It cannot be said that the Twelve Prophets lack, either in the comprehensive
relation which they sustain to the entire history of Hebrew life and thought, in
the interest of the problems which they suggest, or in the almost infinite
variety of these problems. In every field of study, the textual, the literary,
the historical, the archaeological, and the theological, they furnish facts and
suggest questions than which few others, perhaps, possess greater significance.
One need only mention, by way of Amos in the development of Hebrew thought,
the problems of criticism and interpretation which are suggested by the early
chapters of Hosea, the text and historical distribution of the chapters now
joined together under the name of Micah, the complexity of the data included in
the several portions of Zechariah, not to speak of the fragmentary character of
Obadiah, the peculiar phenomena presented in Jonah, and many other equally
puzzling but significant aspects of literary and theological inquiry.
These facts and problems connect themselves with every important phase of the
Old Testament activity between 900 B. C. and 300 B. C., in other words, with the
entire creative period.
The books which occupy our attention in this first volume go well together,
not only because one follows the other chronologically, but also because one
supplements the other logically, the two presenting a totality of expression in
the light of which each receives a clearer interpretation. It seemed necessary
to take up, in connection with these first two of the immortal Twelve, many
questions that concern just as closely the others.
Especially was the force of this point felt in the Introduction; for an
introduction to Amos and Hosea is really an introduction to Prophecy.
Nowhere is it more necessary to distinguish sharply between the actual words
of an author and those that have been added by later writers than in the
case of Amos and Hosea. The history of the Messianic idea, in whatever sense we
employ that term, is fundamentally involved in this distinction. Care has been
taken, therefore, to keep separate the quite considerable proportion of material
(ascribed by tradition to these authors)
which may confidently be treated as of later origin. This in the case of Amos is
about one-fifth of the whole, and in the case
of Hosea about one-fourth.
About
the Author -- The International Critical Commentary (ICC): Amos and Hosea
W. R. Harper ---
William Rainey Harper (July
26, 1856 - January 10, 1906)A
child-prodege, born at New Concord, Ohio,
to Scotch-Irish parents, Harper finished high school at age ten, graduated from
college four years latter and went on to become a noted
academic who introduced German
system of education to US institutions of higher learning. He helped
to organize the University of Chicago
and served as its first President. Harper's
favorite field of study was Biblical Hebrew where he made a major
contribution as an educator. Throughout his academic life
(cut by death at the early age of 49), Harper wrote numerous texts.
About
the Author -- The International Critical Commentary (ICC): Amos and Hosea