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Easton's Bible Dictionary
borne; a burden,
One of the twelve minor prophets. He was a native of Tekota, the modern Tekua,
a town about 12 miles south-east of Bethlehem. He was a man of humble birth, neither
a "prophet nor a prophet's son," but "an herdman and a dresser of sycomore trees,"
RSV He prophesied in the days of Uzziah, king of Judah, and was contemporary with
Isaiah and Hosea ( Amos
1:1 ; 7:14
, 7:15
; Zechariah
14:5 ), who survived him a few years. Under Jeroboam II. the kingdom
of Israel rose to the zenith of its prosperity; but that was followed by the prevalence
of luxury and vice and idolatry. At this period Amos was called from his obscurity
to remind the people of the law of God's retributive justice, and to call them
to repentance.
The Book of Amos consists of three parts:
(1) The nations around are summoned to judgment because
of their sins ( Amos
1:1 - 2:3
). He quotes Joel
3:16 .
(2) The spiritual condition of Judah, and especially of Israel, is described (
Amos
2:4 - 6:14
).
(3) In Amos
7:1 - 9:10
are recorded five prophetic visions.
(a) The first two ( Amos
7:1 - 6
) refer to judgments against the guilty people.
(b) The next two ( Amos
7:7 - 9
; 8:1
- 3
) point out the ripeness of the people for the threatened judgements Amos
7:10 - 17
consists of a conversation between the prophet and the priest of Bethel.
(c) The fifth describes the overthrow and ruin of Israel ( Amos
9:1 - 10
); to which is added the promise of the restoration of the kingdom and its final
glory in the Messiah's kingdom. |
|
The style is peculiar in the number of the
allusions made to natural objects and to agricultural occupations. Other allusions
show also that Amos was a student of the law as well as a "child of nature." These
phrases are peculiar to him: "Cleanness of teeth" [i.e., want of bread] ( Amos
4:6 ); "The excellency of Jacob" ( Amos
6:8 ; 8:7
); "The high places of Isaac" ( Amos
7:9 ); "The house of Isaac" ( Amos
7:16 ); "He that createth the wind" ( Amos
4:13 ). Quoted, Acts
7:42 .
Hitchcock's Dictionary of Bible Names
(no entry)
Smith's Bible Dictionary
The book of the prophecies of Amos seems to be
divided into four principal portions closely connected together.
(1) From Amos
1:1 - 2:3
he denounces the sins of the nations bordering on Israel and Judah.
(2) From Amos
2:4 - 6:14
he describes the state of those two kingdoms, especially, the former.
(3) From Amos
7:1 - 9:10
he relates his visit to Bethel, and sketches the impending punishment of Israel.
(4) At last he promises blessings.
The chief peculiarity of the style consists in the number of allusions to natural
objects and agricultural occupations, as might be expected from the early life
of the author. |
International Standard Bible Encyclopedia
a'-mos ('amoc, "burdensome" or "burden-bearer"; Amos):
I. THE PROPHET
1. Name
Amos is the prophet whose book stands third among the "Twelve" in the Hebrew canon.
No other person bearing the same name is mentioned in the Old Testament, the name
of the father of the prophet Isaiah being written differently ('amots). There
is an Amos mentioned in the genealogical series Luke 3:25, but he is otherwise
unknown, and we do not know how his name would have been written in Hebrew. Of
the signification of the prophet's name all that can be said is that a verb with
the same root letters, in the sense of to load or to carry a load, is not uncommon
in the language.
2. Native Place
Tekoa, the native place of Amos, was situated at a distance of 5 miles South from
Bethlehem, from which it is visible, and 10 miles from Jerusalem, on a hill 2,700
ft. high, overlooking the wilderness of Judah. It was made a "city for defense"
by Rehoboam (2 Chronicles 11:6), and may have in fact received its name from its
remote and exposed position, for the stem of which the word is a derivative is
of frequent occurrence in the sense of sounding an alarm with the trumpet:
e. g. "Blow the trumpet in Tekoa, and set up a sign of fire in Beth-haccerem"
(Jeremiah 6:1 the King James Version). The same word is also used to signify the
setting up of a tent by striking in the tent- pegs; and Jerome states that there
was no village beyond Tekoa in his time. The name has survived, and the neighborhood
is at the present day the pasture-ground for large flocks of sheep and goats.
