Verse 2
"Hear this, ye old men, and give ear, all ye inhabitants of the land. Hath this been in your days, or in the days of your fathers?"
"Old men ..." This is not a reference to some special class of leaders among the people, but merely an appeal to those of the most advanced age who could more readily confirm the uniqueness of the disaster that was upon them.
"All ye inhabitants of the land ..." The whole prophecy is addressed to all the people, and not merely, to special classes.
"Hear this ..." The prophet, having himself heard God's Word is constrained to share it with others.
God's Word is never for our selfish enjoyment; it brings with it a responsibility for others. Perhaps that is why, in the N.T., so much stress is laid on oral confession of Jesus Christ (Romans 10:9)[5]
The New English Bible is obviously correct in rendering "aged men" in this verse instead of "elders," since it is not of "the rulers" of the people that the prophet speaks here, but merely of those of great age, who neither in their own lives or that of their ancestors as communicated to them had there ever occurred anything of the magnitude of that overwhelming infestation of locusts.
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