Outlines of an Introduction to the Old Testament

By John Walter Beardslee

The Nebiim or Prophets

The Latter Prophets

Amos

 

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:

1. The great accusation. Chs. 1, 2. After a brief introduction, i:i, 2, in which he identifies himself and magnifies Jehovah's power as giving importance to what he has to say, he arraigns the nations surrounding Israel, — Damascus, 1:3-5; Gaza, 1:6-8; Tyre, 1:9, 10; Edom, i:ii, 12; Ammon, 1:13-15; Moab, 2:1-3; Judah, 2:4, 5, — and then concludes with Israel herself, 2:6-16. Both the growing intensity and the detail with which the sin is described as he mentions Israel, to whom especially God has sent him, give a startling force to his message.

2. Israel's sin and punishment. Chs. 3-6. In this section the sin of Israel is set forth in detail and the certainty of punishment emphasized. Three addresses are indicated by an introductory formula, 3:1; 4:1; 5:1, followed by two beginning with the word "woe," 5:18 and 6:1. Each address leads up to a declaration of coming judgment, 3:15; 4:12; 5:16, 17; 5:27; 6:14; each judgment being more severe than the one before it.

3. Visions. Chs. 7-9. By a series of visions, with brief statements as to his treatment when delivering his message and some account of his final words, the prophet concludes his work in Israel. There are five of these visions, the first two are tokens of disaster, locusts, 7:1-3, and fire, 7:4-6, where the judgment is stayed on account of the intercession of the prophet; the third, Jehovah standing with a plumb-line in His hand, 7:7-9, so enrages Amaziah, the priest at Bethel, that he accuses Amos of treason against the king and orders him to leave the kingdom; the fourth, a basket of summer fruit, 8:1-14, prepares the way for a message that the end of the kingdom is near; the fifth presents Jehovah standing beside the altar, 9:1, ready to smite it into fragments, as if ready to break His covenant and disown His people.

With 9:8 light breaks through the fearful darkness, and the prophet tells how the sifting of Israel by such severe judgments will reveal a faithful element unto whom mercy will be shown; and the book closes, 9:11-15, with a beautiful picture of the future Israel, purified and reunited, rejoicing in the overflowing abundance of the divine mercy.

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

Commentaries: Orelli; G. A. Smith, The Book of the Twelve Prophets; Keil and Delitzsch; Pusey. Hengstenberg's Christology; Robertson Smith, The Prophets of Israel; Farrar, The Minor Prophets; article "Hosea" in Bible Dictionaries of Smith and Hastings; Introductions of Driver, Keil, Bleek; Stanley, History of the Jewish Church. Mitchell's Amos.