|
לְמַ֙עַן יִֽירְשׁ֜וּ אֶת־שְׁאֵרִ֤ית אֱדוֹם֙
וְכָל־הַגּוֹיִ֔ם אֲשֶׁר־נִקְרָ֥א שְׁמִ֖י עֲלֵיהֶ֑ם נְאֻם־יְהוָ֖ה עֹ֥שֶׂה זֹּֽאת |
ὅπως ἐκζητήσωσιν οἱ κατάλοιποι
τῶν ἀνθρώπων καὶ πάντα τὰ ἔθνη ἐφ᾽ οὓς ἐπικέκληται τὸ ὄνομά μου ἐπ᾽ αὐτούς λέγει
κύριος ὁ θεὸς ὁ ποιῶν ταῦτα |
|
In order that they may possess
the remnant of Edom and all the nations who are called by name (NRSV) |
In order that the rest of humanity
and all the nations upon whom my name has been called will seek me out (my
trans.) |
It is undeniable that the Greek translation
of verse 12a-b displays a more universalistic understanding of the restoration,
whereby all humanity can expect God’s intervention. However, it is still
problematic to identify in this passage a deliberate attempt on the part of the
translator to alter the meaning of the Hebrew text. The Greek rendering is probably
derived from a different “decoding” of the Vorlage: the translator most
likely read “Edom” (אדום, Edom) as אדם (Adam), “man” or “people”
(ανθρωπων, anthrōpōn). Moreover, he read the verb יירשו (yirshu), “they
possess” as ידרשו (yidreshu), “they look for” (εκζητησωσιν/ekzētēsōsin)—that is, the root ירש (yrsh) as if was דרש (drsh), with
a confusion in the first letter. Furthermore, the Vorlage might well
have had a slightly different spelling of the word “Edom” when compared to the
MT, namely, in the short form without the waw. Finally, by the time the
translator was working with the text, the reconquest of Edom announced in the
Hebrew would have been unintelligible, such that the translator was simply trying
to render what he considered to be the correct Hebrew text when he adopted a
more universalistic reading. (Anna Angelini, “Interpreting the Hebrew
Bible: Septuagint Exegesis in Context,” in Apocrypha and the Septuagint,
ed. Bruce W. Longenecker, Marieke Dhont, and James K. Aitken [Ancient Literature
for New Testament Studies 1; Grand Rapids, Mich.: Zondervan Academic, 2026], 88-89)
The crucial part of the quotation
in Acts reads: “so that all other peoples may seek the Lord—even all the
Gentiles over whom my name has been called” (Acts 15:17 NRSV). This quotation
matches Amos 9:12, whereas the Hebrew text reads differently: “in order that
they may possess the remnant of Edom and all the nations who are called by my
name” (NRSV). James would have had a difficult time arguing for gentile
inclusion in the church based on the Hebrew text of Amos 9:12 but the LXX more
clearly provided a foundation for such a doctrine. (Edmon L. Gallagher. “The
Use of the LXX in the Early Church,” in Apocrypha and the Septuagint,
ed. Bruce W. Longenecker, Marieke Dhont, and James K. Aitken [Ancient Literature
for New Testament Studies 1; Grand Rapids, Mich.: Zondervan Academic, 2026], 122-23)
