THE DAY OF YAHWEH IN THE BOOK OF AMOS: A RHETORICAL RESPONSE TO RITUAL

EXPECTATION
Author(s): Daniel E. Fleming
Source: Revue Biblique (1946-) , JANVIER 2010, Vol. 117, No. 1 (JANVIER 2010), pp. 20-
38
Published by: Peeters Publishers
Stable URL: https://www.jstor.org/stable/44090975

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RB. 2010 - T. 117-1 (pp. 20-38).

THE DAY OF YAHWEH

IN THE BOOK OF AMOS:
A RHETORICAL RESPONSE TO
RITUAL EXPECTATION1
BY

Daniel E. Fleming

New York University

Summary

"The Day of Yahweh" in Amos 5:18 is arguably the earliest biblical men-
tion of this time of divine presence. In the prophet's promise that it will be a
dark day, he assumes the general expectation that it is a day of light, a positive
occasion that suggests a ritual point of reference. It is proposed here that one
logical association for ritual movement from darkness to light was the New
Moon rite, known to have been prominent both in Israel and in the world of its
neighbors.

Sommaire

Le « Jour de Yahweh », en Amos 5,18, est semble-t-il la plus ancienne men-

tion de cette irruption de la présence divine. Si la promesse du prophète est
qu'il sera un jour de ténèbres, c'est qu'il suppose par contraste que l'attente
générale était celle d'un jour de lumière, une occasion positive que suggère un
referent rituel. Nous proposons le rituel de la nouvelle lune comme contexte
logique pour le passage de l'obscurité vers la lumière, - rite connu pour avoir
été important aussi bien en Israël que chez ses voisins.

1 This article came out of a graduate seminar at New York University in the spring
of 2004, and its argument benefits at numerous points from the ideas and discussion of
the participants. I therefore thank all of them: Sara Milstein, Cory Peacock, Stephen
Russell, Ali Mermelstein, Sara Labaton, Ariel Simon, and Ellen Lerner. This was per-
haps the best single course in which I have participated, and I will always remember
these students in this connection. I would like to thank Sara Milstein for reading and re-
sponding to this manuscript.

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 THE DAY OF Y AH WEH IN THE BOOK OF AMOS 2 1

"The Day of Yahweh" is one of the most familiar themes of biblical

prophecy. In the book of Zephaniah, it is the day of Yahweh's judgment
against all who have offended him, especially among the people of
Judah, and in the book of Joel, it represents a hope for restoration, when
all the peoples of the world face the same judgment.2 This is the oldest
language of a future judgment day, a righting of all wrongs, and it is
hard for us to hear anything but such an ideal hope when the prophet
addresses "those who yearn for the Day of Yahweh" in Amos 5:18.
At the same time, however, the Day of Yahweh in Amos 5: 18-20 has
remained a stubborn problem, with its point of reference opaque in an
elegant, laconic literary setting. The book of Amos is widely considered
to contain the oldest known reference to the phrase, which cannot be
interpreted to match its later use.3 The short passage is both powerful
and opaque, with little detail. It may be impossible or even unnecessary
to know the precise origin of the concept, but Amos 5: 18-20 is hard to
understand adequately without some sense of why the prophet attacks
all who look forward to this Day as a positive event.4 At the same time,
the passage in Amos may offer a unique clue to the religious practices
of Israel in the eighth century BCE, so there is historical value in prob-
ing its logic.
Some scholars have regarded the earliest Day of Yahweh as a future
expression of the divine victory celebrated in poetry like 2 Samuel 22

2 See Zeph 1:7, 14 and Joel 3:4.

3 This remains true even as the Day of Yahweh has become central to discussion of
redactional development in the Book of the Twelve; see especially M. Beck, Der " Tag
YHWHs" im Dodekapropheton : Studien im Spannungsfeld von Traditions - und
Redaktions geschickte (BZAW 356; Berlin, 2005) 52-61. Beck (59 and n.61) gathers ref-
erences to the rare exceptions who attribute Amos 5:18-20 to some later redactional
layer of the book. The one significant recent writer is E. Bosshard-Nepustil, who pro-
poses that this brief prophecy was created for an exilic redaction of the Twelve;
Rezeptionen von J esaia 1-39 im Zwölfprophetenbuch: Untersuchungen zur literarischen
Verbindung von Prophetenbüchern in babylonischer und persischer Zeit (OBO 154;
Freiburg, 1997) 344-45. In regarding Amos 5:18-20 as the oldest biblical reference to
the Day of Yahweh, Beck follows J. Jeremias (see The Book of Amos [OTL; Louisville,
1998] 5-9) in a view that is still widely held. Compare H. W. Wolff, Joel and Amos
(Hermeneia, 1977) 255; S. M. Paul, Amos (Hermeneia; Minneapolis, 1991) 182; C.
Van Leeuwen, "The Prophecy of the yõm yhwh in Amos 5:18-20," in Language and
Meaning: Studies in Hebrew Language and Biblical Exegesis (OTSt 19; Leiden, 1974)
122; J. Barton, "The Day of Yahweh in the Minor Prophets," in C. McCarthy and
J. F. Healey eds., Biblical and Near Eastern Essays: Studies in Honour of Kevin
J. Cathcart (London, 2004) 68.
4 H. M. Barstad comments on the debate over the phrase's origin and concludes
that this is finally no more than background, with some danger of obscuring the biblical
context ( The Religious Polemics of Amos [Leiden, 1984] 93-4).

