Restoration (9:11–15)
David’s fallen tent (9:11). This unique expression may well refer to the united monarchy, which “fell” into schism on the death of Solomon.106 God promises to restore it “as it used to be”; the same Hebrew phrase is used by Amos’s contemporary Micah (Mic. 7:14) in similar reference to past prosperity.
Edom and all the nations (9:12). Control over bitter rival Edom (see comments on 1:11–12) and other neighbors represents a return to the political unity and hegemony of David’s time (2 Sam. 8).
They will plant vineyards … I will plant Israel (9:14–15). The obvious wordplay reinforces this wonderful concluding oracle of agricultural replenishment and national renewal. The exile is over; the new and secure order has come.
Vineyard
Jack Hazut
Bibliography
Commentaries
Andersen, F. I., and D. N. Freedman. AB 24A. Amos. New York: Doubleday, 1989. A very detailed technical work.
Coggins, R. J. NCBC. Joel and Amos. Sheffield: Sheffield Academic Press, 2000. A recent brief critical commentary in which the historical prophet remains elusive.
Hubbard, D. A. TOTC. Amos. Leicester: Inter-Varsity Press, 1989. The best brief evangelical commentary, summarizing well all the key issues.
Mays, J. L. OTL. Amos. London: SCM, 1969. A good older commentary, well-written and theologically sensitive.
Paul, S. M. Hermeneia. Amos. Minneapolis: Fortress, 1991. An excellent, thorough, and detailed work by a conservative Jewish scholar.
Stuart, D. WBC 31. Hosea–Jonah. Waco, Tex.: Word, 1987. A good, more detailed evangelical commentary.
Wolff, H. W. Hermeneia. Joel and Amos. Philadelphia: Fortress, 1977. An older detailed, critical work.
Important Studies
Auld, A. Graeme. OTG. Amos. Sheffield: Sheffield Academic Press, 1986. A good introduction to recent scholarship, by a more skeptical scholar.
Carroll R., M. Daniel. Amos–The Prophet and His Oracles: Research on the Book of Amos. Louisville: Westminster John Knox, 2002. A thorough discussion and listing of academic work to date, providing an invaluable resource for further study.
King, Philip J. Amos, Hosea, Micah: An Archaeological Commentary. Philadelphia: Westminster, 1988. Useful archaeological insights, though this whole area is constantly being updated.
Chapter Notes
Main Text Notes
1. Cf. among the prophets Obadiah and Malachi; perhaps also Habakkuk and Haggai, who are simply “the prophet.”
2. See S. Paul, Amos (Hermeneia; Minneapolis: Fortress, 1991), 33–34 nn. 9–10.
3. Some scholars suggest that it occurs in the broken lines 30–31 of the Moabite Stone (translated in ANET, 320–21; COS, 2:138–39); see Paul, Amos, 34 n. 16.
4. The NIV’s translation of this also as “shepherd” masks its different emphasis.
5. So D. N. Freedman and A. Welch, “Amos’s Earthquake and Israelite Prophecy,” in Scripture and Other Artifacts, ed. M. D. Coogan, et al. (Louisville: Westminster John Knox, 1994), 188. On Gezer, see further W. G. Dever, “A Case-Study in Biblical Archaeology: The Earthquake of ca. 760 B.C.E.,” Eretz-Israel 23 (1992): 27*–35*.
6. So G. A. Turner, “Earthquake,” ISBE, 2:4. He also notes earthquakes in different locations in A.D. 130, 365, 498, 502, 551, 746, 1016, 1033, 1546, 1834, 1837, 1927.
7. Freedman and Welch, “Amos’s Earthquake,” explore the issue of prophetic validation and its timeframe.
8. All dates follow NBD, ignoring adjacent years (e.g., giving 791 for NBD’s 791/90).
9. W. W. Hallo and J. J. A. van Dijk, The Exaltation of Inanna (New Haven and London: Yale Univ. Press, 1968), 14–15, line 10.
