Amos

VIEW:59 DATA:01-04-2020
loading; weighty
Hitchcock's Bible Names Dictionary


AMOS
1. The man.—Amos, the earliest of the prophets whose writings have come down to us, and the initiator of one of the greatest movements in spiritual history, was a herdsman, or small sheep-farmer, in Tekoa, a small town lying on the uplands some six miles south of Bethlehem. He combined two occupations. The sheep he reared produced a particularly fine kind of wool, the sale of which doubtless took him from one market to another. But he was also a ‘pincher of sycomores.’ The fruit of this tree was hastened in its ripening process by being bruised or pinched: and as the sycomore does not grow at so great a height as Tekoa, this subsidiary occupation would bring Amos into touch with other political and religious circles. The simple life of the uplands, the isolation from the dissipation of a wealthier civilization, the aloofness from all priestly or prophetic guilds, had doubtless much to do with the directness of his vision and speech, and with the spiritual independence which found in him so noble an utterance. While he was thus a native of the kingdom of Judah, his prophetic activity awoke in the kingdom of Israel. Of this awakening he gives a most vivid picture in the account of his interview with Amaziah, the priest of Bethel (Amo_7:10-17). He had gone to Bethel to some great religious feast, which was also a business market. The direct call from God to testify against the unrighteousness of both kingdoms had probably come to him not long before; and amidst the throng at Bethel he proclaimed his vision of Jehovah standing with a plumb-line to measure the deflection of Israel, and prepared to punish the iniquity of the house of Jeroboam II. The northern kingdom had no pleasant memories of another prophet who had declared the judgment of God upon sin (2Ki_9:25 ff.); and Amaziah, the priest, thinking that Amos was one of a prophetic and official guild, contemptuously bade him begone to Judah, where he could prophesy for hire, (Amo_7:12). The answer came flashing back. Amos disclaimed all connexion with the hireling prophets whose ‘word’ was dictated by the immediate political and personal interest. He was something better and more honest—no prophet, neither a prophet’s son, but a herdsman and a dresser of sycomores, called by God to prophesy to Israel. Herein lies much of his distinctiveness. The earlier prophetic impulse which had been embodied in the prophetic guilds had become professional and insincere. Amos brought prophecy back again into the line of direct inspiration.
2. The time in which he lived.—Amo_1:1 may not be part of the original prophecy, but there is no reason to doubt its essential accuracy. Amos was prophesying in those years in which Uzziah and Jeroboam II. were reigning contemporaneously, b.c. 775–750. This date is of great importance, because few prophetic writings are so interpenetrated by the historical situation as those of Amos. For nearly 100 years prior to his time Israel had suffered severely from the attacks of Syria. She had lost the whole of her territory east of Jordan (2Ki_10:32 f.); she had been made like ‘dust in threshing’ (2Ki_13:7). But now Syria had more than enough to do to defend herself from the southward pressure of Assyria; and the result was that Israel once more began to be prosperous and to regain her lost territories. Under Jeroboam II. this prosperity reached its climax. The people revelled in it, giving no thought to any further danger. Even Assyria was not feared, because she was busy with the settlement of internal affairs, rebellion and pestilence. Amos, however, knew that the relaxation of pressure could be but temporary. He saw that the Assyrian would eventually push past Damascus down into Palestine, and bring in the day of account; and although he nowhere names Assyria as the agent of God’s anger, the references are unmistakable (Amo_5:27, Amo_6:7; Amo_6:14, Amo_7:17).
It is this careless prosperity with its accompanying unrighteousness and forgetfulness of God that is never out of the prophet’s thoughts. The book is short, but the picture of a time of moral anarchy is complete. The outward religious observances are kept up, and the temples are thronged with worshippers (Amo_5:5, Amo_9:1); tithes and voluntary offerings are duly paid (Amo_4:4-5, Amo_5:22). But religion has divorced itself from morality, the stated worship of God from reverence for the character of God (Amo_2:8). The rich have their winter houses and their summer houses (Amo_3:15), houses built of hewn stone (Amo_5:11), and panelled with ivory (Amo_3:15). They drink wine by the bowlful (Amo_6:6), and the fines unjustly extorted from the defenceless are spent in the purchase of wine for the so-called religious feast (Amo_2:8). Lazy, pampered women, ‘kine of Bashan,’ are foremost in this unholy oppression (Amo_4:1). There is no such thing as justice; the very semblance of it is the oppression of the weak by the strong. The righteous are sold for silver, and the poor for a pair of shoes (Amo_2:6); the houses of the great are stored with the spoils of robbery (Amo_3:10); bribery and corruption, the besetting sins of the East, are rampant (Amo_5:12). Commerce shares in the prevailing evil; weights are falsified and food is adulterated (Amo_8:5-6). Immorality is open and shameless (Amo_2:7). Small wonder that the prophet declares as the word of the Lord, ‘I hate, I despise your feasts, and I will take no delight in your solemn assemblies’ (Amo_5:21). While the observances of religion are maintained, the soul of religion has fled. Those who are responsible for the evil condition of things ‘are not grieved for the affliction of Joseph’ (Amo_6:6).
3. Contents of the book.—The book is framed upon a definite plan, which is clearer in the opening section than in those which follow.
