The Prophet Amos, Gustave Doré, 1866. Public domain.
Old Testament · Book 30 of 66
Amos
Amos records the words of a shepherd from Tekoa whom God sent to the northern kingdom of Israel. He condemns Israel's neighbours for their crimes and Israel for its injustice to the poor, and ends with David's fallen tent restored.
Amos records the words of a shepherd from Tekoa whom God sent to the northern kingdom of Israel. He condemns Israel's neighbours for their crimes and Israel for its injustice to the poor, and ends with David's fallen tent restored.
What is Amos about?
Amos is the book of a sheepherder from Tekoa in Judah whom the LORD sent north to Israel in the days of Jeroboam II. It opens with eight judgments on the nations around Israel and closes the circle on Israel itself. Three speeches then charge Samaria with selling the poor and keeping feasts God will not accept, and Amos asks for one thing: “let justice roll on like a river” (5:24). Five visions follow, from locusts to the LORD beside the altar, and the priest of Bethel orders Amos home. The book ends with the fallen tent of David raised and Israel planted in its own land.
All 9 chapters
Every chapter of the book, in one grid. Each cell opens that chapter.
- The lion roarsChapters 1 to 2
- The charge against IsraelChapters 3 to 6
- The five visions7:1 to 9:10
- The booth raised9:11 to 15, inside chapter 9
The colour is the movement of the book the chapter stands in, and every cell opens that chapter's Study level. The booth raised is the last five verses of chapter 9.
Who wrote it, where, when, for whom, and why?
The book opens as the words of Amos, who was among the sheepherders of Tekoa, and what he saw concerning Israel (1:1). Amos tells his own call at Bethel: he was a herdsman and a tender of sycamore-fig trees until the LORD took him from following the flock and sent him to prophesy to Israel (7:14 and 15). Amaziah the priest calls him a seer and tells him to go back to Judah (7:12). Stephen quotes Amos 5:25 to 27 as written in the book of the prophets (Acts 7:42), and James quotes 9:11 and 12 as the words of the prophets (Acts 15:15 to 17).
But the LORD took me from following the flock and said to me, ‘Go, prophesy to My people Israel.’
Amos 7:15, Berean Standard Bible.
Amos comes from Tekoa in Judah and preaches in the northern kingdom. The book names Bethel, the king's sanctuary (7:13), Samaria on its mountain (3:9, 4:1), Gilgal and Beersheba (5:5), and Dan (8:14). The first judgments look out to Damascus, Gaza, Tyre, Edom, Ammon and Moab (1:3 to 2:3).
Amos dates his words to the days of Uzziah king of Judah and Jeroboam son of Jehoash king of Israel, two years before the earthquake (1:1). Jeroboam reigned forty-one years in Samaria and restored Israel's border from Lebo-hamath to the Sea of the Arabah (2 Kings 14:23 and 25). Zechariah still names the earthquake in the days of Uzziah as the thing people fled from (Zechariah 14:5).
Amos speaks to the children of Israel, the whole family the LORD brought up out of Egypt (3:1), and most of all to Samaria's rulers and rich: the women he calls cows of Bashan (4:1), the men at ease on beds of ivory (6:1 and 4), and the traders who wait for the Sabbath to end (8:5).
The book gives its reason in the LORD's words. Israel sells the righteous for silver and the needy for a pair of sandals (2:6), keeps feasts while it tramples the poor (5:11 and 21), and has not returned to him (4:6 to 11). He calls it to seek him and live (5:4), to let justice roll on like a river (5:24), and after the judgment he promises to restore the fallen tent of David (9:11).
Israel under Jeroboam is rich and secure. The book names winter houses and summer houses and houses of ivory (3:15), lambs and calves at the table, wine by the bowlful and the finest oils (6:4 and 6). It names the pilgrim shrines of Bethel, Gilgal and Beersheba (5:5) and the idols Sakkuth and Kaiwan carried in procession (5:26). The threat it names is a nation the LORD will raise against Israel from Lebo-hamath to the Brook of the Arabah (6:14), and exile beyond Damascus (5:27).
Sources. Amos 1:1, 1:3 to 2:3, 2:6, 3:1, 3:9, 3:15, 4:1, 4:6 to 11, 5:4, 5:5, 5:11, 5:21, 5:24, 5:26, 5:27, 6:1, 6:4, 6:6, 6:14, 7:12 to 15, 8:5, 8:14 and 9:11; 2 Kings 14:23 and 25; Zechariah 14:5; Acts 7:42; Acts 15:15 to 17. Every verse is read in the Berean Standard Bible.
How is Amos arranged, and what is it for?
The four movements the book falls into, then what it teaches and what it was written to do.
- The lion roars1 to 2, 31 verses, the turn at 2:6
Eight judgments in one form, six on Israel's neighbours, then Judah, then Israel.
