Messianic fragments of the Book Amos LXX in their eschatological context

Abstract

In the book of the prophet Amos of the Septuagint there are two explicitly Messianic fragments, the first of which mentions the «anointed one» (Am 4:13), and the second «tabernacle of David» along with eschatological events associated with it (Am 9:11-12). However, other ancient versions of the Bible do not support the Septuagint (except for those dependent on it), which leads many researchers to look at the old Greek reading in Am 4:13 as a simple mistake of the translator or his misinterpretation of the original meaning of the text. At the same time, it cannot be said that in terms of interpretation, Masoretic reading provides more for understanding the book as a whole than that presented in the Septuagint. On the contrary, the use of structural analysis, which allows us to explore Am 4:13 by LXX in the context of parallel places within the book and its general eschatological storyline, creates a more coherent and clear picture associated with the archetypical confrontation of the «house of Jeroboam» and the «house of David» as embodiments of the sinful and righteous sides of Israel. The revelation of the «anointed one» in this regard turns out to be what heralds the end of the «house of Jeroboam» and opens up the prospect of judgment on Israel, but also its salvation in an eschatological perspective. The article consists of four main parts. The first of them examines the features of the Book of the Prophet Amos according to the Septuagint version as a translation, which allow us to draw preliminary conclusions about what may be the probable causes of discrepancies between the Hebrew and Greek texts. In the second part, the two Messianic fragments are analyzed mainly by their lexical composition, an analysis of specific discrepancies is carried out and ways of their interpretation are outlined. The third part is devoted to the explication of the eschatological line of the book. The fourth part establishes the place of the Messianic fragments and the parallel fragment Am 7:1-9 in the context of the eschatological content of this prophetic book as a whole.