Amos 1:1

This chapter actually combines with Amos 2 to form the first division of the prophecy of Amos, in which the prophet thunders the warning of the impending judgment of God upon no less than eight nations, beginning with Israel's surrounding pagan neighbors, then resting for a moment upon Judah, and by way of climax describing the utter ruin and devastation of Israel itself, the northern kingdom. The awful judgments, "rolling like a storm, in strophe after strophe, over all the surrounding kingdoms,"[1] touched upon three pagan nations that were not related to Israel, and upon three which were related, did not neglect Judah, considered by Amos as one with the northern kingdom, and then rested the fullness of its fury upon the nation of Israel itself.

The following nations were blasted with these eloquent and fierce denunciations: Damascus (Amos 1:3-5); Philistia (Amos 1:6-8); Tyre (Amos 1:9,10); Edom (Amos 1:11-12); Ammon (Amos 1:13-15); Moab (Amos 2:1-3); Judah (Amos 2:4,5); and Israel (Amos 2:6-16). The skill and power of Amos as a speaker and orator appear in this arrangement of his material:

"The interest and sympathy of the hearers are secured by the fixing of the attention upon the enormities of guilt in their neighbors, and curiosity is kept awake by the uncertainty as to where the next stroke of the prophetic whip will fall."[2]

In this comprehensive pronouncement of God against sin in all these nations, there looms the tremendous fact that God is a God of all nations, and not merely of Israel, and that he will judge and punish sin wherever it exists. Moreover, the sins denounced are not merely those of violence, cruelty, oppression, injustice and social wrongs. Violators of solemn covenants, innovators, and corrupters of the true worship are likewise guilty and will suffer the judgment of God.

Amos 1:1

"The words of Amos, who was among the herdsmen of Tekoa, which he saw concerning Israel in the days of Uzziah king of Judah, and in the days of Jeroboam the son of Joash king of Israel, two years before the earthquake.

"The words of Amos ..." Both Ecclesiastes and Jeremiah have similar beginnings; and therefore it is not necessary to attribute these words to "some later editor." Amos was his own editor; and as Coleman observed, "The nature of the text indicates an early recording of the prophet's message."[3] The name of Amos is not to be confused with Amoz the father of Isaiah (2 Kings 19:2,20). Many of the Biblical books begin with, "Thus saith the Lord," the very expression which Amos used frequently in this prophecy; and this first clause of Amos 1:1 must not be made the basis of receiving Amos' words here as in any degree other than the very message of God Himself, a fact which is categorically affirmed a moment later in the words "which he saw." That this is true "is affirmed by the succeeding clause, `which he saw.'"[4] Schultz and many others have also discerned this: "The divine origin of the words of the prophet is emphasized by ... `which he saw.'"[5] In the words of the prophecy of Amos:

"We are in the presence of the miracle of inspiration (Ezekiel 2:8-3:4), that man, without losing individuality or sacrificing personality, should yet speak words which originated not with himself but with his God."[6]

"Among the herdsmen of Tekoa ..." See introduction for discussion of Amos' occupation and economic status. We reject the notion that he was a wealthy owner of flocks and orchards for he later described himself as "a dresser of sycamore trees" (Amos 7:14), in language which, according to Keil indicates that he lived upon this fruit, an article of diet widely associated with the very poorest people. See under 7:14.

"Tekoa ..." was a village some six miles south of Bethlehem and about twelve miles southeast of Jerusalem on a 3,000 foot plateau which affords a beautiful view of the whole Dead Sea area, and which immediately drops off eastward and south from Tekoah toward that great desolation.

"Uzziah ... Jeroboam ..." See the introduction for a discussion of the dates of these monarchs. The words "son of Joash" given in the identification of Jeroboam distinguish him as Jeroboam II.

"Two years before the earthquake ..." By Amos' mention of this earthquake's occurrence two years after his prophecy shows that he was not executed in Israel, as some suppose, but that he lived to return to Tekoah, and to see the divine confirmation of the truth of his prophecy in the devastation of the great earthquake. Deane was correct, it appears, in his opinion that Amos here alluded to it, "as a token of the judgment which he foretold, such catastrophes being regarded as signs ... of God and his vengence upon sinners."[7]

Some scholars believe that this earthquake was the one mentioned by Josephus who gave the account of a very great earthquake in the reign of Uzziah, an earthquake so great that it was remembered generations afterward when Zechariah referred to it (Zechariah 14:5). That earthquake, according to Josephus, made a breach in the temple, ruined the gardens and palace of the king, and occurred simultaneously with the smiting of Uzziah with leprosy.[8] It cannot be dated exactly.