Read Amos 5, available online.The Book of Amos was written in the 8th century BCE in ancient Judah and records religious oracles and visions given by the prophet Amos to Judah’s northern neighbor, Israel. To judge by the contents of the book, the contents of other biblical books, and archaeological evidence from the time, Amos prophesies against the background of social inequalities. The majority of Israelites made their living through growing crops or herding animals. But they operated in a marginal zone, so that they had enough rainfall most years, but their livelihood could be placed in jeopardy in a drought year. In such a situation, they might have no option but to take out a loan or sell their land. The result is that the rich got richer and the poor got poorer. Amos critiques this economic system.Analyze this text. Before writing up your analysis, consider all the standard questions we will ask of all the texts we read this semester. What is the genre of the text? Who wrote it? For whom was it written? When was it written? Does the text seem to be based on other source material, such as previous documents or eyewitness testimony, or not? What seems to be the purpose of the text? What is its structure? What are its parts? How do the parts relate to the purpose of the whole? What historical inferences can you make from the text? What is claimed? What isn’t claimed? What is assumed or left unspoken? What key terms are used in the text? What seems to be the special meaning of these key terms in context? What can you infer about the social world that made the text? What can you infer about the events, individuals, or groups described in the text?In addition, for this text in particular, consider the following. In Amos 5, is justice as a concept separate from law? Or to put the question differently, does Amos imagine situations that could be legal but unjust? For Amos, how does wealth and power relate to law and justice? How are the concepts in Amos similar to and different from the concepts in the text we read last week?
