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| The Prophet Amos |
One of my teaching practices is to assign to each of my Prophets
students a PL text also found in the Lectionary so they can prepare
two pieces of feedback: an exegesis paper and a homily. This last work becomes
part of a preaching course offered every January in the Holy Land. Each student
has a turn preaching on the text assigned in the Prophets class, usually in the
places where the different prophets may have taught or lived. Most students take very seriously preparing their homilies in which they combine
some of their research for their exegesis paper and their own personal
experiences while visiting the Holy Land. I am always amazed of how well these
homilies turn out (that is, for the most part, to be honest).
Now, it is very curious noting that the book of Amos, having 146
verses in nine chapters, does not have much presence in the Lectionary. We only
have three readings of his prophecies in the three-year Sunday cycle: Am 6:1a.
4-7; 7:12-15; 8:4-7.[1] If
we look into this book’s history of interpretation, we cannot find much about Amos' writings compared
with other prophetic works. There are, for example, not many comments or
quotations by the Church Fathers in Amos. Moreover, if ancient tradition
emphasized more in the hope that the Gospels bring or looked into the prophetic
oracles that would talk about Christ, then Amos wouldn't have found much of a
place in Christian appreciation. Some
authors think that since Luther and Calvin used Amos’ prophecies to denounce
“the triumphalism, abuse and corruptions of Rome” throughout the time of the
Reformation, attention to this book during the Counter–Reformation years would
not have had much favor.
Moving on into the book, although the Amos is the first of the classical
prophets, his book is the third in the Book of the Twelve. Only Am 1:1 and of
course, 7:12-15 (the call of Amos) give us some biographical information of
YHWH’s messenger. The incipit (Am 1:1) is an editorial introduction that
acquaints us to the man and to his words with a demarcated time frame and a
reference to a major seismic event. As a matter of fact, excavations at Tel Hazor seem to show some evidence of
an earthquake in the region around mid-eighth century BCE.
Amos was from a town of Judah (Tekoa), twelve miles south of
Jerusalem. He is identified as a נֹקֵד (nôqēd), which is not a common word to designate a shepherd. The only
other time we find this term in the Hebrew Bible is in 2 Kgs 3:4, where king
Mesha is described as a wealthy person who possess and provides sheep. This
then should have been Amos’ trade before his call. Am 7:12-15 gives us another bit of the
prophet’s life. When Amaziah , the priest of the shrine in Bethel, commands
Amos to return to his homeland Judah inferring that he is a professional “seer”, the prophet responds very
forcefully. He denies that he is a
professional prophet (Am 7: 14-15), presenting himself as a “herdsman” and a
“dresser of sycamore trees”. Even though the nature of these occupations is
uncertain, Amos considers himself no acknowledged prophet earning his wages by throwing oracles here and there. The prophet claims that YHWH “took” him from
his normal duties to deliver his message to Israel. Instead of pursuing a job
on prophesying, he was irresistibly compelled to proclaim the LORD’s message
(cf. Am 3:7-8; Jer 20:9).
The
“call of Amos” also reveals something about his personality. Amos stood up and
faced (as many prophets will do after him) the northern kingdom’s powerful
institutions of kingship and priesthood, presenting himself as a spokesman of God fearless
and faithful.
The
book of Amos presents its material organized by repeating patterns and link
words. These are clear signals of deliberate arrangement, which is very helpful
in following its structure. For example, in 1:3-2:16, the phrase “for three
transgressions and for four” appears eight times in a row as an introduction to
the oracles against foreign kingdoms, Judah and then Israel. After these
messages, three judgment speeches against Israel beginning with the formula “Hear
this word” (3:1; 4:1; 5:1) appear together. In chapter four, verses 6, 8, 9, 10
and 11 the expression “you did not return to me” is found five times in the oracle against
Samaria. The introduction of Amos’ group of visions (“This is what the Lord showed me…”) is found in 7:1, 4, 7
and 8:1. Lastly, the “day of the Lord messages are clustered together in 8:9,
13; 9:11 (“On that day…”) and 8:11 and 9:13 (“The time [‘days’ in Hebrew] is coming…).
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| John Martin: Great Day of His Wrath |
I
already mentioned that 1:1 is an editorial addition as is also the last message
of the book, the prophecy of restoration of 9:11-15. The first addition is a
brief report about Amos told in third person announcing that what follows are
the “words of the prophet”. Although the prophet’s message is addressed to the
Northern Kingdom, the book begins with attention on Judah and Jerusalem. Some
scholars argue that these references to the south in a book so obviously oriented
to a northern audience are additions of a later time. In this same
tone the book closes with a southern focus on the “house of David” (9:11) that
fell to the Neo-Babylonians around 587 BCE, a very plausible update to the 721
fall of Samaria. Also, 9:11-15 is the only restoration message, which makes
obvious contrast with the doom and gloom of the rest of the book, presenting this text as extraneous.
Since
this is the first PL prophet that we discuss in class, when I present these
texts as additions to my students, I remind them to review the PL composition
and transmission process. Even though these oracles were included in the Bible in
different prophetic forms at different times, they are not to be considered
less important when read in the light of the notions of inspiration and
canonicity. This is also a good example that shows how these texts did not
become bound to a particular time and limited to a very specific audience. It is a
good reflection on how the PL presents the living words of a living God.
With the
conviction that Amos’ prophecies should engage both Jewish and Christians of
the 21st century, rediscovering the messages of this bold prophet
should make believers and scholars pay more attention to these “ancient words” more
carefully.
[1]
The Roman Catholic Sunday Lectionary and the Protestant Revised Common
Lectionary present these three passages, although the latter offers four more
readings which focus on social justice. The Jewish cycle of weekly Sabbath
readings has two readings: Amos 2:6--3:8 and 9:7-15.
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