AMOS, a prophet of ancient Israel, lived in the middle period of the 8th century at His home was Tekoa, a mountaintop village about 12 miles south of Jerusalem, on the border of the wilderness. The prophet de scribed himself as a sheep raiser and a tender of sycomore fig trees, denying all connect with the sons of the Prophets. Though a 6D zen of Judah, Amos preached at Bethel, or of the royal sanctuaries of northern Israel, r the latter half of the prosperous reign of Jerz boam II (2 Kings xiv, 23-29). He is the earl. est of the prophets,' i.e., those whose oracles have been preserved as separate books The book of Amos is made up of (1) Ar opening address to the throng at the Bethe sanctuary (Chaps. i-ii). (2) A group of three addresses each beginning (Hear this word' (Chaps. iii—vi). (3) A series of symbolic vision with mingled exhortations (Chaps. vii—ix), and an historical statement (vii, 10-17). The book is thus one of the most systematically arrange of all the Prophets and, at the same time, ex hibits the variety of structure that enters bac the composition of the prophetic writings— oratory in poetic form and diction, a bit song (v, 2), symbolic vision, biographical nary tive. Expressing himself in pure, clear Hebres, the writer is a master of vivid illustration from nature and history, of rhythmical period or terse antithesis, of emotional appeal and con crete picturing of facts. In the pages of this tiny book the horrors Suffered by the people of the east-Jordan districts, over whose terri tories the wars of Israel and Damascus had raged in former reigns, are still most vivid. while the vices of Israel in Jeroboam's vic torious reign are most realistically Bribery in the law courts, dishonesty of the merchants with their false balances and meas ures, oppression of the poor to secure the means for the coarse or elegant indulgences of the -newly rich and their gross wives are some of the social conditions pictured as existing in conjunction with abundant ritual of sacrifice and music, and outward observance of sacred days. With the skill of a consummate orator
Amos could lead his hearers on from accepted and congenial truths to new and unwelcome ideas, or could turn from concrete description of hard fact to symbolic vision.
The message of Amos by its originality and significance marks one of the greatest advance' in religious history. Now for the first time the God of Israel is clearly presented as the God of nations who will punish injustice done by Moab to Edom as well as that done by Edom to Israel, and who uses the warring nations of the world to carry out his own righteous pur poses. This great God of history is also con ceived as one whose essential service consists in righteous conduct toward men rather than in worship through sacrifices or any form of cere monial. As a corollary of such conceptions, Israel's past privileges are counted ground of her greater responsibility rather than earnest of greater material blessings. Earlier teachers had made ethical demands in the name of Jeho vah, but Amos first clearly pictures him as the just God of nations whose primal demand is for justice in economic and international rela tions.
The book of Amos has suffered relatively less expansion by subsequent hands than many of the Prophets. The principal section gener ally regarded as a later addition is ix, 8-15.
Important recent commentaries are those of G. A. Smith,