James R. Linville, «Visions and Voices: Amos 7–9», Vol. 80 (1999) 22-42

The final chapters of Amos are read synchronically to highlight the relationship between the divine voice, which demands that its hearers prophesy (Amos 3,8), the voice of Amos, and those of other characters. Amos’ intercessions soon give way to entrapping word-plays and these are related to the rhetorical “traps” in Amos 1–2. Divine and prophetic speech defy the wish of human authority that they be silent. The figure of Amos eventually disappears from the reader’s view, but not before the prophet has been used as a focal point for the readers’ projections of themselves into the literary world of the text. As the scenes change from ultimate destruction to restoration, the readers appropriate the prophetic voice themselves, especially in the final verse which ends with a declaration of security uttered by “your God”.

referring to himself. The legitimizing of the statements of God through the oracle formula carries more weight than the reported experiences of the prophet; the focus has shifted from Amos himself to the elaboration of the words of doom he has been tricked into uttering.

        A significant theme in chap. 8 is the contrast between speech, divine and human, and silence. This, of course, recalls the dispute with Amaziah, but now the prophet’s right to speak is no longer at issue. Yet, there are demands for silence. Amos 8,3 may be read as "many are the corpses, in every place he has cast. Silence!". The identity of the speaker of this line with its interjection, "Silence!", is unclear, as are its addressees³⁷. Like the first object Amos had to identity, however, it is a rich ambiguity. YHWH seems to be the one speaking, given the oracle formula preceding and the divine speech following, and he seemingly demands silent awe from the survivors before the casting out of the dead. The interjection may be YHWH’s ironic comment to the dead themselves; they would certainly obey this command. But this word may be from a different, anonymous voice; perhaps the prophet’s, expressing his reaction to the spectacle of horror he cannot stop. Is it a warning to himself not to interfere? Or perhaps a vain, or sarcastic attempt to gain some peace and quiet from the wailing created by God’s punishment in v. 3a? Has he given up interceding, and demanding forgiveness and cessation from God, only to demand silence from God’s victims when he himself is coerced into declaring their doom? The lack of specific determination is not disruptive, but rather unifying. For Landy, the speaker is YHWH, distancing himself by speaking in the third person; or perhaps the divine voice has merged with that of the prophet³⁸. Landy also points out that the order for silence recalls in reverse Amaziah’s attempt to silence the divine word³⁹.