INTRO TO SEFER AMOS
Amos was a talmid of Hoshea and lived in the same generation as Michah, Yeshaya, and Hoshea. The gemarra (Psachim 87a) tells us that Amos prophesised after Hoshea. Amos was a prophet during the times of Uziyahu king of Yehudah ad Yeravam ben Yoash king of Israel (about 100 years before the exile of the ten tribes, and about 250 years before the destruction of the first beis hamikdash). He was very rich, and actually had a speech impediment (his name Amos implies a speech impediment). During the times of Amos, Bnei Yisrael were wealthy and lived tranquilly; the nations which surrounded Eretz Yisrael were under the control of the Bnei Yisrael and would pay taxes to them. However, this economic wealth was taken by the rich and important people amongst klal yisrael, as opposed to being distributed even-handedly. The Seder HaDoros writes that Amos was actually killed by Uziyahu the king of Yehudah.
At 9 perakim, Amos is one of the longer books of the Trei Asar. The prophesies of Amos are also directed at the nations of the world, and he tells Bnei Yisrael that their current materialistic success and tranquillity is only temporary.
