📖 Biblical Definition
The third of the twelve Minor Prophets, written by Amos, a sheep-breeder and dresser of sycamore-figs from Tekoa (Amos 1:1; 7:14-15), called by God to prophesy against the prosperous northern kingdom of Israel about 760-750 BC, during the reign of Jeroboam II. The book opens with seven judgment-oracles against surrounding nations (chs. 1-2), each beginning for three transgressions of [nation], and for four, I will not turn away the punishment thereof — a rhetorical buildup that ends with the eighth and most extensive oracle against Israel itself. The middle chapters (3-6) deliver thunderous indictment of social injustice (the rich crushing the poor), religious hypocrisy (elaborate worship while practicing oppression), and complacent prosperity (woe to them that are at ease in Zion, 6:1). Five visions follow (chs. 7-9) culminating in the promise of restoration through the Davidic line (9:11-15), quoted by James at the Jerusalem Council (Acts 15:16-17) as the warrant for Gentile inclusion in the church.
📜 Webster 1828 Definition
AMOS, n. One of the minor prophets, a herdsman of Tekoa.
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AMOS, n. A Hebrew prophet, formerly a herdsman and gatherer of sycamore fruit at Tekoa in Judah, sent by God to prophesy at Bethel during the prosperous reign of Jeroboam II of Israel; his canonical book denounces oppression of the poor, perversion of justice, and empty ritual, declaring that God hates feast days uncoupled from righteousness.
📖 Key Scripture
Amos 3:7 — "Surely the Lord GOD does nothing, unless He reveals His secret to His servants the prophets."
Amos 5:21 — "I hate, I despise your feast days, and I do not savor your sacred assemblies."
Amos 5:24 — "But let justice run down like water, and righteousness like a mighty stream."
Amos 8:11 — "Behold, the days are coming…that I will send a famine on the land, not a famine of bread…but of hearing the words of the LORD."
⚠️ Modern Corruption
Justice quoted on protest signs; the rest of the book ignored because it indicts everyone.
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Amos 5:24 is the most-quoted prophetic line in modern activism — and almost no one reads the verse before it where God says He hates the very religious gatherings of those who chant it. Amos refuses the divorce between worship and justice. Both fall together or stand together.
The most chilling line in the book is the famine of hearing the words of the Lord. A culture can be drowning in Bibles and starving for the Word. That is precisely the late-modern condition — podcasts everywhere, prophets nowhere.
🔗 Greek & Hebrew Roots
Key terms: mishpat (justice), tsedaqah (righteousness), ra'ab (famine).
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Usage
"Amos is the shepherd who scared the king."
"Justice and worship are conjoined twins; sever them and both die."
"The most dangerous famine is the silent one in the pulpit."