Understanding The Book Of Amos

An explosion of scholarly treatments of the book of Amos leaves one wondering: What do we know for sure about the prophet, his time, and his writing? Gerhard Hasel synthesizes the latest rethinking of the prophet’s vocation, background, purpose, themes, and motifs to explain why Amos is “a microcosm for the study of all the prophetic writings of the Old Testament.” The most extensive bibliography on Amos ever compiled enables further study.

This book provides a detailed exploration of the important elements of the theology underlying the book of Amos. It considers Amos as a figure representing social justice, surveys major developments in the critical assessment of the book, and examines the history of the book's reception.

What, according to the Book of Amos, does it mean to be the people of God? In this book, Andrew M. King employs a Social Identity Approach (SIA), comprised of Social Identity Theory and Self-Categorization Theory, to explore the relationship between identity formation and the biblical text. Specifically, he examines the identity-forming strategies embedded in the Book of Amos. King begins by outlining the Social Identity Approach, especially its use in Hebrew Bible scholarship. Turning to the Book of Amos, he analyzes group dynamics and intergroup conflicts (national and interpersonal), as well as Amos's presentation of Israel's history and Israel's future. King provides extensive insight into the rhetorical strategies in Amos that shape the trans-temporal audience's sense of self. To live as the people of God, according to Amos, readers and hearers must adopt norms defined by a proper relationship to God that results in the proper treatment of others.

In this volume, Jeremias suggests that the book of Amos was produced through various stages over time. While he does write from a critical perspective, his creativity offers a sensitivity to literary issues within the text that is often missing from critical work. The Old Testament Library provides fresh and authoritative treatments of important aspects of Old Testament study through commentaries and general surveys. The contributors are scholars of international standing.

In this commentary on the book of Amos, Daniel Carroll combines a detailed reading of the Hebrew text with attention to its historical background and current relevance. What makes this volume unique is its special attention to Amos’s literary features and what they reveal about the book’s theology and composition. Instead of reconstructing a hypothetical redactional history, this commentary offers a close reading of the canonical form against the backdrop of the eighth century BCE.

DigiCat Publishing presents to you this special edition of "The Hound of Heaven" by Francis Thompson. DigiCat Publishing considers every written word to be a legacy of humankind. Every DigiCat book has been carefully reproduced for republishing in a new modern format. The books are available in print, as well as ebooks. DigiCat hopes you will treat this work with the acknowledgment and passion it deserves as a classic of world literature.