{"id":77525,"date":"2020-07-15T16:22:28","date_gmt":"2020-07-15T13:22:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/?p=77525"},"modified":"2020-07-15T16:22:28","modified_gmt":"2020-07-15T13:22:28","slug":"amos-both-shepherd-and-cowboy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/amos-both-shepherd-and-cowboy\/","title":{"rendered":"Amos: Both Shepherd And Cowboy"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[281],"tags":[],"acf":{"old_id":"77525","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":34243,"related_cahpter":"525","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content":{"description":"And tender to sycamores. But not a prophet!\r\n\r\n","content":"

Amaziah, the priest of Beit El, sought to inform on Amos to King Jeroboam, charging him with either outright treason (10) or, at least, with demoralizing the people by prophesying their imminent exile (11). He then turned to Amos, advising him: \u201cOff with you to the land of Judah! Earn your living there and do your prophesying there\u201d (12). Amos replied: \u201cI am not a prophet, and I am not a prophet\u2019s disciple (<\/span>ben navi<\/span><\/em>). I am a cattle breeder and a tender of sycamore figs. But the LORD took me away from following the flock, and the LORD said to me, \u2018Go, prophesy to My people Israel\u2019\u201d (14-15). Several items in this exchange are worthy of comment.<\/span><\/p>\n

First, the use of \u201coff with you\u201d (<\/span>b\u2019rach lekha<\/span><\/em>) is reminiscent of the advice that was given to Balaam by King Balak of Moab: \u201cOff with you to your place\u201d (Numbers 24:11) when that prophet incurred his displeasure. It also appears in Isaac\u2019s advice to Jacob to evade Esau\u2019s wrath by running away: \u201cOff with you to Uncle Laban in Haran\u201d (Gen. 27:43), suggesting that its use was reserved for instances in which the advisee was facing lethal jeopardy.<\/span><\/p>\n

Second, Amos\u2019s seeming disavowal of prophecy is a denial only of its practice as a profession, not as his divinely inspired vocation. We may recall that King David\u2019s royal calling was expressed in a like fashion: \u201cI took you from the pasture, from following the flock, to be ruler of My people Israel\u201d (2 Samuel 7:9).<\/span><\/p>\n

Third, Amos\u2019s reference to his actual profession as that of a \u201ccattle breeder\u201d (<\/span>boker<\/span><\/em>, a hapax legomenon\u2014a word that appears once in the Bible) should be compared with the opening verse of the book (<\/span>see our comments there<\/span><\/a>), which identified him as one \u201cwho was among the sheep breeders (<\/span>noqdim<\/span><\/em>) from Tekoa\u201d (1:1). Arguably, since both sheep and cattle were herded, the two terms are entirely synonymous. In modern Hebrew, <\/span>boker<\/span><\/i> can designate cowboy, herdsman, gaucho, rancher, wrangler, cattleman, cowman, or cowpuncher.<\/span><\/p>\n

Finally, we come to the \u201ctender (<\/span>boles<\/span><\/em>) of sycamore figs (<\/span>shikmim<\/span><\/em>).\u201d Boles (like <\/span>boker<\/span><\/em>) is a unique word in Tanach, and its translation as \u201ctender\u201d is speculative. (Other English translations substitute grower, dresser, gatherer, and caretaker). Sycamore\u2014which may derive from Hebrew <\/span>shikma<\/span><\/em>, via the Greek <\/span>sukamos<\/span><\/em>\u2014is akin to the fig tree, and, according to 1 Kings 10:27, grew \u201cabundantly\u201d in the Mediterranean coastal valley. It would signify that Amos, who came from Tekoa, in the Judean hill country, worked at a considerable distance from home.<\/span><\/p>\n

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