Amos 5:1

There are suggestions in this chapter of the method of the apostle Paul, as when he used the diatribe so effectively in Romans. There are apparent interruptions of Amos' line of thought, such as might have occurred when members of his audience objected to his preaching, or attempted to refute his arguments. The discernment of this completely refutes the allegations of critical scholars who laboriously postulate a paste and scissors job that some later editor is alleged to have done on this chapter, the great weakness of such postulations being that they are believed by no one except the postulators! Also, the postulators exhibit no agreement regarding any of their alleged "solutions." The entire chapter is a continuation of Amos' prophecy against Israel, elaborating and expanding the condemnation and overthrow of Israel already announced in Amos 3.

Amos 5:1

"Hear ye this word which I take up for a lamentation over you, O house of Israel."

The impact of this upon Amos' hearers was essentially that of his crying, "Listen, Israel, while I preach your funeral!" The whole chapter has no other purpose than, "to impress upon the people of God the impossibility of averting the threatened destruction, and to take away from the self-secure sinners the false foundations of their trust."[1] To make his message still more powerful, Amos actually uttered it in the tone and meter of the traditional funeral service known by all the people; and Hammershaimb, along with others, supposes that the occasion was that of a popular feast at Bethel:

"We can picture him appearing during the feast at Bethel and suddenly tearing the participants away from their revelry by starting the mournful tones of the lament, so that when they listen to him they are seized with terror and perhaps also with indignation when they hear that it is the death of Israel that he is lamenting.[2]

"Amos to this point has spoken of the fall of Israel as being still in the future. Here he speaks as if it had already happened. He sings a funeral song (a dirge) for Israel."[3]

The dirge which Amos chanted for Israel was the real thing, a traditional and highly stylized lament, "cast in 3 + 2 metre."[4] It was probably spoken in a very loud and wailing voice, calculated to stun and shock everyone who heard it.