By John Walter Beardslee
I. Name Amos, "Burden-bearer," had his home in Tekoa, twelve miles south of Jerusalem. In 1:1 he calls himself a "herdsman," and in 7:14 he adds, "and a dresser of sycomore - trees." The Hebrew term rendered herdsman means a keeper of a special breed of sheep valuable for their wool, 2 Kings 3:4. Negatively he tells us that he did not belong to the prophetic order, 7:14. While attending to his calling Jehovah summons him, 7:15, to go to the northern kingdom and declare the divine message. He seems to have gone directly to Bethel, the capital of that kingdom, 4:4, and there boldly declared the coming judgment. Amaziah, the priest at Bethel, told the king what the prophet was saying and accused him of treason, 7:10. Having uttered his message, he returns to Tekoa, where he wrote his book, closing it with the sublime vision of a restored tabernacle and a reunited people, 9:11-15. II. Authorship, Style and Date There is no question as to authorship, although a few verses have by some been regarded as later additions, for reasons which are not very convincing. The Style. Jerome's well-known dictum, ''Imperittis sermone sed non scientia'' (Rude in speech but not in knowledge), has given way to a juster estimate which places him among the foremost of the Old Testament writers. His thought is clearly conceived and expressed with great vividness and artistic beauty. Drawing his illustrations largely from nature, with which his occupation brought him into such close relation, he displays great familiarity and a keen discernment of the objects with which he enlivens his discourse. At times there is a great perfection of poetical expression, as in his judgment on the nations. The realism and the intense moral earnestness of the man are everywhere apparent, while his grasp of the meaning of what he saw and of the purposes of God, place him among the most important of the prophets. The Date. All agree that his prophecy was uttered about the middle of the eighth century, 750 B.C. This is indicated by the title, 1:1, as well as by the general tenor of the contents which agree perfectly with the conditions then existing in the kingdom to which he was sent. He is thus placed among the first of the prophets. Whether his prophecy in Israel actually preceded that of Joel in Judah is an open question which eminent critics have decided some for the earlier, some for the later date. III. Contents The book has three clearly-marked divisions:
IV. Characteristic Teachings The prophet's conception of Jehovah and His character is remarkably clear and comprehensive, — His power, 1:2; His law, 2:4; His keen regard for righteousness, 5:12; His holiness, 4:2; His judgment on the ungodly, 8:4-14; His nearness to and care for His faithful ones, 9:8, 9. Equally clear is it that the relation of Israel to God is a moral one, and that the essential sin of Israel consists in their disregard for God, out of which have come their sensuality and injustice and idolatry. The special conception embodied in the words, "The day of Jehovah," 5:18ff., is fully developed, and his picture of Messianic times, 9:11-15, embodies the substance of previous utterances and exhibits them in a very attractive form. LITERATURE
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