From the high ground on which the modern village stands one looks down on the
bare undulating hills of one of the bleakest districts of Palestine, "the waste
howling wilderness," which must have suggested some of the startling imagery of
the prophet's addresses. The place may have had--as is not seldom the case with
towns or villages--a reputation for a special quality of its inhabitants; for
it was from Tekoa that Joab fetched the "wise woman" who by a feigned story effected
the reconciliation of David with his banished son Absalom (2 Samuel 14). There
are traces in the Book of Am of a shrewdness and mother-wit which are not so conspicuous
in other prophetical books.
3. Personal History
The particulars of a personal kind which are noted in the book are few but suggestive.
Amos was not a prophet or the son of a prophet, he tells us (Amos 7:14), i.e.
he did not belong to the professional class which frequented the so-called schools
of the prophets. He was "among the herdsmen of Tekoa" (1:1), the word here used
being found only once in another place (2 Kings 3:4) and applied to Mesha, king
of Moab. It seems to refer to a special breed of sheep, somewhat ungainly in appearance
but producing, an abundant fleece. In Amos 7:14 the word rendered "herdman" is
different, and denotes an owner of cattle, though some, from the Septuagint rendering,
think that the word should be the same as in Amos 1:1. He was also "a dresser
of sycomore-trees" (Amos 7:14). The word rendered "dresser" (Revised Version)
or "gatherer" (the King James Version) occurs only here, and from the rendering
of the Septuagint (knizon) it is conjectured that there is reference to a squeezing
or nipping of the sycamore fig to make it more palatable or to accelerate its
ripening, though such a usage is not known in Palestine at the present day.
4. His Preparation
Nothing is said as to any special preparation of the prophet for his work: "The
Lord took me from following the flock, and the Lord said unto me, Go, prophesy
unto my people Israel" (Amos 7:15, the English Revised Version). In these words
he puts himself in line with all the prophets who, in various modes of expression,
claim a direct revelation from God. But the mention of the prophetic call in association
with the mention of his worldly calling is significant. There was no period interposed
between the one and the other, no cessation of husbandry to prepare for the work
of prophesying. The husbandman was prepared for this task, and when God's time
came he took it up. What was that preparation? Even if we suppose that the call
was a momentary event, the man must have been ready to receive it, equipped for
its performance. And, looking at the way in which he accomplished it, as exhibited
in his book, we can see that there was a preparation, both internal and external,
of a very thorough and effective character.
(1) Knowledge of God
First of all, he has no doubt or uncertainty as to the character of the God in
whose name he is called to speak. The God of Amos is one whose sway is boundless
(Amos 9:2), whose power is infinite (Amos 8:9), not only controlling the forces
of Nature (Amos 4 ; 5:8) but guiding the movements and destinies of nations (Amos
6:1 , 14 ; 9:7). Moreover, He is righteous in all His ways, dealing with nations
on moral principles (Amos 1:3 ; 2:1); and, though particularly favorable to Israel,
yet making that very choice of them as a people a ground for visiting them with
sterner retribution for their sins (Amos 3:2). In common with all the prophets,
Amos gives no explanation of how he came to know God and to form this conception
of His character. It was not by searching that they found out God. It is assumed
that God is and that He is such a Being; and this knowledge, as it could come
only from God, is regarded as undisputed and undisputable. The call to speak in
God's name may have come suddenly, but the prophet's conception of the character
of the God who called him is no new or sudden revelation but a firm and well-established
conviction.
(2) Acquaintance with History of His People
Then his book shows not only that he was well acquainted with the history and
traditions of his nation, which he takes for granted as well known to his hearers,
but that he had reflected upon these things and realized their significance. We
infer that he had breathed an atmosphere of religion, as there is nothing to indicate
that, in his acquaintance with the religious facts of his nation, he differed
from those among whom he dwelt, although the call to go forth and enforce them
came to him in a special way.
(3) Personal Travel
It has been conjectured that Amos had acquired by personal travel the accurate
acquaintance which he shows in his graphic delineations of contemporary life and
conditions; and it may have been the case that, as a wool-merchant or flock-master,
he had visited the towns mentioned and frequented the various markets to which
the people were attracted.
