Amos

The book of Amos is the third of the twelve so-called “minor” prophets in the Masoretic Text (MT), and the second in the Septuagint (LXX). Among the Twelve, it has arguably attracted the greatest amount of attention in modern times. There are several reasons for this. The text of the book is relatively straightforward and free of corruption. It is thus a frequent object of study by beginning students. Amos is widely viewed as the earliest of the so-called writing prophets, dated to the mid-eighth century bce, and the text is demonstrably alluded to in several relatively late prophetic writings. And the book’s emphasis on social justice and its absence in 8th-century Israel has become the inspiration for many Christian and Jewish believers contending for justice in their own contemporary societies. Issues discussed in the literature on Amos include questions on the style and on the rhetoric of the book. The latter include questions of the structure of the book and its audience, given the paradox that the accusations of injustice target a minority in positions of wealth and power, but the more general announcements of doom embrace “my people Israel” as a whole. Is it the aim of the book (and/or the prophet) to announce the inexorable doom of the kingdom or people of Israel, or to call them to repentance? Is the book, as distinct from the words of judgment it contains, addressed to Israel before the fall of Samaria, or to Judah after it as a warning? Further, what is the social background of the poverty and social injustice denounced in it and what ethical ideas govern the oracles of judgment? These questions intersect with historical issues, including the book’s composition and redaction. To what extent may the material be held to go back to a prophet Amos in the eighth century? Finally, there are questions on the reception of the book, broadly conceived. What are its relations with the other texts in the Book of the Twelve? How has it been received and interpreted in Jewish and Christian circles? How may it be interpreted, how is it interpreted, to address present-day contexts of social injustice?