- The charge against Israel3 to 6, 69 verses, the turn at 5:24
Three speeches that open Hear this word, and two woes on the secure and the rich.
- The five visions7:1 to 9:10, 41 verses, the turn at 7:8
Locusts, fire, a plumb line, summer fruit and the LORD beside the altar, with the priest of Bethel between.
- The booth raised9:11 to 15, 5 verses, the turn at 9:11
The fallen tent of David rebuilt, the harvest overflowing, and Israel planted in its land.
The theme
The LORD who roars from Zion judges every nation for its cruelty, and he judges Israel most because he has known Israel of all the families of the earth (3:2). The charge is plain: the poor sold, the courts bought, and feasts kept by the people who do it. The LORD warned by famine and drought and was not returned to, so the day Israel longed for will be darkness. He still calls Seek Me and live, and after the judgment he promises the fallen house of David raised and his people planted for good.
The purpose
Amos was sent to tell a prosperous kingdom at its height that its end had come, and why. The book sets down the words he preached at Bethel and the visions he saw, with the priest's order to leave, so that the reason for the fall of Samaria stands written. It leaves Israel under a sentence it can still hear, with the promise of the tent of David beyond it.
Eight judgments that close in on Israel
Each judgment opens the same way: “For three transgressions of Damascus, even four” (1:3), with the next people named in its place.
The stations (8)
- 1DamascusAmos 1:3 to 5, 3 verses, A neighbourThreshed Gilead with iron sledges.
- 2GazaAmos 1:6 to 8, 3 verses, A neighbourHanded a whole population over to Edom.
- 3TyreAmos 1:9 to 10, 2 verses, A neighbourHanded exiles to Edom and broke a covenant of brotherhood.
- 4EdomAmos 1:11 to 12, 2 verses, A neighbourPursued his brother with the sword and kept no compassion.
- 5AmmonAmos 1:13 to 15, 3 verses, A neighbourRipped open the pregnant women of Gilead to gain land.
- 6MoabAmos 2:1 to 3, 3 verses, A neighbourBurned the bones of Edom's king to lime.
- 7JudahAmos 2:4 to 5, 2 verses, JudahRejected the Law of the LORD and did not keep his statutes.
- 8IsraelAmos 2:6 to 16, 11 verses, Israel, at SamariaSold the righteous for silver and trampled the poor.
The bar under each station is the length of its judgment in verses.
The lion roars, Amos 1 to 2
What the text says in these 31 verses, and the pages they open on.
The book opens with the LORD roaring from Zion, and the pastures mourn and Carmel withers (1:2). Eight judgments follow in one form. Each begins with three transgressions of a people, even four, names one crime and sends fire on its walls or citadels. The first six fall on Israel's neighbours, Damascus, Gaza, Tyre, Edom, Ammon and Moab, each for cruelty done to other peoples. The seventh falls on Judah for rejecting the Law of the LORD. The eighth falls on Israel and runs longest: the righteous sold for silver, the poor trampled, and garments taken in pledge spread beside the altars (2:6 to 8). God recalls the Exodus, the land and the prophets he raised up, and the section ends with the bravest men fleeing naked on that day (2:16).
This is what the LORD says: “For three transgressions of Israel, even four, I will not revoke My judgment, because they sell the righteous for silver and the needy for a pair of sandals.
- Study
Amos 1the LORD roars from Zion; Damascus, Gaza, Tyre, Edom and Ammon judgedShow the summary and 3 pagesShow summary, 3 pagesHide the summary
A Judean herdsman of Tekoa prophesies to the north 'two years before the earthquake,' and the book opens like thunder: 'Jehovah will roar from Zion… and the pastures of the shepherds shall mourn.' Then the oracle wheel begins, each rung with the same formula: 'For three transgressions of Damascus, yea, for four, I will not turn away the punishment thereof.' Damascus threshed Gilead with instruments of iron; Gaza carried away a whole people to sell to Edom; Tyre broke a brotherly covenant to do the same; Edom pursued his brother with the sword and cast off all pity; Ammon ripped up the women with child of Gilead to enlarge his border.
- The LORD roars from Zion, and the pastures and the top of Carmel wither (1:2).
- Fire is sent on Damascus, Gaza, Tyre, Edom and Ammon, each for cruelty done to another people (1:3 to 15).
On this chapter (3)
- When did the earthquake of 1:1 happen, and what has been found at Hazor?
Answered under Where do readers disagree, lower on this page, with each reading and who holds it.
- Who was Amos, a poor shepherd or a sheep breeder, and what does noqed mean?
Answered under Where do readers disagree, lower on this page, with each reading and who holds it.
- Amos 1:3
The verse on its own page, with the commentators on it by era.
