(1) Nativity. He was a native of Tekoah (2 Sam. xiv :2 ; 2 Chron. xx :2o), about six miles south of Bethlehem, inhabited chiefly by shepherds, to which class he belonged, being also a dresser of sycamore trees. Though some critics have supposed that he was a native of the kingdom of Israel, and took refuge in Tekoah when persecuted by Amaziah ; yet a com parison of the passages Amos i :1 ; vii :14, with Amaziah's language vii :12, leads us to believe that he was born and brought up in that place.
"Bethel was the principal scene of his preach ing, perhaps the only one. When he had de livered several addresses there, Amaziah, the chief priest of the royal sanctuary, sent a mes sage to the king, who does not seem to have been present, accusing the preacher of treason, and at the same time ordered the latter to quit the realm. Evidently there was some reason to fear that the oppressed poor might be stirred up to revolt against their lords and masters. The threats of coming judgment would disturb many hearers. The denunciation of cruelty and in justice would awake many echoes. Yet the priest's language evinces all the contempt which a highly-placed official feels towards an interfer ing nobody, a fellow who, as he thinks, gains a precarious livelihood by prophesying. Jeroboam does not seem to have paid much heed. In the Bab. 'rain'. Pesachim, fol. 87b, it is said : 'How is it proved that Jeroboam did not receive the accusation brought against Amos ? . . The king answered ( in reply to Amaziah), 'God for bid that that righteous man should have said this ; and if he hath said it, what can I do to him? The Shechinah hath said it to him.' The con versation is fictitious; but Amos doubtless with drew unmolested, after disclaiming any official and permanent standing as a prophet, predicting Amaziah's utter destruction because of his im pious hindrance of the divine word (Amos vii: 14-17, and completing the delivery of his own message Po Israel (Amos viii, ix). On reaching home he doubtless put into writing the substance of his speeches, and the roll thus written is the earliest book of prophecy that has come down to us." (J. Taylor, Hastings' Bib. Dice.).
The period during which he filled the prophetic office was of short duration, unless we suppose that he uttered other predictions which are not recorded.
(2) Time of His Prophecy. It is stated expressli that he prophesied in the days of Uz ziah, king of Judah, and the days of Jeroboam, the son of Joash, king of Israel, two years be fore the earthquake (Amos i :t). As Jeroboam died in the fifteenth year of Uzziah's reign, this earthquake, to which there is an allusion in Zechariah (xiv :5), could not have happened later than the seventeenth year of Uzziah. Josephus indeed (Antiq. ix:to), and some other Jewish writers, represent the earthquake as a mark of the divine displeasure against Uzziah (in addition to his leprosy) for usurping the priest's office. This, however, would not agree with the sacred narrative, which informs us that Jotham, his son, acted as regent during the remainder of hit reign, was twenty-five years old when he became his successor, and consequently was not born till the twenty-seventh year of his father's reign. As Uzziah and Jeroboam were contemporaries for about fourteen years, from B. C. 798 to 784, the latter of these dates will mark the period when Amos prophesied. Others have placed the beginning of his ministry at about 760 B. C., and still others at 734.
(3) Closing Life. "It is quite likely that he reached Tekoa in peace,resumed his shepherd life, and eventually was gathered to his fathers. Jerome and Eusebius affirm that his sepulchre was still shown at Tekoa in their days. When Maundrell was in the neighborhood in 1737 he was told that the tomb was in the village on the mountain. The Roman Church places Amos amongst the martyrs, and commemorates him on the 31st of March, the Greek Church on the 15th of June. Amongst the Jews his freedom of speech gave offense even after his death, for the Koh. Rab. blames Amos, Jeremiah, and Ecclesiastes for their fault-finding, and states that this is the reason why the superscriptions to their books run, 'The words of Amos,' etc., and not 'The words • of God.'" (Hastings).
2. Son of Nahum, and father of Mattathias, in the genealogy of the Saviour (Luke iii:25), B.C. about 400.