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New Perspectives in Biblical and Rabbinic Hebrew

 | 
Aaron D. Hornkohl
, 
Khan Geoffrey

Israelian Hebrew in the Book of Amos

Gary A. Rendsburg

Abstract

The majority of scholars have identified the home village of Amos with Tekoa on the edge of the Judaean wilderness. This article follows the lead of David Qimḥi in identifying Tekoa as the northern village of the same name, mentioned in several ancient sources. One also notes use of the root q-š-r ‘treason’ in Amos 7.10, implying that Amos was a ‘citizen’ of the northern kingdom if Israel; and the use of the root b-r-ḥ ‘flee’ in Amos 7.12, implying the same. The article then moves to identify sixteen (mainly) lexical and grammatical Israelian Hebrew features within the book of Amos, with an especial concentration of such features in ch. 6.

Testo integrale

1.0. The Location of Tekoa

  • 1 More properly Teqoaʿ (or even Təqōaʿ), but I will continue to use the time-honoured English spellin (...)

1The vast majority of scholars continue to identify the home village of the prophet Amos with Tekoa1 on the edge of the Judean wilderness—even though there is little or no evidence to support this assertion. A minority of scholars, the present writer included, identifies the home village of Amos with Tekoa in the Galilee— an assertion for which, as we shall see, there is considerable solid evidence.

1.1. Southern Tekoa

  • 2 See also the reference to the ‘wilderness of Tekoa’ in 1 Macc. 9.33.
  • 3 As so often in historical-geographical research, the first modern scholar to make the identificatio (...)

2The former village is known from several references in Chronicles, especially 2 Chron. 11.6, where it is mentioned, alongside Bethlehem, in a list of cities fortified by Rehoboam in Judah. See also 2 Chron. 20.20, with reference to the journey by Jehoshaphat and his entourage ל ְ מ ְִ בד ַּ֣ ר ת ְ֑ ק ֹ עו ‘to the wilderness of Tekoa’.2 The genealogical records in 1 Chron. 2.24 and 4.5, referencing a Judahite named Tekoa, may also encode the name of this village. The name of the site lives on in the name of the Arab village of Tuquʿ and the adjoining ruin of Khirbet Tequʿa, about 8 km south of Bethlehem.3

1.2. Northern Tekoa

  • 4 See the convenient survey in Klein (1938, I: 157).
  • 5 For discussion, see Graetz (1865, 476).
  • 6 I here follow the majority of scholars by removing the initial letter mem of this verse and attachi (...)
  • 7 Here and throughout this article, my translation technique tends to be hyperliteral; plus, I employ (...)
  • 8 As we shall see below, one of the possible locations for northern Tekoa is within the territory of (...)

3Northern Tekoa, by contrast, is not mentioned explicitly in the Bible, but its existence is well known from rabbinic sources.4 See especially T. Sheviʿit 7.15, where the village is mentioned in connection with Gush Ḥalav. In addition, northern Tekoa is most likely the reference in the saying recorded in תה ְ{ ו } ק ֹ ע ָ ה לאַ ְ פ ָ ה שּׁל ֶ מ ֶ ן ‘Tekoa is the best for oil’ (M. Menaḥot 8.3 MS Kaufmann), אפלא העוקת ןמשל ‘Tekoa is the best for oil’ (T. Menaḥot 9.5 MS Vienna).5 While both of the following passages require elucidation, note the (probable) connection between first-rate olive-oil and the tribe of Asher recorded in מ ֵ א ָ ש ֵֵׁ֖ ר ש ְ מ ֵ נ ַָּ֣ ה חל ְ מ ֹ֑ ו ְ הו ּ֥ או י ִ ת ֵֵׁ֖ ן מ ַֽ נדע ֵ מ־י ֶַֽ ל ְֶ ׃ך ‘{from} Asher,6 his bread is rich-with-oil, and he gives-forth royal dainties’ (Gen. 49.20)7 and ט ֹ ב ֵ֥ ל שּׁב ֵֶׁ֖ מ ֶ ן גר ְַֽ ל ֹ ׃ו ‘he dips his foot in oil’ (Deut. 33.24).8

  • 9 In general, see Klein (1939, I: 15). In a different context see also Way-yiqraʾ Rabba 30.1 (689: 2)
  • 10 I realise that the vast majority of commentators on Jeremiah, if not all of them, associate Tekoa i (...)

4Above I stated that northern Tekoa is not mentioned explicitly in the Bible (for example, in the lists of toponyms in the book of Joshua), but closer inspection reveals several references thereto. Jer. 6.1 connects Tekoa and Bet ha-Kerem, with the implication that both are located in the north. As evil (that is, the Babylonians) approaches from the north (see also Jer. 1.13–14; 4.6; 6.22; etc.), the prophet calls for shofar-blasts and fire-signals to warn of the impending danger. Bet ha-Kerem refers to the valley in the northern part of Israel, running on an east-west axis, separating the Upper Galilee to the north and the Lower Galilee to the south, for which see ב ִ ק ְ תע ב ֵ תי כּ ֶֶ םר ‘the valley of Bet-Kerem’ (M. Middot 3.4; M. Niddah 2.7 MS Kaufmann), with reference to red soil. See also T. Niddah 3.11, with mention of ב ִ ק ְ תע ב ֵ תי כּ ֶֶ םר ‘the valley of Bet-Kerem’ alongside three other Galilean valleys (Sakhne, Yotvat, and Ginnosar).9 The former (that is, Tekoa), accordingly, must be identified with northern (and not southern) Tekoa.10

  • 11 See Rendsburg (2014, 166).

5The second biblical passage is the most famous of all, namely, the story in 2 Samuel 14: the wise woman of Tekoa, fetched by Joab to speak to David to present her parable before the king, hails from northern Tekoa, as may be observed via the Israelian dialectal features in her speech.11 See also B. Menaḥot 85b, where the sages identify the home of the wise woman of Tekoa with northern Tekoa, located specifically in the tribe of Asher (and see further below).

  • 12 For references, see Meyers, et al. (1976, 11).
  • 13 See the discussion in Meyers, et al. (1976, 11–16).

