Amos 1: Introduction

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Amos 1: Introduction (this page)
Amos 5: The yoke of compulsion
Amos 7:1-17 The hard truth about a rock hard plumb line

Amos 1:1 The words of Amos, who was among the herdmen of Tekoa, which he saw concerning Israel in the days of Uzziah king of Judah, and in the days of Jeroboam the son of Joash king of Israel, two years before the earthquake. [kjv]

λογοι αμως οι εγενοντο εν νακκαριμ εκ θεκουε ους ειδεν υπερ ιερουσαλημ εν ημεραις οζιου βασιλεως ιουδα και εν ημεραις ιεροβοαμ του ιωας βασιλεως ισραηλ προ δυο ετων του σεισμου [lxx]

Amos is one of twelve minor prophets. Amos wrote about 750 BC, right before Hosea and Isaiah, during the reigns of Kings Jeroboam II of Israel and Uzziah of Judah.

Amos came as a sheep herder and sycamore fig farmer and not from the religious elite of the time.
Amos preached against the disparity between the rich and poor so his themes of justice are especially popular with pastors with a social and/or political agenda in the current world environment.

Israel split into the northern and southern kingdoms after Solomon, about 930 BC.

Northern Kingdom: Israel (10 tribes) sometimes called Ephraim, conquered by Assyria.
Southern Kingdom: Judah (2 tribes - Judah and Benjamin), conquered by Babylon.

One can contrast these two kingdoms with those that dwell on the earth and those whose mind is on things above in heaven.
This is not the same as the "Two kingdoms doctrine".

Details are left as a future topic.

Amos 1:1

All

KJV: The words of Amos, who was among the herdmen of Tekoa, which he saw concerning Israel in the days of Uzziah king of Judah, and in the days of Jeroboam the son of Joash king of Israel, two years before the earthquake.

Hebrew: דברי עמוס אשר היה בנקדים מתקוע אשר חזה על ישראל בימי עזיה מלך יהודה ובימי ירבעם בן יואש מלך ישראל שנתים לפני הרעש׃

Greek: λογοι αμως οι εγενοντο εν νακκαριμ εκ θεκουε ους ειδεν υπερ ιερουσαλημ εν ημεραις οζιου βασιλεως ιουδα και εν ημεραις ιεροβοαμ του ιωας βασιλεως ισραηλ προ δυο ετων του σεισμου

Brenton: The words of Amos which came to him in Accarim out of Thecue, which he saw concerning Jerusalem, in the days of Ozias king of Juda, and in the days of Jeroboam the son of Joas king of Israel, two years before the earthquake.

The "minor prophets" group of books in the OT (Old Testament) are prophets who did not write that much. These books are ordered not by chronological order but by the approximate size of their writings. That order varies somewhat between the Bibles of Protestant, Catholic and Eastern Orthodox churches.

Minor prophets
29. Hosea	32. Obadiah	35. Nahum	38. Haggai
30. Joel	33. Jonah	36. Habakkuk	39. Zechariah
31. Amos	34. Micah	37. Zephaniah	40. Malachi

These minor prophets are sometimes called "the twelve", in contrast to the "four" major prophets.

Major Prophets
24. Isaiah	26. Lamentations	28. Daniel
25. Jeremiah	27. Ezekiel

Note that Lamentations is the short form of the longer "Lamentations of Jeremiah".

More: Minor prophets

There are 16 prophets at the end of the OT (Protestant Bible). The first 4 are called major prophets and the last 12 are called minor prophets.

Note that Lamentations is the short form of the longer "Lamentations of Jeremiah".
Saint Augustine (Early Christian father) appears to be the first person to make this division.

More: Minor prophets

More: Augustine of Hippo