(i) Amo_1:2 to Amo_2:16 treats of the judgment upon the nations for their sins. Damascus, Gaza, Tyre, Edom, Ammon, Moab, Judah, and Israel are all passed under review. The assumption is that each people is subject to the dominion of Jehovah. Punishment will be visited upon each for the violation of some broad and universally recognized principle of humanity.
(ii) Chs. 3, 4, 5, three threatening discourses, each introduced by ‘Hear ye this word.’
(iii) 7–9:10, a series of five visions, interrupted in Amo_7:10-17 by the account of Amaziah’s attempt to intimidate Amos. The visions are (a) the devouring locusts (Amo_7:1-3); (b) the consuming fire (Amo_7:4-6); (c) the plumb-line (Amo_7:7-9); (d) the basket of summer fruit (Amo_8:1-3); (e) the smitten sanctuary, and destruction of the worshippers (Amo_9:1-10).
Amo_9:11-15 is in striking contrast to the tone of the rest of the book. Instead of threatenings there are now promises. The line of David will be restored to its former splendour; the waste cities shall be built up; the settled agricultural life shall be resumed. This Epilogue is generally acknowledged to be a late addition to the prophecy. It contains no moral feature, no repentance, no new righteousness. It tells only of a people satisfied with vineyards and gardens. ‘These are legitimate hopes; but they are hopes of a generation of other conditions and of other deserts than the generation of Amos’ (G. A. Smith, Twelve Prophets, i. 195).
4. Theology of Amos.—In his religions outlook Amos had many successors, but he had no forerunner. His originality is complete.
(i) His view of Jehovah.—Hitherto Jehovah had been thought of as a Deity whose power over His own people was absolute, but who ceased to have influence when removed from certain geographical surroundings (1Ki_20:23). The existence of other gods had not been questioned even by the most pious of the Israelites; they denied only that these other gods had any claim over the life of the people of Jehovah. But Amos will not hear of the existence of other gods. Jehovah is the God of the whole earth. His supreme claim is righteousness, and where that is not conceded He will punish. He rules over Syria and Caphtor, Moab and Ammon, just as truly as over Israel or Judah (1, 2, Amo_6:14, Amo_9:7). Nature too is under His rule. Every natural calamity and scourge are traced to the direct exercise of His will. Amos therefore lays down a great philosophy of history. God is all-righteous. All events and all peoples are in His hands. Political and natural catastrophes have religious significance (Amo_6:14).
(ii) The relationship of Jehovah to Israel.—Amos, in common with his countrymen, considered the relation of Jehovah to Israel to be a special one. But while they had regarded it as an indissoluble relationship of privilege, a bond that could not be broken provided the stated sacrifices were maintained, Amos declared not only that it could be broken, but that the very existence of such a bond would lay Israel under heavier moral responsibilities than if she had been one of the Gentile nations (Amo_3:2). As her opportunities had been greater, so too would her punishment for wasting them be proportionately severe. Jehovah’s first demands were morality and justice and kindliness, and any sacrificial system that removed the emphasis from these things and placed it on the observance of ritual was an abomination (Amo_5:21-25).
(iii) The inevitable judgment.—It is his certainty of the moral character of God that makes Amos so sure of the coming catastrophe. For the first time in Hebrew literature he uses the expression ‘the day of the Lord’—a phrase that may already have been current in a more genial and privileged sense to indicate the day that will utterly destroy the nations (Amo_2:14-16, Amo_3:12-15, Amo_4:2-3; Amo_4:13). With this broad view of history, a view from which the idea of special privilege is excluded, he sees in the northern power the instrument of Jehovah’s anger (Amo_5:27, Amo_6:14); a power that even in its self-aggrandisement is working out Jehovah’s purpose.
5. Style.—It was the custom for many a century to accept the verdict of Jerome, that the prophet was rustic and unskilled in speech. That, however, is anything but the case. The arrangement of the book is clear; the Hebrew is pure; and the knowledge of the outside world is remarkable. The survey of the nations with which the prophecy opens is full of precise detail. Amos knows, too, that the Aramæans migrated from Kir, and the Philistines from Caphtor (Amo_9:7); he has heard of the swellings of the Nile (Amo_8:8, Amo_9:5), and regards the fact with a curious dread. He has been a close observer of the social conditions in Israel. Much of his imagery is drawn from nature:—earthquakes and the eclipse of the sun, the cedars and the oaks, the roaring of the lion, the snaring of birds, the bite of the viper; once only does he draw a comparison from shepherd life (Amo_3:12).
6. Religious significance.—Amos’ true significance in religious history is that with him prophecy breaks away on its true line, individual, direct, responsible to none save God. The word of the Lord had come to Amos and he could not but speak (Amo_3:8). Such a cause produced an inevitable effect. In that direct vision of Jehovah, Amos learned the truths which he was the first to proclaim to the world:—that Jehovah was the God of the whole earth; that the nations were in His keeping; that justice and righteousness were His great demands; that privilege, if it meant opportunity, meant likewise responsibility and liability to the doom of those who have seen and have not believed.
R. Bruce Taylor.
Hastings' Dictionary of the Bible
Edited by James Hastings, D.D. Published in 1909