6As to the specific location, based mainly on literary references, historical geographers such as Gustaf Dalman, Shmuel Klein, and Michael Avi-Yonah have identified northern Tekoa with Khirbet Shemaʿ, located on an eastern spur of Mt. Meron (Jebel Jarmaq).12 The excavators of the site, led by Eric Meyers, accept the identification.13

2.0. The Tekoa of Amos

  • 14 For a thorough survey of the terms, see Steiner (2003).

7The foregoing brings us to Amos 1.1, the only mention of Tekoa in the Bible not yet discussed. The book opens as follows, with the first part of the superscription: ִ בד ְֵ ר ַּ֣ י ע ָ מ ֹ֔ סו שא ֶ ה־ר ָ י ָ֥ ה נב ֹ ק ְִ ד ֵׁ֖ םי מ ִ ת ְ֑ ק ֹ עו ‘the words of Amos, who was among the stockmen from Tekoa’. In Amos 7.14, the prophet refers to himself as a ב ֹ קו ֵ ר ‘herder’ and a ב ֹ לו ֵ ס ש ִ ק ְ מ ִ םי ‘tender of sycomores’. Notwithstanding the apparent connection between the former term and ב ָ ק ָ ר ‘cattle’, in the next verse, 7.15, Amos states that God took him מ ֵ חא ֵ יר צה ֹ ןא ‘from behind the flock’, implying his work with sheep and goats. The more crucial term, of course, is his latter occupation, ב ֹ לו ֵ ס ש ִ ק ְ מ ִ םי ‘tender of sycomores’ (with reference to one who notches the sycomore figs to enhance the ripening process).14

8The problem, recognised by all, including those who would place Amos in southern Tekoa, is that sycomore trees do not and cannot grow in the Judaean wilderness. Note the following two passages especially:

  • 15 See also 1 Chron. 27.28; 2 Chron. 1.15; 9.27.

(1)

יו ִֵּ֙ ת ֵ ן מה ֶֶּ֧ ל ְֶ ך א ֶ כּה־ת ֶֶּ֛ ס ֶ ף ב ִ רי ּ שו ָ ל ֵׁ֖ ם ָ בא ִָ נ ֑ םי ו ְ א ֵַּ֣ ת ה ָ א ָ זר ִ םי נ ָ ת ֶּ֛ ן שּׁכּ ִ ק ְִ מ ֥ םי שא ֶ שּׁב ־ר ְ פ ֵָ ל ֵׁ֖ ה ל ַָֽ ר ֹ ׃ב
‘and the king made the silver in Jerusalem (plentiful) as the stones, and the cedars he made plentiful like the sycomores in the Shephelah.’ (1 Kgs 10.27)—with sycomore trees associated with the Shephelah15

(2)

מ ִ ְ רפ ננח ְ י ָ הי ּ לו ְ עמ ְ ל ָ ן ָ ל ש ֶ א ֵ ני ּ ו מ ְ דג ֵ ל ש ִ קי ְ מ ִ םי ָ ל ִ לי ה ָ ע ֶ ל ְ י ֹ ןו מ ִ ְ רפ ננח ְ י ָ הי ּ לו ְ טּמ ָ ן ָ ל ש ֶ ה ּ או מ ְ דג ֵ ל ש ִ קי ְ מ ִ םי ָ ל ִ לי חתה ְ ת ֹ ןו
‘from Kefar Ḥananiah upward, wherever one does not raise sycomores, it is the Upper Galilee; from Kefar Ḥananiah downward, wherever one raises sycomores, it is the Lower Galilee.’ (M. Sheviʿit 9.2)

9The presence or absence of sycomore trees is cited as a natural discriminant between Upper Galilee (which lacks them) and Lower Galilee (where the trees grow).

10True, there is mention of a sycomore tree in Jericho in Luke 19.4 (the story of Zacchaeus, the chief tax collector), but we can ascribe the presence of the tree there to the lush oasis which makes Jericho possible.

  • 16 See the discussion in Rosenbaum (1990, 49–50); for a more recent opinion promoting this idea, see S (...)

11Those who would place Amos in southern Tekoa, on the edge of the Judean wilderness, explain the difficulty by assuming that he tended to sycomore trees in the Shephelah during the ‘off-season’ (as if those engaged in animal husbandry ever have an ‘off-season’) or that he took his flocks with him over a longer-than-average distance.16

  • 17 True, if the equation of northern Tekoa with Khirbet Shemaʿ is accepted (see above), this places us (...)
  • 18 For the original, see Migne (1864, 405–6).
  • 19 For these two sources, see Graetz (1865, 476) and Speier (1953, 305– 6).

12All difficulties are removed, though, if we identify the Tekoa of Amos with the village of that name in the Galilee.17 Such was stated long ago in Pseudo-Epiphanius, De vitis prophetarum (Lives of the Prophets), with specific mention of the territory of Zebulun,18 and then in the Middle Ages by David Qimḥi, with specific mention of the territory of Asher (no doubt derived from B. Menaḥot 85b, mentioned above).19

3.0. Amos as a Northern Prophet

13In addition to the two sources just cited (with the latter one, David Qimḥi, better known), one occasionally finds a modern scholar who argues for a northern homeland of the prophet Amos. The most noteworthy effort in this direction is that of S. N. Rosenbaum (1990). Two significant findings are repeated here.

3.1. Amos Accused of Treason

14In the famous passage in Amos 7.10, Amaziah, the priest of Bethel, sent a message to Jeroboam II of Israel accusing Amos of treason: ק ָ ש ֵּ֙ ר ע ָ ל ֶֶ֜ י ָ ך ע ָ מ ִֹ֗ סו ‘Amos has qå̄šar-ed against you’. In a thorough lexical study, Rosenbaum (1990, 37–39) demonstrated that the verbs and nouns derived from ק - ש - ר q-š-r are used in the Bible only when the ‘citizen’ of one country conspires against his or her own king. A foreigner (which would be Amos’s status, had he hailed from Tekoa of Judah) cannot q-š-r against the king of his resident land. Examples follow:

152 Sam. 15.12 Absalom against David

162 Sam. 15.31 Ahitophel with Absalom

171 Kgs 15.27 Baasha against Nadab

181 Kgs 16.9 Zimri against Elah

192 Kgs 9.14 Jehu against Joram

202 Kgs 10.9 Jehu against the House of Ahab

212 Kgs 11.14 Athaliah accuses Joash ֶׁ ק ֶ֥ ש ֶׁ ר ָֽ שק ֶׁ ר ‘treason, treason’

222 Kgs 12.21 servants against Joash

232 Kgs 14.19 unnamed Judahites against Amaziah

242 Kgs 15 (4x) in northern kingdom

252 Kgs 21.23 servants against Amon

26As such, Amos must be a ‘citizen’ of the northern kingdom of Israel, implying that he hails from Tekoa in the Galilee.

