Глава 7

1–3. Vision of locusts. 4–6. Vision of fire. 7–9. Vision of the Lord with a plumb line in his hand. 10–13. Obstruction of the prophet's preaching by the Bethel priest Amaziah. 14–15. The prophet's answer. 16–17. Announcing the punishment of Amaziah. From Chapter VII The third part of the book begins. Amos, containing a description of the visions that the prophet received. These visions reveal thoughts expressed in the speeches of the prophet. The series of visions is interrupted in Chapter VII. The historical narrative about the opposition to the preaching of the prophet on the part of the Bethel priest Amaziah is contained in ch. IX Messianic promise for the restoration of the Tabernacle of David. Am.7:1. The Lord God revealed such a vision to me: behold, He created locusts at the beginning of the growth of late grass, and it was grass after the royal mowing. Art. 1–3 speak of a vision of locusts. “Behold, He created the locusts (govaj) at the beginning of the growth of the late grass” (hallakesch). The word lekesch (Russian "late grass") is ὰπαξ λεγομ; in hald. verb language lakisch means - to be late and is applied to the latter rains, to the late autumn time, to sowing and harvesting grain (Levy, Meuhebr. Lex. 415); therefore, Russian translators gave the word lekesch in Am 7.1 the meaning of late grass or, as in Novak, aftereffect (Nachurichs). But, apparently, it is more correct to compare lekesch with mikosch, spring rain, and understand it as the name of early grass that grows in early spring, under the influence of spring rains. Wanting to indicate more clearly what is meant by lekesch, the prophet further adds: “and this was the grass after the king’s mowing” (achar gizzej hammeleeh). Royal mowing - collecting grass for the benefit of the king, for the maintenance of his horses (1 Kings 18.5). Apparently, this collection was not carried out annually, since with his remark the prophet wants to point out an exceptional coincidence of circumstances, and not to note what happens annually. An exceptional coincidence of circumstances probably consisted in the fact that in the previous year the grass went in favor of the king, and in the new year, after the former royal mowing, the grass was eaten by locusts. The people, thus, were deprived of grass for two years in a row. In addition, the locusts that appeared in the spring, at the beginning of the vegetation growth, threatened to destroy it completely. That is why the prophet turns to the Lord in prayer. Greek and glory t. deviate significantly from the original at the beginning of Art. 1st: “and behold, the offspring of the spring is coming in the morning, and behold, a caterpillar, one Gog is king.” LXX euro jozer (“formed”), apparently, was read as jezer, and translated ἐπιγονη – birth, offspring; euro bithchillath aloth (“at the beginning of growth”) LXX was read differently and translated ερχομενηεωθινη; the words lekesch achar gizzej hammelech (and the grass was after the royal mowing) LXX read jelek echad gog hammelech, Βροῦχος ἐις Γὼγ ο βασιλεύς, slav. “The caterpillar is one Gog the king.” Am.7:2. And it came to pass, when she had finished eating the grass on the ground, that I said: Lord God! have mercy; How can Jacob stand? it is very small. At the sight of a disaster threatening the people, the prophet turns to the Lord with a prayer for mercy: “And it came to pass when she finished (Vehajah im killah) eating the grass of the earth, I said”: it is not clear why the prophet turns to God after the disaster has occurred and the locusts have finished eating the grass of the earth. In view of this, commentators propose an amendment to the text of the above expression - namely, instead of vehajah imkilah they read, as in Gen. 24.15 Vojehi terem killah before she ate the grass (Wellhausen), or Vajehi hu mekalleh (Torrey). LXX has glory. the expression is conveyed in the sense of a question: “and it will be (i.e. there was a question or fear) if the poisonous grass of the earth dies,” which corresponds well to the context. "How does Jacob stand (mijakum)". LXX read mijakim jaakov, τὶς ὰναστησει Ιακ ., slav. “who will raise up Jacob”; also Vulg.: quiss suscitabit. Some commentators (Jünger) prefer this reading to the Masoretic one, in which the word mi (who, not how) arouses bewilderment. “He is very small,” that is, he has little means to rise after a disaster. Am.7:3. And the Lord regretted it; “This will not happen,” said the Lord. Through the prayer of the prophet, the Lord spared Israel. Described in Art. 1–3, the vision of locusts is taken literally by most commentators as the threat of a locust invasion. Church teachers of St. Ephraim the Syrian, blessed Theodoret and Jerome, as well as some of the later exegetes (Grotius, Jungers), not limiting themselves to a literal understanding of the words of the prophet, explain the vision as a prophecy about the devastation of the land of Israel by the Assyrians, Babylonians and other peoples. Am.7:4. The Lord God revealed such a vision to me: behold, the Lord God made fire for judgment, and it devoured the great abyss, and devoured part of the earth. Am.7:5. And I said: Lord God! stop; How can Jacob stand? it is very small. Am.7:6. And the Lord regretted it; “And this will not happen,” said the Lord God. Description of the second vision of the prophet - the vision of fire. The general meaning of the description and individual expressions are not entirely clear. “Behold, the Lord God has made (kore) fire for judgment (lariv)” (baesch): Heb. the text of the above expression is conveyed differently, namely, “he called fire for judgment” (LXX and slav. “he called me into the fires”), “proclaimed that He was coming