Amos

According to the Hebrew Bible tradition preserved in the Book of Amos, Amos was from Tekoa, described as a shepherd and a sycamore‑fig dresser who was called to prophesy during the reigns of Uzziah of Judah and Jeroboam II of Israel (a period dated c. 760–750s BCE). The book opens with historical markers ('two years before the earthquake') and situates Amos as an outsider to professional prophetic schools — he himself declares, 'I am not a prophet nor a son of a prophet' — who nonetheless receives visions and delivers Yahweh's messages concerning Israel and neighboring nations. Later traditions and apocryphal notes record varying accounts (including a martyrdom tradition), but the canonical material presents him as a historical prophetic voice whose speeches were collected in the biblical book that bears his name.

Canonical texts give no detailed physical description of Amos; instead they identify him by his social and occupational profile: 'a shepherd and a sycamore fig farmer from Tekoa.' The emphasis in the sources is on his rural background and status as a non‑professional prophet rather than on bodily traits, clothing, or stature.

Within the biblical tradition Amos is a human intermediary who receives and proclaims visions and oracles. He 'saw' visions concerning Israel and composed prophetic speeches that denounce social injustice, the oppression of the poor, and empty ritual. He proclaims divine judgment on nations and on Israel for ethical failings and is traditionally credited with the composition/preservation of the Book of Amos. While later scholarship debates details of his biography and the formation of the text, the primary sources attribute to him visionary reception, oracular proclamation, and prophetic critique of political and cultic authorities (including confrontations with the priest Amaziah at Bethel).