Witnesses against Israel 1 Hear this word that the LORD has spoken against you, sons of Israel, against the whole family that I brought up from the land of Egypt, saying:
Jerome · AD 420 (Chapter 3, verses 1-2) Listen to the word that the Lord spoke against you, O children of Israel, against the whole family that I brought out of the land of Egypt, saying: You alone have I known out of all the families of the earth; therefore I will punish you for all your iniquities.
Cyril of Alexandria · AD 444 The word might be understood as having come against all of Israel, no longer taking Judah and Ephraim in part, but with the whole race gathered as if into one; for every tribe of Israel was brought up from Egypt. Therefore, with none being left out, he commands them to hear the things from God. And what were these things?
2 Only you have I known of all the families of the ground; therefore I will attend to you for all your iniquities.
Origen of Alexandria · AD 253 And each of us thinks, since he has not been an idolater, since he has not been immoral—would that we were pure in such areas—that after he has been set free from this life, he will be saved.
John Chrysostom · AD 407 For this very cause God accuses the Israelites more vehemently, and shows that they were worthy of greater chastisement, because they sinned after so many honors had come to them from Him, saying in one place: "But you only have I known of all the families of the earth, therefore will I punish you for your iniquities," and again, "and I raised up of your sons for prophets, and…
Jerome · AD 420 But as he says: My eye will not spare you, and I will not have pity, like a most merciful physician who wants to cut away putrid flesh and burn festering wounds with a cauterizing iron, he does not spare in order to spare; he does not have pity in order to have more pity; so that nothing putrid and corrupting remains in the body to infect the living flesh nearby.
3 Do two walk together unless they have met by appointment?
Jerome · AD 420 (Verse 3 onwards) Will two walk together unless they have agreed? Does a lion roar in the forest unless it has prey? Does a lion's cub give a cry from its den without capturing something? Does a bird fall into a trap on the ground without a trapper? Does a trap spring up from the ground before catching something? If a trumpet is blown in a city, will not the people be afraid?
Cyril of Alexandria · AD 444 He therefore accuses them, because they claimed that the prophets from Him did not convey words from above and from God; but rather they thought that things were being uttered from their own opinion, and that they were speaking things different from what seemed good to the Lord of all.
4 Does a lion roar in the forest when he has no prey? Does a young lion give his voice from his den unless he has captured?
Cyril of Alexandria · AD 444 Those who study the habits of wild beasts say that the lion, when it is in need of food, roams about powerfully through mountains and glens and forests, turning its eye this way and that, and seeking to catch something of the animals grazing in the woods. But when it sees something suitable for food, then it comes near and makes its attack, roaring terribly and harshly.
5 Does a bird fall into a snare on the earth when there is no trap for it? Does a snare spring up from the ground when it has captured nothing at all?
Cyril of Alexandria · AD 444 The discourse is now made by way of comparison. For fowlers most skillfully bring down the sparrows that have settled in the plants, and with snares, on the other hand, some crush what is caught.
6 Is a horn blown in a city and the people do not tremble? Is there evil in a city and the LORD has not done it?
John Chrysostom · AD 407 I do not say these things in arrogance, but I have the prophet Amos standing at my side, crying and saying, "There is no evil in the city which the Lord has not done." Now evil is a many-faceted term. I wish that you shall learn the exact meaning of each expression, in order that on account of ambiguity you may not confound the nature of the things and fall into blasphemy.
Theodoret of Cyrus · AD 458 As it is impossible for two people to share a journey at the same time, he is saying, unless indicating to each other where and why they are traveling, or for a lion to roar if there is no prey, or for a bird to fall without a hunter, or for all the other things mentioned, so it is impossible for any punishment to be imposed without God willing it.
Thomas Aquinas · AD 1274 But if there were no evils in the world, much good would be lost to man, as well in respect of knowledge, as also in respect of desire and love of good: for good is better known in contrast with evil; and while evil results come about, we more ardently desire good results: as sick men best know what a blessing health is.