to punish with fire” (Ewald), “he called fire to litigation” (Harper), etc. “And he devoured the great abyss (eth-thechom rabbah), and devoured part of the earth” (еthehachelek): thechom rabbu - the abyss, the ocean, that chaos from which the world was formed (Genesis 1.2); or those underground waters that, according to the ancient Jews, fed springs and rivers. In the latter case, by the fire that devoured the abyss, it is natural to mean the heat of the sun, the terrible drought, under the influence of which the underground waters dried up. The word cheiek (part, portion) is usually understood by commentators to mean a part of the land, as explained in our translation, and specifically about a part of the land of Israel. The fact that the fire consumed part of the land of Israel prompted the prophet to intercede with the Lord for an end to the disaster. To what has been said, I must add that some commentators (Blessed Theodoret, Ephraim Sir, Keil) understand the second vision in an allegorical sense as a foreshadowing in the form of an invasion of enemies or, in general, the wrath of God; the fire is the wrath of God, the great abyss is the pagan world, part of the earth is the people of Israel. Am.7:7. He revealed such a vision to me: behold, the Lord stood on a sheer wall, and in His hand was a lead plumb line. Am.7:8. And the Lord said to me: What do you see, Amos? I answered: plumb line. And the Lord said, Behold, I will set a plumb line among My people Israel; I will no longer forgive him. Description of the prophet's vision in v. 7–9 are understood differently due to the fact that the meaning of the word anach, conveyed in our text by the words “lead plumb,” is controversial, since anach is ἅπαξ λεγόμ. LXX was translated by the word ἀδὰμας adamant - a hard stone that looks like iron (glory: “and behold a man stand on an adamantine fence, and in his hand is adamant”), Akila - γὰνωσις, a shiny object, Theodotion - τηκόμενον. Some new commentators also agree with the translation of LXX, understanding anach in the sense of iron, the image of which denotes the upcoming resolution in the vision (Condamin, Revue bibl. 1900, 586). Blessed Jerome took anach to mean “polishing lead,” which was used to level and coat walls to give them strength and beauty. According to the explanation of Blessed. Jerome, the prophet saw the Lord standing on a wall coated with lead (Heb. al-chomath anach), and with lead in his hands. A wall covered with lead, an image of the people of God; The standing of the Lord on the wall - with lead in his hands - is an image of the fact that the Lord protected his people and, as it were, adorned them with his good deeds. The words of the Lord: “Behold, I will lay a plumb line among My people” mean that from now on the Lord stops strengthening and decorating the wall, that is, the people of Israel, that He transfers the lead to the people themselves, who must now take care of themselves. Interpretation of the blessed Jerome is also accepted by Catholic theologians (Knabenbauer Goonaker). In Russian In the text, the word anach is understood in the sense of a lead plumb line, used to level and correct curvature, and the expression al-chomath anach is translated: “on a vertical (vertical) wall.” According to this translation, the meaning of the vision is that Jehovah is applying a plumb line of lead to the life of the people ("I will lay a plumb line among My people") of Israel in order to determine how straight their paths are; and behold, everywhere there are deviations and crookedness, which the Lord had previously forgiven, but which He will now punish. This understanding of Art. 7–8 are supported by many commentators (Harper, Wellg., Novak, Jungerov). But this understanding can hardly be preferable to the interpretation of the blessed. Jerome. If we take anach to mean a plumb line, then it is not clear what meaning the image of chomathi anach of a vertical wall has and then the prophet notes that the wall was vertical when there are no other walls. Likewise, it is not entirely clear how the expression “I will lay a plumb line among My people” can indicate the impending destruction, when the plumb line is a tool used in creation, in construction. The tools used in destruction are called in the Bible (Isaiah 34.11; cf. 2 Kings 21.13) the “rope of destruction” (ka-thohu) and the “plumb line of destruction” (avnej-vohu). Am.7:9. And the sacrificial high places of Isaac will be desolate, and the sanctuaries of Israel will be destroyed, and I will rise up with the sword against the house of Jeroboam. The upcoming destruction will primarily affect the heights and sanctuaries, since they mainly distracted the people from the path of righteousness and were the focus of lawlessness. Instead of Isaac's own name, LXX put the common noun (βωμοὶ) γέλωτος, in glory. “treasures of laughter”, thereby expressing the idea of ​​​​the meaning of heights (sanctuaries worthy of ridicule). “And I will rise with a sword against the house of Jeroboam”: these words contain a threat not to the house of Jeroboam I, as St. suggests. Ephraim the Syrian, because this house had long been destroyed (1 Kings 15.27–30), and to the reigning house of Jeroboam II. In this sense, as can be seen from what follows, the words of the prophet were understood by the Bethel priest Amaziah. God's decree about the house of Jeroboam II soon came true: under Shallum, king of Israel, Jeroboam's son Zechariah was killed and his entire family perished (2 Kings 15.10). Am.7:10. And Amaziah the priest of Bethel sent to Jeroboam king of Israel, saying, “Amos is causing a stir against you among the house of Israel; the earth cannot bear all his words. The prophet's