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22 DANIEL E. FLEMING

and Habakkuk 3, which identify Yah w

have sought a more immediate object f
kind of festival.6 I find this intrinsica
peatedly about abuse of the needy by
zeal. Chapter 5 begins with a demand t
to Bethel, Gilgal, and Beersheba, follow
Gilgal and Bethel (vv 4-6). The sectio
leads directly into a diatribe against Is
haggîm (vv 21-27).
The problem is that we have no ev
called "the Day of Yahweh." The phr
by the words and lives of prophets in I
Ezekiel, Joel, Amos, Obadiah, and Ze
Day of Yahweh develops a decidedly fu
classic judgment day. If Amos associ
Israelite festival, neither the Torah no
any direct help. Mowinckel suggested
enthronement during New Year rites,8
enant and treaty comparisons, others s

5 Van Leeuwen (pp. 118-31) offers a detailed

hypotheses on the origin of the Day of Yahweh.
proposed by G. von Rad, "The Origin of the C
(1959) 97-108. See also Wolff, Joel and Amos
6 For advocates of this general approach, se
discussion on pp. 98-100. Barstad concludes th
Day of Yahweh provide evidence for the notio
Amos 5:18-20 offers the one biblical case wh
M. Köhlmoos emphasizes the ritual dimension
death in Amos 5:1-3 and 18-20 ("Der Tod als
in Am 5," BN 107/108 [2001] 65-6). In discu
J. L. McLaughlin cites 5: 18-20 as another instan
Prophetic Literature: References and Allusions
[Leiden, 2001] 105-6).
7 See Isa 13:6, 9; Ezek 13:5; Joel 1:15; 2:1,
Obad 15; Zeph 1:7, 14 (2); Mai 3:23. In order to
ogy, Beck also gathers phrases such as "the da
may have redactional relevance but should not b
out specific contextual proof.
8 Psalmenstudien: Das Thronbesteigungsfest
logie (Kristiania, 1922) 2.248, 272, 318-19; cf.
56, 209-29.
9 F. C. Fensham, "A Possible Origin of the
Biblical Essays: Die Ou Testamentiese Werkgem
(Potchefstroom, 1966) 90-7; cf. F. J. Hélewa
'Jour de Yahvé'," Ephemerides Carmeliticae

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 THE DAY OF YAHWEH IN THE BOOK OF AMOS 23

Cross then combined the idea of Yahweh's victory with Mo

celebration of divine kingship.10
Amos itself, however, shows little interest in the themes that ca
main weight of all these hypotheses. So far as the future is c
Amos finds Israel all too well anchored in the present. The targ
assault feel secure in their wealth, in Israel's military success,
all in their piety. They count on Yahweh's blessing, which the
enjoy with great satisfaction. They need no rescue from foreig
sors, no provision for time of want, no pardon for any wrong
to reason that Judgment Day seems the farthest thing from th
for good or ill. Yahweh's victory is a marvelous thing, and th
already reaped its benefits.11
Furthermore, Amos does not use the language of divine
There is divine power, and by this power Yahweh will bring d
In his Canaanite Myth and Hebrew Epic , Cross introduces the
on "the divine warrior" with the Day of Yahweh without a sing
ence to Amos 5. 13 The warrior language is not there. Neit
image of the divine king, nor is that of the covenant, a word n
by Amos. All we have is light and darkness, without clear ref
any particular divine role, as ruler, as warrior, as covenant lo
any single hypothesis. The Day of Yahweh is left a mystery,
in cultic concerns but without a basis to identify any cult
According to Andersen and Freedman, "All we can say is that
of Yahweh is the day of his manifestation or epiphany; but jus
will do when he comes is not explained." The terms for light
ness "are abstract and almost metaphysical, as is Amos' use
and 'evil'."14

10 "The Divine Warrior in Israel's Early Cult," in A. Altmann ed., Biblical Motifs:
Origins and Transformations (Cambridge, Mass., 1986) 11-30. J. Barton responds to the
same two proposals with frustration, saying that there is little hope of "deciding ration-
ally" between them (pp. 69-70).
11 This is particularly the mood of chapters 5-6. The people have enjoyed military
strength in numbers (5:3) and in fortification (5:9; 6:8). The prophet's targets live in
stone houses and enjoy productive vineyards (5:11). They celebrate the sacred rites of
Yahweh without qualm (5:21-23). These are the wealthy and secure (6:1), known for
luxury and lavish parties (6:4-7).
12 In the same chapters, fire consumes Joseph and Bethel (5:6); day is turned to
night (5:8); strongholds are destroyed (5:9); Yahweh's passing produces great lament
(5:16-17); the people face exile (5:27; 6:7); many die (6:9-10); and houses are broken
up (6:11).
13 Canaanite Myth and Hebrew Epic: Essays in the History of the Religion of Israel
(Cambridge, Mass., 1973) chapter 5; quoting von Rad and Mowinckel on contrasting
approaches to the Day of Yahweh before turning to Psalm 24.
14 F. I. Andersen and D. N. Freedman, Amos (AB; New York, 1989) 521.

