Amos
A herdsman and tender of sycamore figs from Tekoa in Judah who prophesied in the northern kingdom under Jeroboam II. He denounced the oppression of the poor and worship without justice, and announced Israel’s exile.
Amos came from Tekoa in Judah, where he kept flocks and tended sycamore figs, and he insisted that he was not a prophet by profession (Amos 1:1) (Amos 7:14–15). He preached in the northern kingdom in the days of Jeroboam II, and the priest of Bethel ordered him out (Amos 7:10–13).
His book charges Israel with selling the poor and rejects its festivals and offerings (Amos 2:6–8) (Amos 5:21–24). It reports five visions of judgment (Amos 7:1–9) (Amos 8:1–3) (Amos 9:1–4) and closes with a promise that the fallen tent of David will be raised again (Amos 9:11–15), which James quotes in Acts (Acts 15:13–18). See Amos and Hosea Prophesy to Israel.
In the timeline
- about 755 BC, estimated dateAmos and Hosea Prophesy to Israel
In the prosperous years of Jeroboam II, Amos, a herdsman from Judah, denounces injustice and worship without righteousness at Bethel. Hosea makes his own marriage a picture of Israel’s unfaithfulness and of a love that will not give it up.