speeches, delivered in Bethel, perhaps before the people, gathered in large numbers for some great holiday, aroused opposition from the Bethel priest Amaziah. By denouncing the prophet to the king, Amaziah wants to present himself as a defender of the king’s interests. But at the same time, he protects his own interests, as well as the interests of the entire priestly class, since they were associated with the prerogatives of the sanctuaries, the destruction of which the prophet spoke about. Am.7:11. For this is what Amos says: “Jeroboam will die by the sword, and Israel will certainly be taken captive out of their land.” Amos did not actually say that Jeroboam himself would die by the sword (v. 9): Amaziah apparently deliberately puts the accusation in this form in order to provoke the intervention of the king. Am.7:12. And Amaziah said to Amos: Seer! go and escape into the land of Judah; eat bread there and prophesy there, It is not known how Jeroboam reacted to the denunciation of the Bethel priest; Theodore of Mopsuet suggests that the king did nothing after the denunciation of the priest out of respect for the prophet and out of fear of the power of the prophets, which manifested itself in the days of Elijah and Elisha; it is also possible that Jeroboam did not attach importance to the preaching of the prophet and therefore was too confident in his strength and well-being. Then Amaziah decided to act on his own and expelled the prophet from Bethel. Seer (Heb. chozeh, Slav. “see”); the prophets were called seers, indicating a special gift of insight unique to them; but Amaziah, as can be concluded from the tone of his entire speech, calls Amos a seer in an ironic sense. “Go and escape (lech berach lecha) to the land of Judah”: more precisely, go hastily, escape to the land of Judah; it is possible that with these words Amaziah was hinting at a denunciation sent to the king, the consequences of which could be dangerous for the prophet (Gonaker). “Eat bread there and prophesy there”: Amaziah insults the prophet with the suspicion that he prophesies out of self-interest, for the sake of bread. Am.7:13. But prophesy no more at Bethel, for it is the king’s sanctuary and the king’s house. Indicating the basis for his demand for the removal of the prophet from Bethel, Amaziah says: “for it (Bethel) is the king’s sanctuary and the king’s house.” Amaziah, yes. arr., makes it clear that the Bethel sanctuary was established by the king (1 Kings 12.28–29), it is a state sanctuary (royal house, beth mamlachah), and therefore, only with the permission of the king can priests and prophets speak here. Am.7:14. And Amos answered and said to Amaziah, I am not a prophet, nor the son of a prophet; I was a shepherd and collected sycamore trees. In response to the words of the Bethel priest, Amos points out that he came to preach not arbitrarily and not for the sake of material benefits, but was called to his service by God Himself, Whom he cannot disobey. “I am not a prophet (navi) and not the son of a prophet” (ben navi): the sons of prophets, or prophetic schools, were special societies of prophetic disciples, which had their own organization and were led by prophets (1 Kings 10:5, 10, 19:20; 1 Kings 22; 2 Kings 4:1). By the time of Amos, apparently, not all members of prophetic societies stood at the proper height, and unworthy people penetrated their midst, accepting the title of prophets only for the sake of getting bread. Apparently, the Bethel priest included Amos among such prophets. When Amos rejects the title “prophet” or “son of the prophets,” he does not at all mean to reject any connection with the prophets, but only wants to say that he is not a prophet in the sense of Amaziah. “I was a shepherd (boker) and collected (voles) sycamores”, glory. “The shepherd ran and robbed his buttocks”: ch. voles represents απαξ λεγόμ., and its meaning is precisely unknown; it is taken to mean collect as in Russian. i.e., to cleanse (Theodotion), to have (Symmachus), to care for (Goonaker) or to incise, as in LXX (κνίζων); cutting the sycamore trees was necessary for the fruits to ripen (Plinins, Hist nat. 13, 14). Am.7:15. But the Lord took me from the sheep and the Lord said to me: “Go, prophesy to My people Israel.” In his immediate calling by the Lord himself, Amos indicates the basis for preaching. “But the Lord took me from the sheep” (meacharej hazzon): in v. 15 the prophet calls himself a shepherd of small livestock, sheep (hazzon), and in v. On the 14th he acquires the name boker, which means shepherd of cattle. This difference in names gives rise to some commentators to suspect the word boker and consider it a proofreading (Novak). But it can hardly be said that a shepherd of large livestock (boker) could not at the same time graze small livestock. Am.7:16. Now listen to the word of the Lord. You say, “Do not prophesy against Israel and do not speak against the house of Isaac.” Am.7:17. For this, this is what the Lord says: your wife will be dishonored in the city, your sons and daughters will fall by the sword, your land will be divided by a boundary line, and you will die in an unclean land, and Israel will certainly be brought out of their land. Resistance to the prophet was at the same time resistance to God’s command. Therefore, Amos proclaims in the name of the Lord the punishment of Amaziah. This punishment will strike the entire house of Amaziah. To Amaziah himself, that he would die in an unclean land, that is, in a pagan land. The fulfillment of this prophecy could have followed as early as 734, when Feglaf Felassar took part of the inhabitants of the Northern Kingdom into captivity in Assyria. You might be interested in: