The Poor Farmer. Amos may have been a migrant worker moving his flocks between the wilderness just east of Tekoa and the agriculturally productive western foothills separating the hill country of Judah from the coastal plain (1 Chr 27:28; 2 Chr 26:10). The elevation and rainfall around Tekoa were sufficient for pastoral life, but not for the production of sycamore fig trees. In the dry summer months, shepherds would move west or north in search of pasturage. During that same time, the young fruit of the sycamore fig trees had to be pierced and wiped with oil just prior to harvest, an arduous and painstaking task (Moldenke and Moldenke, Plants of the Bible, 106–08).

In this scenario, Amos was living on a subsistence basis, despising the opulence that he saw in Israel, and chastising the self-indulgent. He would readily identify with the marginalized who were exploited by the rich in Israel. His response to Amaziah, that God took him “from after the flock,” intimated his close connection with the shepherd’s life (Amos 7:15). His experiences in the environment where existence was tenuous shaped the imagery in his oracles (Amos 3:4–5, 12; 4:9; 6:12; 7:1–2). His visions of locusts, fire, and baskets of ripe fruit were common aspects of life.