Amos Oracle Vs Nations Intro

Amos

5

Part I: Oracles against the Nations and Israel (1:3 – 2:16) Introduction (cf. M. Sweeney, pp. 200-204; Blenkinsopp, pp. 74-75). 1. Oracles against 6 (six) nations surrounding Israel (gentiles – Damascus/Aram; Philistia; Tyre; Edom; Ammon; Moab). In the map, the movement is counterclockwise. The sequence ends with oracle against Judah and Israel (= 8 oracles; cf. eight beatitudes and eight woes in Luke). 2. This prophetic judgment speech has an evident literary pattern (5 elements): 1) Messenger formula (“Thus says YHWH” – Kò ´ämar yhwh(´ädönäy)). 2) Use of progressive numerical sequence together with the statement, “I will not revoke the punishment” (literally in Hebrew “I will not cause it to return” lö´ ´ášîbeºnnû). -the numerical parallelism n:n+1 in various combinations is common in ancient Near East and in the Old Testament, see Prov 30:18-19; see also Prov 30:15-16; Ps 62:11-12; Job 5:19-27; 33:14-15; Sir 50:25-26. It could mean “more than enough” (NRSV note) or multiplicity (note Tagalog sanlibo’t isa; siyam-siyam) or for convenient counting using the four fingers (Wolff, p. 137); or graduated enumeration of crimes in which the last becomes the ground of divine punishment (Wolff, p. 138, see e.g. Sir 26:5-6; 26:28) -the meaning of the expression lö´ ´ášîbeºnnû is debated (NRSV translates “I will not revoke the punishment”; NAB: “I will not revoke my word”; NIV: “I will not turn back my wrath”). Scholars suggest the following nuances (see Leslie Allen, “Amos” in Word Biblical Commentary, CD-Rom edition): i. “I will not make it return”. The “it” here refers to YHWH’s resolve to punish); ii. “I will not hold it back” – “it” refers to YHWH’s anger. iii. “I will make it return” – the “not” in Hebrew should be read as for emphasis. Hence, “I will make my punishment return”. iv. Or “I will not take it back”, “it” here refers to the nation mentioned. 3) Statement of the Crime 4) Statement of the Punishment 5) Concluding YHWH speech formula, “says YHWH”.

3. The setting of the oracles against nations (see Wolff, Joel and Amos, pp. 135-52): 1) Ritual of cursing on enemy nations. Such rite is attested in Egyptian execration texts in which a priest pronounces curses upon a series of enemy nations and then breaks a pottery vessel to symbolize its defeat and destruction. 2) Covenant cursing ceremony in which a prophet pronounces curses upon nations (not attested elsewhere). 3) Prophets and diviners pronouncing curses against enemy nations in time of war. E.g. The Moabite king and Balaam in Numbers 22-24; 1 Kgs 22 in which Ahab, king of Israel, and Jehoshaphat, king of Judah, assemble their armies for war against Aram. Note the symbolic action of the prophet Zedekiah ben Henaanah. --War could be the setting of these oracles. YHWH is presented here as a warrior going to war against the nations surrounding Israel and Israel itself. --Note that in Amos there is no evident yet of Assyria threatening Israel (that would happen some years after Amos time leading to the fall of Samaria in 721 B.C.). However, rumblings of war by Assyria could have prompted Amos’ message (Sweeney, p. 202). Note that these nations mentioned are vassals of Israel (cf. 2 Kgs 14:25) and now start to rebel against Israel thereby weakening the kingdom and, later on, giving Assyria the leverage when it attacks Israel and the other nations in its campaign some year later. Note the word “transgression” (Hebrew Peša` ), at times, may mean “rebellion” (pag-aaklas) in the Hebrew Bible (1 Kgs 12;19; Isa 1:2; Ezek 20:38; Hos 8:1). --the sequence of nations (counterclockwise) suggests also a war strategy by which Israel could be invaded and conquered by an army approaching from the north (like Assyra) – from land to sea, along the trade route (see map). --but the sequence might simply indicate a rhetorical strategy of Amos. He sets the mood of condemnation by first condemning the nations surrounding Israel, then against Judah (Amos 2:4-50), and finally against Israel, his rhetorical goal. Note that the oracle against Israel constitutes the longest oracle of the series (Sweeney, p. 203).