Humanitext Reader

Septuagint · Amos §3.1-3.15

Judgment on Chosen Israel and the Ruin of Samaria

Passage 3 of 9 · Greek

Summary

The prophet Amos declares that because of Israel's privileged status, they will face severe punishment for their sins, justifying the necessity of his prophecy through a series of cause-and-effect metaphors. He summons foreign nations to witness Samaria's injustice and foretells the complete destruction of their luxurious houses and the altars of Bethel.

§3.1Ἀκούσατε τὸν λόγον τοῦτον ὃν ἐλάλησεν Κύριος ἐφʼ ὑμᾶς, οἶκος Ἰσραήλ, καὶ κατὰ πάσης φυλῆς ἧς ἀνήγαγον ἐκ γῆς Αἰγύπτου, λέγων §3.2Πλὴν ὑμᾶς ἔγνων ἐκ πασῶν φυλῶν γῆς· διὰ τοῦτο ἐκδικήσω ἐφʼ ὑμᾶς πάσας τὰς ἁμαρτίας ὑμῶν. §3.3εἰ πορεύσονται δύο ἐπὶ τὸ αὐτὸ καθόλου ἐὰν μὴ γνωρίσωσιν ἑαυτούς;
Hear this word that the Lord has spoken against you, O house of Israel, and against every tribe that I brought up from the land of Egypt, saying: 'Only you have I known out of all the tribes of the earth; therefore I will punish you for all your sins.' Will two walk together at all, unless they have made an appointment?
§3.4εἰ ἐρεύξεται λέων ἐκ τοῦ δρυμοῦ αὐτοῦ θήραν οὐκ ἔχων;
Will a lion roar from his forest when he has no prey?
εἰ δώσει σκύμνος φωνὴν αὐτοῦ ἐκ τῆς μάνδρας αὐτοῦ καθόλου ἐὰν μὴ ἁρπάσῃ τί;
Will a lion's whelp utter his voice from his den at all, unless he has seized something?
§3.5εἰ πεσεῖται ὄρνεον ἐπὶ τὴν γῆν ἄνευ ἰξευτοῦ;
Will a bird fall upon the earth without a fowler?
εἰ σχασθήσεται παγὶς ἐπὶ τῆς γῆς ἄνευ τοῦ συλλαβεῖν τι;
Will a snare spring up from the earth without capturing something?
§3.6εἰ φωνήσει σάλπιγξ ἐν πόλει καὶ λαὸς οὐ μὴ πτοηθήσεται;
Will a trumpet sound in a city, and the people not be afraid?
εἰ ἔσται κακία ἐν πόλει ἣν Κύριος οὐκ ἐποίησεν;
Will there be evil in a city, which the Lord has not done?
§3.7διότι οὐ μὴ ποιήσει Κύριος ὁ θεὸς πρᾶγμα ἐὰν μὴ ἀποκαλύψῃ παιδείαν πρὸς τοὺς δούλους αὐτοῦ τοὺς προφήτας.
For the Lord God will do nothing, unless he reveals his instruction to his servants the prophets.
§3.8λέων ἐρεύξεται, καὶ τίς οὐ φοβηθήσεται Κύριος ὁ θεὸς ἐλάλησεν, καὶ τίς οὐ προφητεύσε;
A lion shall roar, and who will not fear? The Lord God has spoken, and who will not prophesy?
§3.9Ἀπαγγείλατε χώραις ἐν Ἀσσυρίοις καὶ ἐπὶ τὰς χώρας τῆς Αἰγύπτου, καὶ εἴπατε Συνάχθητε ἐπὶ τὸ ὄρος Σαμαρείας. καὶ ἴδετε θαυμαστὰ πολλὰ ἐν μέσῳ αὐτῆς καὶ καταδυναστείαν τὴν ἐν αὐτῇ· §3.10καὶ οὐκ ἔγνω ἃ ἔσται ἐναντίον αὐτῆς, λέγει Κύριος, οἱ θησαυρίζοντες ἀδικίαν καὶ ταλαιπωρίαν ἐν ταῖς χώραις αὐτῶν. §3.11διὰ τοῦτο τάδε λέγει Κύριος ὁ θεός Τύρος κυκλόθεν ἡ γῆ σου ἐρημωθήσεται, καὶ κατάξει ἐκ σοῦ ἰσχύν σου, καὶ διαρπαγήσονται αἱ χῶραί σου. §3.12τάδε λέγει Κύριος Ὃν τρόπον ὅταν ἐκσπάσῃ ὁ ποιμὴν ἐκ στόματος τοῦ λέοντος δύο σκέλη ἢ λοβὸν ὠτίου, οὕτως ἐκσπασθήσονται οἱ υἱοὶ Ἰσραὴλ οἱ κατοικοῦντες ἐν Σαμαρείᾳ κατέναντι τῆς φυλῆς καὶ ἐν Δαμασκῷ ἱερεῖς. §3.13ἀκούσατε καὶ ἐπιμαρτύρασθε τῷ οἴκῳ Ἰακώβ, λέγει Κύριος ὁ θεὸς ὁ παντοκράτωρ, §3.14διότι ἐν τῇ ἡμέρᾳ ὅταν ἐκδικῶ ἀσεβείας τοῦ Ἰσραὴλ ἐπʼ αὐτόν, καὶ ἐκδικήσω ἐπὶ τὰ θυσιαστήρια Βαιθήλ, καὶ κατασκαφήσεται τὰ κέρατα τοῦ θυσιαστηρίου καὶ πεσοῦνται ἐπὶ τὴν γῆν·
Proclaim to the regions among the Assyrians and upon the regions of Egypt, and say: 'Assemble yourselves upon the mountain of Samaria, and behold many wonders in her midst, and the oppression that is in her.' 'And she has not known what shall be before her,' says the Lord, 'they who treasure up injustice and misery in their regions.' Therefore thus says the Lord God: 'O Tyre, your land shall be desolated round about, and he shall bring down your strength from you, and your regions shall be plundered.' Thus says the Lord: 'Just as when a shepherd snatches two legs or a lobe of an ear out of the mouth of a lion, so shall the sons of Israel be snatched away—those who dwell in Samaria opposite the tribe, and the priests in Damascus.' 'Hear, and testify to the house of Jacob,' says the Lord God the Almighty, 'because in the day when I punish the transgressions of Israel upon him, I will also punish the altars of Bethel, and the horns of the altar shall be cut down and fall to the ground.
§3.15συνχεῶ καὶ πατάξω τὸν οἶκον τὸν περίπτερον ἐπὶ τὸν οἶκον τὸν θερινὸν, καὶ ἀπολοῦνται οἶκοι ἐλεφάντινοι, καὶ προστεθήσονται ἕτεροι οἶκοι πολλοί, λέγει Κύριος.
And I will destroy the winter house with the summer house, and the ivory houses shall perish, and many other houses shall come to an end,' says the Lord.

