Commentary on the book of the prophet Amos

The Prophet Amos (Amos from amas - bearer of the burden), as evidenced by the inscription of his book, was a native of Tekoa, a small city located, according to the testimony of the blessed one. Jerome at a distance of six miles south of Bethlehem in the tribe of Judah, near the Judean Desert (now the village of Tekui). Thus, by origin, the prophet belonged to the kingdom of Judah. About the social position of the prophet before the call to prophetic service, the inscription of the book states that Amos was one of the shepherds (nokedim) of Tekoa. Since the word noked in 2 Kings 3.4 is attached to the Moabite king Meta and means a rich cattle breeder, some researchers consider the prophet Amos to be a rich owner of herds and sycamore plantations (Kikhmi, Jan, Gitzig, Baur, Gauthier). But in Am 7.14 the prophet himself testifies to himself that he was a shepherd (boker), taken by the Lord straight from the flock and collected (boles cut) sycamore trees, obviously for food. From this we must conclude that Amos was a poor man and perhaps a mercenary. In his speech to preach, therefore, there was something similar to the calling of the apostles: as with the apostles, the omnipotent power of the Divine Spirit was manifested on him, choosing “the bourgeois of the world, both the humble and the humble.” The place of Amos' preaching activity was the kingdom of Israel and precisely Bethel, the center of the illegal service of calves introduced by Jeroboam 1 (Amos 7.10–15). With his bold denunciations of the wickedness of the Israeli nobles, the prophet aroused persecution against himself by the Bethel priest Amaziah, who even tried to accuse Amos before the king of indignating the people and insulting the personality of the king. Amos, he reported to the king, “is causing indignation against you among the house of Israel; the earth cannot bear all his words. For this is what Amos says: Jerome will die by the sword, and Israel will certainly be taken into captivity” (Amos 7:10–11). After this, Amaziah drove Amos out of Bethel. “And Amaziah said to Amos: Seer! go and escape into the land of Judah; eat bread there and prophesy there. And in Bethel prophesy no more; for it is the king’s sanctuary and the king’s house” (Am 7.12–13). Pious tradition, supplementing the testimony of the book of Amos, reports that the prophet expelled from Bethel on the way to Judea received a heavy blow to the head from the son of Amaziah, from which he died in Tekoah (Epiphanius, on the life of the prophets). Amos served his ministry during the reign of Jeroboam II, king of Israel (? 787–746), and Uzziah, king of Judah (Amos 1:1, 7:11). More precisely, the time of Amos’s preaching is determined by the words “two years before the earthquake” (Amos 1:1). But the year of this earthquake is unknown (cf. Zech 14.5). Therefore, it is difficult to indicate with accuracy the time of Amos’ appearance for service. In any case, he did not come out to preach in the first years of Jeroboam II, because, as can be seen from the contents of the book of Amos and especially from Am 6.14, he found the borders of the kingdom already expanded “from the entrance... of Hamath to the desert sea,” and the state standing at the pinnacle of power. And this was achieved by Jeroboam only after several years of reign, by victories over the Damascus Syrians (2 Kings 14.25). It can be assumed that the victories of Jeroboam II over the Syrians were facilitated by previous attacks on them by the Assyrian kings Rammanirar III and Shalmaneser III, who repeatedly captured Damascus itself. Since the Assyrian conquests fall on the years 806–772, the victories of Jeroboam over the Syrians, as well as the appearance of Amos to preach, date back to a somewhat later time, i.e., to the second half of the reign of Jeroboam II or to the first half of the 8th century 1 . During the prophetic ministry of Amos, the kingdom of Israel was at the height of its power. The boundaries of the kingdom were expanded to the boundaries of the glorious kingdom of Solomon (2 Kings 14.25–29). Neighboring peoples became tributaries of the Israelites. The country was decorated with majestic buildings (Amos 3:15, 4:3) and enriched with booty, which enabled the nobles of Samaria to indulge in idleness and luxury (Amos 6:4-6). At the same time, under the influence of temporary power, extreme arrogance developed among the nobles of the ten-tribe kingdom (Amos 6:8), confidence in their strength (Amos 6.13), the desire for profit, which prompted