Amos 6:7 - Exposition

With the first. They shall have a pre-eminence indeed, being the first to go into captivity. St Jerome, "Vos qui primi estis divitiis, primi captivitatis sustinebitis jugum, secundum illud quod in Ezechiele scriptum est: 'a sanctuario meo incipite'" ( Ezekiel 9:6 ). With the first ; literally, at the head, with reference doubtless to Amos 6:1 . The banquet ( mirzakh ); the screech of revellers. The word is used of the scream of mourners in Jeremiah 16:5 ; here of the cries and shouts of feasters at a banquet. Them that stretched themselves on couches, as Jeremiah 16:4 . The Septuagint, reading differently, has. "They shall depart into captivity from the dominion of princes, and the neighing of horses shall be taken away from Ephraim." From this passage of Amos St. Augustine takes occasion to show that the most untrained of the prophets possessed eloquence and literary skill ('De Doctr. Christ.,' Amos 4:7 ).