Cornelius a Lapide
Argumentum
St. Epiphanius in the Life of Amos, and Clement of Alexandria, book I of the Stromata, consider Amos to have been the father of Isaiah; for Isaiah himself in chapter 1, verse 1, calls himself the son of Amos. But that this Amos is different from Amos the father of Isaiah is taught by St. Jerome, St. Basil on chapter 1 of Isaiah, St. Augustine in City of God XVIII.27, Isidore in the Life of Amos, and others. Amos the Prophet, says St. Jerome, is not the same person whom we read was the father of Isaiah the prophet. For that one is written אמוץ amots with the first letter aleph and the last tsade, and is interpreted as "strong and robust"; but this one is written עמוס amos with ain and samech, and is interpreted as "a people torn away"; and then: "He was from the town of Tekoa, which lies six miles to the south of holy Bethlehem, which brought forth the Savior of the world, and beyond which there is no village, not even rough huts resembling ovens, which the Africans call mapalia. So vast is the wilderness, which stretches all the way to the Red Sea and to the borders of the Persians, Ethiopians, and Indians. And because nothing at all grows in the dry and sandy soil, everything is full of shepherds, so that they may compensate for the barrenness of the land with the multitude of flocks. From this number of shepherds Amos the prophet also came, unskilled in speech but not in wisdom. For the same Holy Spirit who spoke through all the Prophets spoke also in him." So says St. Jerome. On the matter of the dry soil alone, St. Cyril dissents, who considers Tekoa to have been well-watered and therefore good for pasturing: "In which, he says, very many peoples graze their flocks; for on account of its extent, irrigation, and diversity of grasses, it is very well suited for feeding flocks of sheep." Amos was therefore a rustic and herdsman, and from there was raised up to prophecy by the Holy Spirit, who exalts the humble, just as David and others whom Nazianzen reviews in Oration 25, and St. Gregory in Homily 30 on the Gospels. Hence he frequently draws comparisons from rural life. R. Solomon and R. David fancifuly claim that the land of Tekoa, being fertile in olives, produced wise men; for regions abounding in olives produce wise men, and therefore Amos names his place of origin as Tekoa so that his wisdom might be evident from it. But this is a fable of theirs in their usual manner, perhaps borrowed from the Gentiles, who make Minerva, who is the goddess of wisdom, the inventor of the olive, according to that verse of Virgil, Georgics I: "Be present, O father of Tegea, and Minerva, inventor of the olive." In this wilderness of Tekoa, where Amos lived, many monks of wondrous holiness afterward lived, who were killed by the Saracens, as Cassian relates in Conference VI, chapter 1. Amos in the Septuagint and in the Vatican codex is the second among the twelve Minor Prophets, and immediately follows Hosea; for he was a contemporary of Hosea and prophesied together with him, for he began to prophesy in the 25th year of Uzziah, as I shall show in chapter 1, verse 1. But the Hebrews, as well as the Latins, place him third; for they place Joel second. The subject of Amos is: He prophesies directly to Israel, that is, to the ten tribes; but also incidentally to Judah and other nations. To both he foretells captivity -- to Israel the Assyrian captivity, to Judah the Babylonian. He accuses Israel of crimes, and specifically of mercilessness, because they did not help their needy brothers with aid and resources, but sold and oppressed them; and finally, in the manner of the Prophets, joining joyful things to sorrowful, he consoles the Israelites with the promise of the Messiah, who would bring liberty, peace, happiness, and as it were a golden age.
The prophet Amos is clearly cited by St. Stephen disputing against the Jews, Acts 7:42. Isidore in the Life of Amos writes that he prophesied under Amaziah king of Judah, and was struck by him, and pierced with a shaft through the temples and killed by his son Uzziah. But he lapsed in memory and was deceived by the identity of the names Amaziah and Uzziah. For this Amaziah, the striker of Amos, was not a king but a priest of idols in Bethel, as is clear from Amos 7:10. The same is evident from chronology: for Amos began to prophesy not under Amaziah the king, but under his son Uzziah, as he himself says in chapter 1, verse 1. So Epiphanius in the Life of Amos, the Roman Martyrology on March 31, Torniellus in the Annals at the year of the world 3208, and others generally. Amos, says Adrichomius in his Description of the Holy Land, while prophesying against Israel in Bethel, was pierced through the temples with a shaft, and expired from the pain in Tekoa, whose tomb was still shown there in the time of St. Jerome, as he himself writes here on chapter 1 and in Jeremiah chapter 6 and in his work on Hebrew Places. But hear St. Jerome himself: "Amos began to prophesy a little before Isaiah (whence Eusebius in the Chronicle also places Amos, as well as Hosea, before Isaiah), but he spoke especially against the ten tribes, inserting a few things about the two. The Lord took this man from the number of shepherds and sent him to prophesy in Samaria, whom Amaziah the priest (of the golden calves in Bethel) frequently afflicted with blows; at last his son Hosea pierced him through the temples with a shaft. After this, half-dead, he was carried back to his own land, and after some days expired from the pain of the wound, and was buried with his fathers." The same is found in the Roman Martyrology on March 31, where Amos is enrolled in the catalogue of Saints as a martyr and is said to be buried at Tekoa. The same is found in Isidore, Dorotheus, and Epiphanius in the Life of Amos, who also adds the cause of his martyrdom, "that he had reproached him (Hosea) for the deceit of the two golden heifers," namely, that he had rebuked him for the worship of the golden calves with which he was seducing the people. Arias considers that Amos prophesied for only two years, namely the period that preceded the earthquake and the leprosy of King Uzziah, on account of which he was removed from the kingdom, concerning which see chapter 1, verse 1; and Sanchez considers this very probable. But it is uncertain whether those two years in chapter 1, verse 1, refer only to the beginning of Amos's prophecy or to his entire prophecy.