Amos
Eidevall (2017:3 describes
Amos
as follows:
“Amos” may refer either to a prophet or to a book. Owing to the lack of sources,
we know almost nothing about Amos as a historical person — except for an early
tradition according to which he earned his living as a livestock breeder,
and perhaps also as a tender of sycamore trees (Amos 1:1; 7:14).
His hometown seems to have been Tekoa
[~6 miles south of Bethlehem].
That is all we know about the person Amos;
however, he left a long-lasting legacy. As part of the Old Testament/Hebrew Bible,
the book carrying his name has been continually studied and interpreted for more
than two thousand years.
Niehaus in McComiskey (2020:315) adds:
Amos probably grew up in Tekoa, and learned there the related skills of a shepherd (1:1) and a
livestock breeder (7:14). His work must have required him to travel, however, because he was
also a dresser of sycamore-fig trees (7:14), which are not found more than one thousand feet [305 m]
above sea level and grow nowhere near Tekoa (which lies over two thousand feet [610 m] above sea level),
but in the lower lands of the Jordan Valley and on the shores of the Dead Sea and the Mediterranean.
Moreover, Tekoa is only a day's journey from Samaria, and it is possible that Amos pursued his
various callings in the north as well as the south. It seems reasonable to suppose, therefore,
that his professions carried him to different parts of his own country and probably to neighboring
countries as well (see Craigie, "Amos the noqed in the Light of
Ugaritic").
Niehaus in McComiskey (2020:316-317) discussed the dates of Amos' ministry and the
accompanying geopolitical situation as follows:
The ministry of Amos spanned the reigns of King Uzziah of
Judah (791-740 B.C.) and King
Jeroboam II of
Israel (793-753 B.C.).
The precise dates of his prophetic activity cannot be known for certain,
but it is likely that he prophesied late in Jeroboam's reign, perhaps in the early 760s.
One factor that supports a date later in Jeroboam's reign is the level of prosperity in Israel that
the prophecy of Amos describes. Jeroboam was a successful king by worldly standards. In accordance
with a prophecy of Jonah son of Amittai
(2 Kings 14:25),
Jeroboam restored the borders of Israel to the boundaries that existed at the time of the Israelite defection
from the united kingdom. There was peace between Israel and Judah during Jeroboam's reign. On the international
scene, Egypt and Babylon were weak. Syria (Aram),
which had so troubled Israel late in the ninth century
(2 Kings 10:32-33;
13:7),
had been subjugated by the Assyrian king
Adad-nerari III (810-783).
The subjugation of Syria gave Israel the opportunity to expand and reclaim its borders.
After the death of Adad-nerari III, however, Assyria had its own troubles. Assyria also entered a period of quiescence, for,
with the rise of the kingdom of Urartu
under Argisti I and
Sarduri II (810-743), the Assyrians found
themselves challenged from the north. They were in no position to threaten Israel.
Israel prospered during the long and secure reign of Jeroboam II.
However, the affluence, which Amos's prophecy describes, could
not have come about quickly, but only some years after
Israel's fortunes had been restored under Jeroboam.
That would have been a considerable time after the
recapture of alienated territory earlier in his reign.
Amos, then, must have prophesied toward the end of Jeroboam's reign,
and a date around 760 is generally accepted. Concrete support for this
date includes the reference to an earthquake, which has been dated to this period
(see the Exposition of 1:1). [JW: This is based on Yadin's excavations at Hazor -
Yadin et al. (1960), Hazor II,
pp. 24-26,
36-37 - and refers to the
destruction of Stratum VI which is bracketed between the destruction of Stratum V in 732 BCE and Stratum
VII-VIII belonging to the 9th century. The destruction of Stratum VI was dated by Yadin to 760 BCE
however such a precise date was based on the Book of Amos rather than any material finds.]
Later, under
Tiglath-pileser III (744-727 B.C.),
Assyria regained its military might and expanded to the north and west.
Judah became an Assyrian vassal, and Damascus, which in the past had been a
buffer state between Israel and Assyria, became part of the Assyrian Empire
(2 Kings 16:7-9).
Tiglath-pileser III was followed by his son,
Shalmaneser V (726-722 B.C.),
who pursued his father's policy of westward expansion and forced King
Hoshea of Israel to
become his vassal (2 Kings 17:3).
Hoshea misguidedly rebelled, however, relying
for help on Egypt (2 Kings 17:4),
but that help never came. In a punitive invasion,
typical of Assyria, Shalmaneser laid siege to
Samaria, the capital of Israel, and
after three years the city fell (722 B.C.), bringing to an end the kingdom of Israel
(2 Kings 17:5-6).
Amos may have delivered the oracles this book records at different places in the northern kingdom,
including Samaria and
Bethel. We cannot know for sure; it is certain only that he fulfilled some of
his prophetic ministry at Bethel (7:10-17).
Uziel and Chalaf (2021:58*-59*)
noted that the Book of Amos
can be divided into three main segments: the superscript, the main text and the epilogue
while noting the following:
Whereas the closing of the book seems to have been a later addition (Radine 2020: 146), the general dating of the main section of the text has
been attributed to early in the eighth century BCE, partially based on reflections of the destructions of Calneh, Hammath and particularly
Gath that are mentioned in Amos 6, 2, which occurred in the late 9th century BCE (Na'aman 2002; Maeir 2004). The dating of the superscript
[where the earthquake is referenced] is somewhat more complex. Although often thought of as a later editorial addition to the books of
minor prophets, the slight difference in the wording between Amos and the other compositions is of importance. Whereas on a whole, the
superscripts of these books begin with the attribution of the following text to God, then reiterated by the prophet, in the case
of Amos, the words are spoken in his name (Andersen and Freedman 1989; and see further discussion on the dating of Amos in Radine 2010).
Therefore, it appears that the documentation of an earthquake in the later years of Jeroboam II and the reign of Uzziah occurred not
long after the event itself. In fact, Wolff (1977) went as far as stating that the earthquake was the trigger behind the redaction of the book.