Texts in Conversation
Amos 5 condemns Israel for worshiping foreign gods named “Sikkuth” and “Kiyyun.” These names were difficult to translate, and the Greek Septuagint struggled to make sense of them, translating “Sikkuth” as “tent,” a guess based on a similar Hebrew word.
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Amos 5:26
Hebrew Bible
25 You did not bring me sacrifices and grain offerings during the 40 years you spent in the wilderness, family of Israel. 26 You will pick up your images of Sikkuth, your king, and Kiyyun, your star god, which you made for yourselves, 27 and I will drive you into exile beyond Damascus,” says the Lord. He is called the God of Heaven’s Armies.
Date: 6th Century B.C.E. (based on scholarly estimates)
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LXX Amos 5:26
Septuagint
25 Did you bring me offerings and sacrifices in the wilderness forty years, O house of Israel? 26 And you took along the tent of Molech and the star of your god Kaiwan, the images of them that you made for yourselves. 27 So I will resettle you beyond Damascus,” says the Lord; the Almighty God is his name.
Date: 1st Century B.C.E. (based on scholarly estimates)
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Notes and References
"... The only commonly recognized planet name in the Hebrew Bible is set within a polemic against the cult of the Northern Kingdom (Amos 5:25–27) ... Here, Yahweh condemns the cult; its offerings are worthless, even offensive. Yahweh calls for justice and righteousness, citing the precedent of the wilderness experience during which no sacrifices were offered, and promises to drive the people off into exile. The exiles will take with them תוּכִּס and ןוּיִּכּ. The meaning of these two terms has long eluded translators and commentators. The Masoretes were not able to identify the terms and therefore vocalized both terms with the vowels of ץוּקִּשׂ (“abomination, idol”). This uncertainty made its way into the early translations as well. The versions do not treat תוּכִּס as a proper noun at all but as the common noun תַכּוּס, “tent, tabernacle.” Thus, the LXX reads τὴν σκηνὴν, while the Vulgate reads tabernaculum, both indicating תַכּוּס as the Hebrew Vorlage. The Peshitta also follows this interpretation, translating הנכשׁמ, “tent.” The author of the Damascus Document also chooses to read תוּכִּס as תַכּוּס in his interpretation of Amos 5:26. The meaning of ןוּיִּכּ is also uncertain in the versions. Though treating ןוּיִּכּ as a proper name, the LXX’s nonsensical Ραιφαν is clearly a misreading of the Hebrew ..."
Cooley, Jeffrey L.
Poetic Astronomy in the Ancient Near East: The Reflexes of Celestial Science in Ancient Mesopotamian, Ugaritic, and Israelite Narrative
(pp. 237-238) Eisenbrauns, 2013
* 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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