin Hiphil, to reprove. The first is to decide what is
right and wrong, and also to defend the right and to punish the wrong; hence it means to arbitrate, and also to vindicate as well
as to punish. The first sense is most suitable to this place. --- The other verb does not occur in Kal, but in Hiphil, it means to
make manifest, or show, by facts or by words, or by action; and hence it signifies to demonstrate, to convince, to reprove, to
chastise. The Septuagint often renders it by {ελεγχειν}, which, Parkhurst says, means, in its primary sense, to demonstrate by
convincing reasons or arguments. Lowth's version in Isaiah is, ``And shall work conviction,'' etc. Newcome renders it ``convince.''
The rendering of Henderson, ``give decision,'' is not to be approved. See John 16:8. --- Ed.
MINOR PROPHETS
cultivate peace with one another; for every one seeks to be the first, and draws
every thing to himself; no one will willingly give way: then dissensions arise, and
from dissensions, fightings. This is what the Prophet intimates. And then he adds,
that the fruit of the doctrine of Christ would however be such, that men, who were
before like cruel wild beasts, would become gentle and meek. Forge then shall they
their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruninghooks.
Raise, he says, shall not a nation a sword against a nation, and accustom them-
selves they shall no more to war He explains here more fully what I have before said,
--- that the Gospel of Christ would be to the nations, as it were, a standard of peace:
as when a banner is raised up, soldiers engage in battle, and their fury is kindled;
so Micah ascribes a directly opposite ofÏce to the Gospel of Christ, --- that it will
restore those to the cultivation of peace and concord, who before were given to acts
of hostility. For when he says, `Raise a sword shall not a nation against nation,' he
intimates, as I have already stated, that wherever Christ does not reign, men are
wolves to men, for every one is disposed to devour all others. Hence as men are
naturally impelled by so blind an impulse, the Prophet declares, that this madness
cannot be corrected, that men will not cease from wars, that they will not abstain
from hostilities, until Christ becomes their teacher: for by the word {,}למדlamed,
he implies, that it is a practice which ever prevails among mankind, that they con-
tend with one another, that they are ever prepared to do injuries and wrongs, except
when they put off their natural disposition. But gentleness, whence does it proceed?
Even from the teaching of the Gospel.
This passage ought to be remembered; for we here learn, that there is not growing
among us the real fruit of the Gospel, unless we exercise mutual love and benevo-
lence, and exert ourselves in doing good. Though the Gospel is at this day purely
preached among us, when yet we consider how little progress we make in brotherly
love, we ought justly to be ashamed of our indolence. God proclaims daily that he
is reconciled to us in his Son; Christ testifies, that he is our peace with God, that he
renders him propitious to us, for this end, that we may live as brethren together.
We indeed wish to be deemed the children of God, and we wish to enjoy the rec-
onciliation obtained for us by the blood of Christ; but in the meantime we tear one
another, we sharpen our teeth, our dispositions are cruel. If then we desire really to
prove ourselves to be the disciples of Christ, we must attend to this part of divine
truth, each of us must strive to do good to his neighbors. But this cannot be done
without being opposed by our flesh; for we have a strong propensity to self-love, and
are inclined to seek too much our own advantages. We must therefore put off these
inordinate and sinful affections, that brotherly kindness may succeed in their place.
We are also reminded that it is not enough for any one to refrain from doing harm,
unless he be also occupied in doing good to his brethren. The Prophet might indeed
have said only They shall break their swords and their spears; so that they shall
hereafter abstain from doing any hurt to others: this only is not what he says; but,
``They shall forge,'' or beat,'' their swords into plowshares, and their spears into
pruning hooks;'' that is, when they shall abstain from all injuries they will seek to
exercise themselves in the duties of love, consistently with what Paul says, when he
JOHN CALVIN
exhorts those who had stolen to steal no more, but to work with their own hands,
that they might relieve others (Ephesians 4:28.) Except then we endeavor to relieve
the necessities of our brethren, and to offer them assistance, there will not be in
us but one part of true conversion, as the case is with many, who are not indeed
inhuman, who commit no plunder, who give no occasion for complaint, but they
live to themselves, and enjoy unprofitable leisure. This indolence the Prophet here
indirectly condemns, when he speaks of the plowshares and the pruning hooks.
Again, a question may be here asked, --- Was this fulfilled at the coming of Christ?
It seems that the Prophet does not describe here the state of the Church for a time,
but shows what would be the kingdom of Christ to the end. But we see, that when
the Gospel was at first preached, the whole world boiled with wars more than ever;
and now, though the Gospel in many parts is clearly preached, yet discords and
contentions do not cease; we also see that rapacity, ambition, and insatiable avarice,
greatly prevail; and hence arise contentions and bloody wars. And at the same time
it would have been inconsistent in the Prophet to have thus spoken of the kingdom
of Christ, had not God really designed to perform what is here predicted. My answer
to this is, --- that as the kingdom of Christ was only begun in the world, when God
commanded the Gospel to be everywhere proclaimed, and as at this day its course
is not as yet completed; so that which the Prophet says here has not hitherto taken
place; but inasmuch as the number of the faithful is small, and the greater part
despise and reject the Gospel, so it happens, that plunders and hostilities continue
in the world. How so? Because the Prophet speaks here only of the disciples of
Christ. He shows the fruit of his doctrine, that wherever it strikes a living root, it
brings forth fruit: but the doctrine of the Gospel strikes roots hardly in one out of a
hundred. 200 The measure also of its progress must be taken to the account; for so
far as any one embraces the doctrine of the Gospel, so far he becomes gentle and
seeks to do good to his neighbors. But as we as yet carry about us the relics of sin
in our flesh, and as our knowledge of the Gospel is not yet perfect, it is no wonder,
that not one of us has hitherto wholly laid aside the depraved and sinful affections
of his flesh.
It is also easy hence to see, how foolish is the conceit of those, who seek to take
away the use of the sword, on account of the Gospel. The Anabaptists, we know,
have been turbulent, as though all civil order were inconsistent with the kingdom
of Christ, as though the kingdom of Christ was made up of doctrine only, and that
doctrine without any influence. We might indeed do without the sword, were we
angels in this world; but the number of the godly, as I have already said, is small; it
is therefore necessary that the rest of the people should be restrained by a strong
bridle; for the children of God are found mixed together, either with cruel monsters
or with wolves and rapacious men. Some are indeed openly rebellious, others are
hypocrites. The use of the sword will therefore continue to the end of the world.
200"All these predictions must be confined to the nations converted by the word of Jehovah, and brought into Zion, that is, such as truly repent and believe, and must not be extended to all nations indiscriminately, or to all who embrace the Christian name, who are often as far as possible from the kingdom of Christ, inasmuch as they neither learn nor follow his doctrine. — Marckius.
MINOR PROPHETS
We must now understand that at the time our Prophet delivered this discourse,
Isaiah had used the very same words, (Isaiah 2:4:) and it is probable that Micah was
a disciple of Isaiah. They, however, exercised at the same time the Prophetic ofÏce,
though Isaiah was the oldest. But Micah was not ashamed to follow Isaiah and to
borrow his words; for he was not given to self ostentation, as though he would not
adduce any thing but what was his own; but he designedly adopted the expressions
of Isaiah, and related verbally what he had said, to show that there was a perfect
agreement between him and that illustrious minister of God, that his doctrine might
obtain more credit. We hence see how great was the simplicity of our Prophet, and
that he did not regard what malevolent and perverse men might say: ``What! he
only repeats the words of another.'' Such a calumny he wholly disregarded; and he
thought it enough to show that he faithfully declared what God had commanded.
Though we have not the {,}עד{ }רחיקod rechuk, in Isaiah, yet the meaning is the
same: in all other things they agree. It now follows---
Micah 4:4
4. But they shall sit every man under his vine and under his fig tree; and none
shall make them afraid: for the mouth of the Lord of hosts hath spoken it
4. Et sedebunt (hoc est, quiescent, vel, quieti habitabunt) quisque sub vite sua et
sub ficn sua; et nemo erit qui exterreat; quia os Jehovae exercituum loquutum est.
Micah goes on here with the same subject, --- that when the minds of men shall
be disposed to acts of kindness, every one shall enjoy God's blessing without being
disturbed. There seems indeed to be two things here included, --- that acts of hostility
shall cease, --- and that real happiness cannot exist among men, except Christ rules
among them by the doctrine of his Gospel. And the same thing the prophets teach
elsewhere, that is, that every one shall live without fear; and this they do, in order to
show that men ever live in a miserable dread, except when they are safe under the
protection of God. It is the same thing as though the Prophet had said, that the life
of men is most miserable, where the doctrine of the Gospel is not had, inasmuch as
when they are disturbed by continual disquietude, every one fears for himself, every
one suffers constant terrors. There is nothing more miserable than such a state of
things, for peace is the chief good.
We now then understand the meaning of the Prophet to be, --- that under the reign
of Christ the faithful shall enjoy true and full happiness, as they shall be exempt from
trembling and fear; hence he names the vine and the fig-tree. He might have said,
``Every one shall live securely at home;'' but he says, Every one shall rest under his
own fig-tree and under his own vine; that is, though exposed to thieves, he shall yet
fear no violence, no injury; for those who were thieves shall observe what is just and
right; those who were bloody shall study to do good. Hence when no one closes the
door of his house, yea, when he goes out into the fields and sleeps in the open air;
he will still be safe and secure. We now then see why the Prophet mentions here the
fig-tree and the vine, rather than the dwelling-house.
And there will be no one to terrify them. What the Prophet designed to express is
here more clearly specified, --- that there would be no danger, and that there would
therefore be no need of hiding-places or of any defenses. Why? Because the very
JOHN CALVIN
fields, he says, will be free from every thing that may hurt, as there will be none to
cause fear. And the Prophet seems to allude to the blessing promised in the Law,
for Moses used nearly the very same words: and the Prophets, we know, drew many
things from the Law; for their design was to retain the people in its doctrine, and
to render it as familiar as possible to them. As then Moses promised, among other
things, this security,
`Ye shall sleep, and none shall terrify you,' (Leviticus 26:6;)
so the Prophet also, in speaking here of the kingdom of Christ, shows that this
blessing would be then fully accomplished.
He now at last subjoins, The mouth of Jehovah hath thus spoken, that he might
confirm what seemed incredible: for, as I have already said, since he had shortly
before predicted the devastation of mount Zion and the ruin of the temple, it seemed
very improbable that the nations would come there to worship God. But he declares
that the mouth of God had thus spoken, that the faithful might overcome all obstacles
and struggle against despair; though they saw the temple destroyed, the mount Zion
desolated, though they saw a horrible waste and wild beasts occupying the place of
men; they were yet to continue to entertain firm hope. --- How so? Because Jehovah
has made a promise and he will fulfill it: for when mention is made of God's mouth,
his omnipotence is to be understood by which will be executed whatever he has
promised.
Prayer.
Grant, Almighty God, that since, at the coming of Christ thy Son, thou didst really
perform what thy servants, the Prophets, had previously so much foretold, and since
thou daily invites us to the unity of faith, that with united efforts we may truly serve
thee, --- O grant, that we may not continue torn asunder, every one pursuing his
own perverse inclinations, at a time when Christ is gathering us to thee; nor let us
only profess with the mouth and in words, that we are under thy government, but
prove that we thus feel in real sincerity and may we then add to the true and lawful
worship of thy name brotherly love towards one another, that with united efforts we
may promote each other's good, and that our adoption may thus be proved and be
more and more confirmed, that we may ever be able with full confidence to call on
thee as our Father through Christ our Lord. Amen.
Lecture Eighty-ninth
Micah 4:5
5. For all people will walk every one in the name of his god, and we will walk in
the name of the LORD our God for ever and ever.
5. Quia omnes populi ambulabunt, quisque in nomine dei sui; nos autem ambu-
labimus in nomine Jehovae Dei nostri in seculum et usque.
Micah, after having spoken of the restoration of the Church, now confirms the
same truth, and shows that the faithful would have reason enough to cleave con-
stantly to their God, and to despise all the superstitions of the world, and that though
they may be tossed here and there by contrary opinions, they will yet continue in
true religion. This verse then is connected with the kingdom of Christ; for until we
are gathered, and Christ shines among us and rules us by his word, there can be
MINOR PROPHETS
in us no constancy, no firmness. But when under the auspices of Christ, we join to-
gether in one body the Church, such then becomes the constancy of our faith, that
nothing can turn us from the right course, though new storms were at any time to
arise, by which the whole world might be shaken, and though it were to happen that
the universe should be agitated or pass away. We now understand what the Prophet
means.
He therefore says, All nations shall walk every one in the name of his god. This
sentence must be thus explained, --- ``Though nations be divided into various sects,
and each be addicted to their own superstitions, yet we shall continue firm in the
pure worship of God and in unity of faith.'' But this question occurs, how could the
Prophet say that there would be such discords in the world, when he had shortly
before spoken of the Church being gathered and united together? for he had said,
Come shall all nations, and each will say, Come, let us ascend into the mount of
Jehovah. There seems to be here some sort of inconsistency, --- that all nations
would come to mount Zion, and yet that every people would have their own gods.
But the solution is not difÏcult: the Prophet in this verse strengthens the faithful,
until Christ should be revealed to the world: nor is there any doubt but the Prophet
intended to sustain the confidence of the godly, who might have otherwise been
overwhelmed a hundred times with despair. When the children of Israel were driven
into exile, when their inheritance was taken away from them, when the temple had
been demolished, when, in a word, no visible religion existed, they might, as I have
said, have desponded, had not this promise come to their minds, --- that God would
restore mount Zion, and gather a Church from the whole world. But there was also
need of some confirmation, and this is what the Prophet now subjoins. Hence he
says, ``Since the Lord gives you hope of so glorious a restoration, you ought to feel
confidence. and, in reliance on his promise, to continue in his true worship, how
much soever the Gentiles may serve their own idols, and boast that they have the
true God. However, then, every one of the nations may take pride in their super-
stitions, you ought not to fluctuate, nor turn here and there, like reeds, which are
tossed to and fro, as the wind changes; but ye shall continue firm and steady in your
course; for ye know that God is true, who has once for all adopted you, and has
promised that your salvation will be the object of his care, even when the world shall
think you to be ruined and lost.''
We hence see that what the Prophet had in view was to raise up into confidence
the minds of the godly in the midst not only of troubles, but of utter confusion. All
nations then shall walk, that is, when the temple and the city shall be demolished,
and the people be led into distant exile, the ungodly will, at the same time, triumph,
every one will extol his own gods: though our God should not then appear, there
will yet be no reason why we should be discouraged; but we ought to recomb on his
word. We shall then walk in the name of our God, and that for ever and ever; that
is, though it should happen that the world should a hundred times be turned and
turned over again, there shall yet be no change in our minds: for as the truth of God
is eternal, so also our faith ought to be constant and never to vary. Now the difÏculty
is removed, and we see how these two things agree, --- that all nations shall come
JOHN CALVIN
and with one consent worship God, and yet that to each of them there would be their
own gods: for the diversity of time must be here regarded, when all nations would
walk every one in the name of his god. 201
By saying, {,}איש{ }בשם{ }אלהיוaish beshem Aleiu, he touches, in an indirect
way, on that variety which exists among men. Though all of them pertinaciously
follow and defend their own superstitions yet each one fabricates a goal for himself.
Thus it happens, that nothing is certain, for they follow only their own inventions.
But this the Prophet meant only to touch by the way. His main object was that which
I have stated, --- that though the Church of God would be small, and should find a
great multitude opposed to it, it ought not yet to succumb. We know how violent a
thing is public consent; for when the majority conspire together, the small number,
who entertain a different opinion, are, as it were instantly swallowed up. It is not then
without reason that the Prophet exhorts the faithful here to an invincible firmness of
mind, that they might triumph over all the nations. However small, then, might be
the faithful in number, the Prophet wished them to look down, as it were from a higher
place, not only on a large multitudes but on all mankind. Though then all nations
walk, etc.: nor is the word {,}כלcal, all, superfluous, --- though all nations shall
walk, etc. There was then but one nation, the offspring of Abraham, among whom
true religion existed; and it was a dreadful devastation, when God suffered the royal
city and the temple to be pulled down, and the whole body of the people to be torn
asunder, to be driven away here and there, so that no kingdom and no kind of civil
community remained. Hence the Prophet intimates here, that though the faithful
should find that in number and dignity they were far surpassed by their enemies,
they yet should not despair. ``Though then all the nations walked, every one in the
name of their god, --- though every people set up their superstitions against you, and
all conspired against you together, yet stand ye firm and proceed in your course, and
this not for a short time, but for ever and ever.'' 202 Now this passage shows that
faith depends not on the suffrages of men, and that we ought not to regard what
any one may think, or what may be the consent of all; for the truth of God alone
201Marckius views this passage differently. He considers that the converted Gentiles are meant here, — that when turned from their idols and their superstitions, they shall profess the true God, as revealed in the Gospel, and that each nation will regard him as its own God: however various in outward circumstances, they shall yet acknowledge the God revealed in his Word as their own. This view most certainly harmonizes better with the context than that of Calvin, which is commonly adopted. There is another, which is the same nearly in meaning, but founded on a different rendering of the words. The Jewish commentator Abarbanel, as quoted by Marckius, gives this version: — "Nam omnes populi, qui ambulabant quisque in nomine dei sui, et now ambulabimus in nomine Jehovae Dei nostri." The words will no doubt admit of this construction; for it is often the case in Hebrew, that {,{אשרwho, is understood before a verb in the
future tense, especially when it has the meaning of the present, as here, for the preceding ``ambulabant,'' might be rendered
``ambulant,'' without any inconstancy in the meaning. I would therefore render the verse thus, --- For all the nations, Who walk
each in the name of its god, And we ourselves, Shall walk in the name of Jehovah our God, For ever and ever. The nations were
then walking in the name of their multiplied gods; but at the time alluded to, both Gentiles and Jews would walk together in the
name of Jehovah. There is thus an entire correspondence between all the parts of this remarkable passage, which extends from
the first verse to the seventh inclusive; a part of which, extending only to the end of the third verse, is to be found in Isaiah. ---
Ed.
202{{`` }ועד{, לעולםfor ages and perpetually.'' {}עולםmeans most commonly an indefinite, rather than an infinite time. The
verb signifies to be hidden or concealed; and so the noun means an undefined and unknown period. ``For ages,'' would perhaps
be its best version; whether these ages be limited or unlimited must depend on the context. Here {}עדis added to show that
these ages would be endless, or to the end of time: for {}עדis ``still,'' unceasing futurity, that which is perpetual, still the same.
The Levitical dispensation was {`` }לעולםfor ages,'' but the new state of things promised here is to be, not only for ages, but also
perpetually, that is to the end of time, while the world lasts. --- Ed.
MINOR PROPHETS
ought to be deemed sufÏcient by us. How much soever, then, the whole world may
oppose God, our faith ought not to be changeable, but remain firm on this strong
foundation, --- that God, who cannot deceive, has spoken. This is one thing. Then, in
the second place, it must be added, that this firmness ought to be perpetual. Though
then Satan may excite against us new troubles, since we have hitherto stood firm
as to our faith in God's word, let us proceed in the same course to the end. And
the Prophet designedly added this verse; because he saw that the people would be
subject to various and long-continued temptations. It was a long captivity: hence
languor might have, as it were, wasted away all the confidence which the people
then had. And further, after they returned from exile, we know how often and how
grievously their faith was tried, when all their neighbors inimically assailed them,
and when they were afterwards oppressed by cruel tyranny. This was the reason
why the Prophet said that the children of God are to walk perpetually and to the end
in his name
Though he gives the name of gods to the idols of the nations he yet shows that
there is a great and striking difference; for the nations worship their own gods, which
they had invented: or how did they derive their majesty and their power, except
from the false imagination of men? But the Prophet says, We will walk in the name
of Jehovah our God. He hence shows that the power and authority of God is not
founded on any vain device of men, for he of himself exists, and will exist, though he
were denied by the whole world. And this also confirms what I have already stated,
--- that the faithful ought thus to embrace the word of God, as they know that they
have not to do with men, the credit of whom is doubtful and inconstant, but with him
who is the true God, who cannot lie, and whose truth is immutable. Let us proceed
---
Micah 4:6-7
6. In that day, saith the Lord, will I assemble her that halteth, and I will gather
her that is driven out, and her that I have afÒicted;
6. In die illa, inquit Jehova, colligam claudam, et ejectam congregabo, et quam
malis afÒixi;
7. And I will make her that halted a remnant, and her that was cast far off a strong
nation: and the Lord shall reign over them in mount Zion from henceforth, even for
ever.
7. Et ponam claudam in reliquias, et ultra ejectam in gentem robustam; regnabit
Jehova super eos in monte Sion ex nunc usque in seculum.
The Prophet pursues the same subject. But we must ever remember what I have
previously reminded you of, --- that the trials would be so grievous and violent that
there would be need of strong and uncommon remedies; for the faithful might have
been a hundred times sunk, as it were, in the deepest gulfs, except they had been
supported by various means. This then is the reason why the Prophet confirms so
fully the truth which we have noticed respecting the restoration of the Church.
In that day, he says, I will gather the halting This metaphor is not only found here;
for David sage that his own afÒiction was like that of halting. The word {,}צלעה
tsaloe, means the side: hence they metaphorically call those halters who walk only
JOHN CALVIN
on one side: it is the same as though he had said, that they were maimed or weak. 203 He then adds, I will assemble the ejected, whom I have afÒicted. In the next
verse he repeats the same, I will make the halting, he says, a remnant; that is, I will
make her who is now halting to remain alive, and her who is cast afar off, a strong
nation. Some explain {,}אנאלאה204 enelae, in a more refined manner, and say that
it means, She who is gone before; as though the Prophet said, God will sustain the
halting, and to those who are lively he will add strength. But this exposition is too
strained. We see that the context will not admit it; for the Prophet brings forward
the Church here as afÒicted by the hand of God, and nigh utter ruin: and then, on
the other hand, he intimates, that it was to be restored by God's power, and that
it would thereby gather new strength, and flourish as before: he therefore calls the
Church as one cast far away, as in the previous verse; and the other verse clearly
shows, that the Prophet's design was no other but to point out the twofold state of
the Church.
Now, in the first place, we must observe, that the Prophet meets the trial then
present, which must have otherwise depressed the hearts of the godly. He saw
that they were in a manner broken down; and then their dispersion was as it were
a symbol of final ruin. If then the faithful had their minds continually fixed on that
spectacle, they might have a hundred times despaired. The Prophet therefore comes
here seasonably to their help, and reminds them, that though they were now halting,
there was yet in God new vigor; that though they were scattered, it was yet in God's
power to gather those who had been driven afar off. The meaning briefly is, that
though the Church differed nothing for a time from a dead man, or at least from one
that is maimed, no despair ought to be entertained; for the Lord sometimes raises
up his people, as though he raised the dead from the grave: and this fact ought to
be carefully noticed, for as soon as the Church of God does not shine forth, we think
that it is wholly extinct and destroyed. But the Church is so preserved in the world,
that it sometimes rises again from death: in short, the preservation of the Church,
almost every day, is accompanied with many miracles.
But we ought to bear in mind, that the life of the Church is not without a resurrec-
tion, nay, it is not without many resurrections, if the expression be allowed. This we
learn from the words of the Prophet, when he says, `I will then gather the halting,
and assemble the driven away;' and then he adds, `and her whom I have with evils
afÒicted.' And this has been expressly said, that the faithful may know, that God can
bring out of the grave those whom he has delivered to death. For if the Jews had
been destroyed at the pleasure of their enemies, they could not have hoped for so
certain a remedy from God: but when they acknowledged that nothing happened to
them except through the just judgment of God, they could entertain hope of restora-
tion. How so? Because it is what is peculiar to God to bring forth the dead, as I have
already said, from the grave; as it is also his work to kill. We then see that what
203It means, doubtless, no more here; some refer it to halting between two opinions, between idols and God: but such an idea is foreign to the drift of this passage. It is the depressed, weak, or afÒicted and miserable state of the Church that is here set forth. — Ed.
204It is a Niphal participle from {,{הלאand corresponds in meaning with ,{`` }הנדחהthe ejected,'' in the last
verse; only it is a stronger term, as it means one cast to a distance, while the latter signifies one cast or driven away. The first, as
rendered by Junius and Tremelius, is procul disjecta, and the other is depulsa --- Ed.
MINOR PROPHETS
the Prophet promised, respecting the restoration of the Church, is confirmed by this
verse: I am he, says God, who has afÒicted; cannot I again restore you to life? For as
your death is in my hand, so also is your salvation. If the Assyrians or the Chaldeans
had gained the victory over you against my will, there would be some difÏculty in my
purpose of gathering you; but as nothing has happened but by my command, and
as I have proved that your salvation and your destruction is in my power, there is no
reason for you to think that it is difÏcult for me to gather you, who have through my
judgment been dispersed.
He then adds, I will make the halting a remnant By remnant he understands the
surviving Church. Hence the metaphor, halting, is extended even to destruction; as
though he said, ``Though the Jews for a time may differ nothing from dead men, I
will yet cause them to rise again, that they may become again a new people.'' It was
difÏcult to believe this at the time of exile: no wonder, then, that the Prophet here
promises that a posterity would be born from a people that were dead. For though
Babylon was to them like the grave, yet God was able to do such a thing as to bring
them forth as new men, as it really happened.
He afterwards subjoins And the driven afar off, a strong nation When the Jews were
scattered here and there, how was it possible that God should from this miserable
devastation form for himself a new people, and also a strong people? But the Prophet
has put the contrary clauses in opposition to one another, that the Jews, amazed at
their own evils, and astonished, might not cast away every consolation. As then he
had dispersed them, he would again gather them, and would not only do this, but
also make them a strong nation.
He then adds, Reign shall Jehovah over them on mount Zion, henceforth and for
ever The Prophet no doubt promises here the new restoration of that kingdom which
God himself had erected; for the salvation of the people was grounded on this --- that
the posterity of David should reign, as we shall hereafter see. And it is a common
and usual thing with the prophets to set forth the kingdom of David, whenever they
speak of the salvation of the Church. It was necessary then that the kingdom of
David should be again established, in order that the Church might flourish and be
secure. But Micah does not here name the posterity of David, but mentions Jehovah
himself, not to exclude the kingdom of David, but to show that God would become
openly the founder of that kingdom, yea, that he himself possessed the whole power.
For though God governed the ancient people by the hand of David, by the hand of
Josiah and of Hezekiah, there was yet, as it were, a shade intervening, so that God
reigned not then visibly. The Prophet then mentions here some difference between
that shadowy kingdom and the latter new kingdom, which, at the coming of the
Messiah, God would openly set up. Jehovah himself shall then reign over them; as
though he said, ``Hitherto indeed, when the posterity of David held the government,
as God himself created both David and his sons, and as they were anointed by his
authority and command, it could not have been thought but that the kingdom was
his, though he governed his people by the ministry and agency of men: but now God
himself will ascend the throne in a conspicuous manner, so that no one may doubt
but that he is the king of his people.'' And this was really and actually fulfilled in the
JOHN CALVIN
person of Christ. Though Christ was indeed the true seed of David, he was yet at
the same time Jehovah, even God manifested in the flesh. We hence see, that the
Prophet here in lofty terms extols the glory of Christ's kingdom; as though he had
said that it would not be a shadowy kingdom as it was under the Law. Jehovah then
shall reign over you.
He then subjoins, on mount Zion. We know that the seat of the kingdom of Christ
has not been continued on mount Zion; but this verse must be connected with the
beginning of this chapter. The Prophet has previously said, From Zion shall go forth
a law, and the word of Jehovah from Jerusalem. If then the interpretation of this
place be asked, that is, how Jehovah showed himself the king of his people, and
erected his throne on mount Zion, the answer is, that from thence the law went forth
from that place, as from a fountain flowed the doctrine of salvation, to replenish the
whole world. As then the Gospel, which God caused to be promulgated through the
whole world, had its beginning on mount Zion, so the Prophet says that God would
reign there. But we must at the same time observe, that through the defection and
perfidy of the people it has happened that mount Zion is now only an insignificant
corner of the earth, and not the most eminent in the world, as also the city Jerusalem,
according to the prediction of Zechariah. Mount Zion then is now different from what
it was formerly; for wherever the doctrine of the Gospel is preached, there is God
really worshipped, there sacrifices are offered; in a word, there the spiritual temple
exists. But yet the commencement of the Gospel must be taken to the account, if
we would understand the real meaning of the Prophet, that is, that Christ, or God in
the person of Christ, began to reign on mount Zion, when the doctrine of the Gospel
from thence went forth to the extremities of the world. It now follows ---
Micah 4:8
8. And thou, O tower of the flock, the strong hold of the daughter of Zion, unto
thee shall it come, even the first dominion; the kingdom shall come to the daughter
of Jerusalem.
8. Et tu turris gregis, arx filiae Sion, ad te veniet; perveniet principatus primus,
regnum filiae Jerusalem.
Micah still continues the same subject, --- that the miserable calamities of the
people, or even their ruin, will not prevent God to restore again his Church. Thou
tower of the flock, he says, the fortress of the daughter of Zion, doubt not but that
God will again restore to thee thy ancient kingdom and dignity from which thou
seemest now to have entirely fallen. But interpreters take the tower of the flock in
various senses. Some think that the devastation of the city Jerusalem is pointed out,
because it became like a cottage, as it is said in Isaiah; and {,}עפלophil, they render
``obscure,'' for its root is to cover. But another explanation is simpler, --- that the holy
city is called the tower of the flock, because God had chosen it for himself, to gather
his people thence; for we know that they had there their holy assemblies. Thou,
then, the tower of the flock, and then, the fortress of the daughter of Zion, to thee
shall come the former kingdom 205 If, however, the former sense be more approved,
205"I think the temple is meant, or Jerusalem; the place where the flock, the whole congregation of the people assembled to worship God. Newcome retains the Hebrew word {,{עדרeder,
a tower in or near Bethlehem, Genesis 35:21, or as some think, a tower near the sheep gate in Jerusalem. I believe Jerusalem,
MINOR PROPHETS
I will not contend; that is, that Jerusalem is here called the tower of the flock on
account of its devastation, as it was reduced as it were into a cottage. As to the
main import of the passage, there is no ambiguity; for the Prophet here strengthens
the minds of the godly: they were not to regard the length of time, nor to allow their
thoughts, to be occupied with their present calamity, but to feel assured, that what
God had promised was in his power, that he could, as it were, raise the dead, and
thus restore the kingdom of David, which had been destroyed.
Do then, he says, firmly hope. --- Why? because come to thee, come to thee shall
the former kingdom 206 Here the breaking off of the sentence is to be noticed, when
the Prophet speaks of the ancient kingdom and dignity. It is not indeed to be doubted,
but that the people of God had become objects of mockery, and that hypocrites
and heathens thought that what David had testified respecting the perpetuity of his
kingdom was a mere delusion.
`Behold thy kingdom,' he said, `shall continue as long as the sun and the moon,'
(Psalm 72)
but soon after the death of Solomon, a small portion only was reserved for his
posterity, and at length the kingdom itself and its dignity disappeared. This is the
reason that the Prophet now says, that the former kingdom would come. Come, he
says, to thee, daughter of Zion, come shall the former kingdom There is indeed no
doubt, but that by the former kingdom he understands its most flourishing condition,
recorded in Scripture, under David and Solomon.
The kingdom, he says, to the daughter of Jerusalem shall come He expressly
mentions the daughter of Jerusalem, because the kingdom of Israel had obscured
the glory of the true kingdom. Hence the Prophet testifies here that God was not
unmindful of his promise, and that he would restore to Jerusalem the dignity which
it had lost, and unite the whole people into one body, that they might be no more
divided, but that one king would rule over the whole race of Abraham. But this was
not fulfilled, we are certain, at the coming of Christ, in a manner visible to men: we
must therefore bear in mind what Micah has previously taught, --- that this kingdom
is spiritual; for he did not ascribe to Christ a golden scepter, but a doctrine, ``Come,
and let us ascend unto the mount of Jehovah, and he will teach us of his ways;
and then he added,'' From Zion shall go forth a law, and the word of Jehovah from
Jerusalem. This, then, ought ever to be remembered, --- that God has not rendered
Jerusalem glorious in the sight of men, as it was formerly, nor has he enriched it
with influence and wealth and earthly power; but he has yet restored the sovereign
authority; for he has not only subjected to himself the ten tribes which had formerly
revolted, but also the whole world. Let us go on ---
Micah 4:9-10
9. Now why dost thou cry out aloud? is there no king in thee? is thy counsellor
or the temple, or both, are meant; for these were considered the stronghold of the daughter of Zion, the fortress of the Jewish
people.''---Adam Clarke. What especially confirms this view is, that the two clauses are in apposition, the latter is explanatory of
the former. --- Ed.
206Calvin observes the order of the original, which is not done in our version. The whole verse may be thus rendered, — And thou tower of the flock, The fortress of the daughter of Zion! To thee it shall return; Yea, come shall the former dominion, The kingdom to the daughter of Jerusalem. The verb {,{אתהwhich I render ``return,'' means mostly, to come, to come near, to approach, to happen. ---
Ed.
JOHN CALVIN
perished? for pangs have taken thee as a woman in travail.
9. Nunc quare vociferaris vociferatione? Rex nullus in te? Au conciliarius tuus
periit? Quia te occupavit dolor quasi parturientem.
10. Be in pain, and labour to bring forth, O daughter of Zion, like a woman in
travail: for now shalt thou go forth out of the city, and thou shalt dwell in the field,
and thou shalt go even to Babylon; there shalt thou be delivered; there the Lord shall
redeem thee from the hand of thine enemies.
10. Dole et ignemisce, filia Sion, quasi parturiens; quia 207 exibis e civitate, et
habitabis in ergo; et venies Babylonem usque; illic liberaberis, illic dedimet te Jehova
e manu hostium tuorum.
The Prophet blends here things in their nature wholly contrary, --- that the Jews
were for a time to be cut off, --- and that afterwards they were to recover their former
state. Why, he says, dost thou cry out with crying? We must notice the Prophet's
design. He did not intend to overturn what he had before stated; but as the minds
of the godly might have fainted amidst so many changes, the Prophet here gives
them support, that they might continue firm in their faith; and hence he says, Why
dost thou cry aloud with loud crying? That is, ``I see that grievous troubles will arise
capable of shaking even the stoutest hearts: time will be changeable; it will often
be, that the faithful will be disturbed and degraded; but though various tumults may
arise, and tempests throw all things into confusion, yet God will redeem his people.''
We now then see what the Prophet means by saying, Why dost thou now cry? Why
dost thou make an uproar? for the verb here properly means, not only to cry out,
but also to sound the trumpet; as though he said, Why do the Jews so much torment
themselves? There is he says, no doubt, a good reason.
And he adds, Is there no king among thee? This was doubtless the reason why
the Jews so much harassed themselves; it was, because God had deprived them
of their kingdom and of counsel: and we know what Jeremiah has said, `Christ,'
that is, the anointed of the Lord, `by whose life we breathe, is slain,' (Lamentations
4:20.) Since, then, the whole Church derived as it were its life from the safety of
its king, the faithful could not be otherwise than filled with amazement when the
kingdom was upset and abolished; for the hope of salvation was taken away Is there,
then, not a king among thee? and have thy counselors perished? Some think that
the unfaithfulness of the people is here indirectly reproved, because they thought
themselves to be destitute of the help of God and of his Christ, as though he said, ---
``Have ye forgotten what God has promised to you, that he would be your king for
ever, and would send the Messiah to rule over you? nay, has he not promised that
the kingdom of David would be perpetual? Whence then, is this fear and trembling,
as though God no longer reigned in the midst of you, and the throne of David were
hopelessly overturned?'' These interpreters, in confirmation of this opinion, say,
that Christ is here distinguished by the same title as in Isaiah 9:7; where he is called
{,}יועףivots, a counselor. But as in this verse, it is the Prophet's design to terrify, and
to reprove rather than to alleviate the grievousness of evils by consolation; it is more
207Tyne, {,{עתהis left out; nor is it restored in the comment. It should be, ``For now thou shalt go forth from the city.'' ---
Ed.
MINOR PROPHETS
probable, that their own destitution is set before the people; as though Micah said,
``What cause have you for trembling? Is it because your king and all his counselors
have been taken away?'' But what immediately follows proves that this sorrow arose
from a just cause; it was because they were stripped of all those things which had
been till that time the evidences of God's favor.
Why then has pain laid hold on thee as on one in travail? Be in pain, he says,
and groan; 208 that is, I will not prevent thee to grieve and to mourn; as though he
said, ``Certainly even the strongest cannot look on calamities so dreadful, without
suffering the heaviest sorrow; but though God may for a time subject his children to
the greatest tortures, and expose them to the most grievous evils, he will yet restore
them at length from their exile.'' Thou shalt depart, he says, from the city, and dwell
in the field: thou shalt come even to Babylon; but there thou shalt be delivered;
there shall Jehovah redeem thee from the hand of thy enemies The import of the
whole is, that though God would have a care for his people, as he had promised,
there was yet no cause for the faithful to flatter themselves, as though they were to
be exempt from troubles; but the Prophet, on the contrary, exhorts them to prepare
themselves to undergo calamities, as they were not only to be ejected from their
country, and to wander in strange lands like vagrants, but were to be led away into
Babylon as to their grave.
But to strengthen the minds of the faithful to bear the cross, he gives them a
hope of deliverance, and says, that God would there deliver them, and there redeem
them from the hand of their enemies. He repeats the adverb, {,}שםshem, there,
twice, and not without cause: for the faithful might have excluded every hope of
deliverance, as though the gate of God's power had been closed. And this is the
reason why the Prophet repeats twice, there, there; even from the grave he will
deliver and redeem thee: ``Extend then your hope, not only to a small measure of
favor, as though God could deliver you only from a state of some small danger, but
even to death itself. Though then ye lay, as it were, in your graves, yet doubt not
but that God will stretch forth his hand to you, for he will be your deliverer. God then
in whose power is victory, can overcome many and innumerable deaths.''
Prayer.
Grant, Almighty God, that since under the guidance of thy Son we have been
united together in the body of thy Church, which has been so often scattered and
torn asunder, --- O grant, that we may continue in the unity of faith, and persever-
ingly fight against all the temptations of this world, and never deviate from the right
course, whatever new troubles may daily arise: and though we are exposed to many
deaths, let us not yet be seized with fear, such as may extinguish in our hearts every
hope; but may we, on the contrary, learn to raise up our eyes and minds, and all our
thoughts, to thy great power, by which thou quickenest the dead, and raises from
nothing things which are not, so that though we may be daily exposed to ruin, our
souls may ever aspire to eternal salvation, until thou at length really slowest thyself
to be the fountain of life, when we shall enjoy that endless felicity, which has beon
208Ingemisce, groan, mourn, or sigh and sob. {,{גחיburst forth, or break out; that is, into tears or mourning.
``Bring forth,'' as it is rendered by Newcome and Henderson, seems not to be the import of the word here. It may be rendered,
as Parkhurst proposes, ``labor and bring forth.'' --- Ed.
JOHN CALVIN
obtained for us by the blood of thy only-begotten Son our Lord. Amen.
Lecture Ninetieth
Micah 4:11-13
11. Now also many nations are gathered against thee, that say, Let her be defiled,
and let our eye look upon Zion.
11. Et nunc congregatae sunt contra se gentes multae (vel, robustae,) dicentes
Damnata erit; et aspiciet in Sion oculus noster.
12. But they know not the thoughts of the Lord, neither understand they his
counsel: for he shall gather them as the sheaves into the floor.
12. Ipsi vero non noverunt cognitationes Jehovae, et non intellexerunt consilium
ejus; quia congregabis eos quasi manipulum in aeream.
13. Arise and thresh, O daughter of Zion: for I will make thine horn iron, and I
will make thy hoofs brass: and thou shalt beat in pieces many people: and I will
consecrate their gain unto the Lord, and their substance unto the Lord of the whole
earth.
13. Surge, et tritura filia Sion; quia cornu tuum ponam ferrum, et ungulas tuas
ponam chalybem; et conteres populos robustos; et dicabis Jehovae opes ipsorum, et
substantiam eorum Dominatori universae terrae.
The Prophet's object here is to give some alleviation to the faithful lest they should
succumb under their calamities; for, as we have stated, there were most grievous
evils approaching, sufÏcient to overwhelm the minds of the godly. The Prophet then
raises up here, with the moat suitable comfort, those who would have otherwise
fainted under their calamities; and the sum of the whole is this, --- that the faithful
were not to be confounded on finding the ungodly proudly triumphing, as they are
wont to do, when they seem to have gained their wishes. Since, then, the wicked
show a petulant spirit beyond all bounds, the Prophet exhorts the faithful to sustain
themselves by God's promises, and not to care for such insolence. He then subjoins
a promise, --- that God would assemble all the forces of their enemies, as when one
gathers many ears of corn into a bundle, that he may thrash them on the floor. I will
come now to the words of the Prophet.
Assemble, he says, against thee do nations, or strong nations: for, by saying,
{,}גוים{ }רביםguim rebim, he intimates one of two things, either that they were
strong, or that they were large in number: as to the subject there is no great differ-
ence. The Prophet had this in view, --- that though the Church of God may be pressed
by a great multitude of enemies, it yet ought not to be broken down in mind: for the
ungodly, while they cruelly domineer, do not understand the design of God. As-
semble, then, against thee do many nations He sets the thing before them, to heal
them of terror: for when we are beyond the reach of harm, we, for the most part,
too heedlessly despise all dangers; and then, when we come to a real struggle, we
tremble, or even fall and become wholly weak. This is the reason why the Prophet
sets before the Jews their prospects, and shows that the time was near when they
were to endure a siege, as enemies would, on all sides, surround them. Assemble
then do nations, and strong or many nations: he shows here that the Jews had no
reason to despond, though their enemies would far exceed them in number, and in
MINOR PROPHETS
forces, and in courage, for it was enough for them to be under the protection of God.
Who say, condemned now shall be Zion 209 The verb {,}חנףchenaph, means to
act wickedly and perversely. It may then be literally rendered, `profane (scelerata)
shall be Zion; and on it shall our eye look:' but this word is often taken metaphorically
for condemnation. The meaning then is, `Zion is now condemned:' and the Prophet,
no doubt, intended to intimate here, that the enemies would so triumph, as though
Zion were not under the guardianship of God; as when any one, who has rendered
himself hateful by his vices, is left and forsaken by his patrons. So, then, the Prophet
here arms the faithful against the arrogance of their enemies, that they might not
despair, when they found that they were condemned by the consent of all men, and
that this was the opinion of all, --- that they were forsaken by God.
Consolation follows, But they know not the thoughts of Jehovah, nor understand
his counsel: for verbs in the past tense have the meaning of the present. Here the
Prophet recalls the attention of the godly to a subject the most suitable to them: for
when the wicked rise up so cruelly against us, we are apt to think that all things are
allowed to them, and then their reproaches and slanders immediately take posses-
sion of our minds and thoughts, so that we in a manner measure God's judgment
by their words. Hence when the ungodly deride our faith, and boast that we are for-
saken by God, we succumb, being as it were filled with amazement: and nothing is
easier than to shake off from us faith and the memory of God's promises, whenever
the ungodly are thus insolent. The Prophet then does not without cause apply a rem-
edy which ought to be carefully observed by us. Who say, condemned is Zion; but
they are like the blind when judging of colors, for they understand not the counsel
of Jehovah and his thoughts they know not. We now then see what the Prophet had
in view, which was to show, --- that the faithful would be unwise and foolish, if they
formed an opinion of God's judgment according to the boasting of the ungodly: for
Satan carries them away in a furious manner; and when the Lord gives them liberty
to do evil, they think that they shall be conquerors to the end. As then the ungodly
are thus inebriated with foolish confidence, and despise not only men, but God him-
self, the Prophet here holds up and supports the minds of the godly that they might
ascend higher, and thus understand that the design of God was not the same as
what the wicked thought, who neither belonged to nor approached God. 210
It is especially needful to know this truth. Some at the first sight may think it
frigid, ``O! than, what does the Prophet mean? he says that what these declare is
not the design of Jehovah; and this we know.'' But were all to examine the subject,
they would then confess with one mouth, that nothing could have been more sea-
209Jam damnata erit. Newcome renders the distich thus, — Who say, Let her be defiled, And let our eye see its desire on Zion. Profaned, or defiled, it is no doubt the meaning of the verb. But it is better to retain the future tense here, though it may often, in the third person, be rendered as an imperative. To look on, is a Hebrew idiom, and means often to triumph or exalt over another, or to gain the upper hand. See Psalm 22:17; Psalm 118:7. Several copies have the word for "eyes" in the singular number, as the verb is so: but anomalies of this kind often occur, as it is the case in Greek with respect to plural nouns in the neuter gender, and in Welsh, and when the verb precedes its nominative, almost in all instances. I offer the following version, — Who say, "Defiled shall she be, And look on Zion shall our eyes." — Ed.
210The beginning of these two lines is very emphatic: I would give this rendering, — But they — they know not the purposes of Jehovah, And they understand not his counsel. It has been rendered, "But, as for them;" but this is flat, and too prosaic. — Ed.
JOHN CALVIN
sonable than this consolation. Now we are wounded by reproaches, and this very
often happens to ingenuous men; and then, while the ungodly vomit forth their slan-
ders, we think that God rests indifferently in heaven; and one of their words, like a
cloud, obscures the judgment of God. As soon as any one of the wicked derides us,
and laughs at our simplicity, threatens ferociously, and spreads forth his terrors, his
words, as I have said, are like a cloud intervening between us and God. This is the
reason why the Prophet says here, that the thoughts of Jehovah are different, and
that his counsel is different: in short, the Prophet's object is to show, that whenever
the ungodly thus proudly despise us, and also reproachfully threaten and terrify us,
we ought to raise our thoughts to heaven. --- Why so? Because the design of God is
another. Their boastings then will vanish, for they arise from nothing, and they shall
come to nothing, but the purpose of God shall stand.
But let us now see why the Prophet spoke here of the design and thoughts of God:
for if only these two words are brought before us, there is certainly but little solid
comfort, and nothing that has much force or power. There is then another principle
to be understood, --- that the thoughts of God are known to us, who are taught in his
school. The counsel of God then is not hidden, for it is revealed to us in his Word.
Consolation therefore depends on a higher and a more recondite doctrine; that is,
that the faithful, in their miseries, ought to contemplate the counsel of God as in a
mirror. And what is this? that when he afÒicts us, he holds a remedy in his hand, and
that when he throws us into the grave, he can restore us to life and safety. When,
therefore, we understand this design of God, --- that he chastens his Church with
temporal evils, and that the issue will ever be most salutary, --- when this is known
by us, there is then no reason why the slanders of the ungodly should deject our
minds; and when they vomit forth all their reproaches, we ought to adhere firmly to
this counsel of God. But that the ungodly are thus proud is no matter of wonder;
for if they raise their horns against God, why should they not despise us also, who
are so few in number, and of hardly any influence, at least not equal to what they
possess? The Church is indeed contemptible in the eyes of the world; and it is no
wonder if our enemies thus deride us, and load us with ridicule and contempt, when
they dare to act so frowardly towards God. But it is enough for us to know, that they
do not understand the counsel of God. We now then see the Prophet's meaning, and
an explanation follows, ---
For thou shalt assemble them, he says, as a sheaf 211 to the floor The Prophet
adds this clause as an explanation, that we may know what the counsel of God is,
which he has mentioned, and that is, that God will collect the enemies as a sheaf.
What is a sheaf? It is a small quantity of corn, it may be three hundred or a thousand
ears of corn: they are ears of corn, and carried in a man's hand. And then, what is
to be done with the sheaf? It is to be thrashed on the floor. It was indeed difÏcult
to believe, that enemies, when thus collected together on every side, would be like
a sheaf. If an army assembled against us, not only ten or twenty thousand, but a
much larger number, who would think, according to the judgment of the flesh, that
211Manipulum, a handful, a bundle of fruit; {,{מירa sheaf,---a poetical singular for the plural --- sheaves. ---
Ed.
MINOR PROPHETS
they would be like a sheaf? They shall be as so many deaths and graves: even the
thought of God ought to be to us of more account than the formidable power of men.
Whenever, therefore, our enemies exceed us in strength and number, let us learn
to arise to that secret counsel of God, of which our Prophet now speaks; and then
it will be easy for us to regard a vast multitude to be no more than a handful. And
he says, that our enemies are to be gathered to a floor, that they may be thrashed
there. They assemble themselves for another purpose; for they think that we shall
be presently in their power, that they may swallow us up; but when they thus collect
themselves and their forces, the Lord will frustrate their purpose and cause them to
be thrashed by us. It follows, ---
Arise and thresh, daughter of Zion; for I have made thy horn 212 iron, and thy
hoofs brass. The Prophet here confirms what he had previously said: and he exhorts
the daughter of Zion to arise; for it was necessary for her to have been cast down,
so as to lie prostrate on the ground. God did not indeed restore at once his Church,
but afÒicted her for a time, so that she differed nothing from a dead man. As then
a dead body lies on the ground without any feeling, so also did the Church of God
lie prostrate. This is the reason why the Prophet now says, Arise, daughter of Zion;
as though God, by his voice, roused the dead. We hence see, that the word {,}קומי
kumi, is emphatical; for the Prophet reminds us, that there is no reason for the faithful
wholly to despair, when they find themselves thus cast down, for their restoration is
in the hand and power of God, as it is the peculiar ofÏce of God to raise the dead.
And this same truth ought to be applied for our us, whenever we are so cast down,
that no strength, no vigor, remains in us. How then can we rise again? By the power
of God, who by his voice alone can restore us to life, which seemed to be wholly
extinct.
He afterwards subjoins, Thresh, for I have made thy horn iron, and thy hoofs brass.
A mode of thrashing, we know, was in use among the Jews the same with that in Italy
and at this day in French Provence. We here thrash the corn with flails; but there by
treading. The Prophet speaks here of this custom, and compares the Church of God
to oxen; as though he said ``The Jews shall be like oxen with iron horns and brazen
hoofs that they may lay prostrate under them the whole strength of the nations.
However much then the nations may now excel, I will subject them under the feet
of my people, as if sheaves were thrashed by them.''
He then adds, 213 And thou shalt separate or consecrate their wealth to Jehovah,
and their substance 214 to the Lord of the whole earth Here the Prophet specifies
212Horn, in Scripture, means often elevation, dignity, power, strength. It means evidently in the last here. Zion was made strong to thrash the nations, and supplied with strong hoofs to tread on them. The Paraphrase of Rabbi Jonathan is to the purpose, Fortes sicut ferrum, et robusti sicut aes — "Strong as iron, and robust as brass." And that this is the meaning is proved by what follows, Thou shalt beat in pieces, or beat small, or thrash out, strong nations. — Ed.
213It is not often that Calvin passes over a sentence without noticing it, but he does so here; and it is this, and thou shalt tear in pieces strong nations. The verb is {,{הדקותthou shalt beat
small, or thrash out; see Isaiah 28:28; perhaps the latter sense is most suitable to the passage. The meaning is, that a complete
subjugation will take place. To thrash and to thrash out, is to conquer and to bring thoroughly under subjection. --- Ed.
214The Hebrew word for this is {,{חילand for ``wealth'' .{}בצעThe latter means gain, spoil, or what is often unjustly
got, or what is scraped together and constitutes the wealth of the covetous; {}חילis properly substance, including possessions
of all kinds, land, cattle, etc. {}בצעserves to include money, silver and gold; and ,{}חילeverything else which makes up wealth.
JOHN CALVIN
the end for which God had purposed to subject the heathen nations to his chosen
people, --- that he might be glorified. This is the meaning. But they have refined
too much in allegories, who have thought that this prophecy ought to be confined
to the time of Christ: for the Prophet no doubt meant to extend consolation to the
whole kingdom of Christ, from the beginning to the end. Others, not more correctly,
say, that this is to be referred to the Babylonian captivity because then Daniel and
some others thrashed the people, when heathen kings were induced through their
teaching to restore the temple, and also to offer some worship to the God of Israel.
But on this point they are both mistaken, because they take the word thrashing in a
different sense from the Prophet; for it commonly means that heathen nations are
to be subjected to the Church of God: and this takes place, whenever God stretches
forth his hand to the faithful, and suffers not the ungodly to exercise their cruelty as
they wish; yea, when he makes them humbly to supplicate the faithful. This often
happens in the world, as it is written of Christ, `thy enemies shall lick the earth,'
(Psalm 72:9.) But this prophecy shall not be fulfilled until the last coming of Christ.
We indeed begin to tread on our enemies whenever God by his power destroys them,
or at least causes them to tremble and to be cast down, as we find that they dread
whenever any change takes place; and then they blandly profess that they desire to
serve God. So at this day it has happened both in France and in Italy. How many hyp-
ocrites, for the sake of an earthly advantage, have submitted themselves to God?
and how many such England produced when the Gospel flourished there? All the
courtiers, and others who were unwilling to incur the displeasure of the king, pro-
fessed themselves to be the very best lovers of religion. (optimos pietatis cultores,
--- the best observers of piety) But yet this is ever the case,
`Aliens have been false to thee,' (Psalm 18:44.)
We hence see what the prophet means when he speaks of thrashing: he intimates,
that the Lord would often cause that the enemies of the Church should be bruised,
though no one crushed them: but, as I have said, we must look forward to the last
day, if we wish to see the complete fulfillment of this prophecy.
He afterwards adds, Thou shalt consecrate their wealth to Jehovah, and their sub-
stance to the Lord of the whole earth The Prophet shows here, that the dominion is
not to be hoped for by the children of God, that they may abound in worldly plea-
sures, and appropriate every thing to themselves and also abuse their power, as
ungodly men are wont to do; but that all is to be applied to the worship and the glory
of God. For what purpose, then does God design his Church to become eminent?
That he himself may alone shine forth, and that the faithful may rightly enjoy their
honor, and not become thereby proud. There is, therefore nothing more alien to the
power of the Church than pride, or cruelty, or avarice. This, then that is said ought to
be carefully observed, their wealth thou shalt consecrate to Jehovah He had spoken
before of power, ``Thou shalt bind strong people, thou shalt thrash them, and thou
shalt tread them under thy feet;'' but lest the faithful should turn all this to a purpose
The verb, ``consecrate,'' is in Hebrew in the first person, as it is in our version. There is no different reading; but the Septuagint
and the earlier versions put it in the second person, to correspond with the previous verb, ``Thou shalt beat in pieces.'' There will
be no difference in the sense, if we render it according to the Hiphil form, in which it is found, --- ``I will cause thee to consecrate.''
Jerome, Theodoret, Marckius, Dathius, Newcome, and Henderson, adopt the second person. --- This construction renders the
passage no doubt more uniform. --- Ed.
MINOR PROPHETS
the Lord had not designed, a most suitable correction is immediately added, and that
is, that this power shall not be exercised according to the will of men, but according
to the will of God: Thou shalt then consecrate, etc.; and he uses the word {,}חרם
cherem, which means to make a thing an anathema or an offering; 215 as though he
said ``God will raise his Church that it may rule over its enemies; but let the faithful
at the same time take heed, that they rule not tyrannically; for God designs ever
to reign alone: therefore the whole excellency, the whole dignity, the whole power
of the Church ought to be applied for this end, --- that all things may become sub-
ject to God, and every thing among the nations may be altogether sacred to him so
that the worship of God may flourish among the conquerors, as well as among the
conquered.'' We now perceive the Prophet's object in speaking of consecrating the
wealth of the nations. Now follows ---
Chapter 5
215The word is very emphatic; it means to devote a thing to a purpose forever, so as to be unchangeably settled. {,{חרםsays Parkhurst, ``is anything separated absolutely from its common condition and devoted
to Jehovah, so as to be incapable of redemption. See Leviticus 27:21, 28, 29. As a verb in Hiph. To separate or devote thus to
Jehovah. Leviticus 27:28, 29; Micah 4:12.'' It is therefore a sacrilege to take merely to our own use what ought to be, or what we
have, thus consecrated to the Lord. --- Ed.
Micah 5
Micah 5:1-2
1. Now gather thyself in troops, O daughter of troops: he hath laid siege against
us: they shall smite the judge of Israel with a rod upon the cheek.
1. 216 Nunc colligas te (vel, obsidione cingeris, ut alii vertunt) filia congregationis
(hoc est, turmae;) obsidionem posuit contra nos; in virga percutient ad maxillam
judicem Israel.
2. But thou, Bethlehem Ephratah, though thou be little among the thousands of
Judah, yet out of thee shall he come forth unto me that is to be ruler in Israel; whose
goings forth have been from of old, from everlasting.
2. Et tu Beth-lehem Ephrata, parva ad essendum (ut ita loquar) inter millia Je-
hudah; ex te mihi egredietur ad essendum dominatorem (sic transfero durius, ut sit
dominator) in Israel: et egressus ejus ab initio, a diebus seculi.
To encourage the faithful to patience, the Prophet again reminds them that hard
and severe time was nigh; for it was needful to put them in mind often of the ap-
proaching calamity, lest terror should wholly discourage them. As then there was
danger from despair, the Prophet often repeats what he has already said of God's
judgment, which was then suspending over the people of Israel. And this mode
and order of teaching ought to be observed. When the Prophets threaten us, or de-
nounce the punishment we have deserved, we either become torpid, or grow angry
with God, and murmur: but when they set forth any thing of comfort, we then indulge
ourselves and become too secure. It is therefore necessary to connect threatening
with promises, so that we may be always ready to endure temporal evils, and that our
minds, sustained by hope, may, at the same time, depend on the Lord, and recomb
on him. It was for this reason that the Prophet again mentions what he had already
216Calvin has, in this division, followed the Septuagint, and so have the translators of our version. This verse, in Hebrew, belongs to the last chapter. Marckius, Dathius, and Henderson, follow the Hebrew division; Junius, and Tremelius, and Newcome, that of our version.
MINOR PROPHETS
several times stated, --- that the Jews would be surrounded by a siege. How do these
two things agree, --- that the enemies, assembled together, would be like sheaves
which are taken to the floor to be trodden by the feet of animals, --- and that the
Jews would be besieged? I answer, that these things harmonize, because the tem-
porary punishment, which God would inflict on his Church, would not prevent him to
restore it again whenever it pleased him. Lest, therefore, security should creep over
the minds of the godly, the Prophet designed often to remind them of that dreadful
calamity which might have entirely upset them, had no support been afforded them,
that is, had not God sustained them by his word.
Now then thou shalt assemble thyself, he says, O daughter of a troop The verb
{,}התגדדיetgaddi, and the noun {,}גדודgadud, sound alike; as though he said, Thou
shalt he collected, O daughter of collection. The Prophet addresses Jerusalem: but
we must see why he calls her the daughter of collection. Some think that by this word
is designated the splendid and wealthy state of Jerusalem; as though the Prophet
said, --- ``This city has been hitherto populous, but now it shall be reduced to such
straits that none shall dare to go forth beyond its gates, for they shall on every
side be surrounded.'' But the Prophet calls Jerusalem the daughter of a troop in
another sense, --- because they were wont to occasion great troubles: as thieves
agree together, and meet in troops for the purpose of committing plunder; so also
the Prophet calls Jerusalem the daughter of a troop, for its citizens were wont willfully
to do great evils, and like robbers to use violence. Thou then, he says, shalt now be
collected; that is, thou shalt not send forth thy troops, but enemies shall assemble
thee together by a severe siege, so that thou shalt contract thyself like a bundle.
There are, then, two clauses in this verse, --- that though the Lord resolved to help
his Church, he would yet straiten her for a time, --- and then the Prophet shows the
reason, lest they complained that they were too severely treated: ``You have been
hitherto,'' he says, ``without a cause oppressive to others: the time then is come
when the Lord will return to you your recompense.'' As Isaiah says
`Woe to thee, plunderer!
Shalt thou not also be exposed to plunder?'
Isaiah 33:1;
so also in this place, --- ``Ye have assembled in troops, that ye might pillage
innocent men; therefore other troops shall now encircle you; nay, ye shall be beset
by your own fear.'' The verb is in Hithpael: he says not, ``Thou daughter of a troop
shalt be now encircled;'' but he says ``Thou shalt gather thyself.''
He then adds, A siege has he set against thee. This may refer to God; but it
must be understood only of enemies: for the Prophet immediately adds, They shall
strive with the rod, etc. in the pleural number, --- They shall then strike with the
rod the cheek of the judge of Israel. He means that the Jews would be subdued by
their enemies that their judges and governors would be exposed to every kind of
contumely and dishonor, for to strike on the cheek is to offer the greatest indignity;
as indeed it is the greatest contempt, as Demosthenes says, and is so mentioned by
the lawyers. We now then perceive, that the Prophet's object was to show, --- that
the Jews in vain boasted of their kingdom and civil constitution, for the Lord would
JOHN CALVIN
expose the governors of that kingdom to extreme contempt. The enemies then shall
strike their judges even on the cheek. 217
But there follows immediately a consolation: we hence see that the Prophet, at
one time, humbles the children of God: and prepares them for enduring the cross;
and then he mitigates all sorrow; yea, and makes them to rejoice in the midst of their
evils. For this purpose he adds what follows ---
Thou Bethlehem Ephratah, art small, that thou shouldest be among the thousands
of Judah As Matthew quotes this passage differently, some think that it ought to be
read as a question, And thou, Bethlehem Ephratah, art thou the least among the
provinces of Judah? Matthew says ``Thou art by no means the least, thou excellest. 218'' But what need there is of distorting the words of the Prophet, as it was not
the design of the Evangelist to relate the expressions of the Prophet, but only to
point out the passage. As to the words, Matthew had regards to the condition of the
town Bethlehem, such as it was at the coming of Christ. It then indeed began to be
eminent: but the Prophet represents here how ignoble and mean a place Bethlehem
then was, Thou, he says, art the least among the thousands of Judah. Some, not very
wisely, give this explanation, ``Thou art the least among the thousands of Judah'';
that is, ``Though there might be a thousand towns in the tribe of Judah, yet thou
couldest hardly have a place among so great a number.'' But this has been said
through ignorance of a prevailing custom: for the Jews, we know, were wont to divide
their districts into thousands or chiliads. As in the army there are centurions, so
also in the divisions of every nation there are hundreds; there are also in an army
tribunes, who preside over a thousand men. Thus the Prophet calls them thousands,
that is, tribunes; for the districts are so arranged, that the town, which, with its
villages, could bring forth three thousand men, had three prefectures; and it had
217This verse has been variously interpreted. It is considered by most as connected with the last chapter. Some, as Marckius, consider it as an address to the Roman power; some, to the Babylonian; and others, to Jerusalem. The construction of it is the main point. The first verb, {,{תתגדדיis found in six other places, and rendered in all, except in Jeremiah 5:7, to cut one's self; but its other meaning, as in
Jeremiah 5:7, and evidently here is to troop or band together; and the noun ,{}גדודwhich follows, commonly means a band or
a troop. The participle ,{}שםin the next clause, can refer to nothing in the text but to ``the daughter of a troop.'' The obvious
and natural rendering of the verse would be the following, --- Band thyself together, thou daughter of a band, Laying against us
a siege: --- With the rod shall they strike on the cheek The judge of Israel. The daughter of a band or a troop means a military
power, which collects bands or troops for warlike purposes. It is certainly more obvious to apply this to the Babylonian power
than to Jerusalem, especially as the next line, ``Laying against us a siege,'' necessarily refers to the latter. ``The judge'' is, as
Calvin seems to take it, a poetical singular for the plural. No particular person is meant, as Newcome and others seem to think,
but judges in general. --- Ed.
218This does not follow; for to say that it was "not the least," is not to deny that it was "small." There is, in fact, no contradiction in the expressions. Matthew quotes literally neither the Hebrew nor the Septuagint version. The latter, in this case, agrees with the former. He gives the sense, but not the words, even in two instances besides this. Instead of "Ephratah," he has, "in the land of Judah;" and instead of "Ruler," he has, "Governor that shall rule," or feed. The meaning in these three instances is the same, though the words are different. The place was, in former times, called Bethlehem-Judah, and also Ephratah. See Genesis 35:19; Judges 17:7; and Ruth 4:11. The attempt by a question to produce similarity of expressions in the second line, according to what is done by Marckius and Newcome, is by no means to be approved. The literal rendering is the following: — And thou, Bethlehem Ephratah! Small to be among the thousands of Judah, — From thee shall one to me come forth, To be a Ruler in Israel: And his going forth has been From of old, from the days of ages. The word for "going forth" is plural, which, as Calvin says, is sometimes used for the singular; but two MSS. Have it in the singular number, {.{מצאתוThe last line in the Septuagint is as follows, --- {απ} {αρχης}, {εξ} {ημερων}
{αιωνος} ``In every age, from the foundation of the world, there has been some manifestation of the Messiah. He was the hope,
as he was the salvation, of the world, from the promise to Adam in paradise, to his manifestation in the flesh four thousand years
after.'' --- Adam Clarke. --- Ed.
MINOR PROPHETS
three tribunes, or four or five, if it was larger. The Prophet then, in order to show
that this town was small and hardly of any account, says, Thou, Bethlehem, art
hardly sufÏcient to be one province. And it was a proof of its smallness that hardly a
thousand men could be made up from Bethlehem and its neighboring villages. There
were not, we know, many towns in the tribe of Judah; and yet a large army could be
there collected. Since then the town of Bethlehem was so small, that it could hardly
attain the rank of a province, it is hence no doubt evident that it was but a mean
town. We now perceive what the Prophet had in view.
Thou, Bethlehem, he says, art small among the cities of Judah; yet arise, or go
forth, for me shall one from thee, who is to be a Ruler in Israel. He calls it Bethlehem
Ephratah; for they say that there was another Bethlehem in the tribe of Zebulon,
and we know that Ephratah in meaning is nearly the same with Bethlehem; for both
designate an abundance of fruit or provisions: and there David was born.
I will now proceed to the second clause, From thee shall go forth for me one who is
to be a Ruler Here the Prophet introduces God as the speaker, go forth, he says, shall
one for me. God declares in this passage that it was not his purpose so to destroy
his people, but that he intended, after a season, to restore them again. He therefore
recalls the attention of the faithful to himself and to his eternal counsel; as though
he said, --- ``I have thus for a time cast you away, that I may yet manifest my care
for you.'' For me then shall go forth one who is to be a Ruler in Israel. Now there is
no doubt but that the Prophet at the sable time recalls the attention of the faithful to
the promise which had been given to David. For whence arises the hope of salvation
to the chosen people, except from the perpetuity of that kingdom? The Prophet now
says, --- ``There is indeed a reason, according to the perception of the flesh, why
the faithful should despond; for whence does their confidence arise, except from the
kingdom of David? and from what place is David to arise? Even from Bethlehem;
for Bethlehem has been called the city of David; and yet it is an obscure and a small
town, and can hardly be considered a common province. Since it is so, the minds of
the faithful may be depressed; but this smallness shall be no hindrance to the Lord,
that he should not bring forth from thence a new king.''
Even before the time of David Bethlehem was a small town, and one of the most
common provinces. Who could have expected that a king would have been chosen
from such a hamlet, and then, that he should come from a hut? for David belonged
to a pastoral family; his father was a shepherd, and he was the least among his
brethren. Who then could have thought that light would have arisen from such a
corner, yea, from so mean a cottage? This was done contrary to the expectations of
men. Hence the Prophet sets here before the faithful a similar expectation for their
comfort; as though he said, --- ``Has not God once formed a most perfect state of
things by making David a king, so that the people became in every respect happy
and blessed? And whence did David come? It was from Bethlehem. There is then no
reason why your present miseries should over-much distress you; for God can again
from the same place bring forth a king to you, and he will do so.''
Thou then Bethlehem, small art thou, etc. The prophet doubtless intended here
that the faithful should consider of what kind was the beginning of that most perfect
JOHN CALVIN
state, when David was chosen king. David was a shepherd, a man in humble life,
without reputation, without influence, and even the humblest among his brethren.
Since then God had drawn light out of darkness there was no cause for the faithful
to despair of a future restoration, considering what had been the beginning of the
previous happy condition of the people. We now understand the Prophet's meaning.
But the rest I cannot finish today; I must therefore defer it till tomorrow.
Prayer.
Greet, Almighty God, that as we cease not to provoke thy wrath against us, and
as it is needful for us to be often chastised by thy hand, that we may be humbled and
learn to submit ourselves to thee in true and willing obedience, --- O grant, that we
faint not under thy scourges, but ever raise up our minds to the hope of deliverance,
which thou givest to us through our Mediator; whom thou hast once for all sent into
the world, that thou mightest through him reconcile us to thyself, and through whom
also thou bringest help whenever we need it and may we at the same time learn to
rely on thy only-begotten Son, so that with courageous minds we may pass through
all the miseries of this world, and never at any time grow weary, until having at
length obtained the victory, we come to that blessed rest and enjoy the fruit of our
victory, through the same Christ our Lord. Amen.
Lecture Ninety-first
We began yesterday to explain the promise by which our Prophet designed to
sustain the minds of the faithful, lest they should despair in their heavy trial. He
reminds them, as it has been stated, of the commencement of the kingdom: as David
had been raised as it were from nothing, and God has given in him an example of his
wonderful grace, the Prophet reminds the godly, that the same is now to be expected,
that God will again raise up the fallen kingdom. ``Go forth then from Bethlehem, he
says, shall one who is to be a Ruler in Israel, though it was but a mean town. He calls
him a Ruler in Israel; for he had before declared that there would be such a dreadful
judgment, that the enemy would strike with the hand the face of the judge; and this
was the same as though the Prophet had said, that no honor would be shown to
the people, for the chief himself would be beaten. He therefore now promises a new
Ruler, he promises that there would be again some civil order to be found among the
people; for a governor could not have been struck on the check, except all authority
and honor had departed. We then see what the Prophet intended by mentioning the
word, Ruler; it was to show, that God would again cause that a new Prince would
arise to govern the people. It was therefore a remedy to their devastation.
But the Prophet subjoins, His going forth is from the beginning, or from far antiq-
uity and from the days of ages, that is from the days of eternity. He intimates here
that it would not be a sudden thing, that a prince should arise to govern the peo-
ple; for it had been already long ago determined by God. This is the plain meaning.
Some, I know, pertinaciously maintain, that the Prophet speaks here of the eternal
existence of Christ; and as for myself I willingly own that the divinity of Christ is here
proved to us; but as this will never be allowed by the Jews, I prefer taking the words
simply as they are, --- that Christ will not come forth unexpectedly from Bethlehem,
as though God had previously determined nothing respecting him. His goings forth,
MINOR PROPHETS
then, are from the beginning. But others bring a new refinement, --- that the Prophet
uses the plural number, his goings forth, to designate the twofold nature of Christ:
but there is in this an absurdity; for the Prophet could not properly nor wisely men-
tion the human nature of Christ with the divine, with reference to eternity. The Word
of God, we know, was eternal; and we know, that when the fullness of time came, as
Paul says, Christ put on our nature, (Galatians 4:4.) Hence the beginning of Christ
as to the flesh was not so old, if his existence be spoken of: to set them together
then would have been absurd. It is a common thing in Hebrew to use the plural for
the singular number. He says then, that the going forth of Christ is from eternity;
for he will not go forth suddenly from Bethlehem, as one who rises unexpectedly to
bring help, when things are in a hopeless state, and so rises, when nothing had been
foreseen. But the Prophet declares that the going forth of Christ would be different,
--- that God had from the beginning determined to give his people an eternal king.
At the same time, we must repudiate that gloss with which the Rabbis are pleased;
for they say that the Messiah was created before the creation of the world, and also
the throne of eternity, and the Law, and other things; but these are insipid fables.
The Prophet shows simply, that even before the world was made Christ was chief, no
he is also called the Firstborn of every creature, for by him all things were created,
(Colossians 1:15) and the same Word of God, by whom the world was created, is to
be the Head of the Church and by him what has been lost is to be recovered. We
now then comprehend what the Prophet meant by saying, the goings forth of Christ
are from eternity But I would not concede to the Jews, that only by the perpetual
appointment of God the going forth of Christ has been from the beginning, or from
all ages: but two things must be noticed by us, --- that Christ, who was manifested in
the flesh that he might redeem the Church of God, was the eternal Word, by whom
the world was created, --- and then, that he was destined by the eternal counsel
of God to be the first-born of every creature, and especially to be the Head of the
Church, that he might restore a fallen world by his grace and power.
We now then see the reason why the Prophet connects together these two things,
--- that there would go forth one from Bethlehem who would rule among Israel, -
-- and yet that his goings forth have been from eternity: for if he had only said
what I explained yesterday, an objection might easily have been made, and this
might have come into the mind of some, --- ``Why dost thou say that one will come
from Bethlehem who will govern the chosen people, as though God were to contrive
a new remedy on seeing that it is all over with respect to the deliverance of his
Church?'' The Prophet here anticipates this objection, and reminds us, that his goings
forth have been from eternity, that they have been already decreed, even from the
beginning; for with God there is nothing new, so that he should stand in need of
holding any unlooked for consultation; as is the case with us when any thing happens
which we in no degree apprehended; we then find it necessary to devise some new
measures. The Prophet shows that nothing of this kind can happen to God: but
all this, --- that people are reduced to nothing, --- and that they are again restored
by Christ, --- all this is overruled by his secret and incomprehensible providence.
His goings forth then are from the beginning, and from the days of eternity. Let us
JOHN CALVIN
proceed ---
Micah 5:3
3. Therefore will he give them up, until the time that she which travaileth hath
brought forth: then the remnant of his brethren shall return unto the children of
Israel.
3. Propterea 219 dabit eos (hoc est, ponet eos, vel, relinquet) usque ad tempus
quo parturiens pariet; et revertentur ad filios Israel residuum fratrum ejus.
The Prophet here again so moderates his words, that the Jews might understand,
that they were to endure many evils before God relieved their miseries. He wished
then here to prepare the minds of the godly to bear evils, that they might not despair
in great troubles, nor be depressed by extreme fear. He then states these two things,
--- that the people, as they deserved, would be heavily afÒicted, --- and then that God,
notwithstanding such severe punishment, would be mindful of his covenant, so as to
gather at length some remnants and not to suffer his people to be wholly destroyed.
He therefore promises a middle course between a prosperous state and destruction.
The people, says the Prophet, shall not continue entire. --- How so? For God will cut
off the kingdom and the city; and yet he will afford relief to the miserable: When
they shall think that they are given up to entire ruin, he will stretch forth his hand to
them. This is the sum of the whole.
He then says that they shall be delivered up, that is, forsaken by God, until she
who is in travail bringeth forth 220 There are those who apply this to the blessed
virgin; as though Micah had said that the Jews were to look forward to the time
when the Virgin would bring forth Christ: but all may easily see that this is a forced
interpretation. The Prophet, I have no doubt, in using this similitude, compares the
body of the people to a woman with child. The similitude of a woman in travail
is variously applied. The wicked, when they promise to themselves impunity, are
suddenly and violently laid hold on: thus their destruction is like the travail of a
woman with child. But the meaning of this passage is different; for the Prophet
says that the Jews would be like pregnant women, for this reason, --- that though
they would have to endure the greatest sorrows, there yet would follow a joyful and
happy issue. And Christ himself employs this example for the same purpose,
`A woman,' he says, `has sorrow when she brings forth, but immediately rejoices
when she sees a man born into the world,' (John 16:21.)
So Micah says in this place, that the chosen people would have a happy deliver-
ance from their miseries, for they would bring forth. There shall indeed be the most
grievous sorrows, but their issue will be joy, that is, when they shall know that they
and their salvation had been the objects of God's care, when they shall understand
that their chastisements had been useful to them. Until then she who is in travail
bringeth forth, God, he says, will forsake them
There are then two clauses in this verse; --- the first is, that the Jews were for a time
219{,{לכןGrotius renders it certè --- surely: but nevertheless, as proposed by Scott, is the most suitable particle here. Dathius
gives this paraphrase --- Verum quidem est --- True indeed it is. --- Ed.
220Until the time the begetting shall beget, ({{}ילדה{( יולדהAnd the remnant of his brethren shall be converted
Together with the children of Israel. Newcome gives this explanation of the verse, --- ``The sense is: God will not fully vindicate
and exalt his people, till the Virgin-mother shall have brought forth her Son; and till Judah and Israel, and all the true sons of
Abraham among their brethren, the Gentiles, be converted to Christianity.'' --- Ed.
MINOR PROPHETS
to be forsaken, as though they were no longer under the power and protection of God;
--- the other is that God would be always their guardian, for a bringing forth would
follow their sorrows. The following passage in Isaiah is of an opposite character;
`We have been in sorrow, we have been in travail,
and we brought forth wind,' (Isaiah 26:18.)
The faithful complain there that they had been oppressed with the severest trou-
bles, and had come to the birth, but that they brought forth nothing but wind, that
is, that they had been deceived by vain expectation, for the issue did not prove to be
what they had hoped. But the Lord promises here by Micah something better, and
that is, that the end of all their evils would be the happy restoration of the people,
as when a woman receives a compensation for all her sorrows when she sees that a
child is born.
And he confirms this sentence by another, when he says, To the children of Israel
shall return, or be converted, the residue of his brethren 221 The Prophet then inti-
mates that it could not be otherwise but that God would not only scatter, but tread
under foot his people, so that their calamity would threaten an unavoidable destruc-
tion. This is one thing; but in the meantime he promises that there would be some
saved. But he speaks of a remnant, as we have observed elsewhere, lest hypocrites
should think that they could escape unpunished, while they trifled with God. The
Prophet then shows that there would come such a calamity as would nearly extin-
guish the people, but that some would be preserved through God's mercy and that
beyond ordinary expectation. 222 We now perceive the intention of the Prophet. It
now follows ---
Micah 5:4
4. And he shall stand and feed in the strength of the Lord, in the majesty of the
name of the Lord his God; and they shall abide: for now shall he be great unto the
ends of the earth.
4. Et stabit et pascet in virtute Jehovae, in magnificentia nominis Jehovae Dei sui;
et habitabunt, quia nunc magnificabitur usque ad fines terrae.
There is no doubt but that the Prophet continues here to speak of Christ; and
221By this arrangement of the sentence, Calvin evidently meant, that "his," before "brethren," refers to "Israel." In the original, the latter clause is before the former, but in Hebrew, as well as in other languages, the antecedent sometimes comes after its pronoun. — Ed.
222Most commentators differ from Calvin in their view of this verse, regarding it as a distinct prophecy of the Savior's birth. There are difficulties on both sides: but taking the whole context, especially the following verse, we can hardly resist the conclusion, that Christ, born of a Virgin, is the subject. Indeed, the whole of this chapter, notwithstanding the reference to the Assyrian, is not capable of a satisfactory explanation, without applying what is said to Christ and his Church. Some things, no doubt, in the history of the Jews, may be alluded to, or incidentally mentioned; but the full accomplishment must be looked for in the new dispensation. And it is a splendid prophecy, in words often derived from customs and incidents among the Jews, of the birth of the Savior, and the character and extent, and blessedness of his kingdom, and the destruction of his enemies. Newcome and Adam Clarke propose to divide the chapter after the first line in verse 5, thinking that a new subject is there introduced: but evidently the same subject, the Gospel dispensation, is continued to the end of the chapter. The Assyrian, the especial enemy of the ancient Church, designates the enemies of the Christian Church in all ages. "As Sennacherib's invasion," says Scott, "was not repelled by the ruler or chieftains of Israel: nor did the Jews ever invade or waste the Assyrian dominions; it seems evident, that these expressions must be understood as mystically intending other enemies and persecutors of the Church, who should be of the same spirit with Sennacherib and the Assyrians." Henry, who is much more learned critic and much profounder divine than what is commonly thought, agrees with Scott, and many others, in the interpretation of this chapter. — Ed.
JOHN CALVIN
though the Jews shamelessly pervert the whole Scripture, they yet cannot deny that
Micah calls here the attention of all the godly to the coming of Christ, yea, of all who
hope or desire to obtain salvation. This is certain. Let us now see what the Prophet
ascribes to Christ.
He shall stand, he says, and feed in the power of Jehovah The word, stand, des-
ignates perseverance, as though he had said, that it would not be for a short time
that God would gather by Christ the remnant of the people; that it would not be, as
it often happens, when some rays of joy shine, and then immediately vanish. The
Prophet shows here that the kingdom of Christ would be durable and permanent.
It will then proceed; for Christ will not only rule his Church for a few days, but his
kingdom will continue to stand through unbroken series of years and of ages. We
nor then understand the Prophet's object.
He adds in the second place, He shall feed in the strength of Jehovah, in the great-
ness of the name of Jehovah his God; by which words he means, that there would
be sufÏcient power in Christ to defend his Church. The Church, we know, is in this
world subject to various troubles, for it is never without enemies; for Satan always
finds those whom he induces, and whose fury he employs to harass the children of
God. As then the Church of God is tossed by many tempests, it has need of a strong
and invincible defender. Hence this distinction is now ascribed by our Prophet to
Christ, --- that he shall feed in the strength of Jehovah, and in the majesty of his God.
As to the word feed, it no doubt expresses what Christ is to his people, to the flock
committed to him and to his care. Christ then rules not in his Church as a dreaded
tyrant, who distresses his subjects with fear; but he is a Shepherd who gently deals
with his flock. Nothing therefore can exceed the kindness and gentleness of Christ
towards the faithful, as he performs the ofÏce of a Shepherd: and he prefers to be
adorned with this, title, rather than to be called and deemed a kings, or to assume
authority to himself. But the Prophet, on the other hand, shows, that the power of
Christ would be dreadful to the ungodly and wicked. He shall feed, he says, --- with
regard to his flock, Christ will put on a character full of gentleness; for nothing, as I
have said can imply more kindness than the word shepherd: but as we are on every
side surrounded by enemies, the Prophet adds, ---
He shall feed in the power of Jehovah and in the majesty of the name of Jehovah;
that is as much power as there is in God, so much protection will there be in Christ,
whenever it will be necessary to defend and protect the Church against her enemies.
Let us hence learn that no less safety is to be expected from Christ, than there is
of power in God. Now, since the power of God, as we confess, is immeasurable,
and since his omnipotence far surpasses and swallows up all our conceptions, let
us hence learn to extend both high and low all our hopes. --- Why so? Because we
have a King sufÏciently powerful, who has undertaken to defend us, and to whose
protection the Father has committed us. Since then we have been delivered up
to Christ's care and defense, there is no cause why we should doubt respecting our
safety. He is indeed a Shepherd, and for our sake he thus condescended and refused
not so mean a name; for in a shepherd there is no pomp nor grandeur. But though
Christ, for our sake, put on the character of a Shepherd, and disowns not the ofÏce,
MINOR PROPHETS
he is yet endued with infinite power. --- How so? Because he governs not the Church
after a human manner, but in the majesty of the name of his God 223
Now, that he subjects Christ to God, he refers to his human nature. Though Christ
is God manifested in the flesh, he is yet made subject to God the Father, as our
Mediator and the Head of the Church in human nature: he is indeed the middle
Person between God and us. This then is the reason why the Prophet now says, that
Christ has power, as it were, at the will of another; not that Christ is only man, but as
he appears to us in the person of man, he is said to receive power from his Father;
and this, as it has been said, with respect to his human nature. There is yet another
reason why the Prophet has expressly added this, --- that we may know that Christ,
as the protector of the Church, cannot be separated from his Father: as then God is
God, so Christ is his minister to preserve the Church. In a word, the Prophet means
that God is not to be viewed by the faithful, except through the intervening Mediator;
and he means also that the Mediator is not to be viewed, except as one who receives
supreme power from God himself and who is armed with omnipotence to preserve
his people.
He afterwards adds, They shall dwell; for he shall now be magnified to the ex-
tremities of the earth He promises a secure habitation to the faithful; for Christ shall
be extolled to the utmost regions of the world. We here see that he is promised to
foreign nations: for it would have been enough for Christ to exercise his supreme
power within the borders of Judea, had only one nation been committed to his safe
keeping. But as God the Father intended that he should be the author of salvation
to all nations, we hence learn that it was necessary that he should be extolled to the
utmost borders of the earth. But with regard to the word dwell, it is explained more
fully in the next verse, when the Prophet says---
Micah 5:5
5. And this man shall be the peace, when the Assyrian shall come into our land:
and when he shall tread in our palaces, then shall we raise against him seven shep-
herds, and eight principal men.
5. Et erit hic pax: Assur quum venerit in terram nostram, et quum calcaverit
in palatiis nostris, tunc constituemus super eum septem pastores et octo principes
hominum.
Micah, as I have said, confirms his former statement. By the word dwell, he no
doubt meant a quiet and peaceable inhabitation; as though he had said, that the
children of God would, under Christ, be safe and secure. Now he adds, And he shall
be our peace. It might have been asked, ``Whence will come this secure dwelling?
For the land has been very often wasted, and the people have been at length driven
to exile. How then can we now venture to hope for what thou promises, that we shall
be quiet and secure?'' Because, he says, He shall be our peace; and we ought to be
satisfied with the protection of the King whom God the Father has given us. Let his
shadow, then, sufÏce us, and we shall be safe enough from all troubles. We now see
223"The Prophets prefaced their messages with, Thus saith the Lord; but Christ spoke not as a servant, but as a Son, Verily, verily, I say unto you: this was feeding in the majesty of the name of the Lord his God; all power was given him in heaven and earth, a power over all flesh, by the virtue of which he still rules in the majesty of the name of the Lord his God." — Henry.
JOHN CALVIN
in what sense the Prophet calls Christ the Peace of his people or of his Church; he
so calls him because he will drive far away all hurtful things, and will be armed with
strength and invincible power to check all the ungodly, that they may not make war
on the children of God, or to prevent them in their course, should they excite any
disturbances.
We further know, that Christ is in another way our peace; for he has reconciled us
to the Father. And what would it avail us to be safe from earthly annoyances, if we
were not certain that God is reconciled to us? Except then our minds acquiesce in
the paternal benevolence of God, we must necessarily tremble at all times, though
no one were to cause us any trouble: nay, were all men our friends, and were all
to applaud us, miserable still would be our condition, and we should toil with dis-
quietude, except our consciences were pacified with the sure confidence that God
is our Father. Christ then can be our peace in no other way than by reconciling God
to us. But at the same time the Prophet speaks generally, --- that we shall lie safely
under the shadow of Christ, and that no evil ought to be feared, --- that though Satan
should furiously assail us, and the whole worth become mad against us, we ought
yet to fear nothing, if Christ keeps and protects us under his wings. This then is the
meaning, when it is said here that Christ is our peace.
He afterwards subjoins, When the Assyrian shall come into our land, and when he
shall tread in our palaces then we shall raise up against him or on him, seven shep-
herds and eighty princes of the people 224 The Prophet intimates that the Church
of God would not be free from troubles, even after the coming of Christ: for I am
disposed to refer this to the intervening time, though interpreters put another con-
struction on the words of the Prophet. But this meaning, is far more suitable, --- that
while the help which God promised was expected and yet suspended, the Assyrians
would come, who would pass far and wide through the land of Israel. Hence he says,
that though Assur should come to our land, and break through, with such force and
violence that we could not drive him out, we shall yet set up for ourselves shepherds
and princes against him. It must at the same time be observed, that this prophecy is
not to be confined to that short time; for the Prophet speaks generally of the preser-
vation of the Church before as well as after the coming of Christ; as though he said,
--- ``I have said that the king, who shall be born to you, and shall go forth from Beth-
lehem, shall be your peace; but before he shall be revealed to the world, God will
gather his Church, and there shall emerge as from a dead body Princes as well as
Shepherds, who will repel unjust violence, nay, who will subdue the Assyrians.''
We now see what the prophet had in view: After having honored Christ with this
remarkable commendation --- that he alone is sufÏcient to give us a quiet life, he adds
that God would be the preserver of his Church, so as to deliver it from its enemies.
But there is a circumstance here expressed which ought to be noticed: Micah says,
224The order of the words in Hebrew is not strictly observed in this instance. There is here an example, not infrequent in the prophets, of the nominative case absolute, — And he shall be our peace: The Assyrian—when he shall come into our land, And when he shall tread in our palaces, The raise shall we against him Seven shepherds and eight anointed men. {{}אדם{, נסיכי
literally anointed of men; but it is a phrase signifying men in authority, princes or sovereigns. {}נסיכיםis rendered dukes in Joshua
13:21, and princes in Psalm 83:11, and Ezekiel 32:30. It is not necessary to say ``eight princes of men,'' but, ``eight princes,'' or
``eight anointed men.'' --- Ed.
MINOR PROPHETS
that when the Assyrians shall pass through the land and tread down all the palaces,
God would then become the deliverer of his people. It might have been objected,
and said, ``Why not sooner? Would it have been better to prevent this? Why! God
now looks as it were indifferently on the force of the enemies, and loosens the reins
to them, that they plunder the whole land, and break through to the very middle of
it. Why then does not God give earlier relief?'' But we see the manner in which God
intends to preserve his Church: for as the faithful often need some chastisement,
God humbles them when it is expedient, and then delivers them. This is the reason
why God allowed such liberty to the Assyrians before he supplied assistance. And
we also see that this discourse is so moderated by the Prophet, that he shows, on
the one hand, that the Church would not always be free from evils, --- the Assyrians
shall come, they shall tread down our palaces, --- this must be endured by God's
children, and ought in time to prepare their minds to bear troubles; but, on the other
hand, a consolation follows; for when the Assyrians shall thus penetrate into our
land, and nothing shall be concealed or hidden from them, then the Lord will cause
new shepherds to arise.
The Prophet means that the body of the people would be for some time mutilated
and, as it were, mangled; and so it was, until they returned from Exile. For he would
have said this to no purpose, We shall set up for ourselves, if there had been an
unbroken succession of regular government; he could not have said in that case,
After Assur shall come into our land, we shall set up princes; but, There shall be
princes when Assur shall come. The word set up denotes then what I have stated,
--- that the Church would be for a time without any visible head. Christ indeed has
always been the Head of the Church; but as he designed himself to be then seen in
the family of David as in an image or picture, so the Prophet shows here, that though
the faithful would have to see the head cut off and the Church dead, and like a dead
body cast aside, when torn from its head; yea, that though the Church would be in
this state dreadfully desolated, there is yet a promise of a new resurrection. We shall
then set up, or choose for ourselves shepherds.
If any one raises an objection and says that it was God's ofÏce to make shepherds
for his people, --- this indeed I allow to be true: but this point has not been unwisely
mentioned by the Prophet; for he extols here the favor of God, in granting again their
liberty to his people. In this especially consists the best condition of the people,
when they can choose, by common consent, their own shepherds: for when any
one by force usurps the supreme power, it is tyranny; and when men become kings
by hereditary right, it seems not consistent with liberty. 225 We shall then set up
for ourselves princes, says the Prophet; that is, the Lord will not only give breathing
time to his Church, and will also cause that she may set up a fixed and a well-ordered
225It is by no means a safe rule, to draw a conclusion from the spiritual government as to what a temporal government should be. The subjects are guided by very different principles; and the same sort of government will not suit countries under different degrees of civilization. To theorize on this subject, as on many others, leads often to wrong conclusions. An hereditary sovereignty may seem to trench on liberty; but our own country exhibits an example where both exist to an extent unknown in the present or in any former age. Under no democracy has liberty ever been so freely and so fully enjoyed as in this land, which has been so wonderfully favored by a kind and gracious Providence. We owe, perhaps, far more than we are aware to an hereditary sovereignty. — Ed.
JOHN CALVIN
government, and that by the common consent of all.
By seven and eight, the Prophet no doubt meant a great number. When he speaks
of the calamities of the Church, it is aid, `There shall not be found any to govern, but
children shall rule over you.' But the Prophet says here that there would be many
leaders to undertake the care of ruling and defending the people. The governors of
the people shall therefore be seven shepherds and eight princes; that is, the Lord
will endure many by his Spirit, that they shall be suddenly wise men: though before
they were in no repute, though they possessed nothing worthy of great men, yet the
Lord will enrich them with the spirit of power, that they shall become fit to rule. The
Prophet now adds ---
Micah 5:6
6. And they shall waste the land of Assyria with the sword, and the land of Nimrod
in the entrances thereof: thus shall he deliver us from the Assyrian, when he cometh
into our land, and when he treadeth within our borders.
6. Et pascent terram Assur (hoc est, vastabunt; nam metaphorice hic pascere
accipitur pro perdere quemadmodum dicuntur pecora pascere agrum, hoc est quum
denudant herba sua; atque ita pastorum ingluviem notat in vorando populo; et alludit
ad nomen illud quo usus fuerat: dixerat enim {}רועיםseptem pastores; nunc dicit
{;}רעהVidemus ergo Prophetam alludere ad nomen illud quod posuerat: pascent
ergo terram Assur) gladio, et terram Nimrod in gladiis suis: et liberabit ab Assur, ubi
venerit in terram nostram, et ubi calcaverit in finibus nostris.
In this verse the Prophet says, that the shepherds, chosen by the Church, after it
had been miserably oppressed by the tyranny of its enemies, would have a twofold
ofÏce. They shall first feed; that is, nourish the Church of God; --- and, secondly,
they shall feed; that is, destroy the land of Asshur, so that nothing may remain
there whole and entire. God will then arm these shepherds with warlike courage; for
they must fight boldly and courageously against their enemies: he says, They shall
feed on the land of Nimrod with their swords Nimrod, we know, reigned in Chaldea;
and we know also that the ten tribes were led away by Shalmanezer, and that the
kingdom of Israel was thus demolished: when the Chaldeans obtained the empire,
the kingdom of Judah was also laid waste by them. Now the import of the words
is, that these shepherds would be sufÏciently strong to oppose all the enemies of
the Church, whether they were the Babylonians or the Assyrians. And he names the
Assyrians and Babylonians, because they had then a contest with the people of God;
and this continued to the coming of Christ, though it is certain that they suffered
more troubles from Antiochus than from others: but as he was one of the successors
of Alexander, the Prophet here, taking a part for the whole, means, by the Assyrians
and Chaldeans, all the enemies of the Church, whoever they might be. Waste, he
says, shall these shepherds the land of Asshur by the sword, and the land of Nimrod,
and that by their swords 226
226{,{כפתחיהin its openings or entrances: so most render the word. {Εντος} {πολων} {αυτης} --- within its gates. ---
Symmachus. Marckius, Newcome, and Henderson, agree with our version. Calvin has, in this instance, followed Kimchi and
Aben-Ezra: but the afÏx {}הprevents us from adopting this meaning; besides, the word itself is nowhere found in this sense. This
verse is connected with the preceding, and ought to be separated from it only be a semicolon, and may be thus rendered: --- And
they shall waste the land of the Assyrian by the sword, And the land of Nimrod at its entrances: Thus shall he cause a deliverance
from the Assyrian, When he shall come into our land, And when he shall tread on our borders. --- Ed.
MINOR PROPHETS
But this shall not be until the Chaldeans and the Assyrians shall penetrate into
our land, and tread in our borders The Prophet again reminds the faithful, that they
stood in need of patience, and that they were to know that God had not made a vain
promise. The import of the whole is, that no deliverance was to be expected from
God's hand until the faithful yielded their necks to his yoke, and patiently sustained
the evils which were then approaching. The Prophet then mentions the intervening
time between that state in which the Jews gloried and their deliverance. Why so?
Because they were soon after to be smitten heavily by God's hand; but this, as
we have seen, they did not think would take place. Hence he says, --- ``Since you
cannot yet be made to believe that merited punishment is nigh you, experience shall
be your teacher. In the meantime, let the faithful provide themselves with courage
and, with a meek heart, patiently to submit to God, the righteous Judge: but, at the
same time, let them expect a sure deliverance, when they shall have gone through
all their evils; for when the ripened time shall come, the Lord will look on his Church;
but she must be first afÒicted.''
Prayer.
Grant, Almighty God, that as thou hast from the beginning so defended thy
Church, that thou hast never wholly forsaken her, and though it had nearly rejected
thee by its defections, yet it has been thy pleasure to stand firm to thy covenant,
and to show to it thy favor through all ages, until at length the everlasting Redeemer
of the whole world appeared, --- O grant, that we may experience the same favor
at this day, and though we have in various ways provoked thy wrath against us,
yet do thou so humble us, that thou mayest sustain us by thy hand; and may we
so recumb on those promises which we find in Scripture, that we may at length
by our patience overcome our enemies, and in patience possess our souls, until
thou raisest up thine hand, and slowest that invincible power which thou hast given
to thy only-begotten Son, that he might repress the devil and all the wicked, and
preserve us safe and secure from all injuries. Amen.
Lecture Ninety-second
Micah 5:7-8
7. And the remnant of Jacob shall be in the midst of many people as a dew from
the Lord, as the showers upon the grass, that tarrieth not for man, nor waiteth for
the sons of men.
7. Et erit residuum Jacobin gentibus, in medio populorum multorum (vel, magno-
rum,) sicut ros a Jehova, sicut stillae super herbam, quae non expectat hominem,
neque sperat in filiis hominum.
8. And the remnant of Jacob shall be among the Gentiles in the midst of many
people as a lion among the beasts of the forest, as a young lion among the flocks of
sheep: who, if he go through, both treadeth down, and teareth in pieces, and none
can deliver.
8. Et erit residuum Jacob in gentibus, in medio populorum multorum (vel, magno-
rum, ut diximus,) sicut leo inter animalia sylvae, sicut leunculus inter greges ovium,
qui si transierit et discerpserit et repuerit, nemo eripiet.
Micah promises here two things as to the future state of the Church, --- that God
JOHN CALVIN
shall defend it without the help and aid of men, --- and that he will supply it with
strength, so that it will become superior to all enemies. In the first place, to show
that the preservation of the Church depends on the mere favor of God, and that
there is no need of any earthly aids, he makes use of a most suitable similitude; he
says, that the people of God are like a dewy meadow. The Prophet speaks not what
is strictly correct; for what he says of the rain and dew is to be applied to the grass
or the meadow. 227 The residue of Jacob, he says, shall be as dew from Jehovah,
and drops of rain on the grass. This cannot be applied according to the design of the
Prophet, except you take the dew, as I have already said, for the dewy meadows or
for the grass, which draws moisture and vigor from the rains. The sense indeed is by
no means obscure, which is, --- that God will make his people to grow like the grass,
which is fed only by celestial dew, without any culture or labor on the part of men:
and this is also what the Prophet expressly mentions; for he says, that the grass of
which he speaks waits not for men, nor grows through men's care, but grows through
the dew of heaven.
But that we may better understand the Prophet's intention, I shall briefly notice
the words. There shall be, he says, the residue of Jacob He shows here that the whole
people would not he preserved; for he had before spoken of their destruction. We
hence see that this promise is to be confined to the seed, which God had wonder-
fully preserved in the calamitous state of the Church, yea, even in its almost total
destruction. Then this promise belongs not to the whole body of the people, but to
a small number; and hence he uses as before, the word {,}שאריתsharit, a remnant
or residue. There shall then be the residue of Jacob; 228 that is, though the people
shall nearly all perish, yet there shall be some residue.
He then adds, Among great or many nations There is here a contrast between the
remnants and great nations: and the Prophet has not unnecessarily added the ex-
pression {,}בקרבbekoreb, in the midst. There are then three things to be observed
here, --- that God does not promise deliverance to the whole people, but to a residue
only, --- and then, that he promises this deliverance among powerful or many na-
tions, as though he said, --- ``Though the Church of God shall not excel in number,
nay, so great may be the number of its enemies, as to be sufÏcient to overwhelm
it, yet God will cause it to grow and to propagate: in a word, its enemies, though
many in number, and strong in force and power, shall not yet hinder the Lord, that
he should not increase his Church more and more;'' --- and the third particular is
what the expression, in the midst, intimates, and that is, that the people of God shall
be besieged on every side. When enemies come upon us only from one part, it is
not so very distressing, but when they surround us, being in front, and behind, and
on both sides, then our condition seems miserable indeed; for when they thus press
on us on all sides, they hardly allow us time to draw our breath. But the Prophet
227There seems to be no necessity for this supposed inaccuracy in this comparison; it indeed changes the obvious meaning of the passage. The Jews are compared to the dew and rain, through which the grass grows; and then it is said, that the growth of the grass, not the dew or the rain, is not dependent on man, but on the dew or rain. The comparison is thus in every way suitable. — Ed.
228We have the residue or remnant of Joseph in Amos 5:15,—the remnant of Israel in Micah 2:12, — and here in the following verse, the remnant of Jacob. — Ed.
MINOR PROPHETS
declares, that though surrounded on all sides by enemies, yet the Church would be
safe.
He now adds, {,}כטל{ }מאת{ }יהוהcathel meat Ieve, As a dew from Jehovah; that
is, it shall be, as I have said, as the grass, which is nourished and grows by means
of dew from heaven, and as grass, which flourishes, not through the culture or labor
of men, but which God himself makes to grow. He might have merely said, as the
dew, but he adds, from Jehovah, that he might make a distinction between God and
man, and show that the power of God is alone sufÏcient to support and sustain the
Church, though men brought no assistance. And this is expressed more clearly in
the next clause, when he says, As drops of rain on the grass, which waits not for
man, nor tarries for the sons of men. We now then see that the faithful have their
attention called to God alone, that they may understand that they are to be safe
through his favor, that if all helps on earth failed, they ought not to fear, since they
can be effectually sustained by the power of God alone: for God makes grass to grow
on mountains and in meadows without the help and labor of man; and thus he can
defend his Church without any foreign aid, but by his own hidden, and, so to speak,
his own intrinsic power.
Then follows this promise, --- that God will arm his people with invincible and
irresistible power, that they may be superior to all their enemies. Hence he says,
that the residue of Israel shall be like a lion among the beasts of the forests and
like a young lion among a flock of sheep As a strong lion then is superior to other
beasts, and as a young lion dares ferociously to attack a flock of sheep; so he says,
the people of Israel shall be; they shall be like lions, filling their enemies with terror,
yea, and plundering and scattering them, so that no one will dare to resist them. The
Prophet, by speaking thus, does not mean, that the people of God would be cruel
and sanguinary: for we know that when the Prophets use similes of this kind, they
express something not strictly suitable; for who would be so foolish as to select every
thing that belongs to a lion, and apply it to the Church of God. Then the reason for
this similitude must be observed; it was to show, that the faithful shall be endued
with a power so superior to that of their enemies, that they shall be a terror to them.
It does not hence follow that they shall be cruel.
But we must, at the same time, see what the Lord promises to his Church. Though
God then recommends to his children the spirit of meekness, yet the faithful may still
be a thread to their enemies; they ought, however, to observe what is just towards
them, and to keep themselves within proper bounds. And yet Micah says, that they
shall be endued with such power that they shall drive their enemies afar off; yea, that
they shall plunder and tear them in pieces, while no one will be able to resist them. 229 But these two things are necessary as to the preservation of the Church, that
God may make it grow; for except it be miraculously increased, it can never grow;
and then it has need of a strong and powerful defense against her enemies; for we
229"They shall be bold as a lion in witnessing against the corruptions of the times and places they live in, and strong as a lion in the strength of the Lord, to resist and overcome their spiritual enemies. The weapons of their warfare are mighty through God, to the pulling down of strongholds, 2 Corinthians 10:4,5. They shall have courage which all their adversaries shall not be able to resist, Luke 21:15." — Henry.
JOHN CALVIN
know that there are always wicked men who oppose the Church, yea, who apply all
their powers to destroy it: it is therefore necessary that it should be supplied by the
Lord with invincible strength, as our Prophet declares here. Let us proceed ---
Micah 5:9
9. Thine hand shall be lifted up upon thine adversaries, and all thine enemies
shall be cut off.
9. Exaltabitur manus tua super hostes tuis, et cuncti, adversarii tui excidentur.
He confirms what is said in the last verse, and expresses in other words what he
meant, and what we have explained, --- that though the Church must contend with
many strong and violent enemies, it will not yet fail, for the Lord will supply it with
strength from heaven. Exalted, he says, shall be thy hand, that all thine enemies may
be cut off He promises not that the Church shall be in a quiet state, but victorious,
and declares also that there will never be wanting enemies. This promise, then,
ought to arm us for enduring patiently, as we cannot conquer except by fighting. As
then there will be always enemies to oppose the Church of God; yea, to attempt its
ruin, the Prophet says here, Exalted shall be thy hand above thine enemies.
But it may be asked, When has this promise been fulfilled? For we know that
since the people had been led away into the Babylonian exile, they had always been
either tributaries, or kept under cruel tyranny, or at least had been unequal to their
enemies. But this principle ought ever to be remembered, --- that the faithful ought
to be satisfied with victory, --- that however hard they may be pressed, and however
constant may be the contests which they have to carry on, and however wearisome,
this one thing ought still to be sufÏcient for them --- that they shall not wholly per-
ish. And it appears evident, that God's people have always been preserved by his
invincible hand, however numerous have been their opposing enemies. We must
also keep in mind what we have just heard, --- that the promise here is not made
to the whole people, but to a residue only. And it surpasses the expectation of the
whole world, that even a small member could have survived so many slaughters, by
which they might have been swallowed up a hundred times. Now then we see that
it had not been without reason promised to the faithful, that they should be made
conquerors over all their enemies. But this has not been really fulfilled, except under
the conflict of the cross. It now follows ---
Micah 5:10-15
10. And it shall come to pass in that day, saith the Lord, that I will cut off thy
horses out of the midst of thee, and I will destroy thy chariots:
10. Et accidet in die illo, dicit Jehova, excidam equos tuos e medio tui, et perdam
quadrigas tuas;
11. And I will cut off the cities of thy land, and throw down all thy strong holds:
11. Et excidam urbes terrae tuae, et evertam cunctas munitiones tuas;
12. And I will cut off witchcrafts out of thine hand; and thou shalt have no more
soothsayers:
12. Et excidam angures (vel, divinos) e manu tua; et praestigiatores non erunt
tibi (haec lengenda sunt in uno contextu;)
13. Thy graven images also will I cut off, and thy standing images out of the midst
MINOR PROPHETS
of thee; and thou shalt no more worship the work of thine hands.
13. Et excidam scuptilia tua et statuas tuas e medio tui; et non adorabis amplius
opus manuum tuarum;
14. And I will pluck up thy groves out of the midst of thee: so will I destroy thy
cities.
14. Et delebo lucos tuos e mediotui, et detraham hostes tuos (vel, urbes tuas;
utroque enim verti potest;)
15. And I will execute vengeance in anger and fury upon the heathen, such as
they have not heard.
15. Et faciam in ira et furore vindictam in gentibus quae non audierunt (vel, quam
non audierunt; dicam de utroque.)
There is introduced here a most necessary admonition, in order that the faithful
may know, how they are to be preserved by the hand and favor of God, even when
they shall be stripped of all their helps, yea, even when God shall take away all those
impediments, which would otherwise close up the way against his favor. The sum of
the whole then is, --- that the Church shall not otherwise be saved by God's kindness
than by being deprived of all her strength and defenses, and also by having her
obstacles removed by God, even those which in a manner prevented his hand from
being put forth to save his people. For the Prophet mentions here cities, then fortified
places, he mentions horses and chariots. These, we know, are not in themselves
to be condemned: but he means, that as the people foolishly placed confidence
in earthly things, the salvation of God could not otherwise come to them than by
stripping them of all vain and false confidence. This is one thing. Then, on the other
hand, he mentions groves, he mentions carved images and statues, he mentions
augurs and diviners: these were corruptions, which closed the door against the favor
of God; for a people, given to idolatry, could not call upon God nor hope in him as
the author of salvation. We now then perceive the Prophet's design. It now remains
for me to run over the words.
He says first, It shall be in that day, saith Jehovah, that I will cut off thine horses 230 Here the Prophet enumerates those things which could not in themselves be
ascribed to any thing wrong: for as God has created horses for the use of men, so
also he allows them to be for our service. Why then does the Prophet say, that
the Church could not be delivered, except horses were taken away? It was owing
to an accidental fault; for when men abound in forces, they instantly fix their hope
on them. As then such an abuse of God's gifts had prevailed among the people of
Israel, it was necessary that horses should be taken away. God indeed could have
humbled their minds or withdrawn their confidence from their horses and chariots:
but it hence appears how deep are the roots of presumption in the hearts of men,
that they cannot be otherwise torn up, than by having the things themselves cut
off. To have horses and to have chariots is the bounty of God: for how can we have
230As a curious instance of ingenuity and extravagance in allegorizing, practiced by some of the Fathers, Jerome's interpretation of this verse may be mentioned: the horses were lascivious lusts; the chariots, sins joined together in which the wicked, as it were, ride and triumph; the cities, such as that built by Cain, not like the heavenly Jerusalem; and the strongholds, were riches and the pomps of the world, the eloquence of orators and the tenterhooks of dialecticians! — Ed.
JOHN CALVIN
chariots and horses and other things, except through God's kindness? And yet God
cannot find a way by which he can do us good, except by taking away his former
gifts. Here then Micah touches the hearts of the people much more sharply than
before, when he says, that salvation cannot proceed from the Lord, except their
horses were destroyed; as though he said, --- ``Ye see how great is your wickedness;
God has hitherto dealt bountifully with you, since he has enriched you, and has also
given you horses. Now as he sees that you abuse these gifts, he complains that all
ways of access to you are closed up, as ye do not receive his kindness. Inasmuch as
your horses and your chariots engross your attention, ye in a manner drive God far
away from you. That he may therefore come to you, he will open a way for himself
by removing all the obstacles and hindrances.''
We hence learn, that though all God's benefits ought to raise us up to heaven,
serving as kinds of vehicles, they are yet turned, through our wickedness, to another
purpose, and are made intervening obstacles between us and God. Hereby then is
our ingratitude proved; and hence it comes, that God, when he intends to make his
salvation known to us is in a manner constrained to take away and remove from us his
benefits. We now then understand what the Prophet had in view when he mentioned
horses and chariots. For he does not threaten here, as some think, that the people
would be merely deprived of all God's gifts that they might see in their destitution
and want only signs of a curse; by no means, but it is rather a promise, that is,
that God will turn aside all impediments by which he was for a time prevented from
bringing help to his people. This doctrine ought at the same time to avail for bringing
no ordinary comfort. It is hard and bitter to the flesh to be brought down. Hence
the people of Israel were little able at first to bear their lot with submission, when
they saw themselves stripped of God's benefits: but the Prophet sets before them
a compensations which was capable of soothing all their grief, --- ``This,'' he says,
``shall be for your chief good --- that God will deprive you of horses and chariots; for
the way which your horses and chariots now occupy shall be cleared. While ye are
replenished with abundant forces, ye drive away God far from you, and there is no
way open for him. He will therefore prepare a way for himself; and this will be the
case when your land shall be made naked, when nothing will intervene to prevent
him from coming to you.''
He afterwards subjoins, I will cut off the cities of thy land, and I will destroy all
thy fortresses This verse is to be taken in the same sense. That the people dwelt in
fortified cities, and had defenses and fortified places, was not of itself displeasing to
God. But as the people habituated themselves to a false confidence, and as it were
hardened themselves in it, so that this evil could not be remedied without taking
away those things to which it is attached, the Prophet says here, I will cut off the
cities of your land, and then, I will cut off your defenses and fortified places. Is it that
they may be plundered with impunity by their enemies? By no means, but that the
favor of God may be made glorious in their deliverance. For they could not ascribe
it to their cities that they kept off enemies, but were constrained to acknowledge
the hand of God, and to confess him to have been their only deliverer; for they were
exposed to enemies, and there was no aid for them in the land. God then will thus
MINOR PROPHETS
render more evident his favor, when their cities and fortified places shall be cut off.
We hence learn that the faithful at this day have no cause to murmur if they are
without great riches, and if they are not formidable for the multitude of their horses,
nor for the number and strength of their men. Why so? Because it is the Lord's
will that we should be like sheep, that we might depend wholly on his power, and
know that we cannot be otherwise safe than under his protection. This reason then
ought to comfort us, that it may not be grievous to us, when we find that we are
in the midst of wolves, and that we have no equal strength to contend with them;
for even this destitution hardly extorts from us a real confession that our safety is
in the hand of God. We are always proud. How would it be, were the Church at this
day in a flourishing state and all enemies subdued, were there no danger, no fear?
Surely earth and heaven could not bear the foolish self-confidence of men. There is
therefore no wonder that God thus holds us in, and that while he supports us by his
grace, he deprives us of all earthly helps and aids, that we may learn that he alone
is the author of our salvation.
This truth ought to be carefully contemplated by us. Whenever we see that the
Church of God, though not possessing any great power, is yet diminished daily, yea,
and becomes, so to speak, like a naked land, without any defenses, it so happens,
in order that the protection of God may be alone sufÏcient for us, and that he may
wholly tear away from our hearts all haughtiness and pride, and dissipate all those
vain confidences by which we not only obscure the glory of God, but, as far as we can,
entirely cover it over. In short, as there is nothing better for us than to be preserved
by the hand of God, we ought to bear patiently the removal of all those impediments
which close up the way against God, and, in a manner, keep off his hand from us,
when he is ready to extend it for the purpose of delivering us. For when our minds
are inflated with foolish self-confidence, we neglect God; and thus a wall intervenes,
which prevents him to help us. Who would not wish, seeing himself in extreme
danger and help not far distant, that an intercepting wall should immediately fall
down? Thus God is near at hand, as he has promised; but there are many walls and
many obstacles, from the ruin of which, if we would be safe, we must desire and
seek, that God may find an open and free way, in order that he may be able to afford
us aid.
The Prophet comes now to the second kind of impediments. We have already said
that some things become impediments, as it were, accidentally, when, through our
wickedness and misapplication, we turn God's benefits to an end contrary to what he
has designed. If, for instance, horses and chariots are given us, to possess them is
not in itself an evil, but becomes so through our blindness, that is, when we, blinded
by earthly possessions, think ourselves safe, and thus neglect God. But there are
other impediments, which are, in their nature, and in themselves, vicious. To these
the Prophet now leads us.
I will cut off, he says, the sorcerers, {,}כשפיםcashephim 231 Some render the word
jugglers, and others, augurs or diviners. We cannot know of a certainty what kind
231From {.{`` כשףIn Arabic,'' says Parkhurst, ``the verb signifies to discover, disclose, reveal, and is always in the Hebrew
Bible applied to some species of conjuring.'' The Septuagint render the word here {φαρμακα}, drugs or charms. They were
enchanters or sorcerers, who applied drugs to magical purposes. See 2 Chronicles 33:6. --- Ed.
JOHN CALVIN
of superstition it was, nor the other which immediately follows: 232 for the Prophet
mentions here two words which mean nearly the same thing. There is no doubt but
that some, in that age, were called augurs or diviners, and others called jugglers
or astrologers who are now called fortune-tellers. But on this subject there is no
necessity of much labor; for the Prophet simply shows here that the people could
not be preserved by Gods unless they were cleansed from these defilements. These
superstitions, we know, were forbidden and condemned by God's Law: but the Law
was not able to restrain the wickedness of that people; for they continually turned
aside to these evils. God then here shows, that until they had purged the Church,
it could not continue safe. Now, in these words, the Prophet reminds the Jews, and
also the Israelites, for their benefit, that it was, and had been, through their own
fault, that they labored under constant miseries and were not helped by the hand of
God. --- How so? Because there was no room, as God shows here, for the exercise of
his favor; for they were full of auguries and divinations, and of other diabolical arts.
``How,'' he says, ``can I help you, for I have no agreement with Satan? As you are
wholly given to wicked superstitions, my favor is rejected by you.'' 233
One thing is, that the Prophet intended to humble the people, so that every one
might know that it had been through their fault, that God had not brought them
help as they wished: but there is another thing, --- God promises a cleansing, which
would open a way for his favor, --- I will take away, he says, all the diviners Let us
then know, that it ought to be deemed the greatest benefit when God takes away
from us our superstitions and other vices. For since a diminution, however hard and
grievous it may be at first, is useful to us, as we see, when we willfully and openly
drive away God from us; is it not a singular favor in God when he suffers us not to
be thus separated from him, but prepares a way for himself to be connected with us,
and has ever his hand extended to bring us help? Thus much as to these two kinds
of impediments.
He now adds, I will cut off thy graven images and thy statues from the midst of
thee; and thou shalt not hereafter bend down before the works of thine hands This
verse is plain and contains nothing new: for the Prophet teaches that God cannot
become propitious to his Church, to keep and make her safe, until he purges her
from her filth, even from idolatry and other vices, by which the worship of God was
corrupted, or even entirely subverted. I will, therefore, cut off thy graven images and
statues 234 from the midst of thee We see that God anticipates us by his gratuitous
goodness, not only by forgiving us, but also by calling us back, when wandering,
232The word here is {,{מעונניםfrom ,{}ענןa cloud. Parkhurst renders it cloudmongers, who looked upwards to the clouds
either on the flight of birds, or on the stars, or on meteors, and thereby pretended to foretell future things. {Αποφθεγγομενους}
--- oraclers --- Sept. Theodoret renders it {μαντεις} --- soothsayers; and Cyril {ψευδομαντεις} --- false prophets. Some derive it
from ,{}ענהto answer; and others from ,{}עיןthe eye; and hence, eyers or observers, either of times, or dreams, or of stars, or
of birds. --- Ed.
233"Many of them depended much upon the conduct and advice of their conjurors, diviners, and fortune-tellers, and these God will cut off, not only as weak things, and insufficient to relieve them, but as wicked things, and sufficient to ruin them." — Henry.
234{,{מצבותrather pillars or columns than statues: {τας} {στηλας} in the Sept. The pillar of stone which Jacob set up is
called by this name, Genesis 28:18. They were commemorative pillars at which the Canaanites, and afterwards the Jews, offered
idolatrous worship. There was a pillar of this kind in the house of Baal, 2 Kings 10:26, 27. They were not altars, though altars
might have been reared by them, for both are mentioned together in Deuteronomy 12:3. The word is derived from ,{}יצבto set,
to fix firmly. The noun is rendered by Parkhurst, a standing pillar. --- Ed.
MINOR PROPHETS
into the right way. Since then we have deviated from the right way, and God thus
withdraws his hand that it might appear that he has cast us away it is certain that
we ought not only to pray him to have mercy on us, but also to ascribe to him a
higher favor, inasmuch as he takes away the very impediments which separate us
from him, and suffer him not to come nigh us. We hence see that God is not only
inclined to pardon when men repent, but that it is his peculiar ofÏce to remove the
obstacles.
This ought to be carefully noticed, that we may know that our salvation, from the
first beginning, proceeds from the mere favor of God, --- and that we may also learn,
that all those things, of which the Papists vainly talk respecting preparations, are
mere figments.
He then adds, thou shalt not bend hereafter before the work of thine hands. God
expresses here the cause why he so much abominates idols, even because he sees
that his honor is transferred to them: this is one thing. He further arraigns the Jews
as guilty, while he makes evident their defection: for surely nothing could have been
more shameful, than to take away from God his honor and worship, and to transfer
them to dead things; and he says here by way of reproach, that they were the work
of their hands. What can be more insane, than for men to ascribe divinity to their
own inventions, or to believe that it is in the power of men to make a god from wood
or stone? This is surely monstrous in the extreme. Then the Prophet by this form of
speaking aggravates the sin of the people of Israel, that is, when he says that they
bowed the head before the work of their oven hands.
He afterwards subjoins, I will take away thy groves. The groves, we know, formed
a part of their idolatry: they are therefore mentioned here as an addition by the
Prophet. For he speaks not simply of trees, but refers to the wicked practices of
the people: for wherever there were high and lofty trees, they thought that some-
thing divine was hid under their shade; hence their superstition. When therefore the
Prophet mentions groves, it must be understood of vicious and false modes of wor-
ship; for they thought that those places acquired a sort of sanctity from the trees; as
they also thought that they were nearer to God when they were on a hill. We hence
see that this verse is to be connected with the last; as though the Prophet had said,
that the Church could not be in safety and recover her pristine vigor, without being
well cleansed from all the filth of idolatry. For we indeed know that some pious kings
when they took away idols did not cut down the groves; and this exception to their
praise is added, that they worshipped God, but that the high places were suffered
to stand. We see that the Holy Spirit does not fully commend those kings who did
not destroy the groves. --- Why? Because they were the materials of corruption.
And further, had the Jews been really penitent, they would have exterminated those
groves by which they had so shamefully abused and profaned the worship of God.
The sum of the whole then is, that when God shall have well cleansed his Church and
wiped away all its stains, he will then become the unfailing preserver of its safety. 235
235Scott, speaking of the latter part of this chapter, says, "The reformation of the Jews after their return from Babylon might be alluded to; but the purification of the Christian Church from all antichristian corruptions of faith and worship, and all idolatry and superstition, seems
JOHN CALVIN
He afterwards subjoins, And I will destroy thy enemies {,}עריךorik, may be ren-
dered, enemies, and many so render it: but others translate it, cities; and the word,
cities, would be the most suitable, were it not that the Prophet had previously men-
tioned cities. I do not therefore see that it would be proper to render it here by this
term. The word {,}עריךorik, then, ought doubtless to be rendered, thy enemies.
Let us inquire why the prophet says, that the enemies of the Church were to be de-
stroyed. This sentence ought to be thus explained, (I leave the former ones, and
take only this the last,) And I will demolish thy groves from the midst of thee, that
I may destroy thine enemies: 236 the copulative is then to be considered as a final
particle; and this meaning is the most suitable; as though the Prophet had said, as
I have already often stated, that the door was closed against God, so that he could
bring no aid to his Church, and deliver it from enemies, as long as it held to false
confidence, and was attached to the filth of idolatry, which was still worse. ``That
I may then destroy thine enemies, it is necessary first that every thing in thee that
prevents or hinders my favor should be taken away and removed.''
At last he adds, And I will execute vengeance in wrath and in fury He goes on
with what I have just said of enemies; ``I will then execute vengeance in wrath
and in fury on the nations''. Here God mentions his wrath and his fury, that the
faithful might feel greater confidence, that though now their enemies poured forth
grievous threatening, yet this could not prevent God from aiding his people. ---
How so? Because if we compare the wrath and fury of God with all the terrors of
men, doubtless the threats of men would appear as nothing but smoke. We now
perceive the Prophet's meaning in these words. And he says in the last place, I
will execute vengeance on the nations who have not heard. Almost all interpreters
join the relative, {,}אשרasher with the preceding word, {,}גויםguim, --- I will then
take vengeance on the nations who have not heard, that is, who have been rebellious
against God: not to hear, as they explain, is obstinately to despise the power of God,
and not to be moved by his promises or by his threatenings. But a fitter sense may
perhaps be elicited, if we refer {,}אשרasher, to vengeance, --- I will then execute
vengeance on the nations which they have not heard, that is, I will take vengeance on
all the nations in a manner unheard of and incredible: and by nations, he understands
indiscriminately all the enemies of the Church, as we have elsewhere seen.
Prayer.
Grant, Almighty God, that since thou so kindly invites us to thy self, and promises
that thy aid should never be wanting to us, provided we do not close the door against
thee, --- O grant, that though many earthly benefits may be granted to us, we may
not yet trust in them and depart from thee, but, on the contrary, recomb on thy grace
only: and then should it happen to us to be deprived of all helps, that our minds may
be awakened, and that we may thus learn to hasten to thee, may nothing impede our
course, that we may not, with the greatest haste and ardent desire, long to deliver up
and devote ourselves wholly to thee, that we may be made safe under the care and
more immediately to be predicted." — Ed.
236Newcome renders the word {,{עריךthine enemies, and not, thy cities, though he connects the verse differently,
--- more with the last than with the former portion of this, --- I will also destroy thine enemies: 15. And I will execute vengeance,
in anger and in fury, Upon the nations which have not hearkened unto me.
MINOR PROPHETS
protection of thy only-begotten Son, whom thou hast appointed to be the guardian
of our safety. Amen.
Chapter 6
Lecture Ninety-third
Micah 6
Micah 6:1-2
1. Hear ye now what the Lord saith; Arise, contend thou before the mountains,
and let the hills hear thy voice.
1. Audite nunc (vel, quaeso) quod dicit Jehova, --- Surge, litiga coram montibus,
et colles audiant vocem tuam:
2. Hear ye, O mountains, the Lord's controversy, and ye strong foundations of the
earth: for the Lord hath a controversy with his people, and he will plead with Israel.
2. Audite montes disceptationem Jehovae, et fortia undamenta terrae: quia dis-
ceptatio Jehovae cum populo suo, et cum Israele contendet.
Here the Prophet avowedly assumes that the people were sufÏciently proved
guilty; and yet they resisted through a hardiness the most obdurate, and rejected all
admonitions without shame, and without any discretion. He is therefore commanded
to direct his discourse to the mountains and to the hills; for his labor had now for a
long time been useless as to men. The meaning then is that when the Prophet had
spent much labor on the people and derived no fruit, he is at length bidden to call
the mountains and the hills to bear their testimony to God; and thus before the ele-
ments is made known and proved the ungodliness and the obstinacy of the people.
But before he relates what had been committed to him, he makes a preface, in order
to gain attention.
Hear ye what Jehovah says. The Prophets are wont, on very serious subjects, to
make such a preface as is here made by Micah: and it is indeed sufÏciently evident
from the passage, that he has here no ordinary subject for his teaching, but that, on
the contrary, he rebukes their monstrous stupidity; for he had been addressing the
deaf without any advantage. As then the Prophet was about to declare no common
thing, but to be a witness of a new judgment, --- this is the reason why he bids them
to be unusually attentive. Hear, he says, what Jehovah saith. What is it? He might
have added, ``Jehovah has very often spoken to you, he has tried all means to bring
MINOR PROPHETS
you to the right way; but as ye are past recovery, vengeance alone now remains for
you: he will no more spend labor in vain on you; for he finds in you neither shame, nor
meekness, nor docility.'' The Prophet might have thus spoken to them; but he says
that another thing was committed to his charge by the Lord, and that is, to contend
or to plead before the mountains. And this reproach ought to have most acutely
touched the hearts of the people: for there is here an implied comparison between
the mountains and the Jews; as though the Prophet said, --- ``The mountains are
void of understanding and reason, and yet the Lord prefers to have them as witness
of his cause rather than you, who exceed in stupidity all the mountains and rocks.''
We now then perceive the design of God.
Some take mountains and hills in a metaphorical sense for the chief men who
then ruled: and this manner of speaking very frequently occurs in Scripture: but as
to the present passage, I have no doubt but that the Prophet mentions mountains
and hills without a figure; for, as I have already said, he sets the hardness of the
people in opposition to rocks, and intimates, that there would be more attention and
docility in the very mountains than what he had hitherto found in the chosen people.
And the particle {,}אתat, is often taken in the sense of before: it means also with;
but in this place I take it for {,}לlamed, before or near, as many instances might be
cited. But that this is the meaning of the Prophet it is easy to gather from the next
verse, when he says ---
Hear, ye mountains, the controversy of Jehovah, 237 how? and ye strong foun-
dations of the earth, he says. He speaks here no more of hills, but summons the
whole world; as though he said, ``There is not one of the elements which is not to
bear witness respecting the obstinacy of this people; for the voice of God will pen-
etrate to the farthest roots of the earth, it will reach the lowest depths: these men
will at the same time continue deaf.'' And he says not, the Lord threatens you, or
denounces judgment on you; but Jehovah has a contention with his people. We now
then see that there is no metaphor in these words; but that the Prophet merely shows
how monstrous was the stupor of the people, who profited nothing by the celestial
doctrine delivered to them, so that the very mountains and the whole machinery of
earth and heaven, though destitute of reason, had more understanding than these
men. And it is not unusual with the Prophets, we know, to turn their discourse to
mute elements, when there remains no hope of success from men. But our Prophet
does not abruptly address mountains and hills as Isaiah does, (Isaiah 1:2,) and as
also Moses had done,
`Hear, ye heavens, what I shall say, let the earth hear the words of my mouth,'
(Deuteronomy 32:1,)
but he prefaces his discourse by saying, that it had been specially commanded to
him to summon the mountains and hills to God's judgment. By saying then, ``Hear
ye what Jehovah saith,'' he prepares as I have said, the Jews to hear, that they might
know that something uncommon and altogether unusual was to be announced, ---
that the Lord, in order more fully to convict them of extreme impiety, intended to
237Henry says, "Sin begets a controversy between God and man. The righteous God has an action against every sinner, an action of debt, an action of trespass, an action of slander."
JOHN CALVIN
plead his cause before the mountains.
Arise, then, and plead before the mountains, and let the hills hear thy voice. What
sort of voice was this? They who think that the judges are here figuratively pointed
out may be easily refuted; for Micah in the next verse mentions the substance of
this pleading, namely that the Lord expostulated with his people. We hence see that
God had no contention with the mountains, but that, on the contrary, the mountains
were summoned, that they might understand God's pleading, not against them, but
against the people. Hear then, ye mountains, Jehovah's controversy, and ye strong
foundations of the earth, that is, the very rocks. There is nothing so hard in the
world, he says, that shall not be inane to hear; for this pleading shall reach the
lowest depths. Jehovah then has a controversy with his people, and he will plead, or
contend, with Israel It follows ---
Micah 6:3
3. O my people, what have I done unto thee? and wherein have I wearied thee?
testify against me.
3. Popule mi, quid feci tibi? Et in quo exhibui tibi molestiam? Testificare contra
me.
Here God, in the first place, offers to give a reason, if he was accused of any
thing. It seems indeed unbecoming the character of God, that he should be thus
ready as one guilty to clear himself: but this is said by way of concession; for the
Prophet could not otherwise express, that nothing that deserved blame could be
found in God. It is a personification, by which a character; not his own, is ascribed
to God. It ought not therefore to appear inconsistent, that the Lord stands forth
here, and is prepared to hear any accusation the people might have, that he might
give an answer, My people! what have I done? By using this kind expression, my
people, he renders double their wickedness; for God here descends from his own
elevation, and not only addresses his people, in a paternal manner, but stands as it
were on the opposite side, and is prepared, if the people had anything to say, to give
answer to it, so that they might mutually discuss the question, as it is usually done
by friends. Now the more kindly and indulgently the Lord deals with his people, the
more enhanced, as I have said, is their sin.
He says first, What have I done to thee? that is, what hast thou to accuse me
with? He adds In what have I caused trouble 238 to thee? or, In what have I been
troublesome to thee? Testify, he says, against me. This testifying was to be made to
the mountains and hills; as though he said, ``I am ready to plead my cause before
heaven and earth; in a word, before all my creatures.'' Some render the passage,
``Answer me:'' and {,}ענהone, is also to answer; but the context requires the for-
mer meaning; for God conceded so much liberty to the Jews, that they might bring
forward against him any fault they had to allege. Testify, he says, against me; that
is, there are witnesses present; make public now thy case by stating particulars, I am
ready for the defense. We hence see the truth of what I have before stated, --- that
a character, not his own is ascribed to God: but this is done by way of concession.
238The verb is {,{הלאתיךI have wearied, or caused thee to be weary. Quo fatigavi te --- In what have I wearied thee?
Jun. and Trem. {Τι} {ελυπησα} {σε} --- how have I caused thee to grieve? Sept. Quo labore te pressi --- with what labor have I
oppressed thee? Jerome. This last contains the full meaning. --- Ed.
MINOR PROPHETS
He afterwards adds ---
Micah 6:4
4. For I brought thee up out of the land of Egypt, and redeemed thee out of the
house of servants; and I sent before thee Moses, Aaron, and Miriam.
4. Certe (vel, quia, vel, nempe quod ascendere te feci e terra AEgypti, et ex domo
servorum redemi te, et misi coram te Mosen, Aaron, et Mariam.
God, having testified that he had in nothing been troublesome to the people, now
states with how great and with how many benefits he had bound them to himself.
But we may prefer taking the words as explanatory and somewhat ironical that he
records his benefits in the place of trouble or vexation; though, in my judgment, it is
better to read the two clauses apart. I have brought thee, he says, from the land of
Egypt, from that miserable bondage; and then he says, I have redeemed thee 239 By
the word, redeem, he expresses more clearly and more fully illustrates his kindness.
Then he adds, I have set over thee as leaders Moses, and Aaron, and Miriam, the
sister of them both. Benefits, we know, are often accompanied with injuries; and
he who obliges another destroys all his favor, when he turns kindness as it often
happens, into reproach. It is hence frequently the case, that he who has been kind
to another brings so serious an injury, that the memory of his kindness ought not
to continue. God mentions here these two things, --- that he had conferred vast
benefits on the people, --- and yet that he had in nothing been burdensome to them;
as though he said ``Many are those things which I can, if necessary, on my part bring
forward, by which I have more than a hundred times made thee indebted to me; now
thou canst not in thy turn bring anything against me; thou canst not say that I have
accompanied my benefits with wrongs, or that thou hast been despised, because
thou were under obligations to me, as it is often the case with men who proudly
domineer, when they think that they have made others bound to them. I have not
then thought proper to accompany my great favors with anything troublesome or
grievous to thee.'' We now understand why the Prophet expressly mentions these
two things, --- that God had in nothing been vexatious to his people, --- and that he
had brought them up from the land of Egypt.
That redemption was so great, that the people ought not to have complained,
had it been the will of God to lay on their shoulders some very heavy burdens: for
this answer might have been ever readily given, --- ``Ye have been delivered by me;
ye owe to me your life and your safety. There is therefore no reason why any thing
should be now burdensome to you; for the bondage of Egypt must have been bitterer
to you than hundred deaths; and I redeemed you from that bondage.'' But, as the
Lord had treated his redeemed people so kindly and so humanely, yea, with so much
indulgence, how great and how intolerable was their ingratitude in not responding to
his great kindness? We now more fully understand the Prophet's meaning in these
words.
239The complete sentence is, "from the house of servants," or rather, slaves: for they were not properly what we call servants, but slaves, in Egypt. The Septuagint has {εξ} {οικου} {δουλειας} ---
from the house of slavery. ``The house of slaves,'' is the version both of Newcome and of Henderson. They are the same words
as we find in Exodus 20:2, rendered, ``out of the house of bondage;'' which ought to be translated slavery rather than bondage,
if we depart from the literal rendering --- the house of slaves. --- Ed.
JOHN CALVIN
I have made thee to ascend, he says, from Egypt; and then, I have redeemed thee.
He goes on, as we have said, by degrees. He afterwards adds, I have sent before thy
face Moses, Aaron, and Miriam. God means here that it had not been a momentary
kindness; for he continued his favor towards the Jews when he set over them Moses
and Aaron, and Miriam, which was an evidence of his constant care, until he had
completed his work of delivering them. For Moses was a minister of their deliverance
in upholding civil order, and Aaron as to the priesthood and spiritual discipline. With
regard to Miriam, she also performed her part towards the women; and as we find
in Exodus 15, she composed a song of thanksgiving after passing through the Red
Sea: and hence arose her base envy with regard to Moses; for being highly praised,
she thought herself equal to him in dignity. It is at the same time right to mention,
that it was an extraordinary thing, when God gave authority to a woman, as was the
case with Deborah that no one may consider this singular precedent as a common
rule. It now follows ---
Micah 6:5
5. O my people, remember now what Balak king of Moab consulted, and what
Balaam the son of Beor answered him from Shittim unto Gilgal; that ye may know
the righteousness of the Lord.
5. Popule mi, recordare nunc (vel, quaeso, est eadem particula) quid cogitaverit
Balak, rex Moab, et quid responderit ei Balaam, filius Beor, a Sittim usque ad Gilgal,
ut cognosceres (vel, cognoscas) justitias Jehovae.
God briefly records here what happened in the desert, --- that the people had need
of some extraordinary help in addition to the many benefits which he had conferred
on them. For though the people lived safely in the desert as to the Egyptians, though
they were fed by manna and water from the rock flowed for them, though the cloud
by day protected them from the heat of the sun, and the pillar of fire shone on
them during the night, yet the stream of God's mercy seemed to have been stopped
when Balaam came forth, who was a Prophet, and then, as one armed with celestial
weapons, fought against the people and opposed their deliverance. Now, had God
permitted Balaam to curse the people, what could have taken place, but that they
must have been deprived of all their blessings? This is the reason why the Prophet
specifically refers to this history, --- that the cursing of Balaam was miraculously
turned into a blessing, even through the secret purpose of God. Micah might indeed
have referred to all those particulars by which God could have proved the ingratitude
of the people; but he deemed it sufÏcient to touch on the fact of their redemption,
and also to mention by the way this extraordinary instance of God's kindness.
Remember, he says, what Balak devised, that is, how crafty was his counsel: for
the verb {,}יעףiots, is to be taken here in a bad sense, and is very emphatical; as
though the Prophet had said, that there was more danger in this fraud than in all the
violence of enemies; for Balak could not have done so much harm, had he prepared
a great army against the Israelites, as by hiring a Prophet to curse the people. For
certain it is, that though Balaam was an impostor and full of deceits, as it is probable
that he was a man given to profane superstitions, he was yet endued with the gift of
prophecy. This was the case no doubt; and we know that God has often so distributed
MINOR PROPHETS
the gifts of his Spirit, that he has honored with the prophetic ofÏce even the ungodly
and unbelieving: for it was a special gift, distinct from the grace of regeneration.
Balaam then was a Prophet. Now when Balak saw that he was unequal in power to
oppose the people, he thought of this expedient --- to get some Prophet to interpose
for the purpose of exciting the wrath of God against the people. This is the reason
why it is here said, Remember what Balak consulted against thee; that is, ``Thou
were then in the greatest danger, when a Prophet came, hired for the purpose, that
he might in God's name pronounce on thee a curse.''
It may be asked, Whether Balaam could really curse the people of Israel? The
answer is easy: the question here is not what might have been the effect, without
God's permission; but Micah here regards only the ofÏce with which Balaam was
honored and endued. As then he was God's Prophet, he could have cursed the peo-
ple, had not God prevented him. And no doubt Balak was wise enough to know, that
the Israelites could not be resisted by human power, and that, therefore, nothing
remained for him but the interposition of God; and as he could not bring down God
from heaven, he sent for a Prophet. God puts his own power in his word, --- as God's
word resided in Balaam, and as he was, as it were, its depositary, it was no wonder
that Balak thought that he would become the conqueror of the people of Israel, pro-
vided they were cursed by Balaam's mouth; for this would have been as it were, the
announcement of God's wrath.
He now subjoins, And what Balaam, the son of Beor, answered him. There is here
shown, on the one hand, a danger, because Balaam was craftier than all the other
enemies of the people, for he could have done more by his artifice than if he had
armed against them the whole world: here then was the danger. But, on the other
hand, we know what he answered; and it is certain that the answer of Balaam did
not proceed from himself, but, on the contrary, from the Spirit of God. As Balaam
spoke by the secret influence of the Spirit, contrary to the wish of his own heart, God
thus proved that he was present at that very time, when the safety of the people was
endangered. Think, then, or remember, what Balaam answered; as though he said,
--- ``Balaam was very nigh cursing thee, for his mouth was opened: for he had sold
himself to an ungodly king, and nothing could have pleased him more than to have
poured forth many anathemas and many curses: but he was constrained to bless
your fathers. What did this mean? Did not the wonderful favor of God shine forth
in this instance?'' We now perceive the Prophet's design, and what a large meaning
there is in these words.
He afterwards adds generally, From Shittim even to Gilgal. This is not connected
with the last clause; for Balaam did not follow the people from Shittim to Gilgal; but
a verb is to be understood, 240 as though he said, --- ``Thou knowest what things
240Various have been the ways to complete this evidently defective sentence; and there is no assistance from any MSS., or from the Septuagint. Shittim was in the land of Moab, and Gilgal was beyond Jordan, in the land of Canaan. Grotius and many others repeat the word "Remember," and supply, "what I have done," or, "what happened." This is a sort of omission, which we can hardly think a writer would have made. It is far more probable that a word or words have been somehow left out: and the Targum, though generally no safe guide, has so given the passage as to countenance this conjecture. "Were not great things done for you," is the supplement of the Targum. "And what I did," seems to be the most natural addition: such words as {{}עשיתי{ ומהappear to have been left out by transcribers. I would then render the verse thus: --- My people,
JOHN CALVIN
happened to thee from Shittim to Gilgal, from the beginning to the end; at the time
when thou didst enter the wilderness, thou hadst begun to provoke the wrath of
God.'' And we know that even in Shittim the Israelites fell away into idolatry; and
that defection, in a manner, alienated them from God. Hence God shows here that
he, in his goodness and mercy, had contended with the ungodly ways of the people
even to Gilgal; that is, ``Thou hast never ceased to provoke me.'' We indeed know
that the people continually excited against themselves the displeasure of God, and
that their defections were many and various. In short, then the Prophet shows that
God had so mercifully dealt with the people, that he had, in a most astonishing
manner, overcome their wickedness by his goodness.
He at length subjoins, That thou mayest know the righteousnesses of Jehovah.
By righteousnesses he means acts of kindness, as the sense of the word is in many
other passages: for the righteousness of God is often taken not only for uprightness,
but also for the faithfulness and truth which he manifests towards his people. It
betokens therefore the relation between God and his Church, whenever the word,
righteousness, is to be understood in this sense. That thou mayest then know the
righteousnesses of Jehovah; that is, that experience itself may prove to thee how
faithful, how beneficent, how merciful has God ever been towards your race. 241
Since then the righteousness of God was conspicuous, the people must surely have
been mute, and had nothing for which they could justly expostulate with God: what
remained, but that their extreme impiety, fully detected before heaven and earth
and all the elements, exposed them to his judgment? It now follows ---
Micah 6:6-8
6. Wherewith shall I come before the Lord, and bow myself before the high God?
shall I come before him with burnt offerings, with calves of a year old?
6. In quo occurram Jehovae? Incurvabo me coram Deo excelso? Occurramne ei
in holocaustis? In vitulis anniculis?
7. Will the Lord be pleased with thousands of rams, or with ten thousands of rivers
of oil? shall I give my firstborn for my transgression, the fruit of my body for the sin
of my soul?
7. An complacitum erit Jehovae in millibus arietum? In decem millibus vallium
olei (vel, pinguedinis?) An dabo primogenitum peccatum meum (hoc est, piaculum
peccati mei? Fructum ventris mei, piaculum sceleris animae mea?
8. He hath shewed thee, O man, what is good; and what doth the Lord require of
thee, but to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God?
8. Indicavit tibi, homo, quid bonum; et quid Jehova quaerit abs te nisi facere
judicium et deligere clementiam (vel, bonitatem,) et humiliari ut ambules cum Deo
tuo.
The Prophet now inquires, as in the name of the people, what was necessary
to be done: and he takes these two principles as granted, --- that the people were
without any excuse, and were forced to confess their sin, --- and that God had hitherto
remember, I pray, What did Balak, the king of Moab, consult, And what did Balaam, the son of Beor, answer him, (And what I did)
from Shittim even to Gilgal, That ye may know the faithful dealings of Jehovah. --- Ed.
241"His justice in destroying the Canaanites, his goodness in giving rest to his people Israel, and his faithfulness to his promises made unto the Fathers." — Henry.
MINOR PROPHETS
contended with them for no other end and with no other design, but to restore the
people to the right way; for if his purpose had only been to condemn the people
for their wickedness, there would have been no need of these questions. But the
Prophet shows what has been often stated before, --- that whenever God chides his
people, he opens to them the door of hope as to their salvation, provided those who
have sinned repent. As this then must have been well known to all the Jews, the
Prophet here asks, as with their mouth, what was to be done.
He thus introduces them as inquiring, With what shall I approach Jehovah, and
bow down before the high God? 242
Shall I approach him with burnt-offerings, 243 with calves of a year old? But at the
same time there is no doubt, but that he indirectly refers to that foolish notion, by
which men for the most part deceive themselves; for when they are proved guilty,
they indeed know that there is no remedy for them, except they reconcile themselves
to God: but yet they pretend by circuitous courses to approach God, while they desire
to be ever far away from him. This dissimulation has always prevailed in the world,
and it now prevails: they see that they whom God convicts and their own conscience
condemns, cannot rest in safety. Hence they wish to discharge their duty towards
God as a matter of necessity; but at the same time they seek some fictitious modes
of reconciliation, as though it were enough to flatter God, as though he could be
pacified like a child with some frivolous trifles. The Prophet therefore detects this
wickedness, which had ever been too prevalent among them; as though he said, ---
``I see what ye are about to say; for there is no need of contending longer; as ye have
nothing to object to God, and he has things innumerable to allege against you: ye
are then more than condemned; but yet ye will perhaps say what has been usually
alleged by you and always by hypocrites, even this, --- `We wish to be reconciled
to God, and we confess our faults and seek pardon; let God in the meantime show
himself ready to be reconciled to us, while we offer to him sacrifices.' '' There is
then no doubt, but that the Prophet derided this folly, which has ever prevailed in
the hearts of men: they ever think that God can be pacified by outward rites and
frivolous performances.
He afterwards adds, He has proclaimed to thee what is good. The Prophet re-
proves the hypocrisy by which the Jews willfully deceived themselves, as though he
said, --- ``Ye indeed pretend some concern for religion when ye approach God in
prayer; but this your religion is nothing; it is nothing else than shamelessly to dis-
semble; for ye sin not either through ignorance or misconception, but ye treat God
with mockery.'' --- How so? ``Because the Law teaches you with sufÏcient clearness
what God requires from you; does it not plainly enough show you what is true rec-
onciliation? But ye close your eyes to the teaching of the Law, and in the meantime
pretend ignorance. This is extremely childish. God has already proclaimed what is
good, even to do judgment, to love kindness and to walk humbly with God.'' We now
perceive the design of the Prophet.
As then he says here, With what shall I appear before God? we must bear in
242Literally, "the god of the height," that is, of heaven, {{}מרום{. אלהיSee Psalm 68:18 243This clause is omitted in my Latin copy; and viewing it as an accidental omission, I have supplied it. — Ed.
JOHN CALVIN
mind, that as soon as God condescends to enter into trial with men, the cause is
decided; for it is no doubtful contention. When men litigate one with another, there
is no cause so good but what an opposite party can darken by sophistries. But the
Prophet intimates that men lose all their labor by evasions, when God summons
them to a trial. This is one thing. He also shows what deep roots hypocrisy has in
the hearts of all, for they ever deceive themselves and try to deceive God. How
comes it that men, proved guilty, do not immediately and in the right way retake
themselves to God, but that they ever seek windings? How is this? It is not because
they have any doubt about what is right except they willfully deceive themselves,
but because they dissemble and willfully seek the subterfuges of error. It hence
appears that men perversely go astray when ever they repent not as they ought, and
bring not to God a real integrity of heart. And hence it also appears that the whole
world which continues in its superstitions is without excuse. For if we scrutinize the
intentions of men, it will at length come to this, --- that men carefully and anxiously
seek various superstitions, because they are unwilling to come before God and to
devote themselves to him, without some dissembling and hypocrisy. Since it is so,
certain it is, that all who desire to pacify God with their own ceremonies and other
trifles cannot by any pretext escape. What is said here is at the same time strictly
addressed to the Jews, who had been instructed in the teaching of the Law: and such
are the Papists of this day; though they spread forth specious pretenses to excuse
their ignorance, they may yet be refuted by this one fact, --- that God has prescribed
clearly and distinctly enough what he requires: but they wish to be ignorant of this;
hence their error is at all times wilful. We ought especially to notice this in the words
of the Prophet; but I cannot proceed farther now.
Prayer.
Grant, Almighty God, that as thou hast made known to us thy Law, and hast also
added thy Gospel, in which thou callest us to thy service, and also invites us with all
kindness to partake of thy grace, --- O grant, that we may not be deaf, either to thy
command or to the promises of thy mercy, but render ourselves in both instances
submissive to thee and so learn to devote all our faculties to thee, that we may in
truth avow that a rule of a holy and religious life has been delivered to us in thy
law, and that we may also firmly adhere to thy promises, lest through any of the
allurements of the world, or through the flatteries and crafts of Satan thou shouldest
suffer our minds to be drawn away from that love which thou hast once manifested to
us in thine only-begotten Son and in which thou daily confirmest us by the teaching
of the Gospel, until we at length shall come to the full enjoyment of this love in that
celestial inheritance, which has been purchased for us by the blood of thy only Son.
Amen.
Lecture Ninety-fourth
We have seen in the last lecture that hypocrites inquire how God is to be paci-
fied, as though they were very solicitous about the performance of their duty; and
that in the meantime these are mere disguises; for by circuitous windings they turn
here and there, and never wish to come directly to God. The way might have been
easily known by them; but they closed their eyes, and at the same time pretended
MINOR PROPHETS
that they had some concern for religion. And this is also very commonly the case in
our day; and common experience, if any one opens his eyes, clearly proves this, ---
that the ungodly, who deal not sincerely with God, profess a very great concern, as
though they were wholly intent on serving God, and yet turn aside here and there,
and seek many bypaths, (diverticula,) that they may not be constrained to present
themselves before God. We have already seen, that this false pretense is fully ex-
posed, inasmuch as God has enough, and more than enough, demonstrated in his
Law, what he approves and what he requires from men. Why then do hypocrites, as
still uncertain, make the inquiry? It is because they are willfully blind at mid-day; for
the doctrine of the Law ought to have been to them as a lamp to direct their steps;
but they smother this light, yea, they do what they can wholly to extinguish it: they
ask, as though perplexed, how can we pacify God?
But it ought also to be observed, (for the Prophet says, Shall I give my first-born,
and the fruit of my loins, as an expiation for my soul? 244 ) that hypocrites will
withhold nothing, provided they are not to devote themselves to God. We see the
same thing under the Papacy at this day; they spare no expense, nor even the great-
est toils: provided the ungodly have always a freedom to live in sin, they will easily
grant to God all other things. For through a false conceit they make a sort of agree-
ment with God: if they mortify themselves, and toil in ceremonies, and if they pour
forth some portion of their money, if they sometimes deprive nature of its support,
if with fastings and by other things, they afÒict themselves, they think that by these
means they have fully performed their duties. But these are frivolous trifles; for
in the meantime they consider themselves exempt from the duty of obeying God.
