Amos Intro NextMeaning: Meaning: borne; a burden
One of the twelve Minor Prophets. He was a native of Tekoa, the modern Tekua, a town about 12 miles south-east of
Bethlehem. He was a man of humble birth, neither a "prophet nor a prophet's son," but "an
herdsman and a dresser of sycamore trees," R.V. He prophesied in the days of Uzziah, king of
Judah, and was contemporary with
Isaiah and
Hosea (
Amos 1:1; Amos 7:14f; Zech 14:5), who survived him a few years. Under
Jeroboam II. the kingdom of
Israel rose to the zenith of its prosperity; but that was followed by the prevalence of luxury and vice and
idolatry. At this period Amos was called from his obscurity to remind the people of the law of God's retributive justice, and to call them to repentance.
The Book of Amos consists of three parts:
1.The nations around are summoned to judgment because of their sins (1:1-2:3). He quotes Joel 3:16.
2.The spiritual condition of Judah, and especially of Israel, is described (2:4-6:14).
3.In 7:1-9:10 are recorded five prophetic visions. (a) The first two (7:1-6) refer to judgments against the guilty people. (b) The next two (7:7-9; 8:1-3) point out the ripeness of the people for the threatened judgements. 7:10-17 consists of a conversation between the prophet and the priest of
Bethel. (c) The fifth describes the overthrow and ruin of Israel (9:1-10); to which is added the promise of the restoration of the kingdom and its final glory in the
Messiah's kingdom.
The style is peculiar in the number of the allusions made to natural objects and to agricultural occupations. Other allusions show also that Amos was a student of the law as well as a "child of nature." These phrases are peculiar to him: "Cleanness of teeth" [i.e., want of bread] (4:6); "The excellency of
Jacob" (6:8; 8:7); "The
high places of
Isaac" (7:9); "The house of Isaac" (7:16); "He that createth the wind" (4:13). Quoted, Acts 7:42.
This entry includes text from Easton's Bible Dictionary, 1897.
Amos Intro Next