10. Text in COS, 2:162.
11. Kurkh Stele, ANET, 278–79. It notes that Ahab had 2,000 chariots and 10,000 infantry.
12. Elsewhere Israel is itself pictured as a threshing sledge with sharp teeth (Isa. 41:15), but for flattening mountains and hills, i.e., obstacles in the way of its return from exile (cf. 40:4), not people.
13. Calah Summary Inscription 2, line 12; H. Tadmor, The Inscriptions of Tiglath-Pileser III (Jerusalem: The Israel Academy of Sciences and Humanities, 1994), 130–31.
14. Many propose Baalbek (Baal valley), just north of Damascus; Paul, Amos, 53, suggests instead the Beqaʿa Valley in Lebanon.
15. Gath had close links with Judah (cf. 1 Sam. 21:10–11; 2 Sam. 15:18–19) and was sometimes included in Judean territory (2 Chron. 11:8), but this is a less likely explanation for its omission here.
16. Ebla text, Egyptian Execration text, Hittite text, four Amarna letters, Egyptian town lists, Ugaritic texts (ABD, 6:687).
17. Ezek. 26:7–14 predicts its capture by Nebuchadnezzar, while 29:18 acknowledges that this did not happen. See T. Renz, “Proclaiming the Future: History and Theology in the Prophecies against Tyre,” TynBul 51/1 (2000): 17–58.
18. “Brother” was a covenant term meaning “treaty partner” (cf. 1 Kings 9:13). But here it probably also means “kin.”
19. 2 Sam. 12:31//1 Chron. 20:3 may indicate cruel punishment, but most scholars interpret as NIV.
20. See W. G. Lambert, “A Neo-Babylonian Tammuz Lament,” JAOS 113 (1983): 211–15; M. Cogan, “ ‘Ripping Open Pregnant Women’ in Light of an Assyrian Analogue,” JAOS 113 (1983): 755–57. Cogan notes the rarity of this in extant records of Assyria, supposedly the cruelest ancient Near Eastern people.
21. Cited from Paul, Amos, 70.
22. See P. S. Johnston, “Figuring Out Figurines,” TynBul 54/2 (2003): 81–104.
23. For the last, see Paul, Amos, 78–79.
24. The definition and extent of cultic prostitution has been much debated recently. See, e.g., K. van der Toorn, “Cultic Prostitution,” ABD, 5:10–13; J. Tigay, Deuteronomy (JPS Torah Commentary; Philadelphia: JPS, 1996), Excursus 22, 480–81.
25. Assyrian and Babylonian texts use the cognate term amurru for Syro-Palestine generally.
26. See Num. 13:28, 33; Deut. 1:28; 9:2. Also their predecessors the Emim and Rephaim: Deut. 2:10, 21.
27. E.g., BDB, s.v. 
.
28. ANET, 477d.
29. N. Yoffee, “The Economy of Ancient Western Asia,” CANE, 3:1395–96.
30. Tractate Nazir, 1:1–7; H. Danby, The Mishnah (Oxford: Oxford Univ. Press, 1933), 281.
33. The LXX has “Assyria” rather than “Ashdod” in v. 9. Some think this conveys the original Hebrew, since elsewhere Egypt is often paired with Assyria, but never with Ashdod. However, there is no other textual evidence for Assyria there, and it is more likely that “Ashdod” was changed to read “Assyria” than vice-versa.
34. ANET, 281b. These two events allow us to correlate Israelite chronology with Assyrian, while the latter can then be correlated with modern chronology (years B.C./A.D.) because of their precise astronomical records.
35. However, there were several western campaigns during the reign of Adad-nirari III, and tribute was paid in ca. 796 B.C. by Jehoash of Israel (cf. 2 Kings 13:10–13); see A. Millard, “Adad-nirari III, Aram and Arpad,” PEQ 105 (1973): 161–64.
36. Paul, Amos, 119, cites Sumerian and Hittite laws plus Hammurabi’s code.
37. Cf. 1 Kings 13:1–5; Hos. 4:15 (see NIV note); 10:5, 15; Amos 4:4; 5:5–6; 7:10–13. It was eventually destroyed by Josiah (2 Kings 23:15).
38. For a recent full and well-illustrated treatment, see Z. Zevit, The Religions of Ancient Israel, ch. 3. Note also Y. Elitzur, D. Nir-Zevi, “Four-Horned Altar Discovered in Judean Hills,” BAR 30/3 (May/June 2004): 34–39.
39. Cf. H. A. Liebowitz, “Ivory,” ABD, 3:586–87; J. D. Purvis, “Samaria (City),” ABD, 5:916; N. Avigad, “Samaria,” EAEHL, 4:1039 (many clear illustrations); NEAEHL, 4:1305. Those in high relief are probably from Ahab’s time, those in low relief with primarily Egyptian motifs from the eighth century.
40. Cf. “choice rams of Bashan,” Deut. 32:14; “strong bulls of Bashan,” Ps. 22:12; “fattened animals from Bashan,” Ezek. 39:18; cf. also Jer. 50:19; Mic. 7:14.
41. Cf. NEB, REB: “shields … fish baskets”; Paul, Amos, “baskets … pots.”
42. E.g., Esarhaddon holding Tirhakah of Egypt and Baʾalu of Tyre via a ring through the nose (Zinjirli stela, ANEP, fig. 447); and Assurbanipal’s treatment of Uateʾ, king of Arabia: “I pierced his cheeks … I put the ring to his jaw” (ANET, 300b). Isaiah predicts the same fate for Sennacherib (2 Kings 19:28//Isa. 37:29).
43. Cf. also 7:1 and the graphic descriptions in Joel 1–2. See further L. C. Allen, The Books of Joel, Obadiah, Jonah and Micah (NICOT; Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1976), 49–51; E. Firmage, “Zoology (Fauna),” ABD, 6:1150.
44. For Akkadian terminology and texts, see CAD, E:257–58.
46. E. H. Gierlowski-Kordesch reviews one such claim as “junk science” in BAR 24/5 (Sept./Oct. 1998): 60–61.
47. Lit., “Yahweh God of hosts.” For the NIV’s translation of the last term, see the sidebar on “Sovereign Lord” at 3:7.
48. Gilgamesh 8.i-ii; Dalley, Myths from Mesopotamia, 91–93; see the shorter version in ANET, 87–88.
49. For summary and comparison with Lamentations, see P. R. House in D. Garrett and P. R. House, Song of Songs/Lamentations (WBC 23B; Nashville: Nelson, 2004), 310–14.
50. Isa. 29:1–4 also laments the anticipated underworld descent of Jerusalem (“Ariel”).
51. Cf. the title btlt for Anat, portrayed in the Ugaritic Baal myths as vigorous and sexually active (for contrary view, see P. L. Day, “Anat,” DDD2, 36–43).
52. See further J. W. Walton, “
,” NIDOTTE, 1:781–84.
53. Over fifty times in the OT, e.g., Isa. 1:8; Lam. 1:6. See A. Fitzgerald, “BTWLT and BT as Titles for Capital Cities,” CBQ 37 (1975): 167–83, who suggests a Canaanite origin; or succinctly W. F. Stinespring, “Zion, Daughter of,” IDBSup, 985.
54. So excavator Y. Aharoni. For convenient summary, see D. W. Manor, “Beer-Sheba,” ABD, 1:634–35. The reconstructed altar is now in the Israel Museum, Jerusalem, and a replica is displayed at the site itself.
55. The ancient versions show considerable variation in their identification of these stars.
56. See, e.g., Hoerth et al., ed., Peoples of the Old Testament World, 71, 103; W. Horowitz, Mesopotamian Cosmic Geography (Winona Lake, Ind.: Eisenbrauns, 1998). Note that the Magi of Matt. 2:1 came “from the east.”
57. Cf. O. Keel and C. Uehlinger, Gods, Goddesses, and Images of God (Minneapolis: Fortress, 1998), figs. 282c (Megiddo) and 286–87 (Shechem).
58. Quoted by Paul, Amos, 173 n. 139.
59. See M. Daniel Carroll R., Amos–The Prophet and His Oracles (Louisville: Westminster John Knox, 2002), 126–27, for relevant studies.
