Within the commentary genre, studies on Amos and Hosea are plentiful. Hayes’s study on Amos and Hosea contributes to the myriad resources available on these two prophetic books. Different from most commentary studies, Hayes’s contribution is geared toward a different audience than most scholarly works on Amos and Hosea. Part of the series Biblical Studies from the Catholic Biblical Association of America, this book along with other volumes in the series “seeks to bridge the gap between the technical exegetical work of the academic community and the educational and pastoral needs of the ecclesial community” (ix). Written in an accessible style for nonspecialists who are educated readers, the volumes in the series aim to provide members of the Catholic Church with a careful study of texts while giving attention to the texts’ theological dimensions. Authors of each of the volumes in the series, including Hayes’s volume, are members of the Catholic Biblical Association of America.

Hayes’s starting point for the interpretation of the Amos and Hosea material is the text, specifically, the world behind the text and the world of the text. With meticulous detail, the volume describes the interplay between justice and mercy. Reading with the grain of the Amos and Hosea text, Hayes details events where, on the one hand, divine justice is executed in the face of human injustice, and on the other hand, divine mercy is offered as a sign of divine faithfulness that grounds the divine justice. Complementing each section of analysis are mini excurses that offer explanations on key textual points such as prostitution in the Old Testament, the understanding of hesed, religious rituals, and Assyrian kingship among other topics. One of Hayes’s final observation on these two prophetic books is that “close readings of Amos and Hosea reveal multiple aspects of justice and mercy in each book” (107). Hayes concludes her study with this comment: “The Books of Amos and Hosea raise distinct yet not discordant voices that call attention to the interplay of divine justice and mercy and the manifold dimensions and dynamic of each. Each book foregrounds different facets of this interplay, and each enhances and enriches the other, in contrapuntal harmony” (116).

Hayes’s study clearly shows the interplay between divine justice and divine mercy, but the volume has at least two significant weaknesses. First, although true to a historical critical and literary reading of texts that yield theological understandings from Hayes’s perspective, the volume as a whole lacks any hermeneutical awareness in the readings of these prophetic books. Even though the study is geared toward a non-academic yet educated and pastoral audience, Hayes’s interpretation of texts does not indicate an awareness of the current scholarly literature on these books that would allow the interpretation to include key questions that readers need to ponder. For example, what kind of divine justice is executed against the nations that adds to the continued cycle of violence affecting not only the human world but also the natural environment?

Second, in reading with the grain of the text, Hayes’s volume does not assess how the books of Amos and Hosea portray the deity. Despite the exercise of mercy, the God of Amos and Hosea is hegemonic, punitive, and threatening. Theologically, how are readers to understand this God, especially those who preach on these texts, pray with these texts, and teach others about these texts? In the world today where authoritarianism is on the rise, and Christian nationalism appeals to a fundamentalist reading of biblical texts, the lack of critical theological assessment of the deity and the deity’s actions is no longer acceptable. Furthermore, the interplay between divine justice and divine mercy also needs to be assessed by its binary qualities. Divine mercy does not erase the exercise of punitive justice.

The volume makes a contribution to the study of Amos and Hosea, but it does not offer new critical and theological thought on these two important biblical books. The series’ readership deserves a more informed and sophisticated reading of Amos and Hosea, especially in light of Pope Leo XIV’s encouragement to Catholics to read and study the Bible.