Amos 1:1

Amos 1:1. The Heading

The words of The same title as Jeremiah 1:1; Ecclesiastes 1:1; Proverbs 30:1; Proverbs 31:1; Nehemiah 1:1.

among i.e. one of, of:see (in the Heb.) 1 Kings 2:7; Proverbs 22:26.

herdmen naḳad-keepers. The word (nôḳçd) is a peculiar one: its meaning appears from the Arabic. In Arabic naḳaddenotes a species of sheep, found especially in the province of Baḥreyn, small and stunted in growth, with short legs and ill-formed faces (whence an Arabic proverb, "Viler than a naḳad"), but esteemed on account of their choice wool (see Bochart, Hierozoiconii. xliv., p. 442 f., who cites the saying, "The best of wool is that of the naḳad"; or Lane's Arabic Lexicon, p. 2837). In Arabic naḳḳâdis a shepherd who tends sheep of this kind; and the Heb. nôḳçdis a word of similar import. It may be inferred from this passage that there was a settlement of such naḳad-keepers at Tekoa: the occupation was perhaps hereditary in particular families (comp. the families following hereditary trades in 1 Chronicles 2:55; 1 Chronicles 4:21; 1 Chronicles 4:23). The word occurs once besides, of Mesha, king of Moab, 2 Kings 3:4.

Tekoa now Teḳû-a, on the high ground of Judah, 12 miles S. of Jerusalem, and 6 miles S. of Bethlehem, from which, as Jerome (Comm. on Jeremiah 6:1) remarks, it is visible ("Thecuam quoque viculum in monte situm … quotidie oculis cernimus"). The ruins dating principally from early Christian times lie on an elevated hill, not steep, but broad on the top, and cover some four or five acres. South, west, and north the view is blocked by limestone hills; but on the east the prospect is open, though desolate; the land slopes away for nearly 18 miles to the Dead Sea, lying some 4,000 feet beneath, dropping first "by broken rocks to slopes spotted with bushes of -retem," the broom of the desert, and patches of poor wheat," then to "a maze of low hills and shallow dales," clad with a thin covering of verdure, the Wildernessor Pasture-land of Tekoa(2 Chronicles 20:22; 1Ma 9:33), afterwards to a "chaos of hills," with steep and rugged sides, leading down rapidly to the shore of the Dead Sea (G. A. Smith, The Book of the Twelve Prophets, p. 74 f.). The northern half of this sea is visible from Tekoa, the level mountains of Moab forming the horizon beyond. Jerome (Pref. to Amos) speaks of Tekoa as abounding in shepherds with their flocks, the soil being too dry and sandy to be cultivated for grain. It was the home of the -wise woman," whom Joab employed to intercede with David on Absalom's behalf (2 Samuel 14:2; 2 Samuel 14:4; 2 Samuel 14:9).

saw beheld: not the ordinary Hebrew word for seeing(râ"âh), but ḥâzâh, a word which is sometimes merely a poetical synonym of râ"âh(e.g. Psalms 58:8; Psalms 58:10), but elsewhere is applied in particular to beholding, or gazing in prophetic vision: Numbers 24:4; Numbers 24:16; Isaiah 30:10 "which say to the seers (rô"îm), See not; and to the gazers(ḥôzîm). Gazenot for us right things, speak unto us smooth things, gazedeceits" (i.e. illusory visions of peace and security), Ezekiel 12:27; of false prophecies, Ezekiel 13:6-9; Ezekiel 13:16; Ezekiel 13:23; Ezekiel 21:29; Ezekiel 22:28; Lamentations 2:14; Zechariah 10:2; and, as here, in the titles of prophecies, Isaiah 1:1; Isaiah 2:1; Isaiah 13:1; Micah 1:1; Habakkuk 1:1). The vision, especially in the earlier history of prophecy, appears often as a form of prophetic intuition: comp. ḥôzeh, "gazer," Amos 7:12 (see note): ḥâzôn, vision(1 Samuel 3:1; Isaiah 1:1, &c.; Ezekiel 7:26; Lamentations 2:9), more rarely ḥizzâyôn(2 Samuel 7:17; Isaiah 22:1; Isaiah 22:5), ḥâzûth(Isaiah 21:2; Isaiah 29:11), or maḥǎzeh(Genesis 15:1; Numbers 24:4; Numbers 24:16). An interesting passage, illustrating the early frequency of the vision, is Hosea 12:10: comp. also Amos 7-9. As the vision was once the predominant form of prophetic intuition, ḥâzônbecomes a general designation of "prophecy," or "revelation"; and ḥâzâh, "to behold," is even applied inexactly to wordor utterance(Isaiah 2:1; Isaiah 13:1; Micah 1:1; Habakkuk 1:1), as here to words. See further on Amos 7:1.

concerning Israel i.e. the Northern kingdom, which Amos expressly visited (Amos 7:15), and to which his prophecies are almost entirely addressed, Judah being referred to only incidentally (Amos 2:4 f., Amos 6:1; Amos 7:12), or implicitly (Amos 3:1, -the wholefamily"; perhaps Amos 9:8-9), and in the final promise of future restoration (Amos 9:11-12).

in the days of Uzziah king of Judah, &c. On the date implied in these words see the Introduction, p. 98.

two year before the earthquake Earthquakes are not unfrequent in Palestine, particularly on its Eastern and Western borders (see on Amos 4:11). The earthquake referred to here must have been one of exceptional severity: for not only is Amos" prophecy dated by it, but the terror occasioned by it is alluded to long afterwards, Zechariah 14:5, "yea, ye shall flee viz. through the rent made in the Mount of Olives, Amos 1:4 like as ye fled from before the earthquake in the days of Uzziah, king of Judah."