them to oppress the poor and needy (Amos 2:7, 3:10), and a love of luxury and feasts (Amos 6:4-6, 2:7-8). The book of Amos, consisting of 9 chapters, can be divided into three parts, the introduction embracing ch. I-II, speeches against the kingdom of Israel (chap. III-VI) and visions with prophecies explaining them (VII-IX). The main theme of the book of the prophet Amos is the announcement of judgment to the ten-tribe kingdom for its wickedness. The prophecy of God's judgment is revealed both in the speeches of Amos and in visions. The prophet begins the proclamation of this judgment with foreign peoples - the Syrians, Philistines, Phoenicians, Edomites, Ammonites, Maobites, whom he denounces for various crimes ( Am. 1:2–2:3 ). Then the prophet turns to the kingdom of Judah and, for its deviation after foreign gods, threatens that the fire sent by Jehovah will devour the palaces of Jerusalem (Am 2:4–5). After this, the prophet speaks almost exclusively of the judgment of the kingdom of Israel. The peculiarity of Amos's accusatory speeches is that he primarily refers to the crimes of the people against the requirements of the moral law - the prophet does not concern himself at all, unlike, for example. from Hosea, the politics of Israel, and also only speaks in passing about religion and worship. The prophet is indignant at the violation of justice by the Samaritan nobles, the fact that they accumulate treasures for themselves through robbery and violence (Am 3:10), oppress the poor (Am 4:1), buy the poor for silver and the poor for a pair of shoes (Am 8.6). “You,” says the prophet, “are enemies of what is right, taking bribes and perverting the affairs of the poor in court” (Am 5.12). The prophet denounces the nobles of Samaria for the fact that they became rich through violence (Am 3.10), deceptive trade (Am 8.5), and bribes from the poor (Am 5.11), built magnificent houses, planted vineyards, and live in luxury and bliss (Am 6:3–6, 3:12). With particular indignation, the prophet speaks of the women of Samaria, whose love for luxury encouraged their husbands to oppress the poor and oppress the beggars (Am 4.1). Effeminacy and reliance on one’s own strength ( Am 6.13 ) is already an abomination to the Lord. But the nobles of Samaria also added to this that they did not care about the misfortune of the people (Am 6.6) and, as if mocking the Lord who freed them from Egypt (Am 2.9–10), “they gave wine to the Nazarenes and ordered the prophets, saying: Do not prophesy” (Am 2.11–12). The severity of the indicated crimes was further increased by the fact that Israel was not aware of them. The Lord admonished the people with punishments (Am 4.6–11), but they were not admonished; hoping for a covenant with God (Am 5.14). Israel even longed for the coming of the day of the Lord or the day of judgment, confident that this judgment would not affect them (Am 5.14, 18). Meanwhile, the people continued to perform illicit service to God in Bethel, Dan, Gilgal and Beersheba (Amos 5:5, 8:14), limiting themselves to offering sacrifices and observing holidays (Amos 5:21–23, 4:4–5). By exposing the crimes of the people, the prophet also shows them the ideal of moral life. The prophet invites you to seek the Lord (Am 5.4). In Am 5.24 the prophet says: “Let justice (mischfath) roll down like water, and righteousness (zedakoh) like a mighty stream! . The Prophet has in mind here, without a doubt, primarily the sphere of public and private law, truth in the legal sense. But the concepts of judgment and truth are expressed by the prophet and something more: the prophet demands compassion, mercy, pity (1-2), in general, not only good deeds, but also a mood for good, when he invites to seek good, not evil, to hate evil and love good (Am 5.14-15). Touching upon the actual religious life of the people, the prophet denounces those who “swear by the sin of Samaria and say as your God lives, Dan! and the way to Beersheba is alive” (Am 8.14), and at the same time he exhorts “not to seek Bethel, not to go to Gilgal, and not to wander to Beersheba” (Am 5.5). But the people as a whole are no longer able to accept the prophet’s admonitions and prevent punishment. Therefore, Amos announces God's judgment on the people. According to the prophet, punishment is inevitable and the people cannot hide from it anywhere (Am 9.2–4). The prophet is already composing a lamentable song about the house of Israel: “The virgin of Israel has fallen and rises no more! She is cast down on the earth, her own, and there is no one to raise