(4) Scenery of His Home
Nor must we overlook another factor in his preparation: the scenery in which he
had his home and the occupations of his daily life. The landscape was one to make
a solemn impression on a reflective mind: the extensive desert, the shimmering
waters of the Dead Sea, the high wall of the distant hills of Moab, over all which
were thrown the varying light and shade. The silent life of the desert, as with
such scenes ever before him, he tended his flock or defended them from the ravages
of wild beasts, would to one whose thoughts were full of God nourish that exalted
view of the Divine Majesty which we find in his book, and furnish the imagery
in which his thoughts are set (Amos 1:2; 3:4; 4:13; 5:8; 9:5). As he is taken
from following the flock, he comes before us using the language and figures of
his daily life (Amos 3:12), but there runs through all the note of one who has
seen God's working in all Nature and His presence in every phenomenon. Rustic
he may be, but there is no rudeness or rusticity in his style, which is one of
natural and impassioned eloquence, ordered and regular as coming from a mind which
was responsive to the orderly working of God in Nature around him. There is an
aroma of the free air of the desert about his words; but the prophet lives in
an ampler ether and breathes a purer air; all things in Nature and on the field
of history are seen in a Divine light and measured by a Divine standard. |
5. His Mission
Thus, prepared in the solitudes of the extreme south of Judah, he was called to
go and prophesy unto the people of Israel, and appears at Bethel the capital of
the Northern Kingdom. It may be that, in the prosecution of his worldly calling,
he had seen and been impressed by the conditions of life and religion in those
parts. No reason is given for his mission to the northern capital, but the reason
is not far to seek. It is the manner of the prophets to appear where they are
most needed; and the Northern Kingdom about that time had come victorious out
of war, and had reached its culmination of wealth and power, with the attendant
results of luxury and excess, while the Southern Kingdom had been enjoying a period
of outward tranquillity and domestic content.
6. Date
The date of the prophet Amos can approximately be fixed from the statement in
the first verse that his activity fell "in the days of Uzziah king of Judah, and
in the days of Jeroboam the son of Joash king of Israel, two years before the
earthquake." Both these monarchs had long reigns, that of Uzziah extending from
779 to 740 BC and that of Jeroboam II from 783 to 743 BC. If we look at the years
when they were concurrently reigning, and bear in mind that, toward the end of
Uzziah's reign, Jotham acted as co-regent, we may safely place the date of Amos
at about the year 760 BC. In a country in which earthquakes are not uncommon the
one here mentioned must have been of unusual severity, for the memory of it was
long preserved (Zechariah 14:5). How long he exercised his ministry we are not
told. In all probability the book is the deposit of a series of addresses delivered
from time to time till his plain speaking drew upon him the resentment of the
authorities, and he was ordered to leave the country (Amos 7:10). We can only
conjecture that, some time afterward, he withdrew to his native place and put
down in writing a condensed record of the discourses he had delivered. |
II. THE BOOK
We can distinguish with more than ordinary certainty the outlines of the individual
addresses, and the arrangement of the book is clear and simple. The text, also,
has been on the whole faithfully preserved; and though in a few places critics
profess to find the traces of later editorial hands, these conclusions rest mainly
on subjective grounds, and will be estimated differently by different minds.
1. Its Divisions
The book falls naturally into three parts, recognizable by certain recurring formulas
and general literary features.
(1) The first section, which is clearly recognizable, embraces
Amos 1 and 2. Here, after the title and designation of the prophet in Amos 1:1,
there is a solemn proclamation of Divine authority for the prophet's words. "Yahweh
will roar from Zion, and utter his voice from Jerusalem" (verse 2). This is notable
in one who throughout the book recognizes God's power as world-wide and His operation
as extensive as creation; and it should be a caution in view, on the one hand,
of the assertion that the temple at Jerusalem was not more sacred than any of
the numerous "high places" throughout the land, and, on the other hand, the superficial
manner in which some writers speak of the Hebrew notion of a Deity whose dwelling-place
was restricted to one locality beyond which His influence was not felt. For this
God, who has His dwelling-place in Zion, now through the mouth of the prophet
denounces in succession the surrounding nations, and this mainly not for offenses
committed against the chosen people but for moral offenses against one another
and for breaches of a law binding on humanity. It will be observed that the nations
denounced are not named in geographical order, and the prophet exhibits remarkable
rhetorical skill in the order of selection. The interest and sympathy of the hearers
is secured by the fixing of the attention on the enormities of guilt in their
neighbors, and curiosity is kept awake by the uncertainty as to where the next
stroke of the prophetic whip will fall. Beginning with the more distant and alien
peoples of Damascus, Gaza and Tyre, he wheels round to the nearer and kindred
peoples of Edom, Ammon and Moab, till he rests for a moment on the brother tribe
of Judah, and thus, having relentlessly drawn the net around Israel by the enumeration
of seven peoples, he swoops down upon the Northern Kingdom to which his message
is to be particularly addressed.
