The Book of Amos (New International Commentary on the Old Testament)

by Dr. M. Daniel Carroll Rodas

Publisher:

Eerdmans

, 2020

Overview

In this commentary on the book of Amos, Daniel Carroll combines a detailed reading of the Hebrew text with attention to its historical background and current relevance. What makes this volume unique is its special attention to Amos’s literary features and what they reveal about the book’s theology and composition. Instead of reconstructing a hypothetical redactional history, this commentary offers a close reading of the canonical form against the backdrop of the eighth century BCE.

Key Features

• Provides verse-by-verse commentary
• Focuses on Amos’s literary features and what they reveal about the book’s theology and composition
• Examines the historical background and current relevance

Contents

Top Highlights

“The afflicted (ʿănāwîm) is the third term used for the poor, suggesting that various groups or levels of the poor are being taken advantage of.” (Page 186)

“Those who are being exploited are peasants and small landowners who had apparently fallen into tragic levels of indebtedness.” (Page 184)

“Third, it is plausible to envision the creation of prophetic literature in Iron Age II” (Page 30)

“This earthquake has been a benchmark for the scholarly consensus concerning the dating of the prophet’s activity.²⁴ In addition, the imagery of 8:9 might have been inspired by an eclipse that, according to the Assyrian Eponym Chronicles, can be dated to June 15, 763.²⁵ These phenomena substantiate that Amos prophesied around approximately 760.” (Page 7)

“First, there is evidence of differences in the lifestyle of certain elites from that of the general population.” (Page 16)

Endorsements

Carroll responsibly interprets Amos’s witness to his original hearers and readers with sensitivity to the social and rhetorical dynamics evident in the text. These same dynamics ensure that the original message will continue to speak as a living word for church and society today. The culmination of decades of deep reflection on this book, this commentary is the new standard for interpreting the book of Amos.

— Mark J. Boda, McMaster Divinity College

Daniel Carroll has been carefully studying the book of Amos his entire academic career. In this thoroughly researched commentary, we find the manifold fruits of his labor. This insightful study will rightfully take a place among the top tier commentaries on Amos’s prophecy.

— Robert B. Chisholm Jr., Dallas Theological Seminary

No one knows more about Amos than Daniel Carroll, and his commentary is a landmark in the study of this fundamentally important prophet. Textually, exegetically, historically, and theologically, it is thorough, nuanced, and finely judged. Carroll takes on all the hard questions and unfailingly satisfies the inquiring reader. This book is bound to become immediately indispensable for all serious students of Amos, the Prophets, and Old Testament theology.

— J. Gordon McConville, University of Gloucestershire

Through a combination of close attention to the its literary form and sensitivity to its message, Daniel Carroll has produced a landmark commentary on the book of Amos. This will be an essential point of reference for years to come.

— David Firth, Trinity College, Bristol

Product Details

• Title: The Book of Amos
• Author: M. Daniel Carroll R.
• Series: New International Commentary on the Old Testament (NICOT)
• Publisher: Eerdmans
• Publication Date: 2020
• Pages: 640
• Resource Type: Commentary
• Topic: Amos

About Dr. M. Daniel Carroll Rodas

Dr. M. Daniel Carroll Rodas, who celebrates his heritage from both Guatemala and the United States, joined the faculty in 1996. He currently is Distinguished Professor of Old Testament. He is affiliated with the Evangelical Theological Society, Institute of Biblical Research, Society of Biblical Literature, Society for Old Testament Study (Great Britain), Fraternidad Teologica Latinoamericana, Latin American Studies Association, and Evangelicals for Social Action. He serves on the international editorial boards of Religion & Theology (South Africa) and DavarLogos (Argentina), is a contributing editor to Prism (the journal of Evangelicals for Social Action), and is an editorial consultant for Perspectivas (of the Hispanic Theological Initiative) and Ex Auditu. Dr. Carroll earned a Ph.D. from the University of Sheffield, England, a Th.M. from Dallas Theological Seminary, and a B.A. from Rice University. Prior to his appointment to Denver Seminary, he was professor of Old Testament and ethics and director of graduate studies at El Seminario Teológico Centroamericano in Guatemala City, Guatemala. He remains an adjunct professor there. Dr. Carroll also maintains connections to Latin American theological education through his continuing participation in the accreditation commission of AETAL (Asociación Evangélica de Educación Teológica en América Latina). He was instrumental in the establishment of IDEAL (Instituto para el Desarrollo y Adiestramiento de Líderes), a Spanish language training program at Denver Seminary, and regularly teaches in that program. He has authored Contexts for Amos: Prophetic Poetics in Latin American Perspective and Amos- the Prophet and His Oracles: Research on the Book of Amos. He has edited Rethinking Context, Rereading Texts: Contributions from the Social Sciences to Biblical Interpretation and Theory and Practice in Old Testament Ethics. Besides co-editing five other books, most recently Character Ethics and the Old Testament: Moral Dimensions of Scripture, Dr. Carroll has contributed to several dictionaries and two one-volume commentaries. He has published articles in Spanish and English language journals, including Kairós, Bulletin for Biblical Research, Tyndale Bulletin, Trinity Journal, Biblical Interpretation, Journal of Latin American Theology, and Religion & Theology. Presently he is working on a major commentary on Amos for the New International Commentary on the Old Testament, and a translator’s guide on Amos in Spanish for the United Bible Societies. His latest book, Christians at the Border: Immigration, the Church and the Bible is a biblical-theological orientation to Hispanic immigration and was recently translated into Spanish. Distinguished Professor of