Texts in Conversation
Amos 5 uses a word that expresses uncertainty about whether acting justly might lead to divine mercy. In the Greek Septuagint translation, this uncertainty is replaced with language indicating a clear, certain connection to divine mercy.
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2500 BCE
1000+ CE
Amos 5:15
Hebrew Bible
14 Seek good and not evil so you can live! Then the Lord God of Heaven’s Armies just might be with you, as you claim he is. 15 Hate what is wrong, love what is right. Promote justice at the city gate. Maybe the Lord God of Heaven’s Armies will have mercy on those who are left from Joseph. 16 Because of Israel’s sins this is what the Lord, the Lord God of Heaven’s Armies, says: “In all the squares there will be wailing; in all the streets they will mourn the dead. They will tell the field workers to lament and the professional mourners to wail.
LXX Amos 5:15
Septuagint
14 Seek good, and not evil, that you may live: and so the Lord God Almighty shall be with you, as you have said, 15 We have hated evil, and loved good: and restore judgment in the gates; that the Lord God Almighty may have mercy on the remnant of Joseph. 16 Therefore thus says the Lord God Almighty; In all the streets shall be lamentations; and in all the ways shall it be said, Woe, woe! the farmer shall be called to mourning and lamentation, and to those who are skilled in lamenting.
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Notes and References
"... The concept of God’s goodness, a central issue of Plato’s philosophy, became also important for Jewish theology. Due to this doctrine, transmitters and translators sometimes modified the text. In order to avoid any suspicion of despotism, the translator of Amos transmuted the ironic imperatives in Amos 4:4 to indicatives, and he rendered אולי (“perhaps”) in Amos 5:15 by ὅπως: God’s reaction on human repentance is not to be categorized by “perhaps”! In LXX Isaiah 6:9–10, the theory of divine hardening is avoided. The translator of Ezekiel altered Ezekiel 21:3-4 [LXX 8-9] ... According to the Masoretic text, God will destroy the righteous and the wicked whereas the Septuagint alters: God will destroy the unrighteous and the wicked ..."
* The use of references are not endorsements of their contents. Please read the entirety of the provided reference(s) to understand the author's full intentions regarding the use of these texts.
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