(2) The second section embraces Amos 3 to 6, and consists apparently of a series
of discourses, each introduced by the formula: "Hear this word" (Amos 3:1; 4:1;
5:1), and another introduced by a comprehensive: "Woe to them that are at ease
in Zion, and to them that are secure in the mountain of Samaria" (Amos 6:1). The
divisions here are not so clearly marked. It will be observed e. g. that there
is another "Woe" at Amos 5:18; and in chapter 4, though the address at the outset
is directed to the luxurious women of Samaria, from 4:4 onward the words have
a wider reference. Accordingly some would divide this section into a larger number
of subsections; and some, indeed, have described the whole book as a collection
of ill-arranged fragments. But, while it is not necessary to suppose that the
written book is an exact reproduction of the spoken addresses, and while the division
into chapters has no authority, yet we must allow for some latitude in the details
which an impassioned speaker would introduce into his discourses, and for transitions
and connections of thought which may not be apparent on the surface.
(3) The third section has some well-marked characteristics, although it is even
less uniform than the preceding. The outstanding feature is the phrase, "Thus
the Lord Yahweh showed me" (Amos 7:1 , 4 , 7 ; 8:1) varied at Amos 9:1 by the
words, "I saw the Lord standing beside the altar." We have thus a series of "visions"
bearing upon, and interpreted as applying to, the condition of Israel. It is in
the course of one of these, when the prophet comes to the words, "I will rise
against the house of Jeroboam with the sword" (Amos 7:9) that the interposition
of Amaziah, the priest of Bethel, is recorded, with the prophet's noble reply
as to his Divine call, and his rebuke and denunciation of the priest, ending with
a prophetic announcement of the downfall and captivity of Israel (Amos 7:14 -
17). |
2. Its Outlook
If the discourses are put down in chronological order of their delivery, it would
appear that Amos did not immediately take his departure, since more visions follow
this episode, and there is a special appropriateness in the intervention of Amaziah
just at the point where it is recorded. As to the closing passage of this section
(Amos 9:11 - 15) which gives a bright prospect of the future, there is a class
of critics who are inclined to reject it just on this account as inconsistent
with the severe denunciatory tone of the rest of the book. It is quite possible,
however, that the prophet himself (and no succeeding later editor) may have added
the passage when he came to write down his addresses. There is no reason to believe
that any of the prophets--harsh though their words were-- believed that the God
of Israel would make a full end of His people in captivity: on the contrary, their
assurance of God's faithfulness to His promise, and the deep-seated conviction
that right would ultimately prevail, lead us to expect even in the sternest or
earliest of the prophets the hope of a future glory--that hope which grew brighter
and brighter as the nation's outlook grew darker, and attained intensity and clearness
in the Messianic hope which sustained them in the darkest days of exile. It is
difficult to believe that any of the prophets were prophets of despair, or to
conceive how they could have prophesied at all unless they had a firm faith in
the ultimate triumph of the good.
3. Value of the Book
The Book of Amos is particularly valuable from the fact that he is certainly one
of the earliest prophets whose writings have come down to us. It is, like the
Book of Hosea which belongs to about the same time, a contemporaneous document
of a period of great significance in the history of Israel, and not only gives
graphic sketches or illuminating hints of the life and religious condition of
the people, but furnishes a trustworthy standard for estimating the value of some
other books whose dates are not so precisely determined, a definite starting-point
for tracing the course of Israel's history.
(1) As a Picture of the Social Condition
The book is valuable as embodying a contemporary picture of society and the condition
of religion. From the abuses which the prophet denounces and the lifelike sketches
he draws of the scenes amid which he moved, taken along with what we know otherwise
of the historical movements of the period, we are able to form a fairly adequate
estimate of the condition of the age and the country. During the reign of Jeroboam
II the kingdom of Israel, after having been greatly reduced during preceding reigns,
rose to a degree of extent and influence unexampled since the days of Solomon
(2 Kings 14:25); and we are not astonished to read in the Book of Am the haughty
words which he puts into the mouth of the people of his time when they spoke of
Israel as the "chief of the nations" a first-class power in modern language, and
boasted of the "horns" by which they had attained that eminence (Amos 6:1 , 13).
