Amos 1 - Introduction

Amos 1:3 to Amos 2:5. The Sins of Israel's Neighbours. According to the present arrangement the prophet begins by arraigning Israel's neighbours. This arrangement may not be original. Yet it is quite likely that he deliberately chose to make a denunciation of the sins of Israel's neighbours lead up gradually to a sudden and even sterner denunciation of the sins of Israel itself. Whether his original denunciations included those of Philistia, Tyre, Edom, and Judah is another question. The present series is confused. A more natural order would be: Aram, Ammon, Moab, Israel (see below). The sins of such peoples are illustrated by certain typical examples.