Then Amos answered Amaziah, “I was no prophet, neither was I a prophet’s son, but I was a herdsman, and a farmer of sycamore figs;
ExplanationCommentary
Verse 14. I am not a prophet. That is, I am not a prophet by education: nor is prophesying my calling or profession: but I am a herdsman, whom God was pleased to send hither to prophesy to Israel. Challoner.—He speaks with the like humility as the baptist, John 1:21. Lu. 7:26. It seems the prophets usually left their trade, and applied to meditation. Zechariah 8:5. Septuagint “I was not a prophet, nor,” and so forth—Plucking. Septuagint (Th.) “pricking.” Calmet.—This was requisite to make the fruit ripen in four days’ time. Pliny xiii. 7. and xvi. 27.—Wild fig-trees have three sorts of fruits. The flies which proceed from some of them, prick the sweet figs, and make them ripen. Tourefort i. let. 8.—Amos probably conveyed such wild figs to be near those of the garden, while at other times he fed his cattle.