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24 DANIEL E. FLEMING

In what follows, I propose a new possi

ness are neither abstract nor metaphy
widespread ancient association of life a
the moon.15 Beyond generic words suc
the only specific terms for sacred obs
New Moon and Sabbath, hõdes and š
Age Emar in Syria include a major
Dagan," celebrating an annual event
regional pantheon, not a moon god. Ev
Israel's festivals are rooted in pre-ex
provide an exhaustive account of Israe
for non-Judahite sites such as Bethel,
The "Day of Yahweh" appears to have b
the people celebrated the arrival of
Ancient Mesopotamian and Syrian cult
the powers of death and the underw
between the equinoxes, usually toward
the waning moon. In such annual setti
new moon was much more than a re
setting could make sense of Amos' my

I. - Amos and Bethel

The book of Amos may be more closely tied to Israel's public wor-
ship than is immediately apparent. Only one explicit location is given
for the prophet's efforts, and that is the Yahweh temple at Bethel in
7 : 10-17. In fact, Amos is preoccupied not with injustice per se but more
specifically with the hypocrisy of zealous ritual observance by rich
people who abuse those in need. A Bethel setting explains large blocks
of essential material, and no other specific setting is apparent.17

15 After a lengthy critique of various interpretations, van Leeuwen ends by compar-

ing the "dangerous days" {ūmē uhul gallé and ūmē lemnüti) in Mesopotamian
hemerologies, which observe time through the passage of months. He does not comment
on the fact that such days are defined by the lunar cycle.
16 One obstacle to moving the whole compositional process for the book of Amos to
the world of Judah in various later periods is the preoccupation with sites and issues in
the northern kingdom of Israel. If the Day of Yahweh alludes to religious practices per-
taining to Bethel and Israel, we must imagine that the writer was aware of such details,
beyond the immediate sphere of Judah. So far as Bethel kept its religious significance
after the fall of Israel, it is possible that writers and editors from Judah could have main-
tained an interest in its affairs. The book of Amos, however, is not concerned to reject
the very existence of the Bethel sanctuary.
17 It is common to consider that Amos must have performed his prophecies at multi-

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 THE DAY OF Y AH WEH IN THE BOOK OF AMOS 25

The book of Amos may be divided into three parts that may refl
distinct foci of collection.18 The initial writ of judgment against Isra
presented as the last in a series of oracles against neighboring peop
which together span chapters 1-2. No single sacred site is named, b
the crime of mistreating the poor is compounded by the way unjust p
its pay for lavish sacred feasts: "They spread out blankets take
pledge beside every altar, and they drink wine bought with fines at
house of their God" (2:8). Any identification of a likely site for
feasts must depend on the rest of the book.19
The last part of Amos is built around five visions that are recoun
in the prophet's first-person voice.20 Chapters 7-9 thus represent a
distinct from what comes before, however much they have been r
for later readers. As with chapters 1-2, none of the visions themse
names a sacred site, though the simple conversational exchanges of
first four offer nothing by way of setting. The last vision, by contrast,
defined by an unnamed sacred site, located only by "the altar"
The account of Amos 's confrontation with Amaziah at the Bethel sanc-
tuary (7:10-17) is then embedded in the midst of these visions so that
the whole set is at least indirectly associated with the site. After the
fourth vision, the extended prophecy likewise assumes a sacred setting,
with mention of singing in some "temple" ( hêkãl , 8:3), and the follow-
ing verses include a complaint against those who count down the time

pie sites, especially Bethel and Samaria; see Wolff, Joel and Amos , 90; and Jeremias,
Amos , 1 . The Samaria references are discussed later in this section.
18 This analysis of the Day of Yahweh does not depend on a particular explanation
for the composition of the book of Amos. As a whole, the constant reference to Israel as
the northern kingdom, with Samaria and Bethel representing political and religious
centers relevant specifically to that state, indicates origin before the fall of Israel in 722.
The three parts in chapters 1-2, 3-6, and 7-9 immediately suggest the possibility of sepa-
rate collection requiring combination, and a challenge to accept Amos' s prophetic call
begins the middle collection in 3:3-8 (see S. Milstein, "Recapturing the Prophet," CBQ,
forthcoming). Various features may indicate adjustments for a readership after the
eighth century, though attempts to date them specifically involve guesswork beyond
what is necessary for this project. Compare the commentaries of Wolff (pp. 111-13) and
Jeremias (pp. 7-9). In considering chapters 3-6 to stand as distinct, I endorse especially
the structure observed by Jeremias, who comments (p. 6), "The oldest book of Amos
was framed by two compositions - oracles against the nations (Amos 1-2*) and visions
(Amos 7-9*) - ... It is possible that the oracles against the nations on the one hand, and
the visionary accounts on the other, initially constituted a separate collection (as did
chaps. 3-6* as well...)."
19 Andersen and Freedman (p. 86) appear to come to a similar conclusion regarding
the opening oracles against the nations.
20 These are 7:1-3 (locusts); 7:4-6 (fire); 7:7-8 (plumb line); 8:1-2 (ripe fruit); 9:1-
4 (at the altar).

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26 DANIEL E. FLEMING

until New Moon and Sabbath are over s

schemes (v 5). Some public rite is ass
in chapter 7 appears to provide a loc
some of this material could have orig
sacred settings, the compilers of thi
stands with this one location at Bethel.
The middle block of Amos is defined
opening and closing units, which leaves
chapters represent a remarkably coher
are subtle. The section begins with an e
compulsion to speak (3:3-8). This cha
verse 14 to "the altars of Bethel." The
begins in chapter 4, where the prophe
that Israel has ignored all of Yahweh
drought, by blight, by locusts, by plagu
son for such warnings of worse to com
Amos scorns "the cows of Bashan w
Samaria" (4:1-3), wealthy women wh
bands while abusing the poor around
prophet tells the people, no longer ju
transgress," and to make things wor
(4:4).23 This charge is not leveled ag
Bethel and Gilgal but rather against th
festivals. The high flyers from Samar
ers, whom the prophet can only welco
site, and a Bethel location makes sense
Chapter 5 takes the warnings of chap
began as hints of divine displeasure wi

21 As it stands, the confrontation story has

scheme of visions to produce a coherent un
Utzschneider, "Die Amazjaerzählung (Am 7,10
BN 41 (1988) 76-101. Whatever the date of the
episode are not adequately explained as the creat
without access to material from Israel. In par
"the priest of Bethel" (7:10) under Jeroboam k
of Bethel (7:13) as "a royal sanctuary" (miqd
mamlāka) are best derived from the time of a f
22 There is sharp disagreement over whether
sion, as maintained by Wolff (pp. Ill, 212-14)
des Amosbuches [Am 4,4-13; 5,1-17]," in Hose
des Dodekapropheton [FAT 13; Tübingen, 19
23 These declarations are more generally attrib
century.

