General Comments on Amos

     Unlike the book of Joel, this book is quite easy to date
because in the first verse he identifies the kings of Judah and
Israel who were reigning at the time.  Amos' ministry was ~800
B.C.E. during the Northen Ten tribe's peak of power, wealth, and
glory.  Jeroboam II king of Israel took advantage of Assyria's
and Syria's relative weakness to capture territory and establish
Israel as a commercial and political power.  On the contrary,
from a religious perspective, Israel was not doing well at all. 
Amos was apparently living in Bethel (cf. 7:12-13), the religious
center of Northern Israel.

     This book is in two sections, first the curses on Israel and
her neighbors (ch. 1-6), second Amos' visions are documented (ch.
7-9).  A more detailed breakdown follows:

     Curses (ch. 1-6)
          Israel's neighbors cursed (1:1-2:3)
          Israel cursed (2:4-6:14)
     Visions (ch. 7-9)
          First vision (7:1-3)
          Second vision (7:4-6)
          Third vision (7:7-9)
          Confrontation with Amaziah (7:10-7:17)
          Fourth vision (8:1-8:14)
          Fifth vision (9:1-9:15)


General Comments on Amos 1-2

     Amos 1:2-2:3 are set up as a series of curses on Israel's
neighbors.  Six non-Israelite nations is addressed in turn, and
each receives a similar judgement and subsequent curse: fire upon
the walls that consumes the palaces (cf. 1:4, 1:7, 1:10, 1:12,
1:14, 2:2).  Then from 2:4-6:4 Judah and Israel are addressed and
the judgements and curses laid upon them are much worse than
those laid out on the foreign nations.  
     The point of 1:2-2:3 is to show that the Lord will punish
the various nations for their wickedness.  But, Judah and Israel
will bear a much heavier burden of punishment because they are
equally as wicked as the nations around them, and deliberately
rebelling against the Lord as well.  Note Judah get the same fire
the nations get in 2:5, but then the curses go on for several
more verses.



Copyright © 2002 by S. Kurt Neumiller <kurtn@cybcon.com>.  All rights 
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