her” (Am 5.1–2). Punishment will befall not only the reigning house, which was announced by Elijah and Elisha, but the entire kingdom. Destruction awaits all the people's sanctuaries, all houses great and small, and all the people (Amos 3:14–15, 6:7–11, 9:1–4). The prophet announces, at the same time, the destruction of the house of Jeroboam by the sword (Amos 7.9), the onset of various physical disasters (Amos 6:10, 7:1–7, 8:8), the captivity of the people (Amos 6:7) and their resettlement beyond Damascus (Amos 5:27). Among the disasters coming to the people, the prophet points out with particular force the deprivation of the word of God and the thirst for hearing this word (Am 8:11-13). The communication of the word of God to the people of Israel was proof of their theocratic election, the advantage of the people over others and the guarantee of their future greatness. Thus, the deprivation of the word of God, which the prophet threatens, is tantamount to taking away the privileges of the chosen people and depriving them of their theocratic future. The prophecies about God's judgment over Israel, set out in speeches, are also revealed in the symbolic knowledge that the prophet contemplated (VII-IX). In the fourth vision (Am 8.1–2), the prophet is shown by the image of a basket filled with ripe fruits that Israel is ripe for judgment, and in the fifth vision (Am 9.1) the prophet already hears the command to bring down the church in which the people had gathered, on the heads of those gathered, so that they would all perish. But threatening the house of Jacob with God's judgment and being primarily occupied with the thought of this judgment, the prophet extends his gaze beyond this judgment, and his thought turns to a bright future. There is no future for the Kingdom of Israel, as an independent political whole, and it is doomed to destruction. But there is this future for the kingdom of Judah with its royal family and, obviously, for individuals of the ten-tribe kingdom. The dispersion of the people, according to the word of the prophet, will only result in the separation of the straw from the grain, the sinners from the righteous (Am 9.9). The latter can be saved by resorting to the shelter of the Tabernacle of David, that is, the reigning house of David. During the period of the terrible judgments of God, which are about to befall Judah along with Israel (Am. 2:4, 6:1), the House of David will lose its splendor and greatness and will turn into a dilapidated tabernacle (tent). But the Lord will one day restore the broken tabernacle of David, mend its cracks and breaches, and build it up as in the days of old. The House of David will be placed at the head of a purified people, composed of all who call on the name of the Lord. In its internal character, the new kingdom will be a kingdom of peace, an abundance of all good things and the absence of all disasters (Amos 9:11–15). This is the content of the book. Amos. The prophet Amos presents his accusations, exhortations and threats on behalf of God. At the same time, in the personality of God, Amos especially exposes His greatness, omnipotence and Justice. The greatness and omnipotence of God, according to the prophet, is revealed both in nature and in history. In nature, it is revealed in the fact that the Lord is the God of armies (Amos 3:13, 4:13, 6:8, 9:5), He “forms the mountains and creates the wind” (Amos 4.13), He created the constellation and Orion, transforms the shadow of death into a clear morning, and makes the day dark as night; shakes the earth, calls for the waters of the sea and pours them over the face of the earth (Amos 5:8, 8:8, 9:5-6). In history, the greatness and omnipotence of God was manifested in the fact that He brought Israel out of Egypt, destroyed Ammorite before him (Amos 2:9-10), “He strengthens the desolator against the mighty” (Amos 5:9), and brought the Philistines out of Caphtor and the Aramites from Cyrus (Amos 9:7). But pointing to the greatness of God, the prophet, at the same time, with special force, wants to expose to the people the moral properties of the Being of God and precisely His Justice. According to the prophet’s view, the demand for truth is the main requirement of God, presented both to Israel and to all other nations (I-II), only adherence to truth gives value to rituals and sacrifices in the eyes of God (Am 5.21–25). The prophet's contemporaries hoped for a covenant with God, believing that by virtue of this covenant, regardless of their deeds, they would be safe, and that the day