Being yet unwilling to be regarded as alienated from God, they, at the same time,
obtrude on him their meritorious works, to prevent his judgment, and to exempt
themselves from the necessity of doing the principal thing, that which he especially
requires --- to bring a sincere heart. Thus then hypocrites wish to divide things with
God, that they may remain within such as they are; and they spread forth outwardly
many frivolous things for the purpose of pacifying him. And this is the reason why
the Prophet says now, Shall I give my first-born? for hypocrites wish to appear as
though they were burning with the greatest zeal, --- ``Rather than that God should
remain angry with me, I would not spare the life of my first-born; I would rather be
the executioner of my own son: in short, nothing is so valuable to me, which I would
not be really to part with, that God may be propitious to me.'' This indeed is what
they boast with their mouth; but at the same time they will not offer their heart as
a sacrifice to God: and as they deal dishonestly with God, we see that all is nothing
but dissimulation.
If any one objects, and says, --- that the other rites, of which the Prophet speaks
here, had been enjoined by God's Law, the answer is easy; but I shall not now but
briefly touch on what I have elsewhere more largely handled: The Prophet denies,
244The substance of the two lines is given here, not in their literal version. He evidently gives somewhat a different meaning from our translation; and probably the original admits better of the construction adopted here. If {,{פשעa transgression or trespass, be taken for a trespass-offering, and ,{}חטאה
for a sin-offering, as it is often, then the rendering would be this, --- Shall I make my first-born my trespass-offering, The fruit of
my loins a sin-offering for my soul? The verb {}נתןis not only to give, to present, to offer, but also to make, to constitute, to
appoint. But if the first be rendered transgression, the law of parallelism requires that the second should be rendered sin. --- Ed.
JOHN CALVIN
that sacrifices avail any thing for the purpose of propitiating God. This may seem
inconsistent with the teaching of the Law, but in fact it altogether agrees with it.
God indeed wished sacrifices to be offered to him; and then this promise was always
added, Iniquity shall be atoned. But the object must be noticed; for God did not com-
mand sacrifices, as though they were of themselves of any worth; but he intended to
lead the ancient people by such exercises to repentance and faith. It was therefore
his design to remind the Jews that they did no good, except they themselves became
sacrifices; and it was also his will that they should look to the only true sacrifice, by
which all sins are expiated. But hypocrites, like falsifiers of documents, abused the
command of God, and adulterated the sacrifices themselves. It was then a profane
sacrilege for them to think that God would be propitious to them, if they offered
many oxen and calves and lambs. It was the same thing as if one asked the way,
and after having known it, rested quietly and never moved a foot. God had shown
the way, by which the Jews might come to repentance and faith: and they ought to
have walked in it; but they wickedly trifled with God; for they thought that it would
be a satisfaction to his justice, if they only performed outward rites. Whenever then
the Prophets in God's name repudiate sacrifices, the abuse, by which God's Law was
corrupted, is ever to be considered, that is, when the Jews brought sacrifices, only,
and had no respect to the end in view, and did not exercise themselves in repentance
and faith. It is for this reason that our Prophet declares, that all sacrifices were of no
account before God, but were vain things: they were so, when they were separated
from their right end.
He then says that God had shown by his Law what is good; and then he adds
what it is, to do justice, to love mercy, or kindness, and to be humbled before God.
It is evident that, in the two first particulars, he refers to the second table of the
Law; that is to do justice, and to love mercy 245 Nor is it a matter of wonder that
the Prophet begins with the duties of love; for though in order the worship of God
precedes these duties, and ought rightly to be so regarded, yet justice, which is to be
exercised towards men, is the real evidence of true religion. The Prophet, therefore,
mentions justice and mercy, not that God casts aside that which is principal --- the
worship of his name; but he shows, by evidences or effects, what true religion is.
Hypocrites place all holiness in external rites; but God requires what is very different;
for his worship is spiritual. But as hypocrites can make a show of great zeal and of
great solicitude in the outward worship of God, the Prophets try the conduct of men
in another way, by inquiring whether they act justly and kindly towards one another,
whether they are free from all fraud and violence, whether they observe justice and
show mercy. This is the way our Prophet now follows, when he says, that God's Law
prescribes what is good, and that is, to do justice --- to observe what is equitable
towards men, and also to perform the duties of mercy.
He afterwards adds what in order is first, and that is, to humble thyself to walk
with God: 246 it is thus literally, ``And to be humble in walking with thy God.'' No
245The expression is remarkable — to love mercy, or benevolence, beneficence, or kindness; it is not only to show mercy or kindness, but to love it, so as to take pleasure and delight in it. — Ed.
246The words are, {{}אלהיך{. }לכת{ והצנע-{}עםThe verb {}צנעoccurs nowhere else but as a passive participle in
MINOR PROPHETS
doubt, as the name of God is more excellent than any thing in the whole world, so
the worship of him ought to be regarded as of more importance than all those duties
by which we prove our love towards men. But the Prophet, as I have already said,
was not so particular in observing order; his main object was to show how men were
to prove that they seriously feared God and kept his Law: he afterwards speaks of
God's worship. But his manner of speaking, when he says, that men ought to be
humble, that they may walk with their God, is worthy of special notice. Condemned,
then, is here all pride, and also all the confidence of the flesh: for whosoever arro-
gates to himself even the least thing, does, in a manner, contend with God as with
an opposing party. The true way then of walking with God is, when we thoroughly
humble ourselves, yea, when we bring ourselves down to nothing; for it is the very
beginning of worshipping and glorifying God when men entertain humble and low
opinion of themselves. Let us now proceed ---
Micah 6:9
9. The Lord's voice crieth unto the city, and the man of wisdom shall see thy
name: hear ye the rod, and who hath appointed it.
9. Vox Jehovae ad civitatem (vel, ad expergefaciendum) clamat (ad verbum, clam-
abit;) et vir intelligentiae videbit nomen tuum: audite virgam, et quis testificetur
eam.
The Prophet complains here that he and other teachers did but little, though their
cry resounded and was heard by the whole people. He therefore says, that the voice
of God cried; as though he had said that there was no excuse for ignorance, for God
had indiscriminately exhorted them all to repentance. Now, since what was taught
was common to them all, the Prophet deplores their perverseness, for very few were
attentive; and the fable was sung, according to the proverb, to the deaf. We must
then notice the word cry; the voice of God, he says, crieth. God did not whisper in
the ear of one or two, but he designed his voice to be heard by all from the least to
the greatest. The Prophets then did cry loud enough, but there were no ears to hear
them.
We may take the word {,}לעירlaoir, in two ways. {,}עירoir, means a city. But
some derive it from {,}עורour, and render it as if it were written {,}להעירlaeoir.
If {,}הhe is put in, it must be rendered, To rouse; and the letter {,}הhe, may be
concealed under the point chamets; and this sense would be the most suitable, The
voice of Jehovah cries to arouse or awaken; that is though the people are torpid,
and as it were overpowered with sleep, for they indulged themselves in their sins;
yet the voice of God ought to be sufÏcient to arouse them all: however sleepy they
might have been, there was yet power enough in the doctrine of the Law, which the
Prophet daily proclaimed. But still this voice, by which the whole people ought to
have been awakened, was not heard!
Proverbs 11:2; but its meaning there is evident, for it is opposed to pride, ,{}זדוןwhich means a swelling pride, such as fills one
with high notions of one's self. Then the opposite of this is to be humble from a sense of one's own emptiness. As it is here
to the infinitive Hiphil, its literal meaning is what Calvin assigns to it --- tohumble one's self. And the best rendering of this line
would be --- ``And to humble thyself to walk with God.'' The Septuagint renders it {ετοιμον} {εναι} --- to be ready; Theodotion,
{ασφαλιζου}; Vulgate, solicitum But these seem not to have understood the word. The Welsh version is exactly and literally
the Hebrew --- Ac ymostwng I rodio gyda 'th Dduw. Gostwng is to humble, and by adding ym, and dropping the g, the verb has
exactly the meaning of the Hiphil in Hebrew---to humble one's self. They are, indeed, some verbs in Welsh which admit of all the
modifications of the Hebrew verbs, being active, passive, causative, and reflective. --- Ed.
JOHN CALVIN
The man of understanding, he says will see thy name The word {,}תושיהtushie,
means properly understanding, as it is clear from many other passages; but the
Prophet means that there was a very small number who were teachable; and he calls
them men of understanding. At the same time, he indirectly reproves the sottishness
of the people, though they all boasted that they were wise, and boasted also that
they were the learners of the Law. The Prophet shows here by implication, that
understanding was a rare thing among that people; for few hearkened to the voice
of God. And thus we see what his object was; for he wished to touch the Jews to the
quick, that they might acknowledge that they were without mind and understanding,
because they had hardened themselves against God, so that his voice did not reach
their hearts. He therefore shows that they were all besides themselves; for had
they any right understanding, they would have hearkened to God speaking to them,
as they were his disciples. What indeed could have been more strange, nay more
inhuman, than for men to reject the doctrine of their salvation, and to turn aside
from hearing even God himself? Thus the madness of the people was reproved; for
though the voice of God sounded in the ears of them all, it was not yet listened to.
If one prefers reading, In the city, then no doubt the Prophet means, that the voice
of God was proclaimed through all the cities: for to confine it, as some interpreters
do, to Jerusalem, or to Samaria, appears frigid. We must then understand a change
of number, and take city for any large concourse of people; as though he had said,
that there was no city in which God did not cry and yet that there were ears no where.
It afterwards follows, Shall see thy name. Some render it, Shall fear, 247 as though
it was from {,}יראira; but it comes on the contrary from {,}ראהrae; and rules of
grammar will not allow it to be viewed otherwise. And the Prophet speaks in a striking
manner, when he says, that the intelligent man seeth the name of God. For whence
proceeded the contempt of wicked men, so that they disregarded the voice of God,
except from this --- that his majesty had no effect on them; that is, they did not
acknowledge that they had to do with God? For if they really understood what I have
said, --- that God spoke to them, his majesty would have immediately come to view,
it would have arrested all their thoughts. God then would have constrained even
the most heedless to fear him, had it not been, that they imagined the voice which
sounded in their ears was that of man. Significantly then does the Prophet say, that
it was the act of singular prudence to see the name of God, that is to understand
from whom the doctrine proceeded. For as soon as we hearken to God, his majesty,
as I have said, must so penetrate all our thoughts, as to humble us before him, and
to constrain us to do him homage. The contempt then of spiritual doctrine, and also
247And so Newcome renders it, and there are a few copies in favor of this reading, in which {{יראיis found: but a fact of this kind is not sufÏcient to make a change, except there will be other reasons. And then in the next
line there is a change made, without the authority of one MS. Indeed these two lines are rendered as though the Archbishop had
another text; and indeed it is another: his version is this, --- And there is a sound wisdom with them that fear his name: Hear, O
ye tribes, him that testifieth. This version is partly derived from the Septuagint; which could not have been wholly followed, as
it differs so widely from the Hebrew, and hardly presents any meaning. There is far more correspondence in the passage, as it is
rendered in our version, and by Calvin, and also by Henderson; and the Hebrew is closely followed. Drusius and others agree with
Calvin, that ,{}תושיהwhich is rendered often ``sound wisdom,'' is to be taken here as concrete, signifying a wise man. {}מטהis
evidently the rod of correction, and is used in this sense in Isaiah 10:5, 24; and it is more consistent with the whole passage to
consider {}יעדהas a future, construed, as in the present tense, with an afÏx, from ,{}עדto testify, than from {}יעדto appoint, ---
``Hear ye the rod,'' the chastening rod, ``and who testifies of it.'' Newcome viewed it as being this verb; but he takes no notice
of its afÏx ,{}הwhich refers to the rod, by which chastisement is signified. --- Ed.
MINOR PROPHETS
the perverseness of ungodly men, proceed from this, --- that they see not the name
of God, that they understand not that it is his name.
He afterwards adds, Hear ye the rod, and him who proclaims it to you By rod he
means threatening; as though he said, --- ``Your arrogance in mocking God shall not
go unpunished, as though his voice were an empty sound: there is then no reason
for you to deceive yourselves with the hope of impunity; for God will avenge the
contempt of his word.'' Now the Prophet's design was, to denounce an approach-
ing vengeance on those who came not willingly to God, and received not his word
with genuine docility of mind. Whenever, then, men despise the voice of God, as
though it proceeded only from a mortal being, on such Micah denounces an impend-
ing vengeance; for the contempt of his word is a thing intolerable to God. This is
the reason why he immediately adds, after having complained of the contempt of
his word, that vengeance was not afar off; Hear ye then the rod, and who declares
or testifies concerning it
This last clause ought to be especially noticed; for the ungodly are not terrified
when God declares that he will be an avenger, because they think not that they must
give an account of their life, or they look only on mortal man, ``Ah! who speaks?
Is he indeed our God? Is he armed with celestial power? Do we not see a mortal
man and one like ourselves?'' We daily see that the ungodly do thus cast away
every fear, and willfully harden themselves against God's judgments. It is not then
without reason that the Prophet bids the Jews seriously to consider who testifies
of the rod; as though he said, --- ``I indeed confess that I am a mortal man, but
remember who has sent me; for I go not forth as a private individual, nor have I
presumptuously intruded into this ofÏce; but I am armed with God's command; nay,
God himself speaks through my mouth. If then ye despise me, the Lord is present,
who will vindicate his own commands for he will not suffer himself to be despised
in his servants though they may be contemptible according to the flesh, he will yet
have the reverence which it deserves to be paid to his word.'' We now perceive the
real meaning of the Prophet. It now follows ---
Micah 6:10-11
10. Are there yet the treasures of wickedness in the house of the wicked, and the
scant measure that is abominable?
10. Adhuc an sunt in domo impii thesauri impietatis? Et modius macilentus de-
terestabilis (vel, provocans iram?)
11. Shall I count them pure with the wicked balances, and with the bag of deceitful
weights?
11. An justificabo stateras impietatis, et sacculum ponderum doli?
Interpreters differ as to the word {,}האשeash: some think that it ought to be read
{,}האישeaish, with an addition of two letters, and render it, ``Is it yet man?'' But this
would render the passage abrupt. Others translate, ``Is there yet fire?'' As though it
was {,}אשash; and they suppose that wealth, wickedly and unjustly got, is so called,
because it consumes itself. But as this is against what grammar requires, I am more
inclined to take their view, who think that {,}האשeash, is to be taken here for {,}היש
JOHN CALVIN
eish, 248 , aleph being put for jod: and they rightly consider that the sentence is to
be read as a question, Are there yet the treasures of wickedness in the house of the
ungodly? If this view be approved, then we must consider the Prophet as proposing
a question respecting a thing really monstrous, --- How can it be that treasures,
gathered by plunder and wickedness, still remain with you, since ye have been so
often warned, and since God daily urges you to repentance? How great is your
hardness, that no fear of God lays hold on your minds? But the meaning would not
be unsuitable were we to regard God as a Judge examining them concerning a matter
unknown, Are there still the treasures of impiety in the house of the ungodly? that
is, ``I will see whether the ungodly and wicked hide their treasures:'' for God often
assumes the character of earthly judges; not that any thing escapes his knowledge,
but that we may know that he is not precipitant in deciding a question. This view,
then, is by no means inappropriate, that is, that God here assumes the character
of an earthly judge, and thus speaks, ``I will see whether there are still treasures
concealed by the ungodly; I will search their houses; I will know whether they have
as yet repented of their crimes.'' thus, then, may be understood the words of the
Prophet, Are there yet the treasures of wickedness in the house of the ungodly? For
God, as I have already said, shows that he would know respecting the plunders and
the various kinds of cruelty which they had exercised.
He then adds, Is there the bare measure, that is, a measure less than it ought to
be, which is detestable? 249 Then he says,
Shall I justify? etc. 250 This verse is connected with the last, and is added as an
explanation. For God having come forth as a Judge, now shows what sort of Judge
he is, even one who is not biased by favor, who does not change his judgment, who
shows no respect of persons. But men, for the most part, greatly deceive themselves,
when they transform God according to their own will, and promise to themselves that
he will be propitious to them, provided they only make false pretensions to him. God
then here declares, that he differs widely from earthly judges, who now incline to
one side and then to another, who are changeable, and often deviate from the right
course: but, on the contrary, he says here, Shall I justify wicked balances? shall
I justify weights of fraud, or deceitful? that is, ``Shake off all those delusions by
which ye are wont to deceive yourselves; for I do not change either my nature or my
purpose; but according to the true teaching of my Law, I will punish all the wicked
without any respect of persons: wherever wickedness and iniquity are found, there
punishment will be inflicted.''
We now then understand how these two verses harmonize together. God shows
that he will be a judge, and then, that he differs from men, who often change, as it
has been said, in their decisions.
I will mention another meaning, which will perhaps be preferred by some. The
248One MS. Has {,{הישwhich no doubt is the true reading. The Septuagint has {μηπυρ}, which seems to have no sense
whatever. Many copies have ,{}האישand this is the reading followed by Junius and Tremelius, and their version is this, --- Has any
one still the house of a dishonest man? The treasures of dishonesty? And the small detestable ephah? --- Ed.
249Literally it is, "And the ephah of detestable scantiness?" Marckius renders the words, "Et ephah tenuitatis abominabilis?" Henderson, "And the accursed scanty ephah?"
250{.{האזכהIt is not true what Henderson says, that the verb {}זכהis not used transitively. See Psalm 73:13; Proverbs 20:9
Jerome renders the phrase, numquid approbabo? Our own version is no doubt correct. --- Ed.
MINOR PROPHETS
question, after the manner of the Hebrews, may be taken as an afÏrmation, as though
he had said, that within a short time, (for {,}עודoud, means sometimes a short
time,) the treasures of iniquity would not be found, for they would be taken away:
then follows a confirmation, for frauds and robberies by false measures and deceitful
weights could not escape God's judgment. The meaning then would be, that as God
must necessarily, according to his own ofÏce, punish thefts, it cannot be that he
will suffer men, who cheat by false weights to continue always unpunished. It now
follows ---
Micah 6:12
12. For the rich men thereof are full of violence, and the inhabitants thereof have
spoken lies, and their tongue is deceitful in their mouth.
12. Quia (sic enim verto; nam qui putant esse relationum, frigide exponunt, cujus
divites ejus impleverunt rapinis; potius est, quia 251 nam {}אשרsaepe loco causalis
particulae accipitur, quia ergo) divites ejus impleverunt (vel seipsos, vel domos suas,
subaudiendum est) {,}חמסrapina (vel, violentia;) et incolae ejus locuti sunt falla-
ciam, et lingua eorum fallax (vel, fraudulenta) in ore ipsorum.
The Prophet means that the people were so given to avarice and plunder, that
all the riches they had heaped together had been got by iniquitous robberies or
by wicked gain. He now addresses the citizens of Jerusalem: for though iniquity
then prevailed through the whole of Judea, there was yet a reason why he should
distinctly accuse the inhabitants of Jerusalem; for they must have led the way by
their example, and they were also worse in wickedness than the rest of the people:
they were at least more obstinate, as they daily heard God's Prophets.
Hence he says, her rich men gather not their wealth except by violence. It is
indeed certain, that the rich were not then alone guilty before God; but this evil has
too much prevailed, that the more liberty any one possesses, the more he employs
it to do wrong. Those indeed who have not the power refrain, not because they are
not inclined to do harm, but because they are as it were restrained; for poverty is
often a bridle to men. As then the rich could spread their snares, as they had power
to oppress the poor, the Prophet addresses his words to them, not that the rest were
without fault or guilt, but because iniquity was more conspicuous in the rich, and
that, because their wealthy as I have already said, gave them more power.
He afterwards extends his address to all the inhabitants, They all, he says, speak
falsehood, that is, they have no sincerity, no uprightness; they are wholly given to
frauds and deceits. And their tongue is false in their mouth This mode of speaking
seems apparently absurd; for where can the tongue be except in the mouth? It
appears then a sort of redundancy, when he says that their tongue was deceitful
in their mouth. But it is an emphatical mode of speaking, by which the Hebrews
mean, that men have falsehoods in readiness as soon as they open their mouth. It
251There is nothing in what goes before for which a reason is given here: hence this {{אשר
cannot be rendered as here proposed. It is an instance of a peculiarity in Hebrew, when a double pronoun is used. Literally it is,
``Which the rich men of hers;'' the reference is to the city mentioned in verse 9. Grotius, Newcome, and Henderson, render the
words thus, ``Whose rich men,'' etc. The Welsh is very nearly the same, which no more than the Hebrew can with propriety be
literally rendered in English or in the learned languages, --- Yr hon y mae ei chyvoethogion yn llawn trais --- The which her rich
men are full of violence. But this mode of speaking has a more distinct and fuller reference to what is gone before than the simple
relative ``whose:'' the connection is made more evident. --- Ed.
JOHN CALVIN
is then the same as though the Prophet had said, that no pure word and free from
guile could come from them, for as soon as they opened their mouth, falsehoods
instantly came forth; their tongue was fraudulent, so that none could expect from
these men any truth or faithfulness. --- How so? Because as soon as they began
to speak, they instantly discovered some guile, there was ever in readiness some
falsehood to circumvent the simple.
We now then see that not a few men were summoned before God's tribunal, but
that all without exception were condemned; as though the Prophet had said, that
there was no more any integrity in the city, and that corruptions prevailed every-
where, for all were intent on deceiving one another. It follows ---
Micah 6:13-14
13. Therefore also will I make thee sick in smiting thee, in making thee desolate
because of thy sins.
13. Et ego etiam afÒigam te percutiendo, et te disperdam super peccatis tuis
(secundum tua scelera.)
14. Thou shalt eat, but not be satisfied; and thy casting down shall be in the
midst of thee; and thou shalt take hold, but shalt not deliver; and that which thou
deliverest will I give up to the sword.
14. Tu comedes, et non satiaberis; et dejectio tua in medio tui; et apprehendes,
et non servabis; et quod servaveris gladio tradam.
God, after having declared that he would be the Judge of the people, speaks
now more clearly of their punishment. He says therefore that he was armed with
vengeance: for it often happens, when a judge, even one who hates wickedness,
is not able to punish, for he dreads the fierceness of those whom he thinks himself
unequal to restrain. Hence God intimates here, that there will not be wanting to him
a power to punish the people, I will afÒict thee, he says, by striking or wounding
thee; for so some render the words. 252 The sum of what is said is, --- that nothing
would be an obstacle to prevent God from inflicting punishment on the people, for
there would be no want of power in his case. There is therefore no reason for men
to promise themselves any escape when God ascends his tribunal; for were they
fortified by all possible means they could not ward off the hand of God.
And he points out what sort of punishment it would be; and he mentions even
two kinds in this verse. He says first, Thou shalt eat, and shalt not be satisfied. One
of God's plagues, we know, is famine: and so the Prophet here declares, that the
people would be famished, but not through the sterility of the fields. God indeed
brings a famine in two ways: now the land yields no fruit; the corn withers, or, being
smitten with hail, gives no fruit; and thus God by the sterility of the fields often
252Newcome renders this line differently, — Wherefore I will begin go smite thee. Following a few MSS. And the Septuagint, he takes the verb here to be {,{החלתיwhich means, to begin; but the
rendering seems flat, and suits not the passage; and it is not true, for the Lord has often smitten them before. The verb is in the
past tense, and this has created a difÏculty. The verbs in the following verse, which is connected with this, are all in the future
tense, referring to a coming judgment. To remove this difÏculty I propose the following version, --- But even I, who have made
thee to grieve by striking thee, Will make thee wholly desolate on account of thy sins: Then the threatened desolation is specified.
The verb ,{}השמםmaking desolate, is evidently a participle connected with {}אניI, at the beginning of the verse, the rest being
an intervening clause: and when a participle follows a nominative case, which often occurs in Hebrew, the auxiliary verb must
be supplied in a translation, which in its tense must be regulated by the context, and here by the verse which follows. Piscator
renders it Desolabo, and says, that it is an infinitive put for the future. Grief or sorrow had already been produced, but now entire
desolation is threatened. --- Ed.
MINOR PROPHETS
reduces men to want and famine: then another mode is adopted, by which he can
consume men with want, namely, when he breaks the staff of bread, when he takes
away from bread its nourishing virtues so that it can no more support men, whatever
quantity they may swallow; and this is what experience proves, if only we have eyes
to observe the judgments of God. We now see the meaning of this clause, when he
says, Thou shalt eat, and shalt not be satisfied; as though he said, ``I can indeed,
whenever it pleases me, deprive you of all food; the earth itself will become barren
at my command: but that ye may more clearly understand that your life is in my
hand, a good supply of fruit shall be produced, but it shall not satisfy you. Ye shall
then perceive that bread is not sufÏcient to support you; for by eating ye shall not
be able to derive from bread any nourishment.''
He then adds, And thy dejection 253 shall be in the midst of thee; that is, though
no man from without disturb or afÒict thee yet thou shalt pine away with intestine
evils. This is the real meaning; and interpreters have not sufÏciently considered
what the Prophet means, through too much negligence. But the passage ought to
be noticed: for the Prophet, after having threatened a famine, not from want, but
from the secret curse of God, now adds, Thy dejection shall be in the midst of thee;
that is ``Though I should rouse against thee no enemies, though evidences of my
wrath should not appear, so as to be seen at a distance, yea, though no one should
disturb thee, yet thy dejection, thy calamity, shall be in the midst of thee, as though
it were cleaving to thy bowels; for thou shalt pine away through a hidden malady,
when God shall pronounce his curse on thee.''
He now subjoins another kind of punishment, Thou shalt take hold, 254 but shalt
not deliver, and what thou shalt deliver, I will give up to the sword Some read, ``A
woman shall lay hold,'' that is, conceive seed, ``and shall not preserve it;'' and then,
``though she may bring forth in due time, I will yet give up what may be born to the
sword.'' But this meaning is too strained. Others apply the words to fathers, ``Thou,
father, shalt lay hold;'' that is thou shalt endeavor to preserve thy children, ``and
thou shalt not preserve them.'' But I wonder that interpreters have thus toiled in vain
in a matter so simple and plain. For he addresses here the land, or he addresses the
city: as though he said, ``The city shall take hold,'' or embrace, as every one does
who wishes to preserve or keep any thing; for what we wish to keep safe, we lay
hold on it, and keep it as it were in our arms; ``and what thou shalt preserve, I will
give up to the sword: thou wilt try all means to preserve thyself and thy people, but
thou shalt not succeed: thou shalt then lose all thy labor, for though thou shouldest
preserve some, yet the preserved shall not escape destruction.''
If any one prefers to refer what is said to women, with regard to conception, as
the third person of the feminine gender is used, let him have his own opinion; for
253Newcome, without the authority of a single MS., but following the Septuagint and Houbigant, has changed {{ישחךinto ,{`` }יחשךit shall be dark.'' Though the meaning of the passage is not thus materially
affected, it is an alteration without sufÏcient reasons, there being no MS. in its favor, and no necessity arising from the passage
itself: indeed, dejection or depression, or casting down, is more suitable to the context, and more emphatical. --- Ed.
254The verb is {,{תסנwhich Henderson considers to be in Hephil, the {}יbeing left out, which is sometimes the case:
with Drusius and others, he renders it, ``remove,'' that is not goods, as he says, but wives and children; for if any were for a time
removed to a place of safety, they were afterwards to be given up to the sword. Several copies have {}שinstead of ,{}סwhich
makes it to be the verb ,{}נשגand this has the meaning of laying hold or apprehending. But either meaning will suit the context.
--- Ed.
JOHN CALVIN
this sense may certainly be admitted, that is, that the Lord would render the women
barren, and that what they might bring forth would be given up to the slaughter,
inasmuch as the Lord would at length destroy with the sword both the parents and
their children.
Prayer.
Grant, Almighty God, that as thou canst find in us cause enough to execute not
only one kind of vengeance, but innumerable kinds of vengeance, so as to destroy
us at length altogether, --- O grant, that we may of our own accord anticipate thy
judgment, and with true humility so abhor ourselves, that there may be kindled in
us a genuine desire to seek what is just and right, and thus endeavor to devote
ourselves wholly to thee, that we may find thee to be propitious to us: and since
we in so many ways offend thee, grant, that in true and sincere faith we may raise
up all our thoughts and affections to thy only-begotten Son, who is our propitiation,
that thou being appeased, we may lay hold on him, and remain united to him by a
sacred bond, until thou at length gatherest us all into that celestial kingdom, which
he has procured for us by his own blood. Amen.
Lecture Ninety-fifth
Micah 6:15
15. Thou shalt sow, but thou shalt not reap; thou shalt tread the olives, but thou
shalt not anoint thee with oil; and sweet wine, but shalt not drink wine.
15. Tu seres, et non metes; tu calcabis (vel, premes) oleum, et non unges te oleo;
et mustum, et non bibes vinum.
The Prophet adds another kind of punishment, which was to follow the calamity
threatened in the last verse. He had said, that those who escaped would at length
be destroyed by the sword; he says now, that the whole land would become a prey to
enemies: and he took his words from Moses; for it was usual with the prophets, when
they wished to secure greater authority to themselves, to quote literally the curses
contained in the Law, as in the present instance: see Deuteronomy 28 and Leviticus
26. Now it is well known, that God denounced this punishment, with others, on the
people, --- that when they sowed their fields, another would reap, --- that when they
cultivated with great labor their vineyards, others would become the vintagers. The
meaning is that whatever fruit the land produced, would come into the hands of
enemies, for all things would be exposed to plunder. Now it is a very grievous thing,
when we see not only our provisions consumed by enemies, but also the fruit of our
labor; which is the same as though they were to drink our blood: for the labor of man
is often compared to blood, for labor occasions perspiration. It now follows ---
Micah 6:16
16. For the statutes of Omri are kept, and all the works of the house of Ahab, and
ye walk in their counsels; that I should make thee a desolation, and the inhabitants
thereof an hissing: therefore ye shall bear the reproach of my people.
16. Et observata sunt edicta Amri, et omne opus domus Ahab; et ambulabitis
consiliis eorum, ut tradam te in excidium (vel, vastitatem,) et incolas ejus in sibilum;
et opprobrium populi mei portabitis.
Some read the words in the future tense, ``And they will observe the statutes
MINOR PROPHETS
of Omri,'' etc., and gather this meaning, --- that the Prophet now foresees by the
Spirit, that the people would continue so perverse in their sins, as to exclude every
hope that they could be reformed by any punishments. The meaning then would be,
``The Lord has indeed determined to punish sharply and severely the wickedness
of this people; but they will not repent; they will nevertheless remain stupid in their
obstinacy, and go on in their superstitions, which they have learned from the kings
of Israel.'' There is however another view, and one more generally approved and
that is, --- that the Jews, having forsaken God, and despised his Law, had turned
aside to the superstitions of the kingdom of Israel. Hence he says, that observed
were the decrees of Omri, and every work of the house of Ahab Omri was the father
of Ahab, who was made king by the election of the soldiers, when Zimri, who had
slain the king, was rejected. When Omri bought Samaria, he built there a city; and
to secure honor to it, he added a temple; and hence idolatry increased. Afterwards
his son Ahab abandoned himself to every kind of superstition. Thus matters became
continually worse. Hence the Prophet, by mentioning here king Omri and his poster-
ity, (included in the words, ``the house of Ahab'') clearly means, that the Jews who
had purely worshipped God, at length degenerated, and were now wholly unlike Is-
raelites, as they had embraced all those abominations which Omri and his son Ahab
had devised. True religion as yet prevailed in the tribe of Judah, though the kingdom
of Israel was become corrupt, and filthy superstitions had gained the ascendancy:
but in course of time the Jews became also implicated in similar superstitions. Of this
sin the Prophet now accuses them; that is, that they made themselves associates
with the Israelites: Observed 255 then are the edicts of Omri, and the whole work
of the house of Ahab: Ye walk, he says, (the future here means a continued act, as
often elsewhere,) ye walk in their counsels.
It must be observed, that the Prophet here uses respectable terms, when he says
that {,}הקעתchekut, statutes or decrees, were observed; and when he adds, ``the
counsels'' of the kings of Israel: but yet this is in no way stated as an excuse for
them; for though men may not only be pleased with, but also highly commend, their
own devices, yet the Lord abominates them all. The Prophet no doubt designedly
adopted these words, in order to show that those pretenses were frivolous and of no
account, which superstitious men adduce, either to commend or to excuse their own
inventions. They ever refer to public authority, --- ``This has been received by the
consent of all; that has been decreed; it is not the mistake of one or two men; but the
whole Church has so determined: and kings also thus command; it would be a great
sin not to show obedience to them.'' Hence the Prophet, in order to show how puerile
are such excuses, says, ``I indeed allow that your superstitions are by you honorably
distinguished, for they are approved by the edicts of your kings, and are received
by the consent of the many, and they seem not to have been inconsiderately and
255The verb, {,{ישתמרis in the singular, and is followed by its nominative case, which is in the plural number. Grammarians
are at a loss to account for this, and hence propose several modes of construction. But it is evidently an anomalous idiom,
somewhat similar to that in Greek, when plural neuters take a verb in the singular number. As it has been already observed, such
a construction as we find here, is very common in the Welsh language. The verb is in Hithpael, the reflective mood, the ,{}ת
as often the case, changing place with the first letter of the verb. It is not always that this mood is reflective, but is sometimes
passive, as we find to be the case with ,{}סתרin Isaiah 29:14, and ,{}עברin Deuteronomy 3:26. And so here it does not retain its
reflective meaning. But it may be, that intensity, diligence, or earnestness, is intended to be conveyed; that is, that the statutes
of Omri were diligently and carefully observed. --- Ed.
JOHN CALVIN
unadvisedly, but prudently contrived, even by great men, who were become skillful
through long experience.'' But how much soever they might have boasted of their
statutes and counsels, and however plausibly they might have referred to prudence
and power in order to disguise their idolatries, yet all those things were of no account
before God. By counsels, the Prophet no doubt meant that false kind of wisdom which
always shines forth in the traditions of men; and by statutes, he meant the kingly
authority.
We hence see that it is a vain thing to color over what is idolatrous, by alleging
power on the one hand in its favor, and wisdom on the other. --- How so? Because
God will not allow dishonor to be done to him by such absurd things; but he com-
mands us to worship him according to what is prescribed in his Word.
And now a denunciation of punishment follows, That I should deliver thee to des-
olation, and its inhabitants, etc. There is a change of person; the Prophet continually
addresses the land, and under that name, the people, --- that I should then deliver
thee to exile, or desolation, and thine inhabitants to hissing It is a quotation from
Moses: and by hissing he means the reproach and mockery to which men in a mis-
erable state are exposed.
At last he adds, Ye shall bear the reproach of my people Some take the word, peo-
ple, in a good sense, as though the Prophet had said here, that God would punish the
wrongs which the rich had done to the distressed common people; but this view, in
my judgment, is too confined. Others understand this by the reproach of God's peo-
ple, --- that nothing would be more reproachful to the Jews, than that they had been
the people of God; for it would redound to their dishonor and disgrace, that they,
who had been honored by such an honorable name, were afterwards given up to so
great miseries. But the passage may be otherwise explained: we may understand
by the people of God the Israelites; as though the Prophet said, ``Do ye not perceive
how the Israelites have been treated? Were they not a part of my people? They were
descendants from the race of Abraham as well as you; nor can you boast of a higher
dignity: They were then equal to you in the opinion of all; and yet this privilege did
not hinder my judgment, did not prevent me from visiting them as they deserved.''
Such a view harmonizes with the passage: but there is, as I think, something iron-
ical in the expression, ``my people;'' as though he said, ``The confidence, that ye
have been hitherto my people, hardens you: but this false and wicked boasting shall
increase your punishment; for I will not inflict on you an ordinary punishment, as
on heathens and strangers; but I shall punish your wickedness much more severely;
for it is necessary, that your punishment should bear proportion to my favor, which
has been so shamefully and basely despised by you.'' Hence, by the reproach of
God's people, I understand the heavier judgments, which were justly prepared for all
the ungodly, whom God had favored with such special honor, as to regard them as
his people: for the servant, who knew his master's will, and did it not, was on that
account more severely corrected, 256 Luke 12:47. Let us now proceed ---
Chapter 7
256There is another view mentioned by Drusius, — that is, the reproach which God had previously denounced on his people, in case they sinned and continued in their perverseness. Reproach in this sense would mean punishment. — Ed.
Micah 7
Micah 7:1-2
1. Woe is me! for I am as when they have gathered the summer fruits, as the
grapegleanings of the vintage: there is no cluster to eat: my soul desired the firstripe
fruit.
1. Vae mihi (alii deducunt a {,}יללululare meum; sed est particula dolentis apud
Hebraeos; Vae mihi ergo,) quia fui sicut collectiones aestatis (sic est ad verbum,)
et sicuti racemi vindemiae; nullus botrus ad comedendum; maturos fructus (vel,
primitias frugum) desideravit anima mea.
2. The good man is perished out of the earth: and there is none upright among
men: they all lie in wait for blood; they hunt every man his brother with a net.
2. Periit humanus (vel, mansuetus) e terra, et rectus in hominibus nemo est; et
omnes sanguinibus insidiantur, quisque fratrem suum venatur reti (alii, ad perniciem;
et {,}הרםetiam Hebraeis interdum est occisio.)
The meaning of the first verse is somewhat doubtful: some refer what the Prophet
says to punishment; and others to the wickedness of the people. The first think that
the calamity, with which the Lord had visited the sins of the people, is bewailed; as
though the Prophet looked on the disordered state of the whole land. But it may be
easily gathered from the second verse, that the Prophet speaks here of the wicked-
ness of the people, rather than of the punishment already inflicted. I have therefore
put the two verses together, that the full meaning may be more evident to us.
Woe then to me! Why? I am become as gatherings Too free, or rather too licen-
tious is this version, --- ``I am become as one who seeks to gather summer-fruits,
and finds none;'' so that being disappointed of his hope, he burns with desire. This
cannot possibly be considered as the rendering of the Prophet's words. There is in-
deed some difÏculty in the expressions: their import, however, seems to be this, ---
that the land, which the Prophet undertakes here to represent and personify, was
like to a field, or a garden, or a vineyard, that was empty. He therefore says, that
JOHN CALVIN
the land was stripped of all its fruit, as it is after harvest and the vintage. So by
gatherings we must understand the collected fruit. Some understand the gleanings
which remain, as when one leaves carelessly a few clusters on the vines: and thus,
they say, a few just men remained alive on the land. But the former comparison
harmonizes better with the rest of the passage, and that is, that the land was now
stripped of all its fruit, as it is after the harvest and the vintage. I am become then as
the gatherings of summer, that is, as in the summer, when the fruit has been already
gathered; and as the clusters of the vintage, that is when the vintage is over. 257
There is no cluster, he says to eat. The Prophet refers here to the scarcity of good
men; yea, he says that there were no longer any righteous men living. For though
God had ever preserved some hidden seed, yet it might have been justly declared
with regard to the whole people, that they were like a field after gathering the corn,
or a vineyard after the vintage. Some residue, indeed, remains in the field after
harvest, but there are no ears of corn; and in the vineyard some bunches remain,
but they are empty; nothing remains but leaves. Now this personification is very
forcible when the Prophet comes forth as though he represented the land itself; for
he speaks in his own name and person, Woe is to me, he says, for I am like summer-
gatherings! It was then the same thing, as though he deplored his own nakedness
and want, inasmuch as there were not remaining any upright and righteous men.
In the second verse he expresses more clearly his mind, Perished, he says, has the
righteous 258 from the land, and there is none upright 259 among men. Here now he
does not personify the land. It was indeed a forcible and an emphatic language, when
he complained at the beginning, that he groaned as though the land was ashamed
of its dearth: but the Prophet now performs the ofÏce of a teacher, Perished, he
says, has the righteous from the land; there is no one upright among men; all lay in
wait for blood; every one hunts his brother as with a net In this verse the Prophet
briefly shows, that all were full both of cruelty and perfidy, that there was no care for
justice; as though he said, In vain are good men sought among this people; for they
are all bloody, they are all fraudulent. When he says, that they all did lay in wait for
blood, he no doubt intended to set forth their cruelty, as though he had said, that
they were thirsting for blood. But when he adds, that each did lay in wait for their
brethren, he alludes to their frauds or to their perfidy.
We now then perceive the meaning of the Prophet: and the manner he adopts
is more emphatical than if God, in his own name, had pronounced the words: for,
257Newcome renders the verse somewhat different, and makes the comparison more clear, — "Woe is me! For I am become As the gatherers of late figs, As the gleaners of the vintage: There is no cluster to eat; My soul desireth the first ripe fig." Substantially the same is the version of Dathius and of Henderson. "Late figs" is not strictly the meaning of {,{קיףwhich is properly summer
or summer-fruit; yet, as the early or first ripe fig is mentioned in the last line, which forms a contrast with this, what is meant,
no doubt, is the late figs. Then the word for ``gleaners,'' ,{}עללתis properly, gleanings; but here it is evidently to be taken as a
concrete, gleaners, to correspond with gatherers, though Newcome considers the women-gleaners to be intended. The four last
lines form a parallelism, in which the first and the early fig, --- the vintage and the cluster. --- Ed.
258Justus, rendered in the text humanus, vel, mansuetus The Hebrew is {,{חסירrendered by the
Septuagint ``{ευσβης}---godly, pious,''---by Marckius, ``benignus --- kind, benignant,'' --- by Newcome, ``the good man,'' ---
and by Henderson, ``the pious.'' It is sometimes rendered holy; but its meaning is, kind, benevolent, merciful, actively good,
beneficent. In Psalm 12:1, it is rendered ``godly,'' and in Isaiah 57:1, ``merciful.'' --- Ed.
259Rectus, {,{ישרrendered by the Septuagint, ``{κατορθων}---one going straight to an object,''---by Newcome and Hen-
derson, ``upright.'' It is one who proceeds in a straight course according to the rule of the law, without making any windings or
turning aside into any devious path. --- Ed.
MINOR PROPHETS
as men were fixed, and as though drowned, in their own carelessness, the Prophet
introduces here the land as speaking, which accuses its own children, and confesses
its own guilt; yea, it anticipates God's judgment, and acknowledges itself to be con-
taminated by its own inhabitants, so that nothing pure remained in it. It follows
---
Micah 7:3
3. That they may do evil with both hands earnestly, the prince asketh, and the
judge asketh for a reward; and the great man, he uttereth his mischievous desire:
so they wrap it up.
3. Super malitia manuum suarum ad beneficiendum; princeps postulat, et judex
in mercede (ego transfero ad verbum,) et magnus loquitur pravitatem animae suae
ipse; et complicant (vel, ut alii vertunt, confirmant; sed proprie est complicari; et
metaphora apte convenit contextui, ut statim videbimus.)
This verse is properly addressed to the judges and governors of the people, and
also to the rich, who oppressed the miserable common people, because they could
not redeem themselves by rewards. The Prophet therefore complains, that corrup-
tions so much prevailed in judgments, that the judges readily absolved the most
wicked, provided they brought bribes. The sum of what is said then is, that any
thing might be done with impunity, for the judges were venal. This is the Prophet's
meaning.
But as interpreters differ, something shall be said as to the import of the words.
{,}על{ }הרע{ }כפיםol ero caphim, For the evil of their hands to do good. Some
give this explanation, ``Though they are openly wicked, yet they make pretenses, by
which they cover their wickedness:'' and the sense would be this, --- that though they
had cast aside every care for what was right, they yet had become so hardened in
iniquity, that they wished to be deemed good and holy men; for in a disordered state
of things the wicked always show an iron front, and would have silence to be observed
respecting their shameful deeds. Some interpreters therefore think that the Prophet
here complains, that there was now no difference between what was honorable and
base, right and wrong; for wicked men dared so to disguise their iniquities, that they
did not appear, or, that no one ventured to say any thing against them. Do you,
however, examine and consider, whether what the Prophet says may be more fitly
connected together in this way, That they may do good for the wickedness of their
hands, that is, to excuse themselves for the wickedness of their hands, they agree
together; for the prince asks, the judge is ready to receive a bribe. Thus, the rich saw
that exemption might have been got by them, for they had the price of redemption
in their hands: they indeed knew that the judges and princes could be pacified, when
they brought the price of corruption. And this is the meaning which I approve, for
it harmonizes best with the words of the Prophet. At the same time, some give a
different explanation of the verb {,}להיטיבlaeithib, that is that they acted vigorously
in their wickedness: but this exposition is frigid. I therefore embrace the one I have
just stated, which is, --- that corruptions so prevailed in the administration of justice,
that coverings were ready for all crimes; for the governors and judges were lovers of
money, and were always ready to absolve the most guilty, but not without a reward.
JOHN CALVIN
For the wickedness then of their works, that they may do good, that is, that they
may obtain acquittance, the prince only asks; he examines not the case, but only
regards the hand; and the judge, he says, judges for reward: the judges also were
mercenary. They did not sit to determine what was right and just; but as soon as they
were satisfied by bribes, they easily forgave all crimes; and thus they turned vices
into virtues; for they made no difference between white and black, but according to
the bribe received. 260
This view is consistent with what the Prophet immediately subjoins, The great, he
says, speaks of the wickedness of his soul, even he By the great, he does not mean
the chief men, as some incorrectly think, but he means the rich, who had money
enough to conciliate the judges. They then who could bring the price of redemption,
dared to boast openly of their wickedness: for so I render the word {,}הותeut, as it
cannot be suitable to translate it here, corruption. Speak then of the wickedness of
his soul does the great; there was then nothing, neither fear nor shame, to restrain
the rich from doing wrong. --- How so? For they knew that they had to do with
mercenary judges and could easily corrupt them. They hence dared to speak of the
wickedness of their soul: they did not cloak their crimes, as it is the case when some
fear of the Law prevails, when justice is exercised: but as no difference was made
between good and evil, the most guilty boasted openly of his wickedness. And the
pronoun {,}הואeva, he himself, is also emphatical; and this has not been observed
by interpreters. He then himself speaks of the wickedness of his soul; he did not
wait until others accuse him of doing wrong, but he shamelessly dared to glory in
his crimes; for impunity was certain, as he could close the mouth of the judges by
bringing a bribe. Speak then of the wickedness of his soul does he himself. 261
And further, they fold up wickedness; which means, that raging cruelty prevailed,
because the governors, and those who wished to purchase liberty to sin, conspired
together; as though they made ropes, and thus rendered firm their wickedness. For
the great man, that is, the rich and the monied, agreed with the judge, and the
judge with him; and so there was a collusion between them. It hence happened,
that wickedness possessed, as it were, a tyrannical power; for there was no remedy.
We now apprehend the real design of the Prophet, at least as far as I am able to
discover. It now follows ---
260This clause, though the general sense is allowed by most to be the same, is yet variously rendered. Drusius says, "Locus hic diu me multumque torsit." The original is, — el hre kpyM lhyjyb The most satisfactory rendering is that which is offered by Marckius, which is this, — Propter malefaciendum volae pro benefaciendum, — For doing evil [are their] hands instead of doing good. Rabbi Jonathan, as quoted by Marckius, gives substantially the same rendering, though not literally, — Malum faciunt manibus suis, et non bonum faciunt, — Evil they do with their hands, and they do no good. Our version is that of Junius and Tremelius, and is substantially followed by Newcome; and Henderson's version is, — For evil their hands are well prepared; which is nearly that of the Septuagint,— Epi to kakon tav ceirav autwn etoimazousi But the following would be as literal a translation as that of Marckius, — For doing evil are their hands, to do it thoroughly. The last verb means not only to do good, but also to make a thing good or complete, fully to execute it. — Ed.
261The whole verse may be rendered thus,— For doing evil are their hands, to execute it fully: The prince asks, and the judge also, for reward; When the great man speaks of oppression, That it is his desire, then they contrive it together, or, literally, entwine it. To render {{}הוא{, }נפשו{ הות
``the wickedness of the soul,'' as Newcome does, is to leave out wholly the last word; and Henderson does the same. Piscator
gives the form of the words, ``aerumnam, quam expetit --- the mischief, which he desires.'' The two last words literally are, ``his
desire it is.'' --- Ed.
MINOR PROPHETS
Micah 7:4
4. The best of them is as a brier: the most upright is sharper than a thorn hedge:
the day of thy watchmen and thy visitation cometh; now shall be their perplexity.
4. Bonus inter eos quasi paliurus, rectus prae spineto (aliquid subaudiendum
est, asperior est spineto;) dies speculatorum tuorum, visitatio tua venit; tunc erit
confusio ipsorum (vel, perplexitas, ut alii vertunt.)
The Prophet confirms what he had previously said, --- that the land was so full
of every kind of wickedness, that they who were deemed the best were yet thorns
and briers, full of bitterness, or very sharp to prick; as though he said, ``The best
among them is a thief; the most upright among them is a robber.'' We hence see,
that in these words he alludes to their accumulated sins, as though he said, ``The
condition of the people cannot be worse; for iniquity has advanced to its extreme
point: when any one seeks for a good or an upright man, he only finds thorns and
briers; that is, he is instantly pricked.'' But if the best were then like thorns, what
must have been the remainder? We have already seen that the judges were so
corrupt that they abandoned themselves without feeling any shame to any thing
that was base. What then could have been said of them, when the Prophet compares
here the upright and the just to thorns; yea, when he says, that they were rougher
than briers? Though it is an improper language to say, that the good and the upright 262 among them were like briers; for words are used contrary to their meaning, as it
is certain, that those who inhumanely pricked others were neither good nor just: yet
the meaning of the Prophet is in no way obscure, --- that there was then such license
taken in wickedness, that even those who retained in some measure the credit of
being upright were yet nothing better than briers and thorns. There is then in the
words what may be deemed a concession.
He then adds, The day of thy watchmen, thy visitation comes He here denounces
the near judgment of God, generally on the people, and especially on the rulers.
But he begins with the first ranks and says The day of thy watchmen; as though he
said, ``Ruin now hangs over thy governors, though they by no means expect it.''
Watchmen he calls the Prophets, who, by their flatteries, deceived the people, as
well as their rulers: and he sets the Prophets in the front, because they were the
cause of the common ruin. He does not yet exempt the body of the people from
punishment; nay, he joins together these two things, --- the visitation of the whole
people, and the day of the watchmen.
And justly does he direct his discourse to these watchmen, who, being blind,
blinded all the rest; and who, being perverted, led astray the whole people. This
is the reason why the Prophet now, in an especial manner, threatens them; but, as
I have already said, the people were not on this account to be excused. There may
seem indeed to have been here a fair pretense for extenuating their guilt: the com-
mon people might have said that they had not been warned as they ought to have
262It is better, as it is done here, to take the words simply as they are, and not to make superlatives of them: nor is there any change necessary in the second line as proposed by Dathius, Newcome, and others, by taking the {{מfrom one word and attaching it to another. There is no MS.
In its favor, and it is done only on the authority of the Targum. The two lines are these, --- Their good man is like a brier, The
upright worse than a thorny hedge. The preposition {}מis often rendered ``rather than;'' but it may, in many places, be rendered
``better than,'' or ``worse than,'' according to the import of the passage. --- Ed.
JOHN CALVIN
been; nay, that they had been destroyed through delusive falsehoods. And we see
at this day that many make such a pretense as this. But a defense of this kind is of
no avail before God; for though the common people are blinded, yet they go astray
off their own accord, since they lend a willing ear to impostors. And even the reason
why God gave loose reins to Satan as well as to his ministers, and why he gives, as
Paul says, (2 Thessalonians 2:11,) power to delusion, is this, --- because the greater
part of the world ever seeks to be deceived. The denunciation of the Prophet then
is this, --- that as the judges and the Prophets had badly exercised their ofÏce, they
would be led to the punishment which they deserved, for they had been, as it has
been elsewhere observed, the cause of ruin to others: in the meantime, the common
people were not excusable. The vengeance of God then would overtake them and
from the least to the greatest, without any exemption. Thy visitation then comes.
He afterwards speaks in the third person, Then shall be their confusion, or perplex-
ity, or they shall be ashamed. The Prophet here alludes indirectly to the hardness
of the people; for though the Prophets daily threatened them, they yet remained
all of them secure; nay, we know that all God's judgments were held in derision by
them. As then the faithful teachers could not have moved wicked men either with
fear or with shame, the Prophet says, Then confusion shall come to them; as though
he said, ``Be hardened now as much as ye wish to be, as I see that you are stupid,
yea, senseless, and attend not to the word of the Lord; but the time of visitation will
come, and then the Lord will constrain you to be ashamed, for he will really show
you to be such as ye are; and he will not then contend with you in words as he does
now; but the announced punishment will divest you of all your false pretenses; and
he will also remove that waywardness which now hardens you against wholesome
doctrine and all admonitions.''
Prayer.
Grant, Almighty God, that seeing that we are born in a most corrupt age, in which
such a license is taken to indulge in wickedness, that hardly a spark of virtue appears,
--- O grant, that we may yet continue upright in the midst of thorns; and do thou
so constantly keep us under the guidance of thy Word, that we may cultivate true
piety, and also what is just towards our neighbors: and as there is in us no power to
preserve ourselves safe, grant that thy Son may so protect us by the power of the
Holy Spirit, that we may continue to advance towards the end of our course, until
we be at length gathered into that celestial kingdom, which he has procured for us
by his own blood. Amen.
Lecture Ninety-sixth
Micah 7:5-6
5. Trust ye not in a friend, put ye not confidence in a guide: keep the doors of thy
mouth from her that lieth in thy bosom.
5. Ne fidatis amico, ne speretis in consiliario (vel, duce;) ab ea quae dormit in
sinu tuo custodi aperturas oris tui:
6. For the son dishonoureth the father, the daughter riseth up against her mother,
the daughter in law against her mother in law; a man's enemies are the men of his
own house.
MINOR PROPHETS
6. Quia filius contumelia afÏcit patrem, filia surgit contra matrem suam, nurus
contra socrum suam; inimici viri domestici ejus (homines domus ejus, ad verbum.)
The Prophet pursues the subject we discussed yesterday, --- that liberty, in in-
iquity, bad arrived to its highest point, for no faithfulness remained among men;
nay, there was no more any humanity; for the son performed not his duty towards
his father, nor the daughter-in-law towards her mother-in-law; in short, there was
then no mutual love and concord. He does not here speak of that false confidence,
by which many deceive themselves, who rely on mortals, and transfer to them the
glory which belongs to God. Those therefore without any reason, philosophize here,
who say, that we ought not to trust in men; for this was not the design of the Prophet.
But our Prophet complains of his times according to the tenor of Ovid's description
of the iron age, who says -
``---A guest is not safe from his host;
Nor a brother-in-law from a son-in-law; and brotherly love is rare:
A husband seeks the death of his wife, and she, of her husband;
Cruel stepmothers mingle the lurid poison;
The son, before the day, inquires into the years of his father.'' 263
So also our Prophet says, that there was no regard to humanity among men; for
the wife was ready to betray her husband, the son treated his father with reproach; in
short, they had all forgotten humanity or natural affection. We now then understand
what the Prophet means by saying, Trust not a friend; 264 that is, if any one hopes
for any thing from a friend, he will be deceived; for nothing can be found among men
but perfidy.
Put no faith in a counselor So I render the word {,}אלוףaluph; some translate it,
an elder brother; but there is no necessity to constrain us to depart from the proper
and true meaning of the word. As then the Prophet had spoken of an associate or a
friend, so he now adds a counselor. And it proves what he had in view, when he says
in the next clause, that no enemies are worse than domestics. We hence see that the
Prophet simply means, that the men of his age were not only avaricious and cruel to
one another, but that without any regard to human feelings the son rebelled against
his father, and thus subverted the whole order of nature; So that they had none of
those affections, which seem at the same time to be incapable of being extinguished
in men. Let us now proceed ---
Micah 7:7
7. Therefore I will look unto the Lord; I will wait for the God of my salvation: my
God will hear me.
7. Ego autem ad Jehovam respiciam, expectabo ad Deum salutis meae; exaudiet
263See Ov. Met. Lib. I. 144-148. 264Ne fidatis amico: it is rather, Believe not in a friend, that is, in what he says, {{}תאמינו-{אל
}ברע{.The next expression is that which signifies reliance, trust or confidence. ,{}אלוףis a leader; {ηγουμενος} in Sept., one
who leads the way. Diodati gives its true meaning, --- ``A conductor, the most trusty friend, who is one's usual counselor in every
difÏculty and perplexity.'' Jerome refers to scriptural instances as to the persons here mentioned: the friend, Ahitophel and Judas,
--- the counselor, Abimelek, who was made king by the men of Sichem, and oppressed them, --- domestics, Absalom and the wives
of Esau. The word used for ``dishonoring'' is very strong; ,{}מנבלone who counts a thing worthless or abominable; it means not
only to dishonor, but to regard with disdain and contempt. ``The contempt and violation of the laws of domestic duties,'' Henry
justly observes, ``are a sad symptom of an universal corruption of manners. Those are never likely to come to good who are
undutiful to their parents, and study to be provoking to them and cross them.'' --- Ed.
JOHN CALVIN
me Deus meus.
The Prophet points out here the only remedy, to preserve the faithful from being
led away by bad examples and that is, to fix their eyes on God, and to believe that he
will be their deliverer. Nothing is more difÏcult than to refrain from doing wrong, when
the ungodly provoke us; for they seem to afford us a good reason for retaliation. And
when no one injures us, yet custom is deemed almost a law: thus it happens that we
think that to be lawful which is sanctioned by the manners and customs of the age;
and when success attends the wicked, this becomes a very strong incentive. Thus it
happens, that the faithful can hardly, and with no small difÏculty, keep themselves
within proper bounds: when they see that wickedness reigns everywhere, and that
with impunity; and still more, when they see the abettors of wickedness increasing
in esteem and wealth, immediately the corrupt lust of emulation creeps in. But
when the faithful themselves are provoked by injuries, there seems then to be a
just reason for doing wrong; for they say that they willfully do harm to no one, but
only resist an injury done to them, or retaliate fraud with fraud: this they think is
lawful. The Prophet, in order to prevent this temptation, bids the faithful to look to
God. The same sentiment we often meet with in Psalm 119: its import is, that the
faithful are not to suffer themselves to be led away by bad examples, but to continue
ever obedient to God's word, however great and violent the provocations they may
receive. Let us now consider the words of the Prophet.
To Jehovah, he says, will I look The verb {,}צפהtsaphe, properly means to look
on, to behold; (speculari;) it is sometimes taken in the sense of expecting; but I am
inclined to retain its proper meaning, I will look, he says, on God; that is, I will do the
same as though the only true God were before my eyes. How indeed does it happen
that even the good indulge themselves while living among the wicked and ungodly,
except that they are too much occupied with things around them? If then we desire
to maintain integrity, while the world presents to us nothing but examples of sin, let
us learn to pass by these temptations as with closed eyes. This may be done, if we
direct our eyes to God alone. I will look, he says, to Jehovah
He then adds, I will wait for the God of my salvation The Prophet says nothing
new here, but only explains more clearly the last clause, defining the manner of the
looking of which he had spoken; as though he said, --- ``Patiently will I bear, while
God helps me:'' for when the wicked harass us on every side, we shall no doubt soon
turn away our eyes from Gods except we be armed with patience. And how comes
patience, unless we be fully persuaded that God will be our deliverer, when the
suitable time shall come? We now perceive the intention of the Prophet. He shows
that the godly cannot otherwise continue constant in their integrity, except they turn
their eyes to the only true God. Then he adds, that they cannot be preserved in this
contemplation, unless they wait patiently for God, that is, for his help.
And he calls him the God of his salvation; by which he intimates that, relying on
his word, he thus perseveres in enduring injuries: for it cannot be but that every one
will submit himself to God, and surrender himself to be protected by him, if this truth
be first fixed in his mind --- that God will never forsake his own people. This then is
the reason why he calls him the God of his salvation. But this title must be referred
MINOR PROPHETS
to his present circumstances, as though he said, --- ``Though God's hand does not
now appear to help or to bring me aid, I yet feel assured of his favor, and I know that
my salvation is secured by it.''
He then adds, Hear me will my God He here confirms what we have already said,
--- that, being supported by the promises of God, he thus composes his mind to
patience; for patience would often vanish or would be shaken off by temptations,
unless we were surely persuaded that God provides for our salvation, and that we
shall not hope in him in vain. Nor is it to no purpose that he says, that God was his
God. He was one of his people; and this seems to have been the common privilege
of all the Jews: yet the Prophet no doubt connects God with himself here in a peculiar
manner; for men in general had fallen away into ungodliness. They all indeed gloried
in the name of God, but absurdly and falsely. Hence the Prophet intimates, that he
was under his protection in a manner different from the rest: for when any one
allows himself the liberty of doing evil, he, at the same time, renounces God and
his protection. Therefore, the Prophet no doubt alludes indirectly to the irreligion of
the people. For though the vain boasting, that they had been adopted by God, that
they were the holy race of Abraham, was everywhere in the mouth of all, yet hardly
one in a hundred had any regard for God. But it is also of importance to notice,
that the Prophet, by saying, Hear me will God, gives a testimony, at the same time,
respecting his own faith, --- that he would always apply to God for help, and exercise
himself in prayer whenever necessity urged him; for God hears not except when he
is called upon. The Prophet then recommends here, by his example, an attention to
prayer.
Now this verse shows to us in general that there is no excuse for us if we suffer
ourselves to be led away, as it is daily the case, by bad examples. And then to look
to God is especially needful, when all excesses of wickedness prevail in the world:
when the lusts of men become the rule and the law, we ought then to renounce in a
manner the society of men, that they may not implicate us in their wickedness. They,
therefore, who allege for themselves the examples of others, employ a frivolous
excuse, as many do in the present day, who set up the shield of custom: though they
are clearly condemned by the word of God, yet they think it a sufÏcient defense, that
they follow others. But we see how frivolous is this confidence; for the Prophet no
doubt prescribes here a law for all the children of God as to what they ought to do,
when the devil tempts them to sin by the bad examples and shameful deeds of the
majority. Let us go on ---
Micah 7:8
8. Rejoice not against me, O mine enemy: when I fall, I shall arise; when I sit in
darkness, the LORD shall be a light unto me.
8. Ne gaudeas de me, inimica mea; quia ceciderim, surgam (vel, quamvis ce-
ciderim, surgam;) quum sedebo in tenebris, Jehova erit lux mihi.
Here the Prophet assumes the character of the Church and repels a temptation,
which proves very severe to us in adversities; for there is not so much bitterness in
the evil itself, as in the mockery of the wicked, when they petulantly insult us and
deride our faith. And to noble minds reproach is ever sharper than death itself: and
JOHN CALVIN
yet the devil almost always employs this artifice; for when he sees that we stand
firm in temptations, he suborns the wicked and sharpens their tongues to speak evil
of use and to wound us with slanders. This is the reason why the Prophet directs
his discourse now to the enemies of the Church. But as God calls the Church his
spouse, and as she is described to us under the character of a woman, so also he
compares here the enemies of the holy people to a petulant woman. As, therefore,
when there is emulation between two women, she, who sees her enemy pressed
down by evils and adverse events, immediately raises up herself and triumphs; so
also the Prophet says respecting the enemies of the Church; they sharpened their
tongues, and vomited forth their bitterness, as soon as they saw the children of God
in trouble or nearly overwhelmed with adversities. We now then understand the
design of the Prophet, --- that he wished to arm us, as I have said, against the taunts
of the ungodly, lest they should prevail against us when God presses us down with
adversities, but that we may stand courageously, and with composed and tranquil
minds, swallow down the indignity.
Rejoice not over me, he says, O my enemy Why not? He adds a consolation; for
it would not be enough for one to repel with disdain the taunts of his enemy; but the
Prophet says here, Rejoice not, for should I fall, I shall rise; or though I fall, I shall rise:
and the passage seems to harmonize better when there is a pause after Rejoice not
over me; and then to add, Though I fall, I shall rise, though I sit in darkness, Jehovah
shall be a light to me 265 The Prophet means, that the state of the Church was not
past hope. There would be ample room for our enemies to taunt us, were it not
that this promise cannot fail us, --- seven times in the day the just falls, and rises
again, (Proverbs 24:16.) --- How so? For God puts under him his own hand. We now
perceive the meaning of this passage. For if God deprived us of all hope, enemies
might justly deride us, and we must be silent: but since we are surely persuaded
that God is ready at hand to restore us again, we can boldly answer our enemies
when they annoy with their derisions; though I fall, I shall rise: ``There is now no
reason for thee to triumph over me when I fall; for it is God's will that I should fall,
but it is for this end --- that I may soon rise again; and though I now lie in darkness,
yet the Lord will be my light.''
We hence see that our hope triumphs against all temptations: and this passage
shows in a striking manner, how true is that saying of John, --- that our faith gains the
victory over the world, (1 John 5:4.) For when sorrow and trouble take possession of
our hearts, we shall not fail if this comes to our mind --- that God will be our aid in
the time of need. And when men vomit forth their poison against us, we ought to be
furnished with the same weapons: then our minds shall never succumb, but boldly
repel all the taunts of Satan and of wicked men. This we learn from this passage.
Now, from what the Prophet says, Though I fall, I shall rise again, we see what
265This is not exactly the Hebrew. The verb for rising, as well as that for falling, is in the past tense. The verse, literally rendered, is the following: — Rejoice not, my enemy, on my account; Though I have fallen, I have risen; Though I shall sit in darkness, Jehovah will be a light to me. There are no copies which give a different reading as to the verb "I have risen." Newcome follows the Septuagint, and thinks that a conversive {{וis left out. It ought rather perhaps to
be considered as the language of faith, realizing the event before it arrived. The fall and ``the darkness'' refer no doubt to the
outward calamities of the Church, its troubles and afÒictions. --- Ed.
MINOR PROPHETS
God would have us to expect, even a happy and joyful exit at all times from our
miseries; but on this subject I shall have to speak more copiously a little farther on.
As to the latter clause, When I sit in darkness, God will be my light, it seems to
be a confirmation of the preceding sentence, where the Prophet declares, that the
fall of the Church would not be fatal. But yet some think that more is expressed,
namely, that in the very darkness some spark of light would still shine. They then
distinguish between this clause and the former one, which speaks of the fall and the
rise of the faithful, in this manner, --- that while they lie, as it were, sunk in darkness,
they shall not even then be without consolation, for God's favor would ever shine on
them. And this seems to be a correct view: for it cannot be that any one will expect
the deliverance of which the Prophet speaks, except he sees some light even in the
thickest darkness, and sustains himself by partaking, in some measure, of God's
goodness: and a taste of God's favor in distresses is suitably compared to light; as
when one is cast into a deep pit, by raising upward his eyes, he sees at a distance
the light of the sun; so also the obscure and thick darkness of tribulations may not
so far prevail as to shut out from us every spark of light, and to prevent faith from
raising our eyes upwards, that we may have some taste of God's goodness. Let us
proceed ---
Micah 7:9
9. I will bear the indignation of the LORD, because I have sinned against him, until
he plead my cause, and execute judgment for me: he will bring me forth to the light,
and I shall behold his righteousness.
9. Iram Jehovae feram, quia peccavi ei, donec disceptet causam meam et faciet
judicium meum (vel, asserat jus meum;) educet me in lucem, cernam justitiam ejus.
Here the Church of God animates and encourages herself to exercise patience,
and does so especially by two arguments. She first sets before herself her sins, and
thus humbles herself before God, whom she acknowledges to be a just Judge; and, in
the second place, she embraces the hope of the forgiveness of her sins, and from this
arises confidence as to her deliverance. By these two supports the Church sustains
herself, that she fails not in her troubles, and gathers strength, as I have already
said, to endure patiently.
First then he says, The wrath 266 of Jehovah will I bear, for sinned have I against
him This passage shows, that when any one is seriously touched with the convic-
tion of God's judgment, he is at the same time prepared to exercise patience; for
it cannot be, but that a sinner, conscious of evil, and knowing that he suffers justly
will humbly and thankfully submit to the will of God. Hence when men perversely
glamour against God, or murmur, it is certain that they have not as yet been made
sensible of their sins. I allow indeed that many feel guilty who yet struggle against
God, and fiercely resist his hand as much as they can, and also blaspheme his name
when he chastises them: but they are not touched hitherto with the true feeling
of penitence, so as to abhor themselves. Judas owned indeed that he had sinned,
and freely made such confession, (Matthew 27:3.) Cain tried to cover his sin, but the
266Iram, {,{זעףwhich means a stormy anger or displeasure, which agitates and raises tempests, and such were the
calamities which came on the Jewish nation.
JOHN CALVIN
Lord drew from him an unwilling confession, (Genesis 4:13.) They did not yet repent;
nay, they ceased not to contend with God; for Cain complained that his punishment
was too heavy to be borne; Judas despaired. And the same thing happens to all the
reprobate. They seemed then to have been sufÏciently convinced to acknowledge
their guilt, and, as it were, to assent to the justice of God's judgment; but they did
not really know their sins, so as to abhor themselves, as I have said, on account of
their sins. For true penitence is ever connected with the submission of which the
Prophet now speaks. Whosoever then is really conscious of his sins, renders himself
at the same time obedient to God, and submits himself altogether to his will. Thus
repentance does ever of itself lead to the bearing of the cross; so that he who sets
himself before God's tribunal allows himself to be at the same time chastised, and
bears punishment with a submissive mind: as the ox, that is tamed, always takes
the yoke without any resistance, so also is he prepared who is really touched with
the sense of his sins, to bear any punishment which God may be pleased to inflict
on him. This then is the first thing which we ought to learn from these words of the
Prophet, The wrath of Jehovah will I bear, for sinned have I against him.
We also learn from this passage, that all who do not patiently bear his scourges
contend with God; for though they do not openly accuse God, and say that they are
just, they do not yet ascribe to him his legitimate glory, by confessing that he is
a righteous judge. --- How so? Because these two things are united together and
joined by an indissoluble knot --- to be sensible of sin --- and to submit patiently to
the will of the Judge when he inflicts punishment.
Now follows the other argument, Until he decides my cause, and vindicates my
right; he will bring me forth into the light, I shall see his righteousness Here the
Church leans on another support; for though the Lord should most heavily afÒict
her, she would not yet cast aside the hope of deliverance; for she knew, as we
have already seen, that she was chastised for her good: and indeed no one could
even for a moment continue patient in a state of misery, except he entertained the
hope of being delivered, and promised to himself a happy escape. These two things
then ought not to be separated, and cannot be, --- the acknowledgment of our sins,
which will humble us before God, --- and the knowledge of his goodness, and a firm
assurance as to our salvation; for God has testified that he will be ever propitious
to us, how much soever he may punish us for our sins, and that he will remember
mercy, as Habakkuk says, in the midst of his wrath, (Habakkuk 3:2.) It would not
then be sufÏcient for us to feel our evils, except the consolation, which proceeds
from the promises of grace, be added.
The Prophet shows further, that the Church was innocent, with regard to its ene-
mies, though justly suffering punishment. And this ought to be carefully observed;
for whenever we have to do with the wicked, we think that there is no blame belong-
ing to us. But these two things ought to be considered, --- that the wicked trouble us
without reason, and thus our cause as to them is just, --- and yet that we are justly
afÒicted by God; for we shall ever find many reasons why the Lord should chastise
us. These two things, then, ought to be both considered by us, as the Prophet seems
to intimate here: for at the beginning of the verse he says, The wrath of God will I
MINOR PROPHETS
bear, for sinned have I against him; and now he adds, The Lord will yet vindicate my
right, literally, ``will debate my dispute,'' that is, plead my cause. Since the Church
is guilty before God, nay, waits not for the sentence of the judge, but anticipates it,
and freely confesses herself to be worthy of such punishment, what does this mean,
--- that the Lord will decide her quarrel, that he will undertake her cause? These two
things seem to militate the one against the other: but they agree well together when
viewed in their different bearings. The Church had confessed that she had sinned
against God; she now turns her eyes to another quarter; for she knew that she was
unjustly oppressed by enemies; she knew that they were led to do wrong by cruelty
alone. This then is the reason why the Church entertained hope, and expected that
God would become the defender of her innocence, that is, against the wicked: and
yet she humbly acknowledged that she had sinned against God. Whenever, then,
our enemies do us harm, let us lay hold on this truth, --- that God will become our
defender; for he is ever the patron of justice and equity: it cannot then be, that
God will abandon us to the violence of the wicked. He will then at length plead our
pleading, or undertake our cause, and be its advocate. But, in the meantime, let
our sins be remembered by us, that, being truly humbled before God, we may not
hope for the salvation which he promises to us, except through gratuitous pardon.
Why then are the faithful bidden to be of good comfort in their afÒictions? Because
God has promised to be their Father; he has received them under his protection, he
has testified that his help shall never be wanting to them. But whence is this confi-
dence? Is it because they are worthy? Is it because they have deserved something
of this kind? By no means: but they acknowledge themselves to be guilty, when they
humbly prostrate themselves before God, and when they willingly condemn them-
selves before his tribunal, that they may anticipate his judgment. We now see how
well the Prophet connects together these two things, which might otherwise seem
contradictory.
Now follow the words, He will bring me to the light, I shall see his righteousness! 267 The Church still confirms herself in the hope of deliverance: art it is hence also
manifest how God is light to the faithful in obscure darkness, because they see that
there is prepared for them an escape from their evils; but they see it at a distance,
for they extend their hope beyond the boundaries of this life. As then the truth of
God diffuses itself through heaven and earth, so the faithful extend their hope far
and wide. Thus it is, that they can see light afar off, which seems to be very remote
from them. And having this confidence, the Prophet says, The Lord will bring me into
the light. They have, in the meantime, as I have already said, some light; they enjoy
a taste of God's goodness in the midst of their evils: but the Prophet now refers to
that coming forth which we ought to look for even in the worst circumstances.
He then adds, I shall see his righteousness By God's righteousness is to be un-
derstood, as it has been elsewhere stated, his favor towards the faithful; not that
God returns for their works the salvation which he bestows, as ungodly men fool-
ishly imagine; for they lay hold on the word righteousness, and think that whatever
267"I shall see the equity of his proceedings concerning me, and the performance of his promises to me." — Henry.
JOHN CALVIN
favors God freely grants us are due to our merits. --- How so? For God in this way
shows his own righteousness. But far different is the reason for this mode of speak-
ing. God, in order to show how dear and precious to him is our salvation, does indeed
say, that he designs to give an evidence of his justice in delivering us: but there is a
reference in this word righteousness to something else; for God has promised that
our salvation shall be the object of his care, hence he appears just whenever he de-
livers us from our troubles. Then the righteousness of God is not to be referred to the
merits of works, but, on the contrary, to the promise by which he has bound himself
to us; and so also in the same dense God is often said to be faithful. In a word, the
righteousness and faithfulness of God mean the same thing. When the Prophet says
now in the person of the Church, I shall see his righteousness, he means, that though
God concealed his favor for a time, and withdrew his hand, so that no hope of aid
remained, it could not yet be, as he is just, but that he would succor us: I shall see
then his righteousness, that is, God will at length really show that he is righteous. It
now follows ---
Micah 7:10
10. Then she that is mine enemy shall see it, and shame shall cover her which
said unto me, Where is the Lord thy God? mine eyes shall behold her: now shall she
be trodden down as the mire of the streets.