("a burden".) Of Tekoah, in Judah, six miles S.E. of Bethlehem. A shepherd (probably owning flocks) and dresser of sycamore fig trees; specially called of the Lord to prophesy, though not educated in the prophets' schools (Amo_1:1; Amo_7:14-15). These personal notices occur only as connected with the discharge of his prophetic function; so entirely is self put in the shade by the inspired men of God, and God is made the one all-absorbing theme. Though of Judah, he exercised his ministry in the northern kingdom, Israel; not later than the 15th year of Uzziah of Judah, when Jeroboam II. (son of Joash) of Israel died (compare 1Ki_14:23 with 1Ki_15:1), in whose reign it is written he prophesied "two years before the earthquake"; compare Zec_14:5. Allusions to the earthquake appear in Amo_5:8; Amo_6:11; Amo_8:8; Amo_9:1; Amo_9:5.
The divine sign in his view confirmed his words, which were uttered before, and which now after the earthquake were committed to writing in an orderly summary. The natural world, being from and under the same God, shows a mysterious sympathy with the spiritual world; compare Mat_24:7; Mat_27:50-54. Probably Amos prophesied about the middle of Jeroboam's reign, when his conquests had been achieved (Amo_6:13-14; compare 2Ki_14:25-27), just before Assyria's first attack on Israel, for he does not definitely name that power: Amo_1:5; Amo_5:27 (Hos_10:6; Hos_11:5). The two forces from God acted simultaneously by His appointment, the invading hosts from without arresting Israel's attention for the prophet's message from God within the land, and the prophets showing the spiritual meaning of those invasions, as designed to lead Israel to repentance.
This accounts for the outburst of prophetic fire in Uzziah's and his successors' reigns. The golden calves, the forbidden representation of Jehovah, not Baal, were the object of worship in Jeroboam's reign, as being the great grandson of Jehu, who had purged out Baal worship, but retained the calves. Israel, as abounding in impostors, needed the more true prophets of God from Judah to warn her. Her prophets often fled to Judah from fear of her kings. Oppression, luxury, weariness of religious ordinances as interrupting worldly pursuits, were rife: Amo_8:4-5; Amo_3:15. The king's sanctuary and summer palace were at Bethel (Amo_7:13); here Amos was opposed by Amaziah for his faithful reproofs, and informed against to Jeroboam. (See AMAZIAH.) Like the prophet in 1 Kings 13, Amos went up from Judah to Bethel to denounce the idol calf at the risk of his life.
Calf worship prevailed also at Dan, Gilgal, and Beersheba, in Judah (Amo_4:4; Amo_5:5; Amo_8:14), blended with Jehovah's worship (Amo_5:14; Amo_5:21-26); 2Ki_17:32-33, compare Eze_20:39.
The book is logically connected, and is divisible into four parts. Amo_1:1 to Amo_2:13; the sins of Syria, Philistia, Tyre, Edom, Ammon, Moab, the neighbors of Israel and Judah Amo_2:4 to Amo_6:14; Israel's own state and consequent punishment; the same coasts "from the entering in of Hamath," which Jeroboam has just recovered from Syria, shall be "afflicted," and the people carried into "captivity beyond Damascus" (Amo_5:27). Amo 7:1-9:10; Amos's visions of grasshoppers devouring the grass, and fire the land and deep, both removed by his intercession; the plumb line marking the buildings for destruction; Amaziah's interruption at Bethel, and foretold doom; the basket of summer fruits marking Israel's end by the year's end; the Lord standing upon the altar, and commanding the lintel to be smitten, symbolizing Israel's destruction as a kingdom, but individually not one righteous man shall perish.
Amo_9:11-15; David's fallen tabernacle shall be raised, the people re-established in prosperity in their own land, no more to be pulled out, and the conversion of the pagan shall follow the establishment of the theocracy finally; compare Amo_9:12 with Act_15:17. Reference to agricultural life and the phenomena of nature abounds, in consonance with his own former occupation, an undesigned propriety and mark of truth: Amo_1:3; Amo_2:13; Amo_3:4-5; Amo_4:2; Amo_4:7; Amo_4:9; Amo_5:18-19; Amo_6:12; Amo_7:1; Amo_9:3; Amo_9:9; Amo_9:13-14. The first six chapters are without figure; the last three symbolical, with the explanation subjoined. He assumes his readers' knowledge of the Pentateuch, and that the people's religious ritual (excepting the golden calves) accords with the Mosaic law, an incidental confirmation of the truth of the Pentateuch.
Stephen (Act_7:42) quotes Amo_5:25-27; and James (Act_15:16) quotes Amo_9:11. Philo, Josephus, the Talmud, Justin Martyr, the catalogues of Melito, Jerome, and the council of Laodicea, confirm the canonicity of Amos. His use of the names Adonai (Lord) and God of hosts marks that Jehovah, Israel's covenant God, is universal Lord. Characteristic and peculiar phrases occur: "cleanness of teeth," i.e., want of bread (Amo_4:6); "the excellency of Jacob" (Amo_6:8; Amo_8:7); "the high places of Isaac" (Amo_7:9), "the house of Isaac" (Amo_7:16); "he that createth the wind" (Amo_4:13). Hosea, his contemporary, survived him a few years.
Fausset's Bible Dictionary
By Andrew Robert Fausset, co-Author of Jamieson, Fausset and Brown's 1888.


A'mos. (burden). Native of Tekoa in Judah, about six miles south of Bethlehem, originally a shepherd and dresser of sycamore trees, who was called by God's Spirit to be a prophet, although not trained in any of the regular prophetic schools. Amo_1:1; Amo_7:14-15. He travelled from Judah into the northern kingdom of Israel or Ephraim, and there exercised his ministry, apparently not for any long time.
(His date cannot be later than B.C. 808 for he lived in the reigns of Uzziah, king of Judah, and Jeroboam, king of Israel; but his ministry probably took place at an earlier date, perhaps about the middle of Jeroboam's reign. Nothing is known of the time or manner of his death. ? Editor).
Smith's Bible Dictionary
By Dr. William Smith.Published in 1863


the fourth of the minor prophets, who in his youth had been a herdsman in Tekoa, a small town about four leagues southward of Jerusalem. He was sent to the people of Samaria, to bring them back to God by repentance, and reformation of manners. Hence it is natural to suppose that he must have been born within the territories of Israel, and that he only retired to Tekoa, on being expelled from Bethel by Amaziah, the priest of the calves at Bethel. He frequently complains of the violence offered him by those who endeavoured to impose silence on him. He boldly inveighs against the crying sins of the Israelites, such as idolatry, oppression, wantonness, and obstinacy. Nor does he spare the sins of Judah, such as their carnal security, sensuality, and injustice. He utters frequent threatenings against them both, and predicts their ruin. It is observable in this prophecy, that, as it begins with denunciations of judgment and destruction against the Syrians, Philistines, Tyrians, and other enemies of the Jews, so it concludes with comfortable promises of the restoration of the tabernacle of David, and the establishment of the kingdom of Christ. Amos was called to the prophetic office in the time of Uzziah, king of Judah, and Jeroboam, the son of Joash, king of Israel.
Some writers, in adverting to the condition of Amos, have, with a minute affectation of criticism, pretended to discover a certain rudeness and vulgarity in his style; and even Jerom is of opinion that he is deficient in magnificence and sublimity. He applies to him the words which St. Paul speaks of himself, that he was rude in speech, though not in knowledge; and his authority, says Bishop Lowth, “has influenced many commentators to represent him as entirely rude, and void of elegance; whereas it requires but little attention to be convinced that he is not a whit behind the very chiefest of the prophets;” equal to the greatest in loftiness of sentiment, and scarcely inferior, to any in the splendour of his diction, and in the elegance of his composition. Mr. Locke has observed, that his comparisons are chiefly drawn from lions, and other animals, because he lived among, and was conversant with, such objects. But, indeed, the finest images and allusions, which adorn the poetical parts of Scripture, in general are drawn from scenes of nature, and from the grand objects that range in her walks; and true genius ever delights in considering these as the real sources of beauty and magnificence. The whole book of Amos is animated with a fine and masculine eloquence.
Biblical and Theological Dictionary by Richard Watson
PRINTER 1849.


During the eighth century BC, there was widespread corruption in Israel and Judah. This stirred up opposition from men of God who condemned the people and announced God’s judgment upon them. Of the four prophets of this time whose writings have been preserved in the Bible, the earliest was almost certainly Amos. The others were Hosea, Isaiah and Micah.
Characteristics of the age
Amos prophesied during the reigns of Jeroboam II in Israel and Azariah (or Uzziah) in Judah (Amo_1:1). These two kings between them expanded Israelite-Judean rule from Syria in the north to Egypt in the south, and from Philistia in the west to Ammon in the east (2Ki_14:23-27; 2Ch_26:1-15). With political stability and economic development, Israel and Judah entered an era of great prosperity. At the same time the religious and moral standards of society declined badly.
Previously, society had been built around the simple agricultural life. Now, with the rapid growth of commerce and trade, the merchants became the dominant people in society, and the farmers became the oppressed. City life developed, and with it came the social evils of corrupt government and commercial greed. Rapid prosperity for the few meant increased poverty for most. As the upper classes grew in wealth and power, they exploited the lower classes. Bribery and corruption flourished, even in the law courts, leaving the poor with no way to obtain justice.
As a shepherd-farmer who had to deal with ruthless merchants and corrupt officials, Amos knew how bad the situation was and he spoke out against it (Amo_1:1; Amo_7:14-15). He condemned the greed and luxury of the rich, for he knew that they had gained their wealth through cheating, oppression and injustice (Amo_2:6-7; Amo_3:10; Amo_3:15; Amo_5:10-12; Amo_6:4-6; Amo_8:4-6). Although they kept the religious festivals, all their religious activity was hateful to God so long as they persisted in social injustice (Amo_5:21-24; Amo_8:3; Amo_8:10). Amos saw that the nation was heading for terrible judgment (Amo_6:14; Amo_7:8-9).
Amos’s message
By announcing God’s judgment on some of Israel’s neighbouring nations, Amos no doubt gained the enthusiastic attention of his hearers (1:1-2:3). He warned, however, that judgment was coming for Judah also (2:4-5), and particularly for Israel, the corrupt northern kingdom with whom Amos was mainly concerned (2:6-16).
As God’s prophet, Amos had a responsibility to announce whatever God told him (3:1-8). He did this fearlessly, condemning the corruption of Israel’s capital city Samaria (3:9-4:3) and the refusal of the people in general to heed God’s warnings (4:4-13). God demanded repentance (5:1-27), and warned that the nation’s corruption was leading it to certain destruction (6:1-14).
Three visions told Amos that God’s patience with the rebellious nation could not last indefinitely (7:1-9). A local priest, tired of Amos’s constant announcements of judgment, tried unsuccessfully to get rid of the troublesome preacher (7:10-17). Amos then revealed two further visions God had given him. The first emphasized that Israel was nearing its end (8:1-14), the second that there was no possibility of escape (9:1-10). But after the punishment of the captivity, God would restore the nation and bless its people again (9:11-15).
Bridgeway Bible Dictionary by Don Fleming
PRINTER 1990.


A?mos (borne), one of the twelve minor prophets and a contemporary of Isaiah and Hosea. He was a native of Tekoah, about six miles south of Bethlehem, inhabited chiefly by shepherds to which class he belonged, being also a dresser of sycamore-trees. The period during which he filled the prophetic office was of short duration, unless we suppose that he uttered other predictions which are not recorded. It is stated expressly that he prophesied 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 (Amo_1:1). As Uzziah and Jeroboam were contemporaries for about fourteen years, from B.C. 798 to 784, the latter of these dates will mark the period when Amos prophesied.
When Amos received his commission, the kingdom of Israel, which had been 'cut short' by Hazael (2Ki_10:32) towards the close of Jehu's reign, was restored to its ancient limits and splendor by Jeroboam the Second (2Ki_14:25). But the restoration of national prosperity was followed by the prevalence of luxury, licentiousness, and oppression, to an extent that again provoked the divine displeasure, and Amos was called from the sheep-folds to be the harbinger of the coming judgments. Not that his commission was limited entirely to Israel. The thunder-storm (as Ruckert poetically expresses it) rolls over all the surrounding kingdoms, touches Judah in its progress, and at length settles upon Israel. Amos 1; Amo_2:1-5, form a solemn prelude to the main subject; nation after nation is summoned to judgment. Israel is then addressed in the same style, and in Amos 3 (after a brief rebuke of the twelve tribes collectively) its degenerate state is strikingly portrayed, and the denunciations of divine justice are intermingled, like repeated thunderclaps, to the end of Amos 6. The seventh and eighth chapters contain various symbolical visions, with a brief historical episode (Amo_7:10-17). In Amos 9 the majesty of Jehovah and the terrors of his justice are set forth with a sublimity of diction which rivals and partly copies that of the royal Psalmist (comp. Amo_9:2-3, with Psalms 109, and Amo_9:6 with Psalms 104). Towards the close the scene brightens, and from the eleventh verse to the end the promises of the divine mercy and returning favor to the chosen race are exhibited in imagery of great beauty taken from rural life.
The writings of this prophet afford clear evidence that the existing religious institutions both of Judah and Israel (with the exception of the corruptions introduced by Jeroboam) were framed according to the rules prescribed in the Pentateuch, a fact which furnishes a conclusive argument for the genuineness of the Mosaic records.
The canonicity of the book of Amos is amply supported both by Jewish and Christian authorities. Philo, Josephus, and the Talmud include it among the minor prophets. It is also in the catalogues of Melito, Jerome, and the 60th canon of the Council of Laodicea. Justin Martyr, quotes a considerable part of Amos 5-6, which he introduces by saying,?'Hear how he speaks concerning these by Amos, one of the twelve.' There are two quotations from it in the New Testament: the first (Amo_5:25-26) by the proto-martyr Stephen, Act_7:42; the second (Amo_9:11) by the apostle James, Act_15:16.
The Popular Cyclopedia of Biblical Literature
by John Kitto.