- Study
Amos 2Moab and Judah, then the long charge against IsraelShow the summary and 2 pagesShow summary, 2 pagesHide the summary
The circle keeps tightening. Moab burned the bones of the king of Edom into lime: atrocity even against the dead. Judah is next, and the charge shifts from cruelty to covenant: 'they reject the Law of the LORD and fail to keep His statutes; they are led astray by the lies in which their fathers walked.' Then the trap springs on the audience itself. Israel sells 'the righteous for silver and the needy for a pair of sandals.' sleeps on garments taken in pledge beside every altar, drinks fine-money wine in the house of their God. He raised up prophets and Nazirites: 'But you made the Nazirites drink wine and commanded the prophets not to prophesy.'
On this chapter (2)
- Justice and righteousness
Mishpat and tsedaqah, the pair Amos asks for.
- Amos 2:6
The verse on its own page, with the commentators on it by era.
- Justice and righteousness
The eight judgments are drawn as the ring that closes in on Israel, under The book as a whole.
Characters (4)
Who the text names. A name with a page carries its door.
- Amos
A sheepherder of Tekoa who saw these words concerning Israel (1:1).
- Uzziah
King of Judah in the days Amos names (1:1).
- Hazael and Ben-hadad
The kings of Damascus whose house and citadels the fire will consume (1:4).
- The nations of the ring
Damascus, Gaza, Tyre, Edom, Ammon and Moab, judged for cruelty to other peoples (1:3 to 2:3).
Places (8)
Where the chapters stand.
Themes (2)
What these chapters raise, each on its own page where one stands.
- Justice and righteousness
Mishpat and tsedaqah, the pair the book asks for.
- The Twelve
The book of the twelve prophets Amos stands in.
No New Testament passage quotes or names these chapters.
The charge against Israel, Amos 3 to 6
What the text says in these 69 verses, and the pages they open on.
Chapters 3 to 6 bring the charge home in three speeches, each opening with Hear this word (3:1, 4:1, 5:1). Israel's election is the ground of its punishment: of all the families of the earth the LORD has known only Israel (3:2). A lion roars only over prey, and the prophet speaks because the Lord GOD has spoken (3:8). The women of Samaria, the cows of Bashan, crush the needy (4:1), and the offerings at Bethel and Gilgal add to the transgression (4:4). Five times God struck the land and five times the people did not return, so Israel must prepare to meet its God (4:12). Amos takes up a lament over a nation still living (5:1 to 2), calls it to seek the LORD and live (5:4 to 6), warns that the day of the LORD will be darkness (5:18), and asks for justice where God refuses the feasts (5:21 to 24). The last woe falls on those at ease on beds of ivory, who will go first into exile (6:1 to 7).
But let justice roll on like a river, and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream.
- Study
Amos 3known of all families, and the lion that has roaredShow the summary and 1 pageShow summary, 1 pageHide the summary
The logic chapter. Privilege is not immunity: 'Only you have I known from all the families of the earth; therefore I will punish you for all your iniquities' (3:2). Then a chain of questions that all mean one thing, do two walk together unless they have agreed? does a lion roar without prey? does a bird fall to a snare with no trap set? does a trumpet sound and the people not tremble? Amos speaks because God has spoken: 'Surely the Lord GOD does nothing without revealing His plan to His servants the prophets' (3:7). Even Ashdod and Egypt are called to witness Samaria, where 'they know not how to do right'.
On this chapter (1)
- Amos 3:2
The verse on its own page, with the commentators on it by era.
- Amos 3:2
- Study
Amos 4the cows of Bashan, and five times you did not returnShow the summary and 1 pageShow summary, 1 pageHide the summary
'Hear this word, you cows of Bashan': Samaria's pampered women who crush the needy and say to their lords, Bring, and let us drink. Then bitter parody of pilgrimage: 'Go to Bethel and transgress; rebel even more at Gilgal': sacrifice every morning, tithe every three days, 'that is what you children of Israel love to do'. Five disciplines follow, each closing with the same refrain, 'yet you did not return to Me … declares the LORD': famine, drought, blight and locust, plague and sword, overthrow like Sodom: 'and you were like a firebrand snatched from a blaze'. Hence the summons: 'prepare to meet your God, O Israel' (4:12).
On this chapter (1)
- Amos 4:12
The verse on its own page, with the commentators on it by era.
- Amos 4:12
- Study
Amos 5the lament, seek Me and live, and the dark dayShow the summary and 6 pagesShow summary, 6 pagesHide the summary
A funeral song sung over a nation still standing: 'Fallen is Virgin Israel, never to rise again.' Across it runs the offer ('Seek Me and live'), with the shrines excluded: seek not Beth-el, enter not into Gilgal. Seek instead the maker of the Pleiades and Orion, who turns the shadow of death into the morning. They hate reproof in the gate and tax the poor to build houses of hewn stone they will never live in. Their longing for the day of Jehovah is answered bluntly: it is darkness, not light. God despises their feasts and songs: 'But let justice roll on like a river, and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream' (5:24).
