We don’t know all we would like to about Amos, the person. The book contains only limited references that could help. Scholars normally place the prophet among the poor shepherds of the land or point to his wide-ranging grasp of international and economic affairs and his literary skills as proof of a high position in life and a good education. The descriptives for Amos found in the book—noqedim in 1:1 and boqed in 7:14—would best be translated as "sheep breeders" and "livestock breeder." Although he also busied himself either slitting or supervising the slitting of mulberry figs that grew near the Dead Sea or the Mediterranean Sea, it appears that we have in Amos a well-to-do businessman whose travels took him to scattered markets, including those in the capital of Israel. A fair-minded member of his class in society, he championed the cause of those crushed by wealthy oppressors. In addition, the fact that he was from the southern kingdom of Judah (the town of Tekoa, 10 miles south of Jerusalem as the crow flies) practically guaranteed a cool reception to his preaching in the northern kingdom of Israel (see 7:12ff).

Most scholars would agree that Amos served somewhere near 760 B.C.E. The king list at the beginning of the book and the related historical data point in that direction. This being the case, Amos preached during the later stages of Israel’s extensive period of prosperity. By the time he first stood up to preach, the booming economy had already drawn sharp lines between the rich and the poor. The social inequities that often attend such economic growth created a tragic human dilemma. Wealthy landowners slept on beds of ivory, drank wine from bowls, and leisurely listened to lyrics sung to the accompaniment of harps—all at the expense of the poor. The oppressed faced injustice at their work, in the marketplace, and even at the gate where fair treatment was guaranteed by law. (For Amos’s assessment, see 2:6–8; 5:10–12; 6:4–6; 8:4–6.)

The book opens with a sermon likely delivered in Bethel and addressed against the nations surrounding Israel. Although not entirely consistent, the common element in the speeches has to do with crimes against human beings as the reason for divine intervention.

The announcements of doom and the woe speeches in chapters 3 through 6 extend the terrifying impact of the sermon’s punch line. Blow follows deadly blow as the Lord calls the nation to task for dereliction of duty as regards the poor. Not only were they neglecting their needs, they also exacerbated the problem by exacting more than the poor could be expected to pay. Parents lost property, children, and themselves into slavery due to the high demands placed upon them by creditors.

Israel’s national sacred history began with the exodus. No other event in the remembered past equaled it in importance or theological significance. It marked the nation as God’s special covenant people. It set the stage for God’s mighty acts of rescue and redemption and for the conquest of Canaan. For Israel, history turned on the deliverance from Egyptian bondage. However, Amos, having witnessed flagrant social violations of the covenant, threw the idea of election back into Israel’s face. He not only predicted swift punishment for failing to take seriously the peril of privilege (3:1ff). In addition, he stung the nation’s pride by diluting the whole idea; he asserted that God also elected and rescued the Philistines and the Syrians, both hated enemies (9:7).

In popular thought, the tradition of the day of the Lord signaled God’s approach to judge the nations surrounding Israel for their iniquities, especially those perpetrated against his people. This great day of battle, like those from the time of the conquest of Canaan, would result in the destruction of enemies and rescue for Israel. God’s people would constitute the remnant and would now be free to expand and grow in peace.

And the God of Amos—how did the prophet portray him? Amos’s God controls not only events within the territorial boundaries of the northern kingdom of Israel, but also oversees the movements of foreign peoples and nations and judges them according to his own standards. He is characterized by justice and righteousness and demands the same from his people. While willing to change his mind and adjust his course of action in the face of his people’s repentance, he is very serious about violations of human dignity and the breakdown of social justice. There comes a point in the litany of transgressions that constitutes Israel’s history beyond which God denies himself and what he stands for if he remains silent.

Although the book of Amos comes across as negative due, perhaps, to the drastic situation and the need for reform, there is something assuring and liberating about a God who champions the cause of morality and justice. This fact points to two major notes of relevance for today. First, there is a serious side to religious faith. Privilege does entail responsibility and peril. As a warning against the easy religion in vogue in many places today, the message of Amos strikes a sharp contrast. Amos’s call to faith challenges long held understandings, forces reinterpretations in the light of new situations and makes stringent demands. In keeping with Old Testament faith in general, change does not occur independently of God—it is all relational and depends on God’s empowering and molding—nor is reformation simply a mechanistic or legalistic modification as in an alteration one might make to clothing. It is serious business and requires our complete attention and total involvement.

Second, and fundamental to the proclamation not only of Amos, but also of most of the prophets, we confront today, as in the past, the need for energetic commitment to the social well-being of our fellow human beings. This need increases as the global village in which we all live becomes smaller and its citizens more numerous. Lines separating wealthy and poor continue to widen, deepening further the gulf and thrusting millions of helpless and homeless families into more severe poverty, hunger and despair. A resurrected Amos today would be just as repulsed by the injustices protected by political and economic policy in the modern marketplace as he was in the ancient markets of Bethel and Samaria. What Abraham Heschel says about the prophets in general is especially true for Amos: "To us injustice is injurious to the welfare of the people; to the prophets it is a deathblow to existence: to us, an episode; to them, a catastrophe, a threat to the world." 1

Notes and References

1. Abraham J. Heschel, The Prophets, vol. 1 (New York: Harper and Row, 1962), 4.

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