Notes

  1. §3.1λέγων — This present participle modifies the subject Κύριος (the Lord). It is a literal translation of the Hebrew quote-introducing formula (לֵאמֹר); though it does not agree grammatically in gender and number with the closer feminine noun φυλῆς, it marks the beginning of the divine speech.
  2. §3.3εἰ πορεύσονται... ἐὰν μὴ γνωρίσωσιν — The structure of the conditional particle εἰ followed directly by the future indicative reflects a Hebrew rhetorical question. Operating as a conditional clause without a main clause, it conveys a strong negative: 'Will two walk together unless they have made an appointment?'. The second clause with ἐὰν μὴ + subjunctive functions as an exceptional condition.
  3. §3.11Τύρος κυκλόθεν — A proper noun resulting from a misreading or transliteration of the Hebrew noun for 'adversary' (צר) as 'Tyre' (Τύρος). Syntactically, it functions as a vocative ('O Tyre') or a nominative in apposition (proleptic subject) at the beginning of the sentence, semantically linked with the following ἡ γῆ σου ('your land').
  4. §3.12κατέναντι τῆς φυλῆς καὶ ἐν Δαμασκῷ ἱερεῖς — A modifying construction for the subject οἱ υἱοὶ Ἰσραήλ of the main verb ἐκσπασθήσονται, consisting of a prepositional phrase of place and an appositive noun (ἱερεῖς). Although derived from an inaccurate literal translation of the Hebrew 'on the corner of a couch, and on the damask of a bed', in Greek it forms a coordinate structure: 'opposite the tribe, and the priests in Damascus (shall be snatched away)'.

Cite this passage

Septuagint, Amos §3.1-3.15. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0527.tlg037.humanitext-grc1:3.1-3.15

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