On this chapter (6)
- Justice and righteousness
Mishpat and tsedaqah, the pair Amos asks for.
- The day of the LORD
The day Israel longed for, and what the prophets said of it.
- Worship
What God asks of those who worship him.
- Does Amos reject sacrifice in 5:21 to 25?
Answered under Where do readers disagree, lower on this page, with each reading and who holds it.
- What is the day of the LORD in Amos?
Answered under Where do readers disagree, lower on this page, with each reading and who holds it.
- Amos 5:24
The verse on its own page, with the commentators on it by era.
- Justice and righteousness
- Study
Amos 6woe to those at ease in Zion and on SamariaShow the summary and 1 pageShow summary, 1 pageHide the summary
'Woe to them that are at ease in Zion, and to them that are secure in the mountain of Samaria.' Go look at Calneh, Hamath, Gath, says Amos: are you better than those kingdoms that fell? The portrait of luxury is unforgettable: lying on beds of ivory, sprawled on couches, eating lambs out of the flock, inventing instruments of music like David, drinking wine in bowls, anointed with the chief oils: 'but you fail to grieve over the ruin of Joseph' (6:6). Therefore they go captive first. They boast of taking Karnaim by their own strength; they have turned justice into gall and the fruit of righteousness into wormwood.
On this chapter (1)
- Amos 6:1
The verse on its own page, with the commentators on it by era.
- Amos 6:1
5 warnings, and each time no return
Each of the five ends: “yet you did not return to Me” (4:6, 8, 9, 10, 11).
- 1Famine4:6
Cleanness of teeth and lack of bread in every town.
No return
- 2Drought4:7 to 8
Rain withheld, one city watered and the next left dry.
No return
- 3Blight4:9
Blight and mildew in the gardens, locusts on the figs and olives.
No return
- 4Plague4:10
Plagues like those of Egypt, and the young men killed by the sword.
No return
- 5Overthrow4:11
Some overthrown as Sodom and Gomorrah, a firebrand snatched from the blaze.
No return
Characters (3)
Who the text names. A name with a page carries its door.
- The cows of Bashan
The women of Samaria who crush the needy and call for drink (4:1).
- Those at ease
The notable men on beds of ivory who do not grieve over Joseph's ruin (6:1 to 6).
- The remnant of Joseph
Those the LORD may yet be gracious to if justice is set up in the gate (5:15).
Places (5)
Where the chapters stand.
- Samaria
The capital on its mountain, full of unrest and oppression (3:9, 4:1).
- Bethel
The shrine whose altars will be cut down (3:14, 4:4).
- Gilgal
The shrine that will surely go into exile (5:5).
- Beersheba
The southern shrine Israel travelled to (5:5).
Show the next 1
- Bashan
The rich pasture the women of Samaria are named for (4:1).
Themes (4)
What these chapters raise, each on its own page where one stands.
- The day of the LORD
The day Israel longed for, which Amos says will be darkness (5:18).
- Justice and righteousness
Justice rolling on like a river (5:24).
- Worship
What God refuses in the feasts, and what he asks for.
- The remnant
The few God spares, from the remnant of Joseph onward.
Where the New Testament uses these chapters (1)each marked as a quotation or an allusion, with the evidence
- Explicit quotationAmos 5:25 to 27 at Acts 7:42 to 43. Stephen quotes the question about sacrifices in the wilderness and the idols carried along, as it is written in the book of the prophets. Held by Stephen, as Luke records him. He reads Molech and Rephan where the Hebrew is read as Sakkuth and Kaiwan, and exile beyond Babylon where Amos says beyond Damascus.
The five visions, Amos 7:1 to 9:10
What the text says in these 41 verses, and the pages they open on.
Amos now reports what the Lord GOD showed him. In the first two visions, a swarm of locusts and a fire that devours the deep, Amos pleads that Jacob is small, and the LORD relents (7:1 to 6). In the third the Lord stands by a wall with a plumb line and will no longer spare his people (7:7 to 9). Here Amaziah the priest of Bethel reports Amos to King Jeroboam and orders him back to Judah, and Amos answers that the LORD took him from following the flock (7:10 to 17). The fourth vision is a basket of summer fruit, and the word is that the end has come (8:1 to 3). The traders who cheat the poor are named, and a famine of hearing the words of the LORD is announced (8:4 to 14). In the fifth the Lord stands beside the altar and none escapes, yet the house of Jacob is sifted and not utterly destroyed (9:1 to 10).