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 THE DAY OF YAHWEH IN THE BOOK OF AMOS 27

tion. Amos 5: 1-17 is given an envelope of lament, a qînâ in vers

a mispēd in verse 17.24 This time, the section begins with the bad
"Fallen, never again to rise, (is) maiden Israel" (v 2). Then, A
returns to the sacred sites, again led by Bethel, with a tone more
and direct than with the sarcastic gibe in chapter 4: "Seek me
survive, and do not seek Bethel. Gilgal you must not enter,
Beersheba you must not cross over" (5:5). Each site has its place i
sequence, but the direct opposition lies between seeking Yah weh
seeking Bethel. As the prophet spins out how useless their worsh
these favorite sites will turn out to be, he draws attention back to
"For Gilgal is guaranteed to go into exile, and Bethel will be
misery. Seek Yah weh and so survive, lest he overwhelm the hou
Joseph like a fire. It will consume, and Bethel will have no one to
out" (5:5-6). Bethel is the focus, and this preoccupation with
would fit well the claim by Amaziah that Amos has made this p
base of operations.25
Bethel is not mentioned in the rest of chapters 5 and 6, but a ra
vocabulary and themes bind the two chapters together.26 It is p
larly noteworthy that the name Joseph appears only in 5:6, 15; an
Jeremias seeks a possible explanation for this alternate identificat
Israel in some reduced form of the state after Assyrian defeat.27
lical evidence for the usage of the name Joseph for a people or
supports such a connection with a truncated Israelite state. In fac
ever, the designation "Joseph" has a particular association with B
as preserved in the independent conquest collection of Judges 1 .

24 Chapters 3-6 form a literary whole only as a written compilation, whateve

sis in received prophetic pronouncement. This literary character is the basis
analysis of N. J. Tromp, "Amos 5:1-17: Towards a Stylistic and Rhetorical A
in Prophets, Worship and Theodicy (OTSt 23; Leiden, 1984) 56-84.
25 In chapters 4-5, the core warnings against worship at Bethel and Gilgal are
regarded as original to the eighth century. Some consider the actual threat of de
in 3: 14 and 5:6 to reflect the spirit of Bethel's destruction according to 2 Kgs 2
17, whether from the time of Josiah or later (see Wolff, p. 111). Among recent
tators, Andersen and Freedman (AB) and Paul (Hermeneia) advocate an eighth
date for almost the whole book. My argument for the centrality of Bethel as a s
in Amos 3-6 stands in any case. If some references to Bethel reflect later readin
are nevertheless inspired by the evident importance of Bethel in the old Amos
in this section.
26 These are observed by a variety of commentators. Andersen and Freedman even
combine chapters 5-6 as a distinct "Book of Woes" (pp. 461-71).
27 He considers two possibilities in discussion of Amos 5:15 (and 6:6): description
of the "torso" of the northern kingdom after Dor, Megiddo and Gilead were pulled off
as separate Assyrian provinces in 733; and reference to surviving Israelites after the fall
of Samaria in 722 (Amos, 96).

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28 DANIEL E. FLEMING

it is "the house of Joseph" that takes

that follows, Manasseh and Ephraim ar
fined only by their failures (vv 27-29).2
identification of Bethel with "the hous
5:6, and the Bethel destruction that is
to do with the combination.29 If we mu
of the cult critique in 5:4-5, then the
tradition that is unrelated to the later
connection between Joseph and Bethel
pression that Amos 5 and 6 are situate
then, Israelite worship is a core conc
added from the interest of readers aft
mise of the northern state. More particul
core Amos tradition appears to conc
have come to Bethel. The pronouncem
the Day of Yahweh in 5: 18-20 is placed
ritual for Yahweh (5:21-27). The likel
cern in Amos 5-6 is therefore Bethel.

II. - The Day of Yahweh in Amos 5

With its eighth-century Israelite setting, perhaps associated with pil-

grimage rites at Bethel, the Day of Yahweh in Amos 5:18 and 20 stands
apart sharply from every other biblical use of this famous phrase. The
examples in Zephaniah (1:7, 14), Ezekiel (13:5), and Obadiah (15) are
clustered around the destruction of Judah. Those in Isaiah 13 (v 5) and
in Joel (1:15; 2:1, 11; 3:4; 4:14) share the Jerusalem orientation of the
others, though the crisis is on a more global scale, especially in Joel.
The Day of Yahweh in Amos shares none of this and demands to be
understood on its own terms, leaving aside later notions of God's judg-
ment day.31

28 In his treatment of Judges 1, M. Weinfeld calls Ephraim and Manasseh "the

tribes of the house of Joseph" without comment, bypassing the particular identification
of Joseph with Bethel; "Judges 1:1 - 2:5: The Conquest under the Leadership of the
House of Judah," in A. G. Auld ed., Understanding Poets and Prophets: Essays in
Honour of George Wishart Anderson (JSOTS 152; Sheffield, 1993) 397.
29 See the argument by Wolff (p. 240), who conflates Joseph with Ephraim, as the
Genesis genealogy would lead us to do.
30 According to analysis as an expansion, 5:6 transposes divine speech into pro-
phetic speech and changes a declaration of certain judgment into a warning, all in pro-
saic style (Wolff, pp. 232, 240).
31 Contrast Bar s tad' s analysis of the origins, which relies above all on the fact that
elsewhere, the phrase occurs in oracles against nations {Religious Polemics , 103).

