Emeritus Prof. Rainer Kessler is a retired professor of Old Testament at the University of Marburg and Research Fellow at the University of the Free State in Bloemfontein, South Africa.

This commentary interprets the book of Amos as handed down in the Hebrew Bible: as a collection of the words of a prophet who emerges in the eighth century BCE and proclaims the end of the kingdom of Israel due to the social and ritual transgressions of its upper class, but in the end announces a safe future in abundant prosperity for survivors of the catastrophe from Judah and Israel. Diachronic analysis traces a path from the message of the eponymous prophet, which is recognizable only in outline, through the adaptations made by the first transmitters of the text following the end of the northern kingdom of Israel, to the final figure, who probably dates from the Persian era. Texts witnessing to the reception of the book & from other Old Testament writings to the present day & presented in highlights.