3.2. Amos Instructed to Flee to Judah

27In another famous passage, Amos 7.12, Amaziah orders Amos to ב - ר - ח b-r-ḥ to Judah: ח ֹ ז ֶ ה ל ְֵ֥ ך ב ְ ל־חר ְָ ך ֵׁ֖ א ֶ א־ל ֶֶַּ֣ ץר י ְ ה ּ ו ָ ד ֑ ה ‘seer, go, flee to the land of Judah’. In a second lexical study, Rosenbaum (1990, 35–37) demonstrated that the verb b-r-ḥ always refers to fleeing from one’s own country to a foreign land. Examples include:

28Gen. 27.43 Jacob to Harran

29Exod. 2.15 Moses to Midian

30Judg. 9.21 Jotham from Shechem to Beʾer

31Judg. 11.3 Jephthah to the land of Tov

322 Sam. 4.3 people of Beʾerot to Gath

332 Sam. 13.37 Absalom to Geshur

341 Kgs 11.17 Hadad to Egypt

351 Kgs 11.23–24 Rezon from Zobah to Damascus

361 Kgs 11.40 Jeroboam to Egypt

37Jer. 26.21 Uriah to Egypt

38Jon. 1.3 Jonah to Tarshish

39As such, for Amos to b-r-ḥ ‘flee’ to Judah, per Amaziah’s instructions, his home must have been located in the northern kingdom of Israel.

4.0. Israelian Hebrew in the Book of Amos

40The first three sections of this article serve as necessary background material, in order to establish the fact (that is, from my perspective) that Amos hails from northern Tekoa, a village in the Lower Galilee somewhere in the general Asher-Zebulun region. This finding explains why so many Israelian Hebrew (IH) lexical features appear in the prophet’s diction.

41The single scholar who laid the foundation for this analysis is Chaim Rabin, in his classic article ( םנושל לש סומע עשוהו 1981). Notwithstanding the title, almost the entire article deals with Hosea, in which, truth be told, there are many more northern features than are present in Amos. The present article, accordingly, picks up the mantle of identifying northern features in the book of Amos, adumbrated by Rabin forty years ago, even if he treated them only marginally.

  • 20 In both §§4.1 and 4.2, the individual items are presented in order of their appearance in the book (...)
  • 21 Note also MH = Mishnaic Hebrew, which to my mind constitutes a northern spoken dialect of the post- (...)

42In what follows, I present the IH features in outline form,20 which should suffice to permit the reader to follow the analysis. For the shorthand references to the dictionaries, translations, etc., see the abbreviations incorporated into the References section at the end of this article.21

4.1. IH Features in Amos 6

43For reasons that are unclear, Amos 6 contains the greatest concentration of IH features. On the one hand, this may simply be a coincidence. On the other hand, the doom and downfall of the kingdom of Israel is expressed more strongly in this chapter than elsewhere in the book. Possibly the prophet sought to drive home the point more strongly with the rhetorical flourish created by his employment of lexemes associated especially closely with the northern dialect. While this is a subjective judgment, it may, nonetheless, explain the high concentration of IH traits in the chapter. Note further that all six of the following items are elucidated with recourse specifically to Samaritan Aramaic (with only an occasional nod to other dialects). Did these usages remain in the land for hundreds of years, even after the destruction of the northern kingdom, only to resurface in Samaritan Aramaic centuries later?

4.1.1 נ - ד - י . ‘bring’

  • 22 Elsewhere only אָמְרּוּ֩ אחֵיֵּ֙כֶם שֹנְאֵיכֶם מְנדֵיכִֶ֗ם ‘your brothers hate you, cast you out’ ( (...)

(3)

ה ַֽ מ ְ נ ִ ד ֵׁ֖ םי ל ְ י ַֹּ֣ םו ָ ר ֑ ע גּתו ִ שי ֵּׁ֖ ןו ש ֶ֥ ב ֶ ת ח ָ מ ַָֽ ׃ס
‘ (you) who bring the day of evil, and you bring-near the seat of violence.’ (Amos 6.3)22

44Note the parallelism with נ - ג - ש (hifʿil) ‘bring near’, hence in Sam. Aram. נ - ד - י ‘bring’ (Tal 2000, II: 503–4), for example:

(4)

ְ הו ִָ ב ֥ אי ָ ה ִ ל ֵׁ֖ י ו ְ א ֹ כ ֵ֑ ל ָ ה
‘and bring me that I may eat’ (Gen. 27.4) || ידנתו יל לכיאו (Sam. Tg.)

(5)

יו ֵֵּ֤ ל ְֶ ך ע ֵ ש ֵָּ֙ ו שה ָ ד ֶ֔ ה ל ָ צ ּ֥ דו צ ֵׁ֖ י ִ ד ל ְ ה ִָ ב ַֽ ׃אי
‘and Esau went to the field to hunt game to bring.’ (Gen. ).Sam. Tg( לזאו ושע הרבל דוצמל דיצ האדנמל || )27.5

4.1.2 ס ָ ר ּ חו . ‘sinful, transgressing’ (of humans only in Amos)

(6)

ּ סו ְֻ חר ִ֖ םי ע ַ ע־ל ְַ שר ֹ תו ָ֑ ם
‘and transgressing on their couches’ (Amos 6.4)

(7)

ְ סו ִ֖ ר מ ְ ר ַ ז ֶ֥ ח ס ְ ר ּ ו ָֽ ׃םיח
‘and the
mirzeaḥ of the transgressing-ones shall fall-aside’ (Amos 6.7)

45Sample renderings: ‘stretch’ (RSV) / ‘loll’ (NJV) / ‘lounge’ (Alter 2019). Sam. Aram. ס - ר - ח ‘sin, be guilty, transgress’ (Tal 2000, II: 610–11):

(8)

אה ַּ֣ ף ת ִ ס ְ פ ֶ֔ ה צ ִ ד ֵׁ֖ קי ע ִ ־ם ָ שר ַָֽ ׃ע
‘will you indeed sweep-away the innocent with the guilty? ’ (Gen. 18.23) || טשקה הפתסת האכז םע החורס (Sam. Tg.)