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 THE DAY OF YAHWEH IN THE BOOK OF AMOS 29

We must start with the text itself, which is compact, with the
force of a fist. Amos 5: 18-20 is constructed in three parts in an
pattern.32 Verse 18 introduces the Day of Yahweh as a known qu
awaited eagerly by the Israelite audience. Amos immediately tur
happy anticipation on its head by reversing the direction of the
primary definition: toward darkness rather than toward light.
"Woe to you who yearn for the Day of Yahweh.
What good is it to you, the Day of Yahweh? It is darkness and not l

The center then shifts to a disturbing portrait of a man on the run

perishes at home just as he relaxes in relief.
"Just as a man flees the lion and the bear attacks him,
And when he gets into the house and rests his hand on the wall, the
bites him."33

The Day of Yahweh may seem to be the last refuge of Israel, p

the refuge of piety, but it will offer no safety. The prophet retu
verse 20 to his initial theme.

"Is not the Day of Yahweh darkness and not light?

And it will have shade and not shining."

To a modern reader, these three verses are alluring in their passion

and frustrating in their obscurity. For those who understood the basic
points of reference, the impact must have been blunt enough. All we can
tell is that the Day of Yahweh was awaited as a beneficial event. In the
context of Amos' s complaint against the smug celebration of Israelite
festivals, we may also surmise that the Day was considered positive and
predictable.34 These Israelites have no sense of insecurity. According to

32 As a whole, the ancient versions offer no major corrections or alternatives to the

MT; see Wolff, pp. 253-54; van Leeuwen, p. 112; Beck, p. 48. Wolff represents the
view that verse 18b ("It is darkness and not light") is a rhetorical addition (p. 253), but
this conclusion unnecessarily underestimates the effectiveness of repetition. Recently,
Beck argues vigorously for the unity of the whole three-verse segment, with specific
objections to proposals that verse 18b or 19 could have been added later (pp. 49-52).
33 I have taken this as one extended scene rather than as two in parallel; see also
Wolff (p. 256) and Paul (p. 186). Andersen and Freedman (p. 522) observe the possibil-
ity of a single scene but then prefer to see parallel images with two separate men, based
on the idea that biblical writers often make "a solemn point twice."
34 For one reading that connects 5:18-20 solidly to 5:21-27, see Karl Möller, A
Prophet in Debate: The Rhetoric of Persuasion in the Book of Amos (JSOTS 372; Shef-
field: Sheffield Academic Press, 2003) 128. Jeremias emphasizes both that these repre-
sent distinct oral units and that they are now "intended to be read together as a unified
written text" (p. 98). Verse 21 follows seamlessly from the preceding section, and the
structure of 5:18-27 as a whole parallels exactly that of chapter 6, each introduced by
the cry of "woe."

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 30 DANIEL E. FLEMING

Amos, they also have no sense of failu

cency militates against interpretation o
as some sweeping future deliverance f
mestic disaster. If the people of Isra
manifestation of their god in light, it is m
immediate and realistic terms. Such im
of ritual.
The problem, then, is that the text of
itself as a title, and this phrase comes t
later uses. If the reference to the Day
originates as a rhetorical response to r
imagine what kind of ritual could h
Mowinckel's attempt to correlate Israe
larger region represented a brilliant br
Eastern ritual was far too narrow. With
of cosmic maintenance into a single
all components of world order were re
ticular evidence for a new-year setting
val of Yahweh's enthronement as king
ertheless be sought, even if we cann
answer based on the available evidence. W
cle, I propose what seems to be the mo
detail of Amos 5: 18-20 by itself: celebr
ness in a special appearance of the new
The one further piece of information
lar association of the expected Day with
as a "day," the particular form of light
acteristic of the sun. As both verb and
that penetrates darkness, as from stars,
bring darkness to an end, like the sun

35 Van Leeuwen's objections to Mowinckel'

5:18-20," 120-21). All but one are standard pro
ment festival, including objections to the hypot
tion from the Psalms, along with the absence of
4 eschatological' yõm yhwh arose from the orig
disappointment of the people by their God-king
God for the future?" The hypothesis proposed h
from the ritual concern.
36 Barton ("Day of Yahweh," 69) concludes that "light" is probably a metaphor for
success and prosperity. This solution evades too quickly the literal potential of the con-
trast between dark and light in a context that may have a particular association with
ritual.

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 THE DAY OF Y AH WEH IN THE BOOK OF AMOS 3 1

texts associate this "shining" with Yahweh at war or in his earth

appearance.37 In a ritual context, the ngh of Amos 5:20 suggests a vic
rious epiphany of Israel's god, as light overcomes darkness.
Above all, the Israelites consider the Day of Yahweh to be "ligh
and a light to be awaited. Although the most obvious manifestation
light is the sun, its daily cycle does not lend itself to the sense
extended anticipation that is carried in the tone of Amos 5: 18-20. B
the waiting and Amos 's rhetoric of contrast suggest an expected rit
movement from darkness to light.38 So far as the sun may not in f
provide the primary ritual expression of this kind of movement, th
longer cycle of the moon may be underestimated in modern interpre
tion, even as it is solidly present in the biblical evidence for Israelit
practice.
Although the moon also rises and sets, like the sun, it offers another
cycle of appearance and disappearance that has been appreciated
through the ages across the world. The very idea of calendar, the divi-
sion of every year into twelve units, is inspired by the periods of the
moon's gradual growth from crescent to full and before waning back to
a crescent, followed by a brief period of darkness before the start of a
fresh cycle. The entire process takes between 29 and 30 days, on aver-
age. In the ancient Near East, calendars appear to have been universally
lunar, following the actual pattern of the moon's change. Each appear-
ance of what could easily be perceived as a "new" moon was attributed
its own name, often derived originally from a ritual event that occurred
during the given cycle. Every lunar cycle was characterized by two
positive achievements, the first appearance of a "new moon" and the
successful arrival of its "full" form. Because of their regularity, modern
observers may too quickly consider each new and full moon to be ritu-
ally equivalent. Tied to the named moons of separate lunar appearances
in an annual calendar, however, every New Moon or Full Moon celebra-
tion had a particular place in the year.
One of the oddities of biblical evidence for ritual observance is the
fact that the festivals defined in the Torah do not interest the prophets,
especially the books that touch the earlier periods. In three pre-exilic
references, the principal named events are the "New Moon" (hõdes)
and the "Sabbath" (, šabbāt )ģ. Isa 1:13; Hos 2:13; and Amos 8:5. It

