ABSTRACT
The author focuses on the Day of Yahweh from two points of view, historical and literary or canonical. The alternative explanation has been that of Gerhard von Rad, who took the Day of Yahweh' to mean the day of Yahweh's battle', deriving it from the Holy War tradition. This theory goes back to R. H. Charles. The eighth-century prophets are no longer read as uttering a strong challenge to accepted understandings of God's intentions for Israel, but become part of a scheme of thought which remains more or less constant throughout the Minor Prophets. Amos's prophecy of a coming day of judgement on Israel was gradually transmogrified into a hope for the great Day of Yahweh that would see other nations put down and Israel established in a position of leadership. The idea of the Day of Yahweh did not develop over the course of Israelite prophecy.
