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Schart, Aaron, Stand: 2007-04-05

Howard, George: Some Notes on the Septuagint of Amos. Vetus Testamentum 20 (1970): 108-112.

contents

An examination of the LXX Book of the Twelve Prophets reveals that the integrity of the translation is questionable. This suspicion is particularly justified in the Book of Amos /2/. In my <109:> opinion, a short section of this book, viii 12-ix 10, appears to be a translation independent of the rest. In order to facilitate the reading of the evidence supporting this observation, i 1-viii 11 shall be called section "Α", viii 12-ix 10 section "Β", and ix 11-15 section "C".

• 1. The author of section "Α" is very weak in geographical knowledge, for he frequently fails to recognize place-names.
  examples: Am 2,2 // Am 8,14

• 2. Among other problems which face the author of section "Α" is the word  אחרית.
  examples: Am 4,2; Am 8,10 // Am 9,1

• 3. There are also noticeable stylistic differences between sections "Α" and "Β".
  examples: Am 7,17; Am 5,5 // Am 9,8

• 4. Section "C" has affinities with section "Α".

Concluding Observation

The problem surrounding the origin of the Septuagint have been among the most intriguing of those facing modern scholarship. Whether the so-called Septuagint finds its prototype in one prechristian translation of the Old Testament, or whether it is merely a standardization of many pre-christian Greek renditions of the Bible has been α matter of heated discussion.
In the case of the Book of Amos it appears from an analysis of <112:> the translation that sections "Α" (i 1-viii 11) and "C" (ix 11-15) were done by one translator while section "Β" (viii 12-ix 10) was done by another. This phenomenon may be explained in terms of a targum theory or a lectionary theory. However, there is no absolute proof that the LXX arose from a targum or a lectionary background. Without conjecturing how the LXX came about it seems safe to say that the LXX Book of Amos represents a compilation or redaction rather than one single prototype.