Etshalom’s book is superb
Amos: The Genius of Prophetic Rhetoric
Yitzchak Etshalom, the author of Amos: The Genius of Prophetic Rhetoric, received rabbinic ordination from the Chief Rabbinate of Jerusalem and is an educator and a leading teacher of Tanakh (the Hebrew Bible) in North America. He is the author of Between the Lines of the Bible: Exodus and Between the Lines of the Bible: Recapturing the Full Meaning of the Biblical Text. He has repeatedly demonstrated his ability to uncover layers of meaning embedded within the biblical text.
His 2025 book Amos: The Genius of Prophetic Rhetoric is published by Maggid Books, an imprint of Koren Publishers Jerusalem, Ltd. While the parent company, Koren, focuses on classic religious texts like the Tanakh, Siddur, and Talmud, Maggid Books was created specifically to publish works of contemporary Jewish thought. There are currently 22 books in Maggid’s series “Studies in Tanakh.” Each is filled with mind-opening, interesting information. I read and reviewed all of them. Etshalom’s book joins the group with the same sterling performance.
Amos was a mid-8th-century BCE Judean shepherd and sycamore fig farmer. Although living in the southern kingdom of Judea, he felt called by God to prophesy in the northern Kingdom of Israel during a time of the latter country’s enormous prosperity and demeaning inequality (c. 760 BCE). He confronted the decadence of Israel’s King Jeroboam II’s reign. As one of the Twelve Minor Prophets, he famously decried social injustice, religious hypocrisy, and the oppression of people with low incomes. He condemned the wealthy elite for mistreating the poor and neglecting justice, warning that empty religious rituals devoid of kindness to all people created by God were unacceptable to God. He called out in his book in verse 5:24, “Let justice roll down like waters, and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream.” He foresaw, as punishment, the impending doom that occurred shortly after his prophecy, like a locust plague, and a final promise of future restoration.
The northern Kingdom of Israel that Amos chastised existed as an independent nation for close to 200 years (c. 930–722 BCE). It was made up of ten of the original twelve tribes who broke away from King Solomon’s dynasty, and was eventually conquered by the Assyrian Empire.
Etshalom guides us through Amos’s elegant oratory, showing that it teaches lessons of eternal relevance. His study reveals that Amos’ views, expressed in delightful poetry, are not only morally compelling but also rhetorically masterful.