10. Et videbit inimica mea, et operiet eam pudor, quae dixit mihi (vel, de me,) Ubi
Jehova Deus tuus? Oculi mei videbunt, et nunc erit in conculcationem sicuti lutum
platearum.
But I cannot finish the subject now.
Prayer.
Grant, Almighty God, that seeing we are at this day surrounded by so many mis-
eries, yea, wherever we turn our eyes, innumerable evils meet us everywhere, which
are so many evidences of thy displeasure, --- O grant, that we being truly humbled
before thee, may be enabled at the same time to raise up our eyes to the promises of
thy free goodness and paternal favor, which thou hast made to us in thine own Son,
that we may not doubt, but that thou wilt be propitious to us, inasmuch as thou hast
adopted us as thy people: and while our enemies, fully armed, rage and ferociously
rise even daily against us, may we not doubt, but that thou wilt be our protection,
as thou knowest that we are unjustly troubled by them; and may we thus go on,
trusting in thy goodness, seeing that we ever groan under the, burden of our sins,
and daily confess that we are worthy of thousand deaths before thee, wert not thou
pleased in thine infinite mercy always to receive and restore us to favor, through thy
Son our Lord. Amen.
Lecture Ninety-seventh
In the last lecture I repeated the tenth verse of the last chapter, in which the
prophet adds, as a cause of the greatest joy, that the enemies of the Church shall
see granted, to their great mortification, the wonderful favor of which the Prophet
had been speaking. But he describes these enemies, under the character of an
envious woman, as the Church of God is also compared to a woman: and this mode
of speaking is common in Scripture. He then calls Jerusalem his rival, or Babylon, or
MINOR PROPHETS
some city of his enemies.
And he says, Covered shall she be with shame We know that the ungodly grow in-
solent when fortune smiles on them: hence in prosperity they keep within no bounds,
for they think that God is under their feet. If prosperity most commonly has the ef-
fect of making the godly to forget God and even themselves, it is no wonder that the
unbelieving become more and more hardened, when God is indulgent to them. With
regard then to such a pride, the Prophet now says, When my enemy shall see, shame
shall cover her; that is, she will not continue in her usual manner, to elate herself
with her own boastings: nay, she will be compelled for shame to hide herself; for
she will see that she had been greatly deceived, in thinking that I should be wholly
ruined.
He afterwards adds, Who said to me, Where is Jehovah thy God? The Church of
God in her turn triumphs here over the unbelieving, having been delivered by divine
power; nor does she do this for her own sake, but because the ungodly expose the
holy name of God to reproach, which is very common: for whenever God afÒicts
his people, the unbelieving immediately raise their crests, and pour forth their blas-
phemies against God, when yet they ought, on the contrary, to humble themselves
under his hand. But since God executes his judgments on the faithful, what can be
expected by his ungodly despisers? If God's vengeance be manifested in a dread-
ful manner with regard to the green tree, what will become of the dry wood? And
the ungodly are like the dry wood. But as they are blind as to God's judgments,
they petulantly deride his name, whenever they see the Church afÒicted, as though
adversities were not the evidences of God's displeasure: for he chastises his own
children, to show that he is the judge of the world. But, as I have already said, the
ungodly so harden themselves in their stupor, that they are wholly thoughtless. The
faithful, therefore, after having found God to be their deliverer, do here undertake
his cause; they do not regard themselves nor their own character, but defend the
righteousness of God. Such is this triumphant language, Who said, Where is now
Jehovah thy God? ``I can really show that I worship the true God, who deserts not
his people in extreme necessity: after he has assisted me, my enemy, who dared to
rise up against God, now seeks hiding-places.''
She shall now, he says, be trodden under foot as the mire of the streets; and my
eyes shall see her. What the Prophet declares in the name of the Church, that the un-
believing shall be like mire, is connected with the promise, which we already noticed;
for God so appears as the deliverer of his Church, as not to leave its enemies un-
punished. God then, while he aids his own people, leads the ungodly to punishment.
Hence the Church, while embracing the deliverance offered to her, at the same time
sees the near ruin, which impends on all the despisers of God. But what is stated,
See shall my eyes, ought not to be so taken, as though the faithful exult with carnal
joy, when they see the ungodly suffering the punishment which they have deserved;
for the word to see is to be taken metaphorically, as signifying a pleasant and joyful
sight, according to what it means in many other places; and as it is a phrase which
often occurs, its meaning must be well known. See then shall my eyes, that is, ``I
shall enjoy to look on that calamity, which now impends over all the ungodly.'' But,
JOHN CALVIN
as I have already said, carnal joy is not what is here intended, which intemperately
exults, but that pure joy which the faithful experience on seeing the grace of God
displayed and also his judgment. But this joy cannot enter into our hearts until they
be cleansed from unruly passions; for we are ever excessive in fear and sorrow, as
well as in hope and joy, except the Lord holds us in, as it were, with a bridle. We
shall therefore be only then capable of this spiritual joy, of which the Prophet speaks,
when we shall put off all disordered feelings, and God shall subdue us by his Spirit:
then only shall we be able to retain moderation in our joy. The Prophet proceeds ---
Micah 7:11-12
11. In the day that thy walls are to be built, in that day shall the decree be far
removed.
11. Dies ad aedificandum parietes tuos; dies iste procul abiget edictum.
12. In that day also he shall come even to thee from Assyria, and from the fortified
cities, and from the fortress even to the river, and from sea to sea, and from mountain
to mountain.
12. Die isto etiam ad te veniet ab Assur, et urbibus munitionis, et a munitione
etiam ad fluvium, et ad mare a mari, et a monte ad montem.
Micah pursues the subject on which he had previously spoken, --- that though the
Church thought itself for a time to be wholly lost, yet God would become its deliverer.
He says first, that the day was near, in which they were to build the wall. The word
{,}גדרgidar, means either a mound or a wall; so it ought to be distinguished from
a wall, that is, a strong fortress. He then intimates that the time would come, when
God would gather his Church, and preserve it, as though it were defended on every
side by walls. For we know that the scattering of the Church is compared to the
pulling down of walls or fences: as when a person pulls down the fence of a field or
a vineyard, or breaks down all enclosures; so when the Church is exposed as a prey
to all, she is said to be like an open field or a vineyard, which is without any fence.
Now, on the other hand, the Prophet says here, that the time would come, when the
faithful shall again build walls, by which they may be protected from the assaults
and plunder of enemies, A day then to build thy walls
Then he adds, This day shall drive afar off the edict; some render it tribute; but
the word properly means an edict, and this best suits the passage; for the Prophet's
meaning is, that the people would not, as before, be subject to the tyranny of Baby-
lon. For after the subversion of Jerusalem, the Babylonians, no doubt, triumphed
very unfeelingly over the miserable people, and uttered dreadful threatening. The
Prophet, therefore, under the name of edict, includes that cruel and tyrannical do-
minion which the Babylonians for a time exercised. We know what God denounces
on the Jews by Ezekiel,
`Ye would not keep my good laws;
I will therefore give you laws which are not good,
which ye shall be constrained to keep;
and yet ye shall not live in them,'
(Ezekiel 20:25.)
Those laws which were not good were the edicts of which the Prophet now speaks.
MINOR PROPHETS
That day then shall drive far away the edict, that the Jews might not dread the laws
of their enemies. For the Babylonians no doubt forbade, under the severest pun-
ishment, any one from building even a single house in the place where Jerusalem
formerly was; for they wished that place to remain desolate, that the people might
know that they had no hope of restoration. That day then shall put afar off; or drive
to a distance, the edict; for liberty shall be given to the Jews to build their city; and
then they shall not tremblingly expect every hour, until new edicts come forth, de-
nouncing grievous punishments on whomsoever that would dare to encourage his
brethren to build the temple of God.
Some draw the Prophet's words to another meaning: they first think that he
speaks only of the spiritual kingdom of Christ, and then they take {,}רחקrechek,
in the sense of extending or propagating, and consider this to be the Gospel which
Christ, by the command of the Father, promulgated through the whole world. It
is indeed true that David uses the word decree in Psalm 2, while speaking of the
preaching of the Gospel; and it is also true, that the promulgation of that decree
is promised in Psalm 110, `The rod of his power will Jehovah send forth from Zion.'
But this passage ought not to be thus violently perverted; for the Prophet no doubt
means, that the Jews would be freed from all dread of tyranny when God restored
them to liberty; and {,}רחקrechek, does not mean to extend or propagate, but to
drive far away. That day then shall drive away the decree, so that the faithful shall
be no more subject to tyrannical commands. We now perceive the true meaning of
the Prophet.
The faithful doubtless prayed in their adversities, and depended on such prophe-
cies as we find in Psalm 102,
`The day is now come to show mercy to Zion, and to build its walls; for thy servants
pity her stones.'
Nor did the faithful pray thus presumptuously, but taking confidence, as though
God had dictated a form of prayer by his own mouth, they dealt with God according
to his promise, ``O Lord, thou hast promised the rebuilding of the city, and the time
has been prefixed by Jeremiah and by other Prophets: since then the time is now
completed, grant that the temple and the holy city may again be built.''
Some render the words, ``In the day in which thou shalt build (or God shall build)
thy walls --- in that day shall be removed afar off the decree.'' But I doubt not but that
the Prophet promises here distinctly to the faithful both the restoration of the city
and a civil freedom; for the sentence is in two parts: the Prophet intimates first, that
the time was now near when the faithful would build their own walls, that they might
not be exposed to the will of their enemies, --- and then he adds, that they would be
freed from the dread of tyranny; for God, as it is said by Isaiah, would break the yoke
of the burden, and the scepter of the oppressor, (Isaiah 9:4;) and it is altogether the
same kind of sentence.
He afterwards adds, In that day also to thee shall they come from Asshur. There
is some obscurity in the words; hence interpreters have regarded different words as
being understood: but to me the meaning of the Prophet appears not doubtful. In
that day, he says, to thee shall they come from Asshur, and cities of the fortress
JOHN CALVIN
and from the fortress even to the river, and from sea to sea, and from mountain to
mountain; but some think {,}הרer, to be a proper name, and render the last clause,
``And from mount Hor:'' and we know that Aaron was buried on this mount. But the
Prophet, no doubt, alludes here to some other place; and to render it mount Hor is
a strained version. I doubt not, therefore, but that the Prophet repeats a common
name, as though he said, ``From mountains to mountains.''
Let us now see what the Prophet means. With regard to the passage, as I have
said, there is no ambiguity, provided we bear in mind the main subject. Now the
Prophet had this in view, --- That Jerusalem, when restored by God, would be in
such honor along all nations that there would be flowing to her from all parts. He
then says, that the state of the city would be very splendid, so that people from all
quarters would come to it: and therefore the copulative vau is to be taken twice
for even for the sake of emphasis, In that day, even to thee, and then, even to the
river; for it was not believed that Jerusalem would have any dignity, after it had been
entirely destroyed, together with the temple. It is no wonder then that the Prophet
so distinctly confirms here what was by no means probable, at least according to
the common sentiments of men, --- that Jerusalem would attract to itself all nations,
even those far away. Come, then, shall they, (for the verb {,}יבואibua, in the singular
number must be taken indefinitely as having a plural meaning,) Come, then, shall
they from Asshur even to thee. But the Assyrians had previously destroyed every
land, overturned the kingdom of Israel, and almost blotted out its name; and they
had also laid waste the kingdom of Judah; a small portion only remained. They came
afterwards, we know, with the Chaldeans, after the seat of empire was translated to
Babylon, and destroyed Nineveh. Therefore, by naming the Assyrians, he no doubt,
taking a part for the whole, included the Babylonians. Come, then, shall they from
Asshur, and then, from the cities of the fortress, that is, from every fortress. For
they who take {,}צורtsur, for Tyre are mistaken; for {,}מצורmetsur 268 is mentioned
twice, and it means citadels and strongholds. And then, even to the river, that is, to
utmost borders of Euphrates; for many take Euphrates, by way of excellence, to be
meant by the word river; as it is often the case in Scripture; though it might be not
less fitly interpreted of any or every river, as though the Prophet had said, that there
would be no obstacle to stop their course who would hasten to Jerusalem. Even to
the river then, and from sea to sea, that is, they shall come in troops from remote
countries, being led by the celebrity of the holy city; for when it shall be rebuilt by
God's command, it shall acquire new and unusual honor, so that all people from
every part shall assemble there. And then, from mountain to mountain, that is, from
regions far asunder. This is the sum of the whole.
The Prophet then promises what all men deemed as fabulous, --- that the dignity
of the city Jerusalem should be so great after the return of the Jews from exile, that
268It is somewhat singular that Newcome renders the first "fenced" and the second "Egypt:" but Henderson renders both "Egypt." It is not the common name for Egypt, which is {;{מצרים
the places referred to, 2 Kings 19:24, and Isaiah 19:6, do not justify this application. The word ``day'' in three instances is here
without a preposition: it may therefore be regarded as the nominative absolute, or the verb, is nigh, or approaches, as Jerome
proposes, is understood. I would give this version of the two verses, --- 11. The day for building thy walls! That day! Removed far
shall be the decree: 12. That day! Even to thee shall they come, From Assyria and cities of fortress, And from the fortress even
to the river, And from sea to sea, and from mountain to mountain, or, word for word, And from the fortress even to the river and
the sea, From the sea and the mountain of the mountain. The last expression seems to mean, ``every mountain.'' --- Ed.
MINOR PROPHETS
it would become, as it were, the metropolis of the world. One thing must be added:
They who confine this passage to Christ seem not indeed to be without a plausible
reason; for there follows immediately a threatening as to the desolation of the land;
and there seems to be some inconsistency, except we consider the Prophet here
as comparing the Church collected from all nations with the ancient people. But
these things will harmonize well together if we consider, that the Prophet denounces
vengeance on the unbelieving who then lived, and that he yet declares that God will
be merciful to his chosen people. But the restriction which they maintain is too rigid;
for we know that it was usual with the Prophets to extend the favor of God from the
return of the ancient people to the coming of Christ. Whenever, then, the Prophets
make known God's favor in the deliverance of his people, they make a transition to
Christ, but included also the whole intermediate time. And this mode the Prophet
now pursues, and it ought to be borne in mind by us. Let us go on ---
Micah 7:13
13. Notwithstanding the land shall be desolate because of them that dwell
therein, for the fruit of their doings.
13. Et erit terra in desolationem propter incolas suos, a fructu operorum ipsorum.
The Prophet, as I have already said, seems to be inconsistent with himself: for
after having spoken of the restoration of the land, he now abruptly says, that it
would be deserted, because God had been extremely provoked by the wickedness
of the people. But, as I have stated before, it was almost an ordinary practice with
the Prophets, to denounce at one time God's vengeance on all the Jews, and then
immediately to turn to the faithful, who were small in number, and to raise up their
minds with the hope of deliverance. We indeed know that the Prophets had to do
with the profane despisers of God; it was therefore necessary for them to fulminate,
when they addressed the whole body of the people: the contagion had pervaded all
orders, so that they were all become apostates, from the highest to the lowest, with
very few exceptions, and those hidden amidst the great mass, like a few grains in
a vast heap of chaff. Then the Prophets did not without reason mingle consolations
with threatening; and their threatening they addressed to the whole body of the
people; and then they whispered, as it were, in the ear, some consolation to the
elect of God, the few remnants, --- ``Yet the Lord will show mercy to you; though he
has resolved to destroy his people, ye shall yet remain safe, but this will be through
some hidden means.'' Our Prophet then does, on the one hand, as here, denounce
God's vengeance on a people past remedy; and, on the others he speaks of the
redemption of the Church, that by this support the faithful might be sustained in
their adversities.
He now says, The land shall be for desolation 269 But why does he speak in so
abrupt a manner? That he might drive hypocrites from that false confidence, with
which they were swollen though God addressed not a word to them: but when God
pronounced any thing, as they covered themselves with the name of Church, they
then especially laid hold of any thing that was said to the faithful, as though it be-
269The copulative {,{וrendered et, and, in the text, is not noticed here. Newcome renders it For, connecting this with
the former verse, and applying it to heathen lands. But Dathius and Henderson render it, as an adversative, But, Nevertheless,
and consider, with Calvin, that the land of Israel is here meant. --- Ed.
JOHN CALVIN
longed to them: ``Has not God promised that he will be the deliverer of his people?''
as though indeed he was to be their deliverer, who had alienated themselves by
their perfidy from him; and yet this was a very common thing among them. Hence
the Prophet, seeing that hypocrites would greedily lay hold on what he had said,
and by taking this handle would become more audacious, says now, The land shall
be for desolation, that is, ``Be ye gone; for when God testifies that he will be the
deliverer of his Church, he does not address you; for ye are the rotten members;
and the land shall be reduced to a waste before God's favor, of which I now speak,
shall appear.'' We now then perceive the reason for this passage, why the Prophet
so suddenly joined threatenings to promises: it was, to terrify hypocrites.
He says, On account of its inhabitants, from the fruit, or, on account of the fruit
of their works Here the Prophet closes the door against the despisers of God, lest
they should break forth, according to their custom, and maintain that God was, as
it were, bound to them: ``See,'' he says, ``what ye are; for ye have polluted the
land with your vices; it must therefore be reduced to desolation.'' And when the
land, which is in itself innocent, is visited with judgment, what will become of those
despisers whose wickedness it sustains? We hence see how emphatical was this
mode of speaking. For the Prophet summons here all the unbelieving to examine
their life, and then he sets before them the land, which was to suffer punishment,
though it had committed no sin; and why was it to suffer? because it was polluted
as I have said by their wickedness. Since this was the case, we see, that hypocrites
were very justly driven away from the false confidence with which they were inflated,
while they yet proudly despised God and his Word. It now follows ---
Micah 7:14
14. Feed thy people with thy rod, the flock of thine heritage, which dwell solitarily
in the wood, in the midst of Carmel: let them feed in Bashan and Gilead, as in the
days of old.
14. Pasce populum tuum in virga tua (vel, paedo tuo) gregem haereditatis tuae,
habitantes in solitudine (vel, seorsum) in sylva, in medio Carmeli; pascentur in Basan
et Gilead, secundum dies antiquos.
Here the Prophet turns to supplications and prayers; by which he manifests more
vehemence, than if he had repeated again what he had previously said of the restora-
tion of the Church; for he shows how dreadful that judgment would be, when God
would reduce the land into solitude. This prayer no doubt contains what was at
the same time prophetic. The Prophet does not indeed simply promise deliverance
to the faithful, but at the same time he doubly increases that terror; by which he
designed to frighten hypocrites; as though he said, ``Most surely except God will
miraculously preserve his own people, it is all over with the Church: there is then no
remedy, except through the ineffable power of God.'' In short, the Prophet shows,
that he trembled at that vengeance, which he had previously foretold, and which
he did foretell, lest hypocrites, in their usual manner, should deride him. We now
see why the Prophet had recourse to this kind of comfort, why he so regulates his
discourse as not to afford immediate hope to the faithful, but addresses God him-
self. Feed then thy people; as though he said, --- ``Surely that calamity will be fatal,
MINOR PROPHETS
except thou, Lord, wilt be mindful of thy covenant, and gather again some remnant
from the people whom thou hast been pleased to choose: Feed thy people.''
The reason why he called them the people of God was, because they must all
have perished, unless it had been that it was necessary that what God promised to
Abraham should be fulfilled, ---
`In thy seed shall all nations be blessed,' (Genesis 12:3.)
It was then the adoption of God alone which prevented the total destruction of the
Jews. Hence he says emphatically, --- O Lord, these are yet thy people; as though he
said, --- ``By whom wilt thou now form a Church for thyself?'' God might indeed have
collected it from the Gentiles, and have made aliens his family; but it was necessary
that the root of adoption should remain in the race of Abraham, until Christ came
forth. Nor was there then any dispute about God's power, as there is now among
fanatics, who ask, Can God do this? But there was reliance on the promise, and from
this they learnt with certainty what God had once decreed, and what he would do.
Since then this promise, `By thy seed shall all nations be blessed,' was sacred and
inviolable, the grace of God must have ever continued in the remnant. It is indeed
certain, that hypocrites, as it has been already stated, without any discrimination,
abused the promises of God; but this truth must be ever borne in mind, that God
punished the ungodly, though relying on their great number, they thought that they
would be always preserved. God then destroyed them, as they deserved; and yet it
was his purpose, that some remnant should be among that people. But it must be
observed, that this distinction ought not to be extended to all the children of Abra-
ham, who derived their origin from him according to the flesh, but to be applied to
the faithful, that is, to the remnant, who were preserved according to the gratuitous
adoption of God.
Feed then thy people by thy crook 270 He compares God to a shepherd, and this
metaphor often occurs. Though {,}שבטshebeth, indeed signifies a scepter when
kings are mentioned, it is yet taken also for a pastoral staff, as in Psalm 23 and in
many other places. As then he represents God here as a Shepherd, so he assigns a
crook to him; as though he said, O Lord, thou performest the ofÏce of a Shepherd in
ruling this people. How so? He immediately confirms what I have lately said, that
there was no hope of a remedy except through the mercy of God, by adding, the
flock 271 of thine heritage; for by calling them the flock of his heritage, he does not
consider what the people deserved, but fixes his eyes on their gratuitous adoption.
Since, then, it had pleased God to choose that people, the Prophet on this account
dares to go forth to God's presence, and to plead their gratuitous election, --- ``O
Lord, I will not bring before thee the nobility of our race, or any sort of dignity, or our
piety, or any merits.'' What then? ``We are thy people, for thou best declared that
we are a royal priesthood. We are then thine heritage.'' How so? ``Because it has
270"The crook signifies God's peculiar care for his people." — Grotius. 271"He compares the elect people," says Marckius, "to a flock of sheep, because they resemble them in weakness, in innocency, in meekness, in usefulness, in fruitfulness, and in close union. See Psalm 95:7; Isaiah 40:11; Ezekiel 34:12; Zechariah 9:16, 10:3; John 10:16, etc." "They are thy sheep, thy peculiar property, who hear thee, who need thy guidance and feeding, for they are weak and helpless, and liable to go astray without the preserving care of their Shepherd." — Cocceius.
JOHN CALVIN
been thy pleasure to have one peculiar people sacred to thee.'' We now more clearly
see that the Prophet relied on God's favor alone, and opposed the recollection of the
covenant to the trials which might have otherwise made every hope to fail.
He afterwards adds, Who dwell apart, or alone. He no doubt refers here to the
dispersion of the people, when he says, that they dwelt alone. For though the Jews
had been scattered in countries delightful, fertile and populous, yet they were ev-
erywhere as in a desert and in solitude, for they were a mutilated body. The whole of
Chaldea and of Assyria was then really a desert to the faithful; for there they dwelt
not as one people, but as members torn asunder. This is the dispersion intended by
the words of the Prophet. He also adds, that dwell in the forest For they had no se-
cure habitation except in their own country; for they lived there under the protection
of God; and all other countries, as I have already said, were to them like the desert.
He adds, In the midst of Carmel The preposition {,}כcaph, is to be understood
here, As in the midst of Carmel, they shall be fed in Bashan and Gilead, as in ancient
days; 272 that is, though they are now thy solitary sheep, yet thou wilt gather them
again that they may feed as on Carmel, (which we know was very fruitful,) and then,
as in Bashan and Gilead. We know that there are in those places the richest pas-
tures. Since then the Prophet compares the faithful to sheep, he mentions Bashan,
he mentions Carmel and Gilead; as though he said, ``Restore, O Lord, thy people,
that they may dwell in the heritage once granted them by thee.'' Why he says that
they were solitary, I have already explained; and there is a similar passage in Psalm
102:17; though there is there a different word, {,}ערערoror; but the meaning is the
same. The faithful are there said to be solitary, because they were not collected into
one body; for this was the true happiness of the people, --- that they worshipped
God together, that they were under one head, and also that they had one altar as
a sacred bond to cherish unity of faith. When therefore the faithful were scattered
here and there they were justly said to be solitary, wherever they were.
He afterwards adds, according to ancient days Here he places before God the
favors which he formerly showed to his people, and prays that he would, like himself,
go on to the end, that is that he would continue to the end his favors to his chosen
people. And it availed not a little to confirm their faith, when the faithful called to
mind how liberally had God dealt from the beginning with the posterity of Abraham:
they were thus made to feel assured, that God would be no less kind to his elect,
though there might be, so to speak, a sad separation: for when God had banished
the Jews into exile, it was a kind of divorce, as though they were given to utter
destruction. Yet now when they recollect that they had descended from the holy
fathers, and that a Redeemer had been promised them, they justly entertain a hope
272These two lines are better arranged by Newcome, and the necessity of a preposition understood is obviated, while the original is more strictly rendered, — In the midst of Carmel let them feed, In Bashan and Gilead, as in the days of old. It is also better to render "feed" as a prayer than in the future tense, to correspond in tenor with the beginning of the verse. Henderson connects "Carmel" with the former line, and thinks that "dwelling alone in the wood" refers to the condition of the Jews when restored, and quotes the prophecy of Balaam in Numbers 23:9. But this seems to be a far-fetched exposition; and the word "wood," which means generally a dreary place, renders it wholly inadmissible. A state of destitution and misery is evidently intended. "They were now," says Henry, "a desolate people; they were in the land of their captivity as sheep in a forest, in danger of being lost and made a prey to the beasts of the forest." — Ed.
MINOR PROPHETS
of favor in future from the past benefits of God, because he had formerly kindly
treated his people.
Prayer.
Grant, Almighty God, that since we have so provoked thy displeasure by our sins,
that a dreadful waste and solitude appear everywhere --- O grant, that a proof of
that favor, which thou hast so remarkably exhibited towards thy ancient people,
may shine upon us, so that thy Church may be raised up in which true religion may
flourish, and thy name be glorified: and may we daily solicit thee in our prayers
and never doubt, but that under the government of thy Christ, thou canst again
gather together the whole world, though it be miserably dispersed, so that we may
persevere in this warfare to the end, until we shall at length know that we have not
in vain hoped in thee, and that our prayers have not been in vain, when Christ shall
exercise the power given to him for our salvation and for that of the whole world.
Amen.
Lecture Ninety-eighth
Micah 7:15
15. According to the days of thy coming out of the land of Egypt will I shew unto
him marvellous things
15. Secundum dies egressus tui e terra AEgypti, ostendam ei mirabilia.
The Prophet here introduces God as the speaker; and he so speaks as to give an
answer to his prayer. God then promises that he will be wonderful in his works, and
give such evidences of his power, as he exhibited when he brought up his people
from the land of Egypt. We now see that there is more force in this passage, than if
the Prophet had at first said, that God would become the deliverer of his people: for
he interposed entreaty and prayer and God now shows that he will be merciful to his
people; and at the same time the faithful are reminded, that they must be instant in
prayer, if they desire to be preserved by God.
Now God says that he will show wonderful things, as when the people formerly
came out of Egypt. 273 That redemption, we know, was a perpetual monument
of God's power in the preservation of his Church; so that whenever he designs to
give some hope of deliverances he reminds the faithful of those miracles that they
may feel assured that there will be no obstacles to prevent them from continuing
in a state of safety, provided God will be pleased to help them, for his power is not
diminished.
And this deserves to be noticed; for though we all allow the omnipotence of God,
yet when we struggle with trials, we tremble, as though all the avenues to our preser-
vation had been closed up against God. As soon then as any impediment is thrown
in our way, we think that there is no hope. Whence is this? It is because we make no
account of God's power, which yet we confess to be greater than that of the whole
world.
273"The Prophet prayed that God would feed them, and do kind things for them; but God answers, that he will show them marvelous things, will outdo their hopes and expectations. — Their deliverance from Babylon shall be a work of wonder and grace, not inferior to their deliverance out of Egypt, nay, it shall eclipse the luster of that, Jeremiah 16:14, 15. — God's former favors to his Church are patterns of future favors, and shall again be copied out as there is occasion." — Henry.
JOHN CALVIN
This is the reason why God now refers to the miracles which he wrought at the
coming forth of the people. They ought to have known, that God ever continues like
himself, and that his power remains as perfect as it was formerly; and there is in him
sufÏcient support to encourage the hope of assistance. We now perceive the object
of the Prophet. He indeed changes the persons; for in the beginning he addresses the
people, according to the days of thy going forth, and then he adds, {,}אראניaranu,
`I will make him to see;' but this change does not obscure the meaning, for God
only means, that his power was sufÏciently known formerly to his people, and that
there was a memorable proof of it in their redemption, so that the people could not
have doubted respecting their safety, without being ungrateful to God, and without
burying in oblivion that so memorable a benefit, which God once conferred on their
fathers. It follows ---
Micah 7:16-17
16. The nations shall see and be confounded at all their might: they shall lay their
hand upon their mouth, their ears shall be deaf.
16. Videbunt gentes et pudefient ab omni fortitudine sua; ponent manum super
os, aures eorum surdescent:
17. They shall lick the dust like a serpent, they shall move out of their holes like
worms of the earth: they shall be afraid of the Lord our God, and shall fear because
of thee.
17. Lingent pulverem quasi serpens, quasi reptilia terrae frement (vel, movebunt)
a latibulis suis; ad Jehovam Deum nostrum pavebunt, et metuent sibi abs te.
Here again the Prophet shows, that though the Church should be assailed on every
side and surrounded by innumerable enemies, no doubt ought yet to be entertained
respecting the promised aid of God; for it is in his power to make all nations ashamed,
that is, to cast down all the pride of the world, so as to make the unbelieving to
acknowledge at length that they were elated by an empty confidence. Hence he
says, that the nations shall see; as though he said, ``I know what makes you anxious,
for many enemies are intent on your ruin; and when any help appears, they are
immediately prepared fiercely to resist; but their attempts and efforts will not prevent
God from delivering you.''
They shall then see and be ashamed of all their strength 274 By these words the
Prophet means, that however strongly armed the unbelieving may think themselves
to be to destroy the Church, and that how many obstacles soever they may have in
their power to restrain the power of God in its behalf, yet the whole will be in vain,
for God will, in fact, prove that the strength of men is mere nothing.
He adds, They shall lay their hand on their mouth; that is, they shall not dare to
boast hereafter, as they have hitherto done; for this phrase in Hebrew means to be
silent. Since then the enemies of the Church made great boastings and exulted with
open mouth, as though the people of God were destroyed, the Prophet says, that
when God would appear as the Redeemer of his people, they should become, as it
274"They shall be ashamed of the strength in which they trusted," — Drusius; or as Grotius says, "of all their strength which had been so suddenly destroyed;" or, as another author says, "of all their strength when found ineffectual for the purpose of destroying the people of God." — Ed.
MINOR PROPHETS
were, mute. He subjoins, their ears shall become deaf; 275 that is, they shall stand
astounded; nay, they shall hardly dare to open their ears, lest the rumor, brought to
them, should occasion to them new trembling. Proud men, we know, when matters
succeed according to their wishes, not only boast of their good fortune with open
mouths, but also greedily catch at all rumors; for as they think they are all so many
messages of victories, --- ``What is from this place? or what is from that place?''
They even expect that the whole world will come under their power. The Prophet, on
the other hand, says, ``They shall lay the hand on the mouth, and their ears shall
become deaf; that is they shall tremblingly shun all rumors, for they shall continually
dread new calamities, when they shall see that the God of Israel, against who they
have hitherto fought, is armed with so much power.
Some apply this to the preaching of the Gospel; which I readily allow, provided
the deliverance be made always to begin with the ancient people: for if any one
would have this to be understood exclusively of Christ, such a strained and remote
exposition would not be suitable. But if any one will consider the favor of God, as
continued from the return of the people to the restoration effected by Christ, he will
rightly comprehend the real design of the Prophet. Really fulfilled, then, is what the
Prophet says here, when God spreads the doctrine of his Gospel through the whole
world: for those who before boasted of their own inventions, begin then to close
their mouth, that, being thus silent, they may become his disciples; and they also
close their ears, for now they give not up themselves, as before, to foolish and puerile
fables, but consecrate their whole hearing to the only true God, that they may attend
only to his truth, and no more vacillate between contrary opinions. All this, I allow,
is fulfilled under the preaching of the Gospel; but the Prophet, no doubt, connected
together the whole time, from the return of the people from the Babylonian exile, to
the manifestation of Christ.
He afterwards adds, They shall lick the dust as a serpent He intimates, that how-
ever the enemies of the Church may have proudly exalted themselves before, they
shall then be cast down, and lie, as it were, on the ground; for to lick the dust is noth-
ing else but to lie prostrate on the earth. They shall then be low and creeping like
serpents; and then, They shall move themselves as worms and reptiles of the ground
The verb {,}רגזregez, as it has been stated elsewhere, means to raise an uproar,
to tumultuate, and it means also to move one's self; and this latter meaning is the
most suitable here, namely, that they shall go forth or move themselves from their
enclosures; for the word {,}סגרsager, signifies to close up: and by enclosures he
means hiding-places, though in the song of David, in Psalm 18:, the word is applied
to citadels and other fortified places, ---
`Men,' he says, `trembled from their fortresses;'
though they occupied well-fortified citadels, they yet were afraid, because the
very fame of David had broken down their boldness. But as the Prophet speaks here
of worms, I prefer this rendering, --- `from their lurkingplaces;' as though he said,
``Though they have hitherto thought themselves safe in their enclosures, they shall
yet move and flee away like worms and reptiles; for when the ground is dug, the
275"Malice," says Jerome, "not only blinds the eyes, but also deafens the ears." — Ed.
JOHN CALVIN
worms immediately leap out, for they think that they are going to be taken; so also,
when any one moves the ground, the reptiles come forth, and tremblingly run away
in all directions.'' And the Prophet says that, in like manner, the enemies of the
Church, when the Lord shall arise for its help, shall be smitten with so much fear,
that they shall in every direction run away. And this comparison ought to be carefully
noticed, that is, when the Prophet compares powerful nations well exercised in wars,
who before were audaciously raging, and were swollen with great pride --- when he
compares them to worms and reptiles of the ground, and also to serpents: he did
this to show, that there will be nothing to hinder God from laying prostrate every
exalted thing in the world, as soon as it shall please him to aid his Church.
And hence the Prophet adds, On account of Jehovah our God they shall treed, and
they shall fear because of thee Here the Prophet shows, that the faithful ought not
to distrust on account of their own weakness, but, on the contrary, to remember the
infinite power of God. It is indeed right that the children of God should begin with
difÏdence, --- sensible that they are nothing, and that all their strength is nothing;
but they ought not to stop at their own weakness, but, on the contrary, to rise up
to the contemplation of God's power, that they may not doubt but that, when his
power shall appear, their enemies shall be soon scattered. This is the reason why
the Prophet here mentions the name of God, and then turns to address God himself.
Tremble then shall they at Jehovah our God, that is, on account of Jehovah our God;
and then Fear shall they because of thee. 276 It now follows ---
Micah 7:18
18. Who is a God like unto thee, that pardoneth iniquity, and passeth by the
transgression of the remnant of his heritage? he retaineth not his anger for ever,
because he delighteth in mercy.
18. Quis Deus sicut tu, tollens iniquitatem, et transiens super scelus, erga
reliquias haereditatis suae? Non retinebit in perpetuum iram suam (alii vertunt, non
roboravit; nam {}חזקhoc interdum significat; sed potius hic vertendum est, non
retinebit;) quia placet ei clementia (vel, diligit misericordiam.) 277
The Prophet here exclaims that God ought to be glorified especially for this --
276Dathius renders these two lines differently, "Jovam Deum nostrum timebunt eumque reverebuntur — Jehovah our God they shall fear, and him will they reverence." But this is neither consistent with the passage, nor with the form in which the words appear. {{פחדis not
commonly, if ever, a transitive verb, and to dread, or to be afraid, and not to fear, is its usual meaning: and ,{}יראwhen it means
the fear of reverence, is generally construed without a preposition, and with {}אתbefore Jehovah. The literal rendering is no
doubt that which is given by Calvin. The distich is capable of being rendered in Welsh exactly as in Hebrew, in the same form
and with the same prepositions; and, when thus rendered, the meaning is what is give here, --- Oherwydd Jehova ein Duw ur
arswydant, --- Ac ovnant rhagddot To fear because of thee, and to fear thee, are two distinct things. You will have the first form in
Joshua 10:8; 11:6; and the second in Deuteronomy 31:12. The first refers to the fear of the Canaanites, the dread of their power;
the second, to the fear of Jehovah. --- Ed.
277Cocceius calls this verse the doxology of the Church. Jerome renders the first words, — Quis Deus similis tui? Which is literally the original, {{כמוך---{}אל-{}מיWhat God like thee? That is, Jehovah,
mentioned in the preceding verse. {Τις} {Θεος} {ωσπερ} {συ}; Sept. Thinking that the verse will admit of somewhat different
arrangement, and of a more literal rendering, I give the following, --- What God is like thee? Taking away iniquity, and passing
over transgression! --- Against the remnant of his heritage, He retaineth not for ever his anger, For a lover of mercy is He. There
is a transition after the second line from the second to the third person; hence I make here the division. Besides, the construction
of the third with the second has ever been found awkward by all the critics; but its construction with the fourth verse is perfectly
natural. {`` }נשאtaking away,'' or removing, conveys the idea of a burden being lifted up and removed. ``Passing over'' seems
to allude to the angel passing over the houses of the Israelites in Egypt. ``Iniquity,'' ,{}עוןis guilt and inward depravity; and
``Transgression,'' ,{}פשעis an overt act of sin, an outward violation of the law. ``A lover,'' ;{}חפףthe Septuagint renders it,
{θελητης} {ελεους} --- the wisher of mercy; which is too weak, for the word means delight. It may be rendered, ``For one who
delights in mercy is He.'' The Targum reads, Amat enim benefacere --- for he loves to do good. --- Ed.
MINOR PROPHETS
- that he is merciful to his people. When he says, Who is God as thou art? he
does not mean that there are other gods; for this, strictly speaking, is an improper
comparison. But he shows that the true and only God may be distinguished from
all idols by this circumstance --- that he graciously forgives the sins of his people
and bears with their infirmities. It is indeed certain, that all nations entertained the
opinion, that their gods were ready to pardon; hence their sacrifices and hence also
their various kinds of expiations. Nor has there been any nation so barbarous as
not to own themselves guilty in some measure before God; hence all the Gentiles
were wont to apply to the mercy of their gods; while yet they had no firm conviction:
for though they laid hold on this first principle, --- that the gods would be propitious
to sinners, if they humbly sought pardon; yet they prayed, we know, with no sure
confidence, for they had no certain promise. We hence see that what the Prophet
means is this, --- that the God of Israel could be proved to be the true God from this
circumstance --- that having once received into favor the children of Abraham, he
continued to show the same favor, and kept his covenant inviolably, though their sins
had been a thousand times a hindrance in the way. That God then in his goodness
surmounted all the wickedness of the people, and stood firm in his covenant, which
had been so often violated by vices of the people --- this fact may be brought as an
evidence, that he is the true God: for what can be found of this kind among idols?
Let us suppose that there is in them something divine, that they were gods, and
endued with some power; yet with regard to the gods of the Gentiles, it could not
be known that any one of them was propitious to his own people. Since then this
can apply only to the God of Israel, it follows that in this instance his divinity shines
conspicuously, and that his sovereignty is hence sufÏciently proved. We also learn,
that all the gods of heathens are vain; yea, that in the religion of heathens there
is nothing but delusions: for no nation can with confidence flee to its god to obtain
pardon, when it has sinned. This is the sum of the whole. I shall now come to the
words of the Prophet.
Who is a God like thee, taking away iniquity, and passing by wickedness? By these
two forms of expression, he sets forth the singular favor of God in freely reconciling
himself to sinners. To take away sins is to blot them out; though the verb {,}נשא
nusha,often means to raise on high; yet it means also to take, or, to take away.
To pass by wickedness, is to connive at it, as though he said, ``God overlooks the
wickedness of his people, as if it escaped his view:'' for when God requires an account
of our life, our sins immediately appear, and appear before his eyes; but when God
does not call our sins before his judgment, but overlooks them, he is then said to
pass by them.
This passage teaches us, as I have already reminded you, that the glory of God
principally shines in this, --- that he is reconcilable, and that he forgives our sins.
God indeed manifests his glory both by his power and his wisdom, and by all the
judgments which he daily executes; his glory, at the same time, shines forth chiefly
in this, --- that he is propitious to sinners, and suffers himself to be pacified; yea,
that he not only allows miserable sinners to be reconciled to him, but that he also
of his own will invites and anticipates them. Hence then it is evident, that he is the
JOHN CALVIN
true God. That religion then may have firm roots in our hearts, this must be the
first thing in our faith, --- that God will ever be reconciled to us; for except we be
fully persuaded as to his mercy, no true religion will ever flourish in us, whatever
pretensions we may make; for what is said in Psalm 130 is ever true, `With thee
is propitiation, that thou mayest be feared.' Hence the fear of God, and the true
worship of him, depend on a perception of his goodness and favor; for we cannot
from the heart worship God, and there will be, as I have already said, no genuine
religion in us, except this persuasion be really and deeply seated in our hearts, ---
that he is ever ready to forgive, whenever we flee to him.
It hence also appears what sort of religion is that of the Papacy: for under the
Papacy, being perplexed and doubtful, they ever hesitate, and never dare to believe
that God will be propitious to them. Though they have some ideas, I know not what,
of his grace; yet it is a vain presumption and rashness, as they think, when any one
is fully persuaded of God's mercy. They therefore keep consciences in suspense;
nay, they leave them doubtful and trembling, when there is no certainty respecting
God's favor. It hence follows, that their whole worship is fictitious; in a word, the
whole of religion is entirely subverted, when a firm and unhesitating confidence, as
to his goodness, is taken away, yea, that confidence by which men are enabled to
come to him without doubting, and to receive, whenever they sin and confess their
guilt and transgressions, the mercy that is offered to them.
But this confidence is not what rises spontaneously in us; nay, even when we
entertain a notion that God is merciful, it is only a mere delusion: for we cannot be
fully convinced respecting God's favor, except he anticipates us by his word, and
testifies that he will be propitious to us whenever we flee to him. Hence I said at the
beginning, that the Prophet here exhibits the difference between the God of Israel
and all the idols of the Gentiles, and that is, because he had promised to be propitious
to his people. It was not in vain that sacrifices were offered by the chosen people, for
there was a promise added, which could not disappoint them: but the Gentiles ever
remained doubtful with regard to their sacrifices; though they performed all their
expiations, there was yet no certainty; but the case was different with the chosen
people. What then the Prophet says here respecting the remission of sins, depends
on the testimony which God himself has given.
We must now notice the clause which immediately follows, as to the remnant of
his heritage Here again he drives away the hypocrites from their vain confidence: for
he says that God will be merciful only to a remnant of his people; and, at the same
time, he takes away an offense, which might have grievously disquieted the weak,
on seeing the wrath of God raging among the whole people, --- that God would spare
neither the common nor the chief men. When therefore the fire of God's vengeance
flamed terribly, above and below, this objection might have greatly disturbed weak
minds, --- ``How is this? God does indeed declare that he is propitious to sinners,
and yet his severity prevails among us. --- How can this be?'' The Prophet meets this
objection and says, God is propitious to the remnant of his heritage; which means,
that though God would execute terrible vengeance on the greater part, there would
yet ever remain some seed, on whom his mercy would shine; and he calls them the
MINOR PROPHETS
remnant of his heritage, because there was no reason, as it was stated yesterday,
why God forgave the few, except that he had chosen the posterity of Abraham.
He also adds, He will not retain his wrath perpetually. By this second consolation
he wished to relieve the faithful: for though God chastises them for a time, he yet
forgets not his mercy. We may say, that the Prophet mentions here two exceptions.
He had spoken of God's mercy; but as this mercy is not indiscriminate or common
to all, he restricts what he teaches to the remnant. Now follows another exception,
--- that how much soever apparently the wrath of God would rage against his elect
people themselves, there would yet be some moderation, so that they would remain
safe, and that their calamities would not be to them fatal. Hence he says, God retains
not wrath; for though, for a moment, he may be angry with his people, he will yet
soon, as it were, repent, and show himself gracious to them, and testify that he is
already reconciled to them; --- not that God changes, but that the faithful are made
for a short time to feel his wrath; afterwards a taste of his mercy exhilarates them,
and thus they feel in their souls that God has in a manner changed. For when dread
possesses their minds, they imagine God to be terrible, but when they embrace the
promises of his grace, they call on him, and begin to entertain hope of pardon; then
God appears to them kind, gentle, and reconcilable; yea, and altogether ready to
show mercy. This is the reason why the Prophet says, that God retains not his wrath
Then follows the cause, for he loveth mercy Here the Prophet more clearly shows,
that the remission of sins is gratuitous, and that it has no foundation but in the nature
of God himself. There is then no reason, since Scripture declares God to be reconcil-
able, why any one should seek the cause in himself, or even the means by which God
reconciles himself to us: for He himself is the cause. As God then by nature loves
mercy, hence it is, that he is so ready to forgive sinners. Whosoever then imagines
that God is to be propitiated by expiations or any satisfactions, subverts the doctrine
of the Prophet; and it is the same thing as to build without a foundation: for the only
prop or support that can raise us up to God, when we desire to be reconciled to him,
is this, --- that he loves mercy. And this is the reason why God so much commends
his mercy, why he says that he is merciful to thousand generations, slow to wrath,
and ready to pardon. For though the unbelieving harden themselves against God,
yet when they feel his wrath, there is nothing so difÏcult for them as to believe that
God can be pacified. Hence this reason, which is not in vain added by the Prophet,
ought to be especially noticed.
Let us now see to whom God is merciful. For as Satan could not have obliter-
ated from the hearts of men a conviction of God's mercy, he has yet confined mercy
to the unbelieving, as though God should forgive sinners only once, when they are
admitted into the Church. Thus the Pelagians formerly thought, that God grants
reconciliation to none but to aliens; for whosoever has been once received into the
Church cannot, as they imagined, stand otherwise before God than by being perfect.
And this figment led Novatus and his disciples to create disturbances in the Church.
And there are at this day not only deluded men, but devils, who, by the same fig-
ment, or rather delirious notions, fascinate themselves and others, and hold, that the
highest perfection ought to exist in the faithful; and they also slander our doctrine,
JOHN CALVIN
as though we were still continuing in the Alphabet or in the first rudiments, because
we daily preach free remission of sins. But the Prophet declares expressly that God
not only forgives the unbelieving when they sin, but also his heritage and his elect.
Let us then know, that as long as we are in the world, pardon is prepared for us, as
we could not otherwise but fall every moment from the hope of salvation, were not
this remedy provided for us: for those men must be more than mad who arrogate
to themselves perfection, or who think that they have arrived at that high degree of
attainment, that they can satisfy God by their works. It now follows ---
Micah 7:19
19. He will turn again, he will have compassion upon us; he will subdue our
iniquities; and thou wilt cast all their sins into the depths of the sea.
19. Reveretur, miserebitur nostri; calcabit iniquitates nostras, et projiciet in pro-
funditates maris cuncta scelera eorum.
The Prophet now prescribes to the faithful a form of glorying, that they may boldly
declare that God will be pacified towards them. Since then God loves mercy, he will
return, he will have mercy on us The context here ought to be observed by us; for it
would avail us but little to understand, I know not what, concerning God's mercy, and
to preach in general the free remission of sins, except we come to the application,
that is, except each of the faithful believed that God, for his own sake, is merciful,
as soon as he is called upon. This conclusion, then, is to be borne in mind, --- ``God
forgives the remnant of his heritage, because he is by nature inclined to show mercy:
he will therefore be merciful to us, for we are of the number of his people.'' Except
we lay hold on this conclusion, ``He will therefore show mercy to us,'' whatever we
have heard or said respecting God's goodness will vanish away.
This then is the true logic of religion, that is, when we are persuaded that God
is reconcilable and easily pacified, because he is by nature inclined to mercy, and
also, when we thus apply this doctrine to ourselves, or to our own peculiar benefit,
--- As God is by nature merciful, I shall therefore know and find him to be so. Until
then we be thus persuaded, let us know that we have made but little progress in the
school of God. And hence it appears very clear from this passage, that the Papacy
is a horrible abyss; for no one under that system can have a firm footing, so as to
be fully persuaded that God will be merciful to him; for all that they have are mere
conjectures. But we see that the Prophet reasons very differently, God loves mercy;
he will therefore have mercy on us: and then he adds, He will return; 278 and this
is said lest the temporary wrath or severity of God should disquiet us. Though God
then may not immediately shine on us with his favor, but, on the contrary, treat
us sharply and roughly, yet the Prophet teaches us that we are to entertain good
hope. --- How so? He will return, or, as he said shortly before, He will not retain
perpetually his wrath: for it is for a moment that he is angry with his Church; and he
soon remembers mercy.
278Grotius, Dathius, and Henderson, consider that this verb, placed before another, without a conjunction, expresses only a reiteration; and they render it adverbially, "again." But, in this place, it would be better to give it its proper meaning; for as God is said to depart from his people, Hosea 9:12, so he may be said also to return. The Septuagint renders it {επιστρεψει}---He
will return. Drusius reads, convertetur, scil. Ab ira sua --- He will turn, that is, from his anger. Newcome's version is, ``He will turn
again.'' --- Ed.
MINOR PROPHETS
The Prophet now specifies what sort of mercy God shows to the faithful, For he will
tread down our iniquities; he had said before that he passes by the wickedness of
his elect people. He will then tread down our iniquities; and he will cast 279 into the
depth of the sea all their sins; that is our sins shall not come in remembrance before
him. We hence learn what I have said before --- that God cannot be worshipped
sincerely and from the heart until this conviction be fixed and deeply rooted in our
hearts, that God is merciful, not in general, but toward us, because we have been
once adopted by him and are his heritage. And then were the greater part to fall
away, we should not fail in our faith; for God preserves the remnant in a wonderful
manner. And lastly, let us know, that whenever we flee to God for mercy, pardon is
ever ready for us, not that we may indulge in sin, or take liberty to commit it, but
that we may confess our faults and that our guilt may appear before our eyes: let
us know, that the door is open to us; for God of his own good will presents himself
to us as one ready to be reconciled.
It is also said, He will cast our sins into the depth of the sea. We hence learn
that there is a full remission of sins, not half as the Papists imagine, for God, they
say, remits the sin, but retains the punishment. How frivolous this is, the thing itself
clearly proves. The language of the Prophet does however import this, that our sins
are then remitted when the records of them are blotted out before God. It follows ---
for I will run over this verse, that I may today finish this Prophet ---
Micah 7:20
20. Thou wilt perform the truth to Jacob, and the mercy to Abraham, which thou
hast sworn unto our fathers from the days of old.
20. Dabis veritatem Jacob, misericordiam Abrahae, quas jurasti patribus nostris
a diebus antiquis.
The faithful confirm here the former truth, that God had deposited his covenant
with them, which could not be made void: and hence also shines forth more clearly
what I have said before, that the faithful do not learn by their own understanding
what sort of Being God is, but embrace the mercy which he offers in his own word.
Except God then speaks, we cannot form in our own minds any idea of his grace but
what is uncertain and vanishing; but when he declares that he will be merciful to us,
then every doubt is removed. This is now the course which the Prophet pursues.
He says, Thou wilt give truth to Jacob, mercy to Abraham, which thou hast sworn
279There is a mistake as to this verb; it is the second person, as are all the verbs which follow. The Prophet resumes here his address to God, which he commenced in the two first lines of the last verse. To show the difference between what he speaks to and what he speaks of God, the whole passage shall be here given, — 18. What God is like thee! Taking away iniquity, and passing over transgression! Against the remnant of his heritage He retains not forever his anger; For a lover of mercy is He; 19. He will return, he will pity us, He will subdue our iniquities: — Yea, thou wilt cast into the depths of the sea all their sins; Thou wilt show faithfulness to Jacob, mercy to Abraham, Which thou swarest to our fathers in the days of old. "Pity," {,{רטחםis tender compassion; the noun in the plural number is used to designate the bowels. ``Subdue,'' or trample under foot,
is rendered ``cover'' by Newcome, on the ground of this being the meaning of {}כבשin Chaldee. This wholly destroys the striking
character of the passage. Our sins are here represented as our enemies; God subdues them; and then in the next line the simile
is continued, they are to be drowned like Pharaoh and his hosts in the depths of the sea. Henderson's remarks on this point are
very excellent. ``There is no ground,'' he says, ``for rejecting the radical idea of trampling under foot as enemies. Sin must ever
be regarded as hostile to man. It is not only contrary to his interests, but it powerfully opposes and combats the moral principles
of his nature, and the higher principles implanted by grace; and but for the counteracting energy of divine influence, must prove
victorious. Without the subjugation of evil propensities, pardon would not be a blessing.'' --- Ed.
JOHN CALVIN
to our fathers; as though he said, ``We do not presumptuously invent any thing out
of our own minds, but receive what thou hast once testified to us; for thy will has
been made known to us in thy word: relying then on thy favor, we are persuaded as
to thy gratuitous pardon, though we are in many respects guilty before thee.'' We
now then understand the design of the Prophet.
As to the words, it is not necessary to dwell on them, for we have elsewhere
explained this form of speaking. There are here two expressions by which the Prophet
characterizes the covenant of God. Truth is mentioned, and mercy is mentioned.
With respect to order, the mercy of God precedes; for he is not induced otherwise
to adopt us than through his goodness alone: but as God of his own will has with
so great kindness received us, so he is true and faithful in his covenant. If then
we desire to know the character of God's covenant, by which he formerly chose the
Jews, and at this day adopts us as his people, these two things must be understood,
that God freely offers himself to us, and that he is constant and true, he repents not,
as Paul says, as to his covenant: The gifts and calling of God, he says, are without
repentance, (Romans 11:29;) and he refers to the covenant, by which God adopted
the children of Abraham.
He says now, Thou wilt give, that is, show in reality; for this, to give, is, as it
were, to exhibit in effect or really. Thou will then give, that is, openly show, that thou
hast not been in vain so kind to us and ours, in receiving them into favor. How so?
Because the effect of thy goodness and truth appears to us.
Thou hast then sworn to our fathers from the days of old. The faithful take for
granted that God had promised to the fathers that his covenant would be perpetual;
for he did not only say to Abraham, I will be thy God, but he also added, and of
thy seed for ever. Since, then, the faithful knew that the covenant of God was to
be perpetual and inviolable, and also knew that it was to be continued from the
fathers to their children, and that it was once promulgated for this end, that the
fathers might deliver it as by the hand to their children; they therefore doubted not
but that it would be perpetual. How so? for thou hast sworn to our fathers; that
is, they knew that God not only promised, but that having interposed an oath, by
which God designed to confirm that covenant, he greatly honored it, that it might
be unhesitatingly received by the chosen people. As then the faithful knew that God
in a manner bound himself to them, they confidently solicited him, really to show
himself to be such as he had declared he would be to his own elect.
Prayer.
Grant, Almighty God, that as we abound in so many vices, by which we daily
provoke thy wrath, and as by the testimony of our consciences, we are justly exposed
to everlasting death, yea, and deserve a hundred and even a thousand deaths, ---
O grant, that we may strive against the unbelief of our flesh, and so embrace thine
infinite mercy, that we may not doubt but that thee wilt be propitious to us, and yet
not abuse this privilege by taking liberty to sin, but with fear, and true humility, and
care, so walk according to thy word, that we may not hesitate daily to flee to thy
mercy, that we may thereby be sustained and kept in safety, until having at length
put off all vices, and being freed from all sin, we come to thy celestial kingdom, to
MINOR PROPHETS
enjoy the fruit of our faith, even that eternal inheritance which has been obtained
for us by the blood of thy only-begotten Son. Amen.
End of the Commentaries on Micah.
Commentary on Nahum
Commentary on Nahum
Calvin's Preface to Nahum
The time in which Nahum prophesied cannot with certainty be known. The He-
brews, ever bold in conjectures, say that he discharged his ofÏce of teaching under
Manasseh, and that the name of that king was suppressed, because he was unwor-
thy of such an honor, or, because his reign was unfortunate, as he had been led into
captivity. When any one asks the Jews a reason, they only say, that it appears so to
them. As then there is no reason for this conjecture, we must come to what seems
probable.
They who think that he prophesied under Jotham are no doubt mistaken, and
can easily be disproved; for he here threatens ruin to the city Nineveh because the
Assyrians had cruelly laid waste the kingdom of Israel; and it is for these wrongs that
he denounces vengeance: but under Jotham the kingdom of Israel had not been laid
waste. We indeed know that the Assyrians were suborned by Ahab, when he found
himself unequal to resist the attacks of two neighboring kings, the king of Syria, and
the king of Israel. It was then that the Assyrians penetrated into the land of Israel, and
in course of time, they desolated the whole kingdom. At this period it was that Nahum
prophesied; for it was his object to show, that God had a care for that kingdom, on
account of his adoption or covenant; though the Israelites had perfidiously separated
themselves from the people of God, yet God's covenant remained in force. His design
then was to show, that God was the father and protector of that kingdom. As this
was the Prophet's object, it is certain that he taught either after the death of Ahab
under Hezekiah, or about that time. 280
280"I conclude from Nahum 2:2, that Nahum prophesied after the captivity of the ten tribes. Josephus places him in the reign of Jotham, and says that his predictions came to pass one hundred and fifteen hears afterwards. Ant. IX. 11. 3. According to our best chronologers, this date would bring us to the year in which Samaria was taken. And I agree with those who think Nahum uttered this prophecy in the reign of Hezekiah, and not long after the subversion of the kingdom of Israel by Shalmaneser." — Newcome.
JOHN CALVIN
He followed Jonah at some distance, 281 as we may easily learn. Jonah, as we have
already seen, pronounced a threatening on the city Nineveh; but the punishment was
remitted, because the Ninevites humbled themselves, and suppliantly deprecated
the punishment which had been announced. They afterwards returned to their old
ways, as it is usually the case. Hence it was, that God became less disposed to spare
them. Though indeed they were aliens, yet God was pleased to show them favor by
teaching them through the ministry and labors of Jonah: and their repentance was
not altogether feigned. Since then they were already endued with some knowledge
of the true God, the less excusable was their cruelty, when they sought to oppress
the kingdom of Israel. They indeed knew, that that nation was sacred to God: what
they did then was in a manner an outrage against God himself.
We now understand at what time it is probable that Nahum performed his ofÏce
as a teacher; though nothing certain, as I have said at the beginning, can be known:
hence it was, that I condemned the Rabbis for rashness on the subject; for they
are bold enough to bring any thing forward as a truth, respecting which there is no
certainty.
I have already in part stated the design of the Prophet. The sum of the whole
is this: When the Assyrians had for some time disturbed the kingdom of Israel, the
Prophet arose and exhorted the Israelites to patience, that is, those who continued
to be the servants of God; because God had not wholly forsaken them, but would
undertake their cause, for they were under his protection. This is the substance of
the whole.
With regard to Nineveh, we have already stated that it was the capital of the
empire, as long as the Assyrians did bear rule: for Babylon was a province; that
is, Chaldea, whose metropolis was Babylon, was one of the provinces of the em-
pire. The kingdom was afterwards taken away from Meroc-baladan. Some think that
Nabuchodonosor was the first monarch of Chaldea. But I bestow no great pains on
this subject. It may be, that Meroc-baladan had two names, and this was very com-
mon; as we know that the kings of Egypt were called Pharaohs; so the Assyrians
and Chaldeans, though otherwise called at first, might have taken a common royal
name. Now Nineveh was so celebrated, that another kingdom could not have been
established by the Babylonians without demolishing that city. We indeed know that
it was very large, as we have stated in explaining Jonah. It was, as profane writers
have recorded, nearly three days' journey in circumference. Then its walls were one
hundred feet high, and so wide, that chariots could pass one another without coming
in contact: there were one thousand and five hundred towers. We hence see that it
was not without reason that this city was formerly so celebrated.
They say that Ninus was its founder, but this is proved to be a mistake by the
testimony of Moses in Genesis 10. They also imagine that emiramis was the first
queen of Babylon, and that the city was built by her: but this is a fable. It may have
been that she enlarged the city; but it was Babylon many ages before she was born.
So also Ninus may have increased and adorned Nineveh; but the city was founded
before his birth. Profane authors call it Ninus, not Nineveh; probably the Hebrew
281The distance is supposed by chronologers to have been about 150 years. — Ed.
MINOR PROPHETS
name was corrupted by them, as it is often the case. However this may be, it is
evident, that when Meroc-baladan, or his son, who succeeded him, wished to fix the
seat of the empire at Babylon, he was under the necessity of destroying Nineveh
to prevent rivalry. It thus happened, that the city was entirely demolished. Of this
destruction, as we shall see, Nahum prophesied.
Chapter 1
Lecture Ninety-ninth
Nahum 1
Nahum 1:1
1.. The burden of Nineveh. The book of the vision of Nahum the Elkoshite.
1. Onus Nineveh: Liber visionis Nahum Helkosi:
Though a part of what is here delivered belongs to the Israelites and to the Jews,
he yet calls his Book by what it principally contains; he calls its the burden of Nineveh
Of this word {,}משאmesha, we have spoken elsewhere. Thus the Prophets call their
prediction, whenever they denounce any grievous and dreadful vengeance of God:
and as they often threatened the Jews, it hence happened, that they called, by way
of ridicule, all prophecies by this name {,}משאmesha, a burden. 282 But yet the
import of the word is suitable. It is the same thing as though Nahum had said that
he was sent by God as a herald, to proclaim war on the Ninevites for the sake of the
chosen people. The Israelites may have hence learnt how true and unchangeable
God was in his covenant; for he still manifested his care for them, though they had
by their vices alienated themselves from him.
He afterwards adds, {,}ספר{ }חזוןsapher chezun, the book of the vision This
clause signifies, that he did not in vain denounce destruction on the Ninevites, be-
cause he faithfully delivered what he had received from God. For if he had simply
prefaced, that he threatened ruin to the Assyrian,, some doubt might have been en-
tertained as to the event. But here he seeks to gain to himself authority by referring
to God's name; for he openly afÏrms that he brought nothing of his own, but that
this burden had been made known to him by a celestial oracle: for {,}חזהcheze,
means properly to see, and hence in Hebrew a vision is called {,}חזוןchezun,. But
the Prophets, when they speak of a vision, do not mean any fantasy or imagina-
tion, but that kind of revelation which is mentioned in Numbers 14, where God says,
282The word comes from {,{נשאto bear, to carry. Some regard it as the message carried or borne by the Prophets
from God to the people, and hence the same as Prophecy. Others consider it to be the judgment to be borne by the people
respecting whom it was announced. The latter seems to be its meaning here, where it is said, ``the burden of Nineveh.'' It was
the judgment laid on them, and which that city was to bear, endure, and undergo. --- Ed.
MINOR PROPHETS
that he speaks to his Prophets either by vision or by dream. We hence see why this
was added --- that the burden of Nineveh was a vision; it was, that the Israelites
might know that this testimony respecting God's vengeance on their enemies was
not brought by a mortal man, and that there might be no doubt but that God was
the author of this prophecy.
Nahum calls himself an Elkoshite. Some think that it was the name of his family.
The Jews, after their manner, say, that it was the name of his father; and then they
add this their common gloss, that Elkos himself was a Prophet: for when the name
of a Prophet's father is mentioned, they hold that he whose name is given was also
a Prophet. But these are mere trifles: and we have often seen how great is their
readiness to invent fables. Then the termination of the word leads us to think that
it was, on the contrary, the proper name of a place; and Jerome tells us that there
was in his time a small village of this name in the tribe of Simon. We must there-
fore understand, that Nahum arose from that town, and was therefore called ``the
Elkoshite.'' 283 Let us now proceed ---
Nahum 1:2
2. God is jealous, and the Lord revengeth; the Lord revengeth, and is furious; the
Lord will take vengeance on his adversaries, and he reserveth wrath for his enemies.
2. Deus aemulator (sic vertunt,) et ulciscens Jehova; ulciscens Jehova, et Dominus
irae (vel, possidens iram;) ulciscens Jehova hostes suos, et servans (vel, responens)
idem (vel, ipse) inimicis suis.
Nahum begins with the nature of God, that what he afterwards subjoins respecting
the destruction of Nineveh might be more weighty, and produce a greater impression
on the hearers. The preface is general, but the Prophet afterwards applies it to a
special purpose. If he had only spoken of what God is, it would have been frigid at
least it would have been less efÏcacious; but when he connects both together, then
his doctrine carries its own force and power. We now apprehend the design of the
Prophet. He might indeed have spoken of the fall of the city Nineveh: but if he had
referred to this abruptly, profane men might have regarded him with disdain; and
even the Israelites would have been perhaps less affected. This is the reason why
he shows, in a general way, what sort of Being God is. And he takes his words from
Moses; and the Prophets are wont to borrow from him their doctrine: 284 and it is
from that most memorable vision, when God appeared to Moses after the breaking
of the tables. I have therefore no doubt but that Nahum had taken from Exodus 34
what we read here: he does not, indeed, give literally what is found there; but it is
sufÏciently evident that he paints, as it were, to the life, the image of God, by which
his nature may be seen.
He says first, that God is jealous; (amulus --- emulous); for the verb {,}קנא
283"It has been thought, and not without reason, by some, that Capernaum, Heb. {{}נחום{, כפד
most properly rendered, the village of Nahum, derived its name from our Prophet having resided in it.'' --- Henderson.
284How far this language is right, may be questioned. The Prophets, under the immediate direction of the Divine Spirit, can hardly be said to borrow from a previous writer. They have no doubt announced the same sentiments, and in some instances, used the same words, as those found in the writings of Moses; but they derived them not from those writings, but from Divine inspiration: and, as Calvin has often observed, they adduced nothing but what they received from God. But this language is not peculiar to Calvin: he adopted it from the fathers. — Ed.
JOHN CALVIN
kona, means to irritate, and also to emulate, and to envy. When God is said to be
{,}קנואkonua, the Greeks render it jealous, {ζηλωτην}, and the Latins, emulous,
(amulatorem) But it properly signifies, that God cannot bear injuries or wrongs.
Though God then for a time connives at the wickedness of men? he will yet be the
defender of his own glory. He calls him afterwards the avenger, and he repeats this
three times, Jehovah avengeth, Jehovah avengeth and possesseth wrath, he will
avenge. When he says that God keeps for his enemies, he means that vengeance
is reserved for the unbelieving and the despisers of God. There is the same mode
of speaking in use among us, Je lui garde, et il la garde a ses ennemis. This phrase,
in our language, shows what the Prophet means here by saying, that God keeps
for his enemies. And this awful description of God is to be applied to the present
case, for he says that he proclaims war against the Ninevites, because they had
unjustly distressed the Church of God: it is for this reason that he says, that God
is jealous, that God is an avenger; and he confirms this three times, that the
Israelites might feel assured that this calamity was seriously announced; for had
not this representation been set before them, they might have thus reasoned with
themselves, --- ``We are indeed cruelly harassed by our enemies; but who can
think that God cares any thing for our miseries, since he allows them so long to
be unavenged?'' It was therefore necessary that the Prophet should obviate such
thoughts, as he does here. We now more fully understand why he begins in a
language so vehement, and calls God a jealous God, and an avenger.
He afterwards adds, that God possesses wrath I do not take {,}חמהcheme, simply
for wrath, but the passion or he it of wrath. We ought not indeed to suppose, as it
has been often observed, that our passions belong to God; for he remains ever like
himself. But yet God is said to be for a time angry, and for ever towards the reprobate,
for he is our and their Judge. Here, then, when the Prophet says, that God is the Lord
of wrath, or that he possesses wrath, he means that he is armed with vengeance
and that, though he connives at the sins of men, he is not yet indifferent, nor even
delays because he is without power, or because he is idle and careless, but that he
retains wraths as he afterwards repeats the same thing, He keeps for his enemies 285 In short, by these forms of speaking the Prophet intimates that God is not to be
rashly judged of on account of his delay, when he does not immediately execute His
judgments; for he waits for the seasonable opportunity. But, in the meantime there
is no reason for us to think that he forgets his ofÏce when he suspends punishment,
or for a season spares the ungodly. When, therefore, God does not hasten so very
quickly, there is no ground for us to think that he is indifferent, because he delays
his wrath, or retains it, as we have already said; for it is the same thing to retain
285The following may be proposed as the literal rendering of this verse, — A God jealous and an avenger is Jehovah; Avenger is Jehovah, and one who has indignation: Avenger is Jehovah on his adversaries, And watch does he for his enemies. God is said to be jealous in the second commandment, being one who will not allow his own honor to be given to another. Avenger, {,{נקםis a vindicator of his own rights; and he is said to have indignation, or hot wrath, or great displeasure; {}חמה{, }בעל
possessor, holder, or keeper of indignation. His adversaries, ,{}צריוrather, his oppressors; the oppressors of his people were his
own oppressors. {}נוטרmeans to watch, rather than to keep. Its meaning here is to watch the opportunity to take than to keep.
Its meaning here is to watch the opportunity to take vengeance on his enemies. The description here is remarkable, and exactly
adapted to the oppressive state of the Jews. The dishonor done to God's people was done to him. He is jealous, a defender of his
own rights, full of indignation, and watches and waits for a suitable time to execute vengeance, to vindicate his own honor. --- Ed.
MINOR PROPHETS
wrath, as to be the Lord of wrath, and to possess it. It follows ---
Nahum 1:3
3. The Lord is slow to anger, and great in power, and will not at all acquit the
wicked: the Lord hath his way in the whirlwind and in the storm, and the clouds are
the dust of his feet.
3. Jehova tardus iris (ad verbum, sed, tardus ad iram) et magnus robore; et pur-
gando non purgabit; Jehova in turbine et tempestate via ejus, et nubes pulvis pedum
ejus.
The Prophet goes on with the same subject; and still longer is the preface respect-
ing the nature of God, which however is to be applied, as I have said, to the special
objects which hereafter he will state. He says here that God is slow to wrath Though
this saying is taken also from Moses yet the Prophet speaks here for the purpose of
anticipating an objection; for he obviates the audacity of the ungodly who daringly
derided God, when any evil was denounced on them, --- Where is the mercy of God?
Can God divest himself of his kindness? He cannot deny himself. Thus profane men,
under the pretense of honoring God, cast on him the most atrocious slander, for
they deprive him of his own power and ofÏce: and there is no doubt but that this
was commonly done by many of the ungodly in the age of our Prophet. Hence he
anticipates this objection, and concedes that God is slow to wrath. There is then a
concession here; but at the same time he says that God is great in strength, and this
he says, that the ungodly may not flatter and deceive themselves, when they hear
these high attributes given to God, that he is patient, slow to wrath, merciful, full
of kindness. ``Let them,'' he says, ``at the same time remember the greatness of
God's power, that they may not think that they have to do with a child.''
We now then see the design of the Prophet: for this declaration --- that God has-
tens not suddenly to wrath, but patiently defers and suspends the punishment which
the ungodly deserve. This declaration would not have harmonized with the present
argument, had not the Prophet introduced it by way of concession; as though he
said, --- ``I see that the world everywhere trifle with God, and that the ungodly de-
lude themselves with such Sophistries, that they reject all threatening. I indeed allow
that God is ready to pardon, and that he descends not to wrath, except when he is
constrained by extreme necessity: all this is indeed true; but yet know, that God is
armed with his own power: escape then shall none of those who allow themselves
the liberty of abusing his patience, notwithstanding the insolence they manifest to-
wards him.''
He now adds, By clearing he will not clear. Some translate, ``The innocent, he will
not render innocent.'' But the real meaning of this sentence is the same with that in
Exodus 34; and what Moses meant was, that God is irreconcilable to the impenitent.
It has another meaning at the end of Joel 3, where it is said, `I will cleanse the blood
which I have not cleansed.' On that text interpreters differ; because they regard
not the change in the tense of the verb; for God means, that he would cleanse the
filth and defilements of his Church, which he had not previously cleansed. But Moses
means, that God deals strictly with sinners, so as to remit no punishment. By clearing
then I will not clear; that is, God will rigidly demand an account of all the actions of
JOHN CALVIN
men; and as there is nothing hid from him, so everything done wickedly by men
must come forth, when God ascends his tribunal; he will not clear by clearing, but
will rigidly execute his judgment.
There seems to be some inconsistency in saying, --- that God is reconcilable and
ready to pardon, --- and yet that by clearing he will not clear. But the aspect of
things is different. We have already stated what the Prophet had in view: for inas-
much as the ungodly ever promise impunity to themselves, and in this confidence
petulantly deride God himself, the Prophet answers them, and declares, that there
was no reason why they thus abused God's forbearance, for he says, By clearing he
will not clear, that is, the reprobate: for our salvation consists in a free remission
of sins; and whence comes our righteousness, but from the imputation of God, and
from this --- that our sins are buried in oblivion? yea, our whole clearing depends
on the mercy of God. But God then exercises also his judgment, and by clearing he
clears, when he remits to the faithful their sins; for the faithful by repentance antici-
pate his judgment; and he searches their hearts, that he may clear them. For what is
repentance but condemnation, which yet turns out to be the means of salvation? As
then God absolves none except the condemned, our Prophet here rightly declares,
that by clearing he will not clears that is, he will not remit their sins, except he tries
them and discharges the ofÏce of a judge; in short, that no sin is remitted by God
which he does not first condemn. But with regard to the reprobate, who are wholly
obstinate in their wickedness, the Prophet justly declares this to them, --- that they
have no hope of pardon, as they perversely adhere to their own devices, and think
that they can escape the hand of God: the Prophet tells them that they are deceived,
for God passes by nothing, and will not blot out one sin, until all be brought to mind.
He afterwards says, that the way of God is in the whirlwind and the tempest;
that is, that God, as soon as he shows himself, disturbs the whole atmosphere, and
excites storms and tempests: and this must be applied to the subject in hand; for the
appearance of God is in other places described as lovely and gracious: nay, what
else but the sight of God exhilarated the faithful? As soon as God turns away his
face, they must necessarily be immersed in dreadful darkness, and be surrounded
with horrible terrors. Why then does the Prophet say here, that the way of God is in
the whirlwind and storms? Even because his discourse is addressed to the ungodly,
or to the despisers of God himself, as in Psalm 18; where we see him described as
being very terrible, --- that clouds and darkness are around him, that he moves the
whole earth, that he thunders on every side, that he emits smoke frown his nostrils,
and that he fills the whole world with fire and burning. For what purpose was this
done? Because David's object was to set forth the judgments of God, which he
had executed on the ungodly. So it is in this place; for Nahum speaks of the future
vengeance, which was then nigh the Assyrians; hence he says, The way of God is in
the whirlwind and tempest; that is, when God goes forth, whirlwinds and tempests
are excited by his presence, and the whole world is put in confusion.