60. See ZIBBCOT, vol. 5, on the Old Testament wisdom books (see below).
61. For fuller discussion and references, see P. S. Johnston, Shades of Sheol: Death and the Afterlife in the Old Testament (Downers Grove, Ill.: InterVarsity Press, and Leicester: Apollos, 2002), 48, 50; S. M. Olyan, Biblical Mourning: Ritual and Social Dimensions (Oxford: Oxford Univ. Press, 2004). For several ancient Near Eastern texts, see X. H. T. Pham, Mourning in the Ancient Near East and the Hebrew Bible (JSOTSup 302; Sheffield: Sheffield Academic Press, 1999).
62. So J. S. Cooper, The Curse of Agade (Baltimore: Johns Hopkins Univ. Press, 1983), 58–61. The Ekur was Enlil’s great temple.
63. For warfare in Israel, see G. von Rad, Holy War in Ancient Israel (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1991); S. Niditch, War in the Hebrew Bible (Oxford: Oxford Univ. Press, 1993); C. S. Cowles et al., Show Them No Mercy: 4 Views on God and Canaanite Genocide (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2003).
64. Gen. 29:31, 33 (NIV’s “not loved” is literally “hated”); Luke 14:26.
65. Cf. a bull image paraded at Mari; ANEP, fig. 305.
66. The Hebrew terms sikkût and kiyyûn have the same vowels as siqqûṣ (“shame”) and were probably corrupted on purpose by later scribes to scorn these foreign deities. Similarly Ish-Baal (“man of Baal,” 1 Chron. 8:33) was apparently corrupted to Ish-Bosheth (“man of shame,” 2 Sam. 2:8).
67. Many sources given in Paul, Amos, 195 nn. 72–79. Also R. R. Stieglitz, “Ebla and the Gods of Canaan,” in Eblaitica: Essays on the Ebla Archives and Eblaite Language, ed. C. H. Gordon and G. A. Rendsburg (Winona Lake, Ind.: Eisenbrauns, 1990), 2:86.
68. Copies had previously been found in an old synagogue storeroom (geniza) in Cairo, and were published by S. Schechter in 1910.
69. CD 7.15, translated by G. Vermes, The Dead Sea Scrolls in English, 4th ed. (London: Penguin, 1995), 103.
70. It is called “Great Hamath” only here, though “great” and “small” were sometimes added to ancient city names; cf. Josh. 11:8; 19:28 (Great Sidon); Ugaritic text KTU 1.14.iii.108–9 (Great Udum); and others, Paul, Amos, 302 n. 20.
71. Respectively CAD, E: 315–16; ANET, 288b.
72. See CAD, E: eršu, 314–18.
73. Cf. also the idyllic picture of “each man under his own vine” (1 Kings 4:25; Mic. 4:4) and the image of Israel as God’s vine (Ps. 80:8; cf. Isa. 5:1–7).
74. See, e.g., ISBE, 4:1071 (Egypt).
75. See the inscribed bronze bowl from fourth-century Phoenicia in N. Avigad and J. Greenfield, “A Bronze phialē with a Phoenician Dedicatory Inscription,” IEJ 32 (1982): 118–28.
76. See further Paul, Amos, 208–9.
78. Here the first vowel of the construct form mirzaḥ is unusual, but it is generally considered to be a variant.
79. See Johnston, Shades of Sheol, 181–87; T. J. Lewis, Cults of the Dead in Ancient Israel and Ugarit (Atlanta: Scholars Press, 1989), 80–94; and J. L. McLaughlin, The marzēah in the Prophetic Literature (VTSup 86; Leiden: Brill, 2001) for surveys of occurrences in Ebla, Ugarit, Transjordan, Elephantine, Transjordan, Nabatea, Palmyra, and later Jewish tradition, and for arguments that its funerary association is only occasional.
80. The Hebrew reads lit.: “his relative and his mesārēp.” The latter term is unique here and is usually emended (as in NIV) to give “his burner.” But other translations are proposed, such as another word for relative or “spice-burner.” See further Johnston, Shades of Sheol, 56–57.
