The seer Amos and politics: Southern Levante contexts for studies in the Book of Amos

Abstract

Ancient  postulates  about  the Book  of  Amosraised  the  prophet  to  spokesmanfor  the  poor regarding  the  monarchy  as  an  oppressive  regime,  represented  by  the  kings  of  North  Israel (“Northern Kingdom”). Prophet and book were transformed into icons of social justice. When discussing  these  postulates  in  the  first  part,  this  research  indicates  its  objective  to  carry  out, from the second part onwards, a historiographic scale of the Levant in the 8th century B.C.E. aiming  to  present  sources,  events  and  contexts  of  vital  movements  involving  the  rule  of  the Neo-Assyrian  Empire,  the  expansionist  policy  of  Damascus  and  the  Israeli  commercial intentions in the region. Our hypothesis is that the prophecies –in which “Amos” denotes the scribes,  in  its  various  stages  of  updating  and  writing –represent  claims  of  large  farmers, excluded from the commercial network, against taxation and price increases. Therefore, they intended to reform the State and worship in North Israel. We understand that the investigation of cultures and political dealings, which had the southern Levant as a backdrop and are in some way related to the Israelites, contribute to new approaches to the Book of Amos, especially for new interpretive studies.