Amos
(Heb., Amos', עָמוֹס, bormne Sept. and New Test. Α᾿μώς), the name of two men.
1. One of the twelve minor prophets, and a contemporary of Isaiah and Hosea. He was a native of Tekoah, about six miles south of Bethlehem, inhabited chiefly by shepherds, to which class he belonged, being also a dresser of sycamore trees, and not trained in any of the prophetical schools (Amo_1:1; Amo_7:14-15). Though some critics have supposed that he was a native of the kingdom of Israel, and took refuge in Tekoah when persecuted by Amaziah, yet a comparison of the passages Amo_1:1; Amo_7:14, with Amaziah's language, Amo_7:12, leads us to believe that he was born and brought up in that place. The period during which he filled the prophetic office was of short duration, unless we suppose that he uttered other predictions which are not recorded. It is stated expressly that he prophesied 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
(Amo_1:1). This earthquake, to which there is an allusion in Zec_14:5, is represented by Josephus (Ant. 9, 10, 4) and some other Jewish writers as amark of the divine displeasure against Uzziah (in addition to his leprosy) for usurping the priest's office some time before his death. This agrees with the sacred narrative, which informs us that Jotham, his son, acted as regent during the remainder of his reign; for we must understand the accession spoken of in 2Ki_15:33, when he was twenty-five years old, to refer to this association with his father. SEE JOTHAM.
As Uzziah and Jeroboam were contemporaries for about twenty-seven years (B.C. 808-782), the latter part of this period will mark the dant when Amos prophesied. This agrees with the intimation in Amo_7:10, of the proximity of Jeroboam's death. Amos speaks of the conquests of this warlike king as completed (6, 13; comp. 2Ki_14:25); on the other hand the Assyrians, who toward the end of his reign were approaching Palestine (Hos_10:6; Hos_11:5), do not seem as yet to have caused any alarm in the country. Amos predicts, indeed, that Israel and other neighboring nations will be punished by certain wild conquerors from the north (Amo_1:5; Amo_5:27; Amo_6:14), but does not name them, as if they were still unknown or unheeded. (See Niemeyer, Charakt. d. Bibel, 5,302 sq.)
BOOK OF AMOS. — When Amos received his commission (B.C. 783), the kingdom of Israel, which had been “cut short” by Hazael (2Ki_10:33) toward the close of Jehu's reign, was restored to its ancient limits and splendor by Jeroboam II (2Ki_14:25). But the restoration of national prosperity was followed by the prevalence of luxury, licentiousness, and oppression, to an extent that again provoked the divine displeasure; and Amos was called from the sheepfolds to be the harbinger of the coming judgments. The poor were oppressed (Amo_8:4), the ordinances of religion thought burdensome (Amo_8:5), and idleness, luxury, and extravagance were general (Amo_3:15). The source of these evils was idolatry, of course that of the golden calves, not of Baal, since Jehu's dynasty occupied the throne, though it seems probable from 2Ki_13:6, which passage must refer to Jeroboam's reign, SEE BENHADAD III, that the rites even of Astarte were tolerated in Samaria, though not encouraged. Calf-worship was specially practiced at Bethel, where was a principal temple and summer palace for the king (Amo_7:13; comp. Amo_3:15), also at Gilgal, Dan, and Beersheba in Judah (Amo_4:4; Amo_5:5; Amo_8:14), and was offensively united with the true worship of the Lord (Amo_5:14; Amo_5:21-23; comp. 2Ki_17:33). Amos went to rebuke this at Bethel itself, but was compelled to return to Judah by the high-priest Amaziah, who procured from Jeroboam an order for his expulsion from the northern kingdom. Not that his commission was limited entirely to Israel. The thunder-storm (as Ruckert poetically expresses it) rolls over all the surrounding kingdoms, touches Judah in its progress, and at length settles upon Israel. Chapters 1; Amo_2:1-5, form a solemn prelude to the main subject; nation after nation is summoned to judgment, in each instance with the striking idiomatical expression (similar to that in Pro_30:15; Pro_30:18; Pro_30:21), “For three transgressions — and for four — I will not turn away the punishment thereof.” Israel is then addressed in the same style, and in chap. in (after a brief rebuke of the twelve tribes collectively) its degenerate state is strikingly portrayed, and the denunciations of divine justice are intermingled, like repeated thunder- claps, to the end of chap. 6. The seventh and eighth chapters contain various symbolical visions, with a brief historical episode (Amo_7:10 -
