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PREFACE TO THE COMMENTARY ON AMOS MOS WAS a goatherd, raised in the ways and norms of shepherds. He passed his life in the wilderness to the south of the country of the Jews, which stretched from the shores of the Indian sea to the land of the Persians, and where countless barbarian nations grazed their stock. It was much suited to feeding flocks of sheep, being fertile, spacious , and offering a variety of fodder. Amos was from the town of Tekoa, at the very edge of the wilderness. Since he was a good man, practiced in complete simplicity, he was given the rich grace of the spirit of prophecy, prophesying not in Jerusalem but among the actual flocks, initially with attention to those with similar concerns to his own, and then (367)1 going as far as Bethel. Tekoa, in fact, was subject to the kingdom not of Judah, but of Ephraim.2 Now, the fact that our statement of this is true you will easily gather and confirm from his own words; he prophesied in Bethel, as I said, saying that the altars of laughter would be abolished and the rites of Israel left desolate. He further said, “And I shall rise against the house of Jeroboam with a sword.” The priest of Bethel, Amaziah, tried to pull the teeth of the prophet; he “then sent to Jeroboam king of Israel, saying, Amos has conspired against you in the midst of the house of Israel; the land is not able to bear all his words. For Amos says this: Jeroboam will die by the sword, and Israel will be deported as a captive from its land. And Amaziah said to Amos, On your way, O seer. Off with  1. Page numbers of the Pusey edition are included in the text for ease of reference. 2. Tekoa, in fact, is a town in the hill country of Judah just south of the border with Israel. Cyril is following Jerome closely here in matters topographical and linguistic, as well as in the lengthy citation from Am 7.  CYRIL OF ALEXANDRIA you to the land of Judah; live there and prophesy there. Continue prophesying no further in Bethel, because it is a king’s sanctuary, and it is a king’s temple. Amos replied to Amaziah, I was neither a prophet nor the son of a prophet; instead, I was a goatherd, a cutter of mulberries. The Lord took me from the sheep, and the Lord said to me, Go, prophesy to my people Israel .”3 So he was taken from the flocks, and prophesied in Bethel , where Jeroboam son of Nebat first set up a golden heifer. Now, I think that also the fact is relevant that the father of Isaiah was a different Amos.4 What (368) his words were in toto, and in reference to which matters, we shall clarify by addressing the text in hand. 3. Am 7.9–15. 4. Cyril derives this “relevant” item from Jerome, who proceeds to show its linguistic basis, that in Heb. (but not in the LXX) there is a considerable difference in the two names (that of Isaiah’s father Amoz being an otherwise unattested form of Amaziah, in fact). ...

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