Amos 1:1

When the prophetic word was sent only to the Jews, the names of Jewish kings were put in the headings of the prophecies. For example, “the vision that Isaiah, the son of Amoz, saw, against Judea and against Jerusalem, during the reign of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz and Hezekiah.” In the time of Isaiah, I see no one else named except the kings of Judah. In some prophets we also read the names of the kings of Israel, as in this instance: “And in the days of Jeroboam, the son of Joash, king of Israel.” But then the mystery of the gospel was to be preached, and the gospel spread throughout the whole world. The initiator of that gospel was John, in the desert. The authority of Tiberius ruled the world. Then, “in [his] fifteenth year,” it is recorded that “the word of the Lord came to John.”

Chapter 1 - Verse 1. The words of Amos, who was among the shepherds of Tekoa, which he saw concerning Israel. However, the Septuagint, wanting to add something, interpreted it as: The words of Amos, who was among the vine-dressers of Tekoa, which he saw for Jerusalem. And it should be known that this prophet saw not for Jerusalem, which is not found at all in the Hebrew text, but concerning Israel, that is,

In the days of King Uzziah of Judah, and in the days of Jeroboam the son of Joash, king of the ten tribes called Israel, who were in Samaria, there were prophets. Aquila, Symmachus, and Theodotion also translated this. Therefore, the first prophet Hosea speaks to the ten tribes called Ephraim, Samaria, the house of Joseph, and Israel. The second prophet Joel, prophesies to Jerusalem and the two tribes called Judah and Jerusalem, with no mention at all of Israel. The third Amos, not at all in Jerusalem, which was ruled by the tribe of Judah, but in Israel in Samaria, preaches. This can be proven from the whole volume of his work, and especially from what is written: Amaziah the priest of Bethel sent to Jeroboam the king of Israel, saying: Amos has rebelled against you in the midst of the house of Israel (Amos VII, 10). And shortly after, Amaziah said to Amos: You see, go, flee to the land of Judah, and eat bread there, and there you shall prophesy, and in Bethel you shall not prophesy anymore, for it is the sanctity of the king and the house of the kingdom. To whom Amos responded: I was not a prophet, nor the son of a prophet, but a keeper of sycamore trees, gathering their fruit. And the Lord took me as I followed the flock, and said to me: Go, be a prophet to my people Israel; not to Judah and Jerusalem, as is wrongly stated by the Greeks and Latins, but to Israel, that is, the ten tribes, which had retained their original name due to the multitude of the people. And in the place where the Seventy translated, in Accaron, Theodotion placed the Hebrew word itself: in Nokedim (), which Aquila rendered as ἐν ποιμνιοτρόφοις, that is, in pastures: Symmachus and the fifth edition rendered it ἐν τοῖς ποιμέσιν, that is, among shepherds. And I think because of the similarity of the letters Daleth and Res, they were also deceived here, for Nocedim, as if it were Nocerim: and from there they placed the word Accarim, although the letter Nun at the beginning of the name leaves no excuse for the error. However, I have not read that Accarim is Hebrew until now. And those who interpret sterilitatem, that is, στείρωσιν, express more the city of Accaron, which belongs to the Philistines, than Accarim, which is not found at all. Therefore, the sermons of Amos, who was from the town of Thecue and among the number of shepherds, are contained in this volume, because both the region and the message are pastoral. He saw these sermons concerning Israel, not with physical eyes, but with the vision of the mind, since the prophets were called seers; otherwise, the sermons are not seen according to the letter, but heard. Hence, the people saw the voice of God, and Moses spoke silently to the Lord when he said to him: Why do you cry out to me (Exodus 14:15)? In the New Testament also we read: That which we have seen with our eyes, and have heard with our ears, and our hands have handled, of the Word of life (John 1:1). For the Word of God, which is in itself invisible, is seen and touched by the apostles with their own hands. And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us (John 1:14). But Jehoiada's son, the king of Israel, saw these words two years before the earthquakes. When Sardanapalus reigned among the Assyrians and the cities of Cilicia, about whom the renowned orator said: More shameful in vices than in name. And among the Latins, Procas Silvius, to whom Amulius succeeded in the kingdom after expelling his brother Numitor. After killing him, Romulus, with the hand of shepherds and outlaws gathered, founded the city of his own name. But this is Ozias, king of Judah, surnamed Azariah, who, attempting to claim the priesthood which was not due to him, was struck with leprosy on his forehead (2 Chronicles 26), when the wrath of the Lord not only punished him for his sacrilege but also manifested an earthquake, which the Hebrews then commemorate. But Jeroboam is not the son of Nabath, who made Israel sin (III Kings XII), but the son of Joas, the son of Joathan (also called Joachaz and Joachan), the grandson of the same Jehu, under whom Hosea, Joel, and Amos prophesied. Therefore, Ozias is interpreted as 'the power of the Lord,' that is, authority or strength of the Lord. Jeroboam is 'the judgment of the people,' that is, the judgment or cause of the people, although some, reading the Greek letter chi, suspect it means 'the division of the people.' Joas' time, that is, the delay of the Lord, or temporal existence. Therefore, the words of Amos, at the time when the people of Israel were separated from the Lord and served golden calves, or when they were separated from the kingdom of the Davidic line, they sang with a clear voice like the sound of a trumpet, which is interpreted as Thecue. And they sang over Israel, who once was most upright before God, that is, most righteous before God. In the days of King Uzziah of Judah, when, due to the temple and the Holy of Holies, the strength of the Lord remained and ruled over a people who confessed. The name Jeroboam, who arose for the division of the people, signifies that Israel remained in idolatrous error for a long time before the captivity completely shook them, which in two years showed the double distress of the ten tribes and the two, so that those who were willing to do penance would no longer feel the shaking of the earth.

These, most beloved Pammachus, I have gathered together in a long discourse as a brief reminder, interpreting the sayings of the prophet Amos, that you, through the interpretation of your name, demonstrate yourself to be a fighter in every art of battling against the devil and opposing powers. I have also promised an explanation of the prophets Hosea and Zechariah to myself and other holy men, but most of all to your holy and venerable mother, Paula, while she was alive. And I will not greatly err in my promise, if I deliver to my son what I have promised to his mother. But now it is time for me to explain in detail, using the words of the prophet himself, what I think.

The earthquake: Many understand this of a great earthquake, which they say was felt at the time that king Ozias attempted to offer incense in the temple. But the best chronologists prove that the earthquake here spoken of must have been before that time: because Jeroboam the second, under whom Amos prophesied, was dead long before that attempt of Ozias.

For three crimes: That is, for their many unrepented of crimes.-- Ibid.

I will not convert it: That is, I will not spare them, nor turn away the punishments I design to inflict upon them.

AMOS prophesied in Israel about the same time as OSEE: and was called from following the cattle to denounce GOD'S judgments to the people of Israel, and the neighbouring nations, for their repeated crimes, in which they continued without repentance.