37 See 2 Sam 22:13, 29; Hab 3:4, 11; Isa 9:1.

The idea that this contrast of darkness and light refers vaguely to Israel's fading
splendor underestimates the power of the image on its own terms; contra M. Lang, Gott
und Gewalt in der Amosschrift (Würzburg, 2004) 145.

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32 DANIEL E. FLEMING

seems odd to treat these with particula

the finished form of the Bible, both w
time on a fairly short scale, monthly
however, to assume that these applied t
place at regular intervals throughout th
the New Moons and Sabbaths may have
Among the festivals defined in the T
the Passover (Pesah) may be defined
opening line of the section on festiv
hodeš of Aviv, and perform Pesah" (16
determine whether Pesah was to begin
posed to the full moon of Lev 23:5 and
that its celebration was identified w
Aviv. The hodeš or "(New) Moon" of
significance by association with Pesah,
may even have been tied to the emerge
The book of Amos shares the specia
celebration according to the New Moon
no explicit source for the light that co
doom. Nevertheless, the "shining" of A
the moon. While the root ngh has a var
any literal source, but never the sun, t
moonlight. In Isa 13: 10, the Day of Yah
order: "Indeed the stars of the heavens
flash their light. The sun will turn dar
not shine (yaggîah ) its light."40 In Isa
mactic appearance in glory will come w
enly lights will fall from use: "You wi

39 I recall here that some commentators consi

visions that form the core of chapters 7-9. In lit
true for both this text and the Amaziah confron
tions reflect the creation of a literary whole,
dates to a period after the fall of the northern ki
The combination of New Moon and Sabbath in
century ritual tradition, and the content of 8:3-
The only other reference comes from Isa 1 : 13,
the same calendrical rites in a Judahite setting.
40 J. A. Goldstein does take seriously the lu
marks in passing that "Contrary to Isa. 13:
(eclipses of the moon are common)." "The M
R. A. Argall et al eds., For a Later Generatio
Israel, Early Judaism , and Early Christianity

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 THE DAY OF Y AH WEH IN THE BOOK OF AMOS 33

light, and the moon will not give you light as a shining ( nõgah )."
These texts do not require us to understand the ngh in Amos as m
light, but they do demonstrate that this "shining" light can be luna

III. - The Day of Yahweh and New Moon Rites at Emar

As a ritual event, the Day of Yahweh in Amos would have had to

important enough for a major pilgrimage festival, plausibly at Beth
The name alone requires a special manifestation of Yahweh' s presen
Many prophetic and hymnie texts, including Isaiah 60, asso
Yahweh 's presence with light. The emphasis on eager waiting and t
contrast between light and darkness, however, raise the question of
ancient rites celebrate the arrival of visible light. Amos itself prov
one answer in its New Moon rite, an event mentioned also in Hosea
(Amos 8:5 and Hos 2:13). Perhaps a New Moon festival in Israel could
merit the incorporation of a Day of Yahweh, a day of victory, identified
with the reappearance of lunar light.
For comparison with the ritual calendar and traditions of the Bible,
the only extensive evidence for Syria-Palestine comes from the 13th cen-
tury BCE in regions to the north, where cuneiform writing preserved
numerous ritual texts at Ugarit and Emar. One festival from Emar offers
a particularly provocative comparison. A combination of texts describe
a major annual celebration in terms of the "(New) Moon" (< hidašu ),
with rites that follow through several days a movement from fearsome
lunar gloom to the light of the emergent moon. This older event gives a
sense of how the passage of the moon could lend its metaphor to a
larger promise of divine victory of light over encroaching darkness in a
ritual setting that could play out in entirely present-oriented terms. Only
by the prophet's assault on Israelite self-satisfaction would it be trans-
formed into a threat, and later, into an eschatological settling of ac-
counts by God.
The town of Emar left us an archive of ritual and temple administra-
tion that dates to the late 13th century, contemporary with the finds from
Ugarit.42 Unlike the religious documents from Ugarit, the Emar tablets

41 In general, modern readers rarely associate the moon with Yah weh' s presence. In
an entire monograph devoted to the cultural context of Isaiah 60, B. Langer focuses
entirely on the sun; Gott als "Licht" in Israel und Mesopotamien: Eine Studie zu Jes
60,1 -3. 19f (Klosterneuberg, 1989).
42 For complete and up-to-date bibliography on ancient Emar, see the Web site,
www.ieiop/emar/en. An essential new volume that treats a variety of important issues
has been edited by L. d'Alfonso and Y. Cohen, and D. Sürenhagen, The City of Emar

