Amos 1:1

The words of Amos, who was among the herdmen of Tekoa, which he saw concerning Israel in the days of Uzziah king of Judah, and in the days of Jeroboam the son of Joash king of Israel, two years before the earthquake.

The words of Amos - i:e., Amos' oracular communications. A heading found only in Jeremiah 1:1.

Who was among the herdmen - rather, 'shepherds,' both owning and tending sheep [ noqeed (H5349)]; from a Hebrew root [ naaqad (H5349)], to mark with pricks, as sheep used to be marked with their owner's sign or brand; or else, from an Arabic root, to select the best among a species of sheep and goats, ill-shapen and short-footed, but distinguished by their wool (Maurer). See Amos 7:15, note. God chooses "the weak things of the world to confound the mighty," and makes a humble shepherd reprove the arrogance of Israel and her king, which was generated by prosperity. So David, with "five smith stones out of the brook, in a shepherd's bag" or "scrip, and a sling in his hand" went against the giant Goliath (1 Samuel 17:40).

Of Tekoa - a little village on a high hill, twelve miles southeast from Jerusalem, and 'six miles south of Bethlehem. Beyond it is no village, except some rude huts and movable tents' (Jerome, Preface on Amos). Though belonging to Tekoa, he did not dwell there, but kept his herds and flocks in the wild pastures of the desert, where he received his call from God (Amos 7:14).

Which he saw - in supernatural vision (Isaiah 1:1); [ chaazaah (H2372), whence comes the Hebrew name for a Seer.]

Two years before the earthquake. This earthquake must have been a terrible visitation, since after the captivity, two and a half centuries after Joel, it is mentioned in Zechariah 14:5 "Ye shall flee, as ye fled from before the earthquake in the days of Uzziah king of Judah." The earthquake occurred in Uzziah's reign, at the time of his being stricken with leprosy for usurping the priest's functions (Josephus, 'Antiquities,' 9: 10, 4). But this view of Josephus is very uncertain, as Jotham, son of Uzziah, ruled the king's house (2 Chronicles 26:21) when his father was stricken with leprosy. Now Jotham at his accession to the throne was twenty-five years old, and was therefore not born when Jeroboam II. died, for Uzziah survived the latter 26 years. If then, Amos prophesied "in the days of Jeroboam" only, the earthquake must have been prior to Uzziah's leprosy (so Pusey). But this verse may mean, not that Amos' prophesying was limited to Jeroboam's days, but that it continued throughout Jeroboam's days, and so far down also in the reign of the partly contemporary Jewish king as "two years before the earthquake" - that is, many years after Jeroboam's death. Thus Josephus' statement would be quite compatible with the other facts and dates. This clause must have been inserted by Ezra and the compilers of the Jewish canon. Or rather, Amos spake the prophecies "two years before the earthquake" and collected and wrote them in an orderly whole after it. The earthquake was a premonitory symptom in nature of the political convulsions and revolutions about to be caused by God, in judgment upon the guilty nation (cf. Matthew 24:7).