Amos: Introduction & Chapter 1

About Amos 

We know nothing about Amos’ family. We do not know how old he was when he prophesied, nor how long he lived.[1] 

• 

He was from Tekoa a village some ten miles south of Jerusalem and six miles south of Bethlehem in 
Judah. [2]  

1:1 says Amos was a shepherd and 7:14 says he was also a dresser of the sycamore-fig trees. 

7:14 tells us that Amos was not a prophet, before the LORD called him, neither he was a son of a prophet. 

Amos served as a prophet during the reign of Uzziah king of Judah and Jeroboam II and Bible tells us that during the reign of both of these kings Judah and Israel prospered.[3] 

Amos’ profession does play an important role in how he articulates his prophesy for eg.

Amos 1:2 he describes how the pastures of the shepherds dry up and the top of the Carmel withers.

Amos 4:1 Hear this word, you cows of Bashan of Mount Samaria

Date 

Jeroboam II king of Israel 793 – 753 B.C 

Uzziah king of Judah 792 – 740 B.C  

So Amos most probably served during the later years of Jeroboam II’s reign. Probably around early 760s [4] 

Amos’ main focus of prophesy is Israel, though he himself is from Judah. Like most Biblical prophets Amos primarily dealt with social injustice and idolatry.  

I will not do a full blown commentary or post on Amos. I’ll just highlight some of the facts from history to set a background to the text that we read in our Scripture. My intent of writing this blogpost is to introduce you the great wealth of history and scholarship that helps us understand the WORD of GOD in its context and historical setting and makes us fall in love with the Scripture even more deeply and intimately. I’ll just touch here and there and will give references to what I am talking about instead of diving deep here in this post. Because I want to direct you all to the right resources. 

Covenant Law Suit 

Starting in Chapter 1:3-5 we see a pattern of Covenant law suit which was quite common in the ancient near east. 

introduction of plaintiff and judge (1:3a) 
introduction of defendant (1:3a) 
indictment (1:3b) 
judgment (1:4-5)  
 

So in 1:3a God introduces Himself as the one who brings the charges against the said nation and He Himself is the judge 

1:3a Then He introduces Damacus against whom the charges are brought 

1:3b He then lay out the charges 

1:4-5 He pronounces judgement 

We see this pattern repeat itself and as I mentioned above it was a format of Suzerain-Vassal covenant law suit which was common in the ancient near east. [5] 

When we get into chapter 1 it is full of historical drama played out infront of us, which we may not realize without the knowledge of the historical events alluded to in the text. That’s where the commentary and scholarship comes in.  

1:3 talks about the sin of Damascus, it also mentions Hazael and Ben Hadad. Now who was Hazael? Who was Ben-Hadad? And what did they do to arouse the anger of the LORD? 

Who were Ben-Hadad & Hazael? [6] 

(Benhadad) means “son of Hadad” (or Adad, also 
known as Baal, i.e., the storm god; compare the 
Babylonian name Bin-addu-natan] and was a 
throne-name (as was the name Pharaoh] 
employed by Syrian kings. [for the rest see note 6 below] 

• 841-801 B.C Hazael king of Syria [7] 

Hazael was a contemporary of  

1. Joram (2 Kings 8:28-29),  
2. Jehu (2 Kings 10:32), and  
3. Jehoahaz (2 Kings 13:22) 

Ben-hadad III son of Hazael king of Syria 

• 810-783 B.C Adad-nerari III king of Assyria, Syria was subjugated by him. The subjugation of 
  Syria gave Israel the opportunity to expand and reclaim its borders (this was done under Jeroboam II).  After the death of Adad-nerari III, however, Assyria had its 
  own troubles. Assyria also entered a period of quiescence, for, 
  with the rise of the kingdom of Urartu under Argisti I and Sarduri 
  II (810-743), the Assyrians found themselves challenged from 
  the north. They were in no position to threaten Israel.   
• 793-753 B.C Jeroboam II king of Israel [Amos comes here] 
• 792-740 B.C Uzziah king of Judah [Amos comes here] 

What did Hazael and Ben-Hadad do? [8] 

GOD used Hazael as HIS judgement tool against the sin of Jehoahaz (2 Kings 13:2-3). So, in afflicting Israel, Syria had carried out the Lord’s judgment. But she went too far in doing so, performing uncalled for atrocities. The same pattern appears in the case of 
Assyria, which God used to judge his people, but 
which then behaved presumptuously and had to 
be devoured by punitive fire (Isa. 10:5-19, esp. vv. 
16-17).   
 

In the next post we’ll look the central theme of the book of Amos. 

Notes: 

1. Vol 1 The Minor Prophets: A commentary on Hosea, Joel, Amos by Jeff Niehaus; Page 315 Introduction to Amos 
2. Ibid same page 
3. See my post on Uzziah king of Judah & Jeroboam II king of Israel 
4. Vol 1 The Minor Prophets: A commentary on Hosea, Joel, Amos by Jeff Niehaus; Page 316 Introduction to Amos 
5. Ibid page 318-320 
6. Ibid page 341-342 Exegesis of 1:4  

• Ben-hadad I was contemporary with King Asa of Judah and King 
  Baasha of Israel (1 Kings 15:16-18) and possibly is 
  identical with King Rezon of Damascus (1 Kings 
  11:23-25).  
• Ben-hadad II, or Hadadezer, was a contemporary of King Ahab of Israel (1 Kings 20:1- 
  34), and was probably the son of Ben-hadad I. 
• Hazael killed Hadadezer and usurped the throne (2 
  Kings 8:15); his son was Ben-hadad III (2 Kings 
  13:3, 24), a contemporary of King Amaziah of 
  Judah and King Jehoahaz of Israel (2 Kings 13:25- 
  14:1). It was Ben-hadad III who made Israel’s army 
  “like the dust at threshing” (2 Kings 13:7). 
  Jehoash, in accordance with Elisha’s prophecy (2 
  Kings 13:18-19), defeated Ben-hadad III on three 
  occasions and recovered several Israelite cities (2 
  Kings 13:25). For the whole verse, compare Jeremiah 49:27.   
  

7. Ibid  
8. Ibid page 341 Exposition of 1:4