7 For the Lord GOD does nothing unless he has revealed his secret to his servants the prophets.
Thomas Aquinas · AD 1274 The Lord reveals to the prophets all things that are necessary for the instruction of the faithful; yet not all to every one, but some to one, and some to another. And although God revealed in general to the prophets what He was one day to do regarding the salvation of the human race, still the apostles knew some particulars of the same, which the prophets did not know.
8 A lion has roared — who will not fear? The Lord GOD has spoken — who will not prophesy?
Basil of Caesarea · AD 379 National calamity is traced to national sin, specially to neglect of the poor.
Augustine of Hippo · AD 430 "Lord, you have been our refuge." Therefore we have recourse to you. Our healing shall be from you, for our evil is from ourselves. Because we have abandoned you, you have abandoned us to ourselves. May we therefore be found in you, for in ourselves we had been lost.
Cyril of Alexandria · AD 444 "A lion will roar, and who will not be afraid? The Lord God has spoken, and who will not prophesy?" It is not the prophets, he says, who bring on the things that come from wrath; how could they?
9 Proclaim on the citadels in Ashdod and on the citadels in the land of Egypt, and say: Gather on the mountains of Samaria and see the great tumults within her, and the oppressed in her midst.
Jerome · AD 420 (Vers. 9, 10.) Make it heard in the houses of Azotus, and in the houses of the land of Egypt, and say: Gather yourselves together upon the mountains of Samaria, and behold the many follies in the midst thereof, them that suffer wrong, and that oppress in the innermost parts thereof, and they have not known to do the right thing, saith the Lord: treasuring up iniquity and spoils…
10 And they do not know how to do what is right — the utterance of the LORD — those storing up violence and devastation in their citadels.
11 Therefore thus says the Lord GOD: A foe, and all around the land! And he will bring down your strength from you, and your citadels will be plundered.
Jerome · AD 420 (Verse 11) Therefore thus says the Lord God: The land shall be troubled and surrounded, and your strength shall be taken away from you, and your houses shall be plundered. LXX: Therefore thus says the Lord God: Tyre and the surrounding land will be deserted by your strength, and your regions will be plundered.
12 Thus says the LORD: As the shepherd delivers from the mouth of the lion two legs or a piece of an ear, so will the sons of Israel be delivered — those who dwell in Samaria on the corner of a bed, and in Damascus on a couch.
Basil of Caesarea · AD 379 If, then, any hope of salvation is still left to you, if any slight remembrance of God, if any desire for future rewards, if any fear of the punishments reserved for the unrepentant come back quickly to sobriety; raise your eyes to the heavens; return to your senses; cease your wickedness; shake off the drunkenness that has drenched you; stand up against him who has overthrown…
Jerome · AD 420 (Vers. 12, 13.) Thus says the Lord: Just as a shepherd rescues from the mouth of a lion two legs or the tip of an ear, so will the sons of Israel who dwell in Samaria be rescued, on the corner of a bed and in Damascus on the sheets.
13 Hear and bear witness in the house of Jacob — the utterance of the Lord GOD, the God of hosts —
Gregory of Nazianzus · AD 390 God's other titles fall into two distinct groups. The first group belongs to his power, the second to his providential ordering of the world, a twofold providential ordering—involving, and not involving, incarnation.
14 that in the day I attend to the transgressions of Israel upon him, I will attend to the altars of Bethel, and the horns of the altar will be cut down and fall to the ground.
Jerome · AD 420 (Verse 14, 15.) Listen and testify in the house of Jacob, says the Lord God of hosts, because on the day when I begin to 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 shall fall to the ground: and I will strike the winter house with the summer house, and the houses of ivory shall perish: and…
15 And I will strike the winter house along with the summer house, and the houses of ivory will perish, and many houses will come to an end — the utterance of the LORD.