Amos: Dating

Amos is one of the oldest prophetic books in the Bible.

In the superscription two kings are mentioned: Uzziah and Jeroboam. This dates the ministry of Amos to the middle of the eighth century BC (760-750).
Jeroboam II reigned for more than 40 years and expanded the region and power of Israel greatly (see 2 Kings 14:23-29). This transitory period of prosperity came to an end with the overthrow of Israel by the Assyrians, marking the fall of the Northern Kingdom. At the end of the eighth century Israel had become a province of Assyria.

The text in its present form probably grew out of a core of utterances by the prophet Amos himself.
The long process of editorial reworking must have lasted for around 200 years. It was probably completed after the Babylonian exile by an editor from Judah. This is partly indicated by the concluding prophecies of salvation in Amos 9:11-15. These last verses indeed prefigure the exile. The reference to the kingship of David is a sign of hope for the restoration of the undivided kingdom, but this does not fit in with the tone of the rest of the book.

The book of Amos is one of the 12 minor prophets. The 12 books were presumably collected in the fourth or third century BC to form the so-called Dodekapropheton (in Greek), also called the book of the Twelve Prophets.