17). In the ninth chapter the majesty of Jehovah and the terrors of his justice are set forth with a sublimity of diction which rivals and partly copies that of the royal Psalmist (comp. Psa_9:2-3, with Psalms 109, and Psa_9:6 with Psalms 104). Toward the close the scene brightens; and from the eleventh verse to the end the promises of the divine mercy and returning favor to the chosen race are exhibited in imagery of great beauty taken from rural life. The allusions in the writings of this prophet are numerous and varied; they refer to natural objects, as in 3, 4, 8; Amo_4:7; Amo_4:9; Amo_5:8; Amo_6:12; Amo_9:3 : to historical events, Amo_1:9; Amo_1:11; Amo_1:13; Amo_2:1; Amo_4:11; Amo_5:26 : to agricultural or pastoral employments and occurrences, Amo_1:3; Amo_2:13; Amo_3:5; Amo_3:12; Amo_4:2; Amo_4:9; Amo_5:19; Amo_7:1; Amo_9:9; Amo_9:13; Amo_9:15 : and to national institutions and customs, Amo_2:8; Amo_3:15; Amo_4:4; Amo_5:21; Amo_6:4-6; Amo_6:10; Amo_8:5; Amo_8:10; Amo_8:14. The book presupposes a popular acquaintance with the Pentateuch (see Hengstenberg, Beitrage zur Einleitung ins Alte Testament, 1, 83-125), and implies that the ceremonies of religion, except where corrupted by Jeroboam I, were in accordance with the law of Moses. As the book is evidently not a series of detached prophecies, but logically and artistically connected in its several parts, it was probably written by Amos as we now have it after his return to Tekoah from his mission to Bethel (see Ewald, Propheten des Alten Bundes, 1, 84 sq.) (Smith, s.v.).
The canonicity of the book of Amos is amply supported both by Jewish and Christian authorities. Philo, Josephus, and the Talmud include it among the minor prophets. It is also in the catalogues of Melito, Jerome, and the 60th cation of the Council of Laodicea. Justin Martyr, in his Dialogue with Trypho (§ 22), quotes a considerable part of the fifth and sixth chapters, which he introduces by saying, “Hear how he speaks concerning these by Amos, one of the twelve.” There are two quotations from it in the New Testament; the first (5:25, 26) by the proto-martyr Stephen, Act_7:42; the second (9:11) by the Apostle James, Act_15:16. (See, generally, Knobel, Prophet. 2, 147 sq.; Hitzig, Kl. Proph. p. 29; Carpzov, Introd. 3, 314 sq.; Eichhorn, Einleit. 4, 307 sq.; Jahn, II, 2, 401 sq.; Bertholdt, 4, 1611 sq.; Davidson, in Home's Introd. new ed. 2, 960 sq.).
Special exegetical works on the book of Amos are the following, of which the most important are designated by an asterisk [*] prefixed: Ephraem Syrus, Explanatio (in Opp. 5:255); *Kimchi, Commentarius (in Hebr. ed. Minster, Basil. 1531, 8vo); Luther, Enarratio (in Opp. 3, 513); Brent, Commentarius (in Opp. 4); Ecolampadius, Adnotationes (Basil. 1535, fol.); Quinquaboreus, Notes (Par. 1556, 4to); Mercer, Commentarius (Genev. 1574, fol.; Giess. 1595, 4to); Danean, Commentarius (Genev. 1578, 8vo); Lively, Adnotationes (Lond. 1587, 8vo; also in the Critici Sacri, 3); Schade, Commentarius (Argent. 1588, 4to); Tarnovius, Commentarius (Lips. 1622, 4to); Benefield, Sermons (Lond. 1629, 3 vols. 4to); Hall, Exposition (Lond. 1661, 4to); Gerhard, Annotationes (Jen. 1663, 1676, 4to); *Van Toll, Vitlegginge (Ultraj. 1705, 4to); Michaelis, Exercitatio (Hal. 1736, 4to); Hase, Stilus Amosi (Hal. 1755, 4to); *Harenberg, Amos expositus (L. B. 1763, 4to); Uhland, Animadversiones (Tub. 1779,1780, 4to); *Dahl, Amos' ubers. u. erlaut. (Gott. 1795,;8vo); *Horsley, Notes (in Bib. Crit. 2, 391); *Justi, Amos ubers. u. erlaut. (Lpz. 1799, 8vo); Berg, Specimem (in Rosenmuller's Repertor. 2, 1 sq.); Swanborg, Amos illustr. (Ups. 1808 sq. 4to); *Vater, Amos ubers. u. erlut. (Hal. 1810; 4to; also with Latin title, ib. eod.); *Rosenmuller, Scholia (Lips. 1813, 8vo); Juynboll, De Amoso (L. B. 1828, 4to); Faber, Abweichungen d. Gr. Uebers. (in Eichhorn's Repertor. 6, 288 sq.); *Baur, Amos erklart (Lpz. 1847, 8vo); Ryan, Lectures (Lond. 1850, 12mo). SEE PROPHETS (MINOR).
2. The ninth in the maternal line of ascent from Christ, being the son of Nahum (or Johanan), and the father of Mattathiah (Luk_3:25), B.C. cir. 400. His name perhaps would be more properly Anglicized AMOZ SEE AMOZ , and in that case it would have the same derivation as under that article.
Amos
the Hebrew prophet, is commemorated as a Christian saint in the Byzantine calendar on June 15.



CYCLOPEDIA OF BIBLICAL, THEOLOGICAL AND ECCLESIASTICAL
press 1895.





Norway

FACEBOOK

Participe de nossa rede facebook.com/osreformadoresdasaude

Novidades, e respostas das perguntas de nossos colaboradores

Comments   2

BUSCADAVERDADE

Visite o nosso canal youtube.com/buscadaverdade e se INSCREVA agora mesmo! Lá temos uma diversidade de temas interessantes sobre: Saúde, Receitas Saudáveis, Benefícios dos Alimentos, Benefícios das Vitaminas e Sais Minerais... Dê uma olhadinha, você vai gostar! E não se esqueça, dê o seu like e se INSCREVA! Clique abaixo e vá direto ao canal!


Saiba Mais

  • Image Nutrição
    Vegetarianismo e a Vitamina B12
  • Image Receita
    Como preparar a Proteína Vegetal Texturizada
  • Image Arqueologia
    Livro de Enoque é um livro profético?
  • Image Profecia
    O que ocorrerá no Armagedom?

Tags