It cannot be proved in any way, that the schools of the prophets, established by Samuel at a time when the circumstances of Judah and Israel were altogether similar, were continued in the kingdom of Judah. Every prophet there stands in an isolated position. The entire prophetic order and institute bears rather a sporadic character. But in the kingdom of Israel, where the prophetic order occupied a position altogether different from that which it held in the kingdom of Judah, inasmuch as, after the expulsion of the tribe of Levi, they had to watch over all the interests of religion, the schools of the prophets had a very important mission assigned to them. We must not by any means imagine that their constitution was such, that after a few years' training, the sons of the prophets attained to perfect independence. The greater number of them remained during all their lifetime in the position of sons. The schools of the prophets were a kind of monasteries. Even those who, in consequence of their peculiar circumstances, no longer remained there, but were scattered throughout the country, continued always under their authority. One needs only to read attentively the histories of Elijah and of Elisha, which afford us the fullest information regarding these institutions, to be speedily convinced of the soundness of the view which we have here presented. On the subject of the organization of the schools of the prophets in the kingdom of Israel, compare _Dissertations on the Genuineness of the Pentateuch_, i. p. 185. f.
But how can Amos adduce it as a proof of his divine mission, that he is neither a prophet, nor, in the sense explained, a prophet's son, _i.e._, that he was neither a superior nor an inferior member of the prophetic order? The answer is,--It was the result of that organization of the prophetic order, that the relation to the Lord was one which was more or less mediate. To those who would not acknowledge the immediate divine influence, some ground was thereby afforded for doing so. Their training, their principles, the form of their prophecies, all admitted of a natural explanation. It is true that the _spirit_ which animated them baffled any such attempt; but that spirit was not so easily perceived. In the case of any one, then, who appeared as a prophet, without standing in that connection, and yet in the full possession of all prophetic gifts,--in demonstration of the spirit and of power, a natural explanation was far more difficult; especially if, like Amos, he was, by his outward situation, cut off from all human resources for education. But was Amos, for that reason, an uneducated man? This is a question which one may answer either in the affirmative or negative, according to what he understands by education. So much is certain, that he was in possession of the essential part of a true Israelitish education--viz., the knowledge of the law. The most intimate acquaintance with the Pentateuch everywhere manifests itself; compare in proof of this the _Dissertations on the Genuineness of the Pentateuch_, i. p. 136 ff. There are too many instances, down to most recent times, of living piety breaking, in this respect, through almost impenetrable barriers, to allow us to consider this as a strange thing, and to make it necessary for us to excogitate the various ways and means by which Amos may have received this education. It is only on the lower ground of the mere forms of language, that the rank of Amos not unfrequently appears. In all the higher relations he shows himself a type of the Apostles, who, although they were uneducated fishermen of Galilee, exhibit the most distinguishing proofs of true education.