81. Note the fire of judgment that similarly reaches Sheol in Deut. 32:22. On tehôm, cf. Johnston, Shades of Sheol, 119–21.
82. See Paul, Amos, 233–35.
83. Many Mesopotamian inscriptions record royal sponsorship of temple building. For convenient summary, see V. A. Hurowitz, I Have Built You an Exalted House (JSOTSup 115; Sheffield: Sheffield Academic Press, 1992), chs. 1–3.
84. Shortly after Amos’s ministry, but unconnected to it, Ahaz closed this entrance as a sign of submission to the Assyrian king (2 Kings 16:18).
85. Cf. esp. Isa. 6; Jer. 1; Ezek. 1.
86. Cited with reference in Paul, Amos, 250.
87. Prophecy of “the end” occurs elsewhere, notably in multiple repetition in Ezek. 7:2–3.
88. Cf. similar disjointedness in the staccato phrases of Ezek. 7:2–12, seen more easily in NRSV.
89. See “The Tradition of Seven Lean Years in Egypt,” in ANET, 31–32, and introduction by J. A. Wilson.
90. Cf. Isa. 8:7–8 (Assyria rising like the Euphrates); Jer. 46:7–8 (Egypt like the Nile).
91. See E. Leichty, “Esarhaddon, King of Assyria,” CANE, 1:953–54. A millennium earlier the king of Isin similarly enthroned a gardener, but then died, leaving the gardener as king!
92. The same stem occurs in Ugaritic meaning “power, dominion,” e.g., KTU 1.2.iv.10, 13; 1.4.vii.44; CML, 43–44, 65.
93. ANET, 285c.
94. El-Amarna letter 264.15–19; cf. W. L. Moran, The Amarna Letters (Baltimore: John Hopkins Univ. Press, 1992), 313.
95. Following R. L. Harris in several articles, most recently, “Why Hebrew Sheʾol Was Translated ‘Grave,’ ” in K. L. Barker, ed., The NIV: The Making of a Contemporary Translation (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1986), 75–92.
96. For detailed study, see Johnston, Shades of Sheol, ch. 3, with response to Harris on p. 74.
97. Cf. also the NIV’s translation of še ʾôl as “realm of death” in Deut. 32:22.
98. The same image is used eschatologically in Isa. 27:1.
99. See illustrations in O. Keel, The Symbolism of the Biblical World (Winona Lake, Ind.: Eisenbrauns, repr. 1997), 50–55; for the seven-headed monster, see IDB, 3:116.
100. See R. S. Hendel, “Serpent,” DDD2, 744–47; J. G. Westenholz, Dragons, Monsters and Fabulous Beasts (Jerusalem: Bible Lands Museum, 2004).
101. CT 17:35:25–6, cited in CAD, I/J:155.
102. It was common in Greece and Rome, where protective amulets were often worn. It is still feared in parts of Asia today.
103. See b. Ber. 55b; quoted in L. Jacobs, The Jewish Religion: A Companion (Oxford: Oxford Univ. Press, 1995), 156.
104. KTU 1.3–1.4. The window’s significance remains uncertain. See more generally Horowitz, Mesopotamian Cosmic Geography.
105. The name “Kerethites,” which sometimes parallels “Philistines” (Ezek. 25:16; Zeph. 2:5), may also indicate Cretan origin; see K. A. Kitchen, “The Philistines,” in Peoples of Old Testament Times, ed. D. J. Wiseman (Oxford: Clarendon, 1973), 56 and n. 15. Some scholars dispute this identification of Caphtor; see Paul, Amos, 283 n. 13; R. S. Hess, “Caphtor,” ABD, 1:869–70.
106. Argued convincingly by Paul, Amos, 290, in response to the common view that this envisages postexilic restoration.
Sidebar and Chart Notes
A-1. For further on each people group, see A. J. Hoerth et al., ed., Peoples of the Old Testament World (Grand Rapids: Baker, 1994). Also, with more detail: W. T. Pitard, Ancient Damascus (Winona Lake, Ind.: Eisenbrauns, 1987); M. Daviau et al., ed., The World of the Aramaeans, 3 vols. (JSOTSup 324–26; Sheffield: Sheffield Academic Press, 2001); C. S. Ehrlich, The Philistines in Transition (Leiden: Brill, 1996); H. J. Katzenstein, The History of Tyre (Jerusalem: Schocken Institute for Jewish Research, 1973); J. R. Bartlett, Edom and the Edomites (JSOTSup 77; Sheffield: Sheffield Academic Press, 1989).
A-2. Sayings of Ahiqar, lines 92–93, in ANET, 428c; Baal Cycle, KTU 1.3.v.26–27; 1.4.iii.17–18; 1.14.i.7–8, cited here from CML, 53, 58, 82. Cf. also KTU 1.19.i.42–43 (7/8). See further J. Friburg, “Numbers and Counting,” ABD, 4:1143–46.
A-3. The most extensive records come from eighteenth-century Mari (mid-Euphrates) and the seventh-century Assyrian empire. There is also evidence of prophecy from second millennium Ebla (northwest Syria), nineteenth-century Uruk (south Babylonia), thirteenth-century Emar (northwest Euphrates), eleventh-century Byblos (north Phoenicia), and eighth-century Hamath (north Syria) and Deir ʿAlla (Jordan Valley).
A-4. R. P. Gordon, “From Mari to Moses: Prophecy at Mari and in Ancient Israel,” in Of Prophets’ Visions and the Wisdom of Sages: Essays in honour of R. Norman Whybray on his 70th Birthday, ed. H. A. McKay and D. J. A. Clines (JSOTSup 162; Sheffield: Sheffield Academic Press, 1993), 76.
A-5. For instance, Marduk creates the wind and the mountains, Enuma Elish 5.50, 57; Dalley, Myths from Mesopotamia (Oxford: Oxford Univ. Press, 1989), 256–57; ANET, 501–2. For convenient summary see J. H. Walton, Ancient Israelite Literature in its Cultural Context (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1989), ch. 1.
A-6. “Lament over the Destruction of Sumer and Ur,” ANET, 611–19, here lines 119–22, 486–88; cf. also ANET, 455–63.
A-7. ANET, 166a. See also W. von Soden, The Ancient Orient (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1994), 141–42; R. Westbrook, “Introduction,” in A History of Ancient Near Eastern Law, ed. R. Westbrook (Leiden: Brill, 2003), 1:27–31; H. J. Boecker, Law and the Administration of Justice in the Old Testament and Ancient East (London: SPCK, 1980).
A-8. P. K. McCarter, “The Gezer Calendar,” COS, 2:222; also the source of the English text cited. For alternative translations, see ANET, 320a; ABD, 1:97 (listing probable crops); CANE, 1:177.
A-9. W. B. Barrick, “High Place,” ABD, 3:196–200, argues that bāmâ means “cultic building,” since cultic activity often took place “in” it (Heb. 
), and Samuel’s sacrifice was followed by a meal in a “hall” (1 Sam. 9:22). For recent summary, see B. A. Nakhai, Archaeology and the Religions of Canaan and Israel (Boston: ASOR, 2001), ch. 6.
A-10. COS, 2:137.
A-11. The rationale for the Sabbath is the main difference between the two versions of the commandments: creation in Ex. 20:11, redemption in Deut. 5:15.
A-12. Notably in Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Chronicles, Nehemiah; also in Isa. 56–66 (which is one reason why this section is often dated later than Isaiah).
A-13. G. F. Hasel, “Sabbath,” ABD, 5:851.
A-14. KTU: 1.4.vi.24–32; 1.14.iii.2–4; 1.17.i.6–16; 1.17.ii.32–39; 1.22.i.22–25; CML, 63, 84, 103, 106, 136.
A-15. Seven occurs in other Ugaritic contexts: monster heads (KTU 1.3.iii.42; 1.5.i.3), years (1.6.v.8; 1.19.iv.15), and possibly girls (1.3.ii.2).
A-16. F. Rochberg, “Astronomy and Calendars in Ancient Mesopotamia,” CANE, 3:1931.