1. Consider the Book of Amos as the first of the classical prophets. In what ways is he a break with earlier types of prophecy; and in what ways does he reflect the dominant themes of classical prophecy? Be precise, balanced, well-rounded.

Amos, living in the mid 8th century, represents the beginning of what are to be called the 'writing' or 'classical' prophets. Although one of the so-called 'Minor Prophets', he is favorite, and his book is of great importance. While we may wonder whether we are missing large portions of his work, we can only study that which has been preserved, however edited and redacted. In its current form, the Book of Amos serves to contrast with the accounts of earlier prophets, and does well in setting precedents for the classical prophets who were to follow him.

There were court prophets and shrinal prophets. In some books, there are groups or guilds of prophets described. Their functions included advising the kings and leaders as to the viability of their military expeditions. In I Kings 22, Jehoshaphat calls Micaiah because all the court prophets would tell the king whatever seemed most desirable, while Micaiah would speak what he thought to be the truth. Amos is more in line with Micaiah in this respect. He certainly does not prophesy to gain favor with anyone. In the middle of chapter 2, after listing the transgressions and predicted punishments for the various neighboring nations, Amos indicates that Israel too would be punished. In fact, in chapter 7, Amaziah tells King Jeroboam that Amos conspires against him. This description of a prophet, as one despised by various palace and temple officials, matches the other classical prophets, and indeed serves to characterize the position of the classical prophets in their respective societies.

This brings up an obvious question, and of course an obvious answer: Why does Amos speak, if not to elevate his own status or gain favor with those who are powerful in Israel? Amos relates in chapter 7 that he is not a prophet by career choice, as are those earlier court prophets and professional seers. He says,

"The LORD took me away from following the flock, and the LORD said to me, 'Go, prophesy to My people Israel.'

Amos is compelled by Yahweh to speak the truths given to him. Jeremiah provides a better example of the resistance often put up by the classical prophets when they are commissioned by God (Jer 1:6), but Amos does at least provide precedent for the way in which prophets were thereafter selected. That is, seemingly arbitrarily, by Yahweh, not by men, and from among common people, rather than officials.

Another precedent set by Amos regards the content of his prognostications. As noted above, earlier prophets would foretell immediate consequences of civil actions, for the benefit of their leaders. Amos, and the classical prophets that followed, had a different agenda. Of course, they had the agenda of Yahweh, which I will refer to again later. What this means is that there were no longer predictions of crop failure and military success, unless they were told as punishments or rewards from Yahweh. Instead, Amos tells of the transgressions of the nations, and of the devastation that Yahweh will bring upon them.

Amos does not speak for his own sake, neither does he speak of his own will. He is forced by God to speak for the sake of Israel. Indeed, even the words he uses are not his own. Unlike those before him, Amos only communicates what he is told by Yahweh. "Thus said the LORD:" becomes a common phrase, and is echoed by other formations found in Jeremiah, Ezekial, and all the other classical prophets.

I misspoke in saying that Amos speaks for the sake of Israel. He also speaks of other surrounding nations, not simply as enemies who will enact the Lord's punishment on His chosen people, but as transgressors against the Lord in their own right. This expansion of audience is carried on in the books of the other prophets, and indicates a significant change in the theology. When other nations are also responsible to Yahweh, He ceases to be the god of their nation, and resumes His status as the single cosmic god.

Certainly a most obvious feature of Amos, which he does not inherit from the earlier forms of prophecy, is his own importance in the canon of the Hebrew Bible. This may sound like a quality which only has meaning long after Amos had lived, but it does stem from his own contemporary situation. In the case of the more anonymous earlier prophets, any recollection of their words are preserved only in relation to the kings they advised, or the events they predicted. Amos and the other classical prophets, however, are preserved either by their own writings, or by the written recollections of their followers. In many cases, their predictions aren't even fully understood, much less verified, and still their lives and sayings are carried on and considered to have utmost religious importance.

In isolation, the Book of Amos seems a random collection of varied genres of prophetic words. Only viewed in relation to those that come before and those that follow does it take on a role as a model of, and a beginning of, classical prophecy. Amos is forcefully made to be a prophet by Yahweh, he speaks divine words, serving only as the mouthpiece of a very contemporary and active God. He speaks of the covenant, and of its breaches, both by Israel, and by all other nations, who, he indicates, are equally responsible to Yahweh, even if Israel happens to be more equal (3:1-2).