ogether 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.

[Pg 354]

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