46Vulgate rendering of ס ָ ר ּ חו : lascivitis (v. 4) / lascivientium (v. 7).

4.1.3 פ - ר - ט . ‘sing, recite, pronounce’

(9)

פה ְֹ ר ִ ט ֵׁ֖ םי ־לע ִ פ ַּ֣ י נה ָ֑ ב ֶ ל ְ ד ָ ו ִֶ֕ די ח ָ ש ְ ב ּ֥ ו ל ָ ה ֵֶׁ֖ ם ְ ל ֵ ־י ִ ש ַֽ ׃רי
‘those who recite to the tune of the harp, (and) like David devise for themselves vessels of song.’ (Amos 6.5)

  • 23 According to Maʾagarim database of the Academy of the Hebrew Language, the root with this meaning w (...)

47Sam. Aram. (Tal 2000, II: 699 s.v. פ - ר - ד , with cross-reference at II: 702 s.v. פ - ר - ט ), with several instances in Tibat Marqe. Montgomery (1906, 51–52) cited a Samaritan Hebrew hymn:23

(10)

לא ןתנ ול ןחבשת , לא טרפנ ול לכ ןאריש
‘God – let us give to him praise, God – let us recite to him all songs’

4.1.4 ת - א - ב . ‘despise’

(11)

מ ְ ת ָ א ֵֵּ֤ ב ָ א ַֽ נ ֹ כ ִֵּ֙ י א ֶ גּ־ת ְ א ַֹּ֣ ןו י ַֽ קע ֹ֔ ב ְ או ְ מר ְ נ ָֹ ת ֵׁ֖ וי ש ָ נ ֵ֑ תא ִ י
‘I despise the pride of Jacob, and his citadels I hate’ (Amos 6.8)

  • 24 The connotation of the homonymous root ת-א-ב (I) ‘long for’ (2x in Psalm 119) does not fit here.

48ת - א - ב (II) ‘despise’ (hapax), weakening of guttural from . ת - ע - ב24 Cf. Sam. Heb., with weakening of the gutturals, including א > ע . Ben-Hayyim (2000, 38): “Fluctuations of חהא " ע in SP provide clear evidence that no later than the end of the Second Temple period the guttural consonants began to weaken.”

4.1.5 ס - ר - ף . ‘smear with resin’

(12)

ּ נו ְ ש ָ א ֹ֞ ו ד ֹ ו ַּ֣ ד ֹ ו ּ מו ְ ס ְָ פר ִֹ֗ ו ל ְ ה ֹ ו ִ צ ַּ֣ אי צע ָ מ ִ םי ֘ מ ִ יבה־ן ִ ת
‘and his kinsman shall carry him and smear-him-with-resin, to remove (his) bones from the house’ (Amos 6.10)

  • 25 Both the MH verb (1x: T. Miqwaʾot 6.21) and the Sam. Aram. verb occur in the G-stem (qal/peʿal), wh (...)

49G. R. Driver and E. Y. Kutscher independently; see Paul (1991, 215, n. 28). MH noun: ֶׁ ס ֶׁ ףר / ש ֶֶׁׁ ףר ‘resin’ – 7x Mishna / 11x Tosefta; MH verb: ש - ר - ף ‘smear with resin’ (T. Miqwaʾot 6.21). Sam. Aram. ס - ר - ף ‘press, squeeze’ (Tal 2000, II: 612–13):25

(13)

ז ֵ י ִ ת ֶּ֛ םי י ִ ה ְ י ּ֥ ו ל ְָ ך ֵׁ֖ ב ְ כ ָ גּ־ל ְ ב ּ לו ֶָ֑ ך ו ְ ש ֵֶּ֙ מ ֵֶּ֙ ן ל ַֹּ֣ א ת ָ ס ּ֔ ו ְ ך
‘you will have olive trees throughout your territory, but you will not anoint yourselves with oil’ (Deut. 28.40) || ).Sam. Tg( םיתיז ןוהי ךל לכב ךמוחת חשמו אל ףרסת

(14)

צ ְִ יר ‘balsam’ (Gen. 37.25) || ףרש ףטק (Tg.Ps.-J.)

4.1.6ְ סר ִ סי ִ םי . ‘splinters’26

  • 26 Only here with this meaning; see elsewhere Song 5.2 with the meaning ‘droplets’.

(15)

ְ הו ִ ֶָּ֛ ה בה ֥ י ִ ת גּה ֵָׁ֖ ד ֹ לו ְ סר ִ י ִ ס ֑ םי
‘and He shall smite the great house (into) splinters’ (Amos 6.11)

50Aramaic ר - ס - ס ‘crush’ (most dialects), e.g.,

(16)

ּ מו ָ ע ֵּּ֤ ו ְ ך ְ כו ָ ת ּ ו ֵּ֙ ת ו ְ נ ָ ת ַּּ֣ קו ְ כו ָ ר ּ֔ תו ל ֹ֥ א קת ְִֵׁ֖ ביר ּ ו ל ַֽ הי ָ ו ֑ ה
‘And anything with its testes bruised or crushed or torn or cut you will not offer to Yhwh.’ (Lev. 22.24) || ו ְִ מד ִ סיר ְ ו ִ סרד ִ סי ).Tg. Onq( ו ְִ לשד ִ ףי ְ ו ִ זגד ִ רי ל ָ א ת ְ ק ְָ בר ּ ןו םדק יוי

(17)

ּ בו ְ֥ ר ֹ ב ְ א ֹ נו ְָ ך ֵׁ֖ הת ַּ֣ ר ֹ ס ק ָ מ ֶ֑ י ָ ך
‘In your great triumph you break your opponents’ (Exod. ).Sam. Tg( יגסבו ךתולכי התסרסר ךיזגרמ || )15.7

(18)

ִ ֵּ֤ י ה ֵָ ר ֵּ֙ ס ת ְָ ה ְַּ֣ סר ֵ֔ ם ו ְ בש ֵ֥ ר ת ְ בש ֵֵׁ֖ ר צמ ֵ ב ֹ ת ֵ הי ֶַֽ ׃ם
‘but shall tear them down and smash their pillars to bits.’ .Sam( אלה סורסר ןונסרסרת רובתו רבתת ןותמעק || )23.24 .Exod( Tg.)

