Amos ministers to Israel as prophet during the 8th Century BCE. The united Israelite monarchy of Saul, David, and Solomon, had fragmented into two state-lets: Judah, centered on Jerusalem, from which we derive the word "Jew"; and Israel, centered on Samaria.
Israel, the so-called "northern kingdom," was in a superior position economically. As such, it prospered more readily than mountainous Judah, sandwiched in the hill country between the seacoast and the southern desert.
Israel’s prosperity grew out of its position on the main east-west trade route of the ancient Fertile Crescent, an arc between Egypt on the southeast and present-day Iraq on the northwest. This geographic advantage proved a fatal problem, ultimately. After two centuries of independence, this northern kingdom of Israel was destroyed by the Assyrians.
The Assyrians, as was their custom, destroyed Samaria and deported its native population to other parts of the empire. New inhabitants, similarly uprooted from their homes, were brought in to replace them. According to the Bible, these new inhabitants came to a modicum of faith in Israel’s God after their arrival. Never considered part of the "chosen people," history came to know them as Samaritans.
Amos, an agricultural worker from the southern kingdom of Judah, prophesies against what he sees as a corrupt, exploitative northern government. Denounced and threatened by the king’s representative, Amos denies being a "professional" prophet.
There were indeed professional prophets in those days, usually associated with holy places or with royal courts. There were schools of prophecy as well, attested by the stories of Elijah and Elisha. They were among the "religious professionals" of their day.
Amos insists he is not like them. He does not have their training. He does not live on their subsidies. God called him directly, Amos says. He says only what God puts in his heart.
The God who calls Amos is emphatically on the side of the poor, the marginalized, the outcast. His attributes in dealing with humans extend on a pole between fairness and mercy. He answers prayers, punishes sins, and guards righteousness. He is not a God to trifle with.
Amos’s God is radically free and utterly holy, guiding the living on their sojourn to a promised land of God’s own choosing.
©2009, John G. Cunyus
All Rights to the English Translation and Commentary Reserved
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Latin text from "The Latin Vulgate." Biblia Sacra Iuxta Vulgatam Versionem, Fourth Revised Edition, edited by Roger Gryson, © 1994 Deutsche Bibelgesellschaft, Stuttgart. Used by permission.