Books of the Bible: Amos

On Facebook the other day, I asked what people thought the oldest written book in the Bible was. I expected a variety of answers, with a majority saying Genesis. I was surprised, however, when the unanimous answer I got was Job. As recently as planning this blog series, I thought so too. But Job is not in fact the oldest book in the Bible. Now, this isn't the same as saying the story of Job isn't the oldest; it very well probably is. But for the purposes of this blog series, when I say "the oldest book in the Bible," I am speaking very specifically about which written text as we posses it today is the oldest? That question brings us to two possible answers: Hosea or Amos.

I wrote at the end of my post introducing this series that we would be starting with Hosea, that it is the oldest book in the Bible. However, in the course of researching deeply, I have come to the conclusion that Amos is, in fact, an older text than Hosea. The difference isn't great, as they were contemporaries, but as I'll detail later, I think the evidence points to Amos being older by about 20-30 years.

Who wrote the book of Amos?

While the sayings of Amos were probably collected and written down either during the prophets life or immediately thereafter, it probably wasn't by Amos himself. The book describes him as a shepherd, making him relatively lower class, and thus probably illiterate. His sayings were probably collected by a follower or admirer and put into written form, or even dictated by Amos himself. Although he was the first to have his writings collected and passed down in a form available to us today, Amos was merely the next in a long line of Jewish prophets that included Elijah, Elisha, Nathan and Gad.

When was Amos written?

Amos wrote during the reign of King Jeroboam II in the Northern Kingdom, Israel, and the reign of King Uzziah in the Southern Kingdom of Judah (1:1). Verse 1 also dates Amos' ministry "two years before the earthquake," but scholars aren't sure what historical event this refers to, so an exact date is impossible. The reigns of Jeroboam II and Uzziah overlapped from 783 BCE to 746 BCE, so Amos' ministry can probably be dated to the middle-to-late part of this range.

Hosea was slightly contemporary to Amos, but his ministry took place primarily during the tumultuous times that followed Jeroboam's reign, although he started during Jeroboam. He probably overlapped Amos, but chances are his sayings were collected later than Amos.

Where was the book of Amos written?

Although Amos was from the small town of Tekoa in the Southern Kingdom, he traveled to the North to preach, centering his ministry in the major cities Bethel and Samaria. The books were almost certainly written here as well.

What is the book of Amos about?

The reign of Jeroboam II was one of peace and prosperity, the last Israel would have before the Exile. Yet, despite the good times, there was growing inequality and injustice in Israel. The gains being reaped weren't being felt by the vast majority of people, while a select few were getting richer and richer. Dr. Gene Tucker, Professor Emeritus of Old Testament at Candler School of Theology describes the times:

“The reigns of Jeroboam and Uzziah were long and relatively peaceful. There had been no major threats to the small states from major Near Eastern powers such as Egypt or Assyria, and peace seems to have been accompanied by prosperity, at least for a few and -according to Amos-at the expense of many. There seems to have been a breakdown in the old tribal and family systems of land ownership and the emergence of a wealthy class at the top of society.”

Why was Amos written?

Being a small-time, poor shepherd, Amos acutely felt the pinch of the great mass of people, despite the peace and good times all around. As an observant Jew, Amos was aware of the teachings of Moses and the Patriarchs, and the injustice he experienced in everyday life at the hands of fellow Jews provoked a strong sense of moral outrage within him. Amos called strongly for a return to the more egalitarian society God envisioned for God's people. Social justice was the central theme of Amos' ministry, and he warned of coming destruction if change didn't happen. His predictions would come true just two short decades later, in the destruction of Israel by Assyria in 722/1.

Amos' language is sharp and uncompromising, some of the most direct prophesy among all the Old Testament prophets. His language of defeat and destruction stood in sharp contrast against the peace and prosperity Israel was experiencing. The Collegeville Bible Commentary calls Amos a "fierce champion of justice."

How does Amos relate to the rest of the Bible, and to us?

Given the antiquity of the text, and the urgency of it's message, the book of Amos sets a tone for the entire Bible, a lens of social justice through which all the later texts are viewed. The call for justice and equality is some of the strongest in the whole Bible, matched only by the words of Jesus himself.

Amos' words ring true in today's world, as more and more wealth and power flows to the top and leaves the great masses of people behind. Inequality and injustice are prevalent in our world, and the poetic nature of verse 5:24 - "But let justice roll down like waters, and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream"- has been a rallying cry for equality and social justice since the Civil Rights movement of the 1960's.