(19)

ו ְ צע ְ מ ֹ ת ֵ י ֶ ה ֶּ֛ ם י ְ ג ֵָ ר ֵׁ֖ ם ְ חו ִ צ ָ֥ וי י ִ מ ְָ ח ַֽ ׃ץ
‘and crush their bones, and smash their arrows’ (Num. ).Sam. Tg( ןוימרגו סרסרי וירגו יעמי || )24.8

51See Drower and Macuch (1963, 436); Tal (2000, 841); Cook (2008 ,268). MH: מ ְ ר ּ סּו ַ ס ‘broken’ (M. Shabbat 8.5); שמ ֶׁ י ְַ סר ֵ ס ‘after one crushes’ and ע ַ ד ש ֵ י ְַ סּר ֵ ס ‘until one crushes’ (M. ʿUqṣin 2.5–6).

4.2. IH Features Elsewhere in the Book of Amos

52Additional IH features appear scattered throughout the book of Amos. In the preceding section, all six features were lexical items (though the case in §4.1.4 includes a phonological aspect). In what follows, the majority once again are lexical features, though a few items constitute grammatical traits.

4.2.1 נ ֹ קו ֵ ד . ‘herder, rancher, stockman’

(20)

ִ בד ְֵ ר ַּ֣ י ע ָ מ ֹ֔ סו שא ֶ ה־ר ָָ י ֥ ה נב ֹ ק ְִ ד ֵׁ֖ םי מ ִ ת ְ֑ ק ֹ עו
‘the words of Amos, who was among the stockmen in Tekoa’ (Amos 1.1)

  • 27 Most scholars (see, e.g., Eidevall 2017, 91–96) consider the superscription in Amos 1.1 to be the r (...)

53Elsewhere only 2 Kgs 3.4 (Mesha) and Ugaritic nqd (cf. also Akk. nāqidu).27

4.2.2 םחר . ‘lass’ (with reference to Edom)

(21)

ו ְ ש ִֵ ח ַּ֣ ת מחר ָ֔ וי יו ִ ט ְֵּ֤ ר ֹ ף ל ָ דע ֵּ֙ פא ֹ֔ ו
‘and he destroyed their lasses, and his anger tore-on forever’ (Amos 1.11)

  • 28 For the argument that רחמָיו means ‘his lasses’ here (and not ‘his compassion’), see Paul (1971, 40 (...)

54Elsewhere only Judg. 5.30, Ugaritic, Moabite; see Rendsburg (2014, 174–75).28

4.2.3 ע ֶֶ שר . ‘couch’

(22)

ֵ ן י ִ נ ָ צ ְ ל ּ֞ ו ב ְ נ ֵַּ֣ י י ִ ש ְָ אר ִֵ֗ ל יה ַֹֽ ש ְ ב ִ י ֵּ֙ ם ב ְ ש ַֹּ֣ מ ְ ר ֹ֔ ןו ב ִ פ ְ א ֥ ת מ ִ ֵָׁ֖ ה ּ בו ְִ מד ֶ֥ ש ֶ ק ע ֶַָֽ ׃שר
‘so shall the children of Israel be saved, those who dwell in Samaria, with the corner of a bed, and with the damask of a couch.’ (Amos 3.12)

(23)

ה ַ ש ָֽ כ ְ םיב ֙ ע ַ טמ־ל ֹ תו ש ֵֵׁ֔ ן ּ סו ְ ר ֻ ח ִ֖ םי ע ַ ע־ל ְַ שר ֹ תו ָ֑ ם
‘ (you) who lie on beds of ivory, and transgressing on their couches’ (Amos 6.4)

  • 29 Admittedly, this lexeme occurs occasionally in Judahite sources as well: Ps. 6.7; 41.4; 132.3 (thou (...)

55ע ֶֶׁׁ שר ‘couch’: Deut. 3.11 (Bashan); Prov. 7.16; Job 7.13; Song 1.16;29 Ugaritic (DULAT, 185); Aramaic (all dialects); MH הסירע ‘couch’ (2x Mishna / 17x Tosefta).

4.2.4 ד ְ שר ּ ט־ו ֶֹ֥ בו ו ְ א ַ ר־ל ִ֖ ע . ‘seek good, and not evil’ (Amos 5.14)

56Negative particle א ַ ל followed by a noun, as in Deir ʿAlla. For examples, see Rendsburg (2003a, 24, no. 15).

4.2.5 ל ֶֶׁׁ שק . ‘latter growth, late-sown crops’

(24)

ֵֹּ֤ ה ה ְִ ר ֵּ֙ נא ִֵּ֙ י דא ָֹ נ ַּ֣ י י ְ ה ִ ו ֔ ה ו ְ ה ִ נ ֵֵּ֙ ה י ֹ צו ֵַּ֣ ר ֹ ב ֔ י ב ִ ת ְ ח ִ ל ֵׁ֖ ת לע ַֹּ֣ תו לה ָ֑ ק ֶ ש ו ְֵּ֙ ה ִ נ ֵ ־ה ֔ ל ֶ ק ֶ ש חא ֵׁ֖ ר ִ ז ֵ֥ י מה ֶַֽ ל ְֶ ׃ך
‘Thus Adonay Yhwh showed me: and behold, (he was) creating locusts at the start of the sprouting of the latter-growth, and behold, the latter-growth after the hay-mows of the king.’ (Amos 7.1)

57Cf. Gezer Calendar, ln. 2 וחרי שקל ‘two months of latter-growth’ (= Shevat-Adar). Attested as laqsi or laqši in Galilean villages (see Sonnen 1927, 81; Bassal 2005–2007, 99–100).