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 34 DANIEL E. FLEMING

were written in Akkadian rather than

they equally display the town's own cu
biblical practice.43 Most striking, perha
tumn festival that lasts seven days, co
zukru festival celebrated the town's id
head of a public pantheon.44
The oldest ritual text from Emar is an
six months of the year, counted from
Dagan is accorded one other major rite
ning of the sixth month. This rite is c
because it occurs on the second and th
is difficult to avoid rendering it "th
Ugaritic ritual with special interest in t
first or second and the third days of the
ther a month name nor specific identi
pose.47 Reconstruction of the Emar rite
supplied, beyond dates and offerings.
calendar-based rites, however, perm
Dagan with rites from two later texts
quence that only concludes with the N

among the Late Bronze Empires: History ,

Münster, 2008). The evidence for calendrical r
my Time at Emar: The Cultic Calendar and t
(Winona Lake, Ind., 2000).
43 For an overview of how Emar ritual relat
Skolnik and M. Berenbaum eds., Encyclopa
2007) 6.386-90.
44 On the zukru , see my Time at Emar , chapt
43 In Time at Emar , see The Ritual Text for
73, and the new edition on pp. 268-80. No one
the calendrical rites from Emar. Based on a com
names, and the physical condition of the tablet,
the main body of ritual writing found at Emar.
46 Emar VI.3 446:96-102, the first rite for t
this event based on evidence from this and tw
Time at Emar , 192-95.
47 CAT 1.46 is a fragment of a tablet that des
one month, the name of which is lost, if it had
is preserved in detail, followed by a rite at the f
second event then demonstrates the overlap of
concerned with the same full-moon ritual (
Lete, Canaanite Religion according to the Lit
CDL, 1999) 277-80; D. Pardee, Ritual and Cu
48 The two more recent texts cover indivi
Halma/Hiyar (Emar VI.3 463); see Time at Ema
93.

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 THE DAY OF Y AH WEH IN THE BOOK OF AMOS 35

The direct description of the hidasu of Dagan reads:

96 The month of Halma: On the second day
97 they perform sacrificial homages ( kubadu ) at the temple of Dagan
98 In the evening
99 they fill goblets with wine and burn a bird.
100 The new moon of Dagan (hi-da-as dKUR) falls on the third day.
sheep is provided by the town.
101 The divine axe takes up residence in the temple.
102 The sheep's hide belongs to the diviner.

In the hidasu text, the month before Halma can be equated with
month of Abì in a separate tablet for the rites of a single month, ba
on a match of certain ritual details and days. This month of Abî th
fore provides a ritual backdrop for the new moon of Dagan. The
days of the waning moon are observed by offerings associated with
dead, and "the gate of the grave" is barred before utter lunar dark
falls.49 On the first day of the next month, defined by the sighting of t
new moon, the gates are reopened.50 This begins the celebration of w
the older text calls "the New Moon {hidasu) of Dagan," with a cli
on the third day of the month.51
We have no liturgy for the Emar rites, but a rich Mesopotamian
erature for comparable ritual suggests that the end of each month
considered a period of danger and fear.52 The powers of death w

49 Emar VI.3 452:31-52, for days 25, 26, and 27 of the month called Abî.
50 The text for the month of Abî does not name the new month and only says,
the head of the month, on the day of (the moon's) disappearance (until?) [...] it s
(again): they purify the town" (452:53). Emar VI.3 463 then begins without a m
name, with the temporal definition, "On the day of opening the doors" (line 1). The
relation with the hidašu text (446) and the text for Abî (452) is then based on the
of opening doors with a new moon, after barring them before lunar darkness in the
text, combined with the major rite for Dagan at the start of a month, with birds bur
the second day of the month (463:1-12).
51 It is important to recognize that this hidašu rite is focused on the third day of
month, with preparation on the second, rather than falling on the very first day,
fined by the Bible's hõdes. Possibly, the rite was calculated to celebrate the first ac
visibility of the moon, which may not have matched the first day of the month. In
Durand and M. Guichard, "Les rituels de Mari," FM III (1997) 32, Durand argues
at Mari, the first day of the month was not calculated by the moon's appearance bu
the first day when the previous moon had fully disappeared.
52 In downstream Mesopotamia, the 28th and 29th days of every month belonged
Nergal and the underworld; see B. Landsberger, Der kultische Kalender der
Babylonier und Assyrer (Leipzig, 1915) 141-44; M. E. Cohen, The Cultic Calendars of
the Ancient Near East (Bethesda, Md., 1993) 454-55. The end of Du'uzu in the summer
(month IV) came to be set aside for mourning the dead Dumuzi, who would rise again
with the winter rains, with particular observance from the 26th through the 29th, with the
last moonlight; see J. Scurlock, "K 164 (BA 2, P.635): New Light on the Mourning
Rites for Dumuzi?," RA 86 (1992) 53-67; Cohen, Cultic Calendars , 315-17.

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 36 DANIEL E. FLEMING

more present, with the absence of the

came the promise of safety. Although
month, it often held special weight du
ter and summer. At Emar, the seque
lapped the fifth and sixth months in th
In spite of the limited information
Amos and the Israelite "New Moon." Fi
monthly, a New Moon once a year. In
lunar cycle's association with Dagan
divine power.53 This annual celebration
ances of the new moon could carry
Emar 's hidašu is dedicated to the leadi
and is included in a list of ritual perfo
whole town.54 The actual offerings of
fined to the temple of Dagan but inclu
on the document for six months of Em
major festivals for Dagan, the other be
nox.

