[ [2]] The two parallel members prove, in opposition to Redslob and others, that the verb נבא here, as everywhere else, has reference to an ecstatic condition, to the speaking in the Spirit, although this is by no means limited to a revelation of the future. The closeness of the connection between prophesying, dreaming dreams, and seeing visions, is evident from Num. xii. 6, where visions and dreams appear as the two principal forms of revelation to the נביא.
[THE PROPHET AMOS.]
[GENERAL PRELIMINARY REMARKS.]
It will not be necessary to extend our preliminary remarks on the prophet Amos, since on the main point—viz., the circumstances under which he appeared as a prophet—the introduction to the prophecies of Hosea may be regarded as having been written for those of Amos also. For, according to the inscription, they belong to the same period at which Hosea's prophetic ministry began, viz., the latter part of the reign of Jeroboam II., and after Uzziah had ascended the throne in Judah.
The circumstances of the prophet we learn, generally, from the words in chap. i. 1: "Who was among the herdmen of Tekoah." If there existed no other statement than this, there might be truth in the remark made by many interpreters, that we cannot, from his having been a herdman, infer that he was poor and low. It is shown, however, by a statement in chap. vii. 14, that, by the "herdman," we are not to understand one who was also possessed of flocks, or, like David, the son of such, but a poor servant herdman. For, in that passage, the prophet replies to the command of the priest Amaziah to get himself out of the country, to which he did not belong, and to return to his native land: "I am no prophet, nor the son of a prophet, but I am a herdman; and such an one as plucketh sycamores. And the Lord took me from behind the flock, and the Lord said unto me. Go prophesy unto My people Israel." The fruit of the sycamores, called ἄτροφος and κακοστόμαχος by Dioscorides, served as food for only the poorest and meanest. Bochart (Hieroz. t. i. p. 407 [385] Rosenmüller) remarks: "It is the same as if he had said, that he was a man of the humblest condition, and born in poor circumstances, so that he scarcely maintained his life by scanty and frugal fare; that he had never thought of obtaining the prophetical office in Israel, until a higher power, viz., divine inspiration, impelled him to undertake it."[1] But this passage merits our attention in another point of view. In what sense is it that Amos here denies that he is a prophet? It is evidently in a very special sense that he does so. He obviously does not mean thereby to deny that he possessed the gift of prophecy, or held the prophetical office; for, otherwise, he would himself have furnished weapons to his enemy, to whom he wishes to prove his right. The following remarks will be found to contain the true answer.
It cannot be proved in any way, that the schools of the prophets, established by Samuel at a time when the circumstances of Judah and Israel were altogether similar, were continued in the kingdom of Judah. Every prophet there stands in an isolated position. The entire prophetic order and institute bears rather a sporadic character. But in the kingdom of Israel, where the prophetic order occupied a position altogether different from that which it held in the kingdom of Judah, inasmuch as, after the expulsion of the tribe of Levi, they had to watch over all the interests of religion, the schools of the prophets had a very important mission assigned to them. We must not by any means imagine that their constitution was such, that after a few years' training, the sons of the prophets attained to perfect independence. The greater number of them remained during all their lifetime in the position of sons. The schools of the prophets were a kind of monasteries. Even those who, in consequence of their peculiar circumstances, no longer remained there, but were scattered throughout the country, continued always under their authority. One needs only to read attentively the histories of Elijah and of Elisha, which afford us the fullest information regarding these institutions, to be speedily convinced of the soundness of the view which we have here presented. On the subject of the organization of the schools of the prophets in the kingdom of Israel, compare Dissertations on the Genuineness of the Pentateuch, i. p. 185. f.