4.2.6 ח ֵ ל ֶׁ ק . ‘field’

(25)

ו ְ ה ִ נ ֵ֥ ה ק ֵֹ ר ֶּ֛ א ל ִָ ר ֥ ב ב ָ א ֵֵׁ֖ ש דא ֹ נ ַָּ֣ י י ְ ה ִ ו ֑ ה ו ֵּ֙ ת ֹ לכא ֵּ֙ א ֶ ת־ת ְ ה ַֹּ֣ םו בר ָ֔ ה ְ או ָ כ ְ ל ֵָׁ֖ ה א ֶ ה־ת ֵ ח ַֽ ל ֶ ׃ק
‘and behold, Adonay Yhwh was calling to contend with fire; and it consumed the great deep, and it consumed the field.’ (Amos 7.4)

  • 30 The feminine form חֶלְקָה ‘portion’ occurs throughout the Bible, usually in the phrase חֶלְקת השָדֶ (...)

58Elsewhere ב ְ ח ֵ ל ֶ ק י ִ ז ְְ ער ֶ לא ‘in the field of Jezreel’ (2 Kgs 9.10, 36, 37)—with reference to the death of Jezebel; perhaps also Hos. 5.7.30 Cf. Aramaic אלקח , Akkadian eqlu, both with metathesis.

4.2.7 נא ְ ך . ‘tin’ (Amos 7.7–8) (cf. Akk. annaku) (‘lead’ [?], plumb line’ [?])

59Regardless of meaning, note the qəṭå̄l nominal form. Alternatively, or concurrently, note the possible pun with the 1cs pronoun ‘I’ in

(26)

ה ִ נ ְֵּ֙ נ ִ י ש ֵָּ֤ ם נא ְֵָּ֙ ך ב ְֵּ֙ ק ֶֶ ר ֵּ֙ ב ע ִ מ ַּ֣ י י ִ ש ְָ אר ֵ֔ ל
‘behold I am placing a plumb-line / myself in the midst of my people Israel’ (Amos 7.8)

  • 31 For the most recent study on the Phoenician 1st common singular pronoun, albeit with a different fo (...)

60See Novick (2008) and Notarius (2017, esp. 61–63, 70–73), with an eye to the Phoenician form ךנא ‘I’.31

4.2.8 שי ְ קח . ‘Isaac’ (Amos 7.9, 16) (instead of the standard form צי ְ קח )

61Elsewhere only Jer. 33.26; Ps. 105.9. Qumran Aramaic (4x), though see also QH: ( קחשי 20x) / ( קחסי 1x) / ( קחצי 4x). Cf. Syriac קחסא > Arabic ʾisḥāq.

4.2.9 ק ֵ ץ . ‘end’ / ץיק (in pause) ‘summer-fruit’ (Amos 8.2)

62The wordplay works best if the latter form reflects monophthongisation of ay > ē, as in Ugaritic and Phoenician (Notarius 2017, esp. 63–64, 74–80).

4.2.10 ה ֵ לכי . ‘palace’

(27)

ְ הו ֵ לי ִֶ֜ לי ּ ו ש ִ י ֵּ֤ ר ֹ תו ה ֵ כי ָ ל ֵּ֙ יב ַֹּ֣ םו הה ּ֔ או נ ְ א ֵׁ֖ ם דא ֹ נ ַָּ֣ י י ְ ה ִ ו ֑ ה
‘and the songs of the palace shall wail on that day, declaims Adonay YHWH’ (Amos 8.3)

  • 32 Andersen and Freedman (1989, 798): “The female singers point to the palace rather than the temple.” (...)

63The end of Israel (v. 2) will result in the howling female singers in the palace (not the temple).32 IH feature: 1 Kgs 21.1 (Ahab); Hos. 8.14; Joel 4.5 (Phoenicia); Amos 8.3; Ps. 45.9, 16; Prov. 30.28. See also: Ps. 144.12 (? – late); 2 Kgs 20.18 || Isa. 39.7 (king of Babylon); Isa. 13.22 (Babylon); Nah 2.7 (Assyria). Cf. Ugaritic (Aqhat; Kirta) and Aramaic (Aḥiqar; Dan. 5.5; etc.).

5.0. Conclusion

  • 33 Note further that the element עמס is relatively common in Phoenician and Punic personal names (Benz (...)

64The sixteen features (mainly lexical, several grammatical) analysed above, especially when viewed collectively, reveal the extent to which IH permeates the book of Amos. This crucial point, especially when viewed in conjunction with the geographical considerations outlined above, demonstrates (to my mind at least) that Amos was a northern prophet.33

  • 34 This finding also explains why in the opening two chapters of the book of Amos, Judah appears as a (...)

65Two of the sixteen features (along with a third item) have been discussed in depth by Tania Notarius, though she reached a different conclusion. In her estimation, Amos was “a Judean man, a native speaker of Southern Hebrew who is sensitive to the phonetic peculiarities of different dialectal speech” (Notarius 2017, 81). Clearly this remains possible—I myself have written extensively on the subject of style-switching and addressee-switching (Rendsburg 2013a, 2013b, 2015). But in light of (a) the collective weight of the sixteen features discussed herein and (b) the geographical and political (if you will) considerations presented above in §§1.0–3.0, to my mind one should conclude that Amos was a resident of northern Israel who used his native patois to challenge the status quo (on many levels) of king, cult, and society in the kingdom of Israel.34

66This conclusion has a far-reaching impact beyond the realm of Hebrew linguistics. If correct, then we must rethink the early history of classical prophecy in ancient Israel, as the first two prophets, Amos and Hosea, would then both be considered northerners. The unique genre of classical prophecy (unique in the ancient Near East, that is) is a product of northern Israel. Soon thereafter the genre spread to Judah, in the persons of Isaiah and Micah—but this singular enterprise commenced in the northern kingdom of Israel.

Bibliografia

References

Alter, Robert. 2019. The Hebrew Bible. 3 vols. New York: W. W. Norton.

Andersen, Francis I., and David Noel Freedman. 1989. Amos. Anchor Bible Commentary 24A. New York: Doubleday.

מלים עבריות וארמיות קדומות מן החקלאות .2007–2005 .Bassal, Ibrahim שנשתקעו בערבית הדבורה בגליל. Ha-ʿIvrit ve-ʾAḥyoteha 6–7, edited by Michal Efrat, 89–114. Haifa: Department of Hebrew Language, University of Haifa.

Ben-Ḥayyim, Zeʾev. 2000. A Grammar of Samaritan Hebrew. Jerusalem: Magnes Press and Winona Lake, IN: Eisenbrauns.