He adds, that the clouds are the dust of his feet When any one with his feet only
moves the dust within a small space, some dread is produced: but God moves the
dust, not only in one place, --- what then? he obscures, and thus covers the whole
MINOR PROPHETS
heaven, The clouds then are the dust of his feet 286 We now apprehend the whole
meaning of the Prophet, and the purpose for which this description is given. Of the
same import is what follows ---
Nahum 1:4
4. He rebuketh the sea, and maketh it dry, and drieth up all the rivers: Bashan
languisheth, and Carmel, and the flower of Lebanon languisheth.
4. Increpat mare et arefaciet illud (hoc est, simulac mare increpuerit, arefaciet;)
et omnia flumina exiccat, infirmatur (vel aboletur) Basan et Carmelus, et germen
Libani aboletur (vel, infirmatur, est idem verbum.)
Nahum continues his discourse, --- that God, in giving proof of his displeasure,
would disturb the sea or make it dry. There may be here an allusion to the history,
described by Moses; for the Prophets, in promising God's assistance to his people,
often remind them how God in a miraculous manner brought up their fathers from
Egypt. As then the passage through the Red Sea was in high repute among the
Jews, it may be that the Prophet alluded to that event, (Exodus 14:22.) But another
view seems to me more probable. We indeed know how impetuous an element is
that of the sea; and hence in Jeremiah 5, God, intending to set forth his own power,
says, that it is in his power to calm the raging of the sea, than which nothing is more
impetuous or more violent. In the same manner also is the majesty of God described
in Job 28. The meaning of this place, I think, is the same, --- that God by his chiding
makes the sea dry, 287 and that he can dry up the rivers That the prophet connects
rivers with the sea, confirms what I have just said, --- that the passage through the
Red Sea is not here referred to; but that the object is to show in general how great
is God's power in governing the whole world.
To the same purpose is what he adds, Bashan shall be weakened, and Carmel,
and the branch of Lebanon shall be weakened, or destroyed. By these words he
intimates, that there is nothing so magnificent in the world, which God changes not,
when he gives proofs of his displeasure; as it is said in Psalm 104,
`Send forth thy Spirit, and they shall be renewed;'
and again, `Take away thy Spirit,' or remove it, `and all things will return to the
dust;' yea, into nothing. So also Nahum says in this place, ``As soon as God shows his
wrath, the rivers will dry up, the sea itself will become dry, and then the flowers will
fade and the grass will wither;'' that is, though the earth be wonderfully ornamented
and replenished, yet all things will be reduced to solitude and desolation whenever
286I offer the following translation of this verse, — Jehovah is slow to wrath, though great in power; Absolving, Jehovah will not absolve: In the whirlwind and in the storm is his way; And the cloud is the dust of his feet. The second line presents some difficulty. It is evidently an imperfect sentence; most supply the word, guilty; but rather the "enemies" mentioned before are to be understood. The meaning appears to be this, — Jehovah is slow to wrath, that is, to execute his vengeance, though he is great in power, capable of doing so; but though he delays, he will not eventually clear or absolve his enemies. With the Septuagint I connect "Jehovah" with the second and not with the third line, and agreeably with the idiom of the Hebrew; the verb generally precedes its nominative. The order of the words in Welsh would be exactly the same, — Gan ddieuogi ni ddiuoga Jehova. — Ed.
287Literally, "chiding the sea, he even made it dry." The {{וhere, though conversive, must be rendered,
``even,'' for the first verb is a participle. By taking the words in their poetical order, the whole verse may be thus rendered, ---
Chiding the sea, he even made it dry; And all the rivers he dried up: Wither did Bashan and Carmel, And the bud of Lebanon
withered. The verbs in this, and in the following verse, are in the past tense; reference is made to the past works of God, and in
some instances to those performed in the wilderness. --- Ed.
JOHN CALVIN
God is angry. And he afterwards adds ---
Nahum 1:5
5. The mountains quake at him, and the hills melt, and the earth is burned at his
presence, yea, the world, and all that dwell therein.
5. Montes concutientur ab eo (vel, contremiscent, quanquam notat continuum
actum; sensus est igitur, montes contremiscere ad nutum ejus,) et colles dissolvent
se (hoc est, solvuntur, vel, liquefiunt,) et ardet terra a facie ejus, et orbis et omnes
qui habitant in eo.
Nahum continues still on the same subject, --- that when God ascended his tri-
bunal and appeared as the Judge of the world, he would not only shake all the ele-
ments, but would also constrain them to change their nature. For what can be less
consonant to nature than for mountains to tremble, and for hills to be dissolved or
to melt? This is more strange than what we can comprehend. But the Prophet inti-
mates that the mountains cannot continue in their own strength, but as far as they
are sustained by the favor of God. As soon, then, as God is angry, the mountains
melt like snow, and flow away like water. And all these things are to be applied to
this purpose, and are designed for this end, --- that the wicked might not daringly
despise the threatening of God, nor think that they could, through his forbearance,
escape the punishment which they deserved: for he will be their Judge, however
he may spare them; and though God is ready to pardon, whenever men hate them-
selves on account of their sins, and seriously repent; he will be yet irreconcilable to
all the reprobate and the perverse. The mountains, then, before him tremble, and
the hills dissolve or melt.
This useful instruction may be gathered from these words, that the world cannot
for a moment stand, except as it is sustained by the favor and goodness of God;
for we see what would immediately be, as soon as God manifests the signals of
his judgment. Since the very solidity of mountains would be as snow or wax, what
would become of miserable men, who are like a shadow or an apparition? They
would then vanish away as soon as God manifested his wrath against them, as it is
so in Psalm 39, that men pass away like a shadow. This comparison ought ever to be
remembered by us whenever a forgetfulness of God begins to creep over us, that we
may not excite his wrath by self-complacencies, than which there is nothing more
pernicious. Burned, 288 then shall be the earth, and the world, and all who dwell on
Prayer.
Grant, Almighty God, that as thou settest before us here as in a mirror how dread-
ful thy wrath is, we may be humbled before thee, and of our ownselves cast ourselves
down, that we may not be laid prostrate by thy awful power, --- O grant, that we
288This sense has been given to the verb by the Rabbins, which is inconsistent with it as found here without any variations, and with the Greek versions. {{תשאis either from ,{}נשאto lift up, or
from ,{}שאהto be laid waste, or to be confounded, the final {}הbeing dropped; and this is what Newcome adopts. Marckius and
Henderson take the former meaning in the sense of being raised up or heaving. ``{Ανεσταλη}, was removed,'' Sept.; ``{Εκινηθη},
was moved,'' Symmachus; ``{Εφριξεν}, trembled,'' Aquila. The idea of being confounded or laid waste harmonizes best with all
parts of the sentence; for the idea of having does not apply well to the inhabitants. We see here that all the Greek versions have
the verb in the past tense; and so are the previous verbs in the verse as given in the Septuagint, and agreeably with the Hebrew.
Mountains have shaken through him, And hills have melted away; And confounded has been the earth at his presence, Yea, the
world and all its inhabitants.
MINOR PROPHETS
may by this instruction be really prepared for repentance, and so suppliantly dep-
recate that punishment which we daily deserve through our transgressions, that in
the meantime we may be also transformed into the image of thy Son, and put off all
our depraved lusts, and be cleansed from our vices, until we shall at length appear
in confidence before thee, and be gathered among thy children, that we may enjoy
the eternal inheritance of thy heavenly kingdom, which has been obtained for us by
the blood of thy Son. Amen.
Lecture One Hundredth
Nahum 1:6
6. Who can stand before his indignation? and who can abide in the fierceness of
his anger? his fury is poured out like fire, and the rocks are thrown down by him.
6. Coram indignatione ejus quis stabit? Et quis consistet in furore irae ejus? Furor
ejus effunditur tanquam ignis, et rupes solvuntur ab eo.
The Prophet shows here why he gave in the part noticed in the last lecture, such
an awful description of God; it was that men might know, that when they shall come
before his tribunal, no one will be able to stand unless supported by his favor. Of
the Prophet's main object we have sufÏciently spoken, nor is it necessary to repeat
here what has been stated. It is enough to bear this in mind, --- that as the enemies
of the Church relied on their power; and daringly and immoderately raged against
it, the judgment of God is here set before them, that they might understand that
an account was to be rendered to him whose presence they were not able to bear.
But the question has more force than if the Prophet had simply said, that the whole
world could not stand before God: for he assumes the character of one adjuring.
After having shown how terrible God is, he exclaims, Who shall stand before his
indignation? and who shall be able to bear his wrath? 289 for his indignation, he
says, is poured forth as fire. The Hebrew interpreters have here toiled in vain: as the
verb {,}נתךnutae, means to pour forth it seems to them an inconsistent expression,
that the wrath of God should be poured forth as fire; for this would be more suitably
said of some metal than of fire. But to be poured forth here is nothing else than to
be scattered far and wide. Poured forth then is thy wrath as fire; that is, it advances
every moment, as when a fire seizes a whole forest; and when it grows strong, we
know how great is its violence, and how suddenly it spreads here and there. But if a
different meaning be preferred, I do not much object to it, ``His wrath, which is like
fire, is poured out.''
Some think that the Prophet alludes to lightnings, which, as it were, melt through
the air, at least as they appear to us. But as the meaning of the Prophet is sufÏciently
evident, there is no need of anxiously inquiring how fire is poured out: for I have
already mentioned, that the Prophet means no other thing than the wrath of God
289And who shall rise up against his hot anger? — Newcome. And who can subsist in the heat of his anger? — Henderson. Neither of these versions convey the meaning. The verb {,{קום
with a {}בafter it, signifies to rise up against or resist. {Τις} {αντιστησεται} --- Who shall resist? --- Sept. So the line should be
thus rendered, --- And who can resist the burning of his wrath? This line conveys the same idea as the former, only in stronger
terms. For displeasure or anger we have here the burning of his wrath, and for standing we have resisting. Can is better than
will; the Hebrew future ought often to be thus rendered. With the view of giving the words here used their distinctive character, I
offer the following version of the whole verse, --- Before his anger who can stand? And who can resist the burning of his wrath?
His indignation has been poured forth like fire; And rocks have been broken in pieces by him. The two last verbs are in the past
tense, and are more expressive when so rendered. --- Ed.
JOHN CALVIN
spreads itself, so that it immediately takes hold, not only of one city but also of the
widest regions and of the whole world, and is therefore like fire, for it passes through
here and there, and that suddenly.
He then says, that rocks are also broken or dissolved before him We must be
aware how great our brittleness is. Since there is no hardness which melts not before
God, how can men, who flow away of themselves like water, be so daring as to set
themselves up against him? We hence see that the madness of men is here rebuked,
who, trusting in their own strength, dare to contend even with God, because they
forget their own frailty. This is the import of the whole. It now follows ---
Nahum 1:7
7. The Lord is good, a strong hold in the day of trouble; and he knoweth them
that trust in him.
7. Bonus Jehova ad fortitudinem in die angustiae, et cognoscens sperantes in se.
The Prophet expresses more clearly here what we referred to in our last lecture,
--- that God is hard and severe toward refractory men, and that he is merciful and
kind to the teachable and the obedient, --- not that God changes his nature, or that
like Proteus he puts on various forms; but because he treats men according to their
disposition. 290 As then the Prophet has hitherto taught us, that God's wrath cannot
be sustained by mortals; so now, that no one might complain of extreme rigor, he,
on the other hand, shows that God favors what is right and just, that he is gentle
and mild to the meek, and therefore ready to bring help to the faithful, and that he
leaves none of those who trust in him destitute of his aid.
First, by saying that God is good, he turns aside whatever might be objected on
the ground of extreme severity. There is indeed nothing more peculiar to God than
goodness. Now when he is so severe, that the very mention of his name terrifies the
whole world, he seems to be in a manner different from himself. Hence the Prophet
now shows that whatever he had hitherto said of the dreadful judgment of God, is not
inconsistent with his goodness. Though God then is armed with vengeance against
his enemies he yet ceases not to be like himself, nor does he forget his goodness.
But the Prophet does here also more fully confirm the Israelites and the Jews in the
belief, that God is not only terrible to the ungodly, but that, as he has promised to
be the guardian of his Church, he would also succor the faithful, and in time alleviate
their miseries. Good then is Jehovah; and it is added for help The intention of the
Prophet may be hence more clearly understood, when he says that he is for strength
in the day of distress; as though he said, --- ``God is ever ready to bring help to his
people:'' 291 And he adds, in the day of distress, that the faithful may not think that
they are rejected, when God tries their patience by adversities. How much soever
then God may subject his people to the cross and to troubles, he still succors them
290"This glorious description of the Sovereign of the world, like the pillar of cloud and fire, has a bright side towards Israel, and a dark side towards the Egyptians." — Henry.
291This is no doubt the right view. The object here is not to assert generally that God is good, but that he is good for aid and help in the day of distress. The versions then both of Newcome and Henderson are faulty; for they divide into two clauses what is one in the original, — Good is Jehovah for protection in the day of distress; And he knoweth them who trust in him. The word {{מעיזis from ,{}עזstrength, and having the formative ,{}מit attains a causative sense, and means that
which affords or gives strength, --- a fortress, a stronghold, or protection. --- Ed.
MINOR PROPHETS
in their distress.
He lastly adds, He knows them who hope in him. This to know, is no other thing
than not to neglect them. Hence God is said to know them who hope in him, because
he always watches over them, and takes care of their safety: in short, this knowledge
is nothing else but the care of God, or his providence in preserving the faithful. The
Prophet, at the same time, distinguishes the godly and sincere worshipers of God
from hypocrites: when God leaves many destitute who profess to believe in him, he
justly withholds from them his favor, for they do not from the heart call on him or
seek him.
We now then understand the Prophet's meaning. He shows, on the one hand, that
God is armed with power to avenge his enemies; And, on the other, he shows that
God, as he has promised, is a faithful guardian of his Church. How is this proved?
He sets before us what God is, that he is good; and then adds, that he is prepared
to bring help. But he does not in vain mention this particular, --- that he takes care
of the faithful, who truly, and from the heart, hope in him; it is done, that they may
understand that they are not neglected by God, and also that hypocrites may know
that they are not assisted, because their profession is nothing else but dissimulation,
for they hope not sincerely in God, however they may falsely boast of his name. It
now follows ---
Nahum 1:8
8. But with an overrunning flood he will make an utter end of the place thereof,
and darkness shall pursue his enemies.
8. Et cum inundatione (vel, per inundationem) transiens consumptionem faciet
locoejus; et inimicos ejus persequentur tenebrae (vel, persequi faciet inimicos suos
a tenebris.)
The Prophet goes on with the same subject, --- that God can easily preserve his
people, for he is armed with power sufÏcient to overcome the whole world. But the
Prophet now includes the two things which have been mentioned: Having spoken
in general of God's wrath, and of his goodness towards the faithful, he now applies
his doctrine to the consolation of his chosen people. It is then a special applica-
tion of his doctrine, when he says, By inundation, he, passing through, will make a
consummation in her place There is a twofold interpretation of this verse.
Some make this distinction, --- that God, as it were, in passing through, would
consume the land of Israel and Judah, but that perpetual darkness would rest on his
enemies. Hence they think, that the distress of the chosen people is distinguished
from the overthrow of the kingdom of Asshur, for God would only for a time pun-
ish his own people, while he would give up profane and reprobate men to endless
destruction. Then, by passing through, must be understood, according to these in-
terpreters, a temporary distress or punishment; and by darkness, eternal ruin, or,
so to speak, irreparable calamities. But the Prophet, I doubt not, in one connected
sentence, denounces ultimate ruin on the Assyrians. By inundation, then, he, in
passing, will make a consummation in her place; that is, God will suddenly over-
whelm the Assyrian, as though a deluge should rise to cover the whole earth. He
intimates, that God would not punish the Assyrians by degrees, as men sometimes
JOHN CALVIN
do, who proceed step by step to avenge themselves, but suddenly. God, he says,
will of a sudden thunder against the Assyrians, as when a deluge comes over a land.
Hence this passing of God is opposed to long or slow progress; as though he said
--- ``As soon as God's wrath shall break forth or come upon the Assyrians, it will
be all over, for a consummation will immediately follow: by inundation, he, pass-
ing through, will make a consummation in her place.'' 292 By place he means the
ground; as though he had said that God would not only destroy the face of the land,
but would also destroy the very grounds and utterly demolish it. A feminine pronoun
is here added, because he speaks of the kingdom or nation, as it is usual in Hebrew.
But it ought especially to be noticed that the Prophet threatens the Assyrians, that
God would entirely subvert them, that he would not only demolish the surface, as,
when fire or waters destroy houses, but that the Lord would reduce to nothing the
land itself, even the very ground.
He adds, And pursue his enemies shall darkness He has designated the Assyrians
only by a pronoun, as the Hebrews are wont to do; for they set down a pronoun rel-
ative or demonstrative, and it is uncertain of whom they speak; but they afterwards
explain themselves. So does the Prophet in this place; for he directs his discourse
to the Israelites and the Jews, and he begins by announcing God's vengeance on
Nineveh and its monarchy; but now he speaks as of a thing sufÏciently known and
adds, Pursue shall darkness the enemies of God By this second clause he intimates
that the ruin of that kingdom would be perpetual. As then he had said that its de-
struction would be sudden, as God would, as it were, in a moment destroy the whole
land; so now he cuts off from them every hope, that they might not think that they
could within a while gather strength and rise again as it is the case with the wicked,
who ever contend against God. The Prophet then shows that evil which God would
bring on them would be without remedy. Some render the verb {,}יררףiredaph,
transitively in this form, ``He will pursue his enemies by darkness:'' but as to the
meaning of the Prophet there is but little or no difference; I therefore leave the point
undecided. On the subject itself there is nothing ambiguous; the import of what
is said is, --- that God would, by a sudden inundation, destroy his enemies, --- and
that he would destroy them without affording any hope of restoration, for perpetual
darkness would follow that sudden deluge. He afterwards adds ---
Nahum 1:9
292The first words in this line are better rendered in our version, "With an overrunning flood," or, as by Newcome, "With an overflowing torrent," or as by Henderson, "With an overflowing inundation." The remaining part has occasioned a variety. The text as it is, and there are no different readings, is this, "A full end he will make of her place;" or, as Henderson renders it, "He will effect a consummation of her place." The only difficulty is, that "her" has no near antecedent; but it is not unusual with the Prophets to allow the general context to supply this. As the vision is the "burden of Nineveh," that city is no doubt referred to. Newcome, following the Greek versions, excepting that of Symmachus, translates thus, — "He will make a full end of those who rise up against him." But it is better to follow the Hebrew text; for the many evident instances of mistake which are to be found in those versions forbid us to put any great confidence in them. The following may be viewed as a literal version: — And with inundation overflowing A full end he will make her place; And darkness shall his enemies pursue. How completely has this prophecy been fulfilled! Lucian, a Greek heathen author of the second century, has these remarkable words, — {Νινος} {μεν} {απολωλεν} {ηδη}, {και} {ουδεν} {ιχνος} {ετι} {λοιπον} {αυτης}, {ουδ} {αν}
{ειπης} {οπου} {ποτ} {ην} --- ``Nineveh has already been destroyed, and there is no vestige of it remaining, nor can you say
where formerly it was.'' Bochart enumerates different conjectures which various authors have made as to its situation, most of
them differing from one another. --- Ed.
MINOR PROPHETS
9. What do ye imagine against the Lord? he will make an utter end: afÒiction
shall not rise up the second time.
9. Quid cogitatis contra Jehovam? Consumptionem ipse facit; non consurget
iterum afÒictio.
Some interpreters so consider this verse also, as though the Prophet had said,
that the calamity of the chosen people would not be a destruction, as God would
observe some moderation and keep within certain limits. The unbelieving, we know,
immediately exult, whenever the children of God are oppressed by adverse things,
as though it were all over with the Church. Hence the Prophet here, according to
these interpreters, meets and checks this sort of petulance, What imagine ye against
God? He will indeed afÒict his Church, but he will not repeat her troubles, for he
will be satisfied with one afÒiction. They also think that the kingdom of Judah is
here compared with the kingdom of Israel: for the kingdom of Israel had been twice
afÒicted: for, first, four tribes had been led away, and then the whole kingdom had
been overturned. As then one calamity had been inflicted by Shalmanezar, and
another by Tiglathpilezar, they suppose that there is here an implied comparison, as
though the Prophet said, ``God will spare the kingdom of Judah, and will not repeat
his vengeance, as it happened to the kingdom of Israel.'' But this meaning is forced
and too far-fetched. The Prophet then, I doubt not, continues here his discourse, and
denounces perpetual ruin on the enemies of the Church. He says first, What imagine
ye against Jehovah? He exults over the Assyrians, because they thought that they
had to do only with mortals, and also with a mean people, and now worn out by
many misfortunes. For we know that the kingdom of Judah had been weakened by
many wars before the Assyrians made an irruption into the land: they had suffered
two severe and grievous attacks from their neighbors, the king of Israel and the king
of Syria; for then it was that they made the Assyrians their confederates. When
therefore the Assyrians came against Judea, they thought that they would have no
trouble in obtaining victory, as they engaged in war with an insignificant people, and
as we have said, worn out by evils. But the Prophet shows here that the war was
with the living God, and not with men, as they falsely thought. What then imagine
ye against Jehovah? as though he said, ``Know ye not that this people are under
the care and protection of God? Ye cannot then attack the kingdom of Judah without
having God as your opponent. As it is certain that this people are defended by a
divine power, there is no reason for you to think that you will be victorious.'' At the
same time, I know not why the Prophet's words should be confined to the tribe of
Judah, since the purpose was to comfort the Israelites as well as the Jews.
Now this is a very useful doctrine; for the Prophet teaches us in general, that the
ungodly, whenever they harass the Church, not only do wrong to men, but also fight
with God himself; for he so connects us with himself, that all who hurt us touch the
apple of his eye, as he declares in another place, (Zechariah 2:8.) We may then
gather invaluable comfort from these words; for we can fully and boldly set up this
shield against our enemies, --- that they devise their counsels, and make efforts
against God, and assail him; for he takes us under his protection for this end, that
whenever we are injured, he may stand in the middle as our defender. This is one
JOHN CALVIN
thing.
Now in the second clause he adds, that he will make a complete end, Rise up again
shall not distress; that is, God is able to reduce you to nothing, so that there will be
no need to assail you the second time. This passage, we know, has been turned to
this meaning, --- that God does not punish men twice nor exceed moderation in his
wrath: but this is wholly foreign to the mind of the Prophet. I have also said already
that I do not approve of what others have said, who apply this passage to the Church
and especially to the kingdom of Judah. For I thus simply interpret the words of the
Prophet, --- that God can with one onset, when it seems good to him, so destroy
his enemies, that there will be no need of striving with them the second time: Il n'y
faudra plus retourner, as we say in our language. God then will make a full end;
that is, he will be able in one moment to demolish his enemies and the ruin will be
complete, that is, the wasting will be entire. There will be no distress again or the
second time; for it will be all over with the enemies of God; not that God observes
always the same rule when he punishes his enemies, nor does Nahum here prescribe
any general rule; but he simply means, that God, whenever it pleases him, instantly
destroys his enemies. He afterwards adds ---
Nahum 1:10
10. For while they be folden together as thorns, and while they are drunken as
drunkards, they shall be devoured as stubble fully dry.
10. Qui ad spinas perplexas et tanquam potatione sua ebrios (vel, et ebrios ubi
inebriati fuerint; potest enim duplex sensus; postea) devorabuntur tanquam stipulae
ariditatis planae (vel, quasi stipula ariditatis in plenitudine, vel, arida in plenitudine.)
He goes on with this same subject, --- that Gods when he pleases to exercise his
power, can, with no difÏculty, consume his enemies: for the similitude, which is here
added, means this, --- that nothing is safe from God's vengeance; for by perplexed
thorns he understands things difÏcult to be handled. When thorns are entangled,
we dare not, with the ends of our fingers, to touch their extreme parts; for wherever
we put our hands, thorns meet and prick us. As then pricking from entangled thorns
make us afraid, so none of us dare to come nigh them. Hence the Prophet says, they
who are as entangled thorns; that is ``However thorny ye may be, however full of
poison, full of fury, full of wickedness, full of frauds, full of cruelty, ye may be, still
the Lord can with one fire consume you, and consume you without any difÏculty.''
They were then as entangled thorns.
And then, as drunken by their own drinking. If we read so, the meaning is, --- God
or God's wrath will come upon you as on drunker men; who, though they exult in
their own intemperance, are yet enervated, and are not fit for fighting, for they have
weakened their strength by extreme drinking. There seems indeed to be much vigor
in a drunken man, for he swaggers immoderately and foams out much rage; but yet
he may be cast down by a finger; and even a child can easily overcome a drunken
person. It is therefore an apt similitude, --- that God would manage the Assyrians
as the drunken are wont to be managed; for the more audacity there is in drunken
men, the easier they are brought under; for as they perceive no danger, and are, as
it were, stupefied, so they run headlong with greater impetuosity. ``In like manners''
MINOR PROPHETS
he says, ``extreme satiety will be the cause of your ruin, when I shall attack you. Ye
are indeed very violent; but all this your fury is altogether drunkenness: Come, he
says, to you shall the vengeance of God as to those drunken with their own drinking 293
Some render the last words, ``To the drunken according to their drinking;'' and
this sense also is admissible; but as the Prophet's meaning is still the same, I do not
contend about words. Others indeed give to the Prophet's words a different sense:
but I doubt not but that he derides here that haughtiness by which the Assyrians
were swollen, and compares it to drunkenness; as though he said, ``Ye are indeed
more than enough inflated and hence all tremble at your strength; but this your
excess rather debilitates and weakens your powers. When God then shall undertake
to destroy you as drunken men, your insolence will avail you nothing; but, on the
contrary, it will be the cause of your ruin as ye offer yourselves of your own accord;
and the Lord will easily cast you down, as when one, by pushing a drunken man,
immediately throws him on the ground.''
And these comparisons ought to be carefully observed by us: for when there
seems to be no probability of our enemies being destroyed, God can with one spark
easily consume them. How so? for as fire consumes thorns entangled together,
which no man dares to touch, so God can with one spark destroy all the wicked,
however united together they may be. And the other comparison affords us also no
small consolation; for when our enemies are insolent, and throw out high swelling
words, and seem to frighten and to shake the whole world with their threatening,
their excess is like drunkenness; there is no strength within; they are frantic but not
strong, as is the case with all drunken men.
And he says, They shall be devoured as stubble of full dryness {,}מלאmela,
means not only to be full, but also to be perfect or complete. Others render the
words, ``As stubble full of dryness,'' but the sense is the same. He therefore inti-
mates, that there would be nothing to prevent God from consuming the enemies of
his Church; for he would make dry their whole vigor, so that they would differ nothing
from stubble, and that very dry, which is in such a state, that it will easily take fire.
It follows ---
Nahum 1:11
11. There is one come out of thee, that imagineth evil against the Lord, a wicked
counsellor.
11. Ex te egressus est cogitans (vel, consultans) contra Jehovam malum, consul-
tor Beliiaal (hoc est, impius, vel, perversus; alii vertunt, Nihili.)
The Prophet now shows why God was so exceedingly displeased with the Assyri-
ans, and that was, because he would, as a protector of his Church, defend the dis-
tressed against those who unjustly oppressed them. The Prophet then designed here
to give the Jews a firm hope, so that they might know that God had a care for their
293Newcome, on the sole authority of the Syriac and the Targum, changes "thorns" into "princes," and thus wholly destroys the propriety of the simile of dry stubble at the end of the verse. Henderson says justly, that this change is on no account to be adopted. Though like thorns, entwined, And as with their drinking drunken, They shall be consumed as stubble fully dry. The particle {,{עדbefore ``thorns,'' is to be here taken as in 1 Chronicles 4:27, as designating likeness. --- Ed.
JOHN CALVIN
safety; for if he had only threatened the Assyrians without expressing the reason,
of what avail could this have been to the Jews? It is indeed gratifying and pleasing
when we see our enemies destroyed; but this would be a cold and barren comfort,
except we were persuaded that it is done by God's judgment, because he loves us,
because he would defend us, having embraced us with paternal love; but when we
know this, we then triumph even when in extreme evils. We are indeed certain of our
salvation, when God testifies, and really proves also, that he is not only propitious to
us, but that our salvation is an object of his care. This is the Prophet's design when
he thus addresses Nineveh.
From thee has gone forth a devisor of evil against Jehovah, an impious adviser
The manner of speaking is much more emphatical, when he says, that the Assyrians
consulted against God, than if he had said, that they had consulted against the Jews,
or consulted against the chosen people of God.
But though this was said of the Jews, let us yet remember that it belongs also to
us. The Prophet confirms the doctrine which I lately alluded to, that whenever the
ungodly cause trouble to us, they carry on war with God himself, that whenever they
devise any evil against us, they run headlong against him. For God sets up himself
as a shield, and declares, that he will protect under the shadow of his wings all those
who commit themselves to his protection. If we then lie hid under the guardianship
of God, and flee to him in all our adversities, and while patiently enduring all wrongs,
implore his protection and help, whosoever then will rise up against us will have God
as his enemy. Why so? because he consults against him. And this reason shows, that
whatever the Prophet has hitherto said against the Assyrians ought to be extended
indiscriminately to all the enemies of the Church. For why did God threaten the
Assyrians with a sudden inundation and with perpetual darkness? The reason is
here subjoined, --- because they consulted against him and his Church. The same
thing then will also happen to our enemies, provided we remain quiet, as it has been
said, under the protection of God.
But when he says that he had gone forth from that city who contrived evil against
Jehovah, --- this ought not to be confined to Sennacherib, but must rather be viewed
as common to all the Assyrians; as though he said, ``Thou produces the fruit which
thou shalt eat; for from thee will arise the cause of thy ruin. There is no reason for
thee to expostulate with God, as though he cruelly raged against thee; for from thee
has gone forth he who devised evil against Jehovah: thou reapest now the reward
worthy of thy bringing forth; for where have originated counsels against the Church
of God, except in thine own bosom, and in thine own bowels? The evil then which
has proceeded from thee shall return on thine own head.''
He then adds, An impious consulter, or counselor, {,}בליעל{ }יועףivots beliol. Re-
specting the word {,}בליעלbeliol, the Hebrews themselves are not agreed. There
are those who suppose it to be a compound word, {,}בל{ }יעלIt profits not; and
they think that it is applied to designate things of nought as well as men of nought. 294 There are others who, like Jerome, render it, Without a yoke, but without rea-
294"From {,{בלnot, and ,{}יעלprofit: --- As an abstract noun, unprofitableness, worthlessness, wickedness: --- As an
adjective, worthless, wicked, good for nothing.'' --- Parkhurst. ``It alludes to Baal, the common idol of the natives bordering upon
the Jews, whom the penmen of Scripture changing some letters by way of scorn called Belial: to express a further hatred to this
MINOR PROPHETS
son. Then Beliol, is properly a vain thing, which is wholly unsubstantial; and so it
designates a man in whom there is no integrity. It is also applied to all the wicked,
and to their crimes: hence a thing or work of Belial is said to be any heinous sin or
a detestable crime; and the man who acts perversely and wickedly is called Belial.
And Paul takes Belial simply for the very gravity of Satan, and of all the wicked; for he
opposes Belial to Christ, (2 Corinthians 6:15.) We now then understand the meaning
of the Prophet to be this, --- that God denounces war on the Assyrians, because they
made war unjustly on his people, and consulted not only against the Jews, but also
against God, who had taken them, as it has been stated, under his own keeping and
protection. It follows ---
Nahum 1:12
12. Thus saith the Lord; Though they be quiet, and likewise many, yet thus shall
they be cut down, when he shall pass through. Though I have afÒicted thee, I will
afÒict thee no more.
12. Sic dixit Jehovah, Si tranquilli fuerint, utcunque fuerint multi (vel, potentes;)
sic etiam tollentur et transibit: et si afÒixerim te, non afÒigam te amplius.
The Prophet pursues here the same subject; but expresses more clearly what
might have been doubtful, --- that whatever strength there might be in the Assyrians,
it could not resist the coming of God's vengeance. For thus saith Jehovah, Though
they be quiet and also strong, etc. I cannot now finish this subject, but will only say
this, --- The Prophet intimates that though Nineveh promised to itself a tranquil state,
because it was well fortified, and had a wide and large extent of empire, yet this thy
peace, he says, or this thy confidence and security, shall not be an impediment,
that the hand of God should not be extended to thee. Though, then, they be many
or strong etc.; for we can render {,}רביםrebim, strong as well as many; but either
would suit this place; for we understand the Prophet's meaning to be, that all God's
enemies would be cut off, however secure they might be, while depending on their
own strength and fortresses. The rest to-morrow.
Prayer.
Grant, Almighty God, that inasmuch as thou sees thy enemies at this day rag-
ing with cruel, yea, with diabolic fury against thy Church, we may find thee to be
the same as the faithful in all former ages had found thee, even a defender of the
safety of those who truly, and with a sincere heart, called on thee, and sought thee
in extreme necessity; and do thou, at this day, stretch forth thine hand, and so re-
strain the fury which thou sees is against all thy servants and thy children, that the
wicked may at length really find, even to their ruin, that they fight not with miser-
able mortals, disheartened and without defense, but with thine ineffable power, that
they may be confounded, though not ashamed, and that, however they may glam-
our against thee and thine invincible hand, they may yet become an example and
a manifest evidence, that thou art not only faithful in thy promises, but also armed
with power, by which thou canst execute whatsoever thou hast promised respecting
idol, they applied this name to the devil, 2 Corinthians 6:15; which word is derived either from a root that signifieth not to profit,
or not to mount upward, because he seeks the fall of mankind, and to keep those that are fallen into his snares, 2 Timothy 2:26
Jerome fetcheth it from a root, which, with another word, signifieth without a yoke, or, lawless; therefore the Septuagint commonly
translate it, {παρανομος}.'' --- Leigh.
JOHN CALVIN
the preservation of thy Church, until thou at length gatherest us into that blessed
rest, which has been provided for us by the blood of thy Son. Amen.
Lecture One Hundred and First
We stated yesterday what the Prophet meant by these words, that though the
Assyrians were quiet and many, they would yet be suddenly cut off by the Lord. He
clearly intimates, that the wicked are never so fortified by their own forces or by the
help of others, but that the Lord can, without any difÏculty, destroy them.
As to the words, some connect the particle {,}כןcan with what he had said,
``Though they be quiet,'' and give this version, ``Though they be quiet and in like
manner many, that is, though they be secure, thinking themselves safe from all
danger, and so also trust in their own number, yet they shall be removed.'' But the
repetition of {}כןin Hebrew is common; and the sentence may be thus explained,
Though they be quiet, and how many soever they may be, yet thus shall they be
removed. {,}וכן{ }וכןucan ucan, that is, ``As they are many, so also the many shall
be destroyed.'' With regard to the verb {}גוזguz, (but some, though not correctly,
derive it from {,}גזזgezaz,) I take it in the sense of removing from the middle, of
destroying: it properly means in Hebrew to remove to a distance, though almost all
interpreters render it, ``They are shorn,'' which ought rather to be, ``They shall be
shorn:'' and both the verbs, {,}גוזguz as well as {,}גזזgizaz, mean to clip or shear:
but as the other sense suits the form of the Prophet's discourse better, I hesitate
not thus to render it, ``They shall be taken away,'' or destroyed. What the Prophet
next adds, {,}ועברuober, and he shall pass, is applied by some to the angel, by
whom the army of Sennacherib was destroyed. Others think that a temporary pesti-
lence is meant; as though he had said, that it would only pass through. But the
Prophet seems to refer to a former clause, where he said, that God would suddenly
destroy the Assyrians as it were with a sudden and unexpected deluge. This, then,
is the most suitable meaning, that however much the Assyrians excelled in number
of men and in strength, they would yet be suddenly destroyed; for the Lord would
pass through, that is, the Lord would by one onset reduce them to nothing. 295
Then it follows, Though (and, literally) I have afÒicted thee, yet afÒict thee will I
no more. But this sentence must be thus rendered, `Though thee have I afÒicted,
I will not afÒict thee any more.' The Prophet meets a doubt, which might have laid
hold on the perplexed minds of the faithful; for they saw that God had been hitherto
angry with them. They might then have succumbed under their griefs had it not
been added, that they had indeed been afÒicted for a time, but that God would now
put an end to his severity, for he would no longer afÒict them. It is indeed certain,
that they were often afÒicted afterwards; but this ought to be confined to what the
Assyrians had done; for we know that our Prophet directed his predictions chiefly
295The best and the most literal version of these two lines, with the exception of the last word, is that of Dr. Wheeler, as given by Newcome, — Though they are at peace, and also mighty, Still shall they be cut off and pass away. The last verb is in the singular number, {,{`` ועבדand he shall pass through'' or away, that is, the wicked counselor mentioned in the preceding verse. Newcome's own
version is that of new text, which he has himself formed, from a mere hint derived from the Septuagint. Henderson's version is
the following, --- Though they are complete and so very numerous, Yet in this state they shall be cut off, And he shall pass away.
The word {}שלמיםmeans, no doubt, entire, complete, perfect, as well as to be at peace, secure, quiet; and may be referred, as
the author says, to the complete condition of the Assyrian army: but what seems to be intended is the character of the nation.
--- Ed.
MINOR PROPHETS
against that monarchy: and then the monarchy of Babylon succeeded; but it was
necessary that Nineveh should be first subverted, and that the government should
be transferred to the Chaldeans, that the Israelites as well as the Jews might know,
that that monarchy had been overthrown, because it rebelled against God himself
by distressing his own people.
We now then perceive the intention of the Prophet: after having threatened the
Assyrians, he now turns his discourse to the Israelites, Though I have afÒicted thee,
I will no more afÒict thee; that is, There is no reason for the faithful to despond,
because they have been hitherto severely treated by God; let them on the contrary
remembers that these scourges are temporary, and that God's displeasure with his
elect people and his Church is such that he observes moderation; for this must ever
be fulfilled, ---
`In the moment of mine indignation I smote thee;
but I will show thee perpetual mercies,' (Isaiah 54:8.)
This promise has been once given to the Church; and it is now in force, and will be
in force to the end of the world. Thus we see that the Prophet obviated a doubt, lest
the faithful should think that there was no hope for them, because they had found
God so severe towards them; for he says that God was satisfied with the punishment
which he had inflicted and that he would no longer afÒict his people. It follows ---
Nahum 1:13
13. For now will I break his yoke from off thee, and will burst thy bonds in sunder.
13. Et nunc conteram (vel, confringam) jugum ejus ab te, et vincula tua dis-
rumpam.
He confirms what the former verse contains, --- that God would now cease from
his rigor; for he says, that the deliverance of this chosen people was nigh, when
God would break down and reduce to nothing the tyranny of that empire. This verse
clearly shows, that a clause in the preceding verse ought not to be so restricted as
it is by some interpreters, who regard it as having been said of the slaughter of the
army of Sennacherib. But the Prophet addresses here in common both the Israelites
and the Jews, as it is evident from the context; and this verse also sufÏciently proves,
the Prophet does not speak of the Jews only; for they had not been so subdued by
the Assyrians as the Israelites had been. I indeed allow that they became tributaries;
for when they had broken their covenant, the Assyrian, after having conquered the
kingdom of Israel and the kingdom of Syria, extended his arms at length to Judea. It
is then certain, that they had been in some measure under the yoke; but it was not
so hard a servitude that the words of the Prophet could be applied to it. I therefore
take the expression generally, that God would free from the tyranny of Nineveh his
own people, both the Israelites and the Jews. If any one objects and says, that the
Israelites were never delivered. This indeed is true; but as to Nineveh, they were
delivered when the empire was transferred to the Chaldeans, and Babylon became
the seat of the empire.
We now then see, that the meaning of our Prophet is simply this, --- that though
God by the Assyrians chastised his people, he yet did not forget his covenant, for
the Assyrians were punished. It was then sufÏcient for his purpose to say that the
JOHN CALVIN
Jews as well as the Israelites were no longer under the yoke of Nineveh, how much
soever they might have afterwards suffered under other tyrants. And what is said
about the yoke being broken, belongs also in some measure to the Jews; for when
we extend this to both, the Israelites and also the Jews, it would not be unsuitable
to say, that they were both under the yoke and bound with chains. For though the
servitude of Israel was hard, yet the Jews had also been deprived of their liberty. It is
then right that this which is said should be taken generally, I will now break his yoke
from thee, and thy bonds will I burst
Now this verse teaches us, that the people were not so subdued by the tyranny
of their enemies, but that their deliverance was always in the hand and power of
God. For how came it, that the Assyrians prevailed against the Israelites, and then
subjugated the Jews, except that they were as a rod in the hand of God? So Isaiah
teaches us in the tenth chapter. Though they armed themselves, they were yet but
as the weapons and arms of God, for they could not have made any movement,
except the Lord had turned their course, wherever he pleased, as when one throws
a javelin or a dart with his hand. It follows ---
Nahum 1:14
14. And the LORD hath given a commandment concerning thee, that no more of
thy name be sown: out of the house of thy gods will I cut off the graven image and
the molten image: I will make thy grave; for thou art vile.
14. Et mandavit super te Jehova, Ne seminetur ex nomine tuo posthac; e domo
(vel, e templo) deorum tuorum excidam sculptile et conflatile; ponam sepulchrum
tuum, quia execrabilis es (aut, vilis factus es.)
Nahum explains more clearly, and without a figure, what he had previously said
of darkness, --- that the kingdom of Nineveh would be so overturned, that it could
never recruit its strength and return again to its pristine state. He indeed addresses
the king himself, but under his person he includes no doubt the whole kingdom.
Commanded then has Jehovah, he says, respecting thee, let there not be sown
of thy name; that is, God has so decreed, that the memory of thy name shall not
survive: for to sow from the name of one, is to extend his fame. When, therefore,
God entirely exterminates a race from the world, or when he obliterates a nation,
he is said to command that there should not be sown of such a name; that is, that
there should be no propagation of that name. In short, our Prophet denounces on
the Assyrians a ruin, from which they were never to rise again. And when such a
command is ascribed to God, it means, that by the sole bidding of God both nations
and kingdoms are propagated, and are also abolished and destroyed: for what is
said of individuals ought to be extended to all nations, `Seed, or the fruit of the
womb,' as it is said in the Psalms, `is the peculiar gift of God,' (Psalm 127.) For how
comes it, that many are without children, while others have a large and a numerous
family, except that God blesses some, and makes others barren? The same is to
be thought of nations; the Lord propagates them and preserves their memory; but
when it seems good to him, he reduces them to nothing, so that no seed remains.
And when the Prophet testifies, that this is the command of Jehovah, he confirms
the faith of the Israelites and of the Jews, that they might not doubt, but that the
MINOR PROPHETS
Assyrians would perish without any hope of restoration; for it was so decreed by
Heaven.
He afterwards adds, From the house, or from the temple, of thy gods will I cut
off graven images. It is probable, and it is the commonly received opinion, that the
Prophet alludes here to Sennacherib, who was slain in the temple of his idol by his
own sons, shortly after his return from Judea, when the siege of the holy city was
miraculously raised through the instrumentality of an angel. As then he was slain in
the temple, and it was by his murder profaned, I am inclined to receive what almost
all others maintain, that there is here a reference to his person: but, at the same
time, the Prophet no doubt describes, under the person of one king, the destruction
and ruin of the whole kingdom. Gods indeed, did at that time make known what
he had determined respecting the empire of Nineveh and all the Assyrians; for from
this event followed also the change, that Nebuchodonosor transferred the empire
to Babylon, and that the whole race, and every one who assumed power, became
detestable. When, therefore, the Assyrians were torn by intestine discords, it was an
easy matter for the Chaldeans to conquer them. Hence the Prophet does not here
predict respecting one king only; but as his murder was, as it were, a prelude of the
common ruin, the Prophet relates this history as being worthy of being remembered,
--- that the temple would be profaned by the murder of Sennacherib, and that then
the monarchy would be soon transferred to the Chaldeans.
When he says, I will appoint thy sepulcher, he connects this clause with the for-
mer; for how was it that idols were cut off from that temple, except that that tragic
deed rendered the place detestable? For there is no one who feels not a horror at
such a base crime as that of children killing their father with their own hands. We
know when a proud woman at Rome ordered her chariot to be drawn over the dead
body of her father, the road was counted polluted. So also the temple was no doubt
viewed as polluted by the murder of the king. Then these two clauses ought to be
read together, that God would cut off idols and graven images from the temple, ---
and then, that the sepulcher of Sennacherib would be there.
He adds, For thou art execrable 296 I have rendered {,}קלותkolut, a thing to
be abominated. It may indeed be referred to that history; but I take it by itself as
meaning, that Sennacherib was to be abominable, and not he alone, but also the
whole royal family, and the monarchy of Nineveh. For it is not consistent, as we
have said already, to say, that all these things refer to the person of Sennacherib;
for the Prophet speaks of the destruction of the city and nation, and that generally;
at the same time, this does not prevent him from referring, as it were, in passing, to
the person of Sennacherib.
It must, at the same time, be noticed, that the vain confidence, which the Assyrian
kings placed in their idols and graven images, is here indirectly reproved; for we know
that idolaters not only confide in their own strength, but that a part of their hope is
also founded on their superstitions. Hence the Prophet says, that their temple was
to be profaned by God, so that no aid would remain to the Assyrians, to the kings
296For thou art become vile. — Newcome. Because thou art worthless. — Henderson. Execrable, or accursed, which the word sometimes means, seems more suitable to the context. — Ed.
JOHN CALVIN
themselves any more than to the whole people. Let us proceed ---
Nahum 1:15
15. 297 Behold upon the mountains the feet of him that bringeth good tidings,
that publisheth peace! O Judah, keep thy solemn feasts, perform thy vows: for the
wicked shall no more pass through thee; he is utterly cut off.
15. Ecce super montes pedes annunciantis, promulgantis pacem: celebra Jehu-
dah solennitates tuas, redde vota tua; quia non adjiciet posthac ad transeundum in
te, impius (Beliiaal) in totum excisus est.
The Prophet again teaches us, that whatever he prophesied respecting the de-
struction of the city Nineveh, was for this end, --- that God, by this remarkable evi-
dence, might show that he had a care for his people, and that he was not unmindful of
the covenant he had made with the children of Abraham. This prophecy would have
otherwise produced no salutary effect on the Israelites; they might have thought
that it was by chance, or by some fatal revolution, or through some other cause,
that Nineveh had been overthrown. Hence the Prophet shows, that the ruin of the
city, and of the monarchy of Nineveh, would be a proof of the paternal love of God
towards his chosen people, and that such a change was to be made for the sake
of one people, because God, though he had for a time punished the Israelites, yet
purposed that some seed should remain, for it would have been inconsistent, that
the covenant, which was to be inviolate, should be entirely abolished. We now then
understand the Prophet's object, and how this verse is to be connected with the rest
of the context.
Behold, he says, on the mountains the feet of him who announces peace 298 Some
think that the Prophet alludes to the situation of Jerusalem. We indeed know that
mountains were around it: but the Prophet speaks more generally, --- that heralds
of peace shall ascend to the tops of mountains, that their voice might be more ex-
tensively heard: Behold, he says, on the mountains the feet of him who announces
peace; for all the roads had been before closed up, and hardly any one dared to whis-
per. If any one inquired either respecting peace or war, there was immediate danger
lest he should fall under suspicion. As then the Assyrians, by their tyrannical rule,
had deprived the Israelites of the freedom of speech, the Prophet says now, that the
feet of those who should announce peace would be on the mountains; that is, that
there would be now free liberty to proclaim peace on the highest places. By feet, he
means, as we have explained, coming; and Isaiah speaks a similar language,
`How beautiful are the feet of those who announce peace,
who announce good things!' (Isaiah 52:7.)
Arise, then, he says, shall heralds of peace everywhere: and the repetition in other
words seems to express this still more clearly; for he says, of him who announces and
297This forms the first verse of the second chapter in Hebrew. Most versions have followed the division of the Septuagint. — Ed.
298Calvin gives to {{מבשרonly the sense of announcing or declaring. To spread or to bring news or tidings is its meaning;
for it is used to designate bad as well as good tidings. See 1 Samuel 4:17; 2 Samuel 1:20; and 2 Samuel 4:10; Isaiah 3:7. It is
commonly rendered {ευαγγελιζεσθαι} by the Septuagint. It may be regarded here as a participle in the same predicament with
the participle which follows. The same mode of construction we find in Isaiah 52:7; where it evidently appears that the word
means strictly to bring or to declare tidings, for good is added to it. That passage is as follows: --- How beautiful on the mountains
Are the feet of him who announceth, Who proclaimeth peace, --- Of him who announceth good, {}רשבמ{( )}בוטWho proclaimeth
salvation! Saying to Zion, Reign doth thy God. --- Ed.
MINOR PROPHETS
causes to hear He might have simply said {,}מבשרmebesher, but he adds {,}משמיע
meshemio; not only, he says, he will announce peace, but also with a clear and
loud voice, so that his preaching may be heard from the remotest places. We now
perceive what the Prophet had in view, and what his words import.
Now he adds, Celebrate, Judah, thy festal days. It is indeed a repetition of the
same word, as if we were to say in Latin, Festiva festivitates, feast festivities; but
this has nothing to do with the meaning of the passage. I am disposed to subscribe
to the opinion of those who think, that there is here an intimation of the interruption
of festal days; for so disordered were all things at Jerusalem and in the country
around, that sacrifices had ceased, and festal days were also intermitted; for sacred
history tells us, that the Passover was celebrated anew under Hezekiah, and also
under Josiah. This omission no doubt happened, owing to the wars by which the
country had been laid waste. Hence the Prophet now intimates, that there would be
quietness and peace for the chosen people, so that they might all without any fear
ascend to Jerusalem, and celebrate their festal days, and give thanks to the Lord,
and rejoice before him, according to the language often used by Moses. At the same
time, the Prophet no doubt reminds the Jews for what end the Lord would break off
the enemy's yoke, and exempt them from servile fear, and that was, that they might
sacrifice to God and worship him, while enjoying their quiet condition. And that he
addresses Judah is not done without reason; for though the kingdom of Israel was
not as yet so rejected, that God did not regard them as his people, yet there were
no legitimate sacrifices among them, and no festal days which God approved: we
indeed know that the worship which prevailed there was corrupt and degenerated.
Inasmuch then as God repudiated the sacrifices which were offered in Israel, Nahum
addresses here his discourse to Judah only; but yet he intimates, that God had been
thus bountiful to the Israelites, that they, remembering their deliverance, might give
him thanks.
Let us then know, that when the Lord grants us tranquillity and preserves us in a
quiet state, this end ought ever to be kept in view, --- that it is his will, that we should
truly serve him. But if we abuse the public peace given us, and if pleasures occasion
a forgetfulness of God, this ingratitude will by no means be endured. We ought,
indeed, in extreme necessities to sacrifice to God, as we have need then especially
of fleeing to his mercy; but as we cannot so composedly worship him in a disturbed
state of mind, he is pleased to allow us peaceable times. Now, if we misapply this
leisure, and indulge in sloth, yea, if we become so heedless as to neglect God, this
as I have said will be an intolerable evil. Let us then take notice of the Prophet's
words in setting forth the design of God, --- that he would free his people from the
power of the Assyrians, that they might celebrate their festal days.
He adds, Pay thy vows He not only speaks here of the ordinary sacrifices and of the
worship which had been prescribed; but he also requires a special proof of gratitude
for having been then delivered by the hand of God; for we know what paying of
vows meant among the Hebrews: they were wont to offer peace-offerings, when
they returned victorious from war, or when they were delivered from any danger,
or when they were relieved from some calamity. The Prophet therefore now shows,
JOHN CALVIN
that it was right to pay vows to God, inasmuch as he had dealt so bountifully with his
people; as it is said in Psalm 116, `What shall I return to the Lord for all his benefits
which he has bestowed on me? The cup of salvation will I take, and on the name of
the Lord will I call.' We also find it thus written in Hosea,
`The calves of thy lips to me shalt thou render,'
(Hosea 14:2.)
We now perceive what Nahum substantially meant, --- that when peace was re-
stored, the people were not to bury so great and so remarkable a kindness of God,
but to pay their vows; that is, that the people were to testify that God was the au-
thor of their deliverance, and that the redemption which they had obtained was the
peculiar work of God.
It follows, ``Add no more to pass through thee shall Belial, for utterly is he cut
off.'' This passage must not be explained in a general sense; for we know that
the Chaldeans became more grievous to the Jews than the Assyrians had been; but
the Prophet here refers especially to the Ninevites, that is, to the Assyrians, whose
metropolis, as it has been said, was Nineveh. That wicked one then shall not add
any more to pass through thee. --- Why? for he is entirely cut off. This reason given
by the Prophet clearly proves, that he speaks not of the wicked generally, but that
he especially points out the Assyrians. Now follows ---
Chapter 2
Nahum 2
Nahum 2:1-2
1. He that dasheth in pieces is come up before thy face: keep the munition, watch
the way, make thy loins strong, fortify thy power mightily
1. Ascendit destructor coram facie tua; custodi munitionem, respice viam, robora
lumbos, fortifica vires valde:
2. For the LORD hath turned away the excellency of Jacob, as the excellency of
Israel: for the emptiers have emptied them out, and marred their vine branches.
2. Quia abstulit (alii vertunt, recedere fecit; alii, quiescere fecit) Jehova forti-
tudinem (alii, superbiam) Jacob, sicuti fortitudinem (vel, superbiam, est idem nomen)
Israel; quia evacuarunt avacuantes, et palmites eorum succiderunt.
The waster spoken of here by the Prophet, some consider him to have been Sen-
nacherib, and others, Nebuchodonosor. The verb {,}עלהole, is also variously ex-
plained: it is often taken metaphorically in Hebrew for vanishing, as we say in French,
Il s'en va en fumee; for smoke ascends, and this is the reason for the metaphor.
They then elicit this meaning, --- that a destroyer had ascended before the face of
the chosen people, that is, openly; so that it was evidently the work of God, that the
Assyrians vanished, who had come to lay waste the whole land: Vanished then has
the destroyer; and then before thy face, that is, manifestly, and before thine eyes.
{,}מצורה{ }נצורnutsur metsure, guard the fortress; that is let every one return to his
own city, and keep watch, as it is usually done; for the country shall be left without
men; and watch the way, that is, look out which way Sennacherib took in coming to
assail the holy city; that way shall be now free from enemies; and then, keep firm
or strengthen the loins, for {,}חזקchesek, sometimes means to keep firm, --- keep
firm then or strengthen the loins, that thou mayest not relax as before, but stand
courageously, for there is no one who can terrify thee; and, lastly, fortify strength
greatly, that is, doubt not but thou shalt be hereafter strong enough to retain thy
position; for cut off shall be that monarchy, which has been an oppression to thee.
JOHN CALVIN
But others take a different view and say, --- that the destroyer had ascended, that
is, that Sennacherib had come; and what follows, they think, was intended to strike
terror, as though the Prophet said ``Now while ye are besieged keep watch, and be
careful to preserve your fortresses and strengthen all your strongholds; but all this
will avail nothing. --- Why? Because God has taken away the pride of Jacob as he
has the pride of Israel.'' This is the second explanation. Others again think, that
the Prophet addresses here the Assyrians, and that Nebuchodonosor is here called a
waster, by whom the empire was removed, and Nineveh, as it has often been stated,
was destroyed. According to these interpreters, the Prophet here denounces ruin on
the Assyrians in this manner, --- ``The destroyer now ascends before thy face.'' The
Assyrians might indeed have regarded such threatening with disdain, when they
were surrounded by many provinces and had cities well fortified: --- ``It will not be,''
he says, ``according to your expectation; the waster will yet come'' before thy face;
and how much soever thou mayest now guard thy fortresses, watch thy ways, and
carefully look around to close up every avenue against thy enemies, thou wilt yet ef-
fect nothing; strengthen the loins as much as thou pleasest and increase thy power,
yet this shall be useless and vain.'' If this view be approved, it will be in confirmation
of what has been previously said, --- that God had now determined to destroy the
city Nineveh and the empire possessed by the Assyrians. This meaning then is not
unsuitable; but if we receive this view, something additional must also be stated, and
that is, --- that God now designed to destroy Nineveh and its monarchy, because it
had humbled more than necessary his people, the kingdom of Judah, as well as the
ten tribes. I cannot proceed farther now.
Prayer.
Grant Almighty God, that since we are daily chastised by thy scourges, we may
know that we are justly punished by thee, and so examine our whole life, that with
true and sincere confession we may humbly flee to thy mercy, which is offered to us
by thy gospel in Christ our Lord; and since thou dost also show us so many favors,
may we not be ungrateful, and may no forgetfulness of thy grace creep over us,
but may we especially exercise ourselves through our whole life in the worship of
thy name and in giving thanks to thee, and so offer to thee, with our tongues, the
sacrifices of praise, that our whole life may be consistent, and thus glorify thy name
on earth, that at length we may be gathered into thy celestial kingdom through the
same Christ Jesus our Lord. Amen.
Lecture One Hundred and Second
We said yesterday that some interpreters regard these words of the Prophet, As-
cended has the destroyer before it face, guard the fortress, as having a reference to
Sennacherib; that is, that God had taken him away and made him like mist to dis-
appear. We also said, that some elicit this meaning, --- that Sennacherib ascended
into Judea and filled the whole country with terror, and that he had at length laid it
wholly waste. But I am disposed to take their view, who think that this is said of Neb-
uchodonosor, the waster of Nineveh: as he had been raised up by God to overturn
the tyranny of that city, the Prophet ridicules all the efforts and preparations made
by the Ninevites (as it is usual when a country is invaded) to oppose him. He there-
MINOR PROPHETS
fore says, guard the fortress, watch the way, confirm the loins, and strengthen thy
courage greatly But these are ironical expressions; as though he said, Whatever the
Ninevites may contrive to defend themselves against the assault of their enemies
will be all in vain. 299
What is now subjoined has been added, in my view, in reference to what had
already taken place, that is that God had taken away the pride of Jacob, as the
pride of Israel Some give this rendering, ``God has made to returns or to rest;'' and
they take {,}גאוןgaun, in a good sense, as meaning courage or glory. The sense,
according to these, would be, --- that God, having routed the army of Sennacherib,
or destroyed the Assyrians, would make the ancient glory of his people to return; for
both kingdoms had fallen. They then understand this to have been said respecting
the restoration of the whole people; and they who translate, ``he will make to rest,''
think that continual peace is here promised to the Israelites, as well as to the Jews.
But, on the contrary, it appears to me, that the Prophet shows, that it was the ripened
time for the destruction of the city Nineveh, for God had now humbled his people.
He had then taken away the pride of Jacob, as the pride of Israel; that is, God, having
first corrected the pride of Israel, had also applied the same remedy to Judah: thus
the whole people were humbled, and had left off their extreme height; for {,}גאון
gaun, for the most part, is taken in a bad sense, for haughtiness or pride. This then
is the reason why God now declares, that the ruin of Nineveh was nigh at hand; it
was so, because the Jews and the Israelites had been sufÏciently brought down. This
sense is the most suitable.
And then for the same purpose is the next clause, --- that the emptiers had emp-
tied, that is that robbers had pillaged them, and left nothing to remain for them.
There is a passage in Isaiah which corresponds with this, where it is said, --- that
when the Lord had completed his work on mount Zion and in Jerusalem, he would
then turn his vengeance against the Assyrians, (Isaiah 10:12:) but why were they
not sooner destroyed? Because the Lord designed to employ them for the purpose
of chastising the Jews. Until then the whole work of God was completed, that is, until
he had so corrected their pride, as wholly to cast it down, it was not his purpose to
destroy the Ninevites; but they were at length visited with destruction. The same
thing does our Prophet now teach us here, --- that Nebuchodonosor would come to
demolish Nineveh, when the Lord had taken away the haughtiness of his people. 300
299That the Babylonian power is meant by "the destroyer," or disperser, or scatterer, is the opinion if Jerome, Drusius, Grotius, Marckius, and Newcome. But Kimchi, Dathius, Henderson, and some others, regard the "destroyer" as the king of Assyria. What agrees best with the context is the former opinion. Having in the preceding verse announced the release of the people of Israel from the rule of Assyria, the Prophet now introduces its destroyer, and then proceeds with the main object of his prophecy, and describes the fall of Nineveh. Marckius considers the whole verse as addressed to the Babylonian power under the person of the king, while Calvin regards it, with the exception of the first line or clause, as addressed ironically to Nineveh. The verbs are either participles or preterites indicative; but they are construed by the former as gerunds; most of them imperatives. {{נצורis rendered as a passive participle by the Septuagint, and
so it appears to be, and the three which follow, as imperatives. But in two copies it is without the ;{}וthen all the verbs in the
verse appear to be in the same form, and may be considered to be either preterites indicative or participles; and participles are
often used in Hebrew to express the present tense: and the Prophet may be considered as seeing the Babylonian ascending and
laying siege to Nineveh, for {}מצורהmeans a siege as well as a fortress: then the rendering would be as follows, --- Ascend does
the waster before thee; He watches the siege, guards the way, Makes firm the loins, exerts strength mightily. But if ``fortress''
be preferred to ``siege,'' it may be adopted consistently with the context. --- Ed.
300Drusius confessed that he did not understand this verse. The view given of it by Calvin
JOHN CALVIN
What follows, {Ανδ} {τηεψ} {ηαςε} {δεστροψεδ} {τηειρ} {σηοοτσ}, or their
branches, I take metaphorically, because the Israelites, as to outward appearances
had been pulled up by the roots; for before the eyes of their enemies they were
reduced to nothing, and their very roots were torn ups so that they perceived nothing
left. The Lord indeed always preserved a hidden remnant; but this was done beyond
the perceptions of men. But what the Prophet says metaphorically of the ruined
branches, is to be understood of what was apparent.
Nahum 2:3
3. The shield of his mighty men is made red, the valiant men are in scarlet: the
chariots shall be with flaming torches in the day of his preparation, and the fir trees
shall be terribly shaken.
3. Clypeus fortium ejus rubefactus est, viri potentiae ejus vermiculati (hoc est,
rubro etiam colore;) in igne lampadum (vel, taedarum) currus in die expeditionis
ejus, et abietes tremefactae sunt.
The Prophet describes here how dreadful the Chaldeans would be when prepared
against the Assyrians. He says, The shield of his brave men 301 is made red Some
think that their shields were painted red, that blood might not appear; and that the
soldiers had on red garments, that they might not be frightened in case they were
wounded; and this is what history records of the Lacedemonians. But as the habits
of these nations are not much known to us, it is enough for us to know, that their
warlike appearance is here described; as though he had said, that the Chaldeans
would come against Nineveh with violent and terrible power. Hence he says, that
the men of his strength 302 would be clad in scarlet; he refers no doubt to the color
of their dress. Some expound this of the Assyrians, and say that their shame is here
designated; but this is too strained. The Prophet, I have no doubt, describes here the
Chaldeans, and shows that they would be so armed that even their very appearance
would put to flight their enemies, that is, the Assyrians.
For the same purpose he afterwards adds, With fire of torches, 303 or lamps, is
the chariot in the day of his expedition. The word {,}פלדותpeladut, occurs nowhere
else; and the Jews think that the letters are inverted, and that it should be {,}לפידות
as this word is afterwards used by the Prophet in the next verse, and in the same
seems plain, and Marckius has taken the same view of it: but Newcome, as well as Henderson, differ widely, and give a rendering which seems not to comport with the context. It is like that of Drusius, which no doubt made him to say that he did not understand the passage. For Jehovah restoreth the excellency of Jacob As the excellency of Israel. In this connection, this can have no meaning. The version of Henderson is the same, only he puts the verb in the future tense. The verb {{שבhas the meaning of turning away, as well as of restoring, and Marckius renders it avertit, he turned
away. Then ,{}גאוןrising, swelling, elatio, is more commonly taken in a bad than in a good sense, as meaning pride, haughtiness.
The latter part of the verse sets before us distinctly the means which had been adopted to take away this pride. The passage is
evidently parenthetic. --- Ed.
301{,{גבוריהוof his heroes, --- ``heroum.'' --- Dathius. 302{,{}חיל-{אנשיmen of war, --- ``warriors,'' Henderson; ``the valiant men.'' --- Newcome. 303The most satisfactory explanation of this word is what is offered by Parkhurst, and adopted by Henderson. He says that {,{פלדin Arabic, is to cut, or cut in pieces, and that {}פלדותmay have been the scythes or
cutting instruments with which the chariots were armed. Then in eight or nine MSS. The ,{}בbeth, before ,{}אשis ,{}כcaph. If
this reading be adopted, and the poetical singular number be retained as to the word chariot, the clause may be thus translated:
--- Like fire are the scythes of the chariot, In the day of his preparation. To which shall be added the line which follows, --- And the
fir-trees (spears) tremulously shake. Fir-trees are rendered ``cypresses'' by Henderson; and Newcome, following the Septuagint,
changes to the word into what signifies ``horsemen.'' The figure is bold, but it is no unusual thing in poetry to call an instrument
by the name of the material of which it is made. --- Ed.
MINOR PROPHETS
sense. It is certainly evident from the context that either torches or lamps are meant
by the Prophet. His chariot then is with the fire of lamps, that is, his chariots drive so
impetuously that they appear as flames of fire, when wheels roll with such velocity.
And the fir-trees, he says, are terrible shaken Some translate, ``are inebriated'' or,
``stunned;'' and they apply this to the Assyrians, --- that their great men (whom they
think are here compared to fir-trees, or are metaphorically designated by them) were
stunned through amazement. Astonished then shall be the principal men among the
Assyrians; for the very sight of their enemies would render them, as it were, lifeless;
for the verb {,}רעלrol, is taken by some in the sense of infecting with poison, or of
stupefying. But their opinion is more correct who think that fir-trees are to be taken
for lances, though they do not sufÏciently express the meaning of the Prophet; for
he means, I have no doubt, that such would be the concussion among the lances,
that it would be like that of fir-trees, tossed here and there in the forest. For lances,
we know, are made of fir-trees, because it is a light wood and flexible, as when any
one says in our language, les lances branslent. The lances then trembled, or shook
in the hands of the soldiers, as fir-trees shake. Thus we see that the Prophet here
continues to describe the terrible appearance of the Chaldeans. Let us go on ---
Nahum 2:4
4. The chariots shall rage in the streets, they shall justle one against another in
the broad ways: they shall seem like torches, they shall run like the lightnings.
4. In compitis insanient per currus (est hic nomen singulare, currus, ideo quidam
subaudiunt viros currus, sed possumus aliter intelligere, quod insaninient in suis
curribus; diende) properabunt in plateis (alii vertunt, congregabuntur; potest deduci
tam a {,}שקקquam in {,}שוקsed hic significat properare;) aspectus eorum quasi
lampades (hoc est, lampadum,) quasi fulgura discurrent.
He still goes on with the same subject, --- that they shall be furious in the streets
that is, that they shall he so turbulent, as though they were out of their minds: as
furious men are wont to be who are impetuously carried away beyond all reason and
moderation, so shall they also become mad in their tumult. He then says, They shall
hasten. The verb is derived from the hips; for he who hastens shakes the hips, and
moves them with a quick motion; and if it be lawful to coin a word, it is, they shall
hip; Ils remueront les hanches. This is what the Prophet meant. And then, Their
appearance 304 shall be as lamps. He refers here to the chariots. They shall then be
like lamps; that is they shall dazzle the eyes of beholders with their brightness. All
these things are intended to set forth what is terrific. He says also, as lightning they
shall run here and there.
In short, he intimates, that the impetuosity of the Chaldeans would be so violent
as to surpass what is commonly witnessed among men, that it would be, as it were, a
species of fury and madness sent down from above. Thus, then, they were to be like
lightning and flames of fire, that they might exceed every thing human. But these
forms of speech, though they are hyperbolical, were not yet used without reason;
for we may easily conjecture how great was then the security of the city Nineveh,
and how incredible was the event of its ruin. That monarchy was then preeminent
304{,{מראיהןthree MSS. Have the masculine sufÏx ---{}הםEd.
JOHN CALVIN
over every other in the whole world, and no one could have thought that it could
ever be assailed. Since then it was difÏcult to persuade the Jews that ruin was nigh
the Assyrians, it was necessary for the Prophet to accumulate these various forms
of expressions, by which he sets forth the power of God in the destruction of the
Assyrians. It afterwards follows ---
Nahum 2:5
5. He shall recount his worthies: they shall stumble in their walk; they shall make
haste to the wall thereof, and the defence shall be prepared.
5. Recordabitur fortium suorum, impingent in itinere suo (vel, itineribus suis, si
legamus plurali numero;) festinabunt ad murum ejus, parabitur integumentum.
Some interpreters explain this also of the Chaldeans: The king of Babylon then
shall remember his mighty men; that is, shall recount his forces and whatever
strength he will have under his power; all this he will collect to make war with
Nineveh and the Assyrians. Others think that there is here a transposition in the
words, (which is too strained,) ``Mighty men shall remember,'' as though it were a
change of number. But I take the words of the Prophet simply as they are, --- that
he will remember mighty men: but this, as I think, refers to the Assyrians. He then,
that is, either the king of Nineveh, or the people, will remember the mighty men;
that is, he will gather from every quarter his forces and will omit nothing which
may avail for defense; as it is usually done in great danger and in extremities: for
they were noted then as warlike men; and every one who had any skill, every one
who was endued with courage, every one who was trained up in arms, all these
were mustered, that they might give help. So then the Prophet says, that such
would be the dread in the land of Assyria, that they would collect together whatever
force they had, to defend themselves against their enemies. The king then shall
remember his mighty men, that is, he will muster all the subsidies within his reach.
Then he says, They shall stumble in their march; that is, the mighty men, when
gathered, shall tremble and stumble like the blind: and this will be occasioned by
fear; so that like men astounded, they will move to and fro, and have no certain foot-
ing. The Prophet then declares here two things, that the Assyrians would be diligent
in gathering forces to repel the assault of their enemies, --- but that yet they would
effect nothing, for trembling would seize the minds of all, so that mighty men would
stumble in their marches. They shall stumble, and then it is said, they shall hasten
to its wall, that is, they shall ascend the wall; and it is added, Prepared shall be the
covering, as it is usual in defending cities. Some apply this to the Chaldeans; pre-
pared shall be the covering, that is, when they shall come to the wall. It was indeed
usual, as it is well known from histories, for those who approached a wall to defend
themselves either with turrets or hurdles. But the Prophet, I doubt not, intimates,
that the Assyrians would come with great trembling to meet their enemies, but with-
out any success. However then they might defend themselves, their enemies would
MINOR PROPHETS
yet prevail. 305 He therefore subjoins ---
Nahum 2:6
6. The gates of the rivers shall be opened, and the palace shall be dissolved.
6. Portae fluviorum apertae sunt, et palatium solutum est.
By the gates of the rivers the Prophet means that part of the city which was most
fortified by the river Tigris; for the Tigris flowed close by the city. As then the Tigris
was like the strongest defense, (for we know it to have been a most rapid river,) the
Prophet ridicules the confidence of the Ninevites, who thought that the access of
enemies could be wholly prevented in that part where the Tigris flowed. The gates
then of the rivers are opened; that is, your river shall not prevent your enemies from
breaking through and penetrating into your city.
We hence see, that the Prophet removes all the hindrances which might have
seemed available to keep off enemies; and he did so, not so much for the sake of
Nineveh as for the sake of his chosen people, that the Israelites and Jews might know,
that that city was no less in the power of God than any other; for God can no less
easily pass through rivers than go along the plain, where there is no obstacle. We
now see why the Prophet says, that the gates of the rivers were opened: and then
he adds, The palace is dissolved; that is, there will be no impediment to prevent the
approach of enemies; for all the fortresses will melt away, and that of themselves,
as though they were walls of paper, and the stones, as though they were water. He
afterwards adds ---
Nahum 2:7
7. And Huzzab shall be led away captive, she shall be brought up, and her maids
shall lead her as with the voice of doves, tabering upon their breasts.
7. Et quae stabat solida (vel, firma) ejecta est in exilium (vel, quae stabat oc-
culta, patefacta est, jussa est ascendere;) et ancillae ejus ducentes tanquam in voce
columbarum, plangentes super pectora sua.
There is some ambiguity in these words, and many interpreters think that {,}הצב
estab, to be the name of the queen. The queen then they say, of the name of {,}הצב
estab, is drawn away into exile; she is bidden to ascend, that she might migrate to
a hostile land. But this view is too strained; nor was there any reason to suppose
the word to be a proper name, except that there was a wish to say something, and
that there was no other conjecture more probable. But I regard their opinion more
correct, who refer this to the state of the kingdom; and there is here, I have no doubt,
a personification, which is evident if we attend to the meaning. If any one prefers
to regard the queen as intended, it would yet be better to take {,}הצבestab, in its
proper and real meaning, --- that the queen, previously hid in her palace, and hardly
able, through being so delicate, to move a step, --- that she was brought forth to
the light; for {,}גלהgele, means to uncover, and also to cast out. If we render it,
was made manifest, the Prophet alludes to hiding-places, and means that the queen
305This verse is applied by Grotius and Newcome to the Babylonian and not to the Assyrian king. The last clause seems to favor this opinion, but the second, the other. To render {{יכשלוas
a Hiphil, ``They cast down,'' without an objective case, cannot be approved; but they may have been said to ``stumble,'' as the
word means, from their great haste, afterwards mentioned. Piscator, Marckius, and Henderson, agree in the view given here. ---
Ed.
JOHN CALVIN
did not go forth to the light, but was like delicate women who keep themselves
within their chambers: but if we render it, Who is drawn forth into exile, it would
be more suitable to one who was previously fixed in her dwelling. The word comes
from {,}יצבitsab, to stand; but it is here in Hophal, {,}הוצבeustab,: it then signifies
one who was before fixed and firmly settled, that is, in her concealment; she is
drawn, he says, into exile. If then any one chooses to refer this to the person of the
queen, the most suitable meaning would be, --- that the queen, who before sat in
the midst of her pleasures, shall be violently drawn into exile, and carried away to
another country. And it is probable that the Prophet speaks of the queen, because it
immediately follows, Her handmaids lead her as with the voice of doves, and smite
on their breasts; that is, her maids, who before flattered her, shall laments and with
sighing and tears, and mourning, shall lead away, as a captive, their own mistress.
Thus the context would harmonize.