of the Lord's judgment could only bring them well-being (Am 5.18). Contrary to these views, the prophet wants to inspire that the Lord will deal with Israel according to Justice, that the people will not hide from this justice anywhere (Am 9.3–4), that the election of a people in itself, regardless of the behavior of the people, not only is not a guarantee of its safety, but, on the contrary, will aggravate the severity of its responsibility (Am 3.2). If we compare the teachings of the book. Amos with the teachings of the book. Hosea, then, although they are similar in essence, one can also notice the difference between them. Amos brings forward the person of God, His majesty and Justice; Hosea especially highlights God's mercy and love. Revolting against external service to God, which is not combined with an internal attitude, Amos demands mainly compliance with the truth, the requirements of the moral law; Hosea - exposes the necessity of love for God and loyalty to him. Jehovah set moral requirements; fulfilling them is serving Jehovah: this is the essence of the teachings of Amos. Jehovah has loved you; respond to this love with love, and you will serve the Lord: this is the essence of Hosea’s teaching. Obviously, Amos and Hosea complement each other and reveal the revealed teaching according to their personal characteristics. If Hosea, in terms of personal characteristics and the nature of his teaching, can be compared with the New Testament preacher of love, John the Theologian, then Amos can be compared with the New Testament preachers of righteousness, John the Baptist and Apostle. Jacob. From the presentation of the book. Amos is distinguished by high qualities, and is one of the most perfect works of Old Testament writing. Contrary to the opinion of Blessed. Jerome, who calls Amos imperitus sermone, inexperienced in speech, modern commentators unanimously admit that the prophet’s language is distinguished by simplicity, purity, grace and strength. The prophet’s speech abounds in images, and the prophet borrows these images very often from shepherd’s life. Thus, the prophet compares the voice of the Lord to the roar of a lion that frightens the shepherds (Am 1:1–2, 3:4–8); the salvation of Israel is likened to a shepherd taking away a shin or part of an ear from the mouth of a lion (Amos 3:12), compares the women of Samaritan to the heifers of Bashan (Amos 4.1), etc. In general, according to one of the commentators of the book. Amos (Ewald), “shepherd life is reflected not only in comparisons and prophetic images, but also in the finest threads of the ideas and language of this prophet, in all his life experience and worldview” (Ewald, Die Propheten. I, 84). Among other features of the prophet's presentation, commentators distinguish the frequent use of the same formulas in order to put forward an idea (Amos 1:3–2:6; Am 7:1–3, 4–6), the use of consonant words or wordplay (Amos 5:5, 4:4), and the frequent use of ἅπαξ λεγόμενα. At the same time, the newest authors find that in the construction of Amos’s speeches the division into stanzas is observed, although the newest authors differ greatly in the indication of these stanzas. Regarding the text of the book. Amos is believed to have been preserved in greater purity than, for example, the text of Hosea. But at the same time there is, in the book. Amos contains several passages, the darkness of which suggests that the text has been corrupted. Literature about the book. Amosa.: 1) Foreign: Baur, Der Proph. Amos erklart 1847. chel, Amos. 1893. Valeton. Amos und Hosea 1894 Harper, Comment. on Amos and Hosea. 1906. Touzard, Le livre d'Amos. 1909. See also general works on the books of the minor prophets. 2) Russian: M. O. Verzhbolovich, Pror. service in Israel ten-tribe kingdom. 1891. Prof. P. A. Yungerov. Book of the prophet Amos. Introduction, translation and explanation. 1887. Here on p. LIV-LV see bibliogr. instructions. The years of the reign of Jeroboam II are difficult to determine with accuracy, and they are indicated differently: 823–783 (Yungerov), 787–746 (Goonaker), etc. In cuneiform under 736, the Israeli king Menachim is mentioned as a tributary of the Assyrian king Thul (Feglath-Phelassar), with the help of whom he apparently established himself on the throne. If we assume that before this Menachim reigned for several years, then add 7 months of the reign of Zechariah and Shallum and 41 years of the reign of Jeroboam II, then the beginning of this last reign will fall in the years 785–780. You might be interested in: