Amos
Archimandrite Nikifor’s Biblical Encyclopedia
(burden) a) (Amos 1:1) — one of the minor prophets, who lived in the reign of Uzziah, king of Judah, nearly 800 years before Christ, and a contemporary of Hosea. He was the son of one of the shepherds of the town of Tekoa, belonging to the tribe of Judah, situated ten or fifteen miles south of Jerusalem, on the borders of the great Arabian wilderness (2 Chron. 20:20 [as given]). Here he tended flocks and lived by gathering the fruit of the sycamore tree (Amos 7:14), which, it appears, points to his relatively poor condition, since this fruit served chiefly as food for the poor; it was in this state that he was called by the Lord to the prophetic ministry.
The time and circumstances of his birth and death are unknown. b) (Isa. 1:1; 2:1) father of the prophet Isaiah. It is thought that one of his daughters was the wife of Manasseh.