Journal: Tyndale Bulletin
Volume: TYNBUL 47:1 (NA 1996)
Article: Amos 7:14: A Case Of Subtle Irony
Author: Åke Viberg

TynBul 47:1 (1996) p. 91

Amos 7:14: A Case Of Subtle Irony

Åke Viberg

Summary

Amos 7:14 is a key verse for the understanding of Israelite prophecy. Among the unresolved issues relating to this verse is the question whether the nominal clauses should be translated with a present or a past tense. Neither of these alternatives seems to have proved convincing, and therefore we should raise the more fundamental questions as to how the prophet is using language. It is argued that his statement only becomes intelligible when we acknowledge that he is using irony. Amos perceived an ideological gap between his grand vision of YHWH’s reign and the reality of his people’s situation, and was able to bridge this gap through his use of irony.

I. Introduction

What was an ancient Israelite prophet, and what did such a person do? These questions have puzzled Old Testament scholars for quite some time, and continue to do so. Were the prophets that we find in the Old Testament always known by the term nābî’? That especially is a question that has been much debated in recent years. Furthermore, in most discussions of the subject, eventually the point is made: did not Amos, after all, deny that he was a prophet? Did he not distance himself from the term nābî’ ? It is into this whole complex of difficult issues that I would like to enter by focusing on Amos 7:14, where the prophet does seem to object to being called a nābî’.1

TynBul 47:1 (1996) p. 92

In Amos 7:12-13, Amaziah, the priest of Bethel, orders Amos to leave Bethel and never prophesy there again. This is followed in vv. 14-17 by Amos’ reply to Amaziah. According to vv. 10-11, the reason Amaziah gives to king Jeroboam for expelling Amos is his subversive preaching with its predictions of death in battle for Jeroboam and exile for the people of Israel. Taken together, vv. 10-17 in Amos chapter 7 form a dramatic narrative interlude, between the third and fourth of Amos’ visions of judgement on Israel. Several questions concerning this interlude have troubled scholars and continue to evade definitive solution, such as the possible redactional history behind its apparent intrusion into the sequence of visions and the meaning and nature of the title nābî’, ‘prophet’, as it is ...