Shall horses run upon the rocks? or will [one] plough
[there]
with oxen?
&c.] Will any man be so weak and foolish, to propose or
attempt a race for horses upon rocks, where they and their riders
would be in danger of breaking their necks? or would any man act
so unwise a part, as to take a yoke of oxen to plough with them
upon a rock, where no impression can be made? as vain and
fruitless a thing it would be to attempt to bring such persons
under a conviction of their sins, and to repentance for them, and
reformation from them, who are given up to a judicial hardness of
heart, like that of a rock, as are the persons described in the
next clause; or as such methods with horses and oxen would be
contrary to all the rules of reason and prudence, so as contrary
a part do such persons act whose characters are next given, and
there is no probability of bringing them to better sense and
practice of things; for ye have turned judgment into gall,
and the fruit of righteousness
into hemlock;
that which would be beneficial to a nation, than which nothing is
more so, as the exercise of justice, and judgment, into that
which is bitter and pernicious to it, as injustice and
oppression; see ( Amos 5:7 ) .