“Amos, what do you see?” asked the LORD. “A plumb line,” I replied. “Behold,” said the Lord, “I am setting a plumb line among My people Israel; I will no longer spare them:
- Study
Amos 7locusts, fire and the plumb line; Amaziah at BethelShow the summary and 2 pagesShow summary, 2 pagesHide the summary
Three visions and a showdown. Locusts consuming the latter growth: Amos intercedes, 'Lord GOD, please forgive! How will Jacob survive, since he is so small?' and it is stayed. Fire devouring the deep ('Lord GOD, please stop!') and it is stayed. Then the plumb-line, against which no prayer is offered: 'I will no longer spare them'. Amaziah, priest of Beth-el, reports Amos to the king and orders him home: 'Go away, you seer! Flee to the land of Judah … because it is the sanctuary of the king and the temple of the kingdom.' Amos answers with his credentials: 'I was not a prophet … I was a herdsman and a tender of sycamore-fig trees.'
On this chapter (2)
- The prophetic word
The word the prophets are given and cannot keep back.
- Amos 7:8
The verse on its own page, with the commentators on it by era.
- The prophetic word
- Study
Amos 8the summer fruit and the famine of the wordShow the summary and 1 pageShow summary, 1 pageHide the summary
A basket of summer fruit, ripe to the point of rot, and the pun that carries it: the end is come upon my people Israel. The merchants can hardly wait for worship to finish ('When will the new moon be gone, that we may sell grain? and the sabbath, that we may set forth wheat?'), shrinking the ephah, inflating the shekel, falsifying the balances, selling the sweepings of the wheat and buying the poor for silver. So the land will heave like the Nile, the sun go down at noon, and feasts turn into mourning as for an only son. Then the strangest judgment: 'a famine … of hearing the words of the LORD' (8:11).
On this chapter (1)
- Amos 8:11
The verse on its own page, with the commentators on it by era.
- Amos 8:11
- Study
Amos 9the LORD beside the altar, the sieve, and the booth raisedShow the summary and 6 pagesShow summary, 6 pagesHide the summary
The Lord stands beside the altar and orders the sanctuary struck from the top down, and no hiding place is left: dig into Sheol, climb to heaven, hide in Carmel's caves, lie on the sea floor, and the hand finds them there. Israel's exodus is set beside the migrations of Ethiopians, Philistines, and Syrians: election is not entitlement. Israel will be sifted among the nations as grain in a sieve, yet not the least kernel shall fall. Then the sunrise ending: 'In that day will I raise up the tabernacle of David that is fallen' (James cites it at the Jerusalem council (Acts 15)) and Israel replanted on their land, never again plucked up.
On this chapter (6)
- The Jerusalem Council
Where James quotes the tent of David at the council.
- The remnant
The few God spares, through the prophets.
- Why God is not finished with Israel
The promises to Israel that stand.
- Why does James read 9:11 to 12 from the Greek at the Jerusalem council?
Answered under Where do readers disagree, lower on this page, with each reading and who holds it.
- Is 9:11 to 15 original to Amos or a later hope?
Answered under Where do readers disagree, lower on this page, with each reading and who holds it.
- Amos 9:9
The verse on its own page, with the commentators on it by era.
- The Jerusalem Council
Five visions, and the priest who stops the prophet
- 1LocustsAmos 7:1 to 3
- Amos pleads
- Yes, for Jacob, who is small
- The answer
- The LORD relents. “It will not happen” (7:3)
- 2FireAmos 7:4 to 6
- Amos pleads
- Yes, for Jacob, who is small
- The answer
- The LORD relents. “It will not happen either” (7:6)
- 3A plumb lineAmos 7:7 to 9
- Amos pleads
- No
- The answer
- No longer spared. “I will no longer spare them” (7:8)
- Between 3 and 4Amaziah at BethelAmos 7:10 to 17
The priest reports Amos to Jeroboam and orders him back to Judah; Amos answers that the LORD took him from the flock.
- 4A basket of summer fruitAmos 8:1 to 3
- Amos pleads
- No
- The answer
- The end has come. “The end has come for My people Israel” (8:2)
- 5The Lord beside the altarAmos 9:1 to 10
- Amos pleads
- No
- The answer
- None escapes. “none of the fugitives will escape” (9:1)
Characters (3)
Who the text names. A name with a page carries its door.
- Amaziah the priest of Bethel
Reports Amos to the king and orders him back to Judah (7:10 to 13).
- Jeroboam II
King of Israel, who Amaziah says will die by the sword (7:11).
- Amos the herdsman
Pleads twice for Jacob and tells how the LORD took him from the flock (7:2, 7:14 to 15).
Places (3)
Where the chapters stand.
- Bethel
The king's sanctuary, where Amos is told never to prophesy again (7:13).
- Dan and Beersheba
The shrines people swear by, who will fall (8:14).
- Carmel and the sea
No hiding place from the LORD's hand (9:3).
Themes (4)
What these chapters raise, each on its own page where one stands.
- The plumb line
The LORD's measure set among his people (7:8).
- The famine of the word
A famine of hearing the words of the LORD (8:11).
- The remnant
The house of Jacob sifted and not utterly destroyed (9:8 to 9).