What, then, of the Day of Yahweh in Amos? The brief crit

municates only the centrality of new light and a possible luna
the "shining." The Day appears to represent a specific ritual m
rather than a larger category such as a pilgrimage festival (h
Moon (i hõdes ). If it was associated with the lunar appearanc
Moon rite, the identifying importance of this "Day of Yahwe
precedence over the generic hõdes . Like the New Moon o
Emar, Israelite celebrations of certain new moon rites may h
annual, not monthly, and consequently more important to th
nity involved. The annual nature of "New Moon" (hõdes) rites
explicit in the event celebrated by Saul and his court in 1
which seems to correlate with the "annual sacrifice" of David's clan at

53 The month is not named for Dagan in any of the available traditions, and we have
no evidence for any month named "Dagan" at Emar, in spite of his dominance as the
principal regional god. Perhaps his presence was so widely felt and celebrated that no
one month could lay claim to the connection. In Emar VI. 3 446, the month name Halma
is derived from an event dedicated to that god on the 8th day (lines 102-105). The month
also gives special place to a rite called "the hiyaru of the storm god" (446: 118-119; cf.
463:19-25), and a ritual text from Ugarit appears to recognize the same event (CAT
1.105:5, etc.); see the discussion of this text in Time at Emar , 172 n.147. The rite gives
its name to a month in the calendars of Alalakh and Ugarit, at least; see Cohen, Cultic
Calendars , 373 (Alalakh levels VII and IV, early and middle second millennium BCE),
378-79 (Ugarit, late second millennium).
54 Emar VI.3 446: 1, "[Tablet of the] ntes of the town.

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 THE DAY OF YAHWEH IN THE BOOK OF AMOS 37

Bethlehem (v 6). As part of a major annual event, "the Day of Ya

could have celebrated the god's victorious epiphany with the
appearance. Neither new year nor divine enthronement need hav
involved.
Two more details from the book of Amos warrant comment before
conclusion. First, the New Moon is paired with the Sabbath in the three
pre-exilic prophetic texts already mentioned: Isa 1:13; Hos 2:13; and
Amos 8:5. Given that the New Moons in question may be annual rather
than monthly, we cannot assume that the Sabbaths refer to a weekly day
of rest. It is possible that such Sabbaths are the special festivals that
could be celebrated with a seven-day period, like Pesah/Massot and
Sukkot in the Torah calendars and certain major events at Emar.55 In
both the priestly/holiness and the deuteronomic instructions for Pesah/
Massot, a "Sabbath" of rest from work is incorporated into the seven-
day blocks.56 By this interpretation, "Sabbath" celebration in the pre-
exilic prophetic books would have related to special festivals rather than
weekly practice, in tandem with the New Moons.
Finally, the New Moon framework helps make sense of the marzēah
in Amos 6:7. 57 Amos 6:1-7 constitutes at least the core of a second woe
oracle, addressed again to the complacent rich, with their ivory-inlaid
beds, conspicuous consumption of meat, and fine unguents. The last line
pronounces a sentence of exile, with a curious conclusion: "Now, there-
fore, they will take their place at the head of the exiles, and the
marzēah-fesist of those sprawled out will pass away" (v 7). The sprawl-
ing harks back to the beds of verse 4, part of the prophet's angry cri-
tique. The marzēah appears just one other time in the Bible, in Jer 16:5,
but it has attracted enormous attention because of its tradition in
Canaanite and Syrian religion. "The house of the marzēah " is associ-
ated with mourning rites in Jeremiah, and the cognate term has been ar-
gued in some cases to have funerary connections in some Syrian texts.
At Ugarit, the marzahu is a kind of feasting club that need not be associ-
ated with rites for the dead.58

55 At Emar, these include the installation festivals for the NIN.DINGIR priestess of
the storm god (369) and for the mať artu priestess (370), along with the long version of
the zukru festival (373). For the first of these, see Fleming, The Installation of Baal's
High Priestess at Emar: A Window on Ancient Syrian Religion (HSS 42; Atlanta,
1992).
56 See Lev 23:6-8; Num 28:24-25; and Deut 16:8.
57 This marzēah is surely an Israelite institution, like the Day of Yahweh in Amos
5:18 and 20; see McLaughlin, The marzēah, 80-109.
58 Along with Mclaughlin, for recent review of these texts and their interpretation,
see V. Alavoine, "Le mrz h est-il un banquet funéraire? Étude des sources
épigraphiques et bibliques (Am. 6,7 et Jer. 16,5)," Le Muséon 113 (2000) 1-23.

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38 DANIEL E. FLEMING

In the Emar hidašu text, a marzahu

tivities of the month before Dagan's
clear, but the later Emar texts show a
and these rites may be related. In A
grand finale of a New Moon festi
would reflect the same sequence atte
understood to spurn a lavish ritual f
leading up to the Day of Yahweh. It is
ecy in the book of Amos could be rela
of chapter 5 relates to the material ar
3-6 could carry some association with
It is always hard to prove to what ex
with a given prophet reflect the cha
book. Very little in the book of Amo
pecially in chapters 3-6, with the pos
begins the section in 3:3-8. Whoever
considered the identity of the prophe
sage. The authority of the message did
of who delivered it. Nothing in chapt
the contents as the first-person speech
of interest in the prophet's identity
suggest a direct acquaintance with pa
at Israel's sanctuary in Bethel. The dia
whether or not the person who delive
easily understood to have been conce
kingdom still offered a political count
In this warning about the Day of Y
head the expected light and affirmat
awaited as light will turn out to be da
but soon enough. Disaster will overta
what hit them. The rich, as always, w
exile, and that will be the end of Isr
appear, then, that what became a pop
the sarcastic flair of this one writer,
of Amos. Others who used the phras
a brilliant reversal of ritual expectati
sociated with Amos launched the ent
day, the great "Day of the Lord."

59 "The marzahii men of the fellowship(?)

loaf to the gods. Half of the one sheep belon

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