A divine message arrives during a turbulent era spanning the reigns of three kings, aimed directly at the kingdoms of Judah and Israel. The overarching goal of this prophecy is to rebuke the people and warn them to abandon their evil ways so that God will not remove His presence from among them. It serves as a stark warning about the impending destruction of Samaria, which will eventually be followed by the exile of Judah [אברבנאל]. This message is a direct communication of divine speech from God [רש״י].
The prophet is identified by his hometown of Morashah or Moreshet, a city located within the territory of Judah [רש״י, רד״ק, מצודת ציון]. This origin indicates that he belonged to the tribe of Judah [אברבנאל]. Historically, he is also recognized in the Book of Jeremiah as one who prophesied during the reign of Hezekiah [רד״ק, אבן עזרא, אברבנאל].
Although the prophecy specifically names the capital cities of Samaria and Jerusalem, it is actually directed at the entire nation [אבן עזרא]. These two major cities are used to represent the entirety of both kingdoms [אברבנאל].
The timeline of this prophecy is anchored to the reigns of Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, who were kings of Judah. This raises a natural question: since the message also targets Samaria, why are the kings of Israel from that same era omitted? One perspective suggests that simply naming Samaria as a target serves as a substitute, effectively acting as if the kings of Israel were explicitly mentioned [רד״ק]. Another view attributes this omission to physical geography. Unlike other prophets who traveled into the northern kingdom of Israel to deliver their messages, this prophet lived in Judah and did not travel to the northern lands to prophesy [מצודת דוד]. A third approach frames the omission as a matter of ideology based on the prophet's heritage. Prophets originating from the northern ten tribes would date their messages using the kings of both nations. However, prophets from the tribes of Judah and Benjamin recognized only the kings from the House of David as the true and legitimate rulers. They viewed the northern kings of Israel as enemies of God and therefore deliberately refused to speak their names [אברבנאל].