- The prophetic word
The word the prophets are given and cannot keep back.
Where the New Testament uses these chapters (1)each marked as a quotation or an allusion, with the evidence
- Later Christian readingAmos 8:9 at Matthew 27:45. The sun going down at noon has been read beside the darkness over all the land from the sixth hour to the ninth at the crucifixion. Held by John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament, on 8:9, who says many of the ancient fathers refer the prophecy to the crucifixion, and by Bonaventure, Collations on the Hexaemeron, collation 13. Matthew's verse records the darkness and names no prophet.
The booth raised, Amos 9:11 to 15
What the text says in these 5 verses, and the pages they open on.
After eight chapters of judgment the LORD promises to restore the fallen tent of David, repair its gaps and rebuild it as in the days of old (9:11), with the remnant of Edom and all the nations that bear his name belonging to it (9:12). The harvest will run so full that the ploughman overtakes the reaper and the mountains drip with sweet wine (9:13). The LORD will bring his people back from captivity, and they will rebuild the ruined cities, plant vineyards and drink their wine (9:14). The book ends with Israel planted in its own land, never again to be uprooted (9:15).
“In that day I will restore the fallen tent of David. I will repair its gaps, restore its ruins, and rebuild it as in the days of old,
These five verses close chapter 9, and their chapter entry stands under The five visions, where the chapter begins.
The tent of David, in Amos and at the council
“In that day I will restore the fallen tent of David. I will repair its gaps, restore its ruins, and rebuild it as in the days of old, that they may possess the remnant of Edom and all the nations that bear My name,” declares the LORD, who will do this.
‘After this I will return and rebuild the fallen tent of David. Its ruins I will rebuild, and I will restore it, so that the remnant of men may seek the Lord, and all the Gentiles who are called by My name, says the Lord who does these things
Characters (2)
Who the text names. A name with a page carries its door.
- David
The king whose fallen tent the LORD will raise (9:11).
- The nations that bear My name
Those who belong to the rebuilt house (9:12).
Places (2)
Where the chapters stand.
- Edom
Its remnant named at 9:12.
- The land
The land the LORD has given, where Israel is planted for good (9:15).
Themes (3)
What these chapters raise, each on its own page where one stands.
- The Jerusalem Council
Where James quotes 9:11 and 12 (Acts 15).
- Why God is not finished with Israel
The promise of 9:15 and the promises that stand.
- The remnant
The remnant of Edom and the nations called by his name.
Where the New Testament uses these chapters (1)each marked as a quotation or an allusion, with the evidence
- Explicit quotationAmos 9:11 to 12 at Acts 15:16 to 17. James quotes the rebuilding of the fallen tent of David as the words of the prophets, which agree that God is taking a people from the Gentiles. Held by James, as Luke records him. He quotes the Greek form, the remnant of men seeking the Lord, where the Hebrew reads possessing the remnant of Edom; the difference stands under Where do readers disagree.
- Author
- Amos, a herdman of Tekoa in Judah, sent to Israel at Bethel (1:1, 7:14)
- Date
- c. 760–750 BC, during the reigns of Uzziah in Judah and Jeroboam II in Israel
- Audience
- The northern kingdom at the height of its prosperity
Where do readers disagree?
One list: the readings with their holders, and what the evidence does not settle.
Who was Amos, a poor shepherd or a sheep breeder, and what does noqed mean?
- A poor herdsman working for others. Held by Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible, on 1:1, who places him among the very lowest orders of life, tending the flocks of others.
- A shepherd of humble station, called from his work. Held by Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset and David Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible, on 7:14, and by John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament, on 7:14.
- An owner and breeder of flocks. Held by Shalom M. Paul, Amos, Hermeneia (1991).
What the evidence does not settle: The word stands only at Amos 1:1 and 2 Kings 3:4, so two uses decide little; the book says of his standing only that the LORD took him from following the flock (7:15).
The argument in full
A poor herdsman working for others. Amos calls himself a herdsman and a tender of sycamore-fig trees (7:14), work done by hand, and says the LORD took him from following the flock (7:15).
A shepherd of humble station, called from his work. The word for herdsman takes in the shepherd, and the point of 7:14 is that Amos had no training as a prophet until the call came.
An owner and breeder of flocks. The word noqed at 1:1 stands in one other place, where Mesha king of Moab is a sheep breeder who pays Israel a hundred thousand lambs (2 Kings 3:4), so it can name a man of means with flocks of his own.
When did the earthquake of 1:1 happen, and what has been found at Hazor?
- A great earthquake remembered for centuries. Held by John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament, on 1:1, who notes that only this text and Zechariah 14:5 mention it.
- The destruction of stratum VI at Hazor. Held by Yigael Yadin, Hazor: The Rediscovery of a Great Citadel of the Bible (1975), and by Steven A. Austin, Gordon W. Franz and Eric G. Frost, 'Amos's Earthquake', International Geology Review 42 (2000).
