A Literary Reading Of Amos

ASU Author/Contributor (non-ASU co-authors, if there are any, appear on document)
Brandon Duke Dyer (Creator)
Institution
Appalachian State University (ASU )
Web Site: https://library.appstate.edu/
Advisor
Charles Hankins

Abstract: The book of Amos has a unique form compared to other prophetic books in the Hebrew Bible. Its distinctive placement of the oracles against the nations (1:3-2:16). and vision sequences (7-9) make it difficult to read the text as a unified book. Yet, Amos employs the consistent rhetorical technique of “unmet expectations” that extends from the introduction (1:2), through the questions (3:2-8), to the visions (7-9). Furthermore, images of water, drought, and agriculture appear constantly within the text. Amos often utilizes these images when he employs his technique of unmet expectations, thereby creating a cohesive book. These images are rooted in the concrete social and political context of the eighth century’s sacred economy in which non-producing elites were often in conflict with subsistence-based agrarian communities.

Additional Information

Publication
Honors Project
Dyer, B. (2017). "A Literary Reading Of Amos." Unpublished Honors Thesis. Appalachian State University, Boone, NC.
Language: English
Date: 2017
Keywords
Hebrew Bible, Prophets, Amos, Literary Criticism, Mourning

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