Amos and Hoshea: Before the Earthquake -
Lesson 18
The Prophecies of Amos: Oracles Against the Nations (P)
Text file
As we continue our study of Amos’s ultimate prophecy in this series of oracles against the nations, we will devote much of our attention to understanding the background of the central thesis of the praise-section of the oracle. In the previous two lectures, we took a brief but necessary detour from our text to examine the role of the Exodus narrative in the rhetoric of the literary prophets. We now return to considering the text of the praise-hymn which serves as the central text and axis of the oracle against Israel. We will focus our attention on the entire middle passage of the hymn, which details the divine kindnesses regarding the sequence of events which we refer to as the Exodus from Egypt (writ large).
Here, again, is the text:
9 I destroyed the Amorite before them, whose height was like the height of the cedars, and he was strong as the oaks; yet I destroyed his fruit from above and his roots from beneath. 10 Also I brought you up out of the land of Egypt, and led you forty years in the wilderness, to possess the land of the Amorites. 11 And I raised up of your sons for prophets, and of your young men for Nazirites. Is it not even thus, O you Israelites? says God.
12 But you gave the Nazirites wine to drink; and commanded the prophets, saying “Do not prophesy.”
Or, as we have laid it our previously:
- I destroyed the Amorite before them, whose height was like the height of the cedars, and he was strong as the oaks
- Indeed, I destroyed his fruit from above and his roots from beneath
- Also, I brought you up out of the land of Egypt
- And led you forty years in the wilderness
- To possess the land of the Amorites
- And I raised up of your sons to be prophets
- And of your young men to be Nazirites
- I brought you up out of the land of Egypt
- I led you for forty years in the wilderness
- I disinherited the Amorites to give you their land
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