{"id":77172,"date":"2020-07-09T15:46:49","date_gmt":"2020-07-09T12:46:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/?p=77172"},"modified":"2020-07-09T15:46:49","modified_gmt":"2020-07-09T12:46:49","slug":"fortresses-and-storehouses","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/fortresses-and-storehouses\/","title":{"rendered":"Fortresses and Storehouses"},"content":{"rendered":"
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(This post is the third in a series on social justice in Amos)\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

In Amos 3, the prophet\u2019s great rhetorical opener of the first 8 verses serves to focus the listener\u2019s attention on God\u2019s might and the clear need to listen to the message. The message itself is less clear:<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cProclaim in the fortresses of Ashdod And in the fortresses of the land of Egypt! Say: Gather on the hill of Samaria And witness the great outrages within her And the oppression in her midst. They are incapable of doing right \u2014declares the LORD; They store up lawlessness and rapine In their fortresses. Assuredly, Thus said my Lord GOD: An enemy, all about the land! He shall strip you of your splendor, And your fortresses shall be plundered.\u201d (Amos 3:9-11)<\/span><\/p>\n

What are these fortresses (<\/span>armonot<\/span><\/em>) that are mentioned four times in this verse? What is their function? What crimes are taking place that are so severe they necessitate the ultimate destruction of the fortresses of the Northern Kingdom?<\/span><\/p>\n

Previously, we acknowledged that the first half of the 8<\/span>th<\/span> century was seen by scholars to be a time of economic prosperity. In her book, \u201cAmos and the Officialdom of the Kingdom of Israel,\u201d Prof. Izabela Jaruzelska uses academic and archaeological sources to posit that there was increased population in both the Northern Kingdom of Israel and neighboring Phonecia, necessitating an increase in oil and grain production in the Northern Kingdom.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The Northern Kingdom, producing more agricultural products, needed more sophisticated ways to store, protect and export all of this oil and grain. An industry was needed to support this \u2013 fortresses need to be constructed that include storehouses (<\/span>otzarim<\/span><\/em>). Officials were hired to manage and maintain these facilities. However, instead of storing grain and oil, the prophet tells us: \u201cThey store up lawlessness and rapine In their fortresses\u201d (3:10).\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

What were these officials doing? Logically, Jaruzelska suggests, they were using their positions to enrich themselves. The classical commentaries interpret these words as meaning \u201ctheft.\u201d Are they skimming a bit off the top? The details can\u2019t be known but the prophet\u2019s words make it easy to imagine.<\/span><\/p>\n

In this time of prosperity, the population grew and agricultural products increased. Yet the gains of this time accrued only to those with plum jobs in palace storehouses \u2013 an elite class who are the targets of these prophecies. This elite class was not just making a fair wage \u2013 they were abusing their access to enrich themselves while the people below them suffered.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

As a consequence of the misdeeds described in verses 10 and 11, we can understand that the historical enemies of the Israelites (the Philistines and Egyptians) referenced in verse 9 are mentioned because of an idea of Israelite exceptionalism that persists among the people. All is not well, says the prophet, and you are no better than them. Your fortresses are no more noble than theirs, and will be destroyed without mercy.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

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