But, as I have said, their opinion seems right, who think that under the person of
a woman the state of the kingdom is here described. She then, who before stood, or
remained fixed, shall be drawn into captivity; or she, who before sat at leisure, shall
be discovered; that is, she shall no more lie hid as hitherto in her retirement, but shall
be forced to come abroad. And then, she shall ascend; that is, vanish away, for the
verb is to be here taken metaphorically; she shall then vanish away, or be reduced
to nothing. And as the Prophet sets a woman here before us, what follows agrees
with this idea, --- Her handmaids shall weep and imitate the doves in their moaning;
that is, the whole people shall bewail the fate of the kingdom, when things shall be
so changed, as when handmaids lead forth their own mistress, who had been before
nourished in the greatest delicacies. 306
Now this accumulation of words was by no means in vain; for it was necessary to
confirm, by many words, the faith of the Israelites and of the Jews respecting the near
approach of the destruction of the city Nineveh, which would have been otherwise
incredible; and of this we can easily form a judgment by our own experience. If any
one at this day were to speak of mighty kings, whose splendor amazes the whole
world, --- if any one were to announce the ruin of the kingdom of one of them, it would
appear like a fable. This then is the reason why the Prophet, by so many figures, sets
forth an event which might have been expressed in few words, and confirms it by so
306Various have been the opinions respecting the construction of this verse. The Rabbins have generally considered the first word as the name of the queen of Nineveh: but this opinion has been adopted but by a few. Newcome joins the word with the last verse, and changes it into {,{מצבon no authority but that of conjecture, and renders it ``fortress.'' What Henderson has adopted seems the best:
he also joins it to the last verse, but makes no change in it, only he gives the {}וan adversative meaning, which it often has.
The evident gender, as he rightly says, of {}הצבproves its connection with the former verse, it being masculine, while the verbs
in this verse are feminines. His version of the two verses is the following, --- 7. The floodgates are opened, And the palace is
dissolved, Though firmly established. 8. She is made bare, she is carried up, While her handmaids moan like doves, And smite
upon their hearts. With the exception of the word ,{}הצבthis version is liable to several objections. The verb {}גלהis often used
in Kal intransitively, ``is removed;'' and this meaning enables us better to understand that of the next verb, ``she is made to
ascend,'' that is, into captivity, even into Babylon, the seat of empire, being ever considered as the highest place. {}מנהגותis a
word which in some form or another often occurs in Hebrew, and has never the meaning here given to it. Here it is a participle in
Hophal, and ``carried away'' is its evident meaning, and is rendered {ηγοντο}, led away, by the Septuagint. ``Like,'' or, as ``the
voice of doves,'' are literally the words which follow this verb. However connected, they must be considered as elliptical --- ``as
with the voice, or, with a voice as that of doves.'' They might then be construed with the next line. The whole verse would then
be this, --- She is removed, she is made to ascend; Yea, her handmaids are led away, Who with a voice as that of doves, tabor
on their breasts. They were accompanying the tabering with a voice like that of doves. ``Tabor'' is literally the original, and ``on
their breasts'' is an English idiom, as ``on their hearts'' is a Hebrew idiom. --- Ed.
MINOR PROPHETS
many forms of speech, and even by such as are hyperbolical. He at length subjoins
---
Nahum 2:8
8. But Nineveh is of old like a pool of water: yet they shall flee away. Stand, stand,
shall they cry; but none shall look back.
8. Atqui Nineveh quasi piscina aquarum a diebus (hoc est, a longo tempore) fuit;
ipsi autem fugiunt; state, state; et nemo respicit.
The prophet here anticipates a doubt which might have weakened confidence in
his words; for Nineveh not only flourished in power, but it had also confirmed its
strength during a long course of time; and antiquity not only adds to the strength
of kingdoms, but secures authority to them. As then the imperial power of the city
Nineveh was ancient, it might seem to have been perpetual: ``Why! Nineveh has
ever ruled and possessed the sovereign power in all the east; can it be now shaken,
or can its strength be now suddenly subverted? For where there is no beginning, we
cannot believe that there will be any end.'' And a beginning it had not, according
to the common opinion; for we know how the Egyptians also fabled respecting their
antiquity; they imagined that their kingdom was five thousand years before the world
was made; that is, in numbering their ages they went back nearly five thousand years
before the creation. The Ninevites, no doubt, boasted that they had ever been; and
as they were fixed in this conceit respecting their antiquity, no one thought that they
could ever fail. This is the reason why the Prophet expressly declares, that Nineveh
had been like a pool of waters from ancient days; 307 that is, Nineveh had been, as
it were, separated from the rest of the world; for where there is a pool, it seems well
fortified by its own banks, no one comes into it; when one walks on the land he does
not enter into the waters. Thus, then, had Nineveh been in a quiet state not only for
a short time, but for many ages. This circumstance shall not, however, prevent God
from overturning now its dominion. How much soever, then, Nineveh took pride in
the notion of its ancientness, it was yet God's purpose to destroy it.
He says then, They flee: by fleeing, he means, that, though not beaten by their
enemies, they would yet be overcome by their own fear. He then intimates, that
Nineveh would not only be destroyed by slaughter, but that all the Assyrians would
flee away, and despair would deliver them up to their enemies. Hence the Chaldeans
would not only be victorious through their courage and the sword, but the Assyrians,
distrusting their own forces, would flee away.
It afterwards follows, Stand ye, stand ye, and no one regards. Here the Prophet
places, as it were, before our eyes, the effect of the dread of which he speaks. He
might have given a single narrative, --- that though one called them back they would
not dare to look behind; and that, thinking that safety alone was in flight, they would
pursue their course. The Prophet might have formed this sort of narrative: this he
307The original is in a singular form, {{`` }היא{, מימיfrom the days of it,'' or, of her. Henderson says, that ``it
is an antiquated mode of expressing the feminine pronominal afÏx --- the absolute form of the pronoun being retained instead
of the fragmental ''.{}הThe verse may be thus rendered: --- Though Nineveh has been like a pool of water during her days, Yet
they flee; --- --- ``Stand, stand;'' But none is looking back. Newcome's version of the first line is as follows, --- And the waters of
Nineveh are as a pool of water: And he says, that the pronoun sometimes is at the end of a clause: but it cannot be so considered
here, because {}היאis in regimine with {}מימיIt is to be noticed, that the Prophet throughout represents the whole transaction
as an eye-witness, as it had been shown to him in a vision. --- Ed.
JOHN CALVIN
has not done; but he assumes the person of one calling back the fugitives, as though
he saw them fleeing away, and tried to bring them back: No one, he says, regards
We now see what the Prophet meant.
But from this passage we ought to learn that no trust is to be put in the number of
men, nor in the defenses and strongholds of cities, nor in ancientness; for when men
excel in power, God will hence take occasion to destroy them, inasmuch as pride is
almost ever connected with strength. It can hardly be but that men arrogate too
much to themselves when they think that they excel in any thing. Thus it happens,
that on account of their strength they run headlong into ruin; not that God has any
delight, as profane men imagine, when he turns upside down the face of the earth,
but because men cannot bear their own success, nor keep themselves within moder-
ate bounds, but many triumph against God: hence it is that human power recoils on
the head of those who possess it. The same things must also be said of ancientness:
for they who boast of their antiquity, know not for how long a time they have been
provoking the wrath of God; for it cannot be otherwise but that abundance of itself
generates licentiousness, or that it at least leads to excess; and further, they who
are the most powerful are the most daring in corrupting others. Hence the increase
at putridity; for men are like the dead when not ruled by the fear of God. A dead
body becomes more and more fetid the longer it continues putrifying; and so it is
with men. When they have been for a long time sinning, and still continue to sin, the
fetidness of their sins increases, and the wrath of God is more and more provoked.
There is then no reason why ancientness should deceive us. And if, at any time, we
are tempted to think that men are sufÏciently fortified by their own strength, or by
numerous auxiliaries, or that they are, as it were sacred through their own ancient-
ness, let what is said here come to our minds, --- that Nineveh had been like a pool
of waters from the ancient days; but that, when it was given up to destruction, it
fled away; and that, when their enemies did not rout them, they yet, being driven
by their own fear, ran away and would not stop, though one called them to return.
Prayer.
Grant, Almighty God, that as thou constantly remindest us, in thy word, and teach-
est us by so many examples, that there is nothing permanent in this world, but that
the things which seem the firmest tend to ruin, and instantly fall and of themselves
vanish away, when by thy breath thou shakest that strength in which men trust, ---
O grant, that we being really subdued and humbled, may not rely on earthly things,
but raise up our hearts and our thoughts to heaven, and there fix the anchor of our
hope; and may all our thoughts abide there, and at length, when thou hast led us
through our course on earth we shall be gathered into that celestial kingdom, which
has been obtained for us by the blood of thy only-begotten Son. Amen.
Lecture One Hundred and Third
Nahum 2:9
9. Take ye the spoil of silver, take the spoil of gold: for there is none end of the
store and glory out of all the pleasant furniture.
9. Diripite argentum, diripite aurum; et non finis (quia non est, copula debet
resolvi in causalem particulam; quia nullus finis) praeparationis ejus (sic vertunt,
MINOR PROPHETS
sed proprie {}תכונהsignificat locum;) gloria ex omni vase desiderabili.
Here the Prophet, as it were, by the command and authority of God, gives up
Nineveh to the will of its enemies, that they might spoil and plunder it. Some think
that this address is made in the name of a general encouraging his soldiers; but we
know that the Prophets assume the person of God, when they thus command any
thing with authority; and it is a very emphatical mode of speaking. It is adopted, that
we may know that the Prophets pour not forth an empty sound when they speak, but
really testify what God here determined to do, and what he in due time will execute.
As then we know, that this manner of speaking is common to the Prophets there is
no reason to apply this to the person of Nebuchadnezzar or of any other. God then
shows here that Nineveh was given up to ruin; and therefore he delivered it into the
hands of enemies.
It is indeed certain, that the Babylonians, in plundering the city, did not obey
God's command; but yet it is true, that they punished the Assyrians through the
secret influence of God: for it was his purpose to visit the Ninevites for the cruelty
and avarice for which they had been long notorious, and especially for having exer-
cised unexampled barbarity toward the Jews. This is the reason why God now gives
them up to the Babylonians and exposes them to plunder. But as I have spoken at
large elsewhere of the secret judgments of God, I shall only briefly observe here,
--- that God does not command the Babylonians and Chaldeans in order to render
them excusable, but shows by his Prophet, that Nineveh was to be destroyed by her
enemies, not by chance, but that it was his will to avenge the wrongs done to his
people. At the same time, we must bear in mind what we have said elsewhere, ---
that the Prophets thus speak when the execution is already prepared; for God does
not in vain or without reason terrify men, but he afterwards makes it manifest by
the effect: as he created the world from nothing by his word, so also by his word he
executes and fulfill his judgments. It is then no wonder, that the Prophet does here,
as though he ruled the Chaldeans according to his will, thus address them, Take ye
away, take ye away But this must be viewed as having a reference to the faithful;
for the Babylonians, in plundering the city Nineveh, did not think that they obeyed
God, nor did they give to God the praise due for the victory; but the faithful were
thus reminded, that all this was done through the secret providence of God, and that
it was also a clear, and, as it were, a visible evidence of God's paternal love towards
his Church, when he thus deigned to undertake the cause of his distressed people.
It then follows, There is no end of preparations: Some render {,}תכונהtechune,
treasure, or hidden wealth, and derive it from {,}כוןcun, which is to prepare; but
{,}תכונהtacune, is almost always taken for a measure. {,}תכנותtacanut, from {,}תכון
tacun means a sum, for {,}תכשtacan, is to number or to count; and this meaning
suits the passage. 308 But there is no need of laboring much about this word; if we
take it simply for place, the meaning would be, that there was no plot of ground in
308Buxtorf derives the word from {,{כוןto prepare, and Parkhurst from ,{}תכןto regulate, to measure. It is rendered
``store'' by Newcome and Henderson. What is meant is evidently the vast treasure amassed by the Assyrians. The next words
are more variously rendered. Newcome connects the word {}כבדwith ``store,'' and renders the two lines thus, --- And there is no
end of the glorious store, Because of all kinds of pleasant vessels. But more consistent with the character of the language, and
agreeably to what Dr. Wheeler suggests, is this, --- And there is no end to her store, It is more precious than all desirable vessels.
The preposition ,{}מafter ,{}כבדmay be viewed as the comparative degree. --- Ed.
JOHN CALVIN
that city which was not as it were a gulf filled up; for it had amassed all the wealth
of the nations: and this sense would harmonize well with the subject of the Prophet,
--- that the soldiers were to plunder until they were satiated; for the place was, as it
were, a deep abyss.
He afterwards adds, There is glory from every desirable vessel. Those who think
{,}מmem, a particle of comparison in this place are much mistaken, and misapply
the meaning of the Prophet; their rendering is, In comparison with every desirable
vessel; but this, as all must see, is very frigid. The Prophet, I have no doubt, declares
that the wealth of Nineveh consisted of every desirable vessel; for they had for a
long time heaped together immense wealth, and that of every kind. The Hebrews
call what is precious a desirable thing; and their vessels we include under the term
furniture. We now then perceive what the Prophet means. Some take {,}כבדcabed,
as a participle, and give this version, It is burdened, or adorned, (for it means both,)
with every desirable vessel. But the simpler mode of speaking is what we have
explained, --- that its glory was from every desirable vessel.
And here the Prophet condemns what the Assyrians had done in heaping together
so much wealth from all quarters; for they had committed indiscriminate plunder,
and gathered for themselves all the riches of the nations. They had indeed plundered
all their neighbors, yea, and wholly stripped them. The Prophet now shows, in order
to expose them to ridicule, that other robbers would be made rich, whom the Lord
would raise up against them. The same is said by Isaiah,
`O thou plunderer, shalt not thou also be exposed to plunder?' (Isaiah 33.)
So also the Prophet shows in this passage, that men foolishly burn with so much
avidity for money, and with so much anxiety heap together great wealth; for God will
find out some who in their turn will plunder those who have plundered. It follows---
Nahum 2:10
10. She is empty, and void, and waste: and the heart melteth, and the knees
smite together, and much pain is in all loins, and the faces of them all gather black-
ness.
10. Exinanita etexinanita est, et nudata; et cor liquefactum, et collisio genuum,
et terror in omnibus lumbis; et facies omnium contraxerunt nigredinem (vel, splen-
dorem, ut alii vertunt.)
The Prophet here confirms what the last verse contains; for he shows why he had
called the Chaldeans to take away the spoil, --- because it was to be so. He did
not indeed (as I have already said) command the Chaldeans in such a way as that
their obedience to God was praiseworthy: but the Prophet speaks here only of His
secret counsel. Though then the Chaldeans knew not that it was God's decree, yet
the Prophet reminds the faithful that the Ninevites, when made naked, suffered pun-
ishment for their cruelty, especially for having so hostilely conducted themselves
towards the Jews: and hence he declares, that Nineveh is emptied, is emptied, and
made naked. 309 By repeating the same word, he intimates the certainty of the
309The three words in Hebrew form a very striking alliteration; and they present another peculiarity, — they increase in length or in syllables, somewhat similar to what follows, — She is made void, and empty, and desolate: or, She is empty, and emptied, and desolated. bwqh wmbwqh wmblqh Buke, umebuke, umebelake. Some consider the words as nouns, but they are
MINOR PROPHETS
event: Emptied, emptied, he says, as when one says in our language, videe et rev-
idee We hence see that by this repetition what the Prophet meant is more distinctly
expressed that the faithful might not doubt respecting the event: and then for the
same purpose he adds, she is made naked.
We now then perceive the Prophet's design. As in the last verse he shows that
he had power given him from above to send armies against Nineveh, and to give up
the city to them to be spoiled and plundered; so he now shows that he had not so
commanded the Chaldeans, as though they were the legitimate servants of God, and
could pretend that they rendered service to Him. He therefore points out for what end
he had commanded the Chaldeans to plunder Nineveh; and that was, because God
had so decreed; and he had so decreed and commanded, because he would not bear
the many wrongs done to his people whom he had taken under his protection. As
then Nineveh had so cruelly treated God's chosen people, it was necessary that the
reward she deserved should be repaid to her. But the repetition, which I have noticed,
ought to be especially observed; for it teaches us that God's power is connected with
his word, so that he declares nothing inconsiderately or in vain.
He then adds, that knees smite together; and every heart is dissolved, or melted,
and also, that all loins tremble We hence learn, that there is in men no courage,
except as far as God supplies them with vigor. As soon then as He withdraws his
Spirit, those who were before the most valiant become faint-hearted, and those who
breathed great ferocity are made soft and effeminate: for by the word heart is meant
inward boldness or courage; and by the knees and loins the strength of body is to
be understood. There is indeed no doubt but the Assyrians, while they ruled, were a
very courageous people, as power ever generates boldness; and it is also probable
that they were a warlike people, since all their neighbors had been brought under
their power. But the Prophet now shows, that there would be no vigor in their hearts,
and no strength in their loins, or in any part of their body. The heart, then, he says,
is melted And hence we learn how foolishly men boast of their courage, while they
seem to be like lions; for God can in a moment so melt their hearts, that they entirely
lose all firmness. Then as to external vigor, we see that it is in God's hand; there will
be, he says, a confriction, or the knees will knock one against another, as they do
when they tremble. And he says afterwards, And trembling shall be in all loins 310
He at last adds, And the faces of all shall gather blackness The word {,}פארורparur,
some derive from {,}פארpar; and so the rendering would be, ``all faces shall draw in
or withdraw their beauty,'' and so also they explain Joel 2:6, for the sentence there is
the same. But they who disapprove of this meaning say, that {,}קבףkobets, cannot
mean to draw in or to withdraw; and so they render the noun, blackness. But this is
a strained explanation. {,}פארורparur, [they say,] does not mean a black color but a
pot: when therefore a caldron or a kettle contracts blackness from smoke, it is then
called {,}פארורparur: but in this place these interpreters are constrained to take
it metaphorically for that color; which is, as I have said, strained and far-fetched. I
evidently participles. — Ed.
310These three lines are literally as follows, — And the heart is melted, And there is tottering of the knees, And anguish in all loins. The word {{חלחלהis not trembling, but violent pain, pang, or anguish
as that of a woman in travail. --- Ed.
JOHN CALVIN
am therefore inclined to adopt their opinion who render the sentence, all faces shall
withdraw their beauty, or their brightness: but as to the import of the passage, there
is little or no difference; let then every one have his free choice. 311 With regard to
the Prophet's design, he evidently means, that the faces of all would be sad, for the
Lord would fill their minds and thoughts with dread. The withdrawing then of beauty
signifies an outward appearance of sorrow, or paleness, or whatever may appear in
the countenance of men, when dejected with grief. In short, the Prophet means, that
how much soever the Assyrians might have hitherto raised on high their crests, and
breathed great swelling words, and conducted themselves insolently, they would
now be dejected; for the Lord would prostrate their courage and melt their strength:
he would, by casting down their high spirits, constrain them to undergo shame. This
is the import of the whole. It now follows ---
Nahum 2:11-12
11. Where is the dwelling of the lions, and the feeding-place of the young lions,
where the lion, even the old lion, walked, and the lion's whelp, and none made them
afraid?
11. Ubi domicilium leonum, et locus pascui leonibus, quo veniebant leo, leo,
catulus leonis, et nemo exterrens?
12. The lion did tear in pieces enough for his whelps, and strangled for his li-
onesses, and filled his holes with prey, and his dens with ravin.
12. Leo rapiebat quantum sufÏceret catulis suis, et strangulabat leanis suis, et
replebat repina speluncas suas et lustra sua praeda.
Here the Prophet triumphs over the Assyrians, because they thought that the city
Nineveh was remote from every danger: as lions, who fear nothing, when they are in
their dens, draw thither their prey in their claws or in their mouths: so also was the
case with the Assyrians; thinking themselves safe, while Nineveh flourished, they
took the greater liberty to commit plunders everywhere. For Nineveh was not only
the receptacle of robbers but was also like a den of lions. And the Prophet more fully
expresses the barbarous cruelty of the Assyrians by comparing them to lions, than
if he had simply called them lions. We now then see what he means, when he says,
Where is the place of lions? And he designedly speaks thus of the Assyrians: for no
one ever thought that they could be touched by even the least injury; the fear of them
had indeed so seized all men, that of themselves they submitted to the Assyrians.
As then no one dared to oppose them, the Prophet says, Where? as though he had
said that though all thought it incredible that Nineveh could be overthrown, it would
yet thus happen. But he assumes the character of one expressing his astonishment,
in order to intimate, that when the Lord should execute such a judgment, it would
be a work of wonder, which would fill almost all with amazement. This question then
proves that those are very foolish who form a judgment of God's vengeance, of which
311Parkhurst and others agree with Calvin, as to the construction of this line. The idea adopted seems to have been first suggested by Aben-Ezra, as it appears from Marckius, but was strongly opposed by Kimchi, and on apparently a good ground — the meaning of the verb here used. {,{קבףas a verb and as a noun, in all its variations, has invariably the idea of collecting or gathering, and in no instance
that of withdrawing, except as it is said, in this sentence, and in Joel. Dathius, Marckius, and Newcome, retain the idea contained
in our version; and consistent with this is the paraphrase of the clause given by the Septuagint, ``{και} {το} {προσωπον} ({τα}
{προσωπα}, comp.) {παντων} {ως} {προσκαυμα} {χυτρας} --- and the face (or, the faces) of all as the burning on the pot.''
This idea is much more expressive and striking than the other. --- Ed.
MINOR PROPHETS
the Prophet speaks, according to the appearance of things at the time; for the ruin of
Nineveh and of that empire was to be the incomprehensible work of God, and which
was to fill all minds with astonishment.
He says first, Where is the place of lions? The feminine gender is indeed here
used; but all agree that the Prophet speaks of male lions. 312 He then adds, the
place of feeding for lions? {,}כפריםcaphrim, mean young lions as we shall hereafter
see; and {,}אריותariut, are old lions. He afterwards adds, Where {,}אריהarie came:
and then comes {,}לביאlabia, which some render, lioness; but {,}לביאlabia, properly
means an old lion; the Prophet, no doubt, uses it in the next verse in the feminine
gender for lionesses. I therefore do not deny, but that we may fitly render the terms
here, lion and lioness; afterwards, and the whelp of lions, and none terrifying. He
then adds, Seize did the lion (the word is {,}אריהarie) for his whelps to satiety, that
is, sufÏciently; and strangle did he for his lionesses, {,}ללבאתיוlalabatiu. Here no
doubt the Prophet means lionesses; there would otherwise be no consistency in the
passage. He afterwards says,
And filled has he with prey his dens and his recesses with ravin; it is the same
word with a different termination, {,}טרףthereph, and {,}טרפהtherephe
Now the repetition, made here by the Prophet, of lion, young lion, and lioness,
was not without its use; for he meant by this number of words to set forth the ex-
treme ferocity of the Assyrians, while they were dominant. He no doubt compares
their kings, their counselors, and their chief men, to lions: and he calls their wives
lionesses, and their children he calls young lions or whelps of lions. The sum of the
whole is, that Nineveh had so degenerated in its opulence, that all in power were
like ferocious wild beasts, destitute of every kind feeling. And I wish that this could
have only been said of one city and of one monarchy! But here, as in a mirror, the
Prophet represents to us what we at this day observe, and what has always and in all
ages been observed in great empires; for here great power exists, there great licen-
tiousness prevails; and when kings and their counselors become once habituated to
plunder, there is no end of it; nay, a kind of fury is kindled in their hearts, that they
seek nothings else but to devour and to tear in pieces to rend and to strangle. The
Prophet indeed wished here to console both the Israelites and the Jews by showing,
that the injustice of their enemies would not go unpunished: but at the same time
he intended to show how great, even to the end of the world, would be the cruelty of
those who would rule tyrannically: and as I have said, experience proves, that there
are too many like the Ninevites. It is indeed unquestionable, that the Prophet does
not without reason speak so often here of lions and lionesses.
Hence he says, ``Come thither did the lion, the lioness, and the whelp of the
lion.'' He means that when justice was sought in that city, it was found to be the
312It is better to retain the gender as it is in Hebrew: and this makes the passage more consistent, and corresponds better with the "feeding-place" in the next line. The recesses of the lionesses and the whelps are here mentioned, and in the next verse is stated what the lions did for them: — 11. Where is the haunt of the lionesses, And the feeding-place, even that for the whelps, Where did go the lion, the lioness, the cub of the lion, And none made them afraid? 12. The lion ravined for the supply of his cubs, And strangled for his lionesses, And filled with ravin his dens, And his haunts by ravining. "The allegory," says Newcome, "is beyond measure beautiful. Where are the inhabitants of Nineveh, who were strong and rapacious like lions?" — Ed.
JOHN CALVIN
den of cruel beasts; for the king had put off all humanity, as well as his counselors;
their wives were also like lionesses, and their children and domestics were as young
lions or the whelps of lions. And cruelty creeps in, somewhat in this manner: When
a king takes to himself too much liberty, his counselors follow him; and then every
one follows the common example, as though every thing received as a custom was
lawful. This is the representation which the Prophet in these words sets before us;
and we with our own eyes see the same things. Then he adds, 'The lion did tear what
sufÏced his whelps, and strangled for his lionesses; he filled with prey his dens and
his recesses with plunder. He goes on with the same subject, --- that the Assyrians
heaped for themselves great wealth by unjust spoils, because they had no regard
for what was right. The lion, he says, did tear for his whelps: as lions accustom
their whelps to plunder, and when they are not grown enough, so as to be able to
attack innocent animals, they provide a prey for them, and also bring some to the
lionesses; so also, as the Prophet informs us, was the case at Nineveh; the habits
of all men were formed for cruelty by the chief men and the magistrates. By the
word {,}בדיbedi, sufÏciency, he means not that the Ninevites are satisfied with their
prey, for they were insatiable; but it rather refers to the abundance which they had.
And he says, that the lion strangled for his lionesses: I wish there were no lionesses
to devour at this day; but we see that there are some who surpass their husbands
in boldness and cruelty. But the Prophet says here what is natural, --- that the lion
strangles the prey and gives it afterwards to his lionesses. He then adds, that the
Ninevites were not satisfied with daily rapines, as many robbers live for the day; but
he says, that their plunder was laid up in store. Hence they filled their secret places
and dens with their booty and spoils. Still further, though the Prophet speaks not
here so plainly, as we shall see he does in what follows, it is yet certain, that the
reason is here given, why God visited the Ninevites with so severe a vengeance, and
that was, because they had ceased to be like men, and had degenerated into savage
beasts. It follows ---
Nahum 2:13
13. Behold, I am against thee, saith the Lord of hosts, and I will burn her chariots
in the smoke, and the sword shall devour thy young lions: and I will cut off thy prey
from the earth, and the voice of thy messengers shall no more be heard.
13. Ecce Ego ad te dicit Jehova exercituum, et comburam in fumo currum ejus, et
leunculos tuos comedet gladius, et excidam e terra praedam tuam, et non audietur
amplius vox nunciorum tuorum (aut, dentium molarium.)
To give more effect to what he says, the Prophet introduces God here as the
speaker. Behold, he says, I am against thee He has been hitherto, as it were, the her-
ald of God, and in this character gave an authoritative command to the Chaldeans
to plunder Nineveh: but when God himself comes forward, and uses not the mouth
of man, but declares himself his own decrees, it is much more impressive. This then
is the reason why God now openly speaks: Behold, I am, he says, against thee. We
understand the emphatical import of the demonstrative particle, Behold; for God, as
if awakened from sleep, shows that it will be at length his work, to undertake the
cause of his people, and also to punish the world for its wickedness, Behold, I am
MINOR PROPHETS
against thee, he says. We have elsewhere seen a similar mode of speaking; there is
therefore no need of dwelling on it here.
I will burn, he says, with smoke her chariots Here by smoke some understand a
smoky fire; but the Prophet, I think, meant another thing, --- that at the first onset
God would consume all the chariots of Nineveh; as though he had said, that as soon
as the flame burst forth, it would be all over with all the forces of Nineveh; for by
chariots he no doubt means all their warlike preparations; and we know that they
fought then from chariots: as at this day there are employed in wars horsemen in
armor, so there were then chariots. But the Prophet, by taking a part for the whole,
includes all warlike forces: I will burn then the chariots 313 --- How? By smoke alone,
that is as soon as the first flame begins to emerge; for the smoke rises before the
fire appears or gathers strength: in short, the Prophet shows that Nineveh would be,
as it were, in a moment, reduced to nothing, as soon as it pleased God to avenge its
wickedness.
He then adds in the third person, And thy young lions shall the sword devour He
indeed changes the person here; but the discourse is more striking, when God man-
ifests his wrath in abrupt sentences. He had said, Behold, I am against thee; then,
I will burn her chariots, he now hardly deigns to direct his speech to Nineveh; but
afterwards he returns to her, and thy young lions shall the sword devour Then God,
by speaking thus in broken sentences, more fully expresses the dreadful vengeance
which he had determined to execute on the Ninevites. He then says, And I will ex-
terminate from the earth thy prey; that is, it will not now be allowed thee to go on
as usual; for I will put a stop to thy inhuman cruelty. Thus prey may be taken for
the act itself; or it may be fitly explained of the spoils taken from the nations, for the
Ninevites, by their tyrannical ravening, had everywhere plundered; and thus it may
be applied to the pillaging of the city. I will then exterminate from the land, that is
from thy country, those riches which have been hitherto heaped together as though
a lion had been everywhere gathering a prey.
And heard no more shall be the voice of thy messengers They who understand
{,}מלאכיםmelakim, to be messengers, apply the word to the heralds, by whom the
Assyrians were wont to proclaim wars on neighboring nations. As then they sent
here and there their heralds to announce war, and as their terrible voice sounded
everywhere, the words of the Prophet have this meaning given them, --- that God
would at length produce silence, so that they should not hereafter disturb all their
neighboring countries with the clamor of war. But as this explanation is strained, I
am inclined to adopt what others think, --- that the grinding teeth are here intended.
The word is not written, if it be taken for messengers, according to grammar; it is
{,}מלאככהmelakke; there ought not to have been the {,}הhe at the end, and {,}י
jod, ought to have been inserted before the last letter but one: and if it be deemed
as meaning the king, it ought then to have been written {,}מלכךmelkak. All then
confess, that the word is not written according to the rule of grammar; and as the
313Jerome renders the clause, "Succendam usque ad fumum — I will burn to smoke" the chariots: and the version of Henderson is the same. But the most natural supposition is, that smoke here is mentioned instead of fire. And so Dathius renders it — "igni — with fire." — Ed.
JOHN CALVIN
Persians call the grinders {,}מלאככהmelakke, we may give this version, which well
suits the context, `No more shall be heard the sound of grinders.' For since lions
seize the prey with their teeth, 314 and also break the bones, and thus make a great
noise when they tear an animal or a man with their teeth, this rendering seems to be
the most suitable, Heard no more shall be the sound of teeth, that is, heard shall not
be the noise made by thy teeth; for when thou now tearest thy prey, thy teeth make
a noise. No more heard then shall the noise from that breaking, or the clashing or
the crashing of the teeth. But as to the chief point, this is no matter of importance.
The Prophet simply teaches us here that it could not be, but that God would at
length restrain tyrants; for though he hides himself for a time, he yet never forgets
the groans of those whom he sees to be unjustly afÒicted: and particularly when
tyrants molest the Church, it is proved here by the Prophet that God will at length be
a defender; and hence we ought to consider well these words, Behold, I am against
thee For though God addresses these words only to the Assyrians, yet as he points
out the reasons why he rises up with so much displeasure against them, they ought
to be extended to all tyrants, and to all who exercise cruelty towards distressed and
innocent men. But this is more clearly expressed in the following verse.
Chapter 3
314The context undoubtedly favors this rendering. The Septuagint has "{τα} {εργα} {σοι} --- thy
works,'' which cannot consist with the word, ``voice,'' which precedes, though Newcome, following the Septuagint, renders it,
``the fame of thy deeds.'' There is but one different reading, except as to points, and that is, ,{`` }מלאככםtheir messenger,''
in two copies, and this comes nearest to the received text of any that has been conjectured: and to render ``messenger'' in
the singular number comports better with the usual style of the Prophets, than in the plural. Perhaps the {}הmay be deemed
redundant at the end of the sentence; and then it would be literally, ``thy messenger,'' taken in a collective sense. --- Ed.
Nahum 3
Nahum 3:1
1. Woe to the bloody city! it is all full of lies and robbery; the prey departeth not;
1. O urbs sanguinaria! Tota mendacio (vertunt) rapina plena est; non recedit
praeda (vel, non recedet praeda.)
The Prophet, as I have said, more clearly expresses here the reason why the
vengeance of God would be so severe on the Ninevites, --- because they had wholly
given themselves up to barbarous cruelty; and hence he calls it the bloody city.
Bloody city! he says. The exclamation is emphatical. Though {,}הוeu, sometimes
means Woe; yet it is put here as though the Prophet would have constrained Nineveh
to undergo its punishment, O sanguinary city, then, the whole of it is full of {}כחש
cachesh: the word signifies leanness and the Prophet no doubt joins here together
two words, which seem to differ widely, and yet they signify the same thing. For
{,}פרקperek, means to lay by; and {,}כחשcachesh, is taken for a lie or vanity,
when there is nothing solid in what is said: but the Prophet, I doubt not, means by
both words the spoils of the city Nineveh. It was then full of leanness for it had
consumed all others; it was also full of spoils, for it had filled itself. But the meaning
of the Prophet is in no way dubious; for at length he adds, Depart shall not the prey;
that is as some think, it shall not be withdrawn from the hands of conquerors; but
others more correctly think that a continued liberty in plundering is intended, that
the Assyrians were constantly employed in pillaging and kept within no bounds.
We hence see that the Prophet now shows why God says, that he would be an
adversary to the Ninevites, because he could not endure its unjust cruelty. He bore
with it indeed for a time; for he did not immediately execute his judgment; but yet
he never forgot his own people.
As, then, God has once declared by the mouth of his Prophet that he would be
the avenger of the cruelty which the Assyrians had exercised, let us know that he
retains still his own nature; and whatever liberty he may for a time grant to tyrants
JOHN CALVIN
and savage wild beasts, he yet continues to be a just avenger. It is our duty calmly
to bear injuries, and to groan to him; and as he promises to be at length our helper,
it behaves us to flee to him, and to ask him to succor us, so that seeing his Church
oppressed, and tyrants exercising licentiously their power, he may hasten the time
to restrain them. If then we were at all times to continue thus resigned under God's
protection, there is no doubt but that he would be ready even at this day to execute
a similar judgment to that which the city Nineveh and its people had to endure.
Prayer.
Grant, Almighty God. that as we have now heard of punishments so dreadful
denounced on all tyrants and plunderers, this warning may keep us within the limits
of justice, so that none of us may abuse our power to oppress the innocent, but, on
the contrary, strive to benefit one another, and wholly regulate ourselves according
to the rule of equity: and may we hence also receive comfort whenever the ungodly
molest and trouble us, and doubt not but that we are under thy protection, and that
thou art armed with power sufÏcient to defend us, so that we may patiently bear
injuries, until at length the ripened time shall come for thee to help us, and to put
forth thy power for our preservation; nor let us cease to bear our evils with patience,
as long as it may be thy will to exercise us in our present warfare, until having gone
through all one troubles, we come to that blessed rest which has been provided for
us in heaven by Christ Jesus our Lord. Amen.
Lecture One Hundred and Fourth
Nahum 3:2-3
2. The noise of a whip, and the noise of the rattling of the wheels, and of the
pransing horses, and of the jumping chariots.
2. Sonitus flagelli, et sonitus commotionis rotae, et equus concutiens, et quadriga
exultans;
3. The horseman lifteth up both the bright sword and the glittering spear: and
there is a multitude of slain, and a great number of carcases; and there is none end
of their corpses; they stumble upon their corpses:
3. Eques ascendere faciens, et flamma gladii, et fulgur lanceae, et multitudo
occisi (est mutatio numeri, occisorum,) et pondus cadaverum (hoc est etiam multi-
tudo,) et nullus finis cadaveribus ejus; impingent in cadavera ejus:
The Prophet represents here as in a lively picture, what was nigh the Assyrians;
for he sets forth the Chaldeans their enemies, with all their preparations and in their
quick movements. 315 The sound of the whip, he says; the whips, made a noise in
315It appears from Marckius that Theodoret and Cyril regarded this verse, with Calvin, as a description of the Chaldean army after having invaded Nineveh, but that Jerome and Cocceius viewed it as a delineation of the state of Nineveh in the Prophet's time; and with the last Newcome agrees, while Henderson coincides with the former. The version given by them is all nearly the same. It seems certainly more consistent with the order of the poem to regard the verse as describing the state of Nineveh at the time, for the sacking of Nineveh had been before very minutely delineated. Having done this, the Prophet may be supposed to give here a reason for the dreadful catastrophe which he had mentioned. Entertaining this view, and differing from others as to the meaning of some of the clauses, I offer the following version of the three verses, — 1. Oh! The city of blood! All of deceit; Of plunder it is full, none can search out the spoil: — 2. The sound of the whip, and the sound of the rattling wheel! And the horse prancing, and the chariot bounding! The horseman mounting, And the flaming of the sword and the glittering of the spear! And a multitude dancing, and a mass inactive! And no end to her people! Who are fallen, with their nations, 3. Through the many fornications of the harlot,
MINOR PROPHETS
exciting the horses: the sound of the rattling of the wheel; that is, great shall be the
haste and celerity, when the horses shall be forced on by the whip; the horse also
shaking the earth, and the chariot bounding; the horseman making it to ascend; and
then, the flame of the sword and the lightning of the spear He then says, that there
would be such a slaughter, that the whole place would be full of dead bodies.
We now then understand what the Prophet means: for as Nineveh might have
then appeared impregnable the Prophet confirms at large what he had said of its
approaching ruin, and thus sets before the eyes of the Israelites what was then in-
credible.
As to the words, some interpreters connect what we have rendered, the horse-
man makes to ascend, with what follows, that is, he makes to ascend the flame
of the sword and the lightning of the spear But as a copulative comes between, it
seems rather to be an imperfect sentence, meaning, that the horseman makes to
ascend or mount, that is, his horses, by urging them on. With regard to the word
{,}להבleb, it means I have no doubt, a flame. By this word, I know, is also under-
stood metaphorically the brightness of swords, which appears like a flame: but the
Prophet immediately adds lightning As then he says that spears lighten, I doubt not
but that for the same reason he meant to say that swords flame. All these things
were intended for the purpose of fully convincing the Israelites that Nineveh, how-
ever much it was supplied with wealth and power, was yet approaching its ruin, for
its enemies would prevail against it: and therefore he adds, that all the roads would
be full of dead bodies, that the enemies could not enter without treading on them
everywhere. It follows ---
Nahum 3:4
4. Because of the multitude of the whoredoms of the wellfavoured harlot, the
mistress of witchcrafts, that selleth nations through her whoredoms, and families
through her witchcrafts.
4. Ob multitudinem scortationum meretricis pollentis gratia, magistrae veneficio-
rum, vendentis gentes in scortationibus suis, et nationes in suis veneficiis.
The Prophet mentions again the cause why God would execute so dreadful a
vengeance on that city, which yet procured by its splendor so much glory and respect
among all people: and God seems in a manner to have but little regard for the order
of the world when he thus overturns great cities. For since he is the Creator of the
whole world, it seems to be his proper ofÏce to protect its various parts, especially
those which excel in beauty, for they seem to deserve a higher regard. When there-
fore any splendid city is demolished, such thoughts as these occur to us, --- That
God is either delighted with the ruin of the world, or is asleep in heaven, and that
thus all things revolve by chance and contingency. Therefore the Prophet shows,
that God had just reasons for decreeing the ruin of Nineveh, and for deforming that
That exults in beauty, and possesses enchantments; Who sells nations by her fornications, And tribes by her enchantments. {,{`` ימישsearch out,'' I derive from ,{}משwhich is to feel for the purpose of exploring, and
then, to explore or search out; see Genesis 31:34. The second verse contains a simple enumeration of what the city exhibited.
{`` }חלל{, }רבa multitude dancing'' or piping, the {}וbeing dropped in ,{}חללas it is in ,{}חלליםpipers, 1 Kings 1:40. Then as a
contrast comes the dead, heavy, inactive mass, {`` }פגד{. }כבדTo her people'' or nations, ,{{ }לגויהτοις} {εθνεσιν} {αυτης}. ---
Sept. In the word ,{}בנויתםI take that {}תis a mistake for .{}הIf taken for carcasses, it wants a {}וbefore ;{}תsee Psalm 110:6.
The third verse must be connected with the second, as it has otherwise no grammatical construction. --- Ed.
JOHN CALVIN
beauty, that it might not deceive the eyes of men. Hence he compares Nineveh to
a harlot. The similitude seems not to be very suitable: but yet if we take a nearer
view of things, the Prophet could not have more fitly nor more strikingly set forth the
condition of that city. He had before mentioned its barbarous cruelty, and said, that
it was the den of lions, and that savage and bloody wild beasts dwelt there. He now
begins to speak of the frauds and crafty artifices by which the kings of this world
attain for themselves both wealth and power. The Prophet then makes the city Nin-
eveh to be like a harlot for this reason, --- because it had not only brought under its
power neighboring nations by threats and terrors, and also by cruelty, but because
it had ensnared many by oblique arts and fraudulent means, by captious dealings
and allurements. This is the reason why it is now called a harlot by the Prophet.
The Prophets of God seem indeed to speak but with little reverence of great cities
and empires: but we know that it rightly belongs to the Spirit of God, that in exer-
cising his own jurisdiction, he should uncover the base deeds of the whole world,
which otherwise would lie concealed and even under the appearance of virtues de-
ceive the eyes and senses of the simple: and as men so much flatter themselves,
and are inebriated with their own delusions, it is necessary that those who are too
self-indulgent and delicate should be roughly handled. As then kings ever set up
their own splendor that they may dazzle the eyes of the simple, and seem to have
their own greatness as a beautiful covering, the Spirit of God divests them of these
masks. This then is the reason why the Prophet speaks here, in no very respect-
ful terms, of that great monarchy which had attracted the admiration of all nations.
For when the Spirit of God adopts a humble and common mode of speaking, men,
blinded by their vices, will not acknowledge their own baseness; nay, they will even
dare to set up in opposition those things which cover their disgraceful deeds: but
the Spirit of God breaks through all these things, and dissipates those delusions by
which men impose on themselves.
Such is the reason for this similitude; On account of the multitude, he says, of
the whoredoms of the harlot, who excels in favor It is said by way of concession that
Nineveh was in great favor, that is, that by her beauty she had allured to herself
many nations, like a harlot who attains many lovers: and thus the Prophet allows
that Nineveh was beautiful. But he adds that she was the mistress of sorceries
{,}כשףcasheph, means sorcery, and also juggling: we may then render {,}כשפים
cashaphim, used here, juggleries, (praestigias --- sleights of hand.) But the Prophet
seems to allude to filters or amatory potions, by which harlots dementate youths.
As then harlots not only attract notice by their beauty and bland manners and other
usual ways; but they also in a manner fascinate unhappy youths, and use various
arts and delusions; so the Prophet under this word comprehends all the deceits prac-
ticed by harlots; as though he said, ``This harlot was not only beautiful, but also an
enchantress, who by her charms deceived unhappy nations like a strumpets who
dementates unhappy youths, who do not take care of themselves.''
He afterwards adds, Who sells nations by her whoredoms, and tribes by her sor-
ceries Though Nahum still carries on the same metaphor, he yet shows more clearly
what he meant by whoredoms and sorceries, --- even the crafts of princes, by which
MINOR PROPHETS
they allure their neighbors, and then reduce them to bondage. Then all the counsels
of kings (which they call policies) 316 are here, by the Spirit of God, called sorceries
or juggleries, and also meretricious arts. This reproof, as I have already said, many
deem to have been too severe; for so much majesty shone forth then in the Assyr-
ians, that they ought, as they think, to have been more respectfully treated. But
it behaved the Spirit of God to speak in this forcible language: for there is no one
who does not applaud such crafty proceedings. Where any one, without mentioning
princes, to ask, Is it right to deceive, and then by lies, deceptions, perjuries, cavils,
and other arts, to make a cover for things? --- were this question asked, the prompt
answer would be, that all these things are as remote as possible from virtue, as
nothing becomes men more than ingenuous sincerity. But when princes appear in
public, and make this pretense, that the world must be ruled with great prudence,
that except secret counsels be taken, all kingdoms would immediately fall into ruin,
--- this veil covers all their shameful transactions, so that it becomes lawful for them,
and even praiseworthy, to deceive one party, to circumvent another, and a third to
oppress by means of deception. Since then princes are praised for their craftiness,
this is the reason why the Prophet here takes away, as it were by force, the mask,
under which they hide their base proceedings; ``They are,'' he says, ``meretricious
arts, and they are sorceries and juggleries.''
It is of one city, it is true, that he speaks here; but the Prophet no doubt describes
in this striking representation how kingdoms increase and by what crafty means,
--- first, by robberies, --- and then by artful dealings, such as would by no means
become honest men in the middle class of life. But princes could never succeed,
except they practiced such artifices. We yet see how they are described here by the
Spirit of God, --- that they are like strumpets given to juggleries, and to other base
and filthy arts, which he calls whoredoms. But I have said, that the meaning of the
Prophet can be more clearly elicited from the second clause of the verse, when he
says that the Ninevites made a merchandise of the nations. We see indeed even at
this day that princes disturb the whole world at their pleasure; for they deliver up
innocent people to one another, and shamefully sell them, while each hunts after
his own advantage, without any shame; that he may increase his own power, he will
deliver others into the hand of an enemy. Since then there are crafty proceedings of
this kind carried on too much at this day, there is no need that I should attempt to
explain at any length the meaning of the Prophet. I wish that examples were to be
sought at a distance. Let us proceed ---
Nahum 3:5-6
5. Behold, I am against thee, saith the Lord of hosts; and I will discover thy skirts
upon thy face, and I will shew the nations thy nakedness, and the kingdoms thy
shame.
5. Ecce Ego ad te, inquit Jehova exercituum, et retegam fimbrias tuas super fa-
ciem tuam, et ostendam gentibus nuditatem tuam, et regnis foeditatem tuam:
316Practicas, used here evidently in a sense not classical, meaning the crafty tactics of politicians. The word practic, in English, was, at one time, used in a bad sense, signifying what was sly and artful, or crafty; and practice too was employed to designate a trick, or a stratagem. — Ed.
JOHN CALVIN
6. And I will cast abominable filth upon thee, and make thee vile, and will set thee
as a gazingstock.
6. Et projiciam super te sordes (vel, inquinamenta) et ignominia afÏciam te, et
ponam te quasi stercus (alii vertunt; alii autem, quasi exemplum; dicam postea de
ipsa voce.)
The Prophet confirms here what he has said of the fall of Nineveh; but, as it was
stated yesterday, he introduces God as the speaker, that his address might be more
powerful. God then testifies here to the Assyrians, that they should have no strife or
contention with any mortal being, but with their own judgment; as though he said,
``There is no reason for thee to compare thy forces with those of the Chaldeans;
but think of this --- that I am the punisher of thy crimes. The Chaldeans indeed
shall come; chariots shall make a noise and horses shall leap, and horsemen shall
shake the earth; they shall brandish the flaming swords, and their spears shall be
like lightning; but there is no reason for thee to think that the Chaldeans will, of
themselves, break in upon thee: for I guide them by my hidden providence, as it is
my purpose to destroy thee; and now the time is come when I shall execute on thee
my judgment.''
I am, he says, Jehovah of hosts. The epithet {}צבאותtsabaut, must be referred
to the circumstance of this passage; for God declares here his own power, that the
Assyrians might not think that they could by any means escape. He then adds, I
will disclose thy extremities on thy face He alludes to the similitude which we have
lately observed; for harlots appear very fine, and affect neatness and elegance in
their dress; they not only put on costly apparel, but also add disguises. Though then
this fine dress conceals the baseness of strumpets, yet, were any to take the clothes
of a harlot and throw them over her head, all her beauty would disappear, and all
men would abhor the sight: to see her concealed parts disclosed would be a base
and filthy spectacle. So God declares that he would strip Nineveh of its magnificent
dress, that she might be a detestable sight, only exhibiting her own reproach. We
now then apprehend the Prophet's meaning; as though he said, ``Nineveh thinks not
that she is to perish. --- How so? Because her own splendor blinds her: and she has
willfully deceived herself, and, by her deceits, has dazzled the eyes of all nations.
As then this splendor seems to be a defense to the city Nineveh, I the Lord, he says,
will disclose her hidden parts; I will deprive the Assyrians of all this splendor in which
they now glory, and which is in high esteem and admiration among other nations.''
And this passage ought to be especially noticed; for, as I have said, true dignity
is not to be found in the highest princes. Princes ought, indeed, to seek respect for
themselves by justice, integrity, mercy, and a magnanimous spirit: but they only
excel in mean artifices; then they shamelessly deceive, lie, and swear falsely; they
also flatter, even meanly, when circumstances require; they insinuate themselves by
various crafty means, and by large promises decoy the simple. Since then their true
dignity is not commonly regarded by princes, this passage ought to be observed,
so that we may know that their elevation, which captivates the minds of men, is an
abomination before God; for they do not discern things, but are blind, being dazzled
by empty splendor.
MINOR PROPHETS
Disclose, then, he says, will I thy shame He says first, Disclose will I thy fringes
on thy face; and then I will show to the nations thy nakedness And the nakedness
of great kings is shown to the nations when the Lord executes his vengeance: for
then even the lowest of the low will dare to pass judgment, --- ``He deserved to
perish with shame, for he exercised tyranny on his own subjects, and spared not
his own neighbors; he never was a good prince; nay, he only employed deceits
and perjuries.'' When, therefore princes are cast down, every one, however low,
becomes a judge, and ascends as it were, the tribunal to burden and load them with
reproaches. And hence the Prophet says, in the person of God, Disclose will I thy
fringes on thy face, and will show to the nations thy nakedness, and to kingdoms thy
filthiness.
He afterwards adds, I will besprinkle thee with filth, or defilements. The Prophet
still alludes to the similitude of a harlot, who is well and sumptuously adorned, and
by her charms captivates the eyes of all: but when any one takes mire and filth
from the middle of the road, and bespatters her with it, there is then no one who will
not turn away his eyes from so filthy an object. But we have already explained the
import of this. God is indeed said to besprinkle kingdoms with defilements, when he
casts them down; for they all begin freely to express their opinion: and those who
before pretended great admiration, now rise up and bring forth many reproachful
things. Then it is, that the Lord is said to besprinkle great kingdoms with filth and
defilements.
He then adds, I will disgrace thee {,}נבלnubel, is to fall, and it is applied to
dead bodies; but it means also to disgrace, as it is to be taken here. I will make
thee as the dung Some think {,}רואיruai, to be dung, or something fetid: but as it
comes from {,}ראהrae, to see, and is in many parts of Scripture taken for vision or
view, they are more correct, in my judgment, who render it thus, I will make thee
an example; so Jerome renders it; as though he said, ``Thou shalt be a spectacle
to all nations.'' 317 And Nineveh is said to be made an example, because its ruin
was more memorable than that of any other which had previously happened. Thou
shalt then be a spectacle; that is, the calamity which I now denounce shall attract
the observation of all. It afterwards follows ---
Nahum 3:7
7. And it shall come to pass, that all they that look upon thee shall flee from thee,
and say, Nineveh is laid waste: who will bemoan her? whence shall I seek comforters
for thee?
7. Et accidet ut quisquis te viderit recedat abs te, et dicat, Vastata est Nineveh:
quis condolebit ei? unde quaeram consolatores tibi?
When he says, {}ראיך-{,}כלcal-raik, `whosoever sees thee,' we hence learn again
that {,}רואיruai, at the end of the last verse, is to be taken for example or spectacle;
for the Prophet proceeds with the same subject: I will make thee, he says, an ex-
ample, or a spectacle. --- For what purpose? that whosoever sees thee may depart
317The Septuagint favors this meaning, "{εις} {παραδειγμα}---for an example.'' In this sense Grotius and
Piscator take the word. Henderson, with less propriety, renders it ``gazingstock,'' the word of our version. Newcome translates it
``dung,'' according to the Rabbins. --- Ed.
JOHN CALVIN
from thee 318 And it was an evidence of horror, though some think it to have been a
reward for her cruelty, that no one came to Nineveh, but that she was forsaken by
all friends in her desolation. And they take in the same sense what follows, Who will
condole with her? and whence shall I seek comforters for thee? For they think that
the Ninevites are here reproached for their cruelty, because they made themselves
so hated by all that they were unworthy of sympathy; for they spared none, they
allowed themselves full liberty in injuring others, they had gained the hatred of all
the world. Hence some think that what is here intimated is, that the Ninevites were
justly detested by and so that no one condoled with them in so great a calamity,
inasmuch as they had been injurious to all: ``It shall then happen, that whosoever
sees thee shall go far away from thee and shall say, Wasted is Nineveh; who will
condole with her? Whence shall I call comforters to her?''
But I know not whether this refined meaning came into the Prophet's mind. We
may explain the words more simply, that all would flee far away as a proof of their
horrors and that the calamity would be such, that no lamentation would correspond
with it. Who will be able to console with her? that is, were the greatness of her
calamity duly weighed, though all were to weep and utter their meanings, it would
not yet be sufÏcient: all lamentations would be far unequal to so great a calamity.
The Prophet seems rather to mean this. Who then shall condole with her? and
whence shall I seek comforters, as though he said, ``The ruin of so splendid a city
will not be of an ordinary kind, but what cannot be equaled by any lamentations.'' It
then follows ---
Nahum 3:8-10
8. Art thou better than populous No, that was situate among the rivers, that had
the waters round about it, whose rampart was the sea, and her wall was from the
sea?
8. An melior es quam No (id est, Alexandria,) Amon (vertunt quidam, populosum;
alii putant esse nomen Regis; an igitur melior es quam Alexandria populosa,) quae
habitabat in fluviis? Mare in circuitu ejus, cujus fossa erat mare, et a mari murus
ejus;
9. Ethiopia and Egypt were her strength, and it was infinite; Put and Lubim were
thy helpers.
9. Aethiopia fortitudo ejus et Aegyptus; et nullus finis; Aphrica et Libyae fuerunt
in auxilium ejus
10. Yet was she carried away, she went into captivity: her young children also
were dashed in pieces at the top of all the streets: and they cast lots for her hon-
ourable men, and all her great men were bound in chains.
10. Etiam ipsa in transmigrationem abiit ad captivitatem; etiam parvuli ejus al-
lisi sunt in capite omnium platearum; et super proceres ejus (vel, honorabiles, ad
verbum) jecerunt sortem, et magnetes ejus vincti sunt compedibus.
The Prophet, in order to gain credit to his prophecy, produces here the ensample
of Alexandria. It is indeed certain, from many testimonies of Scripture, that Alexan-
dria is called No, which was a very ancient city, situated on the confines of Africa,
318Literally, "Every one of thy seers shall hasten from thee." — Ed.
MINOR PROPHETS
and yet in Egypt. It might, at the same time, be, that the Alexandrians formerly had
their own government, at least their own kings: and this is probable; for the Prophet
says here, that Egypt and Ethiopia, as well as Africa and the Libyan nations, were the
confederates of this city. It may hence then be concluded, that Alexandria was not
then a part of Egypt, but had its own government, and was in alliance with the Egyp-
tians, as with the other nations. But as Egypt, after the death of our Prophet, was in
part overthrown by the Assyrians, and in part by the Chaldeans, some interpreters
think, that the Prophet speaks of a ruin which had not yet taken place. 319 But this
would not harmonize with his design; for the Prophet shows here, as in a mirror,
that the chief empires fall according to the will of God, and that cities, the richest
and the best fortified, come to nothing, whenever it pleases God. Unless, then, the
destruction of Alexandria was notorious and everywhere known, the Prophet could
not have suitably adduced this example: I therefore doubt not but that Alexandria
had been then demolished. It is no matter of wonder that it afterwards returned to
its former state and became rich; for the situation of the city was most commodious,
not so much on account of the fertility of the land, as on account of its trafÏc; for
ships from the Mediterranean sailed up near to it. It had, indeed, on one side, the
lake Marcotis, which is not very healthy; and then the sea fortified it; and Pharos
was a neighboring island: but yet the city was inhabited by many, and adorned with
splendid buildings; for the advantage of trafÏc drew together inhabitants from all
quarters. It was afterwards built again by Alexander of Macedon. But it is evident
enough that it had been already an opulent city: for Alexander did not build a new
city but enlarged it. 320 Let us now come to the words of the Prophet.
Shall it be better to thee than to Alexandria? The word {,}אמוןamun, some render
populous; and I am inclined to adopt this meaning, which has been received nearly
by the consent of all. Others have supposed it to be the name of a king; but as
proof fails them, I leave to themselves their own conjecture. Shall it then be better
to thee than to Alexandria? For it stood, he says, between the rivers Alexandria had
the Nile, as it were, under its own power; for it was then divided into many parts, so
that it intersected the city in various places. So then he says, that Alexandria dwelt
between the rivers; for it divided the Nile, as it suited its convenience, into several
streams.
Then he says, The sea was around her: for it was surrounded on one side by the
sea, and protected by the island Pharos, which had a tower, not only for the sake of
defense, but that ships coming in from the Mediterranean, might have a signal, by
which they might direct their course straight to the harbor. The sea then was around
her; for the sea encircled more than half of the city; and then the lake Mareotis was
319So does Newcome, but with no countenance from the passage. The verb in the 10th verse which refers to the captivity of No, is in the past tense. Most commentators regard the event as having passed. — Ed.
320Opinions differ as to No. Bochart supposed it to be Diospolis, near Mendes, in Lower Egypt. Henderson says, that later commentators are in favor of Thebes, the ancient capital of Upper Egypt. It is of no consequence to the present purpose which it was. It was some celebrated city in Egypt, whose ruin was well known in the Prophet's time. Both the Rabbins and early Fathers thought that it was what was afterwards called Alexandria. But most probably it was a city which had lost its name and existence from the catastrophe that is here mentioned. — Ed.
JOHN CALVIN
on the other side to the south. He afterwards adds, And its wall or moat was the sea
The word is written with {,}יiod, {,}חילchil; but it means a wall or a moat, though
Latins render antemurale --- a front-work: for they were wont formerly to fortify their
cities with a double wall, as old buildings still show. According to these interpreters
{,}חילchil, is the inner wall, and so they render its front-work: and there was also an
outer wall towards the sea. But we may take {,}חילchil, for a moat or a trench; and
it is easy to find from other passages that it was a trench rather than a front-work.
It is said that the body of Jezebel was torn by dogs in the trench, and the word there
is {,}חילchil. As to the object of the Prophet, he evidently intended to show, that
Alexandria was so well fortified, that Nineveh had no reason to think herself to be in
a safer state; for its fortress was from the sea, and also from Ethiopia, on account of
the munitions which he has mentioned. Then he speaks of Africa and Egypt, and the
Libyan nations, 321 and says in short, that there was no end of her strength; that is,
that she could seek the help of many friends and confederates: many were ready to
bring aid, even Africa, Ethiopia, and the Lybians.
Yet, he says, she departed into captivity a captive; that is, the inhabitants of
Alexandria have been banished, and the city become as it were captive, for its in-
habitants were driven here and there. Dashed, he says, have been their little ones
at the head of every street The Prophet means, that so great a power as that of
Alexandria did not prevent the conquerors to exercise towards her the most bar-
barous cruelty; for it was a savage act to dash little children against stones, who
ought on account of their tender age, to have been spared. There was indeed no
reason for raging against them, for they could not have been deemed enemies. But
yet the Prophet says that Alexandria had been thus treated; and he said this, that
Nineveh might not trust in her strength, and thus perversely despise God's judg-
ment, which he now denounced on it. He adds, They cast lots on her princess and
bound were her great men with fetters In saying that lots were cast, he refers to an
ancient custom; for when there was any dispute respecting a captive, the lot was
cast: as for instance, when two had taken one man, to prevent contention, it was
by lot determined who was to be his master. So then he says that lots were cast on
their princes. This usually happened to the common people and to the lowest slaves;
but the Prophet says that the conquerors spared not even the princes. They were
therefore treated as the lowest class; and though they were great princes, they were
led into captivity and bound with chains, in the same manner with the meanest and
the lowest of the people. They were not treated according to their rank; and there
was no differences between the chief men and the most degraded of the humbler
classes; for even the very princes were so brought down, that their lot differed not
from that of the wretched; for as common people are usually treated with contempt,
so were the chiefs of Alexandria treated by their enemies.
Prayer.
Grant, Almighty God, that since by thy awful judgments thou dost show thy dis-
pleasure at the pride of this world, we may be ruled by the spirit of meekness, and in
321The original names in this verse are {,{כושsupposed to be Ethiopia, --- ,{}מצריםEgypt, here, either Upper
or Lower, --- ,{}פוטPut, a country to the west of Lower Egypt, its inhabitants the descendants of Ham, Genesis 10:6, --- ,{}לובים
Lybians, who occupied the region between Put and Numidia. --- Ed.
MINOR PROPHETS
such a manner humble ourselves willingly under thy hand, that we may not experi-
ence thy dreadful power in our destruction, but being, on the contrary, supported by
thy strength, we may keep ourselves in our own proper station and in true simplicity,
and, at the same time, relying on thy protection, we may never doubt, but thou wilt
sustain us against all the assaults of our enemies, however violent they may be, and
thus persevere in the warfare of the cross which thou hast appointed for us, until we
be at length gathered into that celestial kingdom, where we shall triumph together
with thy Son, when his glory shall shine in us, and all the wicked shall be destroyed.
Amen.
Lecture One Hundred and Fifth
Nahum 3:11
11. Thou also shalt be drunken: thou shalt be hid, thou also shalt seek strength
because of the enemy.
11. Etiam tu inebriaberis, tu eris abscondita; etiam tu quaeres robur (vel, sup-
petias) ab hoste (vel, propter hostem.)
Nahum, after having adduced the example of Alexandria, now shows that noth-
ing would be able to resist God, so that he should not deal with Nineveh in the same
manner; and he declares that this would be the case, Thou also, he says, shalt be
inebriated. Well known is this metaphor, which often occurs in Scripture: for the
Prophets are wont frequently to call punishment a cup, which God administers. But
when God executes a heavy punishment, he is said to inebriate the wicked with his
cup. The Prophet says now, that the chastisement of Nineveh would make her like
a drunken man, who, being overcome with wine, lies down, as it were, stupefied.
Hence by this metaphor he intended to set forth a most severe punishment: Thou
then shalt be also inebriated The particle {,}גםgam, is here emphatical; it was in-
troduced, that the Ninevites might know, that they could not possibly escape the
punishment which they deserved; for God continues ever like himself. Thou then
shalt be also inebriated This would not be consistent, were not God the judge of
the world to the end. There is then a common reason for this proceeding; hence it
necessarily follows, --- since God punished the Alexandrians, the Assyrians cannot
escape his hand, and be exempt from punishment.
He adds, Thou shalt be hidden Some refer this to shame, as though the Prophet
had said, --- ``Thou indeed showest thyself now to be very proud, but calamity will
force thee to seek hiding-places, in which to conceal thyself.'' But I am more inclined
to this meaning, --- that Nineveh would vanish away, as though it never had been;
for to be hidden is often taken in Hebrew in the sense of being reduced to nothing.
He afterwards says, Thou shalt also seek strength, or supplies, from the enemy.
The words {,}מעוז{ }מאויבmeouz meavib, may admit of two meanings, --- either that
she will humbly solicit her enemies, --- or that on account of her enemies she will flee
to some foreign aid; for the preposition {,}מmem, may be taken in both senses. If we
adopt the first meaning, then I think that the Prophet speaks not of the Babylonians,
but of the other nations who had been before harassed by the Assyrians. Thou shalt
now then humbly pray for the aid of those who have been hitherto thine enemies,
--- not because they had provoked thee, but because thou hast as an enemy treated
JOHN CALVIN
them. Now it is an extreme misery, when we are constrained to seek the help of
those by whom we are hated, and hated, because we have by wrongs provoked
them. But the other sense is more approved, for it is less strained: Thou shalt also
seek aids on account of the enemy; that is, as strength to resist will fail thee, thou
wilt seek assistance from thy neighbors. 322 It follows ---
Nahum 3:12
12. All thy strong holds shall be like fig trees with the firstripe figs: if they be
shaken, they shall even fall into the mouth of the eater.
12. Omnes munitiones tuae ficus cum maturis (fructibus;) si moveantur, cadunt
super os comedentis.
The Prophet here declares that the strongholds of the Assyrians would avail them
nothing; whether they trusted in the number of their men, or in their walls, or in other
defenses, they would be disappointed; for all things, he says, will of themselves fall,
even without being much assailed. And he employs a very apposite similitude, ``Thy
fortifications,'' he says, ``which thou thinkest to be very strong, shall be like figs; for
when the fruit is ripe, and any comes to the tree, as soon as he touches it or any
of the branches, the figs will fall off themselves.'' We indeed know that there is not
much firmness in that fruit; when it is ripe, it immediately falls to the ground, or if
it hangs on the branches, a very little shaking will bring it down. We now see the
design of the Prophet.
And hence an useful doctrine may be deduced: whatever strength men may seek
for themselves from different quarters, it will wholly vanish away; for neither forts,
nor towers, nor ramparts, nor troops of men, nor any kind of contrivances, will avail
any thing; and were there no one to rise against them, they would yet fall of them-
selves. It afterwards follows ---
Nahum 3:13
13. Behold, thy people in the midst of thee are women: the gates of thy land shall
be set wide open unto thine enemies: the fire shall devour thy bars.
13. Ecce populus tuus mulieres in medio tui; inimicis tuis aperiendo aperientur
portae terrae tuae; vorabit ignis vectes tuos.
The Prophet declares here, that the hearts of them all would become soft and
effeminate when God would proceed to destroy Nineveh. We have said before that
the hearts of men are so in the hand of God, that he melts whatever courage there
may be in them, whenever he pleases: and God prepares men for ruin, when he
debilitates their hearts, that they cannot bear the sight of their enemies. God indeed
can leave in men their perverseness, so that they may ever run furiously into ruin,
and not be able, with a courageous heart, to repel the attacks of their enemies;
but he often softens their hearts and deprives them of power, that he may make
more evident his judgment: God does not, however, always work in the same way;
for variety in his judgments is calculated to do us good, for thereby our minds are
more powerfully awakened. Were his proceedings uniformly the same, we could not
so well distinguish the hand of God, as when he acts now in this way, and then in
322Thou shalt seek a refuge from the enemy. — Newcome. But {{מעוזis rather a defense, aid,
assistance, that which affords strength. --- Ed.
MINOR PROPHETS
another. But, as I have already said, it is what is well known, that God enervates
men and strips them of all courage, when he gives them over to destruction.
So now the Prophet speaks of the Ninevites, Behold, he says, thy people are
women 323 The demonstrative particle, Behold, is here emphatical: for the Assyri-
ans, no doubt, ridiculed, as a fable, the prediction of the Prophet; and it was what the
Israelites found it difÏcult to believe. This is the reason why the Prophet pointed out,
as by the finger, what surpassed the comprehensions of men. By saying, in the midst
of thee, he intimates, that though they should be separated from their enemies and
dwell in a fortified city, they should yet be filled with trembling. This amplification
deserves to be noticed: for it is nothing wonderful, when an onset frightens us, when
enemies join battle with us, and when many things present themselves before our
eyes, which are calculated to deprive us of courage; but when we are frightened by
report only concerning our enemies, and we become fainthearted, though walls be
between us, it then appears evident, that we are smitten by the hand of God; for
when we see walls of stone, and yet our hearts become brittle like glass, is it not
evident, that we are inwardly terrified by the Lord, as it were, through some hidden
influence, rather than through intervening and natural causes? We now then per-
ceive the Prophet's meaning, when he says, that the people would become women,
or effeminate, in the midst of the city, in its very bowels; as though he had said, that
they would not cease to tremble, even while they were dwelling in a safe place.
By opening, opened shall be thy gates, he says, to thy enemies. He shows again,
that though the Assyrians were fortified, every access would be made open to their
enemies, as though there was no fortress. By saying, the gates of thy land, it is prob-
able that he speaks not only of the city, but of all their strongholds. The Assyrians,
no doubt, fortified many cities, in order to keep afar off the enemy, and to preserve
the chief seat of the empire free from danger and fear. I therefore understand the
Prophet as referring here to many cities, when he says, By opening, opened shall be
the gates of thy land to thine enemies and fire shall consume thy bars He means,
that though they had before carefully fortified the whole land around, so that they
thought themselves secure from all hostile invasion, yet all this would be useless; for
the fire would consume all their bars. By fire, the Prophet understands metaphori-
cally the judgment of God. For as we see that so great is the vehemence of fire, that
it melts iron and brass, so the Prophet means, that there would be no strength which
could defend Nineveh and its empire against the hand of God. It follows ---
Nahum 3:14-15
14. Draw thee waters for the siege, fortify thy strong holds: go into clay, and
tread the morter, make strong the brickkiln.
14. Aquas obsidionis hauri tibi, robora munitiones tuas, ingredere in lutum, calca
caementum, fortifica fornacem (vel, laterem; alii vertunt, tene, vel, apprehende.)
15. There shall the fire devour thee; the sword shall cut thee off, it shall eat thee
up like the cankerworm: make thyself many as the cankerworm, make thyself many
as the locusts.
323Both Homer and Virgil have this comparison. "{Αχαιδες} {ουκ} {ετ} {Αχαιοι} --- Grecian women, not
Grecians.'' --- ``O! vere Phrygiae, neque enim Phryges --- O truly Phrygian women, but not Phrygians.''
JOHN CALVIN
15. Illic vorabit te ignis, exterminabit te gladius, comedet te quasi bruchus (alii
vertunt, quasi bruchum;) multiplicari (ad verbum, vel, multiplicando; est {}כירק
quasi bruchus,) multiplicare quasi locusta.
The Prophet goes on with the same subject, --- that the Ninevites would labor
in vain, while striving anxiously and with every effort to defend themselves against
their enemies. The meaning then is, ``That though thou remittest no diligence, yet
thou shalt lose all thy labor; for thou wilt not be able to resist the vengeance of God;
and thou deceives thyself if thou thinkest that by the usual means thou canst aid
thyself; for it is God who attacks thee by the Babylonians. How much soever then
thou mayest accumulate of those things which are usually employed to fortify cities,
all this will be useless.'' Draw for thyself, he says, waters for the siege; that is, lay
up provisions for thyself, as it is usually done, and have water laid up in cisterns;
strengthen thy fortresses, that is, renew them; enter into the clay for the sake of
treading the mortar: fortify, or cement, or join together; the brick-kiln (for what some
think that {,}חזקchezek, means, here is to hold, or to lay hold, is wholly foreign to
the Prophet's meaning:) to fortify then the brickkiln, that is, the bricks which come
forth from the kiln, nothing else than to construct and join them together, that there
might be a solid building: for we know that buildings often fall, or are overturned,
because they are not well joined together: and he refers to the mode of building
which historians say was in use among the Assyrians. For as that country had no
abundance of stones, they supplied the defect by bricks. We now then understand
the intention of the Prophet.
But he adds, There shall the fire consume thee There is much importance in the
adverb of place, there, which he uses: there also, he says, shall the fire eat thee up:
for he expresses more than before, when he said, that the Assyrians would weary
themselves in vain in fortifying their city and their empire; for he says now, that
the Lord would turn to their destruction those things in which they trusted as their
defenses; There then shall the fire consume thee We now then see what the Prophet
means.
We must at the same time observe, that he mentions water; as though he said,
However sparingly and frugally thy soldiers may live, being content with water as
their drink, (for it is necessary, when we would firmly resist enemies, to undergo
all indulgences, and if needs be to endure want, at least the want of delicate meat
and drink,) --- though thy soldiers be content with water, and seek not water fresh
from the spring or the river, but drink it from cisterns, and though thy fortresses
be repaired, and thy walls carefully joined together in a solid structure, by bricks
well fitted and fastened, yet there shall the fire consume thee; that is, thy frugality,
exertion, and care, not only will avail thee nothing, but will also turn out to thy ruin;
for the Lord pronounces accursed the arrogance of men, when they trust in their own
resources.
He afterwards adds, Exterminate thee shall the sword; that is, the Lord will find
out various means by which he will consume thee. By the fire, then, and by the
sword, will he waste and destroy thee. He then says, He will consume thee as the
chafer we may read the last word in the nominative as well as in the objective case ---
MINOR PROPHETS
He as a chafer will consume thee. If we approve of this rendering, then the meaning
would be, --- ``As chafers in a short time devour a meadow or standing corn, so
thy enemies shall soon devour thee as with one mouthful.'' We indeed know, that
these little animals are so hurtful, that they will very soon eat up and consume all
the fruit; and there is in these insects an astonishing voracity. But as the Prophet
afterwards compares the Assyrians to chafers and locusts, another sense would be
more suitable, and that is, --- that God's judgment would consume the Assyrians, as
when rain, or a storm, or a change of season, consumes the chafers; for as these
insects are very hurtful, so the Lord also exterminates them whenever he pleases. 324 He afterwards adds, to be multiplied; which is, as I have said, a verb in the
infinitive mood. But the sentence of the Prophet is this, by multiplying as the chafer,
to multiply as the locusts: but why he speaks thus, may be better understood from
the context; the two following verses must be therefore added ---
Nahum 3:16-17
16. Thou hast multiplied thy merchants above the stars of heaven: the canker-
worm spoileth, and flieth away.
16. Multiplicasti negotiatores tuos quasi stellas coelorum; bruchus praedatus est
et avolat.
17. Thy crowned are as the locusts, and thy captains as the great grasshoppers,
which camp in the hedges in the cold day, but when the sun ariseth they flee away,
and their place is not known where they are
17. Principes tui (vel, coronati; deducitur enim a {}רזכquod significat coronam;
sed malo vertere, egregios, vel, praestantissimos quosque; principes ergo tui, vel,
eximii tui) quasi locusta, et duces tui quasi locusta locustarum (est quidem aliud
nomen, sed non possumus certo distinguere inter illas species, quemadmodum dic-
tum est Jaelis 1 capite,) quae castramentantur (id est, considunt) in maceriis (id
est, clausuris) in die frigoris: sol exortus est, et migrarunt; et non cognoscitur locus
earum ubi.
From these words we may learn what the Prophet before meant, when he said that
the Assyrians were like locusts or chafers; as though he said, --- ``I know that you
trust in your great number; for ye are like a swarm of chafers or locusts; ye excel
greatly in number; inasmuch as you have assembled your merchants and traders
as the stars of heaven.'' Here he shows how numerous they were. But when he
says, The chafer has spoiled, and flies away, he points out another reason for the
comparison; for it is not enough to lay hold on one clause of the verse, but the
two clauses must be connected; and they mean this, --- that the Assyrians, while
they were almost innumerable, gloried in their great number, --- and also, that this
vast multitude would vanish away. He then makes an admission here and says, by
multiplying thy merchants, thou hast multiplied them; but when he says, as chafers
and as locusts, he shows that this multitude would not continue, for the Lord would
scatter them here and there. As then the scattering was nigh, the Prophet says that
they were chafers and locusts.
324Grotius agrees in this view, though Newcome takes the former, explaining, "as the locust," that is, in a manner equally unsparing. — Ed.