But how can Amos adduce it as a proof of his divine mission, that he is neither a prophet, nor, in the sense explained, a prophet's son, i.e., that he was neither a superior nor an inferior member of the prophetic order? The answer is,—It was the result of that organization of the prophetic order, that the relation to the Lord was one which was more or less mediate. To those who would not acknowledge the immediate divine influence, some ground was thereby afforded for doing so. Their training, their principles, the form of their prophecies, all admitted of a natural explanation. It is true that the spirit which animated them baffled any such attempt; but that spirit was not so easily perceived. In the case of any one, then, who appeared as a prophet, without standing in that connection, and yet in the full possession of all prophetic gifts,—in demonstration of the spirit and of power, a natural explanation was far more difficult; especially if, like Amos, he was, by his outward situation, cut off from all human resources for education. But was Amos, for that reason, an uneducated man? This is a question which one may answer either in the affirmative or negative, according to what he understands by education. So much is certain, that he was in possession of the essential part of a true Israelitish education—viz., the knowledge of the law. The most intimate acquaintance with the Pentateuch everywhere manifests itself; compare in proof of this the Dissertations on the Genuineness of the Pentateuch, i. p. 136 ff. There are too many instances, down to most recent times, of living piety breaking, in this respect, through almost impenetrable barriers, to allow us to consider this as a strange thing, and to make it necessary for us to excogitate the various ways and means by which Amos may have received this education. It is only on the lower ground of the mere forms of language, that the rank of Amos not unfrequently appears. In all the higher relations he shows himself a type of the Apostles, who, although they were uneducated fishermen of Galilee, exhibit the most distinguishing proofs of true education.
Amos belonged to that circle of prophets who received a commission to prophesy the ruin which was impending over the Covenant-people, before any human probability existed for it. Baur, on Amos, S. 60, is of opinion that "the definiteness with which he prophesies the destruction of the kingdom of Jeroboam, although its power was at that time still flourishing, leads us to expect that he must have had distinct indications of its speedy decay." In a certain sense we may assent to this opinion. The prophet himself continually points to such indications. These indications are the sins of the people. But if Baur endeavours to put political indications in the stead of these moral ones; if he be of opinion that the Assyrians must, at that time, have stood in a threatening attitude in the background, we must give to his opinion a decided opposition. We can, in such an assertion, see only an effect of that naturalistic mode of viewing things, which would limit the horizon of the prophets to that of their own times.[2] Not the slightest allusion to the Assyrians occurs. The supposition that Calneh or Ktesiphon, in chap. vi. 2, appears as having already fallen (through the Assyrians), rests upon an incorrect interpretation, just as does the assertion that Hamath, in the same passage, is supposed to be conquered; concerning the latter point, compare Thenius on 2 Kings xiv. 28. In the announcement of the carrying away into captivity beyond Damascus, made in chap. v. 27, there appears nothing more than the knowledge, that the catastrophe will not be brought about by that heathen power which had hitherto brought ruin upon the kingdom of Israel But, everywhere, we may see that the prophet—whom we have no reason to think an especially ingenious politician—appeared at a time when no one expected any danger. Amos prophesied at a time when the morning-dawn had risen upon Israel, iv. 13, v. 8; "in the beginning of the shooting up of the grass, and behold the grass was standing, after the King (Jehovah) had caused to be mown," vii. 1; at a time when the prosperity of the kingdom of the ten tribes was again budding forth. In chap. viii. 9, the Lord threatens that He will cause the sun to go down at noon, and bring darkness over the land in the day of light. In chap. vi. 4-6, the prevailing careless luxury and joy are graphically described. Chap. v. 18 implies that the people mocked at the threatening of the coming of the day of the Lord, the coming of which could, therefore, not have been indicated by any human probability. In chap. vi. 1, the prophet gives utterance to an exclamation of woe over them that are secure in Zion, and that trust in the mountain of Samaria. In chap. vi. 13, he opposes the delusion of those "who rejoice in a thing of nought, who say, Have we not taken to us horns by our own strength?" The people in the kingdom of the ten tribes must accordingly have imagined that they were living in the golden age of the fulfilment of Deut. xxx. 17, and must not have thought for a moment that the axe was already laid to the root of the tree.
But we are not at liberty to seek the fulfilment of the prophecy of Amos, only in the visitation by the Assyrians. That which happens to the people of the ten tribes is, to the prophet, only a part of a general visitation, which comes, not only upon all the neighbouring nations, but upon Judah also, and which brings utter ruin upon the latter, chap. ii. 4, 5, destroying the temple at Jerusalem, and driving the house of David from the throne, ix. 1, 11. According to prophecy and history, however, this catastrophe came upon Judah, not by Asshur, but, in the first instance, by Babylon.
The prophecy possesses a comprehensive character, such as we should be led to expect from the close connection of Amos with Joel. It comprehends everything which Judah and Israel, along with the neighbouring people, had to suffer from the rising heathen powers; compare vi. 14, v. 24, according to which, judgment shall roll down as waters, and righteousness as a continual stream.[3]