Ye who turn judgment to wormwood, and leave off righteousness in the earth,
Ver. 7. Ye who turn judgment to wormwood] Ye grandees and governors of the people, that turn the sweetest thing into the sourest (as corruptio optimi pessima), right into wrong dealing; that follow the administration of justice as a trade only, with an unquenchable and unconscionable desire of gain; not caring what becomes of righteousness, but leaving it off in the earth, or rather not leaving it at all upon earth (terras Astraea reliquit), but chasing it out of the world as much as in you lieth; while you cast it down to the ground, and tread it underfoot, Daniel 8:12, while you oppress the just, crush the needy, &c., Amos 4:1 : see the note there. Some read the text, by way of exclamation, thus: O ye that turn judgment, &c.; q.d. What strange creatures are you! what monsters of men! what public scourges! what scabs! Isaiah 5:7, God "looked for judgment, but behold oppression" (in the original it is, behold a scab); "for righteousness, but behold a cry": such a cry as entereth into the ears of the Lord of Sabaoth, Iudices instar scabiei molesti sunt oppressis (Piscator in loc.).