But success in war, if it encouraged this boastful spirit, brought also inevitable
evils in its train. Victory, as we know from the Assyrian monuments, meant plunder;
for king after king recounts how much spoil he had taken, how many prisoners he
had carried away; and we must assume that wars among smaller states would be conducted
on the same methods. In such wars, success meant an extension of territory and
increase of wealth, while defeat entailed the reverse. But it is to be remembered
that, in an agricultural country and in a society constituted as that of Israel
was, the result of war to one class of the population was to a great extent disastrous,
whatever was the issue, and success, when it was achieved, brought evils in its
train which even aggravated their condition. The peasant, required to take up
arms for offense or defense, was taken away from the labors of the field which,
in the best event, were for a time neglected, and, in the worst, were wasted and
rendered unproductive. And then, when victory was secured, the spoils were liable
to fall into the hands of the nobles and leaders, those "called with a name" (Amos
6:1), while the peasant returned to his wasted or neglected fields without much
substantial resource with which to begin life again. The wealth secured by the
men of strong hand led to the increase of luxury in its possessors, and became
actually the means of still further adding to the embarrassment of the poor, who
were dependent on the rich for the means of earning their livelihood. The situation
would be aggravated under a feeble or corrupt government, such as was certainly
that of Jeroboam's successors. The condition prevails in modern eastern countries,
even under comparatively wise and just administration; and that it was the state
of matters prevailing in the time of Amos is abundantly clear from his book.
The opening denunciation of Israel for oppression of the poor and for earth-hunger
(Amos 2:6 , 7) is re-echoed and amplified in the succeeding chapters (Amos 3:9
, 10 ; 4:1 ; 5:11 , 12 ; 8:4 - 6); and the luxury of the rich, who battened on
the misfortune of their poorer brethren, is castigated in biting irony in such
passages as Amos 6:3-6. Specially noticeable in this connection is the contemptuous
reference to the luxurious women, the "kine of Bashan" (Amos 4:1), whose extravagances
are maintained by the oppression of the poor. The situation, in short, was one
that has found striking parallels in modern despotic countries in the East, where
the people are divided into two classes, the powerful rich, rich because powerful
and powerful because rich, and, the poor oppressed, men who have no helper, no
"back" in the common eastern phrase, dependent on the rich and influential and
tending to greater poverty under greedy patrons.
(2) As Picture of the Religious Condition
In such a social atmosphere, which poisoned the elementary virtues, religion of
a vital kind could not flourish; and there are plain indications in the words
of Amos of the low condition to which it had sunk. There was, indeed, as we gather
from ins addresses, no lack of outward attention to the forms of worship; but
these forms were of so corrupted a character and associated with so much practical
godlessness and even immorality, that instead of raising the national character
it tended to its greater degradation. The people prided themselves in what they
regarded the worship of the national God, thinking that so long as they honored
Him with costly offerings and a gorgeous ritual, they were pleasing Him and secure
in His protection. Bethel, Dan, Gilgal, Beersheba, and we know not how many other
places were resorted to in pilgrimage by crowds of worshippers. With all the accompaniments
of ceremonious ritual which the newly found wealth put in their power, with offerings
more than the legally prescribed or customary (Amos 4:4 , 5) the service of these
sanctuaries was maintained; but even these offerings were made at the expense
of the poor (Amos 5:11), the prevailing luxury forced its way even to the precincts
of the altars (Amos 2:8), and justice and mercy were conspicuously absent from
the religious life. The people seemed to have settled down to a complacent optimism,
nourished no doubt by national prosperity, and, though there had not been wanting
reminders of the sovereignty of a righteous God, in convulsions of Nature--drought,
famine, pestilence and earthquake (Amos 4:6 - 11)--these had been of no avail
to awaken the sleeping conscience. They put the evil day far from them (Amos 6:3),
for Yahweh was their national God and "the day of the Lord," the good time coming
(Amos 5:18), when God would come to their help, was more in their mind than the
imperative duty of returning to Him (Amos 4:6 , 8 , etc.).