Benz, Frank L. 1972. Personal Names in the Phoenician and Punic Inscriptions. Studia Pohl 8. Rome: Biblical Institute Press.

Cook, Edward M. 2008. A Glossary of Targum Onkelos. Studies in the Aramaic Interpretation of Scripture 6. Leiden: Brill.

Donner, Herbert. 1992. The Mosaic Map of Madaba: An Introductory Guide. Kampen: Kok Pharos.

Drower, Ethel S., and Rudolf Macuch. 1963. A Mandaic Dictionary. Oxford: Clarendon Press.

DULAT = del Olmo Lete, Gregorio, and Joaquín Sanmartín. 2003. A Dictionary of the Ugaritic Language in the Alphabetic Tradition. 2 vols. Translated by Wilfred G. E. Watson. Leiden: Brill.

Eidevall, Göran. 2017. Amos: A New Translation with Introduction and Commentary. Anchor Yale Bible Commentary 24G. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press.

Fretheim, Terence E. 2002. Jeremiah. Macon, GA: Smyth and Helwys.

Graetz, Heinrich. 1865. Geschichte der Juden, vol. 4. Leipzig: Oskar Leiner.

Holladay, William L. 1986. Jeremiah 1. Hermeneia. Philadelphia: Fortress.

Klein, Shmuel. 1939. .ספר הישוב2 vols. Tel-Aviv: Dvir.

Loder, Charles W. 2019. ‘The Short-Form of the Phoenician First-Person, Independent Pronoun Reassessed’. Journal of Semitic Studies 44 (2): 317–28.

Lundbom, Jack R. 1999. Jeremiah 1–20. Anchor Bible Commentary 21A. New York: Doubleday.

McKane, William. 1986. A Critical and Exegetical Commentary on Jeremiah, vol. 1. International Critical Commentary. Edinburgh: T & T Clark.

Meyers, Eric M., A. Thomas Kraabel, and James F. Strange. 1976. Ancient Synagogue Excavations at Khirbet Shemaʿ, Upper Galilee, Israel, 1970–1972. Annual of the American Schools of Oriental Research 42. Durham, NC: Duke University Press (for the American Schools of Oriental Research).

Migne, Jacques-Paul. 1864. Patrologiae Cursus Completus, Series Graeca (= Patrologia Graeca), vol. 43. Paris: J.-P. Migne.

Montgomery, James A. 1906. ‘Notes from the Samaritan’. Journal of Biblical Literature 25 (1): 49–54.

NJV = New Jewish Publication Society Version

Notarius, Tania. 2017. ‘Playing with Words and Identity: Reconsidering אנְָך ,לִָרב בָאֵש, and קֵץ/קיִץ in Amos’ Visions’. Vetus Testamentum 67 (1): 59–86.

Novick, Tzvi. 2008. ‘Duping the Prophet: On אנך (Amos 7.8b) and Amos’s Visions’. Journal for the Study of the Old Testament 33 (1): 115–28.

Paul, Shalom. 1971. ‘Amos 1: 3–2: 3: A Concatenous Literary Pattern’. Journal of Biblical Literature 90 (4): 397–403.

— ——. 1991. Amos: A Commentary on the Book of Amos. Hermenia. Minneapolis: Fortress Press.

Rabin, Chaim. 1981. לשונם של עמוס והושע. In ʿIyyunim be-Sefer Tre-ʿAsar, edited by Ben-Zion Luria, 117–36. Jerusalem: Kiryath Sepher.

Rendsburg, Gary A. 1987. ‘Eblaite ù-ma and Hebrew wm-’. In Eblaitica: Essays on the Ebla Archives and Eblaite Language, vol. 1, edited by Cyrus H. Gordon and Gary A. Rendsburg, 33–41. Winona Lake, IN: Eisenbrauns.

— ——. 2003a. ‘A Comprehensive Guide to Israelian Hebrew: Grammar and Lexicon’. Orient 38: 5–35.

— ——. 2003b. ‘The Geographical and Historical Background of the Mishnaic Hebrew Lexicon’. Orient 38: 105–15.

— ——. 2013a. ‘Addressee-switching’. In Encyclopaedia of the Hebrew Language and Linguistics. 4 vols. Edited by Geoffrey Khan et al., I: 34–35. Leiden: Brill.

— ——. 2013b. ‘Style-switching’. In Encyclopaedia of the Hebrew Language and Linguistics. 4 vols. Edited by Geoffrey Khan, et al., III: 633–36. Leiden: Brill.

— ——. 2014. ‘What We Can Learn about Other Northwest Semitic Dialects from Reading the Bible’. In Discourse, Dialogue, and Debate in the Bible: Essays in Honour of Frank H. Polak, edited by Athalya Brenner-Idan, 160–78. Hebrew Bible Monographs 63; Amsterdam Studies in Bible and Religion 7. Sheffield: Sheffield Phoenix Press.

— ——. 2015. ‘Style-Switching in Biblical Hebrew’. In Epigraphy, Philology, and the Hebrew Bible: Methodological Perspectives on Philological and Comparative Study of the Hebrew Bible in Honor of Jo Ann Hackett, edited by Jeremy M. Hutton and Aaron D. Rubin, 65–85. Ancient Near Eastern Monographs 12. Atlanta: SBL Press.

Robinson, Edward. 1841. Biblical Researches in Palestine, Mount Sinai and Arabia Petræa. 3 vols. London: John Murray.

Rosenbaum, Stanley N. 1990. Amos of Israel. Macon, GA: Mercer University Press.

RSV = Revised Standard Version

Sonnen, J. 1927. ‘Landwirtschaftliches vom See Genesareth’. Biblica 8 (1): 65–87.

Speier, Salomon. 1953. ‘Bemerkungen zu Amos’. Vetus Testamentum 3 (3): 305–10.

Stamm Johann Jakob. 1980. ‘Der Name des Propheten Amos und sein sprachlicher Hintergrund’. In Prophecy: Essays Presented to Georg Fohrer on His 65th Birthday, edited by John A. Emerton, 137–42. Beiheft zur Zeitschrift für die alttestamentliche Wissenschaft 150. Berlin: Walter de Gruyter.

Steiner, Richard C. 2003. Stockmen from Tekoa, Sycomores from Sheba. Catholic Biblical Quarterly Monograph Series 36. Washington, D.C. : Catholic Biblical Association.

