Amaziah (Priest of Bethel)

Biblical Account

Amaziah appears only in Amos 7:10-17. Immediately before this, in 7:7-9, Amos sees a vision of the Lord standing beside a wall with a plumb line (a cord with a weight attached, used to check that something is vertical) in His hand. In this vision it is announced that the high places and sanctuaries of Israel will be laid waste and that the house of Jeroboam will be struck with the sword. The account of Amaziah follows directly after this announcement.

Amaziah, the priest of Bethel, sends word to Jeroboam (Jeroboam II), king of Israel. He reports that Amos has conspired against the king and that "the land is not able to bear all his words" (7:10-11). He then addresses Amos as a "seer" and tells him to flee to the land of Judah, "and there eat bread, and prophesy there." Because Bethel "is the king's chapel, and it is the king's court," Amos is not to prophesy there again (7:12-13).

Amos replies that he was neither a prophet nor a prophet's son but a herdsman and a gatherer of sycamore fruit, and that the LORD took him and told him to prophesy to Israel (7:14-15). He then delivers a word announcing the calamity that will befall Amaziah's household and declaring that Israel will go into captivity, away from its land (7:16-17). Scripture does not record how the king responded to the accusation or how the word spoken against Amaziah was fulfilled.

Significance Within Scripture

Bethel was the state sanctuary of the northern kingdom, where Jeroboam (I) had set up a golden calf (1 Kings 12:28-33). Amaziah is portrayed as a priest guarding this sanctuary who relied on royal authority to silence the word of a prophet. His phrase "the king's chapel" is often noted as revealing that the sanctuary was regarded as belonging to the royal house rather than to God. The captivity of Israel foretold in the passage came about with the fall of the northern kingdom of Israel to Assyria in the late eighth century BC. Amaziah is not mentioned in the New Testament.

Interpretation and Debate

• Others of the same name: He is a different person from Amaziah, king of Judah, who appears in 2 Kings 14 and elsewhere.
• Amos's reply: The Hebrew text of Amos 7:14 contains no verb. For this reason, scholars differ over whether it should be read as "I am not a prophet" (present) or "I was not a prophet" (past). This question also gives rise to debate over whether Amos was distancing himself from professional prophetic circles or describing his status before his calling.
• Amaziah's motives: Various interpretations have been proposed, including loyalty to the king, preservation of order at the sanctuary, and protection of his own position, but the text does not state his motives directly.
• Dating: Amos's ministry is placed in the days of Uzziah and Jeroboam II (Amos 1:1), but scholars differ on the specific years.

In the Korean Church

In the Korean church, Amaziah is discussed mainly in sermons on Amos 7. In such sermons he is frequently cited as an example of religion in collusion with political power and of institutional faith that silences truthful speech. Together with the vision of the plumb line, the passage is also used as a sermon text for self-examination of the church as it stands before God's standard. Sunday school curricula seldom focus on Amaziah.