(3) Testimony to History
The book is valuable for the confirmation it gives of the historical statements
of other books, particularly for the references it contains to the earlier history
contained in the Pentateuch. And here we must distinguish between references to,
or quotations from, books, and statements or hints or indications of historical
events which may or may not have been written in books or accessible to the prophet
and his hearers. Opinions differ as to the date of composition of the books which
record the earlier history, and the oldest Biblical writers are not in the habit
of saying from what sources they drew their information or whether they are quoting
from books. We can hardly believe that in the time of Amos copies of existing
books or writings would be in the hands of the mass of the people, even if the
power to read them was general. In such circumstances, if we find a prophet like
Amos in the compass of a small book referring to outstanding events and stages
of the past history as matters known to all his hearers and unquestionable, our
confidence in the veracity of the books in which these facts are recorded is greatly
increased, and it becomes a matter of comparatively less importance at what date
these books were composed.
Now it is remarkable how many allusions, more or less precise, to antecedent history
are found in the compass of this small book; and the significance of them lies
not in the actual number of references, but in the kind of reference and the implications
involved in the individual references. That is to say, each reference is not to
be taken as an isolated testimony to some single event in question, but involves
a great deal more than is expressed, and is intelligible only when other facts
or incidents are taken into consideration. Thus e. g. the reference to the overthrow
of Sodom and Gomorrah (Amos 4:11) is only intelligible on the supposition that
the story of that catastrophe was a matter of common knowledge; and it would be
a carping criticism to argue that the destruction of other cities of the plain
at the same time and the whole story of Lot were unknown in the days of Amos because
they are not mentioned here in detail. So, when we have in one passage a reference
to the house of Isaac (Amos 7:16), in another to the house of Jacob (Amos 3:13),
in another to the house of Joseph (Amos 5:6) and in another to the enmity between
Jacob and Esau (Amos 1:11), we cannot take these as detached notices, but must
supply the links which the prophet's words would suggest to his hearers. In other
words, such slight notices, just because they are incidental and brief, imply
a familiarity with a connected patriarchal history such as is found in the Book
of Gen. Again, the prophet's references to the "whole family" of the "children
of Israel" whom the Lord "brought up out of the land of Egypt" (Amos 3:1), to
the Divine leading of the people "forty years in the wilderness, to possess the
land of the Amorite" (Amos 2:10) are not odds and ends of popular story but links
in a chain of national history. It seems to be on the strength of these and similar
references in the books of Am and Hos, whose dates are known, that critics have
agreed to fix the date of the earliest historical portions of the Pentateuch as
they understand them, namely, the parts designated as Jahwist and Elohist, in
the 8th and 9th centuries BC, i.e. at or shortly before the time of these prophets.
It may be left to the unbiased judgment of the reader to say whether the references
look like references to a newly composed document, or whether it is not more probable
that, in an age when written documents were necessarily few and not accessible
to the multitude, these references are appeals to things well fixed in the national
memory, a memory extending back to the things themselves. Or, if the prophet's
words are to be taken as sufficient proof of the existence of written sources,
the fact that the matters are assumed as well known would rather encourage the
conclusion that the written sources in question go back to a much earlier period,
since the matters contained in them had by this time become matters of universal
knowledge.
(4) Testimony to the Law
(a) The Ritual
And what about those other elements of the Pentateuch of a legal and ritual character
which bulk so prominently in those books? The question whether the Book of Amos
indicates an acquaintance with these or not is important because it is to a great
extent on the silence of prophetical and historical writers that critics of a
certain school relegate these legalistic portions of the Pentateuch to a late
date. Now at the outset it is obvious to ask what we have a reasonable right to
expect. We have to bear in mind what was the condition of the people whom Amos
addressed, and the purpose and aim of his mission to the Northern Kingdom. It
is to be remembered that, as we are told in the Book of Kings (1 Kings 12:25),
Jeroboam I deliberately sought to make a breach between the worship of Jerusalem
and that of his own kingdom, while persuading his people that the worship of Yahweh
was being maintained. The schism occurred some 170 years before the time of Amos
and it is not probable that the worship and ritual of the Northern Kingdom tended
in that interval to greater purity or greater conformity to what had been the
authoritative practice of the undivided kingdom at the temple of Jerusalem. When,
therefore, Amos, in face of the corrupt worship combined with elaborate ritual
which prevailed around him, declares that God hates and despises their feasts
and takes no delight in their solemn assemblies (Amos 5:21), we are not justified
in pressing his words, as is sometimes done, into a sweeping condemnation of all
ritual. On the contrary, seeing that, in the very same connection (Amos 5:22),
he specifies burnt offerings and meal offerings and peace offerings, and, in another
passage (Amos 4:4 , 5), daily sacrifices and tithes, sacrifices of thanksgiving
and free-will offerings, it is natural to infer that by these terms which are
familiar in the Pentateuch he is referring to those statutory observances which
were part of the national worship of united Israel, but had been overlaid with
corruption and become destitute of spiritual value as practiced in the Northern
Kingdom. So we may take his allusions to the new moon and the Sabbath (Amos 8:5)
as seasons of special sacredness and universally sanctioned. Having condemned
in such scornful and sweeping terms the worship that he saw going on around him,
what was Amos to gum by entering into minute ritual prescriptions or defining
the precise duties and perquisites of priests and Levites; and having condemned
the pilgrimages to the shrines of Bethel, Gilgal, Beersheba, Samaria and Da (Amos
4:4 ; 5:5 ; 8:14), what was he to gain by quoting the law of Deut as to a central
sanctuary? And had one of his hearers, like the woman of Samaria of a later day,
attempted to draw him into a discussion of the relative merits of the two temples,
we can conceive him answering in the spirit of the great Teacher: "Ye worship
ye know not what: we know what we worship" (John 4:22 the King James Version).
