Go to Related Reading
About this book

LXX Amos

Septuagint

About this book
Chapter 7

1 The Lord has shown me this; and, look, a swarm of locusts coming from the east; and, look, one locust, Gog the king.⁠ 2 And when he had finished devouring the grass of the land, I said, Lord God, be merciful; who shall raise up Jacob? for he is small in number. 3 Repent, Lord, for this. And this shall not be, says the Lord. 4 The Lord has shown me this; and, look, the Lord called for judgment by fire, and it devoured the great deep, and devoured the portion. 5 Then I said, Lord, please stop:⁠ who shall raise up Jacob? for he is small in number. 6 Repent, Lord, for this. This also shall not be, says the Lord. 7 Thus the Lord showed me; and look, a man standing upon a wall of adamant, and in his hand was an adamant. 8 And the Lord said to me, What do you see, Amos? And I said, An adamant. And the Lord said to me, Look, I appoint an adamant in the midst of my people Israel: I will not pass by them any more. 9 And the joyful altars shall be abolished, and the sacrifices of Israel shall be set aside; and I will rise up against the house of Jeroboam with the sword. 10 Then Amaziah the priest of Bethel sent to Jeroboam king of Israel, saying, Amos is forming conspiracies against you in the midst of the house of Israel: the land will be utterly unable to bear all his words. 11 For thus says Amos, Jeroboam shall die by the sword, and Israel shall be led away captive from his land. 12 And Amaziah said to Amos, Go, seer, withdraw into the land of Judah, and live there, and you shall prophesy there: 13 but you shall no longer prophesy at Bethel: for it is the king's sanctuary, and it is the royal house. 14 And Amos answered, and said to Amaziah, I was not a prophet, nor the son of a prophet; but I was a herdsman, and a gatherer of sycamore fruits. 15 And the Lord took me from the sheep, and the Lord said to me, Go, and prophesy to my people Israel. 16 And now hear the word of the Lord: You say, Do not prophesy to Israel, and do not raise a tumult against the house of Jacob. 17 Therefore thus says the Lord; Your wife shall be a harlot in the city, and your sons and your daughters shall fall by the sword, and your land shall be measured with the line; and you shall die in an unclean land; and Israel shall be led captive out of his land.

Texts in conversation

Compare Amos 7:1 and LXX Amos 7:1

Hebrew Bible · Septuagint

Share:

Summary

Amos describes a vision of locusts at the time of the king's harvest. The Greek Septuagint translation turns this into a single locust that is Gog the king, transforming a natural plague into an attack led by an enemy ruler.

Passages

Amos 7:1

Hebrew Bible
1 The Sovereign Lord showed me this: I saw him making locusts just as the crops planted late were beginning to sprout. (The crops planted late sprout after the royal harvest.) 2 When they had completely consumed the earth’s vegetation, I said, “Sovereign Lord, forgive Israel! How can Jacob survive? He is too weak!” 3 The Lord changed his mind about this.7 “It will not happen,” the Lord said.
600–501 BCE (scholarly estimate) Read in Amos

LXX Amos 7:1

Septuagint
1 The Lord has shown me this; and, look, a swarm of locusts coming from the east; and, look, one locust, Gog the king. 2 And when he had finished devouring the grass of the land, I said, Lord God, be merciful; who shall raise up Jacob? for he is small in number. 3 Repent, Lord, for this. And this shall not be, says the Lord.
100–1 BCE (scholarly estimate) Read in LXX Amos

References

"... What is clear is that the Septuagint rendering of Amos 7:1 is a theological interpretation that was influenced by the translator's worldview and theology and that there was an interpretive tradition concerning Gog along the lines discussed above. The singular language in Amos 7:1b (“one locust … Gog the king”) requires that Gog be a definite character here (perhaps Antiochus Epiphanes or another character like him) and not a collective figure. The singular verb “if he finishes” that describes the actions of Gog in 7:2 continues the reference to an individual. The “swarm of locusts” is apparently his army, not another reference to him. Also in Amos 7:1 Gog is presented as an eschatological character, fulfilling the prophecy of Ezekiel 38–39, who will lead his army against Israel in the future (compare the eschatological emphasis in 4:13 and in the reference to Gog in Septuagint Numbers 24:7) ..."
W. Edward Glenny, Amos: A Commentary on the Septuagint (Leiden: Brill, 2013), 120–122.

References are not endorsements of their contents. Read each reference in full to understand its author's intentions in using these texts.

Your feedback

Amos 7:1 and LXX Amos 7:1

Leave a comment

Your questions and comments are welcome!

Comments

Glossary

Search the Library