Amos

by

Walter Houston

• LAST MODIFIED: 19 February 2025
• DOI: 10.1093/obo/9780195393361-0336

Introduction

The book of Amos is the third of the twelve so-called “minor” prophets in the Masoretic Text (MT), and the second in the Septuagint (LXX). Among the Twelve, it has arguably attracted the greatest amount of attention in modern times. There are several reasons for this. The text of the book is relatively straightforward and free of corruption. It is thus a frequent object of study by beginning students. Amos is widely viewed as the earliest of the so-called writing prophets, dated to the mid-eighth century BCE, and the text is demonstrably alluded to in several relatively late prophetic writings. And the book’s emphasis on social justice and its absence in 8th-century Israel has become the inspiration for many Christian and Jewish believers contending for justice in their own contemporary societies. Issues discussed in the literature on Amos include questions on the style and on the rhetoric of the book. The latter include questions of the structure of the book and its audience, given the paradox that the accusations of injustice target a minority in positions of wealth and power, but the more general announcements of doom embrace “my people Israel” as a whole. Is it the aim of the book (and/or the prophet) to announce the inexorable doom of the kingdom or people of Israel, or to call them to repentance? Is the book, as distinct from the words of judgment it contains, addressed to Israel before the fall of Samaria, or to Judah after it as a warning? Further, what is the social background of the poverty and social injustice denounced in it and what ethical ideas govern the oracles of judgment? These questions intersect with historical issues, including the book’s composition and redaction. To what extent may the material be held to go back to a prophet Amos in the eighth century? Finally, there are questions on the reception of the book, broadly conceived. What are its relations with the other texts in the Book of the Twelve? How has it been received and interpreted in Jewish and Christian circles? How may it be interpreted, how is it interpreted, to address present-day contexts of social injustice?

Overviews and Study Guides and Commentaries on the Whole Bible

These works are varied. Three of them, Auld 1986, Houston 2017, and the SOTS Wiki are addressed to students and the interested general reader, but established scholars may also learn from the first two, as they introduce a wide range of literature, up-to-date at the time of publication, and their authors use the opportunity to set out their own views on some issues. Carroll R. 2003 and Dines 2001 are articles in one-volume Bible commentaries, with very limited space, which they use to good effect, dealing with all the main issues raised by the book. They have differing views on the composition of Amos—Carroll R. treats the book as substantially representing the prophecy of Amos himself, while Dines sees it as a post-exilic work—but this makes little difference to their exegesis. Gowan 1996 has much more space, and approaches the scope of an independent commentary, though some of the space is taken up with reflection.

• Auld, A. Graeme. Amos. Old Testament Guides. Sheffield, UK: Sheffield Academic Press, 1986.

  DOI: 10.5040/9780567705082

  The guide gives attention to selected issues in the scholarly study of Amos, beginning with the question whether and in what sense Amos may be described as a prophet, and continuing with literary issues, and social and religious critique. There are annotated bibliographies on these aspects of the book, but no general bibliography.

• Carroll R., M. Daniel. “Amos.” In Eerdmans Commentary on the Bible. Edited by James D. G. Dunn and John W. Rogerson, 690–695. Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 2003.

  After an introduction, which among other things argues against theories of extended composition, the text is expounded in six large sections, focusing less on detail than on the broad thrust of each section, and insisting on Carroll R.’s characteristic emphases (compare Carroll R. 1992 under Message or Aim): that the whole people is implicated in the judgment through their participation in the cult, which legitimates the unjust social order.

• Dines, Jennifer M. “29. Amos.” In The Oxford Bible Commentary. Edited by John Barton and John Muddiman, 581–590. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2001.

  After a very short introduction, Dines covers the text of Amos in remarkable detail considering her limited space, confining herself to exegetical comment and leaving historical issues generally on one side, for good reasons explained in the introduction. She understands the book as a post-exilic literary work containing traces of earlier sources, but this scarcely affects the exegesis. The interpretation is perceptive and persuasive.

• Gowan, Donald E. “The Book of Amos: Introduction, Commentary, and Reflections.” In The New Interpreter’s Bible: A Commentary in Twelve Volumes. Vol. 7, 337–431. Nashville: Abingdon, 1996.

  No named editor or editors. The commentary is designed broadly for the pastor and schoolteacher, but does not avoid the occasional use of Hebrew. Gowan dates the book as a whole to the mid-eighth century, but disclaims interest in the person of Amos. Rejecting redaction criticism, he uses insights from form criticism and rhetorical criticism. The “reflections” apply the message of the text to the present day, but with caution.

• Houston, Walter J. Amos, Justice and Violence: An Introduction and Study Guide. T&T Clark Study Guides to the Old Testament. London: Bloomsbury T&T Clark, 2017.

  First published 2015. The guide is divided into three parts: “Reading Amos,” dealing with the book synchronically, its style, structure and aims, its ethics and theology; “Writing Amos,” on its origins, its composition and redaction; and “Amos Read,” on its reception and influence. Each chapter includes an annotated bibliography, and a general bibliography concludes the work. A particular interest is shown in the social matrix of injustice in Amos.

• SOTS Wiki. “Amos.”.

  An online resource on the Old Testament/Hebrew Bible for the lay reader. The section on Amos is a brief outline which particularly highlights the question of interpretation.