AMOS: INTRODUCTION TO THE LITERARY STRUCTURE

Below is a highly condensed version of a chapter from my unpublished book The Structure of Scripture. Those wishing the complete version may contact me at elmerphd21@hotmail.com.

The most daunting task in approaching the Book of Amos is to adequately deal with the enormous quantity of literature on the subject. The bibliography to one recent study on Amos encompasses 800 references, and the massive Anchor Bible commentary to this book is almost 1,000 pages long. Regarding the book's organization, there is little disagreement regarding the application of the author's skills to discrete literary units. However, the exact definition of those units remains a matter of some controversy as well as the question whether there is an overall structure to the book.

The present proposal pictures the book as shown:

Figure 1: Structure of Amos

                I. Oracle to the Nations (1:2-3:8)

                                II. Israel: Denunciation and Woes (3:9-6:14)

                III. Visions (7:1-9:15)

The first verse not only introduces us to the prophet; it also gives us a table of contents for the book itself. Andersen and Freedman have rightly stated that in its simplest form the Book of Amos might be characterized as two books: The Book of Oracles (chs. 1-6) and The Book of Visions (chs. 7-9).

Oracles to the Nations (Amos 1:2-3:8)

The variations in Fig. 2 demonstrate an almost perfect pairing of the adjacent oracles in Section I.

Figure 2: The Oracles to the Nations

Nations *         Indictment         Punishment***                 Confirmation****

Length     Type**

Syria                 yes                 brief          a                      lengthy         yes

(1:3-5)

Philistia            yes                 brief         a                      lengthy          yes

(1:6-8)

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Tyre                yes                  lengthy     a                       brief               no

(1:9-10)

Edom             yes                  lengthy     b                       brief               no

(1:11-12)

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Ammon       yes                   brief        a                      lengthy             yes

(1:13-15)

Moab          yes                  brief         b                       lengthy              yes

(2:1-3)

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Judah         yes                  lengthy     a                          brief                no

(2:4-5)

Israel         yes                 lengthy      a                      displaced           twice

(2:6-16)

    * “Thus says the LORD”

    ** “For three transgressions of...and for four, I will not revoke the punishment because...(a) they, or (b) he...”

    *** “So I will send (kindle) a fire...”

    **** “says the LORD”

The theological import of this section, which ostensibly deals with the pagan nations, is to actually cast the light squarely on Israel's wrongdoings. There are actually five ways in which the literary form serves to accomplish this:

1. First, the opening formula “for three transgressions...and for four” creates an emotional intensity and climax associated with Yahweh reaching the end of his patience with the nations. (John J. Davis) Although there is no particular significance to the numbers 3 and 4 in this context, their usage prepares us subconsciously for a listing of seven nations in the series, when in fact there will be 7 + 1 with the last being the prophet’s major target: Israel herself.

2. The second manner in which Israel is drawn into the scope of Yahweh's wrath is through the application of the identical oracle formula used for the other nations. “[A] rhetorical emphasis is achieved by the surprising use of the established pattern against Israel.” (Gary V. Smith)

3. The third literary technique employed is to build to an expected conclusion with the Judah oracle, as the seventh and longest of the series. This would have disarmed the audience in Israel, which is the real target of the denunciations. (Douglas Stuart)

4. The fourth way in which the structure zeroes in relentlessly on the nation of Israel is through a geographical pattern. As Andersen and Freedman note, the arrangement of the oracles “reflects the point of view of no fixed geographical position but rather of an extraterrestrial observer.” In this it is similar to the Oracles to the Nations encountered earlier in the Book of Jeremiah; however, a slightly different scheme is utilized by Amos to make his point. “The plan is schematic but it follows a logical order, boxing the compass and then proceeding in spiral fashion to the inner core and final bastion, Israel itself.”

5. The last manner in which the author highlights Israel in the Oracles Section is seen in the passages used to frame this portion of the book. The bracketing verses to the Oracles to the Nations, 1:2 and 3:1-8, concentrate on Israel in the larger sense (“from Jerusalem... to the top of Carmel,” “the whole family which I brought up out of the land of Egypt”). (Paul R. Noble)

Each of the two remaining sections is organized chiastically, and there are definite affinities between sections I and III. The all-important center section II has Chapter 5 as its center element. This chapter is, in turn, comprised of a chiasm having as its center (and thus the central focus of the whole Book of Amos) the hymn 5:8-9. In this hymn, the creator God who has already demonstrated his might through the Creation is also revealed as the one who will one day demonstrate that same power through judgment on Israel and the nations. "Yahweh is his name."