JOHN CALVIN
We now understand the design of the Prophet: He first ridicules the foolish con-
fidence with which the Assyrians were inflated. They thought, that as they ruled
over many nations, they could raise great armies, and set them in any quarter to
oppose any one who might attack them: the Prophet concedes this to them, that is,
that they were very numerous, by multiplying thou hast multiplied; but what will this
avail them? They shall be locusts, they shall be chafers. --- How so? A fuller explana-
tion follows, Thou hast multiplied thy merchants as the stars of heaven: but this shall
be temporary; for thou shalt see them vanishing away very soon; they shall be like
the chafers, who, being in a moment scattered here and there, quit the naked field
or the meadow. But by merchants or traders some understand confederates; and
this comparison also, as we have before seen, frequently occurs in the Prophets: and
princes at this day differ nothing from traders, for they outbid one another, and excel
in similar artifices, as we have elsewhere seen, by which they carry on a system of
mutual deception. This comparison then may be suitable, Thou hast multiplied thy
traders, --- tes practiciens. But the meaning of the Prophet may be viewed as still
wider; we may apply this to the citizens of Nineveh; for the principal men no doubt
were merchants: as the Venetian of the present day are all merchants, so were the
Syrians, and the Ninevites, and also the Babylonians. It is then nothing strange, that
the Prophet, by taking a part for the whole should include under this term all the
rich, Thou hast then multiplied thy merchants 325
He has hitherto allowed them to be very numerous; but he now adds, The chafer
has spoiled, and flies away The verb means sometimes to spoil, and it means also
to devour: The chafer then has devoured, and flies away; that is, ``Thy princes, (as
he afterwards calls them,) or thy principal men, have indeed devoured; they have
wasted many regions by their plunders, and consumed all things on every side, like
the chafers, who destroy the standing corn and all fruits: thou hast then been as
a swarm of chafers.'' For as chafers in great numbers attack a field, so Nineveh
was wont to send everywhere her merchants to spoil and to denude the whole land.
``Well,'' he says ``the chafer has devoured, but he flies away, he is scattered; so
it shall happen,'' says the Prophet, ``to the citizens of Nineveh.'' And hence he
afterwards adds,
And thy princes are as locusts: this refers to the wicked doings, by which they laid
waste almost the whole earth. As then the locusts and chafers, wherever they come,
consume every kind of food, devour all the fields, leave nothing, and the whole land
becomes a waste; so also have been thy princes; they have been as locusts and
thy leaders as the locusts of locusts, that is, as very great locusts; for this form, we
know, expresses the superlative degree in Hebrew. Their leaders were then like the
most voracious locusts for the whole land was made barren by them, as nothing was
capable of satisfying their avarice and voracity.
The Prophet then adds, They are locusts, who dwell in the mounds during the
325The latter clause of the last verse and this verse and the following are evidently connected. The first, {,{התכבדhath {}יadded to it in ten or more copies, and may be deemed an imperative as well as the other, and in
the feminine gender; Calvin takes it an infinitive. This would be literal rendering --- Increase thyself as the chafer, Increase thyself
as the locust, 16. Multiply thy merchants more than the stars of heaven: The chafer spoils, and flies away: 17. Thy crowned ones
shall be as the locusts, And thy rulers as the gibbous caterpillar; Which lodge in the fences in the cold day; The sun rises and they
flit away, And not known is the place where they are. --- Ed.
MINOR PROPHETS
time of cold; but when the sun rises, not known any more is their place He now
shows, that it would not be perpetual, that the Ninevites would thus devour the
whole earth, and that all countries would be exposed to their voracity; for as the
locusts, he says, hide themselves in caverns, and afterwards fly away, so it shall
happen to thy princes. But this passage may be taken to mean, --- that the Ninevites
concealed themselves in their hiding-places during the winter, and that when the
suitable time for plundering came, they retook themselves in different directions,
and took possession of various regions, and brought home plunder from the remotest
parts. This meaning may be elicited from the words of the Prophet; and the different
clauses would thus fitly coalesce together, that when the Ninevites left their nests,
they dispersed and migrated in all directions. I do not at the same time disapprove
of the former meaning: they are then like locusts, who lodge in mounds during the
time of cold; but when the sun rises, --- that is, when the season invites them, (for he
speaks not of the winter sun,) but when the heat of the sun prevails and temperate
the air, --- then, he says, the locusts go forth and fly away, and known no more is
their place He means, in short, that the Ninevites plundered, and that they did so
after the manner of locusts; and that a similar end also was nigh them; for the Lord
would destroy them, yea, suddenly consume them, so that no trace of them could
be found. It follows ---
Nahum 3:18
18. Thy shepherds slumber, O king of Assyria: thy nobles shall dwell in the dust:
thy people is scattered upon the mountains, and no man gathereth them
18. Dormitaverunt pastores tui, rex Assur; jacuerunt fortes tui; dispersus est
populus tuus super montes, et nemo congregans.
He confirms the preceding verse, and says that there would be no counsel nor
wisdom in the leading men: for the shepherds of the king of Assyria were his coun-
selors, in whose wisdom he trusted, as we know that kings usually depend on their
counselors: for they think that there is in them prudence enough, and therefore
they commit to them the care of the whole people. But the Prophet ridicules the
confidence of the king of Assyria, because the shepherds would not have so much
vigilance as to take care of themselves, and of the people, and of the whole king-
dom. He speaks in the past tense, either to show the certainty of the prediction,
or because the change of tenses is common in Hebrew. Lie still, he says, shall thy
mighty men; 326 that is, they shall remain idle; they shall not be able to sally out
against their enemies, to stop their progress. They shall then lie still: and then he
says, Scattered are thy people {,}פושpush, is not to scatter; hence I doubt not, but
that there is a change of letter, that {,}שschin, is put for {,}ץtzaddi; and I am sur-
prised that some derive the verb from {,}פושpush, when, on the contrary, it is from
{,}פוףputs, and the change of these two letters is common in Hebrew. Thy people
then are dispersed on the mountains and there is no one to assemble them
326Fortes tui, {,{אדיריךthy eminents, thy nobles. ``The shepherds,'' the governers of the people, ,{}נמוslumber; and
the nobles, the princes, ,{}ישכנוrest, sit still, without making any effort: then it follows, --- Dispersed are thy people on the
mountains, And there is no gatherer. Calvin is mistaken as to the meaning of the verb :{}פושit means more properly, than the
other, a dispersed state. It is applied in Leviticus 13:5, and in other places, to the spreading of leprosy. When so used, it is in Kal.
It is here, and here only, in Niphal. --- Ed.
JOHN CALVIN
By these words the Prophet means, that such would be the scattering of the whole
kingdom, that there would be no hope of restoration; There will then be none to
assemble them He had said before that the chiefs or mighty men would be still.
Though it would be needful to go forth to check the progress of their enemies; yet
he says, They shall idly lie down: He refers here to their sloth. But the people who
ought to be quiet at home, as being weak and feeble, shall be dispersed on the
mountains, and no one will be there to gather them It follows ---
Nahum 3:19
19. There is no healing of thy bruise; thy wound is grievous: all that hear the
bruit of thee shall clap the hands over thee: for upon whom hath not thy wickedness
passed continually?
19. Non est contractio (vel, cicatrix) fracturae tuae; dolore est plena plaga tua;
omnes qui audierint famam tuam (id est, de te) percutient manum super te; quia
super quem non transiit malitia tua jugiter?
The Prophet shows here more clearly, that when the empire of Nineveh should be
scattered, it would be an incurable evil, that every hope of a remedy would be taken
away. Though the wicked cannot escape calamity, yet they harbor false expecta-
tions, and think that they can in a short time gather new strength. Hence, in order
to take from them this hope, the Prophet says, that there would be no contraction of
the fracture 327 And this is a striking similitude; for he compares the ruin of Nineveh
to a wound which cannot be seamed and healed. There is then no contraction; some
render it, a wrinkle, but improperly. There is then no contraction: and he adds, Thy
stroke is full of pain; 328 that is, the pain of thy stroke cannot be allayed. This is one
thing, --- that the ruin of Nineveh would be irreparable.
Then he says, Whosoever shall hear the report, shall strike the hand on thy ac-
count Many give this rendering, They shall clap the hand over thee, or with the hands;
and they think that the singular is put for the plural number. But as in Hebrew to
strike the hand is a token of consent, it would not be unsuitable to say, that the
Prophet means, that wherever the report of this calamity would be heard, all would
express their approbation, ``See, God has at length proved himself to be the just
avenger of so much wickedness.'' To strike the hand is said to be done by those who
make an agreements or when any one pledges himself for another. 329 As then in
giving pledges, and in other compacts, men are said to strike the hand; so also all
shall thus give their assent to God's judgment in this case, ``O how rightly is this
done! O how justly has God punished these tyrants, these plunderers.'' They will
then strike the hand on thy account; that is, ``This thy ruin will be approved;'' as
though he said, ``Not only before God art thou, Nineveh, accursed, but also accord-
ing to the consent of all nations.'' And thus he intimates, that Nineveh would perish
327{{}כהה-{}לשברך{ אין--- No stopping or restraining to thy breach. The word is applied to the restraint put on men's
wickedness, 1 Samuel 3:13, and to the checking and restraining of the spread of leprosy, Leviticus 6:28. The breach or breaking
was such that there was no stopping of it from becoming entire and complete. The Septuagint gives the meaning---''{ουκ} {εστιν}
{εασις} {τη} {συντριβη} {σου} --- there is no healing to thy breach.'' --- Ed.
328Rather, "grievous is thy stroke." The verb is {,{נחלהfrom ,{}חלהto be languid, and sometimes, to make
languid, grievous or afÒictive, and then in Niphal, as here, to be grievous. See the same clause in Jeremiah 10:19. As a noun it is
rendered ``grief'' in Isaiah 17:11. --- Ed.
329The phrase here used, {{}כף{, תקעis found in three other places, Psalm 47:1; Proverbs 17:18; 22:26. In the first
it is a symptom of joy; and in the two other places, in the sense here mentioned. --- Ed.
MINOR PROPHETS
in the greatest dishonor and disgrace. It sometimes happens that an empire falls,
and all bewail the event: but God here declares, that he would not be satisfied with
the simple destruction of the city Nineveh without adding to it a public infamy, so
that all might acknowledge that it happened through his righteous judgment.
He afterwards adds, For upon whom has not thy wickedness passed continually?
This is a confirmation of the last clause; and this reason will suit both the views which
have been given. If we take the striking of the hand for approbation, this reason will
be suitable. --- How? For all nations will rejoice at thy destruction, because there is
no nation which thou hast not in many ways injured. So also, in token of their joy, all
will congratulate themselves, as though they were made free; or they will clap their
hands, that is, acknowledge that thou hast been destroyed by the judgment of God,
because all had experienced how unjustly and tyrannically thou hast ruled. As then
thy wickedness has been like a deluge, and hast nearly consumed all the earth, all
will clap or shake their hands at thy ruin.
And he says, continually, to show that God's forbearance had been long exercised.
Hence, also, it appears, that the Assyrians were inexcusable, because, when God
indulgently spared them, they did not repent, but pursued their wicked ways for a
long course of time. As then to their sinful licentiousness they added perverseness,
every excuse was removed. But the Prophet does, at the same time, remind the
Israelites, that there was no reason for them to be cast down in their minds, because
God did not immediately execute punishment; for by the word {,}תמידtamid, he
insinuates, that God would so suspend for a time his judgment as to Nineveh, that
his forbearance and delay might be an evidence of his goodness and mercy. We
hence see that the Prophet here opposes the ardor of men, for they immediately
grow angry or complain when God delays to execute vengeance on their enemies.
He shows that God has a just reason for not visiting the wicked with immediate
punishment; but yet the time will come when it shall appear that they are altogether
past recovery, --- the time, I say, will come, when the Lord shall at length put forth
his hand and execute his judgment.
Prayer.
Grant, Almighty God, that as we are not able to keep a firm footing in the way
of justice and uprightness, --- O grant, that, being governed by thy Spirit, we may
restrain ourselves from doing any harm, and thus abstain from all evil deeds, and
that we may labor to do good to all, so that we may, by experience, find that all are
protected by thee, who so conform themselves to the rule of thy Law, that they take
no advantage of the simple, either for the purpose of ruining or of injuring them, but
who, being content with their own small portion, know that there is nothing better
than to be wholly subject to thee, and to thy guidance: and may we thus live in
forbearance and justice towards our neighbors, that we may, at the same time, rely
on thy mercy, by which alone we can be defended, and made safe against so many
assaults of Satan and of the wicked, until, having at length completed the course of
our warfare, we shall come into that blessed rest which has been prepared for us in
heaven by Christ Jesus our Lord. Amen.
End of the Commentaries on Nahum.
Historical Scripture
Translations
Translation: Joel 1
Chapter 1
1 The word of Jehovah which came to Joel, the son of Pethuel.
2 Hear this, ye the aged; And give ear, al ye inhabitants of the land; Hath this
been in your days, Or in the days of your fathers?
3 This to your children declare, And your children to their children, And their
children to the next generation, ---
4 ``The residue of the locust hath the chafer eaten, ``The residue of the chafer
hath the cankerworm eaten, ``The residue of the cankerworm hath the caterpillar
eaten.''
5 Awake ye drunkards, and weep; Howl ye all who drink wine for the new wine;
For cut off it is from your mouth.
6 Verily a nation came up over my land, Strong and without number: Its teeth the
teeth the teeth of a lion, And its jaw-bones those of a young lion:
7 It exposed my vine to desolation, And my fig-tree to the stripping of the bark;
By denuding it denuded it and cast it away, White have been made its branches.---
8 Lament as a young woman, girded with sackcloth, For the husband of her youth.
9 Cut off is offering and libation From the house of Jehovah; Mourn do the priests,
the ministers of Jehovah;
10 Wasted is the field, mourn does the land; For laid waste is the corn, Dried up
is the wine, destroyed is the oil.
11 Be ashamed, ye husbandmen, howl, ye vinedressers, On account of the wheat
and the barley; For perished has the harvest of the field,
12 The vine is dried up, and the fig-tree is destroyed; The pomegranate, the palm
also and the apple tree,--- All the trees of the field have dried up: Verily dried up is
joy among the children of men!
13 Be girded and lament, ye priests; Howl ye ministers of the altar; Come, spend
the night in sackcloth, Ye ministers of my God; For withheld from the house of your
JOHN CALVIN
God Is offering and a libation:
14 Sanctify a fast, call an assembly, Gather the elders, all the inhabitants of the
land, Into the house of Jehovah your God, And cry ye to Jehovah.---
15 Alas the day! For nigh is the day of Jehovah, And as a desolation from the
Almighty it will come.
16 Has not the meat before your eyes been cut off, Joy and gladness from the
house of our God?
17 Rotted have the grains under the clods, Desolate are the granaries, Pulled
down have been the barns, For dried up has the corn.
18 How has the beast groaned! Confounded are the herds of oxen! For wanting
to them are pastures; The flocks of sheep are also desolate.
19 To thee Jehovah will I cry; For the fire hath consumed the pastures of the desert,
And the flame hath burnt all the trees of the field:
20 The beasts of the field will also cry to thee; For dried up have the streams of
waters, For the fire hath consumed the pastures of the desert.
Translation: Joel 2
Chapter 2
1 Sound ye the trumpet in Zion, And cry aloud on my holy mountain: Let all the
inhabitants of the land tremble; For coming is the day of Jehovah, for nigh it is,---
2 A day of darkness and thick darkness, A day of cloudiness and of obscurity, Like
the dawn expanding over the mountains,--- A people, great and strong, The like of
them has not been from the beginning, Nor after them shall be for many generations;
3 Before them, a devouring fire, And after them, a flame, shall burn; Like the
garden of Eden the land before them, And after them, a desert of solitude; And so
there will be no escape from them:
4 As the appearance of horses, their appearance, And as horsemen they will run;
5 As the sound of chariots on the tops of mountains shall they leap, As the sound
of the flame of fire devouring the stubble, As a strong people prepared for battle;
6 Their face will the people dread, All faces will gather blackness;
7 As giants will they run here and there, As men of war will they ascend the wall,
And each in his ways will proceed, And they shall not stay their goings;
8 No one will thrust his brother, Every one in his way will march on; On the sword
shall they fall, and shall not be wounded;
9 Though the city shall they go, over the wall shall they run, Into houses shall
they climb, Into the windows shall they enter like a thief:
10 Before them shall tremble the earth, And in anguish shall be the heavens, The
sun and moon shall be darkened, And the stars shall withdraw their brightness;
11 And Jehovah will utter his voice before his army, For very great will be his
camp. For strong is he who doeth his word; For great will be the day of Jehovah, And
very terrible, and who will endure it?
12 But even now, saith Jehovah, Turn to me with your whole heart, And with
fasting, and weeping, and mourning;
13 And rend your heart, and not your garments, And turn to Jehovah your God;
JOHN CALVIN
For he is propitious and merciful, Slow to wrath, and abundant in goodness, And will
repent of the evil:
14 Who knows, whether he will return and repent, And leave behind him a
blessing--- An offering and a libation to Jehovah your God?
15 Sound ye the trumpet in Zion, Sanctify a fast, proclaim a meeting,
16 Gather the people, sanctify the assembly, Bring together the aged, gather the
children And those suckling the breasts; And let the bridegroom come forth from his
recess, And the bride from her chamber;
17 Between the porch and the altar let the priests, The ministers of Jehovah, weep
and say,--- ``Be propitious, Jehovah, to thy people, ``And give not thy heritage to
reproach, ``That the nations should rule over them; ``Why should they say among
the people, ```Where is their God?' ''
18 Then jealous will Jehovah be for his land, And he will be propitious to his people;
19 And Jehovah will answer, and say to his people: 330 ``Behold, I will send to
you corn, and wine, and oil, ``And ye shall be satisfied with them; ``And I will make
you no more a reproach among the nations;
20 ``And the Northlander will I remove far from you, ``And drive him to a desert
and dry land, ``With his face to the eastern sea, ``And his rear to the hindmost sea;
``And ascend shall his ill savor, ``And ascend shall his rottenness; ``For high hath
he exalted himself to do his purpose.''
21 Fear not, thou land; exult and rejoice; For Jehovah hath high exalted himself
to do his purpose:
22 Fear not, ye beasts of the fields; For grow shall the pastures of the desert, For
the tree shall bring forth its fruit, The fig-tree and the vine shall yield their substance:
23 And ye children of Zion, exult, And rejoice in Jehovah your God; For he will give
you rain in due measure, And make to come down for you the showering rain, And
the rain in the first month;
24 And filled shall the floors be with corn, And overflow shall the vats with wine
and oil;
25 And I will restore years to you For those which the locust hath eaten, The
chafer, and the caterpillar,--- My great army, which I sent to you:
26 And eating, ye shall eat and satisfy yourselves, And shall praise the name of
Jehovah your God, Because he hath dealt wondrously with you; And ashamed shall
not my people be for ever.
27 And ye shall know that in the midst of Israel I am, And that I Jehovah am your
God, and none else; And ashamed shall not my people be forever.
28 And shall it be afterwards, That I will pour my Spirit on all flesh, And prophesy
shall your sons and your daughters, And your old men shall dreams dream, And your
young men shall visions see;
29 And also on servants and maid-servants Will I in those days pour my spirit:
30 And I will set prodigies in heaven and on earth,--- Blood and fire, and columns
of mist;
330This line is rendered to the version of Calvin, and not according to his comment. See p. 75.
MINOR PROPHETS
31 The sun shall be turned into darkness, The moon into blood, Before it comes-
--the day of Jehovah, great and terrible:
32 Then it shall be, that whosoever shall call On the name of Jehovah, shall be
delivered; For in mount Zion and in Jerusalem Shall be deliverance, as Jehovah hath
promised, And for the residue whom Jehovah shall call.
Translation: Joel 3
Chapter 3
1 For, behold in those days, and at that time, When I shall restore the captivity of
Judah and Jerusalem, I will then gather all the nations, and bring them down to the
valley of Jehosaphat; And I will there contend with them, For my people and for my
heritage Israel; Because they have scattered them among the nations,
2 And divided my land, and on my people cast lots, And have given a boy for a
harlot, And have sold a girl for wine, that they may drink.
3 And yet, what have ye to do with me, O Tyre and Sidon, and all the borders of
Palestine? Will ye recompense return to me?
4 Now if ye repay me with this, Quickly---suddenly will I return Your recompense
on your own head.
5 Because ye have taken away my silver and my gold, And my desirable things
have removed to your temples,
6 And have sold the children of Judah and the children of Jerusalem To the children
of the Grecians, That ye might drive them far from their own borders;---
7 Behold, I will raise them from the place to which ye have sold them, And will
return your recompense on your head;
8 For I will sell your sons and your daughters to the children of Judah, And they
shall sell them to the Sabeans, a distant nation; For thus hath Jehovah spoken.
9 Publish this among the nations, Proclaim a war, rouse the strong, Let them
come, let them ascend, all the men of war:
10 Beat your plowshares into swords, And your pruning-hooks into spears; Let
the weak say, ``I am strong.''
11 Assemble and come all ye nations, Assemble all around; There will Jehovah
lay prostrate all thy valiant ones.
12 Awake let the nations, and ascend to the valley of Jehosaphat; For there will I
sit to judge all the nations around.
MINOR PROPHETS
13 Put forth the sickle, for ripened has the harvest; Come, go down, for full is the
wine-press, Overflowing are the vats, For multiplied has their wickedness.
14 Nations! Nations! In the valley of the sledge; For nigh is Jehovah's day in the
valley of the sledge: The sun and the moon shall be darkened, And the stars shall
withdraw their brightness;
15 And Jehovah from Zion shall roar, And from Jerusalem shall utter his voice, And
tremble shall the heavens and the earth;
16 But Jehovah will be a hope to his people, And a strength to the children of
Israel:
17 Then ye shall know that I Jehovah am your God, Dwelling in Zion, the mount
of my holiness; And Jerusalem shall be holiness, And aliens shall pass through it no
more.
18 And it shall be in that day, That distill new wine shall the mountains, And the
hills shall cause milk to run down, And all the rivers of Judah shall send forth waters;
A fountain also from the house of Jehovah shall go forth, And it shall water the valley
of Shittim.
19 Egypt shall be a solitude, And Edom shall be a desert of solitude, For the
outrage done to the children of Judah, Because they shed innocent blood in their
own land:
20 But Judah shall forever safely dwell, And Jerusalem shall be from age to age;
And I will cleanse their blood which I have not cleansed, And Jehovah shall dwell in
Zion.
Translation: Amos 1
Chapter 1
1 The words of Amos, who was among the shepherds at Tekos, which he saw
concerning Israel, in the days of Uzziah, king of Judah, and in the days of Jeroboam,
the son of Joash, king of Israel, two years before the earthquake; and he said,---
2 Jehovah from Zion will roar, And from Jerusalem will he utter his voice; And
perish shall the habitations of shepherds, And wither shall the top of Carmel.
3 Thus saith Jehovah,--- For three transgressions of Damascus, and for four, I will
not be propitious to it; (157) Because they have threshed Gilead with iron wains:
4 And I will send fire into the house of Hazael, And it shall devour the palaces of
Benhadad;
5 And I will break in pieces the bar of Damascus, And cut off the inhabitant from
the plain of Aven, And the holder of the scepter from the house of Eden; And removed
shall be the people of Syria to Kir, saith Jehovah.
6 Thus saith Jehovah,--- For three transgressions of Gaza, and for four, I will not
be propitious to it; For they carried away a complete captivity, To shut them up in
Edom:
7 And I will send a fire on the wall of Gaza, And it shall devour its palaces;
8 And I will cut off the inhabitant from Azotus, And the holder of the scepter from
Ascalon; And I will turn my hand against Ekron, And perish shall the remnants of the
Philistines, Saith the Lord Jehovah.
9 Thus saith Jehovah,--- For three transgressions of Tyrus, and for four, I will not
be propitious to it; For they have shut up a complete captivity in Edom, And have
not remembered the covenant of brethren:
10 And I will send a fire on the wall of Tyrus, And it shall devour its palaces.
11 Thus saith Jehovah,--- For three transgressions of Edom, and for four, I will not
be propitious to it; For he pursued with the sword his own brother, And destroyed his
own compassions; And raged continually has his anger, And his wrath has he kept
MINOR PROPHETS
perpetually:
12 And I will send a fire on Teman, And it shall devour the palaces of Bozrah.
13 Thus saith Jehovah,--- For three transgressions of the children o Ammon, and
for four, I will not be propitious to him; For they have rent the pregnant women of
Gilead, That they might extend their own borders:
14 And I will kindle a fire on the wall of Rabbah, And it shall devour its palaces,
With clamor in the day of battle, With whirlwind in the day of tempest;
15 And pass shall its king into captivity, He and his princes together, saith Jeho-
vah.
Translation: Amos 2
Chapter 2
1 Thus saith Jehovah,--- For three transgressions of Moab, and for four, I will not
be propitious to him; For he burnt the bones of the king of Edom into ashes:
2 And I will send a fire on Moab, And it shall devour the palaces of Kirioth; And
die in a tumult shall Moab, With shouting, at the sound of the trumpet;
3 And I will cut off the judge from the midst of him, And with him all his princes
will I slay, saith Jehovah.
4 Thus saith Jehovah,--- For three transgressions of Judah, and for four, I will not
be propitious to him; For they have despised the law of Jehovah, And his statutes
have they not kept; And to go astray have their lies made them, After which their
fathers walked:
5 And I will send a fire on Judah, And it shall devour the palaces of Jerusalem.
6 Thus saith Jehovah,--- For three transgressions of Israel, and for four, I will not
be propitious to him; For they have sold the just for silver, and the poor for shoes;
7 Panting for the dust of the earth on the head of the needy, They turn aside the
way of the miserable; The son and his father enter in into the same maid, So that
they profane my holy name;
8 And on pledged garments they lie near every altar, And the wine of the con-
demned they drink In the house of their god.
9 Yet I exterminated the Amorite before their face, Whose tallness was like the
tallness of cedars, And who was strong like the oak; And I destroyed his fruit above
and his root beneath;
10 And I brought you up from the land of Egypt, And led you in the desert forty
years, That you might possess the land of the Amorite;
11 And I raised up Prophets from your sons, And from your youths, Nazarites;---
Have I not done all this, O children of Israel, saith Jehovah:
12 But to the Nazarites have ye quaffed wine; And on my Prophets have ye laid
MINOR PROPHETS
a command, Saying, ``Ye shall not prophesy.''
13 Behold, I am fast bound under you, (196) As a wagon is bound, which is full of
sheaves.---
14 Perish shall flight from the swift, And the valiant shall not confirm his strength,
And the strong shall not deliver his life,
15 And the holder of the bow shall not stand, And the swift on foot shall not
escape, Nor shall he who mounts a horse save his life;
16 Yea, the strong of heart, among the valiant, Shall flee away naked in that day,
saith Jehovah.
Translation: Amos 3
Chapter 3
1 Hear ye this word which Jehovah pronounces Against you, children of Israel---
against the whole family, Which I brought up from the land of Egypt, saying,---
2 ``Only you have I known of all the families of the earth, ``I will therefore visit
on you all your iniquities.''
3 Can two walk together, except they be agreed?
4 Will a lion roar in the forest, when he has no prey? Will a young lion roar in his
den, when nothing is taken?
5 Will a bird fall into a snare on the ground without a fowler? Will a fowler take up
his snare from the ground before he catches?
6 Shall a trumpet sound in a city, and the people tremble not? Shall there be an
evil in a city, which Jehovah hath not done?
7 For nothing will the Lord Jehovah do, Except he has revealed his secret to his
servants the Prophets.
8 The lion hath roared, who would not fear? The Lord Jehovah hath spoken, who
would not prophesy?
9 Publish in the palaces of Ashdod, And in the palaces of the land of Egypt, and
say,--- ``Assemble ye on the mountains of Samaria, ``And see the great tumults
within it, ``And the oppressions in the midst of it.''
10 And they know not how to do right, saith Jehovah,--- Treasuring up the fruit of
robbery and plunder in their palaces.
11 Therefore thus saith the Lord Jehovah,--- Lo, an adversary! And one around the
land! And he will take from thee thy strength, And plundered shall be thy palaces.
12 Thus saith Jehovah,--- As when a shepherd snatches from the mouth of a lion
Two legs and the extreme part of the ear, So shall be rescued the children of Israel,
Who dwell in Samaria in the corner of a bed, And in Damascus on a couch.
13 Hear ye and testify to the house of Israel, Saith the Lord Jehovah, the God of
MINOR PROPHETS
hosts,---
14 That in the day in which I shall visit upon him the sins of Israel, I will also visit
the altars of Bethel; And broken shall be the horns of the altar, And they shall fall to
the ground;
15 And I will smite the winter-house with the summer-house, And perish shall the
houses of ivory, And come to an end shall the great houses, saith Jehovah.
Translation: Amos 4
Chapter 4
1 Hear this word, ye cows of Bashan, Which are on the mountain of Samaria,
Which oppress the poor, which crush the needy, Which say to their masters, ``Bring,
and we shall drink.''
2 Sworn hath the Lord Jehovah by his sanctuary, That, lo, in the days are coming
on you, That he will take you away by a hook, And your residue by a fishing-hook;
3 And through the breaches shall ye go out, Each one over against her; And ye
shall cast yourselves down from the palace, saith Jehovah.
4 Go ye to Bethel and transgress, And in Gilgal transgress still more, And bring,
in the morning, your sacrifices, In the third year, your tithes,
5 And burn incense with the leaven of thanks-offering. And publish voluntary
offerings, proclaim them; For so it hath pleased you, O children of Israel, Saith the
Lord Jehovah.
6 But I even gave you cleanness of teeth in all your cities, And want of bread in
all your borders; Yet ye turned not to me, saith Jehovah:
7 I also withheld from you the rain, When as yet there were three months to the
harvest; And I rained on one city, And on another city I made it not to rain; One part
was rained upon, And the part where it rained not dried up;
8 And there came two and three cities to one city, To drink water, and were not
satisfied; Yet ye turned not to me, saith Jehovah:
9 I smote you with the east wind and mildew; Your large gardens and your vine-
yards, (236) And your fig-trees and your olives the chafer devoured; Yet ye turned
not to me, saith Jehovah:
10 I sent on to you the plague after the manner of Egypt; I smote with the sword
your strong men, And led captive your horses; I made to ascend the stench of your
camps even to your nostrils; Yet ye turned not to me, saith Jehovah:
11 I overthrew you as God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah, And ye were as a
MINOR PROPHETS
brand snatched from the burning; Yet ye turned not to me, saith Jehovah.
12 Therefore thus will I do to thee, Israel, And because I will do this to thee,
Prepare thyself to meet thy God, Israel.
13 For, behold he who formed the mountains, Who created the spirit, Who de-
clares to man what is his thought, Who makes the dawn and the darkness, Who
walks on the high places of the earth,--- Jehovah, God of Hosts, is his name.
Translation: Amos 5
Chapter 5
1 Hear ye this word which I raise upon you, Even a lamentation, O house of Israel.
2 Fallen is the virgin of Israel, and she will rise no more; Left is she on her land,
none is there to raise her up.
3 For thus saith the Lord Jehovah,--- The city from which went forth a thousand,
There will remain in it a hundred; And that from which it went forth a hundred, There
will remain ten to the house of Israel.
4 For thus saith Jehovah to the house of Israel,--- Seek ye me, and ye shall live;
5 And seek not Bethel, and to Gilgal go not, And pass not over to Beersheba; 331
For Gilgal by migrating shall migrate, And Bethel shall be as nothing:
6 Seek Jehovah, and ye shall live, Lest he advance as a fire on the house of Joseph,
And devour it, and there be none to quench it in Bethel.
7 They turn judgment into wormwood, And righteousness they cast on the
ground.---
8 He who made Pleiades and Orion, (261) Who turns darkness into morning, And
darkens the day into night, Who calls the waters of the sea, And pours them on the
face of the earth,--- Jehovah is his name;
9 Who strengthens a waster against the strong, And against a fortress shall a
waster ascend. (263)
10 They hate in the gate a reprover, And the speaker of right they abominate.
11 As ye have trodden the poor under foot, (266) And a burden of corn have taken
from him, Houses of hewn stone shall ye build, But ye shall not dwell in them; And
pleasant vineyards shall ye plant, But ye shall not drink their wine;
12 For I know your many iniquities, and your mighty sins; Oppressors of the just!
And takers of ransom! And the poor in the gate they turn aside.
331"And travel not to Beersheba," or "make no pilgrimage to Beersheba." The verb {{עבר
expresses going abroad to another country. Beersheba belonged to the kingdom of Judah. --- Bp. Horsley.
MINOR PROPHETS
13 Therefore the prudent at that time will be silent, For an evil time it is. (270)
14 Seek ye good, and not evil, that ye may live; And so Jehovah, the God of Hosts,
Will be with you, as ye have said.
15 Hate evil, and love good, And set up judgment in the gate; It may be, that
Jehovah, the God of Hosts, Will show mercy to the remnants of Joseph.
16 Therefore Jehovah, the God of Hosts, the Lord, saith,--- In all the streets of
concourse shall be lamentation, And in all the highways shall they say, ``Woe! Woe!''
(279) And they shall call the husbandman to mourning, And lamentation shall be to
all skillful in mourning;
17 And in all the vineyards shall be lamentation; For I will pass through the midst
of thee, saith Jehovah.
18 Woe to those who desire the day of Jehovah! What will this be to you? The
day of Jehovah will be darkness and not light;
19 As when one flees before a lion, and a bear meets him; Or comes to his house,
and leans with his hand on a wall, And a serpent bites him.
20 Shall not the day of Jehovah be darkness and not light? And thick darkness
and no brightness?
21 I hate, I abhor your festal-days, And I will not smell at your solemnities;
22 Verily, when ye offer me your burnt-offerings and your gifts, I will not count
them acceptable; And the peace offering of your fat things I will not regard.
23 Take away from me the number of thy songs, And the harmony of the lyres; I
will not hear them:
24 And run down as waters shall judgment, And righteousness as an impetuous
torrent. (292)
25 Have ye offered to me sacrifices and an oblation In the desert for forty years,
O house of Israel?
26 But ye bore Sicuth, your king, and Chion, Your images, the stars being your
gods; Which ye made for yourselves. (295)
27 To migrate therefore I will make you beyond Damascus, Saith Jehovah, the
God of Hosts is his name.
Translation: Amos 6
Chapter 6
1 Woe to the secure in Zion, And to the confident on the mount of Samaria; (302)
Which have been renowned from the beginning of the nations; And entered in into
them has the house of Israel.
2 Pass ye over into Calneh and see, Go hence to Hamath the great, And come
down to Gath of the Philistines, Are they better than these kingdom? Is their border
larger than your border?
3 Woe to you who drive far off the evil day, And draw nigh the throne of violence;
4 Who lie down on beds of ivory, And extend themselves on their couches; Who
eat lambs from the flock, And calves from the midst of the stall;
5 Who sing to the sound of the harp, And like David invent instruments of music;
6 Who drink wine in bowls, And with the chief ointments anoint themselves, And
grieve not for the bruising of Joseph.
7 They shall now therefore emigrate at the head of the emigrants, And come shall
the mourning of those who extend themselves. (312)
8 Sworn hath the Lord Jehovah by himself, Saith Jehovah, the God of hosts,---
Abhor do I the excellency of Jacob, And his palaces I regard with hatred, And I will
deliver up the city and its fullness.
9 And it shall be, that when there shall remain Ten men together in one house,
they shall die:
10 And take him shall one's uncle and burn him, In order to take away his bones
from the house, And shall say to him who shall be at the sides of the house, ``Is
there yet any one with thee?'' And he will say, ``There is an end;'' Then he shall say,
``Be silent, For it is not for us to remember the name of Jehovah.''
11 For, behold, Jehovah commands, And he will smite the great house with con-
fusions, And the small house with fissures.
12 Will horses run on a rock? Will it be ploughed by oxen? For to gall have ye
MINOR PROPHETS
turned judgment, And the fruit of righteousness to hemlock;
13 Ye rejoice in a thing of nought, ye say,--- Have we not in our own strength
Raised up for ourselves horns?
14 Behold, I will surely raise against you a nation, O house of Israel, saith Jehovah,
the God of hosts: And they shall straighten you from the entrance of Hamath to the
river of the plain.
Translation: Amos 7
Chapter 7
1 Thus hath the Lord Jehovah showed me,--- Even lo, he formed locusts when
grass began to grow, And, lo, it was the grass after the cuttings of the king:
2 And it was, after they had finished to eat, That I then said, ``Lord Jehovah,
spare, I pray; Who will restore Israel, for he is small?''
3 Jehovah repented of this; ``It shall not be,'' said Jehovah.
4 Thus hath the Lord Jehovah showed me,--- Even lo, the Lord Jehovah called to
contend by fire; And it devoured the great deep and their portion:
5 And I said, ``Lord Jehovah, cease, I pray; Who will restore Israel, for he is small?
6 Jehovah repented of this; ``This also shall not be,'' said the Lord Jehovah.
7 Thus hath he showed me,--- Even lo, the Lord stood on a plumbline wall, And in
his hand a plumbline,
8 And Jehovah said to me, ``What seest thou, Amos?'' And I said, ``A plumbline:''
Then said the Lord, ``Behold, I shall set A plumbline in the midst of my people Israel;
I will no longer pass by them:
9 And destroyed shall be the high places of Isaac, And overthrown shall be the
sanctuaries of Israel, And I shall rise up against the house of Jeroboam with the
sword.''
10 Then sent Amaziah, the priest of Bethel, To Jeroboam, king of Israel, saying,-
-- ``Conspired against thee has Amos In the midst of the house of Israel; The land
cannot bear all his words:
11 For thus saith Amos,--- `By the sword shall Jeroboam die, And Israel, by mi-
grating, shall migrate from their own land.'''
12 Amaziah said also to Amos,--- ``Seer, go, flee into the land of Judah, And there
eat bread, and there prophesy:
13 But in Bethel, prophesy no more; For it is the king's sanctuary, and the house
of the kingdom.''
MINOR PROPHETS
14 Then answered Amos, and said to Amaziah,--- ``No Prophet was I, nor was I a
Prophet's son, For a shepherd I was, and a gatherer of sycamores:
15 But Jehovah took me from after the sheep, And Jehovah said to me,--- `Go,
prophesy to my people Israel.'
16 And now hear the word of Jehovah, thou who sayest,--- `Prophesy not concern-
ing Israel, And speak not concerning the house of Isaac:'
17 Therefore thus saith Jehovah,--- Thy wife in the city shall be prostituted, And
thy sons and thy daughters shall by the sword fall, And thy land shall by a line be
divided, And thou in a polluted land shalt die, And Israel, by migrating, shall migrate
from their own land.''
Translation: Amos 8
Chapter 8
1 Thus hath the Lord Jehovah showed me,--- Even lo, a basket of summer-fruit;
2 And he said, ``What seest thou, Amos?'' And I said, ``A basket of summer-fruit.''
Then Jehovah said to me,--- ``Come has the end of my people Israel, I will no more
pass by them.''
3 And howlings shall be the songs of the temple In that day, saith the Lord Jehovah;
Many a dead body, in every place, Shall be cast down in silence. (362)
4 Hear this, ye who swallow up the poor, And exterminate the needy of the land,
saying,---
5 ``When will pass the new moon, that we may sell corn? And the Sabbath, that
we may bring out wheat, And lesson the ephah, and increase the shekel, And turn
one side the deceitful balances?
6 That we may buy with silver the poor, And the needy for shoes, And sell the
refuse of corn.''
7 Sworn hath Jehovah by the excellency of Jacob, ``I shall not forget any of their
works.''
8 Shall not the land be for this in a tumult, And every one who dwells in it mourn?
Yea, heave up as a river shall the whole of it, (371) And it shall be driven and sunk
as by the river of Egypt.
9 And it shall be in that day, saith the Lord Jehovah, That I will cause the sun to
set at noon, And will darken the land in a clear day;
10 I will also turn your festal-days to mourning, And all your songs to lamentation;
And to come up on all loins will I make sackcloth, And upon every head, baldness;
And I will set her as in mourning for an only son, And her posterity as in the day of
bitterness. (375)
11 Behold, the days are coming, saith Jehovah, When I shall send a famine on
the land, Not the famine of bread, nor thirst for waters, But for hearing the words of
MINOR PROPHETS
Jehovah;
12 And they shall wander from sea to sea, And from the south to the east shall
they run, To seek the word of Jehovah, and shall not find it:
13 And in that day shall faint, The fair virgins and young men, for thirst;
14 Who swear by the sin of Samaria, and who say,--- ``Live does thy God, O Dan,
And live does the way of Beersheba;'' And they shall fall and rise again no more.
Translation: Amos 9
Chapter 9
1 I saw the Lord standing on the altar, and he said,--- ``Smite the lintel, and moved
shall be the pillars, And strike the head of them all; And the rest of them with the
sword shall I slay: Flee from them shall not he who fleeth, And escape from them
shall not he who escapeth: (385)
2 If they dig to hell, thence my hand shall bring them out; And if they ascend to
heaven, I will thence draw them down;
3 And if they hide themselves on the top of Carmel, There will I search for and
draw them forth; And if they be hid from my eyes in the bottom of the sea, I will
there command the serpent to bite them;
4 And if they go to captivity before their enemies, I will there command the sword
to slay them; Yea, I will set my eyes on them For evil, and not for good.''
5 And the Lord, Jehovah of Hosts, will smite the land, And it will tremble, and
mourn shall all who dwell in it; And heave up like a river shall the whole of it, And it
shall be sunk as by the river of Egypt.---
6 He who builds his ascendings in the heavens, And founds his jointings on the
earth, Who calls the waters of the sea, And pours them on the face of the earth,---
Jehovah is his name. (392-3)
7 Are ye not as the children of the Ethiopians to me? O house of Israel, saith Jeho-
vah; Did I not make Israel to ascend from Egypt, And the Philistines from Cappadocia,
And the Syrians from Kir?
8 Behold, the eyes of Jehovah are on every wicked kingdom; And I will destroy it
from the face of the earth; Except that by destroying I shall not destroy The house
of Jacob! Saith Jehovah.
9 For, behold, I will command, And I shall shake the house of Israel among all
nations, As wheat is shaken in a sieve, And fall shall not a grain on the ground:
10 By the sword shall die all the wicked of my people, Who say, ``Draw near and
MINOR PROPHETS
overtake us Shall not, for our sake, the evil.''
11 In that day I will raise up the tent of David, That is fallen, and I will fence in its
breaches, And its ruins will I raise up; And I will build it as in ancient days;
12 That possess they may the remnants of Edom, And all the nations on whom
my name shall be called, Saith Jehovah, the doer of this.
13 Behold, the days are coming, saith Jehovah, That meet shall the plowman the
reaper, And the treader of grapes the bearer of seed; And distill shall the mountains
sweet wine, And all the hills shall flow down with milk
14 And I will restore the captivity of my people Israel; And they shall build wasted
cities, and dwell in them; They shall plant vineyards, and drink their wine; They shall
make gardens, and eat their fruit:
15 And I will plant them in their own land, And they shall be plucked up no more
From their own land, which I have given to them, Saith Jehovah, thy God.
Translation: Obadiah 1
CHAPTER 1.
1 The vision of Obadiah: Thus saith the Lord Jehovah against Edom,--- A rumor
have we heard from Jehovah, And a messenger to the nations has been sent,---(423)
``Arise ye, and we shall arise against her to battle.''
2 Lo, small have I set thee among the nations, Despised greatly wert thou: (425)
3 The pride of thine heart hath deceived thee, Who dwellest in the clefts of the
rock: ``Who shall draw me down to the ground?''
4 If thou shouldst rise high as the eagle, And if among the clouds thou shouldest
set thy nest, Thence shall I draw thee down, saith Jehovah.
5 Have thieves come to thee, or night-robbers? How hast thou been reduced to
silence? Have they not stolen what sufÏced them? Have vintagers come to thee?
Have they not left some clusters?---
6 How much sought out have been the things of Esau, And thoroughly searched
his hidden places!
7 To the border have they driven thee, All the men of thy confederacy; Deceived
thee, prevailed against thee, have they, The men who were at peace with thee;
The men who did eat thy bread Have set a wound under thee:--- There is in him no
understanding!
8 Shall I not in that day, saith Jehovah, Destroy the wise from Edom, And under-
standing from the mount of Esau? Yea, broken down shall be thy valiant ones, O
Teman,
9 So that cut off shall be every man, From the mount of Esau by slaughter.
10 For the oppression of thy brother Jacob, Cover thee shall reproach, And thou
shalt be cut off forever.
11 In the day when thou didst stand on the other side, In the day when aliens
took away his substance, And foreigners entered his gates, And on Jerusalem did
cast lots, Even thou wert as one of them.
MINOR PROPHETS
12 But thou shouldest not look on the day of thy brother, In the day of his alien-
ation; Nor shouldest rejoice over the children of Judah, In the day of their destruction;
Nor speak with thy mouth proud things, In the day of distress;
13 Nor shouldest thou enter the gate of my people, In the day of their destruction;
Nor look on him, especially thou, in his distress, In the day of his destruction; Nor
stretch thy hand to his substance, In the day of his destruction:
14 Nor shouldest thou stand on the outlets, To destroy those who were escaping;
Nor deliver up his remnants in the day of distress.
15 Seeing that near is the day of Jehovah on all nations, As thou hast done, it
shall be done to thee, Thy reward shall be returned on thine own head;
16 For as ye have drunk on my holy mountain, Drink shall all nations continually;
They shall drink and drink up; And they shall be as though they never had been.
17 But in mount Zion shall be deliverance, And Zion shall be holiness; And possess
shall the house of Jacob their own possessions:
18 The house of Jacob shall be also a fire, And the house of Joseph a flame, And the
house of Esau shall be chaff; And kindled they shall be among them, and consume
them; And no remnant shall be to the house of Esau; For thus hath Jehovah spoken.
19 They shall also possess the south of the mount of Esau, And the plain, even
that of the Philistines; And they shall possess the fields of Ephraim And the fields of
Samaria, And Benjamin shall possess Gilead:
20 And the emigrants of this host of the children of Israel Shall possess the land of
the Canaanites to Zarephath; And the emigrants of Jerusalem, what is in Sepharad,
Even the southern cities: (451)
21 And ascend shall saviors to mount Zion, To judge the mount of Esau; And
Jehovah's shall be the kingdom.
Translation: Jonah 1
Chapter 1
1 And the word of Jehovah came to Jonah the son of Amittai, saying,
2 ``Arise, go to Nineveh, to that great city, and cry against it; for their wickedness
has ascended before my face.''
3 But Jonah rose up to flee to Tarshish from the presence of Jehovah, and went
down to Joppa, and found a ship, which was going to Tarshish; and he paid the fare,
and went down into it,, that he might go with them to Tarshish from the presence of
Jehovah.
4 And Jehovah sent a strong wind on the sea, and a great tempset arose in the
sea, and the ship was thought to be breaking:
5 And the mariners feared, and cried every one to his god, and cast out the wares,
which were in the ship, into the sea, that it might be lightened of them; but Jonah
had gone down to the sides of the ship; and he lay down and slept.
6 And the pilot came to him, and he said to him, --- ``What meanest thou, O
sleeper? Arise, call on thy God, if so be that God will show himself propitious to us,
that we may not perish.''
7 And they said each to his friend, --- ``Come and let us cast lots, that we may
know for what cause is this evil come upon us.'' And they cast lots, and the lot fell
upon Jonah.
8 And they said to him, --- ``Tell us now why has this evil happened to us, what is
thy work, and whence comest thou, what is thy country, and from what people art
thou?''
9 And he said to them, --- ``I am an Hebrew, and I fear Jehovah, the God of heaven,
who made the sea and the dry land.''
10 And the men feared with great fear, and said to him, --- ``Why hast thou done
this?'' (52) For the men knew that he was fleeing from the presence of Jehovah,
because he had told them.
MINOR PROPHETS
11 And they said to him, ``What shall we do to thee, that the sea may be still to
us?'' for the sea was going and was tempestuous.
12 And he said to them, --- ``Take me and cast me into the sea, and the sea will
be still to you; for I know that on my account is this great tempest come upon you.''
13 But the men toiled to bring back the ship, (59) and they could not; for the sea
was going and was tempestuous against them.
14 And they cried to Jehovah, and said, --- ``We beseech, Jehovah, we pray, that
we perish not for the life of this man, and lay not on us innocent blood; for thou,
Jehovah, hast done as it has seemed good to thee.'' (62)
15 Then they took Jonah, and cast him into the sea; and the sea stopped from its
raging.
16 And with great fear, the men feared Jehovah, and sacrificed a sacrifice to
Jehovah, and vowed vows.
17 And Jehovah provided a great fish to swallow up Jonah; and Jonah was in the
bowels of the fish three days and three nights.
Translation: Jonah 2
CHAPTER 2
1 And Jonah prayed to Jehovah his God from the belly of the fish,
2 And said, --- I cried in my distress to Jehovah, and he heard me; (75) From the
belly of the grave I cried, thou didst hear my voice.
3 But cast me hadst thou into the deep, Into the midst of the seas, and the flood
surrounded me; All thy billows and waves over me passed:
4 Then I said, --- ``I am driven from the sight of thine eyes; But I would again see
the temple of thy holiness.''
5 Beset me did the waters even to the soul, The deep on every side surrounded
me, The sedge was wrapped around my head:
6 To the roots of the mountains I descended, The earth with its bars was around
me forever: But to ascend hast thou made my life from the grave, O Jehovah my
God.
7 When fail did my soul within me, Jehovah did I remember, And enter did my
prayer into the temple of thy holiness.
8 They who observe lying vanities, Their own mercy forsake: (87)
9 But I, with the voice of praise, will sacrifice to thee; What I have vowed will I
pay: To Jehovah belongs salvation.
10 And Jehovah commanded the fish, and it cast forth Jonah on the dry land.
Translation: Jonah 3
CHAPTER 3
1 And the word of Jehovah came to Jonah the second time, saying, ---
2 ``Arise, go to Nineveh, to that great city, and proclaim to it the proclamation
which I command thee.'' (92)
3 And Jonah arose, and went to Nineveh, according to the command of Jehovah.
4 Now Nineveh was a very great city, a journey of three days. And Jonah began
to enter a journey of one day, and cried and said, ``Yet forty days, and Nineveh shall
be overthrown.''
5 And the men of Nineveh believed God, and proclaimed a fast, and put on sack-
cloth, from the greatest of them even to the least of them:
6 For word had come to the king of Nineveh, and he arose from his throne, and
cast aside his splendid robe from him, and put on sackcloth and sat on ashes;
7 And it was proclaimed and published through Nineveh, by the counsel of the
king and his nobles, saying, --- ``Man and beast! Ox and sheep! Let them taste
nothing, let them not be fed, and let them not drink water;
8 And let man and beast put on sackcloth, and cry to God mightily; (107) and
return let every one from his evil way, and from the plunder that is in their hands.
9 Who knows, whether God will change and repent, and turn away from the fury
of his wrath, that we perish not?''
10 And God saw their works, that they turned from their evil way; and God re-
pented of the evil which he had declared that he would do to them, and did it not.
Translation: Jonah 4
CHAPTER 4
1 And Jonah was grievously displeased, and he was very angry; (116) and he
prayed to Jehovah, and said, ---
2 ``I pray thee, Jehovah, was not this my word, when I was yet in my own land?
I therefore hastened to flee to Tarshish; for I knew that thou are a God full of grace,
and merciful, slow to wrath, great in kindness, and who repentest of evil.
3 And thou, Jehovah, take, I pray, my life from me; for better it is for me to die
than to live.''
4 And Jehovah said to him, --- ``Doest thou well in being angry?'' (129)
5 And Jonah went out of the city, and sat on the east over against the city, and
made there for himself a tent, and sat under it in the shade, until he saw what might
be in the city.
6 And Jehovah God prepared a gourd, and made it to come up for Jonah, that it
might be a shade over his head, and free him from his distress; and Jonah rejoiced
for the gourd with great joy.
7 God also prepared a worm, when the morning rose the next day, which smote
the gourd, and it withered:
8 And it was, when the sun arose, that God prepared an impetuous wind, and the
sun smote the head of Jonah, and he fainted, and wished for himself that he might
die, and said, ``Better is my death than my life.''
9 And God said to Jonah, --- ``Doest thou well in being angry for the gourd?'' and
he said, --- ``I do well in being angry even unto death.''
10 And Jehovah said, --- ``Thou wouldest have spared the gourd, for which thou
hast not labored, and which thou has not raised up; the daughter of a night it was, 332 and as the daughter of a night it has passed away;
332It is literally, "the son of a night," but as cucurbita, gourd, is feminine, Calvin adopted filia instead of filius — Ed.
MINOR PROPHETS
11 And should I not spare Nineveh, this great city, in which there are twelve times
ten thousand men, every one of whom knows not his right hand from his left, and
also many animals?''
Translation: Micah 1
CHAPTER 1
1 The word of Jehovah, which came to Micah, the Morasthite, in the days of
Jotham, Ahaz, Hezekiah, kings of Judah, which he saw concerning Samaria and
Jerusalem:
2 Hear, all ye people, Give ear, O earth, and its fullness; (155) And the Lord
Jehovah shall be against you a witness, Even the Lord from the temple of his holiness:
3 For, behold, Jehovah goeth forth from his place, And will descend and tread on
the heights of the earth;
4 And melt shall the mountains under him, And rent shall be the valleys; As wax
before the fire, As waters rolling into a lower place. (160)
5 For the wickedness of Jacob is all this, And for the transgressions of the house
of Israel: What is the wickedness of Jacob? Is it not Samaria? And what are the high
places of Judah? Are they not those of Jerusalem? (162)
6 I will therefore make Samaria A heap of the field, a plantation for vineyards;
And I will roll into the valley its stones, And its foundations will I discover;
7 And all her graven images shall be broken down, And all her rewards shall be
burnt in the fire, And all her idols will I lay desolate; For from the reward of a harlot
hath she gathered, And to the reward of a harlot shall they return.
8 For this will I wail and howl, I will go spoiled and naked; I will make wailing as
the dragons, And mourning as the daughters of the ostrich: (170)
9 For grievous is her stroke, For it has come to Judah, It has reached the gate of
my people---even Jerusalem.
10 In Gath tell ye it not; weeping, weep not; In the house of Ophrah, roll thyself
in the dust.
11 Pass over also, thou inhabitant of Saphir, Naked and in shame; Go forth shall
not the inhabitant of Zaanan, In the mourning of Beth-ezel; She will take from you
her station. (176)
MINOR PROPHETS
12 Verily, grieved for good has the inhabitant of Maroth; For come down has evil
from Jehovah To the gate of Jerusalem.
13 Tie the chariot to the dromedary, Thou inhabitant of Lachish; The beginning
of sin has she been to the daughter of Zion; For in thee have been found the trans-
gressions of Israel.
14 Thou shalt therefore send presents, For Moresheth-gath, to the sons of Achzib,
(180) Who have been a deception to the kings of Israel.
15 Yet a possessor will I send to thee, inhabitant of Mareshah; Even to Adullam,
the glory of Israel, shall he come.
16 Make bald, and poll thyself, For the children of thy delicacies; Enlarge thy
baldness as the eagle, Inasmuch as they have migrated from thee.
Translation: Micah 2
CHAPTER 2
1 Woe to those who devise iniquity, And contrive wickedness on their beds! When
the morning shines, they execute it; For to do it their hand is ready.
2 And they covet fields, and forcibly take them; And houses, and they take them
away; And they oppress a man and his house, A man and his heritage. (187)
3 Therefore, thus saith Jehovah, --- Behold, I am devising against this family an
evil, From which ye shall not remove your necks; And ye shall not walk in your height,
For an evil time will it be.
4 In that day shall they take up against thee a proverb, And bewail with a
lamentable lament, And say, ``Wasted, we are laid waste; The portion of my people
has he changed; How he takes away from me instead of restoring! Our fields he
divides.'' (191)
5 There shall not therefore be for thee One to cast a line for lot in the assembly
of Jehovah.
6 ``Prophecy not, ye who prophesy;'' --- They shall not prophesy for them; --- He
will not take reproaches. (195)
7 O thou who art called the house of Jacob! Is the Spirit of Jehovah straightened?
Are these his works? Are not my words good to him Who walks uprightly? (201)
8 And they who were heretofore my people, Have risen up as an enemy against
me; The robe of beauty they plunder From those who pass by securely, As those who
return from war. (203)
9 The women of my people have ye expelled From the house of their delights;
From their children have ye taken away My ornament forever. (204)
10 Arise, depart, for this is not your rest; Because it has been polluted: (206) He
will scatter you with a violent scattering.
11 If a man, walking in the spirit, and lying deceitfully, says, ``I will prophesy to
thee of wine and of strong drink,'' He shall be the prophet of this people. (208)
MINOR PROPHETS
12 Gathering, I will gather the whole of thee Jacob, Assembling, I will assemble
the residue of Israel; I will set them together as the sheep of Bozrah, As a flock in
the midst of its fold; They shall make a noise on account of the number of men.
13 Ascend shall a breaker before them, They shall break through and pass the
gate; Yea, they shall go out through it; And pass shall their king before them, And
Jehovah at their head. (215)
Translation: Micah 3
CHAPTER 3
1 And I said, ``Hear, I pray, ye princes of Jacob; And ye rulers of the house of
Israel: Is it not for you to know judgment?''
2 But they hate good and love evil; They pull off the skin from them, And the flesh
from their bones:
3 Yea, they devour the flesh of my people, And their skin they strip from them,
And their bones they break, And make them small as for the pot, And their flesh for
the cauldron.
4 They shall then cry to Jehovah, And he will not answer them, But he will hide
his face from them at that time, As they have acted perversely in their doings.
5 Thus saith Jehovah to the Prophets, Who deceive my people, And bite with their
teeth, and cry, ``Peace;'' And when any one putteth not in their mouth, Against him
they declare war;
6 Night shall therefore be to you instead of a vision, And darkness shall be to
you instead of divination;' And set shall the sun on the Prophets, And darkened over
them shall be the day: (227)
7 And ashamed shall be the seers, And confounded shall be the diviners; And
they shall all cover their lips, For there will be no answer from God.
8 But I indeed am filled with power, By the Spirit of Jehovah, yea, with judgment
and courage, To declare to Jacob his wickedness, And to Israel his sin.
9 Hear this, I pray, ye princes of the house of Jacob, And ye rulers of the house of
Israel, Who abominate judgment, And all rectitude pervert; (237)
10 Who build Zion by blood, And Jerusalem by iniquity.
11 Its princes judge for reward, And its priests for wages teach, And its prophets
for money divine; And on Jehovah they lean, saying, ``Is not Jehovah in the midst of
us? Come upon us shall no evil.''
12 Therefore for you Zion as a field shall be plowed, And Jerusalem shall be a
MINOR PROPHETS
heap, And the mount of the house as the heights of a forest.
Translation: Micah 4
CHAPTER 4
1 But it shall be in the last days, That the mount of the house of Jehovah Shall
be set in order on the top of the mountains, And elevated shall it be above the hills;
And assemble there shall nations; (252)
2 And go shall many nations and say, --- ``Come and let us ascend to the mount
of Jehovah, And to the house of the God of Jacob; And he will teach us of his ways,
And we will walk in his paths:'' For from Zion shall go forth a law, And the word of
Jehovah from Jerusalem;
3 And he will rule among many people, And convince strong nations afar off; (260)
And beat their swords shall they into plowshares, And their spears into pruninghooks;
And lift up shall not a nation against a nation a sword, And they shall learn war no
more;
4 And they shall sit everyone under his own vine, And under his own fig-tree;
And none will there be to terrify them; For thus hath the mouth of Jehovah of hosts
spoken.
5 For all people shall walk, Every one in the name of his god; (271) But we will
walk In the name of Jehovah our God forever.
6 In that day, saith Jehovah, I will assemble the lame, And the driven out will I
gather, And her whom I have afÒicted:
7 And I will make the lame a remnant, And the driven out a strong nation; Reign
over them shall Jehovah on mount Zion, From henceforth, even forever.
8 And thou tower of the flock, The fortress of the daughter of Zion, To thee it
shall come; Yea, come shall the former dominion; The kingdom, to the daughter of
Jerusalem.
9 Why dost thou now cry with a loud crying? Is there no king in thee? Has thy
counselor perished? For seized thee has pain as one in travail.
10 Be in pain, and groan, O daughter of Zion, As a woman in travail; For go forth
MINOR PROPHETS
shalt thou from the city, And thou shalt dwell in the field, Yea, thou shalt go as far as
Babylon; There shalt thou be delivered, There shall Jehovah redeem thee From the
hand of thy enemies.
11 And now gathered against thee are many nations, Who say, ``Let her be con-
demned, And look shall our eye on Zion.'' (284)
12 But they know not the thoughts of Jehovah, And understand not his counsel;
For he shall gather them as a handful to the floor.
13 Arise, and thrash, thou daughter of Zion; For thy horn will I make iron, And thy
hoofs will I make brass; And thou shalt tear in pieces strong nations; And consecrate
to Jehovah their wealth, And their substance to the Lord of the whole earth.
Translation: Micah 5
CHAPTER 5
1 Assemble now thyself, thou daughter of a troop; A siege has he set against us:
(294) With a rod shall they smite on the cheek the judge of Israel.
2 And thou, Bethlehem Ephratah, Art small to be among the thousands of Judah!
From thee shall to me come forth One to be a ruler in Israel; And his goings forth are
from the beginning, From the days of ages.
3 He will therefore give them up till the time, When she who travails shall bring
forth, And return to the children of Israel Shall the residue of his brethren:
4 And he shall stand and feed in the power of Jehovah, In the majesty of the name
of Jehovah his God; And they shall quietly dwell, For he shall now be magnified to
the ends of the earth.
5 And he shall be our peace; When the Assyrian shall come into our land, And
when he shall tread in our palaces, Then we shall set up against him seven shep-
herds, And eight princes of men;
6 And they shall lay waste The land of the Assyrian by the sword, And the land
of Nimrod by their swords; (311) And he will deliver us from the Assyrian, When he
shall come into our land, And when he shall tread in our borders.
7 And the residue of Jacob shall be, Among the nations, in the midst of many
people, As a dew from Jehovah, as drops of rain on the grass; Which tarries not for
man, nor waits for the sons of men.
8 The residue of Jacob shall also be, Among the nations, in the midst of many
people, As a lion among the beasts of the forest, As a young lion among a flock
of sheep, Who, when he passes through, tears and carries away, And no one can
deliver.
9 Exalted shall be thy hand above thine enemies, And all thine adversaries shall
be cut off.
10 And it shall be in that day, saith Jehovah, That I will cut off thy horses from the
MINOR PROPHETS
midst of thee, And I will destroy thy chariots;
11 And cut off will I the cities of thy land, And will overthrow all thy fortresses;
12 And I will cut off diviners from thine hand, And soothsayers shall not be to
thee;
13 And cut off will I thy graven images, And thy stature from the midst of thee,
And thou shalt no more bow down Before the work of thy hands;
14 And I will demolish thy groves from the midst of thee, That I man destroy thine
enemies;
15 And in anger and fury will I execute on the nations A vengeance, which they
have not heard.
Translation: Micah 6
CHAPTER 6
1 Hear ye now what Jehovah saith, --- ``Arise, contend before the mountains, And
let the hills hear thy voice.''
2 Hear, ye mountains, the controversy of Jehovah, And ye strong foundations of
the earth; For Jehovah has a controversy with his people, And with Israel he will
contend: ---
3 ``My people! What have I done to thee? And in what have I molested thee?
Testify against me.
4 I have indeed made thee to ascend from Egypt, And from the house of servants
I redeemed thee; I sent before thee Moses, Aaron, and Miriam.
5 My people! Remember now What Balak, the king of Moab, consulted, And what
Balaam, the son of Bosor, answered him, And what happened from Shittim even to
Gilgal, That thou mayest know the righteousness of Jehovah.'' (336)
6 ``Wherewith shall I approach Jehovah? And bow down myself before the high
God? Shall I approach him with burnt-sacrifices? With calves a year old?
7 Will Jehovah be pleased with thousands of rams? With ten thousands of rivers of
oil? Shall I give my first-born as my sin-offering? The fruit of my loins as an expiation
For the wickedness of my soul?'' ---
8 He hath declared to thee, O man, what is good: And what does Jehovah require
from thee, But to do justice, and to love mercy, And to humble thyself to walk with
thy God?
9 The voice of Jehovah crieth to arouse; And the man of understanding will see
his name: Hear ye the rod, and who testifies of it.
10 Are there still in the house of the wicked The treasures of iniquity, And the
scanty detestable measure?
11 Shall I justify balances of wickedness, And the bag of deceitful weights?
12 For her rich men have filled themselves by violence, And her inhabitants have
MINOR PROPHETS
spoken falsehood, And their tongue is deceitful in their mouth.
13 And I also by smiting will afÒict thee, And thee will I destroy for thy sins: (352)
14 Thou shalt eat and not be satisfied, And thy casting down shall be in the midst
of thee; And thou shalt lay hold, and not deliver, And what thou deliverest will I give
up to the sword:
15 Thou shalt sow and not reap, Thou shalt press the oil, and not anoint thyself
with oil, And the new wine, and not drink wine.
16 For observed are the statues of Omri, And every work of the house of Ahab; And
ye walk in their counsels, That I should make thee a desolation, And her inhabitants
an hissing; And the reproach of my people ye shall bear.
Translation: Micah 7
CHAPTER 7
1 Woe is me! For I am as the ingatherings of summer, And as the bunches of the
vintage: There is no cluster to eat; The ripe fruits my soul hath desired. (360)
2 Perished has the meek from the land, And upright among men there is none;
For all lie in wait for blood, Every one hunts his brother with a net.
3 To effect the wickedness of their hands, The prince asketh, and the judge also,
for reward. And the great man speaks himself Of the mischief of his soul; and they
wrap it up. (365)
4 The good among them is like a brier, The upright is worse than a thorn-hedge:
The day of thy watchmen, thy visitation, is coming; They shall be their confusion.
5 Trust not a friend, put no faith in a counselor; From her who sleepeth in thy
bosom, Guard the openings of thy mouth:
6 For the son dishonors his father, The daughter rises up against her mother, The
daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law; Enemies to man are his own domestics.
7 But I to Jehovah will look, I will wait for the God of my salvation; Hear me will
my God.
8 Rejoice not thou over me, my enemy; (374) Though I have fallen, I shall rise
again; When I sit in darkness, Jehovah will be my light.
9 The wrath of Jehovah will I bear, (For I have sinned against him,) Until he plead
my cause, And execute judgment for me; He will bring me to light, I shall see his
righteousness:
10 And see shall my enemy, And cover her shall shame, who said to me, ---
``Where is Jehovah thy God?'' Mine eyes shall see her; And now trodden shall she
be as the mire of the street.
11 The day to build thy walls! That day shall remove far the decree:
12 And in that day to thee shall they come From Assyria and the cities of the
fortress, From the fortress also to the river, (386) And from sea to sea, and from
MINOR PROPHETS
mountain to mountain, ---
13 But the land shall become a desolation, On account of its inhabitants, For the
fruit of their works.
14 Feed thy people by thy crook, Thy flock of thy heritage, Who dwell in solitude,
in the wood, As in the midst of Carmel; They shall be fed in Bashan and Gilead, As
in the days of old. (392)
15 As in the days of thy going forth from the land of Egypt, I will show to him
wonderful things.
16 Shall see the nations, And be ashamed of all their might; They shall lay their
hand on their mouth, Their ears shall become deaf;
17 They shall lick the dust as a serpent, As reptiles of the earth shall they move
from their holes; Jehovah our God shall they dread, And they shall be afraid of thee.
18 What God is like thee, Taking away iniquity, And passing over transgression,
As to the remnant of his heritage? He will not retain forever his anger, For he loveth
mercy:
19 He will return, he will have mercy on us; He will tread down our iniquities, And
cast into the depths of the sea all their sins:
20 Thou wilt grant truth to Jacob, Mercy to Abraham; Which thou hast sworn to
our fathers In the days of old.
Translation: Nahum 1
CHAPTER 1
1 The burden of Nineveh, --- the book of the vision of Nahum the Elkoshite:
2 A God jealous, and an avenger is Jehovah; Avenger is Jehovah, and a retainer of
wrath; Take vengeance does Jehovah on his enemies, And keep it for his adversaries:
(421)
3 Jehovah is slow to wrath, and great in power, And by clearing he will not clear:
Jehovah! In the whirlwind and tempest is his way, And the cloud is the dust of his
feet: (424)
4 He chides the sea, and it becomes dry; And all the rivers he dried up; Languish
do Bashan and Carmel, And the flower of Lebanon languishes:
5 Mountains tremble at him, and hills melt; And burn does the earth before his
face, Yea, the world, and all who dwell in it. (427)
6 Before his indignation who can stand? And who can bear the fierceness of his
wrath? (429) His fury is poured out like fire, And rocks dissolve before him.
7 Good is Jehovah for strength in the day of distress; And he knoweth them who
hope in him.
8 But with an inundation, he, passing through, Will make a consummation in her
place; (433) And pursue shall darkness his enemies.
9 What do ye imagine against Jehovah? A consummation he makes! Not rise
again shall afÒiction.
10 They who are like entangled thorns, And drunken as with their own drinking
--- Devoured shall they be as stubble fully dry. (437)
11 From thee has gone forth a contriver of evil Against Jehovah, a wicked coun-
selor.
12 Thus saith Jehovah, --- Though they are secure, and though they are many,
They shall yet be cut off, and he shall pass through: (443) And through I have af-
flicted thee, I will afÒict thee no more;
MINOR PROPHETS
13 For now will I break off from thee his yoke, And his bonds will I burst asunder.
14 And a command respecting thee hath Jehovah given, --- ``Let none be sown
hereafter of thy name;'' From the house of thy gods will I cut off The graven and the
molten image; I will make thy grave, for thou art execrable.
15 Behold on the mountains the feet of him Who announceth, who publisheth
peace! Celebrate thou, Judah, thy solemnities, Perform thy vows; for pass through
thee Shall the wicked one no more, --- he is wholly cut off.
Translation: Nahum 2
CHAPTER 2
1 Come up is the destroyer before thy face; Watch the fortress, guard the way,
(455) Make strong the loins, fortify mightily thy strength:
2 (For taken away hath Jehovah the pride of Jacob, As he had done as to the pride
of Israel; As he had done as to the pride of Israel; For emptied them the emptiers,
And their branches have they cut down:)
3 The shield of his mighty ones are made red, The men of his strength are clad in
scarlet; With the fire of torches is the chariot, In the day of his expedition; And the
fir-trees tremulously shake:
4 In the wide places they madden with their chariots, The hurry away through the
streets, The appearance of them is that of lamps, As lightnings they run here and
there.
5 He will remember his valiant men, They shall stumble in their march, They shall
hasten to her wall, And prepared will be the defense.
6 The gates of the rivers are opened, And the palace is dissolved;
7 And she which stood firm is cast into exile, And her maids lead her as with the
voice of doves, Beating on their breasts. (463)
8 And yet Nineveh had been As a pool of waters from ancient days; But now they
flee --- ``Stand ye, stand;'' And no one regards.
9 Take ye away the silver, take away the gold; For there is no end of her prepara-
tions; Her glory is from every desirable vessel. (468)
10 Emptied and emptied is she, and denuded; And the heart is melted; And there
is a knocking of the knees, And trembling in all loins, And the faces of all withdraw
their brightness. (472)
11 Where is the abode of lions? Where came the lion, the lioness, the cub of the
lion; And none terrified them. (474)
12 The lion tare what sufÏced his whelps, And strangled for his lionesses, And
MINOR PROPHETS
filled with raving his caves, And his dens with prey.
13 Behold, I am against thee, saith Jehovah of hosts, And I will burn with smoke
her chariot, And thy young lions shall the sword devour, And I will cut off from the
land thy prey, And the sound of thy teeth shall no more be heard.
Translation: Nahum 3
CHAPTER 3
1 Oh blood city! The whole is full of deceit, and of ravin; From it the prey departs
not.
2 The sound of the whip! The sound of the rattling of the wheel! And the horse
prancing, and the chariot bounding!
3 The horseman urging onward! And the flame of the sword, and the lightning of
the spear! And the number of the slain, and the mass of carcasses! And there is no
end to her dead bodies, They stumble on their carcasses!
4 This is for the multitude of the fornications Of the harlot who excels in beauty,
The mistress of sorceries, Who sells nations by her fornications, And tribes by her
sorceries. (481)
5 Behold, I am against thee, saith Jehovah of hosts: And I will throw thy skirts over
thy face, And show to the nations thy nakedness, And to kingdoms thy filthiness;
6 And I will cast on thee filth, and disgrace thee, And I will make thee an example:
7 And it shall be, that whosoever seeth thee Shall flee away from thee, and say,
--- ``Wasted is Nineveh! Who will condole with her? Whence shall I seek comforters
for thee?
8 Are thou better than populous No, Which dwelt among the rivers? The sea was
around her; Whose mound was the sea, and the sea was her wall;
9 From Ethiopia was her strength, and from Egypt, And there was no end to it;
Africa and Lybia were her auxiliaries:
10 Even she migrated, she went into captivity; And her infants were bound in
chains.
11 Thou also shalt be inebriated, thou shalt be hid; And thou shat seek strength
from the enemy.
12 All thy fortresses shall be like fig-trees with ripe fruit; If they be shaken, they
fall into the mouth of the eater.
MINOR PROPHETS
13 Behold, thy people shall be women in the midst of thee; To thine enemies shall
be opened in the gates of thy land, Devour shall the fire thy bars.
14 Waters for the siege draw for thyself, Strengthen thy fortresses, Enter into the
clay, tread the mortar, Make strong the brick-kiln:
15 There shall the fire devour you, Exterminate thee shall the sword, It shall
devour thee as the chafer. Increase as the chafer, increase as the locust;
16 Thou hast multiplied thy merchants More than the stars of heaven; --- The
chafer has spoiled, and flies away.
17 Thy princes are as locusts, And thy captains are as the largest locusts; Which
encamp in the fences in the cold day; The sun rises, and they fly away, And not
known is the place where they are. (502)
18 Slept have thy shepherds, king of Assyria; Lie down did thy mighty men: Dis-
persed is thy people on the mountains, And no one gathers them.
19 There is no binding for thy fracture, Altogether grievous is thy wound; All who
shall hear a report of thee, Shall, on thy account, strike the hand; For upon whom
hath not passed Thy wickedness continually?
Addenda to Joel
ADDenda to Joel
Joel 1:4, The residue of the locusts, etc. ``A comparison,'' says Dr. Henderson,
``of the different passages in which these names occur, renders it more than proba-
ble that they are here employed by the Prophet, not with any reference to the species
into which the locusts may be scientifically divided, but to designate four successive
swarms, according to certain destructive qualities, by which, as a genus of insects,
they are distinguished, and thereby to heighten the terror which this description was
intended to produce.''