Tal, Abraham. 2000. A Dictionary of Samaritan Aramaic. 2 vols. Handbuch der Orientalistik. Section 1, The Near and Middle East 50. Leiden: Brill.

Note

1 More properly Teqoaʿ (or even Təqōaʿ), but I will continue to use the time-honoured English spelling of Tekoa.

2 See also the reference to the ‘wilderness of Tekoa’ in 1 Macc. 9.33.

3 As so often in historical-geographical research, the first modern scholar to make the identification was Edward Robinson (1841, II: 182– 84). For the evidence of the Madaba map, see Donner (1992, 60).

4 See the convenient survey in Klein (1938, I: 157).

5 For discussion, see Graetz (1865, 476).

6 I here follow the majority of scholars by removing the initial letter mem of this verse and attaching it to the last word of the previous verse, with the sense of ‘their heel’ (see already the Septuagint).

7 Here and throughout this article, my translation technique tends to be hyperliteral; plus, I employ certain devices, for example, hyphenation when two or more English words are required to render a single Hebrew word.

8 As we shall see below, one of the possible locations for northern Tekoa is within the territory of Asher.

9 In general, see Klein (1939, I: 15). In a different context see also Way-yiqraʾ Rabba 30.1 (689: 2).

10 I realise that the vast majority of commentators on Jeremiah, if not all of them, associate Tekoa in Jer. 6.1 with Tekoa in the wilderness of Judah and Bet ha-Kerem with a place near Jerusalem; see, e.g., Holladay (1986, 205); McKane (1986, 139–40); Lundbom (1999, 416); Fretheim (2002, 119–20). These identifications thereby require considerable geographical gymnastics, for example, by assuming that the prophet already is warning sites to the south of Jerusalem, or by assuming a Babylonian approach from the south (starting in Lachish, presumably), even though Jer. 6.1 explicitly states מִצָפֹון ‘from the north’.

11 See Rendsburg (2014, 166).

12 For references, see Meyers, et al. (1976, 11).

13 See the discussion in Meyers, et al. (1976, 11–16).

14 For a thorough survey of the terms, see Steiner (2003).

15 See also 1 Chron. 27.28; 2 Chron. 1.15; 9.27.

16 See the discussion in Rosenbaum (1990, 49–50); for a more recent opinion promoting this idea, see Steiner (2003, 101–2).

17 True, if the equation of northern Tekoa with Khirbet Shemaʿ is accepted (see above), this places us in the Upper Galilee, but only ca. 5 km north of Kefar Ḥananiah.

18 For the original, see Migne (1864, 405–6).

19 For these two sources, see Graetz (1865, 476) and Speier (1953, 305– 6).

20 In both §§4.1 and 4.2, the individual items are presented in order of their appearance in the book of Amos. Some may bear greater weight and have greater significance than others, though I leave that possibility aside for the nonce.

21 Note also MH = Mishnaic Hebrew, which to my mind constitutes a northern spoken dialect of the post-biblical period (Rendsburg 2003), and QH = Qumran Hebrew.

22 Elsewhere only אָמְרּוּ֩ אחֵיֵּ֙כֶם שֹנְאֵיכֶם מְנדֵיכִֶ֗ם ‘your brothers hate you, cast you out’ (Isa. 66.5), where the verb derived from נ-ד-י means ‘cast away’, for which see Ugaritic n-d-y ‘emit, throw, take off (clothing)’, MH נידוי ‘excommunication’.

23 According to Maʾagarim database of the Academy of the Hebrew Language, the root with this meaning was revived in Payṭanic Hebrew.

24 The connotation of the homonymous root ת-א-ב (I) ‘long for’ (2x in Psalm 119) does not fit here.

25 Both the MH verb (1x: T. Miqwaʾot 6.21) and the Sam. Aram. verb occur in the G-stem (qal/peʿal), while the form in Amos 6.10 appears as a D-stem participle. The solution to his problem is to re-analyse ּומְסְָרפֹו so that the form begins with conjunction waw + enclitic mem, per Rendsburg (1987, 34).

26 Only here with this meaning; see elsewhere Song 5.2 with the meaning ‘droplets’.

27 Most scholars (see, e.g., Eidevall 2017, 91–96) consider the superscription in Amos 1.1 to be the result of (presumably Judahite) editorial activity, and thus the presence of the word נקְִדים may not carry any linguistic significance. The point remains, however, that the word appears only in Amos 1.1 and 2 Kgs 3.4, and never in a demonstrably Judahite text.

28 For the argument that רחמָיו means ‘his lasses’ here (and not ‘his compassion’), see Paul (1971, 402–3; 1991, 64–65).

29 Admittedly, this lexeme occurs occasionally in Judahite sources as well: Ps. 6.7; 41.4; 132.3 (though the latter also may be an IH poem).

30 The feminine form חֶלְקָה ‘portion’ occurs throughout the Bible, usually in the phrase חֶלְקת השָדֶה ‘portion of the field’ (7x), but the masculine form is an IH feature.

31 For the most recent study on the Phoenician 1st common singular pronoun, albeit with a different focus, see Loder (2019).

32 Andersen and Freedman (1989, 798): “The female singers point to the palace rather than the temple.” The form שִירֹות implies ‘songs’, though via metonymy one may assume ‘those (females) who sing the songs’.

33 Note further that the element עמס is relatively common in Phoenician and Punic personal names (Benz 1972, 378–79; Stamm 1980, 137).

34 This finding also explains why in the opening two chapters of the book of Amos, Judah appears as a foreign land, no different than Moab, Edom, Ammon, etc.

Autore

Gary A. Rendsburg (PhD, New York University, 1980) serves as the Blanche and Irving Laurie Distinguished Professor of Jewish History at Rutgers University (New Jersey, USA). His teaching and research areas include the history of the Hebrew language, ancient Semitic languages, interconnections between ancient Egypt and ancient Israel, the Dead Sea Scrolls, medieval Hebrew manuscripts, and Jewish life in the Middle Ages. He is the author of seven books and about 190 articles. His most recent book is How the Bible Is Written (Hendrickson, 2019), with particular attention to the use of language to create literature. In addition, he served as one of the associate editors of Encyclopedia of Hebrew Language and Linguistics (Brill, 2013).

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