Commentary on Joel Amos Obadiah Jonah Micah and Nahum John Calvin (continued)
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