Mercerius, as quoted in Poli Syn., tells us, that almost all divines, both ancient and
modern, understood this narrative of the locusts allegorically; and it appears that,
according to some, they designate the four incursions of the Chaldeans into the
land, that is, by Tiglathpileser, Shalmanezer, Sennacherib, and Nebuchadnezzar; or,
according to Cyril, by Shalmanezer, Nebuchadnezzar, Antiochus, and the Romans;
or, according to Jerome, the four empires which successively ruled over the Jews, the
first locust representing the Chaldeans, --- the second, the Medes and Persians, --- the
third, the Macedonians, --- and the fourth, the Romans. But these are hallucinations
and not expositions. Much more appropriate is the opinion stated and approved
by Henderson, that in this chapter Joel describes a devastation of the country by
natural locusts; and that in the second he predicts a devastation by the Assyrians in a
language highly metaphorical, borrowed in some measure from the scene described
here; and this is exactly the view of Calvin.
Joel 2:12, But even now, etc. Our version, ``Therefor also now,'' is not so em-
phatical as that of Calvin. The full meaning has been perceived by Newcome, ``Yet
even now,'' though omitted by Henderson, whose rendering is, ``Now therefore,''
which comes short of our common version.
Joel 2:13, For he is propitious, etc. It is of great importance that this declaration
of what God is should be correctly rendered. Newcome's version is the same with
MINOR PROPHETS
our common translation. Henderson's is different; it is this, ---
``For he is pitiful and compassionate,
Long-suffering and of great mercy,
And repenteth of the evil.''
The first, {,}חנוןis not ``pitiful,'' but gracious, benevolent, propitious, gratuitously
kind, favorable to the undeserving; it comes from {,}חןto show favor or kindness;
and the last letter being doubled, it may be rendered, very kind, or very gracious. The
second is {,}רחוםwhich more properly means pitiful, but rightly rendered, ``com-
passionate,'' rather than ``merciful,'' as in our version. The third, {,}ארך{ }אפיםis
better expressed by ``slow to anger,'' or to wrath, than by ``long-suffering.'' The
fourth is, {}חסד-{,}רבmuch, or abundant in goodness: the word {}חסדis some-
times rendered mercy, but not properly; it means overflowing goodness, or exuber-
ant benevolence. Adam Clarke has given an accurate description of these terms: ---
*``gracious --- good and benevolent in his own nature, --- merciful* --- pitying and
forgiving, --- slow to anger --- not easily provoked to punish, --- of great kindness ---
exuberant goodness to all them who return to him.''
Joel 2:14, who knows, etc. Henderson has been very felicitous in his version of
this line, ---
``Who knoweth? He may turn and repent.''
It is an instance of the potential or subjunctive meaning of the future tense in
Hebrew; which is the case probably much oftener than what is generally thought.
But not so felicitous is the rendering of {,}חוסהin verse 17, by ``Have pity.'' The
meaning of the verb is, no doubt to spare, as it is rendered, I believe, uniformly in
our version. It may be seen in connection with two other verbs, which include the
ideas of pity and sympathy, in Jeremiah 13:14; 21:7
Joel 2:20, For high hath he exalted himself to do his purpose. Both Newcome and
Henderson retain the common version, only the former reads, ``Though,'' instead of
``because he hath done great things.'' {`` ,}כי{ }הגדיל{ }לעשותFor he made himself
great in (or, by) doing,'' or, ``Became great in doing.'' It is the greatness of the doer
that is set forth, rather than of the things done. Henderson very justly observes,
that those words ``convey the idea of moral agency, and can with no propriety be
interpreted of the locusts.'' Exactly the same words are adopted in the next verse in
reference to God.
Joel 2:25, My great army, etc. Newcome says, ``We have here a key to the
grand and beautiful description which runs through these two chapters.'' He con-
sidered that the Prophet is to be understood throughout ``as foretelling a plague of
locusts.'' But this can be no key to such an interpretation, for what is said in this
verse coalesces much better with the other view. On the supposition that there had
been locusts, as related in the first chapter, and that the Prophet threatens a heavier
judgment in this, which could only be prevented by repentance, to which he exhorts
them, it appears most appropriate for him to say, that not only ``the Northlander,'' of
whose invasion he had spoken, would be driven away and destroyed, but that also
the devastations already produced by the locusts would be repaired. So far then
is this verse from being a key to the proposed interpretation, that it is much more
JOHN CALVIN
suitable to the other.
Joel 2:30, And I will set prodigies, etc. Calvin extends the range of these prodigies
beyond what most commentators do. They are viewed by most as those prodigies,
recorded even by the historian Josephus, which preceded the overthrow of the city
and the temple by the Romans, when the whole kingdom, in a civil and ecclesiasti-
cal sense, was completely abolished. The day of the Lord, as mentioned here, has
therefore been regarded as the day or time when this awful calamity happened to
the Jews: but Calvin regards it as the day of final judgment. There is no doubt much
truth in what he says about prodigies or awful judgments ever accompanying the
gospel, not as its effects, but as visitations for unbelief, and willful and malicious
opposition to it. There is much in the history of the world in confirmation of what he
advances. The determinate suppression of the gospel by those who had opportunity
of knowing it, or the evident depravation of it either by the influence of infidelity or
of superstition, have often been visited in this world with awful judgments, such as
wars and political disturbances.
Addenda to Amos
Addenda to AMOS
Amos 2:7, Who pant, etc. Our common version is the literal one, which is fol-
lowed by Henderson, but altered for the worse by Newcome, who was led astray by
Hobigant and the Septuagint. Not only are the words inverted, but a change is made
in the verb, without the authority of any MS. It is a strong mode of expression to set
forth the extreme cruelty and avariciousness of the persons referred to. ``They even
begrudged them,'' as Henderson observes, ``the small quantity of dust they had cast
on their heads in token of mourning:'' or, as Parkhurst says, They ``longed to see
the poor and miserable still more wretched: a most diabolical character surely!'' To
cast dust on the head was then customary in seasons of great distress. See Job 2:12;
Ezekiel 27:30; and 2 Samuel 13:19
Amos 3:5, Will a bird fall into a snare on the earth without a fowler? etc. New-
come, with whom Henderson materially agrees, renders this verse differently, ---
``Can a bird fall into a snare upon the earth,
Where no gin is set for him?
Will a snare spring from the ground,
When it hath not taken anything?''
The comparison is more appropriate according to the version of Calvin; and the
probability is that it is the right one. The word {,}מוקשrendered, ``gin'' by New-
come, as it is in our version, is considered by Henderson as redundant; and this
very circumstance creates a suspicion that the passage is not rightly understood.
This word is often rendered in our version ``snare,'' but it means more properly the
act, ensnaring, than the instrument, snare: and it may be considered here a Hiphil
participle --- ``he who ensnares,'' or, ``the ensnarer.'' It is rendered {ἱξευτης}, a
bird catcher by the Septuagint. Then the two following lines will admit naturally
of Calvin's rendering, and there will be no need of having recourse to Henderson's
``elastic snare,'' or to Adam Clarke's ``spring-trap,'' neither of which is, I believe,
JOHN CALVIN
intended by the word {,}פחwhich signifies a snare spread out, or an expanded net.
See Job 18:9; Psalm 140:5; 142:3
Amos 4:3, And ye shall cast yourselves down from the palace. This difÏcult line
is variously rendered. Dathius renders it, ``To Amenia shall ye be led away;'' New-
come, following Houbigant, who always mends the text, ``And I will cast it forth,
and will utterly destroy it;'' Henderson, ``Ye shall be even thrown out of the palace;''
and Horsley, following Parkhurst, ``And ye shall be thrown into the shambles.'' The
whole difÏculty lies in the word {,}ההרמונהfound only here. The idea of shambles
agrees well with the context, in which cows are mentioned. Parkhurst, after Schul-
tens, derives it from {,}הרםnot found in Hebrew as a verb, but it means in Arabic,
``to cut into small pieces.'' Hence as a noun, {}הרמוןseems to denote the place in
which meat is thus cut. The {,}הas Parkhurst observes, is evidently radical, as it is
preceded by {}הservile. This appears to be the best solution of the difÏculty.
Amos 4:5, And burn incense, etc. The word for incense is not in the form of
a verb. Both Houbigant and Horsley take it here not a verb but a noun: but their
transpositions are by no means necessary. The latter part of the fourth verse, and
the whole of this, I would render thus, ---
And bring, in the morning, your sacrifices,
In the third year, your tithes,
5. And incense with the leaven of thank-offering,
Yea, publish vows, proclaim them; *
For thus ye love* to do, O children of Israel,
Saith the Lord Jehovah.
Amos 5:24, And run down, etc.,
``But judgment shall come rolling on like waters,
And justice like a resistless torrent.
``That is, the irresistible judgment and justice of God shall come upon those hyp-
ocrites like an inundation, and sweep them away like a torrent.'' --- Horsley.
Amos 6:1, which have been renowned, etc. Various are the expositions of this
and the following line. Newcome's version overleaps the rule of grammar, ---
``That are named after the chief of the nations,
And to them the house of Israel resort.''
The explanation is this, --- ``They call themselves, not after their religious ances-
tors, but after the chief of the idolatrous nations, with whom they intermarry contrary
to their law.'' How foreign to everything in the context is this! Henderson's rendering
is more like a version of the original, ---
``The distinguished men of the first of nations,
To whom the house of Israel come.''
He considers that the chief persons of the Hebrew nation are here spoken of, to
whom the house of Israel, the community, came for judgment: and this has little to
do with the context. Horsley seems to have given the most literal version, and the
most suitable to this place, ---
``Marking out the first of the nations,
Go unto them, O house of Israel.
MINOR PROPHETS
And then the Prophet mentions in the next who these nations were, ``Pass over,''
he says, ``into Calneh,'' etc. So that this distich is connected with the following
verses. For {,}נקביone copy of Kennicott has {`` ,}נקבוMark ye out,'' or, notice; this
would make the line complete. Though the Septuagint here goes much astray, yet
it gives the verb used here in the third person plural: and that person in Hebrew is
the same as the second person plural of the imperative.
Amos 9:12, That possess they may, etc. Both this and the preceding verse are
quoted, in Acts 15:16, 17, not literally, but mainly from the Septuagint, which differs
considerably in words, but not in sense, from the Hebrew. Newcome, with the view
of producing a verbal agreement, has changed and altered the Hebrew text without
the authority of a single MS. This is rightly disapproved both by Adam Clarke and
Henderson. The former says, ``We must dismiss all these conjectural emendations,
and take the Hebrew text as we find it. That it speaks of the conversion of the Jews
in gospel times, we have the authority of the New Testament; and if we cannot make
the words, as they stand there, entirely to agree with the words here, the subject is
not affected by it.''
Index of Scripture References
Genesis
10:10 15:9
16:1 16:1
18:26 19:14 27:40
27:41
36:15 48:9
49:10 50:17
Exodus
10:23 11
12:22
14:14
16:29
22:26 23:21 25:22 30:36
Leviticus
11:44
11:44 25:29
26:5
Numbers
6:1-8
12:6
12:6 14:19
23:21 25:1
Deuteronomy
4:14 14:28
14:28 18:3
26:12 28:25
Joshua
MINOR PROPHETS
2:1 24:19
Judges
17:10
1 Samuel
2:21 14:9
15:22
15:22
2 Samuel
2:25
13:19
1 Kings
19:18
2 Kings
2:20 4:13 5:15 8:9
8:15 13:3
14:25-26
15:8-10 15:29
2 Chronicles
Job
2:12
9:9 9:9
9:9 9:9
18:9
38:31 38:31
38:31 38:31
Psalms
5:3 15
23:4
24 25:1 25:18
41:9
47:4 55:2 86:4 99:8 119:108
121:4
130:4
132:11
132:11-12
137:7
139:7-9
140:5
142:3
Proverbs
25:13 30:25
Isaiah
1:14
JOHN CALVIN
2:4 2:9
2:10
9:13
10:3 10:24
13:17
22:13
23:12 26
26:1
28:15
28:15
29:6
33:1
45:7
48:10
49:8
49:23
53:1
Jeremiah
2:31 4:1
4:14
5:24
7:10
7:12
13:14
21:7
30:11
43:2
49:7-22
49:12
49:15-16 49:16
Lamentations
1:7 3:19 4:17
Ezekiel
18:32
20:18
20:39
27:30
Hosea
1:1 1:2 1:6 2:11 3:4 4:8
4:18 5:1 6:5 6:9 6:11 9:8 10:4 10:9 10:15 11:7
11:10-11 11:12 12:8 12:11 13:2 13:14
13:16 14:2
MINOR PROPHETS
Joel
1:1-4
1:4
1:4
1:5
1:6-7
1:8
1:9
1:10
1:11
1:12
1:13-15
1:16-17
1:18
1:19-20
2:1
2:1-11
2:12
2:12-13
2:13
2:14
2:14
2:15-17
2:18-19
2:20
2:20
2:21
2:22
2:23
2:24
2:25
2:25
2:26
2:27
2:28
2:29
2:30
2:30-31
2:32
3:1-3
3:4-6
3:7
3:8
3:9-11
JOHN CALVIN
3:12
3:13
3:14
3:15
3:16
3:17
3:18-19
3:20
3:21
Amos
1:1
1:2
1:3-5
1:6-8
1:9-10
1:11-12
1:13-15
2:1-3
2:4-5
2:6
2:7
2:7
2:8
2:9-12
2:13
2:14-16
3:1-2
3:3-8
3:5
3:9
3:10
3:11-12
3:13-14
3:15
4:1
4:2
4:3
4:3
4:4-6
4:5
4:7
4:8
4:9
4:10
MINOR PROPHETS
4:11
4:12-13
5:1
5:2
5:3
5:4-6 5:6
5:7
5:8
5:9
5:10
5:11
5:12
5:13
5:14
5:15
5:16
5:17
5:18
5:19
5:21-23
5:24
5:24
5:25-26
5:27
6:1
6:1
6:2
6:3
6:4
6:5
6:6-7
6:8
6:9
6:10
6:11
6:12 6:12
6:13
6:14
7:1-3
7:4-6
7:7-9
7:10-13
7:14
7:14-15
JOHN CALVIN
7:16
8:1-2
8:3-4
8:5
8:6
8:7
8:8
8:9
8:10
8:11-12
8:13-14
9:1
9:2-4
9:5
9:6
9:7
9:8-9
9:10
9:11
9:12
9:12
9:13
9:14
9:15
Obadiah
1:1
1:2-4
1:5
1:6
1:7-8
1:9
1:10-11
1:12-14
1:15
1:16
1:17
1:18
1:19-20
1:21
Micah
4:3
Habakkuk
3:16
Haggai
MINOR PROPHETS
2:3-9
Zechariah
12:10-11
14:5
Malachi
1:2
2:7
Matthew
6:33
7:2
7:7
21:13
24:3-25:46
24:38
26:7
Luke
7:38
12:47
12:47-48
John
4:20
4:22
11:48
Acts
2:16-21
7:42
7:42-43
7:43 7:51
8:26
15:16-17
Romans
2:3-4
2:12-16
10:11-13
11 11:29
1 Corinthians
1:26-2:5
4:7
8:8
9:6
2 Corinthians
1:20
4:7
4:7
JOHN CALVIN
5:20
11:14
Galatians
1:8 3:28
Ephesians
2:6
Colossians
3:11
1 Timothy
4:8
Titus
1:3
Hebrews
4:12
4:12-13
6:13
James
5:7
Revelation
6:16
Genesis
4 4:13
6:6 8:3
9:6
10:6 10:9
10:11
12:1 12:3
15:6 28:18
31:29 31:34
35:19 35:21
Exodus
4:1-8 14:22
14:31 15
18:2 20:2
32:14
33:1
34 34
Leviticus
6:28 13:5
13:45 18:25
26:6 27:21
27:28 27:28
MINOR PROPHETS
27:29 27:29
Numbers
11:31
14 20:12
23:9 23:19
Deuteronomy
3:26 7:25
9:23 12:3
28 28:32
31:12
32:1 32:21
Joshua
1:8 9:13
10:8 10:11
10:24 11:6
13:21 15:44
19:13
Judges
1:31 4:21
9:24 11:20
17:7
Ruth
4:11
1 Samuel
3:13 4:17
6:4 15:11
15:29 18:11
24:14
2 Samuel
1:20 4:10
1 Kings
1:40 2:8
9:16 10:7
16:13 16:26
2 Kings
5:15
10:26 10:27
14:1
14:23-25
17:14
17:32
17:33
JOHN CALVIN
19:24
1 Chronicles
4:21 4:27
2 Chronicles
9:8 14:10
20:20 28:19
33:6
Nehemiah
5:5 11
Esther
9:4
Job
6:25 12:5
14:6
17:10 24:16
28:28
38:41 41:1
Psalms
1:1
1:1
1:2 2
3:8 12:1
17:4 18
18:44
22:17 23
31:6 31:22
39:9 42:7
42:7 47:1
68:18 69:1
72:9
73:13 76:6
80:10 83:11
95:7
95:11
102:1
102:17
104 104:21
106:24
MINOR PROPHETS
110:6 116
118:7 119
119:1
119:174 120:1
130 142:3
144:2 146:4
147:20
Proverbs
3 3:27
11:2
16:33
17:18 20:9
22:26
24:16
26:25
Song of Solomon
5:14
Isaiah
1:2 2:2
2:4 3:7
9:4
9:7 10:5
10:12
10:24 17:11
19:6 22:3
22:19 26
26:18
28:28 29:14
30:22 30:33
33:1
34 40:3
40:11 43:10
52:7 52:7
54:8 57:1
Jeremiah
2:13
5 5:5
5:7 5:7
5:22 5:28
JOHN CALVIN
6:13 7:32
10:19 12:6
16:13 16:14
16:15 18:7
18:8 23:20
26 26:3
26:18 26:19
30:24 40:14
48:5 51:44
Lamentations
4:20
Ezekiel
3:8
3:9 12:7
18:10
20:25
24:17 24:22
27:19 32:30
34:12 38:8
Daniel
6:3 10:14
11:14
Hosea
3:5 7:12
9:7 9:12
14:2
Joel
2:6 2:13
Amos
5:7 5:15
6:12
Jonah
1:1-2
1:3
1:4
1:5
1:6
1:7
1:8-10
1:11-12
1:13-14
MINOR PROPHETS
1:15
1:16
1:17
2:1-2
2:3
2:4
2:5-6
2:7
2:8-9
2:10
3:1-2
3:3
3:4
3:5
3:6-8
3:9
3:10
4:1
4:2
4:3
4:4
4:5
4:6-8
4:9
4:10-11
Micah
1:1
1:2
1:2
1:3
1:3-4
1:4 1:5
1:5
1:6
1:6
1:7
1:8
1:8-9
1:10
1:11
1:12
1:13
1:14
1:15
JOHN CALVIN
1:16
1:16
2:1
2:2
2:3
2:3
2:4
2:4
2:5
2:6
2:7
2:7
2:8
2:9
2:10
2:10
2:11
2:12 2:12
2:12
2:12-13
2:13 2:13
3:1-3
3:2 3:3
3:4
3:5
3:6
3:6-7
3:8
3:9-10
3:11-12
3:12 3:12
3:12 4:1
4:1-2
4:1-4 4:2
4:3
4:3
4:4
4:5
4:6-7
4:8 4:9
4:9-10
4:10
4:11-13
4:12 4:12
MINOR PROPHETS
5:1-2
5:2 5:3
5:3
5:4 5:4
5:5
5:6
5:7-8
5:8
5:9
5:10-15
6:1
6:1-2
6:3
6:4
6:5
6:6-8
6:9
6:9-16
6:10-11
6:12
6:13
6:13-14
6:15
6:16
7:1
7:1-2
7:2
7:3
7:4
7:4
7:5-6
7:7
7:8
7:8-10
7:9
7:10
7:11-12
7:13
7:14
7:15
7:16
7:16-17
7:17
7:18
JOHN CALVIN
7:18-20
7:19
7:20
Nahum
1:1
1:2
1:3
1:4
1:5
1:6
1:7
1:8
1:9
1:10
1:11
1:12
1:13
1:14 1:14
1:15
2:1-2
2:2
2:3
2:4
2:5
2:6
2:7
2:8
2:9
2:10
2:11-12
2:13
3:1
3:2-3
3:4
3:5-6
3:7
3:8-10
3:11
3:12
3:13
3:14-15
3:16-17
3:18
3:19
MINOR PROPHETS
Habakkuk
3:2
Zechariah
2:8 9:16
10:3 13:5
Malachi
2:7
Matthew
6:34
10:29
11:12
12:39-41
12:39-41
12:40
12:41
16:4
24:2
27:3 27:24
Luke
8:23
12:47
21:15
John
2:18
7:18-37 10:16
16:8
16:8 16:21
Acts
1:26
10:17
Romans
4:3 4:5
7:24
9:3
11:29
1 Corinthians
10:11
2 Corinthians
6:15 6:15
10:4 10:5
Galatians
3:6 4:4
Ephesians
4:28
JOHN CALVIN
Philippians
1:22
Colossians
1:15
2 Thessalonians
2:11
1 Timothy
4:8
6:10
2 Timothy
2:26 3:1
Hebrews
1:2
11:7
James
2:11
1 John
5:4
5:4
Sirach
20:29
Index of Scripture Commentary
Joel
1 1:1 1:2 1:3 1:4 1:5 1:6 1:7 1:8 1:9 1:10 1:11
1:12 1:13 1:14 1:15 1:16 1:17 1:18 1:19 1:20 2 2:1
2:2 2:3 2:4 2:5 2:6 2:8 2:9 2:10 2:11 2:12 2:13
2:14 2:15 2:16 2:17 2:18 2:19 2:20 2:21 2:22 2:23
2:24 2:25 2:26 2:27 2:28 2:29 2:30 2:31 2:32 3 3:1
3:2 3:3 3:4 3:5 3:6 3:7 3:8 3:9 3:10 3:11 3:12
3:13 3:14 3:15 3:16 3:17 3:18 3:19 3:20 3:21
Amos
1 1:1 1:2 1:3 1:4 1:5 1:6 1:7 1:8 1:9 1:10 1:11
1:12 1:13 1:14 1:15 2:1 2:2 2:3 2:4 2:5 2:6 2:7
2:8 2:9 2:10 2:11 2:12 2:13 2:14 3 3:1 3:2 3:3
3:4 3:5 3:6 3:7 3:8 3:9 3:10 3:11 3:12 3:14 3:15
4 4:1 4:2 4:3 4:4 4:5 4:6 4:7 4:8 4:9 4:10 4:11
4:12 4:13 5 5:1 5:2 5:3 5:4 5:5 5:6 5:7 5:8 5:9
5:10 5:11 5:12 5:13 5:14 5:15 5:16 5:17 5:18 5:19
5:20 5:21 5:22 5:23 5:24 5:25 5:26 5:27 6 6:1 6:2
6:3 6:4 6:5 6:6 6:7 6:8 6:9 6:10 6:11 6:12 6:13
6:14 7 7:1 7:2 7:4 7:6 7:7 7:8 7:9 7:10 7:11
7:12 7:13 7:14 7:16 7:17 8 8:1 8:2 8:3 8:4 8:5
8:6 8:7 8:8 8:9 8:10 8:11 8:12 8:13 8:14 9 9:1
9:2 9:3 9:4 9:5 9:6 9:7 9:8 9:9 9:10 9:11 9:12
9:13 9:14 9:15
Obadiah
1:1 1:1 1:2 1:3 1:5 1:6 1:7 1:8 1:9 1:10 1:11
1:12 1:13 1:14 1:15 1:16 1:17 1:18 1:19 1:20 1:21
Jonah
JOHN CALVIN
1 1:1 1:2 1:3 1:4 1:5 1:6 1:7 1:8 1:9 1:10 1:11
1:12 1:13 1:14 1:15 1:16 1:17 2 2:1 2:2 2:3 2:4
2:5 2:6 2:7 2:8 2:9 2:10 3 3:1 3:2 3:3 3:4 3:5
3:6 3:7 3:8 3:9 3:10 4 4:1 4:2 4:3 4:4 4:5 4:6
4:7 4:8 4:9 4:10 4:11
Micah
1 1:1 1:2 1:3 1:4 1:5 1:6 1:7 1:8 1:9 1:10 1:11
1:12 1:13 1:14 1:15 1:16 2 2 2:1 2:2 2:3 2:4 2:5
2:6 2:7 2:8 2:9 2:10 2:11 2:12 2:13 3:1 3:2 3:3
3:4 3:5 3:6 3:7 3:8 3:9 3:10 3:11 3:12 4 4:1 4:2
4:3 4:4 4:5 4:6 4:7 4:8 4:9 4:10 4:11 4:12 4:13
5 5:1 5:2 5:3 5:4 5:5 5:6 5:7 5:8 5:9 5:10 5:11
5:12 5:13 5:14 5:15 6 6:1 6:2 6:3 6:4 6:5 6:6
6:7 6:8 6:9 6:10 6:11 6:12 6:13 6:14 6:15 6:16 7
7:1 7:2 7:3 7:4 7:5 7:7 7:8 7:9 7:10 7:11 7:12
7:13 7:14 7:15 7:16 7:17 7:18 7:19 7:20
Nahum
1 1:1 1:2 1:3 1:4 1:5 1:6 1:7 1:8 1:9 1:10 1:11
1:12 1:13 1:14 1:15 2 2:1 2:2 2:3 2:4 2:5 2:6
2:7 2:8 2:9 2:10 2:11 2:12 2:13 3 3:1 3:2 3:3
3:4 3:5 3:6 3:7 3:8 3:10 3:11 3:12 3:13 3:14 3:15
3:16 3:17 3:18 3:19
Greek Words and Phrases
• {ἑταιρεία} {τρυφητων}: Amos 6, note 57 • {ἕσπερος}: Amos 5, note 46 • {ἕσπερος}, : Amos 5, note 46 • {ἱξευτης}: Addenda to Amos • {ὁ} {ποιων}: Amos 9, note 78 • {ὑιοι} {θαλασσης}: 1 • {Αρκτουρος}: Amos 5, note 46 • {Ταδε} {λεγει} {κυριος} {ὁ} {Θεὸς} {τη} {Ιδουμαία}: Obadiah 1, note 81 • {Ωρίωνος}: Amos 5, note 46 • {ακτωρηκους}: Amos 1 • {αναὶσθησὶα}: Joel 1 • {αναστήσει}: Amos 7, note 62 • {απο} {του} {κοινου}: Joel 2 • {γ}: Amos 1 • {εθελοθρησκείας}: Amos 5 • {εκστησονται}: 1 • {κακοζηλία}: Amos 5 • {λογος}: Amos 1, note 30 • {λψσ᾿}: Joel 1, note 16 • {μηδεν} {ὑστερηκεναι} {των} {ὑπερ} {λιαν} {προφητων}: Translator's Pref-
ace to Joel, Amos, and Obadiah, note 1 • {οψιμον}, : Joel 2 • {πλειας}: Amos 5, note 46 2 • {πρωιμον} : Joel 2 • {σαρκασμος}: Amos 5 • {σκήνην}: Amos 5 • {τεκνα} {ὐδατων}: 1
JOHN CALVIN
• {τξωιμον}, {προιμον}: Joel 2 • {χασμα}: Amos 1 • {ἡ} {πληγη} {ἀυτης}: Micah 1, note 146 • {ὀλιγόπίστοι}: Jonah 4 • {ὅτι} {η} {θαλασσα} {επορευετο} {και} {εξηγειρε} {μαλλον} {κλυδωνα} :
Jonah 1, note 108 • {ὕστερον} {προτερον}: Jonah 1 • {Ακχω}: Micah 1, note 147 • {Ανεσταλη}: Nahum 1, note 288 • {Απο} {της} {αδικιας}: Jonah 3, note 131 • {Αποφθεγγομενους} : Micah 5, note 234 • {Αχαιδες} {ουκ} {ετ} {Αχαιοι} : Nahum 3, note 323 • {Εκινηθη}: Nahum 1, note 288 • {Εκτεςῶς} : Jonah 3, note 129 • {Εντος} {πολων} {αυτης} : Micah 5, note 228 • {Εφριξεν}: Nahum 1, note 288 • {Εως} {Οδαλαμ} {ἤξει} {την} {δοξην} {Ισραηλ}: Micah 1, note 154 • {Ιωνα} {του} {προφητου}: Translator's Preface to Jonah, Micah, and Nahum • {Καί} {παρεβιαζοντο} {οι} {ανδρες} {του} {επιστρεψαι} {προς} {την}
{γην}: Jonah 1, note 109 • {Και} {εκηρυχθη} {και} {ερρεθη} {εν} {τη} {Νινευὴ}: Jonah 3, note 128 • {Και} {κηρυξον} {εν} {αυτη} {κατα} {το} {κηρυγμα} {το} {εμπροσθεν}
{ο}: Jonah 3, note 122 • {Μιχαιας}: Commentary on Micah, note 12 • {Νινος} {μεν} {απολωλεν} {ηδη}, {και} {ουδεν} {ιχνος} {ετι} {λοιπον}
{αυτης}, {ουδ} {αν} {ειπης} {οπου} {ποτ} {ην} : Nahum 1, note 292 • {Ον} {τη} {νηστεια} {προσεσχεν}: Jonah 3, note 127 • {Τι} {ελυπησα} {σε} : Micah 6, note 240 • {Τις} {Θεος} {ωσπερ} {συ}: Micah 7, note 279 • {Τις} {αντιστησεται} : Nahum 1, note 289 • {αλλα} {τη} {αποχη} {των} {κακων}: Jonah 3, note 127 • {ανομια} : Micah 3, note 184 • {απ} {αρχης}: Micah 5, note 220 • {αποφθεγματα}: Micah 2 • {ασφαλιζου}: Micah 6, note 248 • {γνωμων}: Micah 2, note 160 • {δεικτικως}: Micah 3 • {δυναμις}: Micah 3, note 182 • {εις} {παραδειγμα}: Nahum 3, note 317 • {εις} {την} {κοίλην} {του} {πλοίου}: Jonah 1, note 96 • {ελεγχειν}: Micah 4, note 201 • {ελεημων}: Jonah 4, note 133 • {εν} {ακείμ}: Micah 1, note 147 • {εξ} {ημερων} {αιωνος}: Micah 5, note 220
MINOR PROPHETS
• {εξ} {οικου} {δουλειας} : Micah 6, note 241 • {επ} {εσχατων} {των} {ημερων}: Micah 4, note 192 • {επίστευσαν} {τω} {θεω}: Jonah 3, note 124 • {επιστρεψει}: Micah 7, note 280 • {ετοιμον} {εναι} : Micah 6, note 248 • {ευαγγελιζεσθαι}: Nahum 1, note 298 • {ευσβης}: Micah 7, note 260 • {ζηλωτην}: Nahum 1 • {ηγοντο}: Nahum 2, note 306 • {ηγουμενος}: Micah 7, note 266 • {θελητης} {ελεους} : Micah 7, note 279 • {θυγατερων} {σειρηνων} : Micah 1, note 145 • {και} {το} {προσωπον}: Nahum 2, note 311 • {καταβασις}: Micah 1, note 141 • {καταχρηστικῶς}: Micah 3 • {κατορθων}: Micah 7, note 261 • {κηρυξ}: Jonah 3, note 122 • {κητος}: Jonah 1, note 114 2 • {κοψεται}: Micah 1, note 145 • {μακροθυμος}: Jonah 4, note 133 • {μαντεις}: Micah 3, note 180 • {μαντεις} : Micah 5, note 234 • {ματαια} {και} {Ψευδη}: Jonah 2, note 120 • {μετα} {αργυριου} : Micah 3, note 189 • {μετα} {δωρων} : Micah 3, note 189 • {μετα} {μισθου} : Micah 3, note 189 • {μετανοων} {επὶ} {ταις} {κακιαις}: Jonah 4, note 133 • {μηπυρ}: Micah 6, note 250 • {μιμητικῶς}: Micah 1 • {ναυς}: Jonah 1, note 95 • {ναυται}: Jonah 1, note 95 • {οἱοικοδομουντες}: Micah 3, note 185 • {οικτίρμων}: Jonah 4, note 133 • {ουκ} {εστιν} {εασις} {τη} {συντριβη} {σου} : Nahum 3, note 327 • {παντα} {ταυτα}: Micah 1, note 142 • {παντων} {ως} {προσκαυμα} {χυτρας} : Nahum 2, note 311 • {παραλογισμῶ}: Jonah 1 • {παρανομος}: Nahum 1, note 294 • {πιστευοντι} {επι} {τον}: Jonah 3, note 124 • {πολυελεος}: Jonah 4, note 133 • {προληψις}: Jonah 1 • {σαλευθησεται} {τα} {ορη}: Micah 1, note 141 • {σπευσουσι} : Micah 4, note 195 • {στρουθοκαμηλων} : Micah 1, note 145
JOHN CALVIN
• {σχισμας}: Jonah 2, note 117 • {τί} {τουτο} {εποίησας} : Jonah 1, note 106 • {τα} {εργα} {σοι}: Nahum 2, note 314 • {τα} {προσωπα}: Nahum 2, note 311 • {τα} {τεκνα} {τα} {τρυφερα} {σου} : Micah 1, note 155 • {τακησονται}: Micah 1, note 141 • {τας} {στηλας}: Micah 5, note 236 • {το} {σημειον}: Translator's Preface to Jonah, Micah, and Nahum • {τοις} {εθνεσιν} {αυτης}: Nahum 3, note 315 • {φαρμακα}: Micah 5, note 233 • {ψευδομαντεις}: Micah 5, note 234 • Epi to kakon tav ceirav autwn etoimazousi: Micah 7, note 262
Hebrew Words and Phrases
• {}הזנו{: }הזנה1 • :{}היהJoel 1 • :{}לאדוםObadiah 1, note 81 • :{,}כימהAmos 5, note 46 • :{}אבלAmos 1 2 • {}מגניה{: }קלזן{ }הבו{ }אהבו1 • :{}אוליAmos 5 • {}מוער{: }אחל1 • :{}אחריתAmos 9 2 • :{}אחריתםAmos 9 • :{}איתןAmos 5 • :{}אכרAmos 5 • :{}אל1 • :{}אלהיJoel 1 • :{}אלי1 • :{}אמלJoel 1 • :{}אנדתוAmos 9, note 77 • :{}אףAmos 2 • :{}אפיקיםJoel 1 • :{}ארבהJoel 1, note 16 • {}אפים{: }ארךAddenda to Joel • :{}ארףAmos 8, note 72 • :{}אשמותAmos 8 • :{}אשרAmos 5 2 3 4 • :{}באותי1 • :{}באתי1 • :{}בושJoel 1
JOHN CALVIN
• :{}בושםAmos 5, note 48 • :{}בושסכםAmos 5, note 48 • :{}בחוריםJoel 2 • :{}בחריםAmos 2 • {}כוכבים{: }ביןObadiah 1, note 86 • {}ממלכה{: }ביתAmos 7, note 66 • :{}בסAmos 5, note 48 • :{}בססAmos 5, note 48 • :{}בעלJoel 1 • :{}בעליםJoel 1 • :{}ברAmos 5 • :{}בשAmos 1 • :{}גאוןAmos 6 2 • :{}גזםJoel 1, note 16 • :{}גלAmos 5 2 • :{}גםJoel 2 • {}אתה{: }גםObadiah 1 • :{}גמלJoel 3 • :{}גשםJoel 2 2 • :{}דוםObadiah 1 • :{}דמהObadiah 1 2 3 • :{}דרךAmos 4 2 3 • :{}הAmos 8 2 3 4 • :{}הדברהAmos 8, note 72 • :{}ההרמונהAddenda to Amos • :{}הוAmos 5, note 50 2 • {}זבחי{: }הזבח1 • :{}החלObadiah 1, note 88 • {}חזה-{}ישראל{: }לבכי{ }החלObadiah 1, note 88 • :{}המוןAmos 5, note 51 • :{}המורהJoel 2 • {}לצדקה{: }המורהJoel 2 • :{}הפורטיםAmos 6 • :{}הקדיםAmos 9 • :{}הראניAmos 7, note 61 • {}גנותיכם{: }הרבותAmos 4, note 41 • :{}הרותAmos 1 2 • :{}הריםAmos 1 • :{}הרםAddenda to Amos • :{}הרמוןAddenda to Amos • :{}הרמונהAmos 4 • {}אותך{: }השיאObadiah 1 • :{}השיאךObadiah 1 • :{}התימניJoel 2, note 23
MINOR PROPHETS
• :{}וAmos 4, note 44 2 3 4 5 6 7 • :{}וגםJoel 2 2 3 • :{}והיהJoel 2 • :{}וזםJoel 1, note 17 • {}שם{: }עמם{ }שפטתי{ }וכJoel 3 • {}תשא-{}להם{: }ולא1 • {}סרוחים{: }מרזה{ }וסרAmos 6, note 57 • :{}טוב-{}וקח1 • :{}זאתAmos 9, note 78 • :{}זמה1 • :{}חגAmos 5 • :{}חגגAmos 5 • :{}חגרוJoel 1 • :{}חדשAmos 8 • :{}חוסהAddenda to Joel • :{}חוצותAmos 5, note 50 • :{}חזהAmos 1 2 • :{}חזוןObadiah 1 • :{}חלקAmos 7 2 • :{}חמלJoel 2 • :{}חמסObadiah 1 • :{}חןAddenda to Joel • :{}חנוןAddenda to Joel • :{}חסדAddenda to Joel • :{}חסילJoel 2 • :{}חצהAmos 5, note 50 • :{}חרד1 • :{}חרוףJoel 3 2 • :{}טובAmos 5 • :{}יJoel 2, note 23 • :{}יבשJoel 1 • :{}יגלAmos 5 • :{}יהושפטJoel 3 • :{}יוצרAmos 7 2 3 • :{}ילקJoel 1, note 16 • :{}ימיםAmos 4, note 40 • :{}יקוםAmos 7 • :{}יקיםAmos 7, note 62 • :{}יקרא1 • :{}ירשObadiah 1, note 88 • :{}כאבלAmos 8, note 72 • :{}כארAmos 8 • :{}כהAmos 4 • :{}כוהAmos 5
JOHN CALVIN
• :{}כיJoel 1 2 • {}לעשות{: }הגדיל{ }כיAddenda to Joel • :{}כיאורAmos 8 • :{}כיוןAmos 5 • :{}כימהAmos 5 2 3 4 5 • :{}כןAmos 5 • :{}כסילAmos 5, note 46 2 3 4 5 • :{}כפרAmos 5 2 • :{}כפתודAmos 9 • :{}כפתורAmos 9 2 • :{}כפתוריםAmos 9 • :{}כרתAmos 2 • {}יבוא{: }משדי{ }כשדJoel 1 • :{}לObadiah 1, note 81 2 • {}אריח{: }לאAmos 5 • {}ארצה{: }לאAmos 5 • {}אשיבנו{: }לאAmos 1, note 32 • {}אשמע{: }לאAmos 5 2 • {}היונים{: }לבניJoel 3, note 28 • :{}לכןAmos 7 • :{}למעןObadiah 1 • :{}לצדקהJoel 2 • :{}לקשAmos 7 • {}ימים{: }לשלשתAmos 4, note 40 • :{}מAmos 2 • :{}מהומתAmos 3 • :{}מהרהJoel 3 • :{}מוכ1 • {}יטי{: }מוער1 • :{}מוקשAddenda to Amos • :{}מורהJoel 2 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 • :{}מזרותAmos 5, note 46 • :{}מיAmos 7, note 62 2 • :{}מכרAmos 2 • :{}מלכםAmos 1 • {}ושריו{: }הוא{ }מלכםAmos 1 • :{}מלקוםJoel 2 • :{}מלקושJoel 2 2 • :{}מנחהJoel 1 2 3 • {}אלהיכם{: }ליהוה{ }ונסך{ }מנחהJoel 2 • :{}מעדנותAmos 5, note 46 • :{}מעלותAmos 9, note 76 • :{}מרבקAmos 6 2 • :{}מרזהAmos 6, note 57
MINOR PROPHETS
• :{}מרכבותJoel 2 2 • :{}משאAmos 5 • :{}משפטJoel 2 • :{}משפטים1 • :{}נאותJoel 1 • :{}נבלAmos 5 • :{}נדבותAmos 4 • :{}נדמיתהObadiah 1 • :{}נויJoel 1, note 17 • :{}נחשAmos 9 • :{}נכרAmos 5 • :{}נפהJoel 1, note 18 • {}יהוה{: }אליך{ }אשא{ }נפשי1 • :{}נפשם1 • :{}נקבוAddenda to Amos • :{}נקביAddenda to Amos • :{}נקדAmos 1 • :{}נקדיםAmos 1 • :{}נקהJoel 3 • :{}נשאAmos 5 2 3 4 • {}נפש{: }נשא1 • :{}סAmos 5, note 48 2 3 4 • :{}סוךAmos 5 • :{}סלעObadiah 1 2 • :{}סרAmos 6, note 57 2 3 • {}סבאם{: }סר1 • :{}סרוחיםAmos 6 • :{}סרחAmos 6 2 • :{}עAmos 1 2 3 • :{}עברTranslation: Amos 5, note 331 • :{}עיקAmos 2 • :{}עכבAmos 4 • :{}על1 2 • :{}עליהJoel 1 • :{}עם1 2 • :{}יהוה-{}עם1 • :{}אלהי-{}ען1 • :{}עסיסJoel 1 2 • :{}עססJoel 1 • :{}עצרAmos 5 • :{}עצרהJoel 2 2 • :{}עצרתAmos 5 • :{}ערגJoel 1 • :{}עשAmos 5, note 46 2
JOHN CALVIN
• :{}עשהAmos 9, note 78 • {}זאת{: }עשהAmos 9, note 78 • :{}פחAddenda to Amos • :{}פןAmos 5 • :{}פרדותJoel 1 • :{}פרטAmos 6 • :{}פרקObadiah 1 2 3 • :{}ץAmos 7 2 • :{}צדקהJoel 2 • :{}צוהAmos 2 • :{}צזפה1 • :{}צלחAmos 5 • :{}צנהAmos 4 • :{}צנותAmos 4 • :{}צפוןJoel 2, note 23 • :{}צרAmos 3 • :{}צרורAmos 9 • :{}צררAmos 9 • :{}קדשJoel 1 2 • {}ברכה{: }נא{ }קח1 • {}נא-{}אלי{: }קחם1 • :{}קיץAmos 8 • :{}קירAmos 9 • :{}קץAmos 8 2 • :{}קריותAmos 2 2 • :{}קשרAmos 7 • :{}קתלObadiah 1 • :{}ראשAmos 6 • :{}רבהAmos 1 2 • :{}רביםAmos 5 • :{}חסד-{}רבAddenda to Joel • :{}רד1 • :{}רובAmos 7 • :{}רוחAmos 4 • :{}רוחהAmos 5 • :{}רחבAmos 5, note 50 • :{}רחבותAmos 5, note 50 • :{}רחוםAddenda to Joel • :{}רמוןJoel 1 2 • :{}רססAmos 6 • :{}רעAmos 5 • :{}רעהAmos 3 • :{}רקAmos 3 • :{}שAmos 5, note 48 2 3 4 5 6
MINOR PROPHETS
• :{}שאולAmos 9 • :{}שאףAmos 2 • :{}שדדJoel 1 • :{}שדיJoel 1 2 3 4 5 • :{}שכמה1 • :{}שלחObadiah 1 • :{}שמועהObadiah 1 • {}שמעתו{: }שמועהObadiah 1 • :{}שמענוObadiah 1 • :{}שפטJoel 3 • :{}שפךJoel 2 • :{}שקלAmos 8 • :{}שקעAmos 8 • :{}שרףAmos 6 • :{}תחתAmos 2, note 35 • :{}תחתיכםAmos 2 2 3 • :{}תמרJoel 1, note 18 • :{}תפוחJoel 1, note 18 • :{}תפלצתךObadiah 1 • :{}גוזNahum 1 • :{}הםNahum 2, note 304 • {}רבים{: }והוכיחלעמיםMicah 4, note 195 • {}אל{: }כמוך-{}מיMicah 7, note 279 • :{}נכזןMicah 4, note 193 • whwkyx lgwyM eumyM ed rxwq wspj byN emyM rbyM: Micah 4, note 195 • :{}אMicah 1, note 152 • :{}אביMicah 1, note 152 • :{}אביאMicah 1, note 152 • :{}אדיריךNahum 3, note 326 • :{}אדרMicah 2 • :{}אויבMicah 2 • :{}אולםMicah 3 • :{}אזMicah 3 2 3 • {}כהה-{}לשברך{: }איןNahum 3, note 327 • :{}אישMicah 2, note 158 • {}אלהיו{: }בשם{ }אישMicah 4 • :{}אךJonah 2 • :{}אכזיבMicah 1 2 • :{}אלMicah 2 2 3 • {}מרום{: }אלהיMicah 6, note 244 • :{}אלוףMicah 7, note 266 2 • :{}אליהJonah 3, note 122 • {}תאמינו-{}ברע{: }אלMicah 7, note 266 • :{}אמוןNahum 3
JOHN CALVIN
• :{}אמןJonah 3, note 124 • :{}אמרMicah 2, note 161 2 • :{}אנאלאהMicah 4 • :{}אנהJonah 1, note 110 • {}יהוה{: }אנהJonah 1 • :{}אנושהMicah 1 2 3 • :{}אניMicah 6, note 254 • :{}אנכיMicah 3 • :{}חיל-{}אנשיNahum 2, note 302 • :{}אראניMicah 7 • :{}אל-{}ארזיJonah 3, note 123 • :{}אריהNahum 2 2 • :{}אריותNahum 2 • {}אפים{: }ארךJonah 4, note 133 • :{}אשMicah 6 2 • :{}אשרJonah 1, note 102 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 • {}אליד{: }דבר{ }אנכי{ }אשרJonah 3, note 122 • :{}אתJonah 3, note 124 2 3 4 5 • :{}אתהJonah 4 2 • :{}אתמולMicah 2 • :{}אתמילMicah 2 • :{}אתנןMicah 1 • :{}בJonah 3, note 124 2 3 4 5 • {}הימים{: }באחריתMicah 4, note 192 • {}למי{: }באשרJonah 1, note 102 • :{}בדיNahum 2 • :{}בחזקחJonah 3, note 129 • :{}בכיMicah 1, note 147 • {}יענה{: }בכיתMicah 1, note 145 • :{}בלNahum 1, note 294 • {}יעל{: }בלNahum 1 • :{}בליעלNahum 1 • {}יועף{: }בליעלNahum 1 • :{}במצותיךJonah 3, note 124 • :{}בנהMicah 3, note 185 • :{}בנויתםNahum 3, note 315 • :{}בעדיJonah 2, note 117 • :{}בעכוMicah 1, note 147 • {}חמה{: }בעלNahum 1, note 285 • {}ההיא{: }בעתMicah 3, note 174 • :{}בצעMicah 4, note 216 2 • :{}בקעMicah 1, note 141 • :{}בקרבMicah 5 • {}לך{: }ברחMicah 1, note 148
MINOR PROPHETS
• :{}בשלמיJonah 1, note 102 • :{}בתיMicah 1, note 151 • :{}גאוןNahum 2 2 3 • :{}גבורהMicah 3, note 182 2 • :{}גבוריהוNahum 2, note 301 • :{}גברMicah 2, note 158 • :{}גדודMicah 5 2 • :{}גדרMicah 7 • :{}גוזNahum 1 • :{}גויםMicah 4, note 195 2 3 • {}רבים{: }גויםMicah 4 • :{}גזזNahum 1 2 • :{}גחיMicah 4, note 210 • :{}גלהNahum 2 2 • :{}גםNahum 3 • :{}גסגMicah 2, note 162 • :{}דברJonah 3, note 122 2 • :{}הJonah 4, note 134 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 • :{}האזכהMicah 6, note 252 • :{}האישMicah 6 2 • :{}האמורMicah 2, note 163 • {}אלהיכם{: }ביהוה{ }האמינוJonah 3, note 124 • {}בנביאיו{: }האמינוJonah 3, note 124 • :{}האמרMicah 2, note 163 • :{}האשMicah 6 2 • :{}הבלJonah 2, note 120 • :{}שוא-{}הבליJonah 2, note 120 • :{}הדקותMicah 4, note 215 • :{}הדרMicah 2, note 166 • {}לך{: }חרה{ }ההיטבJonah 4, note 134 • :{}הוNahum 3 • :{}הואMicah 4, note 195 2 • :{}הוכיחMicah 4, note 201 • :{}הולךJonah 1, note 108 • :{}הוצבNahum 2 • :{}הורשMicah 1 • :{}הותMicah 7 • {}הוא{: }נפשו{ }הותMicah 7, note 263 • :{}החלתיMicah 6, note 254 • :{}היאNahum 2, note 307 • :{}הישMicah 6 2 • :{}הלאMicah 4, note 206 • :{}הלאתיךMicah 6, note 240 • :{}הנדחהMicah 4, note 206
JOHN CALVIN
• {}שלום{: }וקראו{ }בשניהם{ }הנשכיםMicah 3 • :{}הפרףMicah 2, note 169 • :{}הצבNahum 2 2 3 4 5 • :{}הקעתMicah 6 • :{}הרMicah 7 • :{}הרםMicah 7 • :{}השמםMicah 6, note 254 • :{}התגדדיMicah 5 • :{}התכבדNahum 3, note 325 • :{}וJonah 1, note 89 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 • {}אלהיך{: }לכת{ }והצנע-{}עםMicah 6, note 248 • {}באלהים{: }ויאמינוJonah 3, note 124 • :{}ויגעJonah 3 • {}מאד{: }לקין{ }ויחרJonah 4, note 132 • {}וכן{: }וכןNahum 1 • {}עשיתי{: }ומהMicah 6, note 242 • :{}ונהרוMicah 4, note 195 • :{}ועבדNahum 1, note 295 • :{}ועברNahum 1 • {}שפם{: }ועטו-{}עלMicah 3 • {}הגוים{: }בין{ }ושפטMicah 4, note 195 • :{}זאתMicah 1, note 142 • :{}זדוןMicah 6, note 248 • :{}זכהMicah 6, note 252 • :{}זעףMicah 7, note 268 • :{}חבלMicah 2, note 167 • :{}חולMicah 1 • :{}חזהNahum 1 • :{}חזוןNahum 1 • :{}חזיםMicah 3, note 180 • :{}חזקMicah 7 2 3 • :{}חטאהMicah 3, note 184 2 3 • :{}חטאותMicah 1, note 142 • :{}חטאתMicah 1, note 142 • :{}חילMicah 4, note 216 2 3 4 5 6 7 • :{}חלהNahum 3, note 328 • :{}חלחלהNahum 2, note 310 • :{}חללNahum 3, note 315 • :{}חלליםNahum 3, note 315 • :{}חמהNahum 1 • :{}חמסMicah 6 • :{}חנוןJonah 4 2 • :{}חנםMicah 1, note 140 • :{}חנףMicah 4
MINOR PROPHETS
• :{}חסדJonah 2 • :{}חסדיJonah 2, note 121 • {}יעזבו{: }חסדםJonah 2, note 121 • :{}חסירMicah 7, note 260 • :{}חפףMicah 7, note 279 • :{}חרהJonah 4, note 132 2 • :{}חרםMicah 4 2 • :{}חרשJonah 4 • :{}חתרJonah 1 2 • :{}טובMicah 3, note 172 • :{}טולJonah 1 • :{}טמאהMicah 2, note 167 • :{}טעםJonah 3 2 • :{}טרףNahum 2 • :{}טרפהNahum 2 • :{}יMicah 6, note 256 2 3 4 • :{}יבואMicah 7 • {}ילדה{: }יולדהMicah 5, note 222 • :{}יועףMicah 4 • :{}יחשךMicah 6, note 255 • :{}יכחMicah 4 • :{}יכשלוNahum 2, note 305 • :{}יללMicah 7 • :{}ימישNahum 3, note 315 • :{}יסגMicah 2, note 162 • :{}יעדMicah 6, note 249 • :{}יעדהMicah 6, note 249 • :{}יעלNahum 1, note 294 • :{}יעףMicah 6 • :{}יצבMicah 5, note 236 2 • :{}יראMicah 6 2 • :{}יראיMicah 6, note 249 • :{}ירהMicah 4, note 199 • :{}ירכתיJonah 1, note 96 • :{}יררףNahum 1 • :{}ירשMicah 1 • :{}ישאMicah 2 • :{}ישאוMicah 4, note 195 • :{}ישחךMicah 6, note 255 • :{}ישכנוNahum 3, note 326 • :{}ישרMicah 7, note 261 • :{}ישתמרMicah 6, note 257 • :{}כMicah 7 2 • :{}כבדNahum 2, note 308 2 3
JOHN CALVIN
• {}פגד{: }כבדNahum 3, note 315 • :{}כבודMicah 1 • :{}כבשMicah 7, note 281 • :{}כוןMicah 4, note 193 2 3 • :{}כושNahum 3, note 321 • :{}כחMicah 3, note 182 2 • :{}כחשNahum 3 2 • {}יהוה{: }מאת{ }כטלMicah 5 • :{}כיMicah 2, note 157 2 3 • {}ומער{: }הולך{ }הים{ }כיJonah 1, note 108 • {}מחיי{: }מותי{ }טוב{ }כיJonah 4, note 134 • {}לאל{ }כי-{}ידם{: }ישMicah 2, note 157 • :{}כירקNahum 3 • :{}כלMicah 4, note 195 2 • {}חגוים{: }כלMicah 4, note 195 • :{}כלכםMicah 1, note 140 2 • :{}כלםMicah 1, note 140 • :{}כלןMicah 1, note 140 • :{}זאת-{}כלMicah 1, note 142 • :{}ראיך-{}כלNahum 3 • :{}כןNahum 1 2 • :{}כסףMicah 3, note 189 • {}נחום{: }כפדNahum 1, note 283 • :{}כפריםNahum 2 • :{}כפתחיהMicah 5, note 228 • :{}כשףMicah 5, note 233 2 • :{}כשפיםMicah 5 2 • :{}לJonah 2 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 • {}כלמות{: }ׂיג{ }לאMicah 2, note 162 • :{}לאכזבMicah 1 • {}גדולה{: }לאלהים-{}עירJonah 3, note 123 • :{}לביאNahum 2 2 • :{}לגויהNahum 3, note 315 • :{}להבNahum 3 • :{}להיטיבMicah 7 • :{}להעירMicah 6 • :{}להשיבJonah 1, note 109 • {}ויחר{: }לוJonah 4, note 132 • :{}לוביםNahum 3, note 321 • :{}לטובMicah 1, note 150 • :{}לךJonah 4 2 3 • :{}לכםMicah 1, note 148 • :{}לכןMicah 5, note 221 • :{}לכסMicah 1, note 148
MINOR PROPHETS
• :{}ללבאתיוNahum 2 • :{}למדMicah 4 • {}לד{: }חרה{ }למהJonah 4, note 132 • :{}למותMicah 1, note 150 • :{}לעולםMicah 2 2 • {}ועד{: }לעולםMicah 4, note 204 • :{}לעירMicah 6 • :{}לפגיJonah 3, note 123 • :{}לפידותNahum 2 • :{}לקחMicah 1 • :{}מMicah 3 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 • :{}מבשרNahum 1, note 298 2 • {}זאת-{}עשית{: }מהJonah 1, note 106 • :{}מולMicah 2 • :{}מורדMicah 1, note 141 • :{}החמס-{}מזJonah 3, note 131 • :{}מחירMicah 3, note 189 • :{}מטהMicah 6, note 249 • :{}מיכהCommentary on Micah, note 12 • :{}מיכיהCommentary on Micah, note 12 • :{}מימיNahum 2, note 307 • {}היא{: }מימיNahum 2, note 307 • :{}מירMicah 4, note 213 • :{}מכתהMicah 1, note 146 • :{}מלאNahum 1 • :{}מלאכיםNahum 2 • :{}מלאככהNahum 2 2 • :{}מלאככםNahum 2, note 314 • :{}מלהJonah 1, note 95 • :{}מלחיםJonah 1, note 95 • :{}מלכךNahum 2 • :{}ממולMicah 2 • :{}מנבלMicah 7, note 266 • :{}מנהJonah 1, note 114 • :{}מנהגותNahum 2, note 306 • :{}מעוזNahum 3, note 322 • {}מאויב{: }מעוזNahum 3 • :{}מעונניםMicah 5, note 234 • :{}מעיזNahum 1, note 291 • :{}מעלינוJonah 1, note 107 • :{}מעמדMicah 1, note 149 • :{}מצאתוMicah 5, note 220 • :{}מצבNahum 2, note 306 • :{}מצבותMicah 5, note 236
JOHN CALVIN
• :{}מצורMicah 7 • :{}מצורהNahum 2, note 299 • {}נצור{: }מצורהNahum 2 • :{}מצריםMicah 7, note 270 2 • :{}מראיהןNahum 2, note 304 • :{}משNahum 3, note 315 • :{}משאNahum 1 2 • :{}משלMicah 2 2 • :{}משמיעNahum 1 • :{}משפחהMicah 2, note 159 • :{}משפטMicah 3, note 182 • :{}ןMicah 4, note 195 • :{}נאJonah 1, note 110 • :{}נבלNahum 3 • :{}נההMicah 2 • :{}נוטרNahum 1, note 285 • :{}נחלהNahum 3, note 328 • {}הרעת{: }על{ }נחםJonah 4, note 133 • :{}נטלJonah 1 • :{}נינוהJonah 1 • :{}נכוןMicah 4, note 195 • :{}נמוNahum 3, note 326 • :{}נמרףMicah 2 • {}אדם{: }נסיכיMicah 5, note 226 • :{}נסיכיםMicah 5, note 226 • :{}נצורNahum 2, note 299 • :{}נקםNahum 1, note 285 • :{}נשאMicah 4, note 195 2 3 4 5 • :{}נשגMicah 6, note 256 • :{}נתךNahum 1 • :{}נתןMicah 6, note 246 • :{}סMicah 6, note 256 • :{}סגרMicah 7 • :{}סוגMicah 2, note 162 • :{}סוףJonah 2 2 • {}חזון{: }ספרNahum 1 • :{}סתרMicah 6, note 257 • :{}עברMicah 6, note 257 • {}לכם{: }עבריMicah 1, note 148 • :{}עדMicah 4, note 204 2 3 4 • {}רחוק{: }עדMicah 4, note 195 • {}רחיק{: }עדMicah 4 • :{}עדרMicah 4, note 207 • :{}עודMicah 6
MINOR PROPHETS
• {}יאמר{: }התפח{ }עוד-{}ולאMicah 2, note 163 • :{}עולםMicah 4, note 204 • :{}עוןMicah 7, note 279 • :{}עורMicah 6 • :{}עזNahum 1, note 291 • :{}עטףJonah 2 • :{}עיןMicah 5, note 234 • :{}עירMicah 6 • :{}עלMicah 1, note 138 • {}כפים{: }הרע{ }עלMicah 7 • :{}עלהNahum 2 • :{}עליהJonah 3, note 122 • :{}עללתMicah 7, note 259 • :{}עםMicah 1, note 140 2 • :{}עמדMicah 1 2 3 • :{}עמדתוMicah 1, note 149 • :{}עמודMicah 1, note 149 • :{}עמיMicah 2 • :{}עמיםMicah 1, note 140 2 3 4 • :{}ענהMicah 5, note 234 2 • :{}ענןMicah 5, note 234 • :{}עפלMicah 4 • :{}עפרMicah 1 • :{}עפרהMicah 1 • :{}עריךMicah 5 2 3 • :{}ערערMicah 7 • :{}עשתJonah 1 • :{}עתהMicah 4, note 209 • :{}פארNahum 2 • :{}פארורNahum 2 2 3 • :{}פוטNahum 3, note 321 • :{}פוףNahum 3 • :{}פושNahum 3, note 326 2 3 • :{}פחדMicah 7, note 278 • :{}פלדNahum 2, note 303 • :{}פלדותNahum 2, note 303 2 • :{}פסיליםMicah 1, note 143 • :{}פסלMicah 1, note 143 • :{}פעלMicah 2, note 156 • :{}פרקNahum 3 • :{}פשעMicah 1, note 142 2 3 4 5 • :{}ץNahum 3 • :{}צבאותNahum 3 • :{}צורMicah 7
JOHN CALVIN
• :{}צלעהMicah 4 • :{}צנעMicah 6, note 248 • :{}צעהMicah 1 • :{}צעןMicah 1 • :{}צפהMicah 7 • :{}צריוNahum 1, note 285 • :{}קבףNahum 2 2 • :{}קוםNahum 1, note 289 • :{}קומיMicah 4 • :{}קומםMicah 2 • :{}קוראJonah 3, note 122 • :{}קיףMicah 7, note 259 • :{}קיקיוןJonah 4 2 3 4 • :{}קלותNahum 1 • :{}קנאNahum 1 • :{}קנואNahum 1 • :{}קצבJonah 2 • :{}קצהMicah 3, note 170 • :{}קציניםMicah 3, note 170 • :{}קצרMicah 2 • :{}קרחיMicah 1 • :{}ראהMicah 6 2 • {}החבל{: }רבJonah 1, note 98 • {}חלל{: }רבNahum 3, note 315 • :{}רביםNahum 1 • :{}חסד-{}רבJonah 4, note 133 • :{}רגזMicah 7 • :{}רגזיMicah 1 • :{}רואיNahum 3 2 • :{}רוחMicah 2, note 168 • :{}רועיםMicah 5 • :{}רחוםJonah 4 2 • {}עד{: }רחוקMicah 4 • :{}רחקMicah 7 2 • :{}רטחםMicah 7, note 281 • :{}ריקםMicah 1, note 140 • :{}רכשMicah 1 • :{}רסמיםMicah 3, note 180 • :{}רעהMicah 3, note 172 2 • :{}רעלNahum 2 • :{}שJonah 1, note 102 2 3 • :{}שאהNahum 1, note 288 • :{}שאולJonah 2 2 3 • :{}שאלJonah 4
MINOR PROPHETS
• :{}שאריתMicah 2 2 • :{}שבNahum 2, note 300 • :{}שבבMicah 2 • :{}שבטMicah 7 • :{}שביMicah 2, note 165 • :{}שהתJonah 2 • :{}שואJonah 2, note 120 • :{}שובMicah 2 • {}מלחמה{: }שוביMicah 2, note 165 • :{}שוקNahum 2 • :{}שחדMicah 3, note 189 • :{}שחרJonah 2 • :{}שלוחיםMicah 1, note 151 • :{}שלמיםNahum 1, note 295 • :{}שםMicah 4 2 • {}כלם{: }עמים{ }שמעוMicah 1, note 140 • :{}שפטMicah 4, note 201 • :{}שפירMicah 1 • :{}שקקNahum 2 • :{}תMicah 3, note 185 2 3 4 • :{}תגיםMicah 1, note 145 • :{}תהימנהMicah 2, note 169 • :{}תורהMicah 4, note 199 2 3 • :{}תושיהMicah 6 2 • {}נמרף{: }וחבל{ }תחבלMicah 2, note 167 • :{}תכוןNahum 2 • :{}תכונהNahum 2 2 3 • :{}תכןNahum 2, note 308 • :{}תכנותNahum 2 • :{}תכשNahum 2 • :{}תמידNahum 3 • :{}תסנMicah 6, note 256 • {}כף{: }תקעNahum 3, note 329 • :{}תשאNahum 1, note 288 • :{}תתגדדיMicah 5, note 219 • bwqh wmbwqh wmblqh: Nahum 2, note 309 • el hre kpyM lhyjyb: Micah 7, note 262
Latin Words and Phrases
• An in Gilhade iniquitas: 1 • Caenacula: Amos 9, note 76 • Coagmentationes suas: Amos 9, note 77 • Eam non restituam: Amos 1, note 32 • Effata: Amos 1, note 30 • Eheu: Amos 5, note 50 • Eosque difÏnde : Amos 9, note 74 • Et divide ipsos in capite ipsorum omnium, Quod autem post ipsos est gladio
interrficam: Amos 9, note 74 • Judicium hic accipio pro impia gubernatione principum Israelis, maximè in jure
dicendo: quae judicia, cum deberent esse salutaria et grata, acerba et amara
fiunt et hominibus perniciosa: 1 • Jugum autem impontur eis simul, quod non auferetur: 1 • Jurisdicto: Amos 6, note 60 • Medium opus: Joel 2, note 19 • Pastoreum nostrum: Translator's Preface to Joel, Amos, and Obadiah, note 1 • Quando Jehudah adhuc dominabatur cum : 1 • Scortando scortati sunt, amant date (O dedecus) protedctores ejus: 1 • Sedes imperii: Amos 7, note 66 • Sensus est, q.d. Ego vos in eas angustas adducam, unde vos ipsos mimime
expedire valeatis: Amos 2, note 35 • Si in Galaade idolum fuit: 1 • Tu etiam: Obadiah 1 • adminiculis: Joel 3 • ascensiones: Amos 9, note 76 2 • asserendum: Amos 7 • clientes: Obadiah 1
MINOR PROPHETS
• compotationes eos seduxerunt: 1 • conferre, ut loquuntur Latine: Joel 3 • depositarii: Joel 1 • erant blasphemi: Amos 7 • haereditario jure possidebunt: Obadiah 1, note 88 • ignobilitias: Amos 1 • instinctus: Amos 4 • mediatores: Amos 5 • mixtionibus: Amos 6 • non avertam illud: Amos 1, note 32 • non quadrat: Translator's Preface to Joel, Amos, and Obadiah • nutricios: Amos 7 • piacula: Amos 8 • pompae: Amos 1 • qui faciunt illos nimis spirituales: Amos 7 • rudis: Joel 3 • steterunt: 1 • stultan sedulitatem: Amos 5 • ut sensuum elatione et magnificentia spiritus prope summis parem, ita etiam
dictionis splendore et composititonis elegantia vix quoquam inferioreum:
Translator's Preface to Joel, Amos, and Obadiah, note 1 • à se immittendum aut immissum homini, ad hujus resipiscentiam facilé arcens
vel auferens, adeoque placabilis,: Jonah 4, note 133 • A rapacite: Jonah 3, note 131 • Amat enim benefacere: Micah 7, note 279 • Boni pastoris esse tondere pectus, non deglubere: Micah 3, note 172 • Cum intensione valida: Jonah 3, note 129 • Deo eam augente: Jonah 3, note 123 • Desolabo: Micah 6, note 254 • Dictio elegans, non admodum dissimilis isti Iesaiae: Translator's Preface to
Jonah, Micah, and Nahum, note 4 • Dispositus: Micah 4, note 193 • Dolebit: Micah 1, note 150 • Ea potissimum peccata significat, quae vel errore, vel per ignorantiam, vel per
infirmitatem carnis, committuntur; item peccata omissionis: Micah 3, note 184 • Et ephah tenuitatis abominabilis: Micah 6, note 251 • Et promulgavit ac dixit: Jonah 3, note 128 • Extra Scripturam autem audacter hic sapiat nemo: Jonah 1, note 90 • Fortes sicut ferrum, et robusti sicut aes: Micah 4, note 214 • Fortes tui: Nahum 3, note 326 • Hoc est, ne nobis imputes caedem viri justi: Jonah 1, note 111 • Ingemisce: Micah 4, note 210 • Ipse est: Jonah 4, note 133 • Jam damnata erit: Micah 4, note 211
JOHN CALVIN
• Jovam Deum nostrum timebunt eumque reverebuntur: Micah 7, note 278 • Locus hic diu me multumque torsit: Micah 7, note 262 • Malum faciunt manibus suis, et non bonum faciunt: Micah 7, note 262 • Manipulum: Micah 4, note 213 • Michas plerumque brevis est, pressns, concisus, acutus; nonnunquam ad
Hoseae obscuritatem prope accedens; in multis elatus et fervidus, valdeque
poeticus: Translator's Preface to Jonah, Micah, and Nahum, note 3 • Nam omnes populi, qui ambulabant quisque in nomine dei sui, et now ambu-
labimus in nomine Jehovae Dei nostri: Micah 4, note 203 • Nautae: Jonah 1, note 95 • Ne fidatis amico: Micah 7, note 266 • Non Deos quos invocatis, et qui salvare non possunt, sed Deum coeli qui mare
fecit et aridam, mare in quo fugio, aridam de qua fugio: Jonah 1, note 105 • O! vere Phrygiae, neque enim Phryges: Nahum 3, note 323 • Pagininus: Jonah 1, note 100 • Palma Christi: Jonah 4, note 136 • Parturit: Micah 1, note 150 • Practicas: Nahum 3, note 316 • Propter malefaciendum volae pro benefaciendum: Micah 7, note 262 • Putavit, cessante horologio, se ante tempus finire: Jonah 4, note 135 • Quando quidem impuritas corrumpet, Et corruptio acris: Micah 2, note 167 • Qui vana idola colunt, Felicitatis suae auctorem deserunt: Jonah 2, note 121 • Quia mare ibat et intumescebat: Jonah 1, note 108 • Quid (i.e.: Jonah 1, note 106 • Quid dormis: Jonah 1, note 99 • Quid tu sopore deprimeris: Jonah 1, note 99 • Quis Deus similis tui: Micah 7, note 279 • Quo fatigavi te: Micah 6, note 240 • Quo labore te pressi: Micah 6, note 240 • Quomodo subtraxit mihi! Avertenti agros nostros distribuit: Micah 2, note 161 • Quu enim pervenisset: Jonah 3, note 125 • Quum est in potestate manus ipsoram: Micah 2, note 157 • Rectus: Micah 7, note 261 • Ricinus: Jonah 4, note 136 • Sententiosum, figuratum, et sublime docendi genus: Micah 2, note 160 • Succendam usque ad fumum: Nahum 2, note 313 • Totis viribus: Jonah 3, note 129 • Tu enim Jehovah sicut vis facis: Jonah 1, note 112 • Tu enim, O Jova, pro arbitratu tuo agis: Jonah 1, note 112 • Tu vis ut in mare dejeciatur: fiat igitur quod vis; nam voluntati tuae quis resi-
stat: Jonah 1, note 112 • Vanitates inanitatis: Jonah 2, note 120 • Vanitates mendaces: Jonah 2, note 120 • Vehementer: Jonah 3, note 129
MINOR PROPHETS
• Verum ex omnibus minoribus Prophetis nemo videtur aequare sublimitatem,
ardorem et audaces spiritus Nahumi: adde quod vaticinium integrum et jus-
tum est poema; exordium magnificum est et plane angus-tum; apparatus ad
excidium Ninivae, ejusque excidii descriptio et amplificatio, ardentissimis col-
oribus exprimatur, et admirabilem habet evidentiam et pondus: Translator's
Preface to Jonah, Micah, and Nahum, note 7 • Verum quidem est: Micah 5, note 221 • Visio vestra mutabitur in noctem: Micah 3, note 179 • ad interiora navis: Jonah 1, note 96 • aerumnam, quam expetit: Micah 7, note 263 • afÒuentiam cum celeritate: Micah 4, note 195 • alias respectu decreti longissimi ab eo arcenda: Jonah 4, note 133 • ambulabant: Micah 4, note 203 • ambulant: Micah 4, note 203 • amplus benignitate,: Jonah 4, note 133 • an: Jonah 4, note 134 • apud Hieronymum, praestabilis super malitia, : Jonah 4, note 133 • aversi belli, : Micah 2, note 165 • avertit: Nahum 2, note 300 • benignus: Jonah 4, note 133 2 • carne: Jonah 4, note 132 • certè: Micah 5, note 221 • constitus: Micah 4, note 193 • constitutio: Micah 1, note 149 • contra: Micah 1, note 138 • convertetur,: Micah 7, note 280 • corde, ore, et opere: Micah 4, note 196 • crediderunt Deo: Jonah 3, note 124 • cucurbita: Translation: Jonah 4, note 332 • cum privilegia singulorum non possint legem : Jonah 1, note 103 • currere ad beneplacitum, hoc est, ad id quod cupias: Micah 4, note 195 • defectio: Micah 1, note 142 • defectio à Deo seu rebellio, ac praevaricatio in Deum: Micah 3, note 184 • defunctorie: Jonah 1 • depulsa: Micah 4, note 206 • duce ac magistra natura: Jonah 1 • dum illis datur quod edunt: Micah 3, note 177 • elatio: Nahum 2, note 300 • est quoevis sententia sive axioma scite graviterque dictum, paucis concinna-
tum, et ad: Micah 2, note 160 • et: Micah 7, note 271 • et finem judicii omnis, qui est, malum peccati dedocere. Quomodo poenitentia
Deo, respectu mutati operis sui, et verbi sui absque explicita conditione antea
propositi, saepe tribuitur: Jonah 4, note 133
JOHN CALVIN
• exactor: Jonah 1 • fatidici: Micah 3, note 180 • filia: Translation: Jonah 4, note 332 • filius: Translation: Jonah 4, note 332 • firmam compositum: Micah 2, note 160 • firmatus: Micah 4, note 193 • fortitudine: Micah 3 • gratiosus, : Jonah 4, note 133 • h.e. tenerrimo amore motus in miseros ad illus succurrendum et indulgendum;
tum: Jonah 4, note 133 • heroum: Nahum 2, note 301 • humanus, : Micah 7, note 260 • igni: Nahum 2, note 313 • irreprehensibilia: Jonah 4, note 132 • longanumis, : Jonah 4, note 133 • mare: Jonah 1, note 95 • mercede: Micah 3, note 189 • misericors,: Jonah 4, note 133 • moliri: Jonah 1 • multae misericordiae,: Jonah 4, note 133 • navis: Jonah 1, note 95 • non certae speciei, sed generis nomen est, et piscem quemvis magnum sig-
nificat: Jonah 1, note 114 • non consolabilis,: Jonah 4, note 133 • notante dudum Theodoreto,: Jonah 4, note 133 • nugas: Jonah 1 • numquid approbabo: Micah 6, note 252 • patiens,: Jonah 4, note 133 • praeparatus: Micah 4, note 193 • procul disjecta: Micah 4, note 206 • pulchras vestes quas Deus illis donavit: Micah 2, note 166 • quia ingenium hominis ofÏcina est omnium errorum: Jonah 1 • reventia: Jonah 1 • reverentia: Jonah 1 • ritus histrionicos: Micah 3 • sacrificos: Jonah 1 • scelus: Micah 1, note 142 • se nobis clementem exhibeat: Jonah 1, note 100 • solicitum: Micah 6, note 248 • sortilegi: Jonah 1 • super: Micah 1, note 138 • transgressiones: Micah 1, note 142 • verè: Micah 3, note 183
French Words and Phrases
• Fai du pis que to pouvras: Amos 4 • Il n'y faudra plus retourner: Amos 8 • Qu'avons-nous a desmeller: Joel 3 • Qui fonde son batiment sur la terre: Amos 9, note 77 • Vae! Vae: Amos 5, note 50 • Vous faites cela pour votre plaisir et bien mettez le sur vos comptes: Amos 4