THE PENTATEUCH OF THE SAMARITANS. 149 



Northern tribes that the contents of the Five Books were known. 

 The two prophets, Amos and Hosea, are the uncontested re- 

 mains of Northern prophetic writing. Though Amos was a 

 native of Judah his sphere of activity was the North, and his 

 message would necessarily be conditioned by the amount of 

 knowledge possessed by his audience. He assumes those whom 

 he addresses to know something of the Pentateuchal history ; 

 he refers again and again to the fact that as a nation they had 

 been brought out of Egypt and were for forty years in the wilder- 

 ness (ii, 10 ; iii, 1 ; v, 25) ; he knows of the destruction of the 

 cities of the plain, Sodom and Gomorrah (iv, 11). It is to be 

 noted that in this last case the same word is used in the prophecy 

 in speaking of the overthrow as is used in Genesis. He knows 

 also that I saac as well as Jacob is the ancestor of the nation. 

 What is most marked in regard to Amos is the numerous references 

 he makes to the sacrificial ceremonial, using technical terms in 

 doing so (Amos iv, 4 ; v, 21, 22) ; criticizing even somewhat 

 minute deviations from what was legally enjoined (iv, 5). The 

 order of Nazirites (ii, 11, 12) is noticed, and one of its leading 

 features is referred to ; yet the whole section in the book of 

 Numbers relating to the Nazirites is attributed to the Priestly 

 Code. Not less remarkable is the testimony borne by Hosea 

 to the contents of the Pentateuch. His references to patriarchal 

 history are specially to be noted. He is particularly interested 

 in the personal history of Jacob (Hos. xii, 3, 4: "He took his 

 brother by the heel in the w^omb ... he had power over 

 the angel and prevailed." In this case what is most to be 

 observed is that the words used are an obvious echo of those 

 which occur in the Genesis narrative, and these words, it may 

 be remarked, are very rare (compare Gen. xxv, 26; xxxii, 28). 

 Yet more interesting from the full knowledge manifested is 

 Hos. xii, 12, " Jacob fled into the country of Syria, and Israel 

 served for a wife, and for a wife he kept sheep " (compare 

 Gen. xxvii, 43; xxviii, 5; xxix, 18, 27). Like Amos, Hosea 

 knows of the overthrow of the cities of the plain, but in his 

 reference he does not name the two more prominent cities, but 

 Admah and Zeboim (Hos. xi, 8). He refers to the fact that 

 Israel was brought out of Egypt (Hos. xi, 1 ; xiii, 4). Later 

 events in the early history of Israel are noticed ; thus the sin of 

 Baal-Peor is referred to (Hos. ix, 10) (compare Num. xxv, 3, 5 ; 

 Deut. iv, 3). Hosea, moreover, has repeated references to the 

 Torah, as Hos. iv, 6," Thou hast forgotten the Law of thy God,'* 