- An uproar in the land. Held as a possibility by Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible, on 1:1, who asks whether the word may mean some popular tumult.
What the evidence does not settle: Earthquake damage is dated by the pottery around it, so no single fallen wall can be tied to the year Amos names; the text gives the reigns and not the year.
The argument in full
A great earthquake remembered for centuries. Zechariah still tells a later generation they will flee as they fled from the earthquake in the days of Uzziah (Zechariah 14:5), so the event was large enough to date by.
The destruction of stratum VI at Hazor. Walls and pillars at Hazor fell in the middle of the eighth century, and damage of the same age at other sites in the region points to one very large earthquake.
An uproar in the land. The Hebrew word ra'ash means a shaking or commotion, and the verse does not say what shook.
Why does James read 9:11 to 12 from the Greek at the Jerusalem council?
The Jerusalem Council, argued in full→- The Greek keeps a Hebrew reading. Held by Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible, on 9:12, following Archbishop William Newcome, who reads adam, mankind, for Edom with Acts 15:17.
- The Hebrew already speaks of the nations. Held by John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament, on 9:12, who reads the verse as a prophecy of the kingdom of the Messiah bringing in the Gentiles.
- James argues from the order of events. Held by Darrell L. Bock, Acts, Baker Exegetical Commentary on the New Testament (2007).
What the evidence does not settle: Which letters Amos wrote at 9:12, since the Hebrew copies and the Greek translation differ and no Hebrew copy with the Greek reading survives.
The argument in full
The Greek keeps a Hebrew reading. In unpointed Hebrew Edom and adam are written with the same letters, and seek and possess differ by one letter, so the Greek translators may have read a Hebrew text that already said the remnant of men will seek the LORD.
The Hebrew already speaks of the nations. The Hebrew ends with all the nations that bear the LORD's name (9:12), so James's point stands on either text.
James argues from the order of events. The council's question is settled by the sequence in Amos: the house of David rebuilt, then the nations belonging to the LORD.
Does Amos reject sacrifice in 5:21 to 25?
Justice and Righteousness→- Worship offered by the unjust is refused. Held by Albert Barnes, Notes on the Old Testament, on 5:21, who reads Israel as offering God a half-service while it kept its sin.
- The shrines of the north were never commanded. Held by Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset and David Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible, on 5:21, who say these feasts were of human institution and not divine.
- The prophets knew no law of sacrifice from the wilderness. Held by Julius Wellhausen, Prolegomena to the History of Israel (1878).
What the evidence does not settle: What answer the question of 5:25 expects, since the Hebrew does not mark it; Stephen reads it of the wilderness idolatry that 5:26 names (Acts 7:42 and 43).
The argument in full
Worship offered by the unjust is refused. The LORD refuses the feasts and asks for justice in the same breath (5:21 to 24), and Isaiah, Hosea and Micah set the same pair side by side.
The shrines of the north were never commanded. The feasts refused are those kept at Bethel and Gilgal (4:4, 5:5), and Bethel is where Jeroboam son of Nebat set up one of his two calves (1 Kings 12:29).
The prophets knew no law of sacrifice from the wilderness. The question of 5:25 is read as expecting the answer no, which would mean the sacrificial law was written after Amos.
Is 9:11 to 15 original to Amos or a later hope?
- The ending is Amos's own. Held by Shalom M. Paul, Amos, Hermeneia (1991).
- The ending was added after the exile. Held by Hans Walter Wolff, Joel and Amos, Hermeneia (English translation 1977).
- A promise of the Messiah from the first. Held by John Gill in his Exposition of the Old Testament, on 9:11, who notes that the ancient Jews referred the prophecy to the times of the Messiah.
What the evidence does not settle: Whether the fallen tent of David means the kingdom divided in Amos's day or the house ended in 586 BC; the verse names no date.
The argument in full
The ending is Amos's own. Other eighth-century prophets pair judgment with restoration, and 9:8 and 9 already promise that the house of Jacob will not be utterly destroyed.
The ending was added after the exile. The fallen tent of David is read as the house of David after the fall of Jerusalem in 586 BC, which came long after Amos.
A promise of the Messiah from the first. The house of David had been fallen in the north since the kingdom divided, so the promise fits Amos's own hearers at Bethel.
What is the day of the LORD in Amos?
The Day of the LORD→- A day of battle Israel expected to win. Held by Gerhard von Rad, 'The Origin of the Concept of the Day of Yahweh', Journal of Semitic Studies 4 (1959).
- The festival of the LORD's kingship. Held by Sigmund Mowinckel, Psalmenstudien II (1922).
- A day the scoffers dared God to bring. Held by Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible (1710), on 5:18.