A regulation of the form was of no avail while the whole spirit of the observance
was corrupt; the soul of religion was dead, and the prophet had a higher duty
than to dress out the carcass.
At the root of the corruption of the religion lay a rottenness of moral sense;
and from beginning to end Amos insists on the necessity of a pure and righteous
life. In this connection his appeals are in striking agreement with the specially
ethical demands of the law books, and in phraseology so much resemble them as
to warrant the conclusion that the requirements of the law on these subjects were
known and acknowledged. Thus his denunciations of those who oppress the poor (Amos
2:7 ; 4:1 ; 8:4) are quite in the spirit and style of Exodus 22:21 , 22 ; 23:9
; his references to the perversion of justice and taking bribes (Amos 2:6; 5:7,10;
6:12) are rhetorical enforcements of the prohibitions of the law in Exodus 23:6
- 8; when he reproves those that "lay themselves down beside every altar upon
clothes taken in pledge" (Amos 2:8) we hear an echo of the command: "If thou at
all take thy neighbor's garment to pledge, thou shalt restore it unto him before
the sun goeth down" (Exodus 22:26); and when he denounces those making "the ephah
small, and the shekel great, and dealing falsely with balances of deceit" (Amos
8:5) his words are in close agreement with the law, "Ye shall do no unrighteousness
in judgment, in mete-yard, in weights, or in measure. Just balances, just weight,
a just ephah, and a just hin shall ye have" (Leviticus 19:35 , 36 , the King James
Version).
(b) Ethical Teaching
As a preacher of righteousness, Amos affirms and resists upon those ethical parts
of the law which are its vital elements, and which lie at the foundation of all
prophecy; and it is remarkable how even in phraseology he agrees with the most
ethical book of the Pentateuch, Deuteronomy. He does not, indeed, like his contemporary
Hosea, dwell on the love of God as Deuteronomy does; but, of sterner mould, in
almost the very words of Deuteronomy, emphasizes the keeping of God's commandments,
and denounces those who despise the law (compare Amos 2:4 with Deuteronomy 17:19).
Among verbal coincidences have been noticed the combinations "oppress" "crush"
(Amos 4:1 ; Deuteronomy 28:33), "blasting" and "mildew" (Amos 4:9 ; Deuteronomy
28:22), and "gall" and "wormwood" (Amos 6:12; Deuteronomy 29:18).
Compare also Amos 9:8 with Deuteronomy 6:15, and note the predilection for the
same word to "destroy" common to both books (compare Amos 2:9 with Deuteronomy
2:22). In view of all of which it seems an extraordinary statement to make that
"the silence of Amos with reference to the centralization of worship, on which
Deuteronomy is so explicit, alone seems sufficient to outweigh any linguistic
similarity that can be discovered" (H. G. Mitchell, Amos, an Essay in Exegesis,
185). |
(5) The Prophetic Order
As Amos is without doubt one of the earliest writing prophets, his book is invaluable
as an example of what prophecy was in ancient Israel. And one thing cannot fail
to impress the reader at the very outset: namely, that he makes no claim to be
the first or among the first of the line, or that he is exercising some new and
hitherto unheard- of function. He begins by boldly speaking in God's name, assuming
that even the people of the Northern Kingdom were familiar with that kind of address.
