Preface

Of all the Minor Prophets, Amos has been of the most interest in modern times. This is partly because he was evidently the earliest of the “classical prophets” of Israel, but also because his message of divine judgment on social wrongdoing has resonated with many modern readers. My own conviction is that Amos should be seen as Israel’s first theologian – the first to scrutinize critically the religious traditions of his people. Short as his book is, it fully justifies a place in the present series.

I have been interested in Amos since my student days. My doctoral thesis in 1974, entitled “The Relation of God to Ethics in the Eighth-Century Prophets,” devoted considerable space to Amos, and I subsequently published a revised version of one chapter as Amos’s Oracles against the Nations. I have often taught the book of Amos for students at Oxford, either singly or as part of general courses on the prophets. Some of the ideas in this book were presented in outline in a paper to the Oxford Old Testament Seminar that was later published.

I am indebted to the h eology Faculty Board in Oxford, which granted me a sabbatical term to work on this book, and to the staf of the h eology Faculty Library for a lot of help with bibliographical matters.