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.
Por tanto, así dijo el SEÑOR: Tu mujer fornicará en la ciudad, y tus hijos y tus hijas caerán a cuchillo, y tu tierra será partida por suertes; y tú morirás en tierra inmunda, e Israel será traspasado de su tierra.
Verse 17. Thy wife shall be a harlot] As this was the word of the Lord, so it was fulfilled; but as we have no farther account of this idolatrous priest, so we cannot tell in what circumstances these threatenings were executed. 1. His wife was to be a public prostitute; she was probably such already privately in the temple, as the wife of an idolatrous priest. 2. His sons and daughters were to fall by the sword. 3. Their inheritance was to be taken by strangers. 4. And himself was to die a captive in a heathenland.
Israel shall surety go into captivity] He now declares fully what he had not declared before, though Amaziah had made it a subject of accusation.
This particular was probably revealed at this instant, as well as those which concerned Amaziah and his family.
Ver. 17. Therefore thus saith the Lord , etc.] For withstanding the prophet of the Lord, and forbidding him to speak in his name against the idolatry of Israel, as well as for his own idolatry: thy wife shall be an harlot in the city : either of Bethel or Samaria; either through force, being ravished by the soldiers upon taking and plundering the city; so Theodoret and others: or rather of choice; either, through poverty, to get bread, or through a vicious inclination, and that in a public manner: the meaning is, that she should be a common strumpet; which must be a great affliction to him, and a just punishment for his idolatry, or spiritualadultery; this must be before the siege and taking of Samaria, since by that time the priest’s wife would be too old to be used as a harlot: and thy sons and thy daughters shall fall by the sword ; either of Shallum, who smote Zachariah the son of Jeroboam with the sword, before the people, and very probably many of his friends with him, among whom this family was; or of Menahem, who slew Shallum, and destroyed many places that opened not to him, with their inhabitants, and ripped up the women with child; or in the after invasions by Pul, Tiglathpileser, and Shalmaneser, ( 2 Kings 15:10,14,16,19,29 17:5,6); and thy land shall be divided by line ; either the whole land of Israel be lived in, or the land that was in the possession of this priest, and was his own property; this should be measured with a line, and be parted among foreigners, that should invade the land, and subdue it; a just punishment of the sins he had been guilty of, in getting large possessions in an ill manner: and thou shall die in a polluted land ; not in his own land, reckoned holy, but in a Heathenland, which was accounted defiled, because the inhabitants of it were uncircumcised and idolaters, and he was no better; perhaps the land of Assyria, whither he might with others be carried captive; or some other land he was forced to flee into: and Israel shall surely go into captivity forth of his land ; as he had before prophesied, and here confirms it; and which was fulfilled in the times of Hoshea king of Israel, by Shalmaneser king of Assyria, ( 2 Kings 17:6).
Verses 10-17 - It is no new thing for the accusers of the brethren, to misrepresen them as enemies to the king and kingdom, as traitors to their prince and troublers of the land, when they are the bestfriends to both Those who make gain their godliness, and are governed by the hopes of wealth and preferment, are ready to think these the most powerfu motives with others also. But those who have a warrant from God, lik Amos, ought not to fear the face of man. If God, that sent him, had no strengthened him, he could not thus have set his face as a flint. The Lord often chooses the weak and foolish things of the world to confoun the wise and mighty. But no fervent prayers, or self-denying labours can bring proudsinners to bear faithful reproofs and warnings. And all who oppose or despise the Divine word, must expect fatal effects to their souls, unless they repent __________________________________________________________________