What the evidence does not settle: Where the hope Amos overturns came from, since the book gives the day only as darkness and not light, and 5:18 is the earliest use of the phrase among the writing prophets on the usual dating.
The argument in full
A day of battle Israel expected to win. Israel looked for the LORD to fight for it against its enemies, and Amos turns the day of battle against Israel (5:18 to 20).
The festival of the LORD's kingship. The day was a feast at which the LORD was hailed as king, and Amos speaks to people who kept it with songs he will not hear (5:21 to 23).
A day the scoffers dared God to bring. Those who longed for the day were mocking the prophet's warning, and he tells them it will be darkness and not light.
The Text and the Spade
- Eighth-century destruction layers associated with the earthquake of Amos 1:1excavated through the twentieth century; the seismic event usually placed around 760 BC
Amos dates his preaching 'two years before the earthquake' and Zechariah 14:5 still remembers it centuries later, so the event was real and it was large. Yigael Yadin connected the destruction of stratum VI at Hazor with it, and collapse and repair layers at other eighth-century sites in the region have been read the same way. Steven A. Austin, Gordon W. Franz and Eric G. Frost proposed a magnitude for the event from the spread of the damage in 'Amos's Earthquake: An Extraordinary Middle East Seismic Event of 750 B.C.' (International Geology Review 42, 2000). The correlation is widely accepted and it remains an inference: earthquake damage is dated by the pottery around it, so the link between any one collapsed wall and the earthquake Amos names is an argument rather than a signature.
- The Samaria ivoriesexcavated by the Harvard Expedition 1908-1910 and the Joint Expedition 1931-1935; the ivories dated to the 9th and 8th centuries BC
Hundreds of carved ivory fragments from the palace area at Samaria, inlays for furniture and panelling, worked in a Phoenician style with Egyptian motifs. They are the physical answer to two verses. Amos says God 'I will tear down the winter house along with the summer house; the houses of ivory will also perish' (3:15), and he describes the men who 'lie on beds inlaid with ivory, and lounge upon your couches' (6:4). J. W. and Grace Crowfoot published the collection as Early Ivories from Samaria (1938). A reader who takes Amos for exaggeration has to account for the ivory.
- The Samaria ostraca63 inscribed potsherds from the palace acropolis at Samaria, excavated 1910, dated to the 8th century BC
Administrative dockets recording deliveries of wine and oil from country estates to the crown. They show a working system of estates supplying a capital, which is the economy Amos describes from below: grain taken in payment from the poor at 5:11, and the men at the top who 'drink wine by the bowlful and anoint yourselves with the finest oils' (6:6). The dockets say nothing about justice. They document the flow of goods that Amos says was moving in one direction.
- The eighth-century houses at Tell el-Farah North, ancient Tirzahexcavated by Roland de Vaux between 1946 and 1960
De Vaux observed that the tenth-century houses at the site were much the same size as one another, while the eighth-century level shows a quarter of large well-built houses separated by a wall from a quarter of small poor ones. The observation is regularly cited in Amos commentary because it puts a floor plan under the charge. Whether one site can carry a claim about the whole kingdom is a fair question, and the honest statement is narrower: at Tirzah, in Amos's century, the gap between rich and poor is visible in the architecture.
The pages Amos opens on
Studies31
- The Jerusalem Council
- Justice and Righteousness
- The Day of the LORD
- Why God Is Not Finished With Israel
- The Remnant
- Worship
Show the next 6 titles
- The Prophetic Word Made Sure
- Jonah, the Study Guide
- Justice
- Amos and the Courts at the Gate
- To Act Justly, to Love Mercy, and to Walk Humbly
- Numbered Sayings: Three Things, Then Four
Show the next 6 titles
People and groups4
Words6
Sources for this page
The painting in the band is The Prophet Amos, Gustave Doré, 1866. Public domain. The movements, the chapter entries, the figures and the Context are read off the text of Amos. The works behind the readings under Where do readers disagree are Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible (1710); John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748 to 1763); John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament (1765); Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible (1832); Albert Barnes, Notes on the Old Testament, 1832 to 1869; Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset and David Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871); Julius Wellhausen, Prolegomena to the History of Israel (1878); Sigmund Mowinckel, Psalmenstudien II (1922); Gerhard von Rad, The Origin of the Concept of the Day of Yahweh, Journal of Semitic Studies 4 (1959); Yigael Yadin, Hazor: The Rediscovery of a Great Citadel of the Bible (1975); Hans Walter Wolff, Joel and Amos (1977); Shalom M. Paul, Amos (1991); Steven A. Austin, Gordon W. Franz and Eric G. Frost, Amos's Earthquake, International Geology Review 42 (2000); and Darrell L. Bock, Acts (2007). The later Christian reading of 8:9 names Bonaventure, Collations on the Hexaemeron. Every verse quoted on this page is the Berean Standard Bible, read from the store.