Nay, he goes farther and states in unequivocal terms that "the Lord God will do
nothing, but he revealeth his secret unto his servants the prophets" (Amos 3:7,
the King James Version).
We need not search farther for a definition of the prophet as understood by him
and other Old Testament writers: the prophet is one to whom God reveals His will,
and who comes forward to declare that will and purpose to man. A great deal has
been made of the words of Amaziah the priest of Bethel (Amos 7:12), as if they
proved that the prophet in those times was regarded as a wandering rhetorician,
earning his bread by reciting his speeches; and it has been inferred from the
words of Amos himself that the prophets of his day were so disreputable a class
that he disdained to be named along with them (Amos 7:14). But all this is fanciful.
Even if we admit that there were men calling themselves prophets who prophesied
for hire (Micah 3:5 , 11), it cannot be assumed that the expression here to "eat
bread" has that meaning; for in other passages it seems simply to signify to lead
a quiet or ordinary life, to go about one's daily business (see Exodus 24:11;
Jeremiah 22:15). In any case we are not to take the estimate of a man like Amaziah
or a godless populace in preference to the conception of Amos himself and his
account of his call. It was not by man or by any college of prophets but by Yahweh
Himself that he was appointed, and by whatever name he might be called, the summons
was "Go, prophesy unto my people Israel" (Amos 7:15). There is no trace here of
the "prophets becoming conscious of a distinction between themselves and the professional
nebhi'im, who were apt simply to echo the patriotic and nationalistic sentiments
of the people, and in reality differed but little from the soothsayers and diviners
of Semitic heathenism" (Ottley, The Religion of Israel, 90). Whoever the "professional
nebhi'im" may have been in his day, or whatever he thought of them if they existed,
Amos tells us nothing; but he ranges himself with men to whom Yahweh has spoken
in truth (Amos 3:7 , 8), and indicates that there had been a succession of such
men (Amos 2:11), faithful amid the prevailing corruption though tempted to be
unfaithful (Amos 2:12); in short he gives us to understand that the "prophetic
order" goes back to a period long before his day and has its roots in the true
and original religion of Israel.
(6) The Prophetic Religion
Finally, from the Book of Am we may learn what the prophetic religion was. Here
again there is no indication of rudimentary crudeness of conception, or of painful
struggling upward from the plane of naturalism or belief in a merely tribal God.
The God in whose name Amos speaks has control over all the forces of Nature (Amos
4:6 ; 5:8 , 9), rules the destinies of nations (Amos 6:2 ,14 ; 9:2 - 6), searches
the thoughts of the heart (Amos 4:13), isinflexible in righteousness and deals
with nations and with men on equal justice (Amos 1; Amos 2; 9:7), andis most severe
to the people who have received the highest privileges (Amos 3:2). And this is
the God by whose name his hearers call themselves, whose claims they cannot deny,
whose dealings with them from old time are well known and acknowledged (Amos 2:11),
whose laws they have broken (Amos 2:4 ; 3:10) and for whose just judgment they
are warned to prepare (Amos 4:12). All this the prophet enforces faithfully and
sternly; not a voice is raised in the circle of his hearers to dispute his words;
all that Amaziah the priest can do is to urge the prophet to abstain from unwelcome
words in Bethel, because it is the king's sanctuary and a royal house; the only
inference is that the people felt the truth and justice of the prophet's words.
The "prophetic religion" does not begin with Amos. |
|
LITERATURE
W. R. Harper, "Amos and Hosea," in the ICC; S. R. Driver, "Joe and Amos" in Cambridge
Bible for Schools and Colleges; H. G. Mitchell, Amos, an Essay in Exegesis (Boston);
A. B. Davidson, two articles in The Expositor, 3rd ser, V, VI (1887); W. R. Smith,
The Prophets of Israel; G. A. Smith, "The Book of the Twelve Prophets," in Expositor's
Bible; J. J. P. Valeton, Amos und Hosea (1894); C. von Orelli, Die zwolf kleinen
Propheten, 3. Aufl. (1908) and ET; Nowack, "Die kleinen Propheten," in Hand-commentar
zum Altes Testament; Marti, "Das Dodekapropheton erklart," in Kurzer Hand-Commentar
zum Altes Testament.
James Robertson
Tags:
amos, bible commentary, bible history, bible reference, bible study, book of amos, define, judgment of nations, old testament, prophet, prophetic visions, spiritual condition of judah
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