Amos 1

Amos lives in Tekoa, about 10 miles (16 km) south of Jerusalem, in the southern Jewish nation of Judah. He delivers his message to the northern Jewish nation of Israel, which split from Judah after King Solomon died two centuries earlier. Many scholars speculate Amos was relatively rich. For one, he wasn’t just a sheep breeder. He bred cattle, too, and he grew figs (7:14). For another, he delivers his message with the skill and words of an educated man.

This may have been the same earthquake in the days of King Uzziah that’s reported in Zechariah 14:5. Uzziah reigned as coregent with his aging father Amaziah from 791-767 BC, and as full king from 767-740 BC. Amos may have received all of his messages in one year. But what year? It’s unknown when the earthquake took place. One guess is 760 BC. But the quake could have happened anywhere within a stretch of about 25 years: from 767-742 BC. The earliest possible date is 767 BC, the year Uzziah became king. The latest date is about 742 BC, two years before the end of Uzziah’s reign.

Amos’ message for Israel seems well timed. Jeroboam II was a king who became infamous for his greed and corruption. He reigned from about 782-753 BC, though some chronologies place the beginning of his reign slightly earlier. Israel fell to Assyria in 722 BC, erased from the political map. Many Israelite survivors were exiled into what is now Iraq. They became known as the Lost Tribes of Israel. The southern Jewish nation of Judah survived for another 136 years, until Babylon erased it from the map in 586 BC.

“Zion” and Mount Zion are endearing names for Jerusalem and the ridge of hills on which Jerusalem rests.

Gilead was a territory east of the Jordan River, in what is now northern Jordan, near the border with Syria. Some of the Israelites in the time of Moses and Joshua chose to settle there because it had good pasture for the livestock (Numbers 32:1). Two and a half tribes settled there: Gad, Reuben, and half of Manasseh.

Farmers dragged heavy objects over cut grain to tear the kernels loose from the stalks. Isaiah tells Israel that God will make them into “a walloping sled of threshing timber, heavy and bristling in sharp new blades. You’ll tear mountains apart” (41:15). Amos says Syria is now doing that to the Israelites in Gilead.

“Hazael” and “Ben-hadad” meant the same thing: Syria’s king was going to die. Hazael assassinated his way to the throne of Aram (Syria), the city-state centered in Damascus. He killed king Ben-hadad (2 Kings 8:7-15). But Ben-hadad was a royal name, which carried influence. Hazael’s son and successor recognized that, so he adopted the name as a cloak of legitimacy.

Some manuscripts say God will kill the citizens.

Some scholars say Amos may have used the place names symbolically, since Aven in Hebrew sounds like “evil” and Beth-eden means “pleasant home.” Other scholars say Amos was simply reporting actual places that have been lost in history.

The text says only “Gaza,” which is just one Philistine city. But the writer is reporting God’s judgment on all Philistines because he mentions the other key Philistine cities as well: Ashdod, Ashkelon, Ekron.

Edom was Judah’s neighbor to the east, located south of the Dead Sea in what is now Jordan and parts of Israel.

People of Edom descended from Esau, oldest brother of Jacob. Israelites in Israel and Judah—ancestors of today’s Jewish people—descended from Jacob.

Teman and Bozrah were major cities in Edom, in what is now the country of Jordan. Teman is named after Esau’s grandson. Bozrah means “sheep pen.” The area was a place for grazing livestock. Ancient ruins lie in the modern town of Busaira.

Rabbah was